(que the Days of Our Lives theme) And as the days of our lives pass, so do the years. You know what that means, right? 2007 is almost gone, and 2008 is on its way to take 2007's place. But before 2008 takes over in about 6 hours, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve dominates the television tonight, let me recap on my thoughts of 2007:

It was a very quick year, and I kept feeling like time was flying by so fast. Seriously, the month of September passed by so quickly, and before I knew it, Christmas had arrived:?. Never before has that happened from what I can remember. Other than being a quick year, though, it was also very action-packed for me, compared to the boring 2006. So much happened to me this year, that I can hardly believe it. Also, unlike last year, this year wasn't so unlucky for me, and I wasn't constantly stumbling in piles of dog sh*t getting in my way in my life. What exactly did happen to me this year?

I continued to experience the next generation of gaming with the Wii.

I won a state-wide art contest that placed me in the top 18, which prompted me to reveal my art here on Gamespot.

My one and only first cousin got married this year, and the wedding actually turned out surprisingly great.

I visited Minnesota for the second time in my life to see my half-brother and his new family, who turned out to be quite a mixed bunch.

My grandfather tested negative for prostate cancer, and soon returned to his normal, drunken self:|.

My mom's divorce with my dad became final.

I turned 18, opening a whole slew of horizons for my life.

I went to my first ever Homecoming dance, and had the time of my life.

I obtained my first real girlfriend ever, and felt like I was on top of the world for a few months, but then had to break up with her because of unexpected, shocking truths (or lies in this case:P ).

I experienced a first date that I will never be able to forget, which was both embarassing and life-threatening.

I got a heart cathode to cure my heart from having heart palpitations any longer, which I've had since I was born.

I finally got my braces out of my mouth, and replaced with a retainer.

I expanded my experience with the next generation of gaming by getting an Xbox 360 for Christmas:D.

That's pretty much my whole year in a nutshell for ya. Yup, looking back on all of that, as well as so much more that has happened, I can easily say that this year was a better year for me than last year.

The entertainment world was also superb this year as well, introducing one of the best gaming, cinematic, and musical years in recent memory. In the gaming category, so many awesome sequels and brand new games made their way to retail stores everywhere. The Wii had Super Mario Galaxy, Super Paper Mario, Warioware: Smooth Moves, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Zack and Wiki, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, and more. Xbox 360 had its best year ever, scoring games such as Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Forza Motorsport 2, The Orange Box, and much, much more. PS3.............meh, skip this one:P. PC, while I have barely any knowledge about, seemed to have a great year with World In Conflict, Sam and Max: Season 1, Supreme Commander, Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Crysis, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and others. PSP...........meh, skip this one as well:P. Now the DS had some stellar releases as well, ranging from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Contra 4, Sonic Rush Adventure, Hotel Dusk: Room 215, and others. (whew) That is a ton of gamage!

The cinema showed tons of stellar movies this year, and some of the biggest franchises ever made their return to the big screen. Tons of sequels cames out, and among them are Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Shrek the Third, Live Free or Die Hard, Ocean's Thirteen, The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the list goes on and on! Unfortunately, some, such as Shrek the Third, Spiderman 3, and Rush Hour 3 were absolute disappointments, while others, such as Live Free or Die Hard, Ocean's Thirteen, and The Bourne Ultimatum, proved to be spectacular treats for the eyes. But other than the sequals, tons of original movies made their debut. The Simpsons Movie marked the first full-length movie based on the television show, while 300 was hailed by many as an epic that will go down in history with Gladiator, Ben-Hur, and Braveheart. Knocked Up, Superbad, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and Juno all proved that you can still get a great comedy in a sea of cliches and wannabes. Walk Hard even proved to be a surprisingly hilarious parody, which is about as rare as westerns are nowadays, but the remake of 3:10 to Yuma proved that the genre is alive and well. American Gangster marked the return of Ridley Scott, and No Country For Old Men marked the return of the Coen Brothers. Gone Baby Gone proved that even if Ben Affleck was a mediocre actor, he could direct one hell of a movie according to a lot of people. Musicals were very common, with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Hairspray, and Enchanted getting some big screen time. Robert DeNiro returned to the big screen in the fantasy epic Stardust, while Tom Hanks returned in Charlie Wilson's War. So much more movie magic took place this year, and with all of this, this was one of the best years to go to the movies in recent memory.

