Top 10 Entertainment of the '00s (Pt. 1)

December 31, 2009

     A year ends and lists are made. A decade ends and lists become the format by which every website publishes content for a span of three to four weeks. Most people embrace these lists, covering everything from the obvious to the completely pointless (a lot of the time, both are not mutually exclusive). We love lists, though; we love to quantify and qualify what is "the best", and lists are the result of that. It's not enough to appreciate something on its own, it must be better or worse than something else. Our brain appreciates that order. I appreciate that order quite a bit, although these lists are quite subjective and, thus, pretty much the complete opposite of order. It's an interesting paradox. So, in the spirit of the last days of this interesting decade, I've decided to list what I find to be the Top 10 Entertainment of the '00s.

10. Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware
Chris Ware is one of the most notable artists/writers working in comics today and his work is consistently featured on the covers of magazines, books, music albums, etc. Ware has a unique and easily identifiable style that I find to be the best in the industry. His graphic novel, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, is a triumph of both art and storytelling. It is a shining example of how narrative form can propel a work to higher standards. It is a masterpiece; a work that has no parallel in comics.

9. Discovery, by Daft Punk
With nothing less than complete conviction can I say Discovery is the album that catapulted the electronic dance scene into the spotlight that it appreciates today. In 2001, Daft Punk created a dance music phenomenon, bridging the gap between house music and the mainstream. Tracks like "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "One More Time" are odes to the genre through which Daft Punk came up, while simultaneously carrying pop sensibilities that everyone loves. People who identify as not liking house or "techno" dance like maniacs when a Discovery track comes on. This album opened the gates for all forms of electronic music to invade the mainstream, more obviously with a duo like Justice, and more subtly in the way that pop artists like Lady Gaga or the Black Eyed Peas produce tracks.

8. Da Ali G Show
Where Punk'd served as a shallow-yet-entertaining spectacle of prankdom on celebrities, Da Ali G Show was a much more elaborate, funny, poignant prank on society-at-large. Sacha Baron Cohen created three unforgettable characters in Ali G, Borat and Bruno, each with their own distinct way of turning society on its end, exposing just how stupid people can be. And it was some of the funniest television ever created. While you may argue the movies are better placed on this list, well, the movies are just extensions of this preceding work.

7. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers' debut work, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, is a memoir that reads like no other, constantly playing with narrative form, breaking conventional barriers in the process. Most people who complain about the book claim it's "self-important" (or other like term), but as such a blatantly self-important title suggests, that's the point. Eggers represents an evolving, fresh writing style, shared with the likes of Jonathan Safran Foer and David Foster Wallace and others, proving that books can be as much about the process of writing as the story itself and yet, can still flow and be entertaining. A Heartbreaking Work is perhaps the most unconventional-yet-popular memoir ever written, at times hilarious and at others, completely heartbreaking.

6. Halo
The original Halo, developed by Bungie for Xbox, did quite a few things for the video game industry. First, it made Microsoft a clear and viable competitor in an industry that Sony had dominated the previous five years. Second, it changed the entire landscape of first-person shooters and multiplayer gaming. While all of these things did not come to fruition until subsequent titles in the series were released, Halo set the standard and it still remains the most relatively innovative game in that series. It brought the element of a good single player story that felt more like a movie, proving that FPS's could be a complete experience. Its multiplayer setup was a precursor to what is highly regarded as the best online FPS in console history. Plus, the game was just really damn fun.

(Pt. 2 to be published Jan. 1st)