As we head into the new year, I thought it would be good, for myself if no one else, to take a look back at the year that has passed on this site. Though we haven’t quite hit the one year anniversary of Philistine 2.0, it’s been a good year, full of wonderful, insightful commentary, original art, and even a little silliness. Here, broken down by category, are some of my favorites of the articles we have run this year.
General Outlook
I offered up a manifesto for everything we are about here at the Philistine with my post on the new irony. David offered up a scathing look at the stereotypical relationship between American Christians and art with The Christian’s Netflix Queue. And, since we spend so much darn time talking about cultural artifacts which are no longer de rigueur, here’s my take on reviewing old things.
Film
Lots of good film stuff going on at The Erstwhile Philistine this year. First, a few lists. David provided us with the best movies you’ve never seen. I offered up five movies every Christian should see.
On the review front, Anonymous8714 gave us an in depth, fascinating look at Take Shelter. David took on the indie thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene. And of course our roaming correspondent Grant Good weighed in on Skyfall.
Books
Peter Holcombe was our All Star in the book department, cranking out many reviews of contemporary works, including reviews of Don DeLillo’s White Noise and John Banville’s The Sea. I did a couple of my own, but raised the most noise with my takedown of George R.R. Martin’s prose stylings (aka a barrel of fish with bullet holes riddled through).
Television
Well I started reviewing a bunch of TV shows but stopped partway through the year. Here’s my review of the Christmas Special from The Office (U.K.). I did also attempt to persuade you all to watch Community (be honest: did you?). Oh, and the bloody good Rev. And of course I gave many compelling reasons for you to dig up the criminally underrated 90’s sitcom Newsradio.
Miscellaneous
One of the features I’ve been proudest of here at the new Philistine is our Pairings column, where we match drinks with cultural artifacts. Here’s the original, to give you a taste. Peter offered up a massive look at the NBA playoffs, which my beloved Thunder came so close to winning. Here’s his look at one round, a la the Hunger Games. And David gave us many valuable reflections, including this great one on the wonder of back yards. Oh, and one of my absolute favorites, selfishly: my perfect cultural birthday, imagined.
Philistine Originals
Though we plowed through a lot of cultural commentary over the past year, we also highlighted original contributions to art. Mostly that meant poetry and more poetry, but David was gracious enough to share one of his experimental films with us.
Thanks to everyone for reading this year. And this is where I get all PBS fund drive on you, and ask you to get involved: will you consider sharing The Erstwhile Philistine with a friend this year? Or if there is an article you found especially thought provoking, share it on Facebook. And definitely consider submitting an article or twelve. I want this to keep growing, for the conversation to widen. Let’s make 2013 even better, together.