Since I primarily listen to hip-hop music, I'll only describe this genre. Basically, this year was a balance between the positives and negatives of rap. The positives were that some of the most legendary and recognized names in hip-hop put out albums this year. Rappers like Common, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Pharoahe Monch, Kanye West, The Wu-Tang Clan, Freeway, Jay-Z, UGK, Chamillionaire, and many others all put out some bangers. The mixtape game was changed, with many rappers getting recognized by their skill, and DJs such as DJ Drama and DJ Khaled putting out albums to display the talent. Many producers put out albums as well to showcase their producing talent and to unify hip-hop, such as Marco Polo, Statik Selektah, Timbaland, Hi-Tek, and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Unfortunately, rap also showed signs of actually being put on life support, with clowns such as Mims, Huey, Plies, UNK, Hurricane Chris, Flo-Rida, Jibbs, and especially Soulja Boy, turning rap into a mess of snap rap and absymal lyrics with a sh*tload of goofy dances, more ringtones than a person can download in their lifetime, and stupid anthems that keep getting repeated and repeated. Overall, hip-hop music had its ups and downs this year.

Well, I guess there's only one way to end an "End of the Year" blog entry..........

MOVIE REVIEWS!!!!!!!!!

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

It's not often that we get an actual good spoof at the movies these days. I mean, the however many people there are that are the creators of the Scary Movies have f*cked up the way America sees parodies nowadays that it's sad. I mean, the last great movie spoof was probably the original Shrek, and that came out way back in 2001. Well, look no further. Looking at the movie poster and seeing that it says, "From the guy who brought you Knocked Up and Superbad" should indicate that the great Judd Apatow was somehow involved, and that this movie is guarenteed to be hilarious. And that's exactly what it was. If you couldn't figure it out already, Walk Hard is poking fun at the biopic genre of movies, and specifically, Walk the Line (hence the name WALK Hard). It does a damn good job of pointing out all of the cliches of biopics and turning them into jokes. For example, when John C. Reilly starts playing the role after showing Dewey Cox's childhood, it shows him playing at a high school talent show, but then it's revealed that he's only 14 years old:lol:. That's how over-the-top this movie is. In fact, it's so over-the-top, that it shows male frontal nudity in it:P. Oops, did I just spoil it? Oh well, you'll probably forget this review after reading it and be surprised anyways:P. Anyways, the songs are pretty damned good, and some had me rolling in laughter at how funny, yet how real, it sounded. Personally, I liked the version of the song "Walk Hard" best when Ghostface Killah was rapping a verse:P. The cast is spectacular, and you'll notice lots of cameos of the usual Judd Apatow crew, such as Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill, that Middle Eastern dude from 40-Year Old Virgin, and that strange woman who's the boss at Smart Tech in Virgin. There's also an appearance by Jack Black, Justin Long, Frankie Muniz, and Jason Schwartzman. Also, there's Jenna Fischer, who plays Cox's love interest. She does a wonderful job, and she's hawt, too:oops:. If you are a Judd Apatow fan, a Walk the Line fan, or just a fan of parodies or comedies in general, go see this movie now. One of the year's best comedies (as if this year didn't have enough "best comedies" ). It gets a 9.5/10.

I Am Legend

Will Smith is back to play hero again, and believe it or not, he's not alone..............wow, I just totally stole that from the poster:P. I Am Legend is about the seemingly last person on Earth who tries to find a cure to transform creatures called "Dark Seekers" back to normal humans after a virus wipes out almost all of humanity. It's a hybrid of science fiction and horror, and like a combination of 28 Days Later and Cast Away. Most of the movie focuses on Will Smith's character and his dog going through their day to day routine of being the only person in New York City left, while at the same time, trying to solve the mystery of those Dark Seekers. This movie is filled with many cheep scares, and most of the time I was cringing at a suspenseful moment, expecting something to jump out. Half the time, I was correct, but the others I was just a little too paranoid:P. Will Smith does a good job at acting like he is very lonely, and even starts making friends with mannequins at a video store:lol:. Does this remind anyone else of Wilson? The ending is a little bit disappointing to me, as I was expecting more to it, but it was alright I guess. The special effects are amazing, except for the fact that you can tell easily that the animal's (except for Will Smith's dog) was composed of CGI. I have no idea how much this follows the book, but according to my contemporary American literature teacher, it doesn't, and she was actually angry with this movie being made:P. I actually enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it. It gets and 8.5/10.

Well, have a great New Year's Eve, be safe, and hope you can make it to 12:00 AM. I sure will;). Don't party too hard, and once again, be extra careful out on those roads. As for me, well, I'll probably be staying at home, playing video games, since we're under a winter weather advisory. That + drunk drivers out on the roads driving on the wrong side of the road (I'm looking at you, guy who killed a family in Ohio:evil: ) = not a good night to be out driving. Besides, I'm not much of a party person. Once again, have a phenomenal New Year, and see you in 2008:D!