Five Year Anniversary is Dead

Despite a severe lack of updates I’ve somehow made it to Beta is Dead’s fifth anniversary. BALLOONS!!!

Balloons make everything better

It seems I’m still kicking, despite all appearances to the contrary. A year ago I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue with this blog since there’s so little reward in it. By mid-2014 I was actually feeling significantly better about the blog but I was hampered by some personal issues (and, no, you don’t get to know what those issues were, you nosey so-and-so) which led me to working on my novel rather than writing about movies or cartoons or whatever is it is I normally do. Almost immediately after I finished the first draft and was ready to get back to reviewing things I got a new job that not only ate up all my time but made me not really want to touch a computer after work (eight hours staring at computer screens will do that to you). So in a real way 2014 was probably the worst year in this blog’s history.

But there’s no use in feeling down about it. Instead on dwelling on a lousy year it’s best to plan for the next one and that’s what I aim to do! (I actually had a pretty good year, just not for this blog)

So for 2015 I foresee myself being busy enough that regular updates will not be in the cards. I’d always had the pipe dream of a MWF schedule but I don’t think that’s likely to happen, not unless I make enough money to justify it. I will try to post as often as I can. Expect an anniversary related blog sometime before the end of the month. I also promise I will do everything in my power to make sure there will be posts for Black Superhero Month.

Reviews may be a bit trickier but we’ll see. Traditional the first review of the year is a Mila Kunis film (not because I’m a big fan but because what else am I going to review, am I right?) but that may or may not be the case this year. Jupiter Ascending was delayed to an early February release so if I don’t review something before I see it then tradition will prevail.

A major thing I want to talk about is my book. I finished the first draft last September but since then I have not had the time to edit it that I would like, mainly due to my new job. In 2015 my number one goal is to begin (key word) the process of getting it published by December, even if that’s only shopping it around to agents who won’t return my e-mails (or whatever the first step is; I dunno, man). So I need to get this second draft done, then the third draft, then the fourth draft and then maybe a fifth draft depending on how I feel about it. I plan on this being my priority which means if I feel I have to choose between this blog and my book I will put Beta is Dead on an extended hiatus. If this happens I will likely say something on here.

Any way my hope is that 2015 will be a good year and that we’ll all be here for the sixth anniversary.

Beta's Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2014

2014 was a hard year for me, as evidenced by my lack of updates, and while I’ll likely get into that more when I do my anniversary blog (though I doubt I’ll go into specifics as this still isn’t that type of blog) the most relevant issue I had was an inability to see movies as much as I had in the past. I used to see several films a week and now I’m averaging one every three weeks which is really upsetting for me as going to the movie theater is my favorite hobby. As a result of this trend I missed out on a lot of films that got a lot of buzz (Birdman being the obvious example). Also what movies I did see I simply didn’t have time to review. So this will likely be one of the least interesting “Top Ten Favorite Movies” list I’ve ever done. But I will do it nonetheless!

Anyway the rules are the same as ever: 1) I only count movies I’ve actually seen and I can’t see every movie so if your favorite film or some critical darling didn’t make the list there’s a decent chance I never got around to seeing it. 2) This is not a “Best Movie” list; it’s my list of personal favorites. It’s subjective and you’ll do well to take that in mind. But please, feel free to post your own Top Ten list in the comment section or even if you just have a movie that you think I snubbed. I mean, also comment if you agree with the list but seeing as this is the internet I’m not hopeful.

Beta’s Top Ten Movies after the jump.