Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Since this is Malaysian Today's final issue for the year, what better way to close the pages of 2009 with a recap on the stuff that made us say 'Man, this has been some year!' So, we take a re-look at just about everything that made 2009.

 

By: You! Yes, you!

 

Phew. It's been quite a year, hasn't it?

From disaster movies to disastrous politics, nifty gadgets to nasty scandals, misbehaviour that had us scoffing, to deaths that had us devastated - it all boiled together to create the year that was 2009: A year of ups, downs and everything in between. We ask the young what's got them talking, thinking, tasting and testing this year in a survey of 250 young people aged 18 to 35, and compiled this 'Top Ten of 2009' list for your reading pleasure.

 

The Most 'Mazing Movie of 2009

10) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2% of respondents)

The silent hit animation of the year, Cloudy with a Chance for Meatballs came away with US$122,650,135 in total grossings. The story of a failed inventor finally done right with a machine to make food literally fall from the sky won hearts and managed to score a nice 80 per cent 'fresh' on movie website Rotten Tomatoes. With a heart-warming and likeable plot and not-too-shabby animation, this fun flick comes in tenth among our readers.

9) Inglourious Basterds (2% of respondents)

Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece of 2009 comes in ninth. While it did have Brad Pitt in it (complete with handlebar moustache and a weird accent) the A-lister's presence had little to do to catapult this clever, dramatic, brilliant and entertaining movie to its US$ 120,523,000 earnings.

8) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (4% of respondents)

Growling his way into the 8^th spot among our readers is Hugh Jackman, also known as Wolverine, also known as Logan ALSO known as 'I Rip My Shirt Off, Rawr!' While this movie did not receive favourable response among the critics, it did pretty well among cinema-goers nonetheless, taking in a very cool US$ 180 million at the box-office.

7) District 9 (7% of respondents)

Coming in as the surprise hit of the year, District 9, produced by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame, was a tale of aliens and humans living on the same planet, and one man's attempt to relocate them all to District 9 - only to have his life changed forever. It was well-received for its solid plot and stark cinematography. It did have a lot of blood though.

6) Harry Potter and the half Blood Prince (9% of respondents)

Potter-fans had long awaited this darker, edgier and more intense sixth part to the seven-part Harry Potter series by JK Rowling. The tale of a boy wizard and his archnemesis (who is an evil baddie to magic all other evil baddies away) is one for the ages, charming children and adults alike. This movie also grossed US $ 300 million.

5) Star Trek (10% of respondents)

The remake of the sci-fi classic was hailed as one of the best movies of the year, transforming the hard-core nerd factor of the original into something (no other words to describe it, really) cool. Just plain cool. This intergalactic, multi-dimension space-soiree was solidly praised by critics and movie goers alike to gross over US $ 260 million and the number six spot among our readers.

4) New Moon (11% of respondents)

Okay so the takings aren't all in just yet, but audiences are already flocking the cinemas to catch the sequel to last year's Twilight. Just think of the express lanes that were specifically designed to accommodate the scores of fans in our local cinemas. Twi-hards loved this movie, despite the horrifying reviews from critics, whose kindest words were 'horrible' and 'the chestiest performance since 300'. Must be the vampires, or one vampire named Edward in particular.

3) Up! (15% 85 respondents)

An old man ties his house to a balloon to fly to South America in honour of his dead wife? Classic. An annoying, chatterbox kid with a heart of gold? Priceless. A strange bird and a talking dog? 'Mazing! Put them all together and you've got pure spontaneous combustion.

2) 2012 (18% of respondents)

The apocalypse had never been so profitable - US $155 million worth of 'profitable'. Everyone flocked the cinemas to watch Roland Emerich blow up the world, one movie frame at a time. Based on the Mayan legend of the end of the world taking place on December 21, 2012, this movie 'exploded' at the box office and was met with mixed reviews.

1) Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (20% of respondents)

Okay, so this may be met with celebratory cheers or howls of horror. While it was roundly agreed by critics that this was a bad, bad sequel, and a bad movie in general, it did not stop the cinema-goers from raking up a cool US$ 402 million in earnings, and making it (as of now) the highest grossing movie of the year. It was hugely popular for its impressive CGI, massive robots and Megan Fox. Good or bad, it sure made an impact on our readers!

 

Tunes to Sing to

The tunes in our readers' heads are way too varied! It ranged from odd game soundtracks (of the highly addictive 'Plants VS Zombies' game) to the latest hip-hop beats from the Black Eyed Peas. So what we did was to pick out a few tunes that we saw repeated most on the list...

• I've Got A Feeling and Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas (16% of respondents)

Catchy, feet-moving tunes are the bane of emo-rockers everywhere! The Black Eyed Peas have continued to feed into the needs of music lovers everywhere with the same upbeat, stuck-to-head and unforgettable songs they have successfully made into a multi-million music career.

• Good Girls Gone Bad - The Cobra Starship (5% of respondents)

Dance tunes have dominated the minds of our readers of late, and this heart-thumping soundtrack to dance floors everywhere is no surprise.

• Love Story & You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift (6% of respondents)

Tween queen reign supreme! Grammy darling Taylor Swift may have had her thunder stolen by Kanye West, but her songs have outdone his by a gazillion times over. Sorry Kanye.

