Eight Things To Be Thankful For In ’08

In the World of Entertainment-and the world in general-here are 8 things to be thankful for when you look back at the last 12 months.

8. The Dark Knight

Hands down, dopest movie of the year. From the dark and comedic portrayal of The Joker by the late Heath Ledger to the surprisingly twisted appeal of Aaron Eckerts’ Two-Face this flick raised the bar for comic book movies in both plot, action and drama. Why did we love The Joker? “See, I’m a man of simple tastes. I like dynamite… and gunpowder… and gasoline! Do you know what all of these things have in common? They’re cheap!” True indeed.

7. Grand Theft Auto 4

Not only was its 6 million units sold in the first week a record breaker for video games, it was one of the biggest openings in all of entertainment. While it may have caused some relationships to end, the resulting loss in jobs meant players were right back home to spend time with their loved ones-or play more GTA.

6. The Wii Fit

For the rest of you who want to kill calories instead of bad guys the Wii fit was the boogie board to buy. Parents who grew up telling their moms that playing Street Fighter II for hours was actually healthy were given long overdue redemption.

5. USA Basketball

After the embarrassing loss at the 2004 Olympics in Athens Greece, the USA Basketball “Redeem Team” made up of Lebron James, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard and anyone else you draft early in Fantasy Leagues, took home the Gold this year. We’re also proud of Melo for not laughing too hard at the announcer who called his cornrows “modified dread locks” on live television.

4. Michael Phelps

The Gold Medal-winning Olympic swimmer not only gave us something else to watch when the Basketball team wasn’t playing, he made us feel a whole lot better for eating those extra helpings of bacon and grits at breakfast.

3. The Carter III

Love him or hate him, the spectacle that was Lil Wayne reached a fever pitch with the release of his latest project. From auto-tune to David Axelrod, the breadth of the CD justified the over 1 million copies he sold in his first week. Rappers everywhere owe a special thanks to producer Bangladesh for giving them that “A Milli” beat to test drive their freestyles on.

2. Beyonce’s legs

Jay-Z finally wised up and “put a ring on it” but that hasn’t stopped us from indulging in the spectacle that is Beyonce Knowles. How mesmerizing is Beyonce? Watch the video for “Single Ladies” on mute and play “Crazy In Love” in the background. See a difference? No. Do you care? Nope

1. Barack Obama Elected

This is the ultimate four-for-one blockbuster. In one night the American people not only elected their first African-American President, they got rid of George Bush, gave Sarah Palin the Heisman, and made it so that there is actually a First Lady that we can have inappropriate thoughts about for the first time since Jackie O.