The movie scored a major coup by having John Cusack, a star of many films of the 1980s, as the lead. By doing so, it allows the audience to ask what happened to the characters like Lloyd Dobler, who were supposed to live happily ever after their eighties exploits. The answer is that they are emotional nightmares, either too clingy or too cowardly or too antipathetic to have an actual successful relationship.

Cusack plays Adam, a forty-year old who can’t keep a girlfriend because he’s too compartmentalized. His friend Lou’s (Rob Corddry) attempted suicide prompts him and his friend Nick (Craig Robinson) to rent a cabin in the ski lodge where they had many fond memories. Along for the trip is Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), who plays the straight man to the outrageous Coddry.

"It must be some kind of Hot Tub Time Machine"

When the protagonists arrive at the cabin, the place is in shambles, but that is no worry because a sagely repairman (Chevy Chase) is able to get the titular hot tub running and that’s really all you need for a party. Through a series of accidents, the hot tub transports them back to the 1980s, and that’s when the fun begins. References to many facets of eighties culture (and even contemporary culture) appear left and right- everything from “The Drive” to Michael Jackson is lampooned. The characters provide many humorous situations as they attempt to relive the past in an attempt to keep the future intact. But if Back to the Future has taught us anything, you can’t relive the past in the exact same manner (and to reinforce this fact, Crispin Glover has a supporting role as the hotel’s bellhop).

The only problem with Hot Tub Time Machine was the lack of development of certain subplots. Though the gang references a bad time in Cincinnati that led to a falling out of the main characters, the audience is never shown what exactly happened in the Queen City. Though it can be inferred that Adam did something that cemented his reputation as a self-absorbed jerk, a reveal of the exact incident (like the Albuquerque incident in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard) does not occur. Thus, Hot Tub Time Machine misses a key opportunity to provide more jokes and more humor.

However, this slight missed opportunity does not detract from the overall quality of the movie. This movie is destined to become a college humor classic with its many quotable lines and funny references. Plus, it’s a movie with a hot tub time machine- what can be wrong with that?

The Academy did not assist anyone in coming to this realization, however, with the beginning of its awards telecast. Though the versatile Neil Patrick Harris performed a splendid musical number that seemed to incorporate elements from the old magic of Hollywood, the opening dialogue delivered by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin fell flat. If this replacement for the traditional monologue was performed in any other year, I suspect that the Oscars ratings would have flatlined immediately. Yet, because there were some popular choices for this year’s Oscars, there was still reason for most of the country to watch. When they continued to watch, they were treated to the best that Hollywood had to offer, and the highlights used to show this year’s best picture nominees will have me racing to the theaters, or, in the case of some of the pictures released earlier this year, the mall in order to see some more of the nominated films.

Oscars intro math: Funny + Funny = Not Funny

Though some speculated that run-off style voting used in this year’s awards would lead to a dark-horse nominee winning best picture, the results had all the surprises of all number one seeds making the Final Four. However, unlike in years past, this result was acceptable. The Hurt Locker trumping all others was not like last year’s Academy Awards, in which two films of that year that were not nominated (The Dark Knight and Doubt) had a more legitimate claim to the golden statuette and all of the films of the previous year (No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Juno, Michael Clayton, and Atonement) were better than the winner Slumdog Millionaire. The Hurt Locker emerged from a field that included the most financially successful movie ever, a Quentin Tarantino masterpiece, and an animated classic, among others, in order to win. The fact that I was able to write the previous sentence shows that the victory was well deserved. This year wasn’t another chapter in the Academy’s love affair with independent movies (though The Hurt Locker will be the answer to the trivia question ‘What is the lowest grossing movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar?’). Instead, it was a celebration of all of cinema. For this reason, all movie fans should be grateful that the Academy expanded to ten best picture nominees last summer.

MLB 2k10 offers an immersive baseball experience when on the field. The gesture-based pitching returns this year but is improved strongly. The system maps pitching to the right analog stick, but does so in a way that feels natural, not gimmicky. The user selects his pitch with the face button and then moves the right stick in a motion indicated. This system means that the complaints of last year’s game (e.g. “I wanted to throw a slider but the game thought I threw a sinker”) are now in the past. Furthermore, the game alters the pitch timing when the pitcher is in the stretch, adding realism to this mechanic.

