Welcome to the “CraveOnline Hype Awards” for 2006! After spending another year being force-fed the same bland garbage while quality and substance are buried beneath the rubble, it’s time to set the record straight. Here you’ll find our picks for the year’s most over and under-hyped movies, music, comics, cars and more!
This year there’s very little question in each category as to who the winners are; some are too bad to miss, others too good to be missed.
Film/TV
Most Hyped Movie: Superman Returns
Yeah, yeah… the special effects have come a long way since 20 years ago, and Kevin Spacey’s a great Lex Luthor. That’s about it for the upside. Plot holes abound, and Brandon Routh is more wooden than Christopher Reeve in the tight blue suit. This should not have made a gajillion dollars. But it did. We’re not holding our breath for the next one, that’s for sure.
We know you already saw the trailer but you can see it again, here.
Least Hyped Movie: B-13
Jaw-dropping fight scenes, amazing free-jumping, non-stop adrenaline… this movie is everything that every other action movie has ever wanted to be. It’s a French film, but don’t watch the English-overdub version. The voices are unlistenable. If you’re too lazy to read subtitles on a kick-ass movie, you’re definitely too lazy to be reading this.
For an amazing chase clip from B13, click here.
Most Hyped TV Show: Heroes
Heroes is having an impact similar what Lost did when it hit the scene, NBC is really pushing the show and luckily for viewers the hype is real. The show takes the real world superhero style of M. Knight Shyamalan's Unbreakable and turns it in to a decent weekly series.
Check out the preview of Heroes, here.
Least Hyped TV Show: The Wire
It never ceases to amaze me how much The Wire is overlooked. As much attention as The Sopranos and Deadwood has received this show routinely goes unnoticed. The Wire has great acting, directing and some of the best writing on TV in decades yet no once seems to notice, except the bootleggers.
For a behind the scenes clip from The Wire, click here.
Music
Most Hyped Album: Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
What happened? Hov’s comeback should have been legendary, a shining gem in his hip-hop crown. Instead, we get uninspired and unremarkable. The only thing worth discussing about Kingdom Come is how disappointing it is.
Jay performs "Show em what you got" live in Hollywood, California. Click here for the video.
Least Hyped Album: Beck – The Information
Beck’s finest album yet lands him right around number 150 on the Billboard 200. A beautiful tapestry of rock, hop-hop, electro-funk and weird, The Information is missing the party it deserves, and that’s an outrage.
Check out the video for Beck's "Elevator Music", here.
Gaming
Most Hyped Gaming Console: The PS3
Who cares how awesome it is if you can’t get your hands on one! It costs $600, there’s a problem with backwards compatibility, and there are very few exclusive titles and... wait. You still don’t have a PS3! I don’t care how good you were this year; Santa’s not bringing you one. It seems like they made about ten and then shut down production. Maybe they’ll have it together for next Christmas.
Check out this pre-release clip for the PS3, here.
Least Hyped Gaming Console: Xbox 360
With a year’s head start on the competition and nearly 200 titles to choose from, the underdog in the Console Wars of 2006 clearly comes out on top. The best part is that if you go to the store right now, you can actually take one home for less than half of what a PS3 would cost. Really. Go ahead. We’re timing you.
Check out this XBOX 360 promo from Japan, here.
Comics
Most Hyped Comic: Civil War
This may be the biggest event Marvel has had on its hands in years and the hype is well deserved. Shockers include; Spider-Man’s unmasking, the return of the Punisher and the death of Goliath. The series continues to get high praise from hard core fans and has brought many former fans back to comics.
See how it all started in the trailer for Civil War #1.
Least hyped Comic event: The Death of Alpha Flight
Canada’s Bad News Bears, Alpha Flight have endured three different team line up’s, low sales, cancellations, the loss of John Byrne and having their whole team wiped out by one dude. Sasquatch, Guardian, Vindicator, Shaman, Major Mapleleaf II, and two different Pucks were all killed off, just to make way for an all new team, Omega Flight.
Sports
Most Hyped Sports Figure: Kobe Bryant
Seriously, who cares about your 81 points scored when your team can’t even beat the Suns in the playoffs after winning 3 games in a row? Once again fans will continue to yell at their TV screens and radios, “Kobe, pass the f****** ball!”
Check out the highlights of Kobe's 81 point game here.
Least Hyped Sports Show: The Contender
NBC’s Boxing reality show, The Contender moved to ESPN and seemed to get ignored in it’s second season. While nobody expected Grady Brewer to upset former Super Featherweight titleholder Steve Forbes; the show still gave fans matches that were usually better than what HBO’s been offering lately.
Check out Grady Brewer in action, here.
Garage
Most Hyped Car: The Pontiac Solstice
After being featured on The Apprentice in 2005 and riding a wave of hype through 2006 the Solstice appeared to be a Miata Killer. The good looking roadster is currently beating the renamed Mazda MX-5 (aka the Miata) in sales but continues to receive poor reviews.
Check out the Solstice in a road test here.
Least Hyped Car: The Tesla Roadster
A 100% Electric sports car (bearing a resemblance to the Lotus Elise) that can do 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, seems to have been overlooked by mainstream media. Despite the low media attention, the $92,000 car has already sold out of the 2007 model.
Take a look at the Tesla Roadster in action, here.
Video
Most Hyped Web Video: “Shoes”
An obnoxious, pointless and unfunny phenomenon that’s been viewed more than 7 million times between MySpace and YouTube. Creator Liam Sullivan plays the lead character, Kelly, and has become a phenomenon in the most useless way known to man. He’s made other Kelly videos, too…and those aren’t funny either.
It's about the shoes, just click here.
Least Hyped Web Video: “Battle of the Album Covers”
A hilarious battle royale featuring dozens of classic album covers coming to life and fighting to the death. High point: Ozzy Ozbourne biting the head off of Rivers Cuomo, the B-52’s and…himself?
Check out Battle of the Bands, directed by Ugly Pictures and animated by man vs. magnet, here.
And there you have it, the 2006 CraveOnline Awards come to an end! Drop us a line at editor@craveonline.com to tell us what you thought of the list and what your picks of the year are. And remember: Don’t believe the hype.
List compiled by Ahmad Childress and Johnny Firecloud.
The Death of