Here’s NERDSociety’s Best & Worst List of 09!

Movie

The bad ass mech suit in District 9

Best: District 9

District 9 was a nerd’s wet dream.  For a budget of $30 million, director  Neill Blomkamp created a sci fi movie that had awesome special effects that rivaled big budget movies. Unlike most sci fi movies where it focuses more on special effects,  Blomkamp focused on a compelling story of the struggle between humans and aliens.  The best part of the movie was the last 20 minutes.  It was epic because the action scenes reminded you of your favorite FPS video game and characters you cared for.

Runner Up:  Star Trek

With two epic trailers and lens flare all over the place, J.J. Abrams resurrected the dull Star Trek franchise.  What made the movie a hit was the charismatic characters and a story that was easy to follow.  Add some drama between Kirk and Spock and some cool action scenes and you got a movie that was well received by Trekkers (yes the hardcore fans are called Trekkers as I learned from the Blu Ray extra, not Trekkies) and the mainstream audience.

Worst:  Terminator Salvation

You’d think a Terminator movie set in the future starring Christian Bale would be bad-ass.  What you got instead was the worst movie of the year.  Director, McG, screwed everything up by having John Connor (Bale in his Batman voice) be a one man army as he fights his way through a goofy looking CG Ahnuld.  Everyone looked embarrassed to be in this movie because they probably already knew it was going to be a crap fest.  Terminator Salvation shouldn’t have been this bad because James Cameron already set up the battle scenes in T2 and all you had to do was extend it.  Way to go McG!

Runner Up:  Wolverine

This would have been the worst movie of the year but Hugh Jackman played the title role well so it ends up in second place.  When you have Will.I.Am as a “cool” merc, you know you’re in trouble.  Then the producers decided to add more characters so more people will watch it, including a cheesy ass Gambit.  And it worked because the movie made close to $375 million worldwide.  The last fight scene sucked because of the crappy CG, it was more laughable than kick ass.  Like our review said, you know the movie is in trouble when Wolverine’s claws looked fake compared to the first 2 X-Men movies.

Video Game

Ryu about to be taken down by Abel in Street Fighter 4

Best: Uncharted 2

Uncharted might not have an original storyline (think Indiana Jones) but the presentation was top notch.  The exquisite locales made you want to finish the game and the gameplay was improved from the original.  This time around, there’s more sneakiness and climbing involved.  If you don’t have the patience to be sneaky (i.e. Splinter Cell), you can just fight your way out of it and kill everybody.  The multiplayer mode was a nice addition as you can play co op with a friend or play team deathmatches.

Runner Up:  Street Fighter 4

Street Fighter 4 reminded us what fighting games should be about.  It went back to the basics with the gameplay focusing on blocks and counter attacks.  Sure, there’s crazy attacks but what made you win matches were the simple moves.  The characters were mostly balanced (although I still hate Zangief when I use Balrog) and graphics had a new look that grew on you.  Of course this game is best played against other players and the online play is one of the most intense experience of the year.

Worst: Saw

I’m sure there were many crappier games this year, but Saw pops into my mind. The game had potential, I mean, you’re trapped in an unknown location trying to survive your way out. Repetitive gameplay, walking around the same hallway, battling the same people over and over just so that they can get the key inside your body makes you wish that Jigsaw would just end your life already. That and the fact that the whole survival of the fittest tension is lost in the game makes the whole game pointless, since that’s what I liked about the Saw franchise.

Runner Up:  GI Joe: Rise Of The Cobra

Games based on a movie franchise usually suck and G.I. Joe was no exception.  The levels are boring and the game totally felt rushed with its bland level designs and crappy controls.

Home Video

Transformers 2 had extensive extras

Best:  Star Trek (Blu-ray)

The Blu-ray release of Star Trek was top notch.  You can’t ask for more, the movie was entertaining,  video was great and sound was demo worthy material (especially the first 10 minutes).  The extras were great and it makes you appreciate the movie even more.  J.J. Abrams loves to document his movies (MI: 3 also had cool extras).  One of the highlights include the coverage of the Green Girl, the actress turned out to be Rachel Nichols who played Scarlett in G.I. Joe.  Another interesting feature was the logic and process behind the lens flare.

Runner Up:  Transformers 2 (Blu-ray)

Transformers 2 might have sucked but there’s no denying that it’s one of the best Blu-rays of 2009.  The IMAX scenes were impressive (Wal-Mart exclusive version)  and the  subwoofer had a great workout.  Although the extras were a bit heavy on director Michael Bay, it still showed us what it takes to shoot a high budget movie in a short amount of time.  The best feature was the Japanese Premiere where cameras follow Bay for one day as he mingles with fans and celebs.

Worst:  Dark Country

A crappy “film noir” from Tom Jane. He should have stuck to brooding in The Punisher. He’s a pretty good actor actually and I enjoyed him in The Mist. He should stick to acting and stay out of the director’s chair.

Runner Up:  Miss March: Unrated

A vile and depressing teen sex comedy that was neither about teens nor sexy nor funny. The bottom of the barrel with its Hugh Hefner cameo and a bevy of skanky women. Epic fail. Rent Sex Drive instead.

