Editor’s top picks of the year:
Albums:
1. Merriweather Post Pavilion — Animal Collective
2. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix — Phoenix
3. Fantasy Black Channel — Late of the Pier

Honorable Mentions:
-Jay Stay Paid — J Dilla aka Jay Dee
-Yesterday & Today — The Field
-The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Dubious Honor:
Invaders Must Die — The Prodigy

Films*:
1. Katyn — Andrzej Wajda
2. The Hurt Locker — Kathryn Bigelow
3. Ponyo — Hayao Miyazaki

Honorable Mentions:
-Star Trek — J.J. Abrams
-Up — Pete Docter and Bob Peterson

*Let it be noted that I did not see many films this year, much less ones I enjoyed. This is why Katyn, a 2007 Polish film that just this year got a limited release in the United States, is my top choice.
Video Games:
1. Street Fighter IV — Capcom
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — Infinity Ward
3. Resident Evil 5 — Capcom

Honorable Mentions:
-’Splosion Man — Twisted Pixel
-Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned — Rockstar Games
-Halo 3: ODST — Bungie

Dubious Honor:
Scribblenauts — 5th Cell

—campbell bird