Favorite Things

Best of what I read/watched/listened to this year

Been silent on this front for a minute, and will continue to be. Actively writing Screen Time, a YA cyberpunk novel, along with Heathenish Shaman, the epic that would be blasphemy to follow up, so consider it my last novel ever. Part two, I'm deep into a few screenplays, and pre-production on Dirty Third - the first Agitator Films series - is moving along. Filming will most likely start in April or May. On top of that, I'm writing a commissioned biography, steady co-hosting Agitator, and juggling some freelance work (mostly carpentry; been nice doing dust and sweat work again).

So, in the sake of conserving energy and what precious time I have for projects versus dicking around with proper reviews, I've decided to simply list the works of art I vibed heaviest with this year. Everything below has my full co-sign as a certified banger.

Music

That Mexican OT - Lonestar Luchador

Paul Wall x Termanology - Start Finish Repeat

Z-Ro x Lil C x J Dawg - I Ain't Takin No Loss, Vol. 2 (Drank Muzik Deluxe Edition)

Danny Brown - Quaranta

Lil Wayne x 2 Chainz - Welcome 2 Collegrove

Paul Wall - The Great Wall

Sleep Token - Take Me Back To Eden

BigXthaPlug - AMAR

Lil Wayne - Tha Fix Before Tha VI

Danny Brown x JPEGMAFIA - Scaring the Hoes

Big Tony is a name to pay attention to. His flow is as H Town as his lyrical content. It’s all drank, SLABs, and getting it out the trunk by any means. I ain’t seen an album yet, but he been dropping banger after banger with the single joints.

Other than that, it’s been the usual rotation. Lot of Z-Ro, Big Moe, Bun B, Slim Thug. Steady staying Screwed Up.

Broken River Joints Dropped This Year

Rock City by G.D. Bowlin

An Altar of Stories to Liminal Saints by Rios de la Luz

Melancholy’s Finest: The Motorpapi Chronicles, Pt. 1 by Grant Wamack

Ghosts of West Baltimore by David Simmons

Iron Wolf and Broken Katana by E Rathke

A War In Heaven by J. David Osborne

God Is Wearing Black by yours truly*

*Preciate all the love with the pre-orders. Your boy been hustling endlessly, but I’ll be getting around to signing and shipping real soon.

Best Books I Read This Year

Deliver Me by Elle Nash

Terminal Boredom by Izumi Suzuki

Bad Foundations by Brian Allen Carr

Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe

The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis

The Screaming Child by Scott Adlerberg

The Pussy Detective by DuVay Knox

Burn You the Fuck Alive by B.R. Yeager

Chicken Chasin Pt. 2 by Re-Up Latham

Pure Cosmos Club by Matthew Binder

The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan

Safety Propaganda: Conceptual Manifesto for Psychological Warfare by Adam Lehrer

Voidheads by Chris Kelso

Abnormal Statistics by Max Booth III

New Millennium Boyz by Alex Kazemi

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud

Sphere by Michael Crichton

Best Series I Started This Year

The Righteous Gemstones

Eastbound & Down

This Fool

Euphoria

Yellowstone

The Curse

The Idol

TMNT 2012

Onimusha

Vinland Saga

Chainsaw Man

Space Dandy

Best Manga I Read This Year

Ichi the Killer and Homunculus by Hideo Yamamoto

Gantz by Hiroya Oku

Knights of Sidonia by Tsutomu Nihei

And as always, my personal bible, Berserk by Kentaro Miura

Best Movies Watched for the First Time This Year

Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985) and Throne of Blood (1957)

Hideaki Anno’s Love & Pop (1998) and Cutie Honey (2004)

Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s 2LDK (2003)

Robert Eggers’ The Northman (2022)

Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

S. Craig Zahler’s Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Ultraman (2022)

Takeshi Koike’s Redline (2009)

Hiroyuki Imaishi’s Dead Leaves (2004)

Katsuhito Ishii’s Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (1998)

Ryuhei Kitamura’s Versus (2000)

Shinya Tsukamoto’s Nightmare Detective 2 (2008)

Gen Sekiguchi’s Survive Style 5+ (2004)

Chad Stahelski’s John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)

Juzo Itami’s Tampopo (1985)

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s The Drifting Classroom (1987)

Jordan Peele’s Nope (2022)

Zach Cregger’s Barbarian (2022)

Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct (1992)

Roger Avary’s The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Sean Baker’s Red Rocket (2021)

Koichi Ohata x Hayato Ikeda’s MD Geist (1986)

Makoto Kamiya’s Resident Evil: Damnation (2012)

Takanori Tsujimoto’s Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017)

Eiichiro Hasumi’s Resident Evil: Death Island (2023)