Another year, another barrage of entertainment media to digest. This year was a powerhouse when it comes to the amount of quality products we have received all across the spectrum of entertainment media. I’ve talked about it over and over every week, but 2017 was an excellent year to be entertained by your favorite extracurricular activity.
Detailed throughout this column are some of my favorite things to play, watch and listen to over the past 365 days or so.
It’s difficult to talk about 2017 without talking about Marvel films, but given that I already spoke about Marvel studios several times this semester, I’m going to try and keep this brief by simply saying that you should see these movies. Nothing like what Marvel Studios is doing and has accomplished will ever be repeated by any production studio in Hollywood. Revel in it. Enjoy it while it’s happening so you can look back and say, “Hey, I was alive when that happened, and it was the most impressive thing going on at the time.”
As some of you may have guessed by the topics of this column, my second love to film will always be video games. The Nintendo Switch dropped this year, and with it came two of the most polarizing games of all time in “Super Mario Odyssey” and “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” However, my favorite game of 2017 easily goes to “Horizon Zero Dawn.” A lot of people have probably forgotten about this early 2017 release, but it has everything a gamer would want out of an immersive RPG experience, and if it wasn’t for the aforementioned Nintendo franchises, I’d bet this would be one of the frontrunners for Game of the Year. The game contains very imaginative and tightly programmed enemy types, satisfying progression and puzzle- solving as well as some of the coolest, most engaging combat I’ve played in quite some time.
Finally, to end another semester of columns, I’m going to talk about something I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever talked about here: music. The Menzingers is one band that I’ve always followed no matter what, and their latest album, “After the Party,” is another astonishing feat of punk/alt-rock that demands to be listened for those who feel they are toward the end of their prime. The band’s impossibly catchy choruses and sing-along verses are ever-present on this album, making it really the only album from 2017 that I would highly recommend.
Here’s to hoping 2018 delivers yet another fantastic year of entertainment. But with “Avengers: Infinity War” due out in May of 2018, how could it not be?