In addition, the gameplay problems of MLB 2k9 do not reappear in 2k10. Players will catch the ball when put in position instead of waving their arms frantically. It is now much more difficult to hit a home run and every game won’t end with a 16-15 final score. It seems like 2k Sports heard the criticisms of users of the last game and made a concerted effort to remedy them.

The battle between pitcher and batter features prominently in MLB 2k10.

However, the single-player game modes are not a home run. The new centerpiece mode is the “My Player” career mode, which is inspired by the “Be A Pro”-style modes that have appeared in versions of EA’s Madden NFL and NHL series and the successful “Road to the Show” mode of Sony’s MLB: The Show series. The mode starts off in Double A and the goal is to work your player all the way up to the big leagues and the Hall of Fame. While the concept is not new to sports gamers, MLB 2k10 introduces some new caveats to give a familiar mode a different look. For instance, in addition to demanding trades, a feature that is included in essentially every career mode, MLB 2k10 gives a superstar player the ability to influence what free agents sign with his team in the offseason. This aspect mirrors real-life events (such as when Carlos Beltran influenced Carlos Delgado to join him on the Mets in 2005), so I’m glad that 2k Sports incorporated this detail.

However, the mode falls flat in other respects. The primary game interaction is handled through a menu screen because the game simulates every play that does not involve your player. This process leaves the user detached from the experience of a baseball game. While it may have been impractical to have users sit through nine innings of playing the outfield, only having a user play the field when a ball is hit to him kills the suspense of actually reading the ball of the bat and knowing when to react to a ball put in play. In order for a career mode in a sports game to be successful, the user needs to feel engaged with the events on the field and MLB 2k10 fails to provide such engagement.

The career mode doesn't deliver.

In conclusion, MLB 2k10 is an enjoyable game and certainly not the unplayable game of last year. The gameplay mechanics are solid, but the lack of quality single-player modes means that this game is like a leadoff double: it’s a good start, but needs some help to be driven home to score.

First, the lack of an HD version of MSNBC on DirecTV or Verizon FiOS means that some events do not get the benefit of high-definition coverage. For instance, last night’s US vs. Canada men’s hockey matchup, which NBC’s website declared as “the most anticipated game of the tournament so far”, was broadcast on MSNBC. CNBC and USA had limited curling coverage and no Olympic coverage, respectively, but they have HD channels. Since many sports bars and homes use DirecTV or Verizon as their provider, many people were stuck watching the game in standard definition. In 2010, this fact is unacceptable. High-definition coverage has changed the way that sports are watched and for a game of that magnitude to be broadcast in such a manner is ridiculous.

Making matters worse was the fact that NBC was broadcasting ice dancing, the redheaded stepchild of figure skating, while the hockey game was played. Instead of seeing a game that pundits have declared an instant classic, NBC thought it was more appropriate to show a sport whose biggest story was that a pair’s costumes offended Australian aborigines. This decision should have been an easy one for NBC: its home country was facing off against the hockey-crazed hosts. Yet, as we’ve seen with the Conan O’Brien/Jay Leno saga, when NBC has an easy decision they will drop the ball every time.

Does this event really make for better television than hockey?

Second, and most importantly, the use of tape delay in the events has ruined the desire to watch the Olympics. NBC faces a dilemma: they have valuable primetime space, but many of the events occur in the daytime. Thus, it has decided to broadcast many of the popular events on a tape delay so that they can gain valuable ratings. However, there is a problem with this decision. The primetime broadcasts are not geared with sports fans in mind. Many times, there is very little sports action and instead there are human-interest features about polar bears. Does anyone really tune into the Olympics to hear about polar bears? No! Put the sports on the screen; that’s why the viewers watch a sporting event.

Furthermore, because these events happen live, other major news organizations will tell the results of the events before NBC gets around to broadcasting them on tape delay. Major news sites like ESPN and social networks like Twitter will often have the results of the events anyone wants to watch before he or she can watch them. It’s frustrating for a sports fan to watch the events, which are built on drama and excitement, with suspense removed. What’s even more egregious is the fact that NBC also spoils the events. An anchor on the NBC evening news last night told me to “look away” if I didn’t want to know the results of the events that already happened but would be broadcasted later in the evening. I never thought that the news would require a “spoiler alert”, but thanks to NBC it’s a common occurrence.

