BEST OF 2010

And so another year is about to end in a few hours.

But before I give out the best of 2010, I’d like to first thank everyone who made this year a good year for Gillboard. When I outed myself a few months ago, I thought that I would lose some blog readers because of it. I did lose a few, but surprisingly I gained more friends.

I did not expect that, and I appreciate all the support.

So a big THANK YOU goes out to all the people who still visit me and read, comment and interact outside of this medium. I love you all (in a not so romantic way).

On to our awards, here are my choices for the best of 2010:

BEST MOVIE (INTERNATIONAL)
LAST YEAR: Slumdog Millionaire
2010 wasn’t a good year for movies. There were a lot of duds and a lot of hyped movies that did not deliver. But there was really one film that I looked forward to. And I’m glad it delivered and exceeded my really high expectations. Buzz, Woody and the rest of Andy’s toys have one more adventure, and it’s their best yet. Toy Story 3 was for me one of the best films I’ve seen ever. I like films that make me smile after seeing it, but with this one, I was happy. I cried. I mean who wouldn’t. The last few minutes of the film was just heartbreaking as it is triumphant.
RUNNER-UP: Inception, How To Train Your Dragon, Kick Ass

BEST MOVIE (LOCAL)
LAST YEAR: You Changed My Life
John Lloyd’s been on my list three years running. I think I’m already a fan (man-boobs and all). It was a three way close fight for this title. One was about my birthday, the second is a shoe-in (Here Comes the Bride) which was hilarious and the third one was the winner, My Amnesia Girl. Toni Gonzaga and JLC have chemistry and they should do more. I know I hated the ending for this film, but damn, it was a great movie. No, this is not a rip-off of 50 First Dates. It’s a different story altogether. One that may not be common but is kinda logical (my kasintahan’s gonna burn me for saying this). Anyway, the tandem is fresh, the pick-up lines may not be original but were perfectly delivered by the duo. I loved this film.
RUNNER-UP: I Miss You Like Crazy, Here Comes The Bride

BEST GAME
LAST YEAR: Assassin’s Creed 2
Compared to 09, there were a lot of great games that came out this year. Well, not really. It’s only this year that I got my Playstation 3, so I only got to play most quality games recently. I only listed down 4 titles because these were the ones that took up one quarter of my year. But the best game of 2010 for me is Mass Effect 2. This in my opinion is one of the most engaging games of all time. Imagine, if you played the first game and kept your file, it’s going to read all the decisions you made and carried it over to your story. You have a cast of well-developed characters, hundreds of planets to explore and tons of missions to finish. And through it all you have to keep all your relationships intact, for when the time comes you go on your suicide mission you wouldn’t want one of your team members to die. I’ve played it twice, and it broke my heart to see some of them died. I’m playing it the third time hoping I’ll keep them all.
RUNNER-UP: Fallout: New Vegas, Red Dead Redemption

BEST OF TV
LAST YEAR: Glee
I was hooked on only two shows this year. The one a gem of a new series based on the comic book by Robert Kirkman. And the other, is one hell of a serial killer series. It was a tight race, but I’m going with the numbers. At the end of it all, The Walking Dead was only 6 episodes long. Not long enough to really get me excited. Dexter on the other hand had 12 for Season 5. The story of a forensics expert by day and serial killer by night won me over this year. Each episode was brilliant and the best part is that it gets better and better each week. I recommend you to see this if you haven’t. It’s one of the smartest tv series on air right now. And it’s one of the best. I am banging my head on the table for not recommending this in the past.
RUNNER-UP: The Walking Dead

BEST OF PINOY TV
LAST YEAR: Pinoy Big Brother Double Up
It sucks that I work on the night shift as I don’t get to see any of our local teleseryes. So this year it’s a difficult category. I’m left with talent shows, variety shows, Juanita Banana and Sabel. My choice is based on what made me laugh out loud, and that goes to Showtime. I know the talents haven’t been as stellar as when it started, but man Vice Ganda’s antics do not grow old. She’s really hilarious. I actually want to be a part of the madlang people (I hope someone nice from ABS-CBN reads this and gives me complementary passes). I want to experience how it is to be an audience member. Maybe show off my talent. Lolz
RUNNER-UP: Pilipinas Got Talent

