So my friend Mazie recently did a 5x5 review, and I really like the idea, so I've decided to do my own. I changed one of the categories to better reflect my personal interests, but the rest of the structure is taken from hers.
Edit: My friend Cody has also decided to do one as well!
Here I will be going over my top 5 favourite things of the year from the
following 5 categories:
- Movies
- Books
- Games
- Musics
- TV Shows
Also, I have decided to go based on things that I personally experienced for the first time in 2013, rather than things that were newly released in 2013, so that I am reflecting on my year rather than the year of 2013 as a whole. This is what Mazie did in her 5x5 and I really liked that approach, so I have decided to imitate it. Therefore, there are a lot of things on here that didn't actually come out in 2013, but that I personally experienced in 2013.
Anyway, here are my favourites from those categories:
Movies
5) Pitch Perfect
- I volunteered at an arts camp this summer and all any of the campers wanted to do the whole week was the cup song. They would sing Taylor Swift songs while doing the cup thing, do the cup thing before we ate, and they pretty much spoke in nothing but pure Pitch Perfect references. As I had not seen the film before this week, I had no idea what was going on, and was confused most of the time. After arts camp ended, I decided to watch the movie so I could understand what they had been talking about the whole time, and I actually ended up loving the movie and watching it like 2 more times in a week, and it has since become one of my favourites. It's aca-awesome!
4) Make the Yuletide Gay
- Wasn't really the best movie ever: it relied a lot on lame puns and mediocre innuendo and a lot of things were awkwardly paced and written. However, it made up for this by having a few really, really strong scenes, with a particularly strong ending that made me really happy. Overall, I did really enjoy the movie, even if I have to admit that it was weak in a lot of places.
3) Iron Man 3
Much, much better than Iron Man 2. Although there were some weak spots, I really enjoyed the film as a whole. The interaction between Tony Stark and Harley was delightful, and the Bruce Banner cameo at the end was hilarious.
2) Thor: The Dark World
I enjoyed this one more than Iron Man. To be fair, though, I also prefer Thor to Iron Man in general, so I'm biased. I love Darcy's character, and it was nice to see her again. Loki's role in the film was fantastic, and the movie overall had the great mix of humour, drama and action to keep me enteratined.
1) Frozen
Anyone who knows me will not be surprised at all that this is at the top of the list. I absolutely loved this film! I found all of the characters to be interesting and enjoyable to watch, and I really like how it undermines a lot of traditional fairly-tale notions about true love and about what types of relationships are important. The music was amazing as well, and I just generally had a fantastic time watching this movie!
Books
5) Dubliners: James Joyce
I technically read part of this
before 2013 since I read Araby in first year. However, this summer was the
first time I actually read the whole book, so I still consider it to be
a 2013 thing.
I have enjoyed everything by Joyce I have read before, but reading the whole collection of stories in Dubliners was probably my favourite experience with him so far. Eveline was particularly heartbreaking, but the collection as a whole was just amazing. Joyce has a way with words that just moves you.
4) The Thief: Megan Turner
I read this novel for a fantasy class I took, and my first reaction was to go on Amazon and order the rest of the series! It starts off a bit dry, and my first reaction was to think that I wasn't going to enjoy it. However, once you get to about the halfway point, it starts to really take off, and you find out why all of the exposition was so important. Turner's series may end up becoming a new favourite for me!