The worst part about this practice is how unnecessary it is. These Winter Olympics are not in a place where the time difference makes it prohibitive to show the events live (like when the 2002 World Cup was in South Korea). They are on the West Coast. There is no reason why the events should be tape delayed for people in the United States, especially those who live on the West Coast (like the opening ceremonies were). This practice serves only to frustrate viewers who want to watch the games as they happen live.

If NBC really believes that the only way that they can attract viewers is through irrelevant, tape-delayed features, then there is a simple solution: broadcast the events live on its cable networks (USA, CNBC, MSNBC) and on the Internet. Then, in primetime, run the package of highlights and features, while having more live matchups on its cable networks. However, this solution would require NBC to embrace new media and the opportunities it provides. A sports fan’s best hope is that NBC, who Conan O’Brien gleefully reminded us is losing $200 million on these Olympics, decides to abandon the Olympics altogether. Then a real sports network could take over and give the viewers the coverage that they want (an ABC bid, using all of its many ESPN outlets, comes to mind). Until then, enjoy tape delays, standard definition, and ice dancing!

These missed opportunities do not diminish the enjoyable elements of this game. First, the idea of the game itself is a very novel one. In essence, the player controls characters from the Super Mario and Sonic series as he plays through Olympic events. There’s a certain tongue-in-cheek humor involved with some of the events. Seeing Donkey Kong and Dr. Robotnik figure skate, for example, never ceases to be hilarious and is always a conversation starter. Second, many of the events are executed very well. The curling event simulates the sport very well and the motion controls correspond to the real-life curling actions of throwing the stone and sweeping the broom. The ice hockey controls are a throwback to the video games of yesteryear and have aged surprisingly well. Third, the inclusion of the balance board adds more realism to the experience. Already-solid events like snowboard cross and ski cross are made better with the inclusion of the balance board to simulate the footwork that these events require.

This is always hilarious.

However, there are certain issues that prevent the game from becoming a classic party game. First, the controls for some of the games are just impossible to master. Speed skating requires the player to swing the controller left and right on straightaways but swing it differently on turns. The only problem is that the transition from straightway to turn isn’t defined in a clear manner so the character’s rhythm is lost. Short-track speed skating requires the players to waggle the controller on straightaways and hold it at a 315° angle on turns. Yet, because it’s short-track speed skating, the player has all of three seconds between phases. Thus, the player will skate into a wall far too often. Second, the balance board integration, while innovative, can only be used in single-player mode. Nintendo has sold millions of copies of Wii Fit. It’s not inconceivable that a house might have two balance boards or a friend may bring his when he wants to play. Thus, there should have been a multiplayer balance board option. Third, the event selection leaves something to be desired. The skeet-shooting event was one of the more popular and fun events in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. The lack of biathlon, which incorporates skiing and shooting, represents a missed opportunity to create a fun and new experience.

In closing, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is an entertaining game that has a strong multiplayer experience. While there are some innovative elements, control issues and a lack of true innovation in the party game genre means that the game is not as strong as it could have been.

The supergroup charity single is also interesting. On the one hand, there are classics like “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World”, anthems that defined the eighties and promoted hunger awareness and AIDS awareness in Africa, respectively. One the other hand, there are some songs that are so bad they do a disservice to the cause being promoted. Listen to the 2001 remake of “What’s Going On” and the only thing you’ll notice is that Fred Durst was once popular. Listen to it again and you’ll realize why he isn’t popular; he actually rapped “But everyone wanna live/Don`t nobody really want to die/You feeling me right?” Unfortunately, “We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” will not be remembered as fondly as the original and will serve as an example of everything that was wrong with music in the first decade of the new millennium (Yes, I know we’re in decade two, but it’s two months in. I’m rounding down).

The original - and still the best

First, there is no need for a will.i.am-penned hip-hop breakdown. The song is an unmanageable eight minutes in length. Charity single or not, there are only so many times that we can be told that we are the world and the children before it gets redundant. The hip-hop breakdown at the end of the song creates two problems. The first is that it artificially lengthens the song past an acceptable level. The second is that it allows for people that have no business being on this record a chance to sing. The guy featured on the latest Jay-Z single, Swizz Beatz, and the guy that has one song that I like to play at parties, Iyaz, close a song that features the legendary Tony Bennett and the outstanding Celine Dion. What a joke.

