Favorites of 2020
Hello, it’s that time of year again. Let’s talk about my favorites of 2020.
For those new to the rodeo, for my last article post on 2020 I talk about my favorite things of the last year, and for my first post of 2021 I talk about my ‘State of the Union’, which you’ll find out about soon enough. Of course, you might also notice that this is coming out on January 4th. Well, uh, that’s just how scheduling works sometimes.
Typical rules apply: the categories are movies, books, video games, and music. I’ll be talking about my top 5, but the 5 themselves are not in order (e.g. the first one I list isn’t the #1 favorite or the #5 favorite, it’s just ‘a top 5 favorite’). These are things that I’ve played/watched/read this year, but not necessarily came out this year. Basically, take this as a set of recommendations in across a series of mediums.
Without further ado, here are the favorites:
Marriage Story – I like subtlety in storytelling. Marriage Story is full of it. Just place two high-quality actors in a room with a basic plot, and that’s really all you need for a good movie.
Ghost in the Shell – The best anime film I saw this year. Yes, obviously I’m talking about the original. I slept on this movie for quite awhile, but I decided this was the year to break into anime that wasn’t directed by Satoshi Kon. This lived up to its promise!
La Jetee – Ok, I said Marriage Story was great for its simplicity. But could you make a 20 minute long slide show a good film? As it turns out, yes. Just get a killer soundtrack and some fantastic writing, and you’ll be glued to the screen regardless of what the hell it is.
F for Fake – Favorite documentary of the year. To be fair, I hate documentaries — it really is just this and Crumb. But wow, was this an adventure! People often complain about Orson Welles’ pompous nature and while I can certainly see it I can’t help but love it.
The Battle of Algiers – An excellent test of amorality in film, as in setting up two sides and letting the audience decide who is right and who is wrong. A few of the films that didn’t make the list this year cough cough were so desperately worried that the audience wouldn’t agree with their opinion that they made their side look really good and the other side look really bad. None of that is visible here.
Dubliners – This is a short story collection by James Joyce. After reading Portrait of an Artist and thinking it mid-tier, then reading Ulysses and hating it, I assumed that there wasn’t much hope for Dubliners. Nope — turns out Joyce just happens to be much better at short stories than feature length novels. But really, some of these stories really live up to their reputation as some of the best short fiction ever written.
Einstein: His Life and Universe – From my reading list: “This used to be Steve Jobs, but after reading Einstein I think it’s the superior Isaacson book. It’s not really a decision I make based on quality of writing — Isaacson’s research and prose is excellent in both — rather, I just think that Albert Einstein is a better overall role-model than Steve Jobs. So I’d rather people read his book.” Also worth noting that I almost cried at the end of this book, which is stupid to think about for a biography but also goes to credit the quality of Isaacson’s writing.
The Remains of the Day – From my reading list: “Began having next to zero expectations of this book, ended with it being one of my favorite fiction pieces. A beautiful look into the dangers of obsession.”
Mythology – From my reading list: “The essential book on Greek mythology. Poetically written in such a way that really gives these old stories their due.”
Almanack of Naval Ravikant – A collection of all the (smart) things Naval has ever said. Is this man even a role model at this point? Who the hell knows. The important thing is that this is a collection of the good stuff.
DOOM (2016) – While cleaning out my Steam account I noticed that my only recommendation is a negative one against DOOM 2016. It was actually written for the public beta of the multiplayer (which was in fact terrible), but it now looks like it was written for the base game. To clarify, the singleplayer campaign is really, really good. I’m writing this in my favorites as an apology letter to DOOM. Sorry, DOOM — you’re still my favorite shooter franchise of all time 
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