Jeff Dodge's Article Archive -- January 1-15, 2014

January 1-15, 2014:

2014: What I'm Looking Forward to This Year

I've already given my top recommendations of 2013. And now it's time to look at what's ahead in 2014, and what I'm looking forward to the most in the areas of movies, books, TV shows, music and more.

2013 Year in Review: My Recommendations of the Year

Earlier today, I posted the first part of my 2013 Year in Review. Now it's time for Part 2: taking a look at all of my recommendations from throughout the year, including some additional recommendations that I didn't review but still want to mention. I've ranked them as best I could, though when I'm including things from all different areas (movies, TV shows, books, etc), it's not always easy to determine which is better, if a particular movie is better than a certain book, for example. But here it is:

2013 Year in Review: Looking Back on 'What I'm Looking Forward to This Year'

To quote Albus Dumbledore, "Another year gone!" With 2013 now behind us, it's time for me to start posting my Year in Review content, starting with my reflections on a entry from the start of last year titled 'What I'm Looking Forward to This Year." I think the headline explains it all, so what I'm going to do is just go through and reflect on each of the items I mentioned then. Some I might not have gotten to, so I'll make note of that as well.

Reviews: 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' & 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug' Movies

2014 is now here, but before I post my end of the year entries, I have two more reviews from the end of 2013 to put up, so here they are...

Jeff Dodge's Article Archive -- August 20-30, 2013

August 20-30, 2013:

BuddyTV:
'Big Brother' Winner to Compete on 'Survivor: Blood vs. Water'
Survivor: Blood vs. Water, airing this fall, will hit a little close to home for the castaways. Instead of having to wait many days for the chance to make it to the Loved Ones Visit, the loved ones will be on the island the entire time as returning contestants will be competing against their own family. One of those family members has now been revealed, and it is none other than...

2013: What I'm Looking Forward to This Year

A little over a week ago, I closed the door on 2012 by looking back on what I was anticipating the most coming into the year. And now it's time to look forward. Since we're at the start of 2013, I'm going to do it again: list some of the movies, books, TV shows and music that I'm looking forward to this year.

2012 Year in Review: My Top Recommendations of the Year

In Part 1 of my 2012 Year in Review, I went back and reviewed my January 1, 2012 post 'What I'm Looking Forward to This Year.' Now, in Part 2, it's time to compile all my 2012 Recommendations in order. So let's get right into it with the my #1 Recommendations, the movies/TV shows/books/etc. that stood out above them all:

2012 Year in Review: Looking Back on 'What I'm Looking Forward to in 2012'

I don't know about you, but 2012 went by in a flash, especially the last half of the year. Last I checked, we were deep in the middle of a presidential election, and now we're approaching inauguration day in a couple of weeks. See what I mean? Went by fast. But I'm not here to talk politics. No...it's time to do a 2012 Year in Review and also compile my top recommendations of the past year.

I Recommend: 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Film & 'Catfish: The TV Show'

Jeff Dodge's Recommendations:

Movie:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (in theaters)

(Image courtesy of Warner Bros.)

The Hobbit is a book that I grew up with. I'm sure I have read it more than once as a child. But looking back, I realize that it's been over 10 years since I last read it, since some time in middle school. When The Lord of the Rings movies were released in theaters, my 92-year-old great-aunt and I went to each one together. (She and I share a love of reading, and always talk about such stories as Harry Potter, Hobbit/LOTR and more.) We've been anticipating the release of the start of the middle-earth stories, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And as is tradition with us, we went to see it recently, in 3D/24 FPS.