Wouldn't be the first time.
50 Books. 50 Movies. 1 Year (2014).
- Thread starter Tragicomedy
- Start date
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Wouldn't be the first time.
Yep! Both of them were great. There are tons of classics I've never seen, so I've still got plenty of good stuff for future years.
I believe Miyazaki did the graphic novel to show that the story could work, then did the movie. The movie covers maybe a quarter to a third of the total story. Solid movie, but the full story is pretty amazing.
markhimself46
Member
Markhimself46 - 32/50 Books | 81/50 Movies
Falling short of this challenge yet again =/
Definitely going to try again for 2015 though!
Falling short of this challenge yet again =/
Definitely going to try again for 2015 though!
Tragicomedy
Member
Pau's got this. I'm already working on my first two books for next year, so looking forward to officially committing myself to the challenge.
For the record, I'll start working the final update later tomorrow night. Let's close out 2014 with a bang.
Yep! Both of them were great. There are tons of classics I've never seen, so I've still got plenty of good stuff for future years.
Awesome. I feel like I've nearly exhausted all the classics from the 80s and 90s, though I'm sure there are some hidden gems out there. I can always look back to the 60s and 70s, since I've seen so little from those decades, but I doubt it will come to that. I'll spend most of next year catching up to what I missed this year and seeing new releases.
You logged 24 books and 58 movies in 2013. I'd say that's a pretty massive improvement. Congratulations!
I'll be posting it on January 1. I'm trying to make it pretty with drawings and stuffs.
Also watched my 50th movie last night! Officially done with the challenge!
Tragicomedy
Member
Forsaken82
Member
I am sure I will be back in 2015! I know I likely won't hit the goal, but these challenges get me reading again.
I suspect movies to continue to go down and books to go up. Plan is to be a lot more balanced in 2015.
FUBAR McDangles
Member
Trying to plow through the first book in the Mistborn Trilogy.
It is an intriguing book for sure but is not really enticing me to continue. I got the whole trilogy on kindle and the lack of page numbers might be a bit of a detraction as well. I'm 12% through the entire 1000 page thing, so should be around page 120 or so out of ~310 or whatever the first book is.
I am at 49 books in the year right now. I can't fall short now.
It is an intriguing book for sure but is not really enticing me to continue. I got the whole trilogy on kindle and the lack of page numbers might be a bit of a detraction as well. I'm 12% through the entire 1000 page thing, so should be around page 120 or so out of ~310 or whatever the first book is.
I am at 49 books in the year right now. I can't fall short now.
Tragicomedy
Member
Balance is important for me. I have the opposite problem from you, so it helped keep my movie count more in line with my books throughout the year.
I really hate how they pack stuff together like that on the Kindle. I read The Hunger Games packaged together and it presents a false sense of progress and can be disheartening. I have the same Mistborn collection, so not excited about that.
But...you've got this!
Handsomejan
Member
Kindle arrived today. my mind is ready for the 2015 challenge
Planning on getting into this next year. Already pre-borrowed a book from the Kindle Lending Library, since they only let you get one of those a month. Figure with my physical book backlog, digital book backlog, and maybe library (haven't had to get books from them in a long while 
), the Kindle Lending stuff should round me out to 50 or thereabouts.
In the video game version of this, we put summaries of the games we played, and I'd like to do something similar here. (Like an excuse to talk about the book I read, even if I'm the only one who cares what I say. ) If the rest of the format is followed, would that be okay? Spoilers would go in tags, of course.
Looking forward to it!
), the Kindle Lending stuff should round me out to 50 or thereabouts. In the video game version of this, we put summaries of the games we played, and I'd like to do something similar here. (Like an excuse to talk about the book I read, even if I'm the only one who cares what I say.
) If the rest of the format is followed, would that be okay? Spoilers would go in tags, of course.I'll be posting it on January 1. I'm trying to make it pretty with drawings and stuffs.
Looking forward to it!
Teptom - 34/50 Books | 31/50 Movies
Welp, the same thing happened this year: Started off strong, had barely any production during the summer, and then picked it up a bit in the fall/winter. I even ended up with roughly the same number of books/films.
Here's the books/films I gave five stars to this year:
Books
Phillip K. Dick - Ubik (1969)
Joe Meno - The Boy Detective Fails (2006)
Isaac Asimov - Yours, Isaac Asimov: A Lifetime in Letters (1995)
Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2010)
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - Good Omens (1990)
Films
Chris Miller and Phil Lord - Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Joel and Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
James Gunn - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Welp, the same thing happened this year: Started off strong, had barely any production during the summer, and then picked it up a bit in the fall/winter. I even ended up with roughly the same number of books/films.
