The Siskoid Awards 2007

You know, I've always had a thing for awards shows. Not watching them, mind you. Dear God, no. Roll % for Insanity. No, no, no. I have a thing for organizing them. I just love to dole out prizes. It's just in my nature. And nothing's easier than giving Internet awards (as long as Bill Cosby doesn't come asking for them).

So presenting... The First Annual Siskoid Awards, rewarding excellence in stuff I've seen, heard or read this year (regardless of its original inception date). Only new material will be up for consideration (or else I'd just watch Magnolia once a year and be done with it). Sit back and enjoy. I promise a wacky black woman won't come and harass you in your seat with a microphone.

Best Book of 2007 - The runners up are...
5. About Time 2 - The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who Season 4 to 6 by Tat Wood & Lawrence Miles
4. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
3. Jpod by Douglas Coupland
2. Hey Nostradamus by, you guessed it, Douglas Coupland
...and the Siskoid goes to:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - Like a born-again Flaubert, Chabon rocked my world with this novel. As I said at the time: "I don't remember the last time I finished a book and immediately wanted to go back to the first page and start again (not advised on my schedule). The novel has floored me, amused me, informed me, brought me to tears, tickled my aesthetic palate... I have such a backlog of reading material that I hardly ever talk about rereading a book. Kavalier&Clay just made my list of rereadables along with Hamlet and Ficciones. That's some pretty illustrious company."

Best Comic of 2007 - The runners up are...
5. The Escapist by various
4. Fables by Bill Willingham
3. New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke
2. Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality by Azzarello & Chiang
...and the Siskoid goes to:
The Cute Manifesto by James Kochalka - "I don't mind telling you it brought tears to my eyes. Now, I love Kochalka, and he certainly doesn't have to justify his cute or naive style to me. His ideas about craft, story and artistic process are thought-provoking and told incredibly lyrically, but there's some good autobiographical stuff in there too. The juxtaposition of 9/11 and his decision to have a baby sandbagged me, and how he tied it all into the rest of the manifesto, well... You just have to read this thing. It'll inspire you to new things." All things considered, it was a good year for my comics reading, and it causes me psychic damage not to be able to mention Lone Racer, Shazam, Iron Fist, Booster Gold, Invincible, Manhunter, DMZ, All-Star Superman and Super F*ckers.

Best Film of 2007 - The runners up are...
5. Thank You for Smoking by Jason Reitman
4. The Bourne Ultimatum by Paul Greengrass
3. Little Miss Sunshine by Dayton & Faris
2. Ghost Dog by Jim Jarmusch
...and the Siskoid goes to:
2046 by Wong Kar-Wai - In part because it changed my perception of film-making, it's a gorgeous film, visual and evocative, quiet and emotional. And it started me tracking down every film this man has ever made, so that tells you something. (Of course, Jason Bourne actually won the award - in fact, every award on here - but to keep his presence a secret, he arranged for others to win them instead. But we know the score.)

Best TV Series of 2007 - The runners up are...
5. Heroes Season 1
4. Doctor Who Series 2-3
3. Studio 60 Season 1
2. Jekyll Series 1
...and the Siskoid goes to:
Slings & Arrows Seasons 1-3 - I went through these so quickly it's almost a crime. After the first Season, "The show had me shedding tears and breaking out in laughter seconds later. They had me at hello by concentrating on a production of Hamlet, then actually illuminating the text in new ways for me (not that easy at this point), and making the characters' lives somewhat mirror the play without ever being predictable." And it just went on from there.

Best TV Episode of 2007 - Limited to one per Season of any series. The runners up are...
5. Futurama - Bender's Big Score
4. Shakespeare Retold - Much Ado About Nothing
3. Doctor Who Series 2 - The Girl in the Fireplace
2. Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days - Ancient Mariners
...and the Siskoid goes to:
Doctor Who Series 3 - Blink - Given that Steven Moffat has three nominations in all (the others for Girl in the Fireplace and Jekyll), it's not surprise that he finally wins one. Blink is his most accomplished work on Doctor Who, maybe even edging out The Empty Child, but writing's rarely enough to create a compelling episode. Blink also features some deft direction and wonderful performances. Carey Mulligan is the best Companion the Doctor's never had!

Best CD of 2007 - The runners up are...
5. Fallen Angels soundtrack (if only for the inclusion of Laurie Anderson's Speak My Language and The Flying Pickets' Only You)
4. The One Doctor (Big Finish audio) by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman
3. The Chimes of Midnight (Big Finish audio) by Rob Shearman
2. Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? by Of Montreal
...and the Siskoid goes to:
Doctor Who Original Television Soundtrack by Murray Gold - It's certainly the one I listened the most to, and I can't get enough of the Doomsday music. Given what I heard in Series 3, I can't wait for the sequel either. Am I the biggest fanboy or what? A frickin' SF soundtrack won the category. Truth be told, I haven't made a lot of musical discoveries since I quit working for the People's Radio three years ago. Still, doesn't take away from Murray Gold's achievement.

And now for the category you've been waiting for:

Stupidest Move in the Geekaverse 2007 - The runners up are...
5. Just Cuz You Can Write a Novel Don't Mean You Can Write a Comic (DC Comics) - From Meltzer's decompressions and Picoult's mishandling of Wonder Woman, to trying to market those aberrations to the mainstream in hardcovers across the larger bookstore network, DC went all out this year trying to sink their market.
4. Argentinagate - When a blogger in Argentina copied and translated all of its content from the best comic book blogs, he was just asking for mucho trouble.
3. Civil War (Marvel Comics) - The worst thing about Civil War isn't Captain America's death in the epilogue (a marketing scheme his writer turned to his advantage), but everything else. Turning Iron Man into a villainous jerk just before his movie comes out? Smooth. Siding with the Patriot Act? Twisted. Spider-Man revealing his identity. Since retconned.
2. Joe Quesada's clueless sexism (Marvel Comics) - Yes, Marvel gets a second nomination, but its editor-in-chief Joey Q is really asking for it. Other comic book companies shamelessly put out giant breast orgies, but at least they're honest about it. J.Q. has dealt with every sexist product (the Mary Jane statue, the Heroes for Hire Hentai cover) the same way, by going "sorry, I don't see it". And while the Internet revels in showing pictures of him drunk in strip club, he's out saying that readers can't identify with a married Spider-Man and effectively using more Civil War-type characterization (i.e. characters do what must be done not what they would actually do) to retcon it out of existence. And that's THIS WEEK! Nice that he could get one more in before the end of 2007.
...but the Siskoid goes to:
A kid I know beating the shit out of another for spoiling the end of the last Harry Potter book - It's a very personal, local entry, but it takes the cake, especially given that this occurred in late October, months after the book's release. A simple "you know, at the end of the last Harry Potter when...?" was met with fists rather than a more sensible "lalala I can't hear you shut up I haven't finished it".

So there you have it. The ceremony has hopefully finished on time thanks to the total lack of musical numbers. Tomorrow: The Technical Awards as given in a ceremony prior to this one!