steve kwan user experience designer

Best of 2007

(January 9th, 2008 - 2:21PM)

Where "best" is defined as the product I most enjoyed, not necessarily the product with the greatest artistic merit.

Best movies of 2007

1. Ratatouille
I like Ratatouille because it just feels good. It's a charming movie and it makes me happy. I'm not always in the mood for heavy movies like No Country for Old Men. Sometimes you just need something light, and there are no better feel-good movies than Ratatouille this year.

2. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
3. Sicko
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
5. No Country for Old Men

Disappointment of the year: Spider-Man 3
I really enjoyed the first two Spider-Man movies, but found the third one to be without substance.

Best music of 2007

1. Stories, by Mojave
Stories is an album that I experienced at exactly the right time. Sometimes you're just in the mood for a particular type of music - in this case, I wanted something mellow, moody and thoughtful. Stories isn't just a collection of singles, but a cohesive album.

2. Year Zero, by Nine Inch Nails
3. Chase This Light, by Jimmy Eat World
4. Hospital Music, by Matthew Good
5. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, by Saul Williams

Disappointment of the year: Vena Sera, by Chevelle
Maybe I was wrong to expect anything of Chevelle, but I've enjoyed some of their earlier singles. I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy a single track on Vena Sera.

Best games of 2007

1. The Orange Box
Pound for pound, The Orange Box is the best value that's ever been seen in a game package. Its low price, its availability on almost every major console, and its sheer quality easily make the Orange Box the game of the year.

2. Call of Duty 4
3. Mass Effect
4. Crysis
5. Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords

Disappointment of the year: BioShock
BioShock makes much better art than a shooter.

Best books of 2007

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling
Come on. It's the final Harry Potter book. How can it not be book of the year?

2. The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama
3. I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert
4. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell
5. The Myths of Innovation, by Scott Berkun

Disappointment of the year: If I Did It, by The Goldman Family
This book is disappointing because it actually got published. Looks like good taste didn't prevail. I didn't read it and don't plan to.