Best Movies: Man of Steel, Pacific Rim, The Butler
Best TV Shows: The Bridge, Arrow, Spartacus: War of the Damned, Parks and Recreation, Luther, Bob’s Burgers, Key & Peele
Best Songs: “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke; “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk
Best Albums: The Next Day by David Bowie, Random Access Memories by Daft Punk, Beyonce by Beyonce
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Batwoman, Animal Man, Wonder Woman
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Tim’s Vermeer, The Raid 2, Maleficent, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For
Marvin C Pittman writes the column “Blerd Vision” for Forces of Geek
Dean Trippe
Twitter • deantrippe.com
Best Movies: Frozen, This Is The End, Pacific Rim, Fast & Furious 6
Best TV Shows: Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, Key & Peele
Best Books (fiction): MaddAddam, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Best Books (non-fiction): I only read year-old ones this year. But David Mitchell’s Back Story and Tina Fey’s Bossypants were excellent.
Best Video Game: Lego Marvel Superheroes, Batman: Arkham Origins
Best Songs: Let it Go, Idina Menzel
Best Albums: Kick the Robot’s Music to Fight the Future, Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Something Terrible, by me. 🙂
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: Man of Steel
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Man of Steel
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: The Lego Movie
Dean Trippe wrote and illustrated one of 2013’s best and most important comics, “Something Terrible“. He also created Butterfly, co-founded Project: Rooftop, and co-hosts The Last Cast podcast
Jessie Lynn
Twitter • rustbeltjessie.tumblr.com • rustbeltjessie.storenvy.com
Best Movies: I have not seen any films that came out in 2013. I have hardly even watched any films from the past few years. It’s not on purpose, I just can never afford to see films in the theater, and when I finally get around to watching things once they’re released on DVD, I have a tendency to watch older stuff I haven’t yet seen as opposed to newer stuff. The three recent-ish films I watched and enjoyed this year were Lawless, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, and On The Road.
Best TV Shows: American Horror Story: Coven
Best Books (fiction): The Color Master by Aimee Bender, Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block, Mermaid in Chelsea Creek by Michelle Tea, Spectacle by Susan Steinberg, Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell
Best Books (non-fiction): The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit, I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp by Richard Hell, Radon by Aaron Cometbus and Travis Fristoe, The Riot Grrrl Collection edited by Lisa Darms.
Best Songs: Gogol Bordello – “Amen.” Hunx & His Punx – “Street Punk.” Janelle Monae (featuring Erykah Badu) – “Q.U.E.E.N.” M.I.A. – “Bad Girls.” Man Man – “Head On [Hold On To Your Heart].” Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – “Water’s Edge.” Off With Their Heads – “Don’t Make Me Go.” Shannon and The Clams – “Heads or Tails.” Swearin’ – “Dust in the Gold Sack.” Wax Idols – “Stare Back.” Waxahatchee – “Swan Dive.” World/Inferno Friendship Society – “This Packed Funeral.”
Best Albums: I have a much more extensive list of my favorite releases of 2013 up on my blog. These are just my favorite favorites: (Broken Prayer) Broken Prayer, (Gogol Bordello) Pura Vida Conspiracy, (Hunx & His Punx) Street Punk, Janelle Monae (The Electric Lady), (The Julie Ruin) Run Fast, (Man Man) On Oni Pond, (Night Birds) Born to Die in Suburbia, (No Sir, I Won’t) The Door, (Off With Their Heads) Home, (Pissed Jeans) Honeys, (Rough Kids) The State I’m In, (RVIVR) The Beauty Between, (Swearin’) Surfing Strange, (Throwing Muses) Purgatory / Paradise, (Wax Idols) Discipline and Desire
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: As You Were #s 1 and 2 (by a bunch of people, curated by Mitch Clem), and Turnstile Comix #2…by Mitch Clem
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: On The Road
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: You mean culturally, not personally, right? In that case – Naked Raygun @ Metro, June 28th. Although that was both personally and culturally exciting to me.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Again, culturally (but also personally) – I was pretty broken up about Lou Reed’s death, and, more recently (and in a harder-hitting way) about Lorna Donley of Da passing away. And, on a more petty level, I was pretty bummed out that I could not afford to purchase The Clash’s Sound System box set.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Finally making the compilation Clash fanzine I’ve been talking about for over eleven years, now.
Jessie Lynn wrote “Mixtapes From The Midwest” and “Ace of Records” for Forces of Geek
Joe Peacock
Twitter • joethepeacock.com • blog.joethepeacock.com
Best Movies: Whatever the best movies were, they certainly didn’t include Iron Man 3. I’ve had more fun raking leaves, which isn’t much of an insult really because I kinda like raking leaves. But still. It sucked.
Best TV Shows: Breaking Bad series finale was as great as the Dexter season finale sucked.
Best Books (fiction): Neil Gaiman’s Ocean At The End Of The Lane, hands down.
Best Books (non-fiction): “Everyone Deserves To Know What I Think” by me. It’s the best book I’ve ever written this year.
Best Video Game: Grand Theft Auto V
Best Songs: “Suit & Tie” by Justin Timberlake, “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk and Pherrel, “Royals” by Lorde, “Copy of A” by Nine Inch Nails, “Stone” by Alice in Chains, “Open” by Rhye, “Special Education” by Goodie Mob, “Tom Ford” — Jay Z, “So Hard For You” — The Basics
Best Albums: “Woman” — Rhye, “American Sharks” — American Sharks, “Age Against The Machine” — Goodie Mob, “Magna Carta Holy Grail” — Jay Z, “Silence Yourself” — Savages, “Oblivion Hymns” — Hammock
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Skyward — Jeremy Dale, Day Men — Brian Stelfreeze, Saga (of course) — Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Akira 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: The Akira 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray 🙂
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Iron Man 3, without question.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: With the stage that has been set in film, books and comics, 2014 looks to be a landmark year in all fields all the way around. There is so much great stuff in print right now, I’m excited to see where it all goes. Oh, and Prince is on tour again. That’s exciting.
Joe Peacock is an author and curator of the “Art of Akira” exhibit. His latest book, “Everyone Deserves To Know What I Think: Collected Writings, 2003-2013″ is available now and his upcoming column for Forces of Geek will arrive in early 2014.
Jonathan Ryder
Best Movies: We have a two-year-old, so our movie watching has been rather curtailed.
Best TV Shows: See “Best Movies”
Best Books (fiction): Fall of Giants – Ken Follet, Moby Dick – Herman Melville, After – Amy Efaw, The High Crusade – Poul Anderson
Best Books (non-fiction): Two Years Before the Mast – Charles Dana, American Creation – Joseph Ellis, Methland – Nick Reding
Best Video Game: See “Best Movies”
Best Songs: The Wheels on the Bus (did I mention that we have a two-year-old?)
Best Albums: Anything toddler friendly
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Page by Paige – Laura Lee Gulledge, Anya’s Ghost – Vera Brosgol, Friends with Boys – Faith Erin Hicks
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: Getting to fire a 24-pound Coast Artillery cannon at Fort Phoenix, in Fairhaven MA.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: The fact that J.J. Abrams decided to rehash “The Space Seed” and “The Wrath of Khan,” instead of taking Star Trek into unexplored territory. Last time I checked, Star Trek involves boldly going where no man/one has gone before.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Watching our two-year-old develop into a three-year-old.
Jonathan Ryder wrote the “Historigeek” column for Forces of Geek
Steve Belgard
Best TV Shows: American Horror Story: Coven, The Mentalist, Masters of Sex, The Walking Dead
Steve Belgard is a former contributor to Forces of Geek.
Little Sofi
Twitter • Instagram • Facebook
Best Movies:
- The Great Gatsby – One of my all time favourite novels, not a huge fan of Baz Luhrmann but I think he did a good job of demonstrating the lavish sparkliness of the 1920’s rich kids.
- Kick-Ass 2 – Not a bad sequel all round, and was made better by the absence of the character played by World’s Best Worst Actor, Nicholas Cage. The only real weak link was the chapter of Mindy’s storyline that revolved around her high school life, but all was forgiven with the deployment of the ‘sick stick.’
- Elysium – It felt a little rushed, which made it hard to believe in some o the problems faced by Matt Damon’s character. Fatal radiation poisoning, for which we only see him taking medication twice throughout the movie, and major surgery – then running around like a badass hours later. How very Jack Bauer. In spite of this, it was a very enjoyable film with an interesting plot and a great metaphorical representation of American capitalist culture.
Best TV Shows:
- Game of Thrones – HBO win again with incredible casting, costume, music, effects and of course by working side by side with George R.R. Martin on the screenplay of his fantastic series of novels.
- The Returned – Who ever thought that the words ‘subtle’ and ‘zombies’ could be used in the same sentence to describe a television drama? It’s no Walking Dead, so if you are looking for brutal zombie slaying entertainment, then move along. But this IS an epic drama based in a beautiful French mountain town, featuring beautiful cinematography, a mysterious twisty-turney plot and a seductive and twinkly soundtrack by Mogwai. Bring on season two!
Best Books (fiction): I haven’t read anything released in 2013! Mostly older books, Game of Thrones and JK Rowling’s book from 2012 🙁
Best Books (non-fiction): As above.
Best Video Game: The biggest release of the year was obviously GTA V. Having to save cash for a flight at the time, meant I never bought a copy 🙁 However, the in brief spell I did play it I was absolutely blown away by the sheer size of the map! In any kind of RPG I always find myself wanting more in the way of free roaming exploration, but this game has raised the bar – let’s hope 2014 lives up to this standard!
Best Songs: One of my favourite songs this year was one that was actually never released. The Great Gatsby had a great soundtrack, whether you agree with the use of modern music or not. But unfortunately, one of the best tracks from the film was never features on the soundtrack album.
Back to Black, originally by Amy Winehouse and performed by Beyonce was struck from the album by Amy’s father who prefers to remember his daughter by her more positive songs. The sound track still features a few 1920’s themed covers, but none quite as good Back to Black.
Best Albums: Queens of The Stoneage – Like Clockwork, Gwar – Battle Maximus (just for fun…), Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (A little over played, but one of – if not THE fastest selling album of the year. Fun to listen to, and it almost completely redeems Pharrell Williams’ involvement in the year’s rapiest single, Blurred Lines by big time creep Robin Thicke.)
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Again, haven’t read anything released this year!
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: This is The End, Monsters University, Killing Them Softly (RIP James Gandolfini)
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: I was kind of happy about something I had been very disappointed in coming to an end. Breaking Bad promised so much, and never really delivered (to me anyway, I appreciate it was incredibly popular.) But it ended this year, which hopefully means I won’t have to listen to incessant prattle worldwide about how good it is when actually it’s the most one dimensional drama on television.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: I was disappointed to hear that Ben Affleck had been cast as Batman – but then I remembered how I felt when I heard Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker and how wrong I was. So I’m excited to see where that goes…
That Little Sofi is is a well-travelled ‘petite’ model based in the North West of England. She is pierced, tattooed and has a taste for latex, heels, wigs, body painting and playing dress-up as much as possible. She is a graduate of Hogwarts and her column will debut on Forces of Geek in early 2014.
Kate McKendry
Best Movies: Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Best TV Shows: The Walking Dead, Low Winter Sun, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Law and Order SVU
Best Books (fiction): “Let Me Off At The Top! My Classy Life & Other Musings” by Ron Burgundy
Best Songs: “Hail to the King” Avenged Sevenfold, “My Body” Volbeat (cover), “Monster” Eminem
Best Albums: “Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies” Volbeat, “Unorthodox Jukebox” Bruno Mars, “Truth about Love” P!nk, “Marshall Mathers LP 2” Eminem
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: “Dads” TV Show on Fox. Beyond disappointed.
Kate McKendry reviewed “The Walking Dead”, “Hannibal” and “Low Winter Sun” for Forces of Geek
Tony Pacitti
Twitter • blankpatchfilms.com
Best Movies: The World’s End, Frances Ha, Upstream Color
Best TV Shows: Breaking Bad
Best Video Game: Grand Theft Auto V
Best Albums: Vinyl re-releases of the Blade Runner and Halloween soundtracks
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Criterion Collection releases of Being John Malkovich
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: Wolf of Wall Street, Inside Lewlyn Davis, Her (at the time of writing still haven’t seen any of them), Grand Theft Auto V, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Man of Steel
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Man of Steel, Star Trek Into Darkness
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: The Grand Budapest Hotel, something to fill the void left by Breaking Bad
Tony Pacitti is a former columnist and sometime contributor to Forces of Geek
Kevin Cafferty
Twitter
Best Movies: Frances Ha
Best TV Shows: Enlightened, Game of Thrones
Best Books (non-fiction): Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe
Best Video Game: Gone Home
Best Songs: “Get Lucky” – Daft Punk
Best Albums: “Once I Was an Eagle” – Laura Marling
Best Comic Books / Graphic Novels: Saga, Hawkeye
Best Blu-ray/DVD Release: Nashville (Criterion Collection)
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: Punchdrunk’s “The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable”
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Punchdrunk’s “The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable”
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Third Rail Projects’ expanded production of “Roadside Attraction” in NYC.
Kevin Cafferty reviewed “Game of Thrones” for Forces of Geek
Dave Schwensen
Twitter • www.beatlessheastadium.com • www.thecomedybook.com
Best Movies: Grown-ups 2
Best TV Shows: Nashville
Best Books (fiction): Killing Kennedy (get it? fiction!)
Best Books (non-fiction): The Beatles At Shea Stadium (sorry – couldn’t help it!)
Best Albums: The Beatles Live At The BBC Volume TwoThing that you were most excited about in 2013?: The Rolling Stones 50th anniversary shows.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: The public results of Billy Ray Cyrus not disciplining his daughter when she was younger.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Breathing
Dave Schwensen writes “The Classic Rocker” for Forces of Geek. His new book, “The Beatles At Shea Stadium” is available now.
Mike Calahan
B.L.O.G.
Best Movies: Saving Mr. Banks, Much Ado About Nothing, The World’s End, Before Midnight
Best TV Shows: Arrested Development, Arrow, Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Simpsons, Mad Men, Sleepy Hollow
Thing that you were most excited about in 2013?: Any reason to put on a suit.
Thing that disappointed you most in 2013?: Lack of any reasonable and rational gun control due to political theater of Congress.
Thing that you’re most looking forward to in 2014?: Upward mobility.
Mike Calahan is a former columnist for Forces of Geek and is a funny bastard
Kyle Jackson
sixstargeneral.com
Best Movies: Upstream Color, The Wolf of Wall Street, Stories We Tell, The Kings of Summer, Only God Forgives, Gravity, The Place Beyond the Pines, A Band Called Death, Frances Ha, Iron Man 3
Best Albums: Queens of the Stone Age – Like Clockwork, Sebadoh – Defend Yourself, Daft Punk – Random Access Memories, Two Cow Garage – The Death of the Self Preservation Society, Superchunk – I Hate Music, Destroyer – Five Spanish Songs, The Polyphonic Spree – Yes, It’s True, The Men – New Moon, Flaming Lips – The Terror, Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze
Kyle Jackson is a former editor for Forces of Geek and is the guitarist and vocalist for the indie punk/rock band Six Star General. Their newest album, “Hair Supply,” now available on 75orless Records.