Here's the books/films I gave five stars to this year:
Books
Phillip K. Dick - Ubik (1969)
Joe Meno - The Boy Detective Fails (2006)
Isaac Asimov - Yours, Isaac Asimov: A Lifetime in Letters (1995)
Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (2010)
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - Good Omens (1990)
Films
Chris Miller and Phil Lord - Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Joel and Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
James Gunn - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Ashes - Books 51/50 | Films 63/50 | Seasons 22/12 |
Books
1. Cards on the table. [ A. Christie]
2. From Hell
3. Thirteen Problems.
4. X'ed Out
5. The Hive
6. The Quiet American
7. Dracula.
8. Black Hole
9. Blindness
10. Flatland
11. Train Dreams
12. The Time Machine
13. The Tombs of Atuan.
14. Hatchet.
15. Lady Susan.
16. The Importance of being Earnest.
17. The Giver.
18. Passing.
19. The War of the Worlds
20. We have always lived in the castle
21. Divergence
22. The Awakening
23. The Hounds of Baskerville
24. Red Harvest
25. O Pioneer
26. Shards of Honour
27. The Maze Runner
28. The Kreutzer Sonata
29. The Scorch Trials
30. The Death Cure
31. Annihilation
32. Miss Lonely Hearts
33. The Day Of The Locusts
34. Inferno (Dan Brown)
35. The Sign of the Beaver
36. Cycle of the werewolf
37. The Children Act
38. The Body
39. The Call of the Wild
40. Chess Story
41. A Christmas Carol
42. The Red Pony
43. The Chimes
44. Pobby and Dingan
45. The Cricket on the Hearth.
46. Einstein's Dreams
47. The Battle of Life: A Love Story
48. Mieko and the Fifth Treasure Eleanor Coer
49. The Outsiders
50. The House on Mango Street
51. The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain, A Fancy for Christmas-Time
Films
1. I Married A Witch.
2. African Queen.
3. American Hustle.
4. Wolf on Wall Street.
5. The Kid
6. Tropic Thunder
7. Meet me in St Louis
8. Don Jon
9. Bicycle Thief
10. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
11. The Lunch Box
12. Madras Cafe
13. The 400 blows
14. Dog Day Afternoon
15. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
16. Schindler's list.*
17. War Horse
18. The Conjuring
19. Vuk (the little fox)
20. Thor: The Dark World.
21. Bees Saal Baad
22. Life is Beautiful
23. Adult World.
24. Castaway on the Moon
25. Her
26. Winter's Bone
27. Captain Phillips
28. Only God Forgives
29. Top Gun
30. Lost Boys
31. B.A. Pass
32. The Graduate
33. Arthur Christmas
34. Cocktail
35. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
36. Oblivion
37. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
38. Spring Breakers
39. The Hobbit
40. 12 years a slave
41. Blue Jasmine
42. Before Midnight
43. Highway
44. Hasee to Phasee
44. Queen
45. Wreck it Ralph
46. Frankenweenie
47. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
48. The Grand Budapest Hotel
49. Philomena
50. Godzilla
51. The Raid 2
52. The Cove
53. The Edge of Tomorrow
54. The Wind Rises
55. A Million ways to die in the west
56. Ted.
57. A Gay Divorce.
58 Interstellar
59 Hunger Games 3 - part 1
60. Dawn of the Planet of Apes
61. The Maze Runner
62. Guardians of the Galaxy
63. The Hobbit 3.
Seasons
1. Sherlock Holmes Series 3.
2. The Legend of Korra
3. Black Lagoon
4. Black Lagoon:the second barrage
5. Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
6. True Detective
7. The Musketeers
8. Jamaica Inn
9. Happy Valley
10. Game of Thrones
11. Space Dandy season 1
12. Fargo
13. The Legend of Korea Book 3
14. True Blood final season
15. Sword Art Online Season 1
16. Californication final season
17. RWBY season 1
18. RWBY season 2
19. Space Battleship Yamato 2199
20. The Legend of Korra book 4
21. The Fall s2
22. Akame ga Kill!
Books
1. Cards on the table. [ A. Christie]
2. From Hell
3. Thirteen Problems.
4. X'ed Out
5. The Hive
6. The Quiet American
7. Dracula.
8. Black Hole
9. Blindness
10. Flatland
11. Train Dreams
12. The Time Machine
13. The Tombs of Atuan.
14. Hatchet.
15. Lady Susan.
