Best of the Year - Movies

Unlike most of my other lists, most of these films actually came out this year.


Winter's Bone

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy

Inception

Black Dynamite

Shutter Island

The Town

Bronson

44 Inch Chest


Red Riding Trilogy

Best of the Year - Books I read in the past 365

Usual rules apply.  Most of these did not come out this year, but were new to me.  In no particular order.

Deception

Gypsy Good Time

Gun Monkeys

Little Girl Lost

 Heartsick

King Suckerman

The Crime Writer

The Wheelman

Walking the Perfect Square

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Sequels

Winter's Bone

In The Woods

The Man Who Smiled

Gomorrah

Redbreast

Best of the Year - Comics

Again, in no particular order...

Luke Cage Noir

Chew

The Bronx Kill

The Last Days of American Crime

Criminal

Area 10

Scalped

Darwyn Cooke's work on both  The Outfit and The Hunter

Stumptown

Best of the Year - Crime on the Web

These are the best sites, that I have found, to find some criminally based short stories on the web.  If any of you know of other fantastic places, by all means fill out that handy comment box at the bottom.

Beat to a Pulp

 

Spinetingler Magazine

 

Thug Lit

 

Thrillers, Killers "n" Chillers

 

Needle Magazine

 

And, if you are just in the mood to read about crime fiction, these sites will surely satiate your need.

 

Crimespree Magazine

 

The Rap Sheet

Crime Culture

 

Mullholland Books

 

The Crime of It All

 

plus fantastic blogs from

 

The Thriller Guy

 

Paul D Brazill

 

David Cranmer

 

Patricia Abbott

 

Jodi MacArthur

 

Click and enjoy.

 

 

 

Best of the Year - Television

Once again, the ground rules.  In no way are these in any particular order, with the exception of the very last show.  Some of these shows are new, some a year or so old, and in the case of Underbelly, not even available in a Region 1 set, but these were all excellent.

Castle

Underbelly

The Unusuals

Justified

 

 

White Collar

Luther BBC

And lastly...

Sons of Anarchy.  I have no idea why it took me so long to get around to watching this amazing show, but I'm glad I did.  I just watched the first two seasons in about 10 days, and the wait until March is going to kill me. 





Best of the Year - Covers and Posters

And here begins my Top Whatever Favorites of the Year.  Words of warning, not everything will be new.  This is a list of things I talked about/discovered this year.  If they happen to be from 1956, so bet it.  You will all just have to deal.  And please don't expect these to be in an actual ranked order.  I change my mind far too often for such a thing.

Christmas Day - Bad Santa

Think a Christmas movie can't swear as much as a crime classic like Goodfellas?  Think again.  Bonus: it's actually a pretty good caper flick.

The 24th Day of Christmas - The Sopranos

Perhaps the greatest post-godfather crime saga?  Watch the complete series and determine for yourself.

The 23rd Day of Christmas - The Godfather

Go to bookfinder.com and track down a nice first edition.

The 22nd Day of Christmas - Criminal

Since DC/Vertigo takes forever to put out hardcovers (and there better be some Scalped hardcovers down the line) I'll have to go with another Marvel/Icon title.

The 21st Day of Christmas - Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop

Another fine gift idea from the mind of Otto Penzler and The Mysterious Bookshop.

Each year, for the past 17 years, Otto Penzler has commissioned an original story by a leading mystery writer set during the Christmas season, with some of the action taking place in The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. These stories were then produced as pamphlets, 1,000 copies, and given to customers of the book store as a Christmas present. Now, all of these stories have been collected in one volume - Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop. Some of these stories are humorous, others suspenseful, and still others tales of pure detection. This charming collection is a perfect Christmas gift, appropriate for all ages and tastes.

The 20th Day of Christmas - Homicide

It's available as a filing cabinet.  That is amazing.