THE FORCEYS (Downtown Condo - 14th Floor) This year the 12th Annual Forceys moved to what I unofficially count as the 7th different location for the awards and maybe the most scenic. This downtown location brought together our largest audience in years with eight attendees to celebrate the best of the past year. Discussions and shots ensued as we honored the following.
BEST MOVIE - LOGAN. With last year's winner "Star Wars: Force Awakens" having another entry this year and Marvel having a sequel to previous winner "Guardians of the Galaxy", I thought the winner was predetermined. Although "Arrival" made a strong showing, it was moody X-Men property, "Logan" that captured our attention the most last year. We love our moody heroes.
BEST COMIC - SAGA. This category gets lots of variety from mainstream to independent to adult themed titles nominated. Previous winner "Paper Dolls" seemed set to have a repeat victory. But "Saga", a title that had finished in 2nd place a number of years was able to garner enough votes to finally bring home the win. It is as much a tribute to the staying power of the title than necessarily the number of issues that came out this year. I started reading it because of the yearly love from this group and I love it.
BEST MUSIC - A TRIBE CALLED QUEST - WE GOT IT FROM HERE. An inconclusive favorite during the nomination stage led to one of the most lopsided winners for this year's awards. Maybe it was the loss of Phife or just the opportunity for a lifetime achievement type of award or maybe that it was just a damn good album. I'm happy honor them in a category that has had such notables as the Beastie Boys, White Stripes, David Bowie and Radiohead as winners.
BEST OF TV - STRANGER THINGS. We still haven't had a repeat winner in this category. It's by far the strongest list of nominees and we have discussed having a separate category for single TV movies and short, limited series. A strong group this year with "Better Call Saul", "Halt and Catch Fire" and "Samurai Jack" all receiving votes. But for the second year in a row, a Netflix show wins. Last year it was "Daredevil" and this year the retro-themed and "X-Files" fan friendly show "Stranger Things" pulled off the win. I was sufficiently shamed for not watching this show even though I watch all the other nominees. I quickly plan to change that.
BEST OF THE WEB - NETFLIX and WTF PODCAST (tie). Netflix sets a record with four wins, including four years in a row. The previous winner before them was the tie for this year, the WTF Podcast. I keep thinking that Amazon or Hulu will make some inroads but as seen in the TV category, Netflix is putting out quality programming. And the WTF Podcast chugs along year after year with funny, interesting content. Marc Maron is like the funny but crazy neighbor that you talk to in their garage on a Saturday night. Hard to argue with the results this year but interesting to see who will disrupt this run.
COOLEST ITEM OF THE YEAR - MELISSA MCCARTHY AS SEAN SPICER and THE WOMEN'S MARCH (tie). In years where we've had toys and gay marriage and personal accomplishments of our members - we chose to go a little political this year over such nominees at "Art Of Atari", the Chicago Cubs and "Sgt Pepper" remastered. Melissa McCarthy had a good run as Sean Spicer and probably benefits from his departure only because they won't run the character into the ground. The Women's March speaks for itself and we're proud of our female members of Strikeforce and support all equal rights as a group.
STRIKEFORCE HALL OF DOOM - the highest honor is also known as "The Kirby". Last year we inducted five honorees. This year was also a solid crop of 6 inductees. Each very deserving of the honor.
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST. One of the most influential hip hop groups ever joins The Beastie Boys and KRS-One as previous genre entries into the Hall.
BERNIE WRIGHTSON. If you like horror, then you probably are already a fan of Bernie or the authors and directors that you love owe him a debt of gratitude. Upon his death last year, even "The Walking Dead" gave him a nod for him importance to their genre.
DAVID LYNCH. The revamp of "Twin Peaks" put David Lynch back into our lives in a big way this year. The accomplishments from "Eraserhead" through "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Dr." up to "Twin Peaks" makes his mark on our lives pretty important. There are very few directors you would call "unique" like him.
ELVIRA. In the year of the Women's March, we finally inducted our first female into the Hall. With our relatively closeness in ages, her importance as a Horror Movie host had an influence on us all. Her character is funny and yet knowledgeable about films and everything young people want in a horror movie host.
LOONEY TUNES. After years of just missing the cut, I made a plea for Looney Tunes to make the Hall. When you said "cartoons" in my youth - this is what I thought of. After school and Saturday mornings were meant for Bugs and Daffy and Foghorn and Tweety. The body of work speaks for itself and holds up better today than almost anything else from that era.
MADELINE KAHN. Our second female entrant has a flawless resume including "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein" and "The Muppet Movie". She was beautiful and had the singing voice of an angel. Her humor fit like a glove with the Mel Brooks troupe of the 70s.
BERNIE WRIGHTSON. If you like horror, then you probably are already a fan of Bernie or the authors and directors that you love owe him a debt of gratitude. Upon his death last year, even "The Walking Dead" gave him a nod for him importance to their genre.
DAVID LYNCH. The revamp of "Twin Peaks" put David Lynch back into our lives in a big way this year. The accomplishments from "Eraserhead" through "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Dr." up to "Twin Peaks" makes his mark on our lives pretty important. There are very few directors you would call "unique" like him.
ELVIRA. In the year of the Women's March, we finally inducted our first female into the Hall. With our relatively closeness in ages, her importance as a Horror Movie host had an influence on us all. Her character is funny and yet knowledgeable about films and everything young people want in a horror movie host.
LOONEY TUNES. After years of just missing the cut, I made a plea for Looney Tunes to make the Hall. When you said "cartoons" in my youth - this is what I thought of. After school and Saturday mornings were meant for Bugs and Daffy and Foghorn and Tweety. The body of work speaks for itself and holds up better today than almost anything else from that era.
MADELINE KAHN. Our second female entrant has a flawless resume including "Blazing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein" and "The Muppet Movie". She was beautiful and had the singing voice of an angel. Her humor fit like a glove with the Mel Brooks troupe of the 70s.
Just missing the vote this year and hoping for further consideration - Henry Silva, Hanna Barbera, Coen Bros and Richard Pryor.
THE KINNEY - TRUMP. On the heels of last year's victory of the Trump/Clinton election, this category might be renamed The Trump in the future years. We'll see how history treats the legacy. For now, the vote came down more convincing than his actual Presidential election victory. He clearly won the popular vote.
BLAST FROM THE PAST - BEST REISSUE - THE ART OF ATARI. The Hall of Doom entry from last year returned to the podium with a very well thought of book among the group. Edging out "Twin Peaks" and "Purple Rain (Remastered)", this poster book is a purely enjoyable book of memories.
The Forceys continue to be some of my favorite social moments of our annual gathering of the Tribe. Next year you are cordially invited to attend our festivities. There are plenty of beers and shots to go around. I'm inspired to put the pageantry back into the awards. Put in your RSVP for San Diego, July 2018 today.
"Everybody runnin' when the see the storm's comin' / But whatever's gonna be will be / Some will dash to the mountain, some will crawl / And the weakest amongst them, they will fall / But the strongest in faith, they will stand tall."
Stay hard.
sb