16. The Importance of being Earnest.
17. The Giver.
18. Passing.
19. The War of the Worlds
20. We have always lived in the castle
21. Divergence
22. The Awakening
23. The Hounds of Baskerville
24. Red Harvest
25. O Pioneer
26. Shards of Honour
27. The Maze Runner
28. The Kreutzer Sonata
29. The Scorch Trials
30. The Death Cure
31. Annihilation
32. Miss Lonely Hearts
33. The Day Of The Locusts
34. Inferno (Dan Brown)
35. The Sign of the Beaver
36. Cycle of the werewolf
37. The Children Act
38. The Body
39. The Call of the Wild
40. Chess Story
41. A Christmas Carol
42. The Red Pony
43. The Chimes
44. Pobby and Dingan
45. The Cricket on the Hearth.
46. Einstein's Dreams
47. The Battle of Life: A Love Story
48. Mieko and the Fifth Treasure Eleanor Coer
49. The Outsiders
50. The House on Mango Street
51. The Haunted Man and the Ghosts Bargain, A Fancy for Christmas-Time
Films
1. I Married A Witch.
2. African Queen.
3. American Hustle.
4. Wolf on Wall Street.
5. The Kid
6. Tropic Thunder
7. Meet me in St Louis
8. Don Jon
9. Bicycle Thief
10. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
11. The Lunch Box
12. Madras Cafe
13. The 400 blows
14. Dog Day Afternoon
15. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
16. Schindler's list.*
17. War Horse
18. The Conjuring
19. Vuk (the little fox)
20. Thor: The Dark World.
21. Bees Saal Baad
22. Life is Beautiful
23. Adult World.
24. Castaway on the Moon
25. Her
26. Winter's Bone
27. Captain Phillips
28. Only God Forgives
29. Top Gun
30. Lost Boys
31. B.A. Pass
32. The Graduate
33. Arthur Christmas
34. Cocktail
35. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
36. Oblivion
37. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
38. Spring Breakers
39. The Hobbit
40. 12 years a slave
41. Blue Jasmine
42. Before Midnight
43. Highway
44. Hasee to Phasee
44. Queen
45. Wreck it Ralph
46. Frankenweenie
47. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
48. The Grand Budapest Hotel
49. Philomena
50. Godzilla
51. The Raid 2
52. The Cove
53. The Edge of Tomorrow
54. The Wind Rises
55. A Million ways to die in the west
56. Ted.
57. A Gay Divorce.
58 Interstellar
59 Hunger Games 3 - part 1
60. Dawn of the Planet of Apes
61. The Maze Runner
62. Guardians of the Galaxy
63. The Hobbit 3.
Seasons
1. Sherlock Holmes Series 3.
2. The Legend of Korra
3. Black Lagoon
4. Black Lagoon:the second barrage
5. Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail
6. True Detective
7. The Musketeers
8. Jamaica Inn
9. Happy Valley
10. Game of Thrones
11. Space Dandy season 1
12. Fargo
13. The Legend of Korea Book 3
14. True Blood final season
15. Sword Art Online Season 1
16. Californication final season
17. RWBY season 1
18. RWBY season 2
19. Space Battleship Yamato 2199
20. The Legend of Korra book 4
21. The Fall s2
22. Akame ga Kill!
A big thank you to Tragicomedy for seeing this thread to the end of the year. You're work is well appreciated mate.
And thank you to all the participants we had this year, especially the new ones. The thread is empty without you guys. Ha ha.
Good luck to everyone who wishes to participate in the forthcoming year.
edit: Lol. Read my 11th novel on August 26th. Totally the wrong way to go about this. #409.
And thank you to all the participants we had this year, especially the new ones. The thread is empty without you guys. Ha ha.
Good luck to everyone who wishes to participate in the forthcoming year.
edit: Lol. Read my 11th novel on August 26th. Totally the wrong way to go about this. #409.
Tragicomedy
Member
In the video game version of this, we put summaries of the games we played, and I'd like to do something similar here. (Like an excuse to talk about the book I read, even if I'm the only one who cares what I say.
Yes, particularly early on people were doing this. It died off somewhat, and with books there's a lot more discussion typically in the "What Are You Reading?" threads, but that sort of thing is always welcome in here!
