The State of the Art: Games 2017

It was a banner year for games, both tabletop and video. In the video game realm, I played previous favorites, like Fallout 4 and am still going strong on Overwatch. Tabletop wise, our gaming group is still not sick of Eldritch Horror, which is impressive.

As far as new video games, I really enjoyed both Year Walk and Cook, Serve, Delicious 2. What Remains of Edith Finch would have been a strong contender, but game bugs introduced disappointment into what was otherwise a hauntingly great game.



I also had fun with Mass Effect: Andromeda, despite its poor reviews, and am still making my way through games like Assassin's Creed: Origins, Civilization VI, and a remaster of Final Fantasy XII.

As far as tabletop, our group had a lot of fun with Descent, Between Two Cities, and in particular, T.I.M.E Stories, in which you must make several runs at the game to solve a mystery set in an old asylum.

And I can't forget my online forum Werewolf games, which are always challenging, but fun. I finally managed to pull out a Wolf win as an evil Russian spy and survive to the end. Take that, capitalists!

There were also a lot of fun RPG nights, from Dragon Age to D&D to Exalted to Miskatonic University. Gaming is one of my life's great joys, and having a fun group to play them with was definitely one of the highlights of 2017.

The State of the Art: Books 2017

Every year, I bemoan the fact that I haven't read more. But then, I also bemoan the fact that I haven't seen more quality movies, played more well-regarded games, and listened to more acclaimed music. I'm only one man! I still managed to find some great books this year. The resolution to read more books by minority authors continues to pay off, as my favorite of the year was No One Can Pronounce My Name, by Rakesh Satyal. It primarily follows two very different Indian immigrants to a suburb of Cleveland. Harit is a lonely man who tries to care for his grieving mother in his own sad, strange way, while simultaneously terrified of forging any relationships of his own. Ranjana is dealing with a distant husband and recently empty nest, and takes refuge in her writing group, though she still has trouble assimilating to American culture. When the two of them meet, they begin to change each other in remarkable, yet subtle ways, and the result is a really terrific novel.

Here's the full 2017 ranking:

No One Can Pronounce My Name - Rakesh Satyal (2017) (A)
Man at the Helm - Nina Stibbe (2014) (A-)
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President - Candice Millard (2011) (A-)
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell (2013) (A-)

The Wangs Vs. The World - Jade Chang (2016) (B+)
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States - Sarah Vowell (2015) (B+)
The Versions of Us - Laura Barnett (2016) (B+)
Scrappy Little Nobody - Anna Kendrick (2016) (B+)

Morning Star - Pierce Brown (2016) (B)
What Happened - Hillary Rodham Clinton (2017) (B)
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin (1969) (B)
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body - Roxane Gay (2017) (B)
Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman (2017) (B)
The Search for Delicious - Natalie Babbitt (1969) (B)
The Girls - Emma Cline (2016) (B)

Hissing Cousins: The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth - Marc Peyser, Timothy Dwyer (2015) (B-)
Crashed - Timothy Hallinan (2012) (B-)
The Crooked House - Christobel Kent (2015) (B-)
Stay Up With Me - Tom Barbash (2013) (B-)
Summerlong - Dean Bakopoulos (2015) (B-)

Library of Souls - Ransom Riggs (2015) (C+)
Make Your Home Among Strangers - Jennine Capó Crucet (2015) (C)

The State of the Art: Television 2017

I can't believe it, but eight shows battled for the top spot in my heart this year. When the dust settled, I chose the resurgence of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which was just fantastic. Here are the eight shows, any of which could have been #1 if they had caught me on the right day:

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Season 1)
The Good Place (Season 1)
A Series of Unfortunate Events (Season 1)
Bojack Horseman (Season 4)
Master of None (Season 2)
American Vandal (Season 1)
GLOW (Season 1)
The Great British Bake Off (Season 4)

I also watched other stuff, of course, most of which was very good. My "block" of usual shows (black-ish, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bob's Burgers, Superstore) all had strong seasons, and many of the songs of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Season 2) got stuck in my head. Cartoons and anime were well represented with Steven Universe, Voltron, and Erased, with the latter being the most remarkable I've seen in a long time. Sitcoms are always a good distraction from the misery of the political landscape, so I indulged in Angie Tribeca, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Trial and Error, and Powerless, all of which had their bright spots, though not enough to make the top of my list.

There was also the hard-to-categorize side shows. There's the food porn of Chef's Table, and the strange, but compelling very-special-episode feel of One Day at a Time. I also really enjoyed Lovesick.

So yeah, an excellent year of TV, and with Black Mirror premiering its new season tomorrow, it looks like another one is on the horizon.

The State of the Art: Movies 2017

I've essentially given up on micro-blogging every piece of entertainment I consume, but I would like to leave a year-end list for posterity's sake. Let's begin with movies. Here's the ranking of the 2017 ones I managed to get to in the theater:

Dunkirk (A)
Girls Trip (A-)
Colossal (B+)
Call Me By Your Name (B+)
Wonder Woman (B+)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (B+)
The Disaster Artist (B+)
Thor: Ragnarok (B+)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (B)
Coco (B)
Baby Driver (B)
The Lego Batman Movie (B)
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (B-)

And the older movies that I finally got to:

Under the Skin (2013) (A-)
La La Land (2016) (B+)
It Follows (2014) (B+)
I'm So Excited! (2013) (B+)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) (B+)
The Lobster (2015) (B)
Dr. Strange (2016) (B)
Muppets Most Wanted (2014) (B)