• Gaga's stuff (8% of respondents)

Okay, so not technically a tune. But Lady Gaga makes a pop-up in our list because of her Poker Face and Bad Romances.

• Gives You Hell - All American Rejects (7% out of respondents)

Perhaps the two-time concert appearance by AAR here had something to do with their song being so popular among our readers? Whatever it is, this song had YOU rocking.

 

Eats To Die For

Eat to live, or live to eat? Ask a Malaysian and the latter will be your hearty answer, complete with an order of extra chicken. And as for our readers, there are two places that appeared most on our list, and it is classically Malaysian:

• Home

"Home cooked food is to a Maggi-dependent student what water is to a thirsty man". Well said, mysterious male respondent!

• Mamak

Mysteriously written as one word, the food at a Mamak is all-encompassing - is it roti canai? Is it Tandoori chicken? Is it Cheese and Garlic Naan? It's all of that, and more. Mamak-ing will never go out of style, no matter how many respondents also answered TGI Friday's. The lure of cheap and unhealthy is too much to resist!

Other answers on the list also featured small, friendly home-style restaurants and some popular Banana Leaf Rice places such as Nirwana's and Raju's.

 

Issues of Impact

This year alone, we have had 12 celebrity deaths. Some of the deaths were widely mourned, some were grieved by those who knew their work best. No matter what it was, the issue that affected our readers the most this year was the death of Michael Jackson.

• June 25, 2009: Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, suffered a cardiac arrest after around half a decade of scandal and controversy centered on molestation and coercion of children. Possibly the best-selling artist of all time, Jackson died from a heart attack brought on by an overdose of painkillers. Initially thought to be an accident, it was later found that it was an involuntary manslaughter by his personal doctor. The doctor had administered unsafe amounts of a powerful drug called propofol, which is not to be administered outside of a medical facility. His death sparked intense battles and intense grief as fans gathered to commemorate the man who sang some of the best songs ever made. The movie released in tribute to him, 'Michael Jackson: This is It' raked in just over US$ 70 million.
• The Cow Head Incident: This incident, which left Malaysians shocked and outraged, was the result of a disagreement about a relocation of an Indian temple in the predominantly Malay Shah Alam area. Matters got out of hand when a cow's head was brought to the scene of protest and was repeatedly stepped and kicked in what is seen as a huge insult to Hindus, who revere the cow as a sacred animal.
• Earth Hour: The young are worried about the Earth they are going to inherit, and this is the reason why our readers took this matter to heart and switched off their lights for an hour on March 28 to vote for Earth.
• Whipping of model Kartika for drinking beer: Two sides of the fence on this one - many young felt it unreasonable and pointless, while equally as many came out to commend the move. Whatever it is, this issue left an imprint in our readers' minds
• The entire political situation: While not elaborated in full, 15 readers stated this as their answer.
• Beyonce's concert cancelled... again: One celebrity may not make much of an impact in the overall scheme of things, but readers have stated that this concert-cancelling confab is way over-the-top. Other artists that were supposedly on the chopping block were Avril Lavigne and Micheal Learns to Rock.

Other matters that readers brought up were Patrick Swayze's death, Teoh Beng Hock's murder and the PKFZ Scandal.

 

Games, Games, Games!

Because it was not a compulsory question, only 35 respondents answered it, and their almost-unanimous answer was:

• Left for Dead (L4D 1&2)!

Zombies? Check. Big guns? Check. A Tank, Witch and Boomer? RUN! Gamers everywhere are delighting in the sequel of 2008's Left For Dead (L4D) although there was some controversy surrounding it's too-soon release. But critics love this game, which just hit our shores last month.

• Sims 3

Fancy controlling someone's every move? Wanna' be a fisherman? A rockstar? A criminal? (Okay maybe not). This se-sequel to the mega-successful Sims franchise is undoubtedly the game that fans have been waiting for.

 

Gadgets to Lust For

Also not made a compulsory question, a total of 57 respondents answered and the answers varied greatly  - some lusted for gadgets not released this year, but they want it anyway. Some lusted for gadgets that probably won't arrive to our shores until next year. But there were just three gadgets that popped up repeatedly on the list of answers.

1. Blackberry: Not any model in particular, but readers want these all-in-one smart phones! Hint: The Gemini or Curve 8520 is one of the most affordable of the lot.

2. Apple iPhone: Not surprisingly, the Apple iPhone topped the list with 24 droolers (and some owners!).

3. PS3: Console gamers picked the Playstation 3 as their gadget of choice for lusting.

Other gadgets and software include the Sony Ericsson Satio, the HTC Tattoo, and the Android operating system developed by Google. Stranger answers included the transparent toaster (a toaster made with glass plates that heat up and produce an even toast. The transparent glass also ensures that burnt toast is history), a pink Sony Vaio laptop and a DSLR camera.

 

Celebrity Antics!

And just because this year is the year of amazingly ridiculous celebrity antics, we have asked about which celebrity antics got you amused, bemused, baffled and flabbergasted. And your unanimous answer is:

• Kanye West!

"Hey Taylor, Imma really happy for you, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!" 'Nuff said.

• Britney Spears

In and out of rehab, oops, she did it again. It's been a Circus of scandal for Britney (and sister!) but no doubt, she left you guys amused.

Some respondents obviously didn't care for celeb watching, because a little under half of them answered 'don't care' or 'don't know' as well.

And there you have it - the best of 2009... according to you.