Congrats, Ashes! I think we need a special badge or something to recognize multiple time winners.
I'm in the mountain time zone, and usually knock out the updates at ~1100 PM, or 0100 AM eastern time.
Tragicomedy
Member
Where are you at right now? And why are you posting on GAF and not watching a bunch of shortish movies?!?
markhimself46
Member
Oh wow, forgot that I only saw 58 movies in 2013. Not too bad then. Determined to hit 50 books in 2015 though! Thanks for the encouragement and thanks again for running this thread; you do a killer job with it, man!
Update.
Books:
39. Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny - ★★★
40. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman - ★★★ - This needed breathing room and should have been a full novel. As a novella it's rushed and never given the time it needs.
41. Vampire Hunter D Volume 10: Dark Nocturne by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★
42. Proxima by Stephen Baxter - ★★★
43. Vampire Hunter D Volume 11: Pale Fallen Angel by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★★
Movies:
110. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - ★★★
111. Begin Again - ★★
112. The Giver - ★★
113. Hercules - ★★★
114. Trust Me - ★★★
115. Frequencies - ★★★
116. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - ★★★
117. The Hobbit 3 - ★★★
118. The Expendables 3 - ★★ - This movie was pretty bad - except for one thing: Mel Gibson. Gibson's parts might as well come from some other, good movie.
119. Draft Day - ★★
120. All Is Bright - ★★★
121. The Grand Budapest Hotel - ★★★★ - This is rather like a children's story and that's wonderful.
My final update. I could read another book today, but I won't. What I learned from this challenge: I watch far more movies than I thought I did, as I didn't even go out of my way to see more than about two dozen of these. As far as books go: I tired of sifting through books to read years ago and that's what holds me back, as I used to read more than 50 a year without doing something like this. (In other words: Excuses!)
My favorites of the year in books:
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov by Robert Chandler
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
I See By My Outfit by Peter S. Beagle
Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo
In movies:
Wolfhound
Dallas Buyers Club
Once Upon a Time in the West
Home
Her
Fury
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Books:
39. Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny - ★★★
40. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman - ★★★ - This needed breathing room and should have been a full novel. As a novella it's rushed and never given the time it needs.
41. Vampire Hunter D Volume 10: Dark Nocturne by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★
42. Proxima by Stephen Baxter - ★★★
43. Vampire Hunter D Volume 11: Pale Fallen Angel by Hideyuki Kikuchi - ★★★
110. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - ★★★
111. Begin Again - ★★
112. The Giver - ★★
113. Hercules - ★★★
114. Trust Me - ★★★
115. Frequencies - ★★★
116. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - ★★★
117. The Hobbit 3 - ★★★
118. The Expendables 3 - ★★ - This movie was pretty bad - except for one thing: Mel Gibson. Gibson's parts might as well come from some other, good movie.
119. Draft Day - ★★
120. All Is Bright - ★★★
121. The Grand Budapest Hotel - ★★★★ - This is rather like a children's story and that's wonderful.
My final update. I could read another book today, but I won't. What I learned from this challenge: I watch far more movies than I thought I did, as I didn't even go out of my way to see more than about two dozen of these. As far as books go: I tired of sifting through books to read years ago and that's what holds me back, as I used to read more than 50 a year without doing something like this. (In other words: Excuses!)
My favorites of the year in books:
Russian Magic Tales from Pushkin to Platonov by Robert Chandler
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
I See By My Outfit by Peter S. Beagle
Six Feet Over It by Jennifer Longo
In movies:
Wolfhound
Dallas Buyers Club
Once Upon a Time in the West
Home
Her
Fury
The Grand Budapest Hotel
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
With less than 7 hours left this year (here) I think I'm pretty happy. Once I'm awake tomorrow I'll try to post a best of-post. That is to say if I don't have a massive headache. Gratz to everyone who has entered and performed above their expectations! Have a good start on the new year.
Peru - Books 38/50
32. Jørgen H. Marthinsen - Arkivteori - en innføring ★★½
33. Ivar Fonnes - Arkivhåndboken for offentlig forvaltning ★★½
34. Gudmund Valderhaug - Fotnote eller tekst? Arkiv og arkivarar i det 21. hundreåret ★★★½
35. Elizabeth Shepherd & Geoffrey Yeo - Managing Records, a handbook of principles and practice ★★★
36. Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey ★★★★
37. Charlotte Brontë - The Professor ★★★★
38. Edith Wharton - The House of Mirth ★★★★★
My last update of the year. Not 50, then, but not bad either.
