THE 2018 BLOOD AWARDS!
Welcome all to the fourth annual BLOOD AWARDS ceremony! This is Blood Work's fourth full year end review where we will look back at 2018 and go over the movies, television, comic books, super heroes, giant monsters, and ninjas to have graced these blog posts over the last 12 months. We will sit in judgment once more and award the best and brightest of the last year.
Blood Work started in June of 2014 with the sole purpose of sharing our love of film, comics, kaiju, and more. That first seven months were sort of a beta test. This year marks the fourth full year of Blood Work. Yay! We've graduated high school! Now it's off to college! Let's kick off the new year with a celebration of the best of 2018!
DISCLAIMER:
By "best" we mean what we here at Blood Work feel, in our own pompous
biased over-inflated egotistical opinions, is the best according to our
own personal preferences. If you were looking for the right time to
exit... that time is... NOW! Run! Go! Get to the choppa!
By something not being on the list in no way means that we don't like
it or feel it is inferior. It just means we haven't gotten to it yet. This
post is in no way meant to put down any one or any thing or discredit
anyone's work.
This blog is meant to celebrate everything we love in entertainment. We
aren't haters. We're lovers. If by some reason we have offended you, we
truly apologize, for it was not our intent.
So without further adieu... on with the blood!
KAIJU OF THE YEAR
We here at Blood Work love all kaiju and as such we feel all kaiju
should be celebrated. One of our life long loves has been Japanese giant monsters (kaiju in their purest form) as well as giant monsters in general the world over, no matter the medium. We used to post articles about giant monsters all the time, but have tapered off the last two years. But we could never completely stop posting about kaiju. It's in our DNA! And luckily for us and everyone everywhere, giant monster movies are coming back! There were four big studio big budget giant monster movies this year (if you count Jurassic World 2) as well as anime movies and more! It's a good time to be a fan of giant monsters!
Anyway, while 2018 was a little on the light
side for kaiju appreciation here on Blood Work, the rest of the world made up for it. So here's to a more kaiju heavy 2019!
Here are the articles we did publish centering around our favorite city destroying giant monsters!
GODZILLA ~ PLANET OF THE MONSTERS
GODZILLA ~ CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE
PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
JURASSIC WORLD ~ FALLEN KINGDOM
THE MEG
TOP TEN CHILDHOOD CARTOONS
TOP TEN GREATEST TURTLES
TOP TEN FAVORITE ZOMBIES
RAMPAGE (we saw this one and enjoyed it, but didn't blog about it 😓 sorry!)
And the "Kaiju of the Year" award goes to...
D'COMPOSE!
D'Compose and the Inhumanoids topped two of our top ten lists this year and thus is deserving of our highest honor: KAIJU OF THE YEAR!
Indeed, D'Compose was my very first favorite giant monster when I was three years old. And maybe the Inhumanoids is the reason why I love giant monsters and the horror genre as much as I do. If I really want to put a fine point on it, Inhumanoids and D'Compose is likely responsible for shaping my interests from those early years to this very day. This last year saw a reignition of my love for this obscure cult classic cartoon series and I was happy to see that it was better than I remembered! I daresay I love Inhumanoids more today than I ever have!
Indeed, D'Compose was my very first favorite giant monster when I was three years old. And maybe the Inhumanoids is the reason why I love giant monsters and the horror genre as much as I do. If I really want to put a fine point on it, Inhumanoids and D'Compose is likely responsible for shaping my interests from those early years to this very day. This last year saw a reignition of my love for this obscure cult classic cartoon series and I was happy to see that it was better than I remembered! I daresay I love Inhumanoids more today than I ever have!
D'Compose, we salute you!
COMIC OF THE YEAR
Here are the comic books we read last year (note: not all were reviewed
here at Blood Work but we are including everything we've read in the
event that they may be reviewed at a later date).
Here are the nominees...
