Films
About 1/3 of the films I saw this year were released in 2016, but I didn't want to spoil what my favourite film of the year was seeing as I'll be doing a whole video talking about my Top 10 of the year. However, if we were discussing films in general, the best film out of those 170 that I saw was When Harry Met Sally. I discussed this in length in my My Favourite Films series, so you can see more why I love it there. Personally, this is one of those films that I saw at just the right moment in my life. At first I had to watch this as part of my course at university back in April, but I ended up falling in love with it and watched it 5 times that month. It's a film that explores relationships between men and women both romantic and platonic, and as someone who has mentally stopped himself from falling for people because that bit me in the ass too many times, it was a fascinating watch with a lot of conversations that never felt like it was someone writing an essay on relationships, but came across as real conversations that you might have with people you know in real life. It's one of the most grounded films I saw this year, the only 10/10 I saw all year and was certainly the best.Television
Part of me wanted to put a new TV show on here, just for the sake of giving people something new they can enjoy, and let's be honest, if you're not watching Game of Thrones by now, nothing's really going to convince you too. But again, if I am being honest, the sixth season of Game of Thrones was incredible. After a very meandering fifth season, some started to think the show was losing its steam. Well boy howdy did they come back with a bang. This season was possibly the fastest paced and biggest in scope season the show has had, with huge battles, major character development, reunions, deaths, dragons, etc. But it all comes down to those final two episodes. Battle of the Bastards, which is the greatest fight scene in a television show, just on a technical level, that can't be argued. Then the final episode paid off multiple plot points, while progressing some of the biggest show long stories, setting up an epic seventh season. This was the first season to fully depart from the books, and frankly I think that lead to all the better for the show's writing and production. Definitely the best season for the show in a while, and best season of television all year.Music
Again, not much of a music person, so not a whole lot of competition. However, the album that impacted me the most was Dodie Clark's debut EP Intertwined. Already one of my favourite YouTubers and now has an album that you can buy. She's always been a musician that has stuck out to me for her introspective and emotionally honest music. This EP has a nice mixture of upbeat and quirky numbers, but its the slower ballads that really strike with this. Exposing her history and feelings in these songs, taking the pain of her short life, the heartbreaks, the anxieties, the fears. Though what I love mostly is the potential that this all shows. As someone who is also 21 and incredibly introspective on themselves to an unhealthy degree that I so often overthink things, one of the good things that thought pattern has lead me too is that I can see the slow progress in my own artistic expressions and my critical analysis of others and will hopefully constantly improve. And seeing Dodie's music develop over these years and seeing her perfect her sound not only tells me that she is a hard working and talented artist, but with every passing year she becomes better and better.Others
There isn't really a category for me to put this in, but I wanted to talk more about Bo Burnham's Make Happy. Which fittingly, goes along very well with Dodie's Album. Both young people being introspective and turning pain into absolutely beautiful art. And if turning pain into beauty isn't the perfect bases for art then what is? For Bo he spends most of his stand up special experimenting with his own formula, constantly trying new things, trying to trump people's own expectations of his work, and all of this with the overarching theme of trying to make people happy (As the title would suggest). Referencing his own struggles with depression and plenty self-deprecating jokes, he ends it with a visual spectacle and experimental form of storytelling, while still being hilarious and enforcing the message of the show, ending it by saying "Thank You. Good night. I hope you're happy." then when he is alone he performs one more piano piece asking "On a scale of 1 to 0, are you happy?". I never thought I would describe a stand-up show as beautiful, but that's what this is, it is a beautiful piece of art, it is unique, it is creative, it is hilarious, it is stunning in every capacity. Bo Burnham is one of the best young comedians working today and I can't wait to see what he does next.-Danny
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