Movies? More than 50, but I never started on any sort of log and I'm not going to try to retrace my steps so I'll leave it blank.
32. Jørgen H. Marthinsen - Arkivteori - en innføring ★★½
33. Ivar Fonnes - Arkivhåndboken for offentlig forvaltning ★★½
34. Gudmund Valderhaug - Fotnote eller tekst? Arkiv og arkivarar i det 21. hundreåret ★★★½
35. Elizabeth Shepherd & Geoffrey Yeo - Managing Records, a handbook of principles and practice ★★★
36. Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey ★★★★
37. Charlotte Brontë - The Professor ★★★★
38. Edith Wharton - The House of Mirth ★★★★★
My last update of the year. Not 50, then, but not bad either.
Movies? More than 50, but I never started on any sort of log and I'm not going to try to retrace my steps so I'll leave it blank.
Beeblebrox
Member
Looks like I didn't come close to my goal when it comes to reading, finished 8 books, and started 2 more which I still didn't finish. Oh well, gonna finish at least one of them in 2015 (not to mention couple of new ones I bought last week, which I can't wait to start reading).
Anyways, my final update for 2014:
Beeblebrox - 8/50 books, 51/50 movies
Looking forward to the next year's challenge, and all those drawings you mentioned Pau
And, once again, hats off to Tragicomedy for organising the challenge this year!
Anyways, my final update for 2014:
Beeblebrox - 8/50 books, 51/50 movies
Looking forward to the next year's challenge, and all those drawings you mentioned Pau
And, once again, hats off to Tragicomedy for organising the challenge this year!
Tragicomedy
Member
Books? Well I read two so I definitely didn't come close there
If they were each 2,500+ pages, I say count it!
I wanted to make sure you realized the significant progress is all. I don't know what sort of life events and projects you have lined up for 2015, but I think you can easily make this next year. Mix in some comics and lighter fare on the reading side to speed things up and minimize burnout.
I'm expecting this to be a common mention here. It really is a freaking amazing book. Hell, I'd recommend it to people who don't even intend on reading the two sequels.
What I love about your list is how different it is thematically than anything I read. It's a healthy reminder that I need to branch out more in my book choices.
Finally finished watching 50 movies. I am never, ever going to attempt that again. Books are fine, but I just watched 12 movies in less than 2 days and my brain has turned into mush.
Not really sure if I want to attempt the reading challenge next year, but I'll definitely try to read more than 50.
Not really sure if I want to attempt the reading challenge next year, but I'll definitely try to read more than 50.
Tragicomedy
Member
My personal "best of" for the year:
Books
Laird Barron - The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013) - ★★★★ - So this book rocks. I'm not big on the horror genre, but Barron produced a series of separate but related short stories that I could not put down. Very surreal and very creepy stuff. I love the approach here, which slowly builds up your fear of the unseen and unknown, rather than tossing out schlocky scenes of gruesome gore. Highly recommended.
Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards! (1989) - ★★★★★ - I believe this was the ninth Discworld book I've read, but it's the first one to actually wow me. This book is flat out hilarious. I haven't laughed at any of Pratchett's other books, but this one hit all the right notes for me. A great send up of all the stereotypes and tropes in fantasy.
Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance (2014) - ★★★★★ - I haven't read Mistborn, but I don't see how it can contend wtih the first two books of the Stormlight Archives. This second novel surpasses the first one in every category. I was most impressed by how quickly the action progressed for a proposed ten book series. It feels like we've seen stuff that normally wouldn't happen until book four of five, and I'm perfectly fine with that. It does have the usual Sanderson dialogue cheese and fake swear words, but I enter his books now with those expectations firmly in place.
Jeff VanderMeer - Annihilation (2014) - ★★★★ - I think enough has been said about this book already in the "What Are You Reading?" threads to write our own GAF novel, so I'll avoid repetition. My mini-review: this book will haunt me forever.
BOOK OF THE YEAR - Gene Wolfe - The Urth of the New Sun (1987) - ★★★★★ - Wolfe is the best. I already praised the hell out of this book on GAF. I will continue to do so. Did I mention that Wolfe is the best?
Movies
Gravity (2013) - ★★★★★ - So I hear this astronaut movie is pretty damn good. Entertaining as hell, and what not.
The Raid 2 (2014) - ★★★★★ - Beats out the surprisingly fun John Wick as the best action movie of the year. The entire movie is intense as hell and had the best action choreography I've seen in recent memory. So stylish, so cool, so gritty, so bloody, so good.