The Life of Captain Marvel (by Margaret Stohl and various artists)
Infinity Countdown & Infinity Wars (by Gerry Duggan and various artists)
Avengers: No Surrender #675 - #690 (by various writers and artists)
Defenders: The Best Defense (by various writers and artists)
Thanos (by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw)
The Immortal Hulk (by Al Ewing and various artists)
Death of the Inhumans (by Donny Cates and Ariel Olivetti)
Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk & Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker (by Chris Sims & Chad Bowers and Gang Hyuk Lim & Todd Nauck)
Doctor Strange (by Mark Waid and Jesus Saiz)
Doctor Strange: Damnation (by Donny Cates & Nick Spencer and various artists)
Cosmic Ghost Rider (by Donny Cates and Dylan Burnett)
Weapon H (by Greg Pak and various artists
Pumpkinhead (by Cullen Bunn and Blacky Shepherd)
Kong of Skull Island 2018 Special (by Paul Allor and Carlos Magno)
(wow! you don't realize how much you've read until you actually go through and list it all! This doesn't even cover the older books that we were catching up on from previous years and all those various one-shots and single issue specials! Yeesh! We knew we had a problem but this is ridiculous...)
And the comic of the year goes to...
\
DARKHAWK & SLEEPWALKER!
Technically these are two separate books... but really they're one story. Both are written by the same writing duo of Chad Bowers and Chris Sims. These books were purely and simply a gift from Marvel directly to me (or at least it felt like it was made just for me). I loved these nine issues and was heartbroken when they ended. But for a while there I was living one of the greatest dreams in comics I've had in a long while. If I'm to remain positive I pray that this story continues in a new monthly or mini series coming up (realistically though I won't hold my breath).
A toast! To Darkhawk and Sleepwalker! Two heroes I've loved for thirty years now!
This was an incredible year for horror films! I can say with confidence that we are living in a new horror film renaissance! It's like all my nerd passions are peaking in popularity all at once! This much goodness can't last for long so I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can!
Horror is a deeply personal love for us here at Blood Work. Throughout the years we've delved deeper and deeper into the history of horror cinema, exploring all we can. We love learning about the early horror films and different eras of horror cinema throughout the previous century as much as we love seeing the new horror films coming out every. Over these many years we've developed a broad pallet, finding many eras and subgenres of horror we enjoy. With that in mind, this was a really great year for horror cinema as we loved just about everything we saw in 2018.
Horror is a deeply personal love for us here at Blood Work. Throughout the years we've delved deeper and deeper into the history of horror cinema, exploring all we can. We love learning about the early horror films and different eras of horror cinema throughout the previous century as much as we love seeing the new horror films coming out every. Over these many years we've developed a broad pallet, finding many eras and subgenres of horror we enjoy. With that in mind, this was a really great year for horror cinema as we loved just about everything we saw in 2018.
Here are the nominees
INSIDIOUS ~ THE LAST KEY
A QUIET PLACE
UPGRADE
THE MEG
THE NUN
THE PREDATOR
HELL FEST
HALLOWEEN (2018)
OVERLORD
THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE
HEREDITARY (podcast review coming soon!)
and the award for best horror film goes to...
THE NUN
Over the last few years I have been really getting into Gothic horror. I have been deep diving Hammer Horror films, Amicus films, AIP Corman/Vincent Price films, and the Italian Gothic horror cinema of the 1960's (especially anything with Barbara Steele! Oh how we love Barbara Steele😁).
The Nun played directly into our Gothic horror passion and offered the closest thing we've seen to a new Hammer Horror film in years. It felt like a proper Dracula film, the best Dracula film in decades! There hasn't been a great Gothic horror film since 2015's CRIMSON PEAK (which if you recall earned the Best Horror Film award from us back then!). Clearly we have a love affair with Gothic horror that is insatiable!
We really did enjoy most every horror film we saw this year though which made it pretty hard to choose. The new Halloween, A Quiet Place, Overlord, Upgrade, Hereditary... there were so many good ones! We even enjoyed the pure 1980's era slasher experience of Hell Fest.
Here's hoping 2019 is another solid year for horror movies! And if we get another big studio Gothic horror film we'll be in heaven! Or Hell!
We really did enjoy most every horror film we saw this year though which made it pretty hard to choose. The new Halloween, A Quiet Place, Overlord, Upgrade, Hereditary... there were so many good ones! We even enjoyed the pure 1980's era slasher experience of Hell Fest.
Here's hoping 2019 is another solid year for horror movies! And if we get another big studio Gothic horror film we'll be in heaven! Or Hell!
ANIME/TELEVISION SHOW OF THE YEAR
Yeah, we're just going to say right now that we're terrible television watchers. We barely watch any tv shows anymore. So why even do this category anymore? For tradition and posterity I guess. We did manage to watch quite a few of the Marvel television series (but even those we missed a bunch including The Gifted. Legion, Runaways, and Cloak & Dagger). We even fell behind on staples like Supernatural and The Walking Dead. And we still haven't seen last year's Samurai Jack Season 5! Seriously, we should just give up now. Anyway... we did manage to sneak in a few shows.
The nominees for best television series are...
The nominees for best television series are...
DEVILMAN ~ CRYBABY
JESSICA JONES SEASON 2
AGENTS OF SHIELD SEASON 5
LUKE CAGE SEASON 2
IRON FIST SEASON 2
CASTLEVANIA SEASON 2
DAREDEVIL SEASON 3
SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER (2018)
And the award for best television show goes to...
Our love for Castlevania runs long and deep, going way back to our days in kindergarten when we played our first Castlevania game ever (it was Castlevania II: Simon's Quest!). Needless to say we are experiencing a major resurgence in Castlevania love. Much of it is due to Netflix's Castlevania anime series. And while we have a few issues with season two, we loved it all the same. We're still riding high on a new wave of Castlevania love and we hope it lasts for quite a while longer too!
Admittedly there is so much we missed in regards to television, but what we did see we enjoyed (mostly). Castlevania dramatized as a film of some sort has been a life long dream of mine and seeing it come true in a, mostly, faithful adaptation is astounding.
Here's to a season three that is even more faithful and just as amazing as what we've received already! They just have to work in more classic Castlevania game music!
COMIC BOOK / SCI-FI / FANTASY / ACTION
FILM OF THE YEAR
FILM OF THE YEAR
It's the big one! Basically this is our Best Movie of the year category.
I must say that this year saw more super hero movies come out than any year before. This category should be changed to "Best Super Hero Movie of the Year" given that's about all we saw! Yes we tried to see every super hero movie and because of it, sadly, we missed many other movies. And I still missed one or two super hero movies too! There's a lot for us to catch up on this next year.
Even though we missed a bunch, what we did see this year was amazing. It was an incredible year for cinema in general, not just super hero and horror movies. Every year it seems the movies are getting better and better. But seriously, 2018 will be a difficult year to top! Anyway...
The nominees for best film of 2018 are...
And the award for best movie goes to...
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Surprise surprise surprise... Wait... no it isn't. Everybody is going crazy about Infinity War. What's actually surprising though is Marvel Studios actually delivered a film that lived up to unprecedented expectations and hype. I honestly wasn't sure if Marvel Studios could deliver on such lofty aspirations. I understand this movie didn't work for everybody and that's fine. But I gotta say, I can be a hard person to please, especially when it comes to super hero movies, and super especially when those super hero movies feature my favorite characters from the comics. I came away from Avengers: Infinity War more fulfilled than I ever expected. But...
Marvel made a movie that's longevity is highly contingent on the next Avengers film. If Avengers Endgame sucks, it could have a ripple effect that taints Infinity War, and to a bigger degree, nearly every MCU film. I had bated breath while awaiting Infinity War. I think I'm almost suffocating waiting for Endgame, which is now held yet higher, an even more unprecedented level of expectations because Infinity War was so good.
Even though we missed a bunch, what we did see this year was amazing. It was an incredible year for cinema in general, not just super hero and horror movies. Every year it seems the movies are getting better and better. But seriously, 2018 will be a difficult year to top! Anyway...
The nominees for best film of 2018 are...
BLACK PANTHER
PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
DEADPOOL 2
SOLO ~ A STAR WARS STORY
JURASSIC WORLD ~ FALLEN KINGDOM
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
THE MEG
VENOM
AQUAMAN
SPIDER-MAN ~ INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
And the award for best movie goes to...
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Surprise surprise surprise... Wait... no it isn't. Everybody is going crazy about Infinity War. What's actually surprising though is Marvel Studios actually delivered a film that lived up to unprecedented expectations and hype. I honestly wasn't sure if Marvel Studios could deliver on such lofty aspirations. I understand this movie didn't work for everybody and that's fine. But I gotta say, I can be a hard person to please, especially when it comes to super hero movies, and super especially when those super hero movies feature my favorite characters from the comics. I came away from Avengers: Infinity War more fulfilled than I ever expected. But...
Marvel made a movie that's longevity is highly contingent on the next Avengers film. If Avengers Endgame sucks, it could have a ripple effect that taints Infinity War, and to a bigger degree, nearly every MCU film. I had bated breath while awaiting Infinity War. I think I'm almost suffocating waiting for Endgame, which is now held yet higher, an even more unprecedented level of expectations because Infinity War was so good.
Anyway, 2017 was a great year for cinema. 2018, I feel, was even greater! And it has set the bar even higher for 2019, possibly far out of reach. And really it all depends on a few films delivering big... and you can probably guess which films we here at Blood Work are looking at...
And now for the only award that really matters in all the world...
NINJA OF THE YEAR
Finally! The award you've all been waiting for so eagerly! Who is the ninja of the year?! I don't know about you all, but I am very excited to be presenting the award this year. So many great ninjas have graced the pages of this blog and we here at Blood Work feel honored to have been graced with their presence. I think I speak for everyone here at Blood Work that, when we grow up, we want to be ninjas. It's a little known fact, but it's true.
Believe it or not, our love of ninjas has grown even more so over this last year! We've discovered ninjas we never knew about, ninja video games we've never played before, and even acquired a few statues of our ninja heroes.
We've added a few ninja posts to our growing repertoire this year. Here's what we've amassed so far:
TOP TEN FAVORITE NINJAS (VIDEO GAMES: MALE)
TOP TEN FAVORITE COMIC BOOK NINJAS
Kage No Gundan ~ Shadow Warriors Season One
(a show set in feudal Japan about ninjas!)
(my favorite video game ninja!)
Kage No Gundan ~ Shadow Warriors Season One
(a show set in feudal Japan about ninjas!)
(it says samurai but ninjas are included too)
(The film responsible for the status of ninjas today in pop culture.)
(A brief examination of female ninjas and how cool and dangerous these women were.)
(A survey in which I asked coworkers who they thought would win and a story based on the outcome.)
(A list of my favorite fighting game males, some of which are ninjas!)
(A list of my favorite fighting game females, many of which are ninjas!)
And the ninja of the year is...
The first kunoichi of the Street Fighter series! Before I even played Street Fighter III I was scrutinizing the character roster (all completely new characters save for Ryu and Ken!). The designs for the new characters felt strangely alien to everything I knew from Street Fighter II. The only one that really struck me was Ibuki. Her look is so very cool, a fresh spin on the classic ninja design. Plus she has that wicked bug-like antennae hair. Ibuki, for me, is one of the best designed video game ninjas ever.
She was the first member of the SFIII cast that I played and the first of them that I really took to. No surprise that she became one of my favorite characters among the entire Street Fighter franchise. And she is the first kunoichi to take this most covetous award!
Ibuki topped one of our top ten ninja lists this last year, not an easy feat to accomplish! And she is more than deserving of the Ninja of the Year Award
And there it is! The 2018 Blood Awards!
The bloody best of the best according to the openly bizarre people at Blood Work
(who likely have zero good taste in anything... We can't help it. The heart wants what the heart wants)
A big thanks to everyone who has frequented this blog and helped contribute! If it's kaiju, comic books, or horror expect to see it here! We here at Blood Work appreciate every visit and comment and are thankful for all your support over these last four and a half years! It's hard to believe that 54 months have already gone by since we started this blog. Here's to another 54 months and beyond!
And here's to a wonderful 2019!
And remember to keep the blood flowing!
As always feel free to comment and let us know what you think.
As always feel free to comment and let us know what you think.
No comments:
Post a Comment