TV

The gimmicky Tila Tequila

Best: Sons of Anarchy

Anarchy grew bolder and deeper in its second season. Props all around for the great acting and for Adam Arkin, the coldest villain on TV as a white supremacist leader emerged to care about only one color, and that would be green.

Runner Up:  Office

After several mediocre seasons, Michael Scott  and his staff came back in full force.  The stories are funny and Dwight isn’t over the top anymore.  Just like the way we like him!  The best episode was the wedding between Jim and Pam where the crew imitates Youtube’s surprise wedding video, even using the same song by Chris Brown.

Worst:  Shot At Love

Myspace celeb, Tila Tequila, gets a reality TV show.  The catch is that she’s bi and she can pick either a guy or a girl as her soul mate.  This show was boring as hell because Tila doesn’t have the charisma and relies solely on her looks, which isn’t too great either.

Runner Up:  Heroes
Our once favorite show still gets viewers but the story  is getting worse.  Just when the producers promised the series would get better, we were disappointed again with stories that doesn’t make anymore.  You can only take so much of Hiro time traveling before you just want the character dead.

Toys

Worst. Figure.  Ever.

Best:  G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra.

The new figures based on the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, are of the finest detail and have more articulation than a Barbie doll!  Most of the faces resemble the actors in the movie.  The box art is wonderful and either uses the actors likeness or an original drawing.  Each figure comes with a ton of accessories and a spring-loaded firing weapon.  the most important thing about the figures is that they RESPECT the originals and can be used in play side-by-side with the 25th anniversary line.

Runner Up:  World of Warcraft

DC Direct’s World of Warcraft figures continues to impress toy collectors.  The details on the figures is reminiscent of the golden days when McFarlane toys put out figures with great paint job and awesome sculpt.  The only drawback for these figures are the high retail prices with some boxsets going for $50.

Worst: Human Kamen Rider

While the costumed Kamen Rider figures were above average, its human counterparts were a total joke.  The toys looked like it belongs in a discount store.  Paint application was minimal and it looks too much like plastic.  I know this were aimed towards kids but at least make the toys appealing.  It seemed like they gave up on the figures before it was even released.

Runner Up:  Boondock Saints

I love Troy Duffy’s universe as much as everybody else and that’s probably why I hate these damn figures.  With a retail price close to $35 for the two main characters, you get two figures that look identical except for their faces.  Neca just wanted to cash in with Boondock Saints 2 and it shows.

MMA

Brett Rogers after his fight against Fedor

Best Fight:  Fedor Emelianenko vs Brett Rogers (Strikeforce)

Brett Rogers gave Fedor Emelianenko a run for his money before getting knocked down in the best match of the year. Fedor, the #1 heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, got cut early in the first round as the fight went back and forth.  Rogers highlight was the ground and pound in the first round.  Just when you thought the fight might be stopped, Fedor went for an armbar and escaped the beatdown.  In the second round, Rogers was tired and Fedor landed a spectacular punch that finished the fight.

Runner Up:  Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida (UFC)

This was an action packed fight as Sanchez knocked down Guida twice in the first round.  Guida came back strong in the last two rounds but Sanchez still got the decision.  After this fight, the heart of the two fighters can’t be questioned anymore.  There were several moments that I thought the fight was going to be stopped but they just kept fighting and never gave up.

Worst Fight:  Anderson Silva vs Thiago Leites (UFC)

This gets the dubious honor because it was for a title shot and both fighters played it safe.  After the second round, it got annoying as you already know it’ll go to the judge because the middleweight champ, Silva, just countered and Leites kept butt scooting.  Add to the fact that Silva thought he was cool dancing around the ring and you have one of the worst title matches in recent years.

Runner Up:  Randy Couture vs Brandon Vera (UFC)

On paper this looked like a decent match-up, wrestler vs. striker.  But what you got was a lot of standing around and a lot of clinches that lead to more boredom.  It seemed like Couture’s age finally caught up to him as he moved pretty slow while Vera was his usual self and threw a kick every minute or so.  Sure, the decision was BS but when the fight is really boring, do people really care who wins?

Best Album: Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster (Deluxe)

It truly was the year of Gaga. This double CD featured a repackaged version of Gaga’s debut along with a new EP filled with pop gems. Bad Romance ruled while Alejandro brought back the Europop of Ace of Base and became a new anthem. Dancing in the Dark and Monster are also terrific and deserve to be singles in the near future.

Runner up: 500 Days of Summer (Soundtrack)

Falling in and then out of hipster love never sounded as good as it does on the soundtrack for 500 Days of Summer. From Hall and Oates to Regina Spektor, this is the pop soundtrack of the year from one of my favorite movies of the year.

Worst Album: Timbaland: Shock Value 2

Runner Up:  Miley Cyrus: The Climb

The bad news is that Miley Cyrus released another CD in 2009.  The good news is that her fad is dying down and hopefully no more albums in the near future.

That’s our list for 2009 guys and gals!  We want to thank and wish our readers a Happy New Year!  We have bigger plans for 2010, so stay tuned!

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