Twelve Years a Slave (2013) - ★★★★★ - Well deserving of all the awards hardware. A beautiful story, wonderfully directed, and some very impressive acting would normally seal this as my favorite movie of the year, BUT...
MOVIE OF THE YEAR - Upstream Color (2013) - ★★★★★ - This is the best movie I've seen in the last five years, easily. God damn, Shane Carruth sprinkles magic pixie dust on his films. Primer was a top five science fiction movie of all time for me, closer to number one than number five. Upstream Color is better than it in every imaginable way. The concept is so far out there (who comes up with a worm-pig-orchid life cycle???) but he pulls it off masterfully. The integration of musical sampling and recordings, vivid flashbacks, shared memory and conscience, mind control via hypnosis, worming, and subconscious traumatic fear lead to one of the more complex stories I've seen on film, and demand at least one repeat viewing.
The fact that Carruth has made two masterpieces with no studio support, his own way, via his own production company is impressive. The fact that he wrote, starred in, and directed both films is unbelievable.
Books
Laird Barron - The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All (2013) - ★★★★ - So this book rocks. I'm not big on the horror genre, but Barron produced a series of separate but related short stories that I could not put down. Very surreal and very creepy stuff. I love the approach here, which slowly builds up your fear of the unseen and unknown, rather than tossing out schlocky scenes of gruesome gore. Highly recommended.
Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards! (1989) - ★★★★★ - I believe this was the ninth Discworld book I've read, but it's the first one to actually wow me. This book is flat out hilarious. I haven't laughed at any of Pratchett's other books, but this one hit all the right notes for me. A great send up of all the stereotypes and tropes in fantasy.
Brandon Sanderson - Words of Radiance (2014) - ★★★★★ - I haven't read Mistborn, but I don't see how it can contend wtih the first two books of the Stormlight Archives. This second novel surpasses the first one in every category. I was most impressed by how quickly the action progressed for a proposed ten book series. It feels like we've seen stuff that normally wouldn't happen until book four of five, and I'm perfectly fine with that. It does have the usual Sanderson dialogue cheese and fake swear words, but I enter his books now with those expectations firmly in place.
Jeff VanderMeer - Annihilation (2014) - ★★★★ - I think enough has been said about this book already in the "What Are You Reading?" threads to write our own GAF novel, so I'll avoid repetition. My mini-review: this book will haunt me forever.
BOOK OF THE YEAR - Gene Wolfe - The Urth of the New Sun (1987) - ★★★★★ - Wolfe is the best. I already praised the hell out of this book on GAF. I will continue to do so. Did I mention that Wolfe is the best?
Movies
Gravity (2013) - ★★★★★ - So I hear this astronaut movie is pretty damn good. Entertaining as hell, and what not.
The Raid 2 (2014) - ★★★★★ - Beats out the surprisingly fun John Wick as the best action movie of the year. The entire movie is intense as hell and had the best action choreography I've seen in recent memory. So stylish, so cool, so gritty, so bloody, so good.
Twelve Years a Slave (2013) - ★★★★★ - Well deserving of all the awards hardware. A beautiful story, wonderfully directed, and some very impressive acting would normally seal this as my favorite movie of the year, BUT...
MOVIE OF THE YEAR - Upstream Color (2013) - ★★★★★ - This is the best movie I've seen in the last five years, easily. God damn, Shane Carruth sprinkles magic pixie dust on his films. Primer was a top five science fiction movie of all time for me, closer to number one than number five. Upstream Color is better than it in every imaginable way. The concept is so far out there (who comes up with a worm-pig-orchid life cycle???) but he pulls it off masterfully. The integration of musical sampling and recordings, vivid flashbacks, shared memory and conscience, mind control via hypnosis, worming, and subconscious traumatic fear lead to one of the more complex stories I've seen on film, and demand at least one repeat viewing.
The fact that Carruth has made two masterpieces with no studio support, his own way, via his own production company is impressive. The fact that he wrote, starred in, and directed both films is unbelievable.
avengers23
Banned
I'm finishing my last 2 books today.
6 books and 32 movies. I should watch less series and read more books, next year. I have hundreds of hours in series on Netflix....
The Outsider
Member
Totally abandoned this thread months ago, so I have no idea where I ended up with everything.
Ready to give 2015 a real shot though.
Ready to give 2015 a real shot though.
