Wow, has it really been two years since the first Ben Paddon Awards? Yes, it says here. I ended up not doing anything last year because… well, emotional state and all that. But this year, I’m all for it. So here we go.
Videogame of the Year
Nominees:
Rock Band
Super Mario Galaxy
The Orange Box
Winner:
Super Mario Galaxy
Rock Band is marvelous, and there’s no denying the sheer genius of Portal and Team Fortress 2, but Super Mario Galaxy wins by the sheer virtue of the fact that I really didn’t expect to become this enamored with it. I wasn’t really paying any attention to the gaming press concerning this one, and following the disappointment that was Super Mario Sunshine there were creeping doubts in my mind that perhaps the Mario bubble had burst. Oh, how wrong I was.
Honorable mention:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
For some reason, despite really enjoying the previous 3D Zelda games, I never finish a game. You can’t leave those games alone for a week or two then jump back in - I get confused and lost, and I have no idea what’s going on with the story. But with Twilight Princess, that’s different. I really enjoyed playing it through, and while I do miss the visuals that The Wind Waker offered, Twilight Princess does offer something which looks interesting, if not necessarily perfect.
Album of the Year
Nominees:
The Feeling - Twelve Stops and Home
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah!
Winner:
The Feeling - Twelve Stops and Home
I’ve had favourite albums in the past. In fact 2005’s winning album, Gorillaz’ Demon Days, is still at the forefront of my mind when people ask me that question. However I’ve never felt as emotionally bonded with any piece of music as I do with this entire album. It’s full of superbly crafted, unashamedly pop tunes with catchy hooks and soul-enriching lyrics, and I love it. When coupled with the latter two tracks of their EP, Four Stops and Home (the first two tracks on the EP are included on Twelve Stops), The Feeling have an album that may as well be the soundtrack album for “Ben’s Diary: The Musical”.
Honorable Mention:
Boom Boom Rocket: Original Soundtrack - Ian Livingstone / Bizarre Creations
When Boom Boom Rocket came out on Xbox Live Arcade earlier in the year, I fell in love with the soundtrack. I had strong hopes that they’d release a soundtrack and, in July, they fulfilled my desires and put the complete soundtrack up on iTunes. Marvelous!
Movie of the Year
Nominees:
Dan in Real Life
Hot Fuzz
Stardust
Winner:
Stardust
A film so fun to watch, so filled with enjoyable moments (including that scene with Bobbie De Niro) and so utterly, utterly brilliant… deserving of far more than the paltry box office takings here in the US (although apparently it did well globally). Hot Fuzz comes a very, very close second - it’s the funniest film of the year regardless of what anyone says.
Honorable Mention:
Stranger Than Fiction
At the recommendation of a friend, I picked this up on DVD about a month ago and I don’t regret it. A really clever, really funny film. And who knew Will Farrel could act?
Television Series of the Year
Nominees:
Doctor Who Series 3
South Park Series 11
Torchwood Series 1
Winner:
Doctor Who Series 3
Wasn’t this years’ series just phenomenal? Russel T Davies has let fans down in the past, but the New Who Crew really did deliver this year, with only one ropey episode in the entire series - 42 - and even that was enjoyable. The ending of the series finale could have been better (in fact Andrew and I recently discussed this and came up with an ending that would have worked within the context of the show and been a marked improvement) but overall, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Oh, and I bet you’re wondering why I mentioned Torchwood. Yes, when I first watched it, I was a little disappointed - they wanted to do Doctor Who for grown-ups and ended up doing Sexy Scooby Doo instead, but after a second viewing of the show I realised I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I did. In any case, it’s better than Sugar Rush, which really is just an excuse to put more sex on television.
Honorable Mention:
./shutdown
This isn’t a television show, strictly speaking - it’s an online show with episodes generally running on average 12 minutes in length. I usually avoid these geek-centric online shows because they’re usually very rubbish, but ./shutdown is thoroughly enjoyable and manages to be funny, geeky and coherent all at the same time. You can watch it online here.
DVD / Blu-ray of the Year
Nominees:
Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series
Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek
Red Dwarf: The Bodysnatcher Collection
Winner:
Red Dwarf: The Bodysnatcher Collection
This really is a fantastic DVD box set. As well as containing the unpopular Re-Mastered versions of Series I, II and III, it also contains a wealth of additional content. Documentaries covering the making of the first two series, information regarding the remastering process, “What’s different?” text tracks, this box set should please pretty much any fan of the show. There really is something for everyone here.
Honorable Mention:
Torchwood: The Complete First Series
The box set I wasn’t sure would ever actually happen has been released, possibly thanks to the show’s success in the US. The extra content here is really great, although I haven’t had a real chance to dig through it all.
Prick of the Year
Nominees:
Jack Thompson
“Blondie Babe”
Chris Redding
Winner:
Chris Redding
And here’s the quote from the 2005 Awards:
“Who?!” I hear you ask. Chris Redding was my High School P.E Teacher at Halyard. I spent a lot of this year mulling over a lot of the crap he tried to pull. He used to give a friend of mine a lift home despite the fact there’s the a strict rule saying that teachers cannot give pupils a lift to or from school. This is made all the creepier by the fact that this friend happened to fall into the “female” category, which leaves me to question the intentions behind said lifts home. In addition to which, in Year 11, he became our Head Of Year, taking the reigns from someone who was a fantastic, friendly teacher, but who’s name I could never be bothered to remember. Now, you’d think that when you hand over a job like that to someone else, you hand over all the relevant information pertaining to pupils you are offering additional assistance to, right? So it puzzled me when Mr Redding, our new Head Of Year, had no idea that, instead of doing P.E, I saw a Mentor. In fact he gave tried to give me Detention once for being somewhere the previous Head Of Year had actually set up. Now, really, I should award Mr Redding the Prick Of The Year for 2001/2002, but I hold such a grudge against this bastard that I’ve decided he will forever be known as Prick Of The Year, every year. Yes.
Honorable Mention:
Tim Buckley
Because… y’know.
Braindead Celebrity of the Year
Nominees:
Britney Spears
Paris Hilton
Kanye West
Winner:
Britney Spears
“What kids?”
Honorable Mention:
Amy Whinehouse
I guess when they tried to make you go to rehab the first time you should have been a bit more agreeable.
Unnecessary Career Move of the Year
Nominees:
Jack Thompson - Being Jack Thompson
Britney Spears - Making a comeback
Boyzone - Making a comeback
Winner:
Jack Thompson
Oh Jack, you never cease to be a fountain of entertainment. After making a settlement in a case with Take Two Interactive which included the condition that you stop filing pointless lawsuits against them for making a videogame (in this case it’s Manhunt 2, although really the game doesn’t matter seeing as Jacko tends to attack them regardless of the content they put out), you decided instead to file a pointless lawsuit against Nintendo for allowing the game to be published on their console. I mean, really. The Florida Bar has now filed disbarment proceedings against Mister Thompson, although we won’t find out the result until next year. Personally, I’d love to see him disbarred. But that’s just me - I know how much you lot love him.
Honorable Mention:
Tim Buckley - CAD: The Animated Series
It’s dire, and no sensible human being in their right mind would pay to see it, either online or on DVD.
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