Second, the decision to shun everyone from the original record is asinine. The opening line, which was sung by the indelible Lionel Richie, a man already famous for his work with The Commodores and his solo career, is sung now by teen flavor of the month Justin Bieber (who at press time had less Facebook fans than a random onion ring). In the most egregious of sins, the legendary Bob Dylan is replaced by an auto-tuned Lil Wayne.

And that’s the third, and most important, problem: the use of auto-tune. I’ve already written about how auto-tune kills the emotion of a song and “We Are the World: 25 for Haiti” proves this fact true once again. When Wyclef Jean sings in Creole, you can hear the pain in his voice as he laments the utter destruction of his homeland. When T-Pain then auto-tunes some nonsense, the emotion is gone and the personal connection to the devastation in Haiti vanishes. For a charity single to work well, the audience needs to believe that the artists care about the tragedy and are thus pouring their feelings into this song. Auto-tune makes it impossible for an audience to believe that is true.

If you want to donate to the relief effort in Haiti, text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10. More money will go there and you won’t have to waste eight minutes of your life listening to such an awful song.

Ringo’s best work has come from collaborative efforts, and Y Not is another example of successful collaboration. The album opens with the powerful “Fill in the Blanks”, which features Joe Walsh of The Eagles on guitar. Paul McCartney is featured throughout the album as well, playing bass on “Peace Dream” and performing a duet with Ringo on “Walk With You.” In these tracks, Ringo’s vocal ability is enhanced…with a little help from his friends.  In the other tracks, Ringo shows his versatility, transitioning from driving rock on “The Other Side of Liverpool” to the softer tones of “Time”.

In all, Y Not is a familiar journey with Ringo Starr. It certainly won’t be album of the year, but it certainly is an enjoyable listen.

• “The tribe has spoken”: In May 2000, an American version of the Swedish game show Expedition Robinson premiered on CBS. The show’s first season attracted 28.3 million viewers and was a summer hit. The show’s second season premiered after the Baltimore Ravens decimated the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV and was the most-watched show on television during that 2000-01 television year. That show, of course, was Survivor and launched the phenomenon known as reality-competition television.
  • Ironically, the show that popularized the format never won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. Another show on the Tiffany Network, The Amazing Race, has won the Emmy each year since it was first awarded in 2003.

• “Come on down”: Bob Barker retired from The Price is Right in 2007 after fifty years in television and thirty-five years hosting. Comedian Drew Carey replaced him as host of the popular game show.
• The UK kills the traditional sitcom: In 2001, comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant created the BBC mockumentary The Office, a comedy series shot in the documentary style. In 2003, BBC America began broadcasting the show and it became a popular hit. Around the same time, both Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond left the airwaves as NBC, looking for a sitcom hit after the Americanized version of Coupling was a failure. NBC remade The Office with Steve Carell occupying the main role as a bumbling office manager. The series was a great success and has prompted most every new comedy series to shoot in a single-camera, no laugh track, and interstitial-based format.
  • Coincidentally, the original episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm was a 1999 mockumentary that detailed Larry David performing an HBO special. The show adopted its current format in 2000. This information has no real relevance other than the fact that it got me to talk about Curb Your Enthusiamsm, a show of which I’m particularly fond.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Janet Jackson revealed her nipple during a halftime performance with Justin Timberlake on Super Bowl XXXVIII. This incident sparked a review of live television policies that led to the institution of tape delay for most major live performances. Furthermore, this incident prompted a wave of re-editing violent or sexually suggestive television programming.
• “Tell me where the bomb is!”: 24 premiered in 2001, giving new life to the careers of men previously known for the roles of a KKK leader in A Time to Kill (he became the counter-terror hero) and Pedro Cerrano (he became the president).