18/50 books - 0/50 movies
Books:
1 - Pratchett, Terry: Snuff
2 - Lampedusa, Tomasi di: The Leopard
3 - Kahneman, Daniel: Thinking, Fast and Slow
4 - Wilde, Oscar: Complete Plays (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
5 - Forsyth, Mark: The Etymologicon
6 - Camus, Albert: The Plague
7 - Wilde, Oscar: Complete Poems (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
8 - Hayder, Mo: Tokyo
9 - Wilde, Oscar: Essays, Selected Journalism, Lectures and Letters (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
10 - Díaz, Junot: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
11 - Pushkin, Alexander: The Collected Stories
12 - Sorensen, Herb: Inside the Mind of the Shopper - The Science of Retailing
13 - Eco, Umberto: The Prague Cemetary
14 - Niffenegger, Audrey: The Time-Traveler's Wife
15 - Kabicek, Skandfer, Agdestein: Krüger & Krogh - Brennpunkt Oslo no.1
16 - Burroughs, William S.: Naked Lunch
17 - Burns, Charles: Black Hole
18 - Shakespeare, William: The Sonnets
Squeezed in the Sonnets right at the end!
Actually, I can get more if I count imaginatively: Wilde's plays can be counted as nine instead of all under one. His lectures and letters can be counted as 27 instead of one (many of them took way longer to read than the two comic books). And Pushkin's stories can be counted as 16 instead of one. So in the most flattering way of counting, I've reached 67/50. Yay!
No movies, though. That's low. I'm gonna do better in that respect next year, guaranteed.
Books:
1 - Pratchett, Terry: Snuff
2 - Lampedusa, Tomasi di: The Leopard
3 - Kahneman, Daniel: Thinking, Fast and Slow
4 - Wilde, Oscar: Complete Plays (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
5 - Forsyth, Mark: The Etymologicon
6 - Camus, Albert: The Plague
7 - Wilde, Oscar: Complete Poems (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
8 - Hayder, Mo: Tokyo
9 - Wilde, Oscar: Essays, Selected Journalism, Lectures and Letters (in Complete Works of Oscar Wilde)
10 - Díaz, Junot: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
11 - Pushkin, Alexander: The Collected Stories
12 - Sorensen, Herb: Inside the Mind of the Shopper - The Science of Retailing
13 - Eco, Umberto: The Prague Cemetary
14 - Niffenegger, Audrey: The Time-Traveler's Wife
15 - Kabicek, Skandfer, Agdestein: Krüger & Krogh - Brennpunkt Oslo no.1
16 - Burroughs, William S.: Naked Lunch
17 - Burns, Charles: Black Hole
18 - Shakespeare, William: The Sonnets
Squeezed in the Sonnets right at the end!
Actually, I can get more if I count imaginatively: Wilde's plays can be counted as nine instead of all under one. His lectures and letters can be counted as 27 instead of one (many of them took way longer to read than the two comic books). And Pushkin's stories can be counted as 16 instead of one. So in the most flattering way of counting, I've reached 67/50. Yay!
No movies, though. That's low. I'm gonna do better in that respect next year, guaranteed.
Pau is making it. Going to be released into the wild sometime tomorrow.
witchedwiz
Member
Failed..
Job killed my run this year, but for 2015 i'll make it counts
Job killed my run this year, but for 2015 i'll make it counts
Henry Swanson
Member
Henry Swanson - 9/50 books | 372/50 movies
Complete failure when it comes to the book side, but I just about managed 50 films. 365 plus 7 episodes of Sherlock. Thought about removing the Sherlock episodes, but since they count I'll leave 'em on the list.
Don't think I'll do this again next year.
Complete failure when it comes to the book side, but I just about managed 50 films. 365 plus 7 episodes of Sherlock. Thought about removing the Sherlock episodes, but since they count I'll leave 'em on the list.
Don't think I'll do this again next year.
Final update:
22/50 Books | 78/50 Movies
Top Books:
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Greg Hays translation
The 4 Agreements - Miguel Ángel Ruiz
Psycho-cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz
Kinda cheesy and I don't agree with all of the stuff in them but some great stuff there
22/50 Books | 78/50 Movies
Top Books:
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius Greg Hays translation
The 4 Agreements - Miguel Ángel Ruiz
Psycho-cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz
Kinda cheesy and I don't agree with all of the stuff in them but some great stuff there
TestMonkey
Member
My most memorable of 2014.