COMIC EVENT OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign
The Big Two didn’t really have a lot to offer in 2010. They did have their share of events, but they haven’t been really well received. But there was one event that I really got hooked on in 2010. The Thanos Imperative. The Cancerverse has ripped a hole in the universe. It’s a parallel world where nothing dies. Where Death is Dead. It’s slowly coming out of the hole to eat up our universe. Our only hope lies in Thanos, the mad titan. This is the best event I have read this year, I’d even go so far as saying this is the best since Joss Whedon took over the X-Men franchise. Every issue was a solid effort from it’s creators Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Miguel Sepulveda. It’s a story that’s so big it involve the whole Marvel cosmic universe, and it was great. I actually shed a tear when I flipped to the last page of the series’ ending.
RUNNER-UP: The Deaths of Nightcrawler and Cable

BEST COMICS SERIES
LAST YEAR: Invincible Iron Man
The Walking Dead may not have won this year’s award for Best TV Show, but it’s printed counterpart is a runaway winner for me. I am six years late in reading Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s post apocalyptic opus. This time I made sure that I am not left behind. I’ve actually caught up. 79 issues of this series, I read in a month’s time. Best damn comics I’ve read in years. The last year saw Rick Grimes and company living in a walled community and determining how to create a society free of rules and norms, it may have had less zombies this year, but the end of issue 79 promises to give us a return to form. A herd of zombies is about to destroy Rick’s community. I can’t wait for 2011 to begin!!!
RUNNER-UP: Invincible Iron Man, Unwritten

BEST IN MUSIC
LAST YEAR: The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (The Script)
Call me jologs. Call me whatever you like. But I sang to the tune of Justin Bieber’s Baby all year long. It’s not a great song. Not by a mile. But dammit you’re lying if you tell me you don’t know this song. I sang this song at work. I sang this in the bus. While I’m taking a shower. I sang this to my Kasintahan. I sang this song all year long. Don’t tell me you didn’t.
RUNNER-UP: Club Can’t Handle Me

BEST IN NEWS
LAST YEAR: Goodbye Corazon Aquino
It’s two years in a row for the Aquinos. Happy news this time as the Philippines finally elect a new President. And with the change in leadership, we also saw a glimmer of hope for our country. But before that, of course who would forget the circus that is the campaign period of our elections. Jamby Madrigal’s tinapa incedent. Manny Villar’s desperate moves. Joseph Estrada’s betrayal. Jejomar Binay’s surprise win. The campaign period was only a few months, but the things that happened then could fill up news for an entire decade. Kudos to our fellow countrymen for choosing the lesser evil this time. But as always, our eyes are now focused on one man alone. And hopefully it won’t be because of the women who dumped him.
RUNNER-UP: Anything involving Willie Revillame

BLOG OF THE YEAR
LAST YEAR: The Professional Heckler
Nominating someone is hard enough, given the category. I read all of the blogs that were nominated. Most if not all, I’ve acquainted to outside of our respective homes. But how do I choose the winner. Each blogger’s home is his/her personal kingdom. Each story or article came from the heart. They’re sincere. But then I read other people’s blogs because not only do I want to get to know these people, I also want to be entertained. Others entertain through their life’s anecdotes. Others through their travels. Others through jokes. And there are people who entertain just by giving their opinions. My choice for the year did not only do all of those mentioned. He also did it in fewer than thirty sentences, sometimes even less than a hundred words. And so I award the Best Blog of the Year to The Deadbeat Club.
RUNNER-UP: Wickedmouth, The Great Maldito, The Gasoline Dude’s Life
Agree? Disagree? And what are your bests for the year? Let me know.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!