PoP, Edition 10

Some day I'd like to be well-informed enough about one particular subject to write a truly amazing End of Year Best/Worst List. I'm not there yet, but as a reviewer, it's the least I can do to try my hand at my own variation.

The Top Ten Events That Happened In Gretchen's World of Entertainment in 2008
10. Who would have thought that a love story between robots could be so compelling? Wall-E is a masterpiece and I sincerely hope it gets a chance to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

9. I praise the heavens daily for the gift of TV on DVD. This year, I was able to catch up on Freaks and Geeks, Wonderfalls, How I Met Your Mother, and Battlestar Galactica. Hulu.com is a potential runner-up.

8.Thanks to graduation, I've had much more time on my hands to read for fun. I recommend Graceling, Paper Towns, My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park, and Love is a Mixtape.

7. I'm no gamer, but I can hold my own in Guitar Hero and Rock Band. (If we're talking about the medium setting...) But when I heard that The Beatles were coming to Rock Band, I experienced music/gamer Nirvana. Just the fact that they're planning on making such a game is enough to make this fangirl freak out.

6. Confession: Sometimes I feel inadequate as a music aficionado. There's so much I need to hear and there is much I have to learn. On the other hand, I feel like a had a great year in terms of music exploration. If you haven't done so, please give a listen to She & Him: Volume One, The Raveonettes: Lust Lust Lust, Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago, Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend, Girl Talk: Feed The Animals, Coldplay: Viva la Vida Or Death And All His Friends, Joshua Radin: Simple Times, and Ray LaMontagne: Gossip in the Grain.

5. I have a love/hate relationship with Amy Ryan. I love her for what she brought to The Office as Holly Flax and I hate her for leaving . Her short stint as the HR Rep/love interest was charming and memorable. She brought a spark back to the show *and* to Michael, which is note-worthy indeed. Oh, and then Pam and Jim got engaged. That was a pretty big deal for me.

4. 2008 proved a profitable year for such blockbusters as Iron Man and Twilight, but let's not forget the smaller screen-stealers like Be Kind, Rewind, Ghost Town, Kung Fu Panda, and Cloverfield. (Totally kidding about that last one. Egads, that movie was such a waste of time. But seriously. Go see the others.)

3. One small step for TV, one giant step for Writerkind? The Writer's Strike was not an easy affair, but it was necessary in earning fair pay for telvision writers. I'm not eager for a repeat anytime soon, but we've got so far to go--fingers crossed that things go more smoothly the next time negotiations come around.

2. (tie) A: For what it's worth, I was aware of the genius that is Tina Fey from the moment she took the Head Writer's job at SNL. So I was super thrilled to see her get recognition for her impression of Sarah Palin, but I was even more excited for the exposure it gave 30 Rock.
B: Tina brought in some much-needed levity to the main focus of 2008--the presidential election. This was the first year I actually took an interest in politics. The election was exhausting and overwhelming and fascinating and rewarding. I can't wait to see where 2009 takes us.

1. I hardly need to start preaching the wonders of the world wide web to you all, but wasn't it a stellar year for the internet? Viral content is beginning to infuse all aspects of life and while that's sorta scary, it's mostly awesome. Joss Whedon pioneered a whole new brand of content--the made-for-internet mini-series (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog). Felicia Day's The Guild opened so many doors for self-made webisodes/vlogs. Twitter exploded as the hot micro-blogging social network. Weezer capitalized on the youtube phenomenon with their video for Pork and Beans. And we really can't forget the genius of How Is Babby Formed.