Books
Movies
Books
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - A classic that I never got around to and now regret not reading it sooner. Up there with Twain for best American writing.
- Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss - Really changed my worldview. More than just the food itself but the marketing that has and almost equal effect on people. Solid piece of journalism.
- John Dies at the End by David Wong - Best new author I read this year. Great balance of cerebral, humor and horror. Can't wait for the third book in the series.
Movies
- Sexy Evil Genius - Nerd fan service at its finest. Seth Green, Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Trachtenberg and a Baldwin thrown in for good measure. Good fun.
- Guardians of the Galaxy - One of the few movies I saw in theaters. Raised the bar on comic book movies. Brought the silliness back into it that has been missing for so long.
- Bigger, Stronger, Faster - Roids are good/bad. Gets to the issues behind the usage of steroids and how they are a natural result of the win by any means necessary mindset.
Final update because I can't be bothered actually copying and pasting my final book and film list I'm just going link my http://letterboxd.com/lafiel/ and https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/2348163?shelf=read
Read at least 50 books and over 50 movies though.
Read at least 50 books and over 50 movies though.
Final update:
Books:
Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
The Dig by Cynan Jones
The Humans by Matt Haig
Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill
(plus the first two Earthsea novels).
Films:
A Single Man
Only Lovers Left Alive
Dogtooth
10 Years
Chaos
American Hustle
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Madagasgar 3
Offside
Persepolis
Captain Phillips
Managed it, but cut it unpleasantly close this year. Read a lot of decent books, more than last year, I think. One of the best was The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin, which was amazing.
Among the films I liked best or thought were excellent: Persepolis, which was great, Guardians of the Galaxy, Lincoln, The Crash Reel. Weirdest film goes to Dogtooth, which was even more bizarre than I was expecting.
Books:
Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
The Dig by Cynan Jones
The Humans by Matt Haig
Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill
(plus the first two Earthsea novels).
Films:
A Single Man
Only Lovers Left Alive
Dogtooth
10 Years
Chaos
American Hustle
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Madagasgar 3
Offside
Persepolis
Captain Phillips
Managed it, but cut it unpleasantly close this year. Read a lot of decent books, more than last year, I think. One of the best was The Dispossessed by Ursula le Guin, which was amazing.
Among the films I liked best or thought were excellent: Persepolis, which was great, Guardians of the Galaxy, Lincoln, The Crash Reel. Weirdest film goes to Dogtooth, which was even more bizarre than I was expecting.
Cool! Reading the complete Brontë bibliography definitely colored my list this year. In the meantime I've jotted down many books from other lists. Dangerous seeing solid people mention so many books you haven't read.
TestMonkey
Member
Can I get an ETA on the 2015 thread? Want to reserve my spot on the first page and post #100 again if possible.
Whew. Managed it in the end but I left it till almost the last hour of 2014 to do it in. Too close for comfort. Looking back on it I could have finished things much quicker. The movies were a doddle once I got going with them (only had 5 watched at the start of November) and the books could have been done sooner if not for some poor months in the Summer.
I'm not sure if I'll take the challenge again in 2015. I found myself focusing way too much on book/movie completion than actual enjoyment of the material at times. If I made it a ways in and invested some time doing it it felt like a waste to not finish. I also avoided some of the bigger works or things I knew would take up lots of time to get through such as the latter parts of the Malazan series. I've got an idea to tackle more comics and graphic novels this year anyway which would make this challenge painfully easy.
There's a number of books I want to read because I'm in the middle of a few fantasy trilogies or multi-book sequences that I want to close out so that could equate to a big chunk of the total. We'll see how it goes I guess. Might have a change of heart a few months in if it still looks doable.
I'm not sure if I'll take the challenge again in 2015. I found myself focusing way too much on book/movie completion than actual enjoyment of the material at times. If I made it a ways in and invested some time doing it it felt like a waste to not finish. I also avoided some of the bigger works or things I knew would take up lots of time to get through such as the latter parts of the Malazan series. I've got an idea to tackle more comics and graphic novels this year anyway which would make this challenge painfully easy.
There's a number of books I want to read because I'm in the middle of a few fantasy trilogies or multi-book sequences that I want to close out so that could equate to a big chunk of the total. We'll see how it goes I guess. Might have a change of heart a few months in if it still looks doable.
choodi
Banned
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=94921360&postcount=175
Final count 17/50 Books | 71/50 Movies
Final count 17/50 Books | 71/50 Movies
Tragicomedy
Member
- Status