Joe Ray’s Top Five 2010: Games

And now for the top five games of the year. Movie has been done: http://joerayw.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/joe-rays-top-five-2010-movies/ and music: http://joerayw.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/joe-rays-top-five-albums-2010/ . Last year it went in reverse with games getting the first post and films last, maybe this was planned to reverse it all this year?

There have been a load of great games this year though when it comes to making my top five list there are rules. First I ignore ports of old games which kind of go in the same vein as the Pinkerton Deluxe Edition reasoning in the music section so the likes of Perfect Dark have to be missed. Remakes are fine as they tend to have enough new things to be featured, so Monkey Island Special Edition 2 would be fine. Then I forget about ports of games which came out elsewhere last year which means Plants Vs. Zombies, Zeno Clash and And Yet It Moves miss the cut. Harsh but they should have got them to me last year while everyone was enjoying the games on PC! And the final rule is I have to have completed the game, I feel it makes my top five list a little fairer as I’ve seen everything they have to offer. It does make me wave to The Last Window, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Red Dead Redemption though. See all these omissions as worthwhile games and let us tuck into the top five games of the year!

Top Five Games Of 2010: Whatever Joe Ray Thinks. (And click the picture for a link to my blog entries on them)

Joe Ray’s Top Five 2010: Albums

And the top five lists by me continue as I leave the movies and move onto the music. The 2010 top five movie list is here: http://joerayw.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/joe-rays-top-five-2010-movies/ and the music list happens to be on this very post. Who’d have thought?

So music this year, I haven’t enjoyed the albums I’ve listened to as much as last years lot. Nothing really stood out for me in such a way as they did last year but that doesn’t mean I didn’t listen to some great CDs this year. Pinkerton Deluxe Edition by Weezer would easily be my number one despite Pink Triangle featuring five times. But I see it as a super special edition rather than a new release, the tracks are B sides and completions of uncompleted tracks you see. Voting it one on a 2010 list would be similar to voting a Blu Ray of Star Wars with two extra minutes footage as number one and that won’t do. So like with The Beatles Stereo versions last year Pinkerton must stay at the side but it can be happy to know it is the best music I’ve heard all year, even if most of it is from fourteen years ago. So let us put on our headphones and listen to some Justin Bieber.

Top Five Albums Of 2010: Whatever Joe Ray Thinks. (And click the picture for a link to my blog entries on them or something else like the official site or a photo of a watermelon.)

Joe Ray’s Top Five 2010: Movies

Hello. 2010 is over in a day or so, so I thought it was probably time to do these top five things again. Movie, music and games. I would also like to do my top five television programmes, top five meals, top five dreams, top five books and top five top fives, but I think settling for these three keeps things simple. Maybe next year I can introduce these exciting categories as I only just came up with them right this minute. What an oversight! For the record my favourite TV show was Psychoville Halloween special, meal was cheese and ham crepes, dream was one about detective shadows, book was ‘I haven’t read enough books from this year but it probably wasn’t Stories and top five is top five shades of yellow. Some unlucky people only interested in the music and games will miss this opening, but they can read about my thoughts on chairs. All is well.

Top Five Movies Of 2010: Whatever Joe Ray Thinks. (And click the picture for a link to my blog entries on them)

Bottle Rocket

Film: Bottle Rocket
Release Date: 21st February 1996
Director: Wes Anderson
Rating: 15
Columbia Pictures

Is that Owen Wilson? No is that Owen Wilson? A double act? No… let me check the DVD case… ah! Brothers! It was a confusion at the start of the film when two guys with a similar looking face appeared on-screen but after a quick sanity check with the DVD everything made sense. That was the start of Bottle Rocket for me.

Gin Tama Volume 16: German Suplex Any Woman Who Asks, ‘Which Is More Important, Me Or Your Work?’

Gin Tama Volume 16: German Suplex Any Woman Who Asks, ‘Which Is More Important, Me Or Your Work?’
Story and Art: Hideaki Sorachi
Release Date: 27th December 2006
Covers Chapters 131-139
Shonen Jump Advanced /Viz Media

Emotions rise in volume 16 before we fall back into the land of fun. This time the tale of a dying love continues before a hard boiled tale and a sex change plot. The usual then.

Heavy Liquid

Heavy Liquid
Story and Art: Paul Pope
Release Date: February 2000
Vertigo

Ruined cities of the future are my favourite. I want to live in the world of Blade Runner and the world set in Heavy Liquid I could settle for. A graphic novel of a dark crowded city with people dressing in strange outfits host the story of a strange metal which can be used as a drug and a person hunting case. Heavy Liquid is graphic novel neo-noir giving its all.

Gin Tama Volume 15: The Best Makeup For Women Is Their Smiles

Gin Tama Volume 15: The Best Makeup For Women Is Their Smiles
Story and Art: Hideaki Sorachi
Release Date: 2nd November 2006
Covers Chapters 122-130
Shonen Jump Advanced /Viz Media

The Yagyu arc comes to a close this volume and the one shots return, dojo battles, driving lessons, ninja delivery, dog mating, temporary hosts and spicy food obsessed sisters await. 

Gin Tama Volume 14: Four Heads Are Better Than One

Gin Tama Volume 14: Four Heads Are Better Than One
Story and Art: Hideaki Sorachi
Release Date: 4th September 2006
Covers Chapters 113-121
Shonen Jump Advanced /Viz Media

Volume 13 finished on a cliffhanger as Gin, Kagura, Shinpachi, Kondo, Okita and Hijikara challenged the Yagyu clan to get Shinpachi’s sister Otae back and volume 14 spends the whole duration going through the battle. One story and a lot of fighting begins!

Hard Boiled

Film: Hard Boiled
Release Date: 16th April 1992
Director: John Woo
Rating: 18

An action film can be measured in worth by the amount of explosions and gun fights it contains. With this measurement Hard Boiled should rank as one of the best action films of all time. Boom.

Audition

Film: Audition
Release Date: 6th October 1999
Director: Takashi Miike
Rating: 18
Vitagraph Films

It started off as a romance, it was a slow-paced film with little happening and it was mildly entertaining. I was enjoying the general Japanese family life story and the auditions were presented in a nice way for the main guy to find a new girlfriend. The dates were cute, everything was pleasant. Then the bag moved.