2016: A Year in Preview

[caption id="attachment_191234" align="alignnone" width="600"] Wring that Golden Goose for all it's worth![/caption] It's here, friends, 2016!  A year of... uh, stuff?  Stuff that is much like the stuff that we enjoyed last year, and the year before, and the year before that.  Yeah.  Especially with it being an election year there's really not much that's we're likely to enjoy in 2016.  That's why we have pop culture!  Distraction, thank god, will pull us through all 35 years of Donald Trumps upcoming empire (All hail!). So that you can start getting amped, and think about anything else, here's a list of things to be excited about in 2016! Best Movie of 2016 Hail Caesar! - The Coen Brothers - February 5th Two of the best filmmakers this side of Quentin Tarantino making another movie?  I'm already in.  Even more, this movie is about a kidnapping in old Hollywood and stars some Coen regulars like Josh Brolin and George Clooney.  Given the plot, the actors, and the other movies the Coens have made, there's no doubt this is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Best Album of 2016 Blackstar - David Bowie - Jan. 8th If you caught his first video, the eponymous Blackstar, you have an idea of the strange, hypnotic music that David Bowie plans to release in 2016.  If there's one constant to Bowie's career, it's that he surprises with every release.  Blackstar would appear to be no different with Bowie himself citing it as his 'oddest' album.  Now that's saying something! Best Book of 2016 The Winds of Winter - George R.R. Martin - TBD 2016 Is it going to be released before Season 6 of Game of Thrones?  No.  Is it going to be released in 2016 at all?  We all hope so.  Either way, the sixth volume of The Song of Ice and Fire series of books is going to be epic.  Like GRRM says, there are tons of characters, details, and plot lines that the show just can't encompass.  That is what the books are for, and every reader will gladly wait a couple more months for the vision that GRRM wants to release.  Assuming he has pages.  He better have pages. Best TV Show of 2016 Better Call Saul S2 - AMC - February The first season of Better Call Saul was way better than it ever had to be.  People (see: me) would have been fine with some funny lines and a couple of call backs to Breaking Bad.  Instead, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, and company wrote one of the best, most affecting seasons of television this side of Mad Men.  If they continue along the same trajectory, there's no way that the second season won't be amazing to watch. Best Video Game of 2016 No Man's Sky - PS4 - June There are a ton of good games coming out this year, but none more exciting than the absolutely beautiful and enormous No Man's Sky.  An exploration game that let's players explore nearly 18 Quintillion Planets (procedurally generated), it's become one of the most anticipated titles for all of the upcoming VR releases.  With gorgeous gameplay and a super flexible game world, there's nothing more ambitious or exciting in 2016.