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Favourite Film Of 2009
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
A masterpiece of modern horror cinema and probably the best vampire flick of all time, no easy feat as you can imagine but Let The Right One pulls it off with style completely reinventing an entire genre in the process. If it wasn’t for the slightly dodgy cat scene this would be absolutely flawless. I await the needless remake with dread.
Worst Film of 2009
TRANSFORMERS 2
The first Transformers was ace so like most I thought the prospect of a bigger, louder movie with more moving parts couldn’t fail, right? How wrong I was. Overstuffed to the point of a Mr Creosote like explosion, horribly misjudged in places (racist robots, giant testicles, what were they thinking?) and with enough plot holes to make you wonder if they actually had scriptwriters or just cobbled together some cool ideas into the semblance of a narrative. Dreadful
Favourite TV Show Of 2009
SUPERNATURAL
What started out as a fun, but lightweight, monster of the week formula show has really come of age in its fifth season, carrying on the good work started by creator Eric Kripke and the rest of the writing team in the show’s fourth season. Mythology and series arc episodes now dominate to the point that everything feels important and with the end of the world hanging in the balance the stakes couldn’t be much higher. Not to mention the fact that it’s also as thrilling, shocking and frequently hilarious as any show on TV right now (SF or not). Essential viewing.
Worst TV Show of 2009
TRINITY
An intriguing set-up, the presence of Charles Dance and a promising Skins vibe lured me in to this mess of a show which ultimately left me frustrated more than anything because it’s clear with wittier writing, stories that actually give the characters something to do and a central mystery that went somewhere it could have been so much better. It ends on a cliffhanger but unless there’s a major shakeup (just look at Misfits for some tips on how to make brilliant teen SF) I won’t be tuning in for the new term.
Favourite Game of 2009
UNCHARTED 2/BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM
2009 was a stellar year for video games with enough top titles on all formats to ensure that some of us didn’t see daylight for days at a time but the standouts for me were Uncharted 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum. Uncharted was a fun but flawed action adventure with seriously repetitive gunplay, but the sequel smoothes out all the wrinkles and is just about the most cinematic game you’ll ever play with slick, breathtaking set-pieces and production values through the roof. In Nathan, Elena, Chloe, and Sully it also has a quartet of central characters more human and likable than most movies nowadays.
Batman on the other hand makes it on this list purely by virtue of the fact it made Batman games fun for the first time in years. With a great story from comic writer Paul Dini and encounters with (almost) all of Batman’s most famous villain gallery there’s enough fanboy moments to have even those only familiar with Batman’s film and TV incarnations frequently emitting squeals of delight. With the most satisfying combat in any game to date and more gadgets than you know what to do with at times there’s more than enough potential for an even better follow up. Rocksteady we salute you.
Worst GameOF 2009
STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS: REPUBLIC HEROES
Buggy, annoying, ugly third person action adventure set in the 3D animated Clone Wars universe. Manages to be worse than Force Unleashed (despite that games flaws) and just about any other game on the shelves at the moment. Play at your peril.
Personal highlight of 2009
Starting work at SFX (and meeting Dave G, obviously)
It’s not often you get to say I’m doing my dream job but that’s exactly what SFX has been for me since I started just over three months ago. The entire team are genuinely the nicest people you could ever possibly hope to work with, they’re all fiercely passionate about what we cover and completely dedicated to the magazine they’ve nurtured through its fifteen years on this planet. My personal highs so far have included attending London Expo – where I got to interview the stars of Warehouse 13 and the two Daxes – and attending the premiere of The Prisoner remake – where I resisted the urge to bellow “You Shall Not Pass!” at Ian Mckellen as I crossed him on the stairs. Probably the right decision in retrospect.
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