• “You think that’s bad…”: Fox cancelled Family Guy in 2002, only to bring it back to air in 2005 after a series of fan petitions and strong DVD sales. Seth McFarlane launched a comedy empire with spin-offs American Dad and The Cleveland Show. However, much like the fact that the Holy Roman Empire wasn’t holy, wasn’t Roman, and wasn’t an empire, McFarlane’s empire lost its humor with dumb cutaway gags (Family Guy) or were never funny to begin with (American Dad and The Cleveland Show)
• All good shows go to cable: HBO cements itself as the place to watch great serial dramas and comedies with the success of The Sopranos, Rome, Deadwood, John Adams, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, and True Blood among many others. Additionally, Michael Chiklis finds success on The Shield on FX, Bryan Cranston with Breaking Bad on AMC, and of course, Mad Men on AMC.
• Science fiction finds its way into the mainstream again: Battlestar Galactica and Stargate SG-1 pick up a strong cult following over the decade while Lost premieres to much success on ABC.
• The success of game shows: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? continued to build on its momentum from its 1999 premiere and spawned a host of competitors (including shows hosted by Maury Povich, Dick Clark, and Anne Robinson). Ken Jennings won over $3 million on Jeopardy! in 2004.
• Hard science goes primetime: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which detailed forensic science investigations, premiered in 2000. The show spawned two other spin-offs and led to the success of other science-based television shows such as Numbers.

…and Law and Order is still on the air.

Yes, that statement has strong implications. Much like the NBA trying to find the next Michael Jordan, the comparison to The Beatles’ 1967 album means that greatness necessarily was present in the album. Indeed, Radiohead’s 2000 effort displays a bold vision of musical experimentation and a triumphant defiance of accepted music convention, making it a clear choice for album of the decade.

The risks in this album are enormous but ultimately paid off in the end. Forgoing the rock melodies that made their previous album, OK Computer, a dramatic success, Radiohead embraces the unconventional in Kid A. The album opens with “Everything In Its Right Place”, a mixture of piano and computer sounds, with nonsensically minimal lyrics (e.g. “Yesterday I woke up sucking on a lemon”). But, what the lyrics lack in sense, the music makes up for with power and feeling. Never has there been such a deeply meaningful connection between listener and instruments. The complex rhythms and progressions allow for the listener to become lost in the depravity that is the focus of “Everything In Its Right Place”.

This experimentation continues throughout the album, particularly in songs such as “The National Anthem” and “Idioteque”. It is this experimentation that makes Kid A so unique. At the turn of the millennium, the prevailing trends in music were boy band pop, conventional rock, and the resurrection of rap. Radiohead broke with the prevailing trends in this album. While they could have created another rock album in the vein of OK Computer and it still would have been a hit, the group created one of the most uniquely intricate albums ever.

This defiant experimentation is what should be expected from music as a serious art form. A truly great artist will push past convention and create a masterpiece that will be remembered for generations. There are only a few such artists in any given time. This decade, the one who exemplified that spirit the most was Radiohead.

The Best of the Rest

Honorable Mentions:

• The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem (2000): There has never been, and never will be, a rapper as incendiary as Eminem. In his sophomore effort, Eminem intertwines the struggles of fame with the frustration of the state of popular music at the turn of the millennium. Equal parts comedy (“The Real Slim Shady”) and raw drama (“The Way I Am”), The Marshall Mathers LP, set the standard for rap in the 21^st century that hasn’t been met yet.
• Chinese Democracy, Guns ‘N Roses (2008): The album that is to music what Duke Nuke’em Forever is to videogames (often delayed, G’NR started writing material for the album in 1996 and started recording in 1998). Axl Rose’s magnum opus rocks and it rocks hard, recalling days when rock made no apologies for itself. Fans of power vocals, heavy guitar riffs, and audio clips of Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches (in “Madagascar”) will enjoy this throwback to the days of sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. For the sheer magnitude of the project alone, Chinese Democracy deserves some recognition. Thankfully, the music itself is a great listen.
• Paper Trail, T.I. (2008): Recorded as he was anticipating trial and sentencing on weapons charges, T.I. provided the decade’s party anthem (“Live Your Life”) while appearing equally contrite and non-remorseful for legal woes. A deep display of human emotion and the best collaborative rap effort of the decade (“Swagga Like Us”) make Paper Trail and easy recommendation.
• Speakerboxx/The Love Below, OutKast (2004): The Grammy for Album of the Year went to this double album, and for once the Academy got it right. Each disc has a unique focus: Big Boi’s Speakerboxx is a traditional southern rap album, while Andre 3000’s The Love Below explores the ways which hip-hop, funk, and R&B come together. Each stand alone on its own merits, but combined make for one enjoyable listening experience.

The discussion doesn’t end here. Respond to Matt in the comments or on twitter (www.twitter.com/lamagnam or www.twitter.com/entertainium). The next installment of The Best of the Decade will run on Sunday, November 29^th with television in review.

(As an aside, what are we going to call this decade? There’s no convenient numbering system like the eighties or nineties. Do we go with the aughts? The Robert Parrishes? The one with the global financial crisis?)

So, to get you ready for our end-of-the-decade feature, I thought it would be helpful to list some of the events that happened this decade in music:

• Out of the fourteen members of the “Big 3” boy bands of the 1990’s, only one, Justin Timberlake, had any success after the dissolution of the group.
  • That number jumps to two if you count Drew Lachey winning Dancing with the Stars.
  • It jumps to three if you count Nick Lachey marrying Jessica Simpson and chronicling their life on the short-lived reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.
  • And it jumps to four if you count Nick Carter’s even-shorter-lived reality TV series House of Carters, which featured such memorable moments as the time Nick and Aaron fought over such pressing topics as dating Paris Hilton and the no music after 12 o’clock rule (NSFW-language):

• The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, in an effort to rectify past mistakes of not giving Grammys to Led Zeppelin and Steely Dan when they were relevant music groups, showed its age and awarded Grammys for Album of the Year to Steely Dan in 2001 and Robert Plant (and Allison Krauss) in 2009. In arguably the two best years for music in the decade, two aging representatives for the deification of classic rock were given awards instead of Radiohead or Eminem in 2001 or Coldplay, Lil Wayne, or Radiohead (again!) in 2009.

• In a shocker, the general public complained that the music from this decade sucked. This opinion was a direct contrast to the music of the nineties, which people said was…nevermind, people thought music then sucked as well (and in the eighties, seventies, sixties, fifties…). For audiences reading Entertainium in 2020, get ready for the Nick Jonas Grammy Award for Album of the Year! Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

No guitar licks and references to "Cousin Dupree" here

• Speaking of Nick Jonas, the Jonas Brothers go from playing an anti-drug concert at my high school in 2005 to playing at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade the very next year. This is honestly the biggest music story of the decade. They went from basically booed off of a high school auditorium stage to fame, fortune, and a hilarious South Park parody.
  • By the way, I personally think that their music is awful. If I ever change this opinion, feel free to try and to do to me what those guys in Project Mayhem attempted to do when Edward Norton was trying to expose what the true purpose of the project was.
• And as a summation of music in the decade, here is the list of the top 20 best-selling music acts of the decade: http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/34074/chart-watch-extra-the-top-20-album-sellers-of-the-2000s
  • Interesting facts supporting the “this decade sucked” theory: The Beatles, which had not released any new material in this decade, were the number-two act of the decade. Most of this was due to the release of 1, a compilation of number 1 hits that moved over 11 million units and set a precedent for every musician to come out with a number 1 hits collection (see Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits, Michael Jackson: Number Ones, Rocket Man – Number Ones, Number 1’s Stevie Wonder, and Conway Twitty- Number 1’s).
    • As an aside on the “Number Ones” phenomenon, there are only a few artists (namely The Beatles and Elvis) that the criterion allows a greatest hits collection that encompasses their entire career. Stevie’s collection leaves out some hits from the sixties and eighties and Elton John’s collection doesn’t have “Levon”. Most egregiously, Jackson’s collection includes nothing before Off the Wall except for a re-release of “Ben”, completely ignoring his work with The Jackson 5, the Jacksons, and his solo work for Motown (but, at least it has “Earth Song” and “One More Chance”!)
    

    Not Included: "ABC", "I Want You Back", or, the biggest omission of them all, the song from Free Willy.

***

So, what is Entertainium’s end of the decade feature? Every Sunday, we will have a decade in review primer to get you ready for Tuesday- the day where we reveal the best of the decade in music, movies, television, and video games.

Here’s the schedule:

• Music: Primer 11/22 (today!), Album of the decade 11/24
• Television: Primer 11/29, Program of the decade 12/1
• Video Games: Primer 12/6, Game of the decade 12/8
• Movies: Primer 12/13, Film of the decade 12/15

This feature will bring an exciting conclusion to the decade and we hope that you continue reading our site through the end of this decade and the start of the next!

“The Best of the Decade” feature will be Matt’s primary focus on Entertainium until the end of the year. Follow him on twitter at www.twitter.com/lamagnam