It was my worst and toughest academic year yet, but equally just as rewarding (well, at least, I try to remind myself of the rewards, 43 cushions later). It was the year Australia voted in* its first female Prime Minister. It was the year a Queenslander hacker brought too much attention to himself by leaking a heck of a lot of alarming cables. It was the year Bruce Wayne returned as the Batman, and DC Comics went nuts, or rather, Grant Morrison was permitted to go nuts.

All things considered, it was just another tumultuous year. So here’s a summary of what made 2010 for me.

You may have also noticed over the week that I’ve overhauled Evening Hour ‘s layout a lot. I’m slowly converting this blog into a review blog, since it’s all I seem to be doing anyway. It’s still under construction so there may be errors or blank spaces here and there. Watch this space!

* = “voted in” in the truest sense is questionable, as former PM Kevin Rudd was ousted by his own people, rather than the public, therefore we really had no choice…

(I initally meant to post this on the 1st October. Go me.)

Brideshead Revisited

Up until this point I always assumed Evelyn Waugh was a woman, but this is the name, in fact, of a man. And I had no idea that the mini-series adaptation was held in such high regard. I got “free” tickets for an advanced screening at Nova, thanks to my delightful affiliation with the Monash Golden Key Society. Honestly, I paid $93 to join them; I should get the money back slowly but surely, no? In any case, I’m glad I didn’t technically pay for the film, because it was a bit of a disappointment. My appetite for visual candy was more than satisfied, however, probably to the point of gluttony. It is a sumptuous, seductive film for the senses. But for the mind? Maybe not so much. The protagonist, Charles Ryder, a modest painter is introduced to a world of decadence, wealth and opulence through his growing relationship with Sebastian Flyte at Oxford. He is swept away by the grandness of Sebastian’s home, Brideshead. What follows is a series of events that lead Charles into the closing, controlling grip of Brideshead itself, and the choices he makes …

My Mac desktop (I was inspired by Losille’s LJ entry):

I wonder, does the Dark Knight win the prize for the most teaser websites, hoaxes and gimmicks? Seriously how many have there been? Why So Serious?, The Ha Ha Ha Times, The Joker Travel Agency, I Believe in Harvey Dent… They’re all very clever and manipulative in fleshing out the fictional characters within the social and political climate of the real world. And let’s not overlook the smex factor in bringing the hot back in milk. ;) Yeah I’m as good as infatuated. All this because of a certain Mr. Bale… Well, no, that’s not entirely true—Batman is probably my favourite comic, out of all comics. It’s dark (well that was a given) and grisly and depressing, but there’s an incredible power to the series which lights up like a beacon, and I find that very appealing.

Can’t wait for Batman: Gotham Knight, which is a direct-to-DVD animated feature of six short films, that acts as a prelude to The Dark Knight. Directed by some relatively big names in Japanese animation, including Yasuhiro Aoki and Toshiyuki Kubooka, it’s very much in the essence of The Animatrix, which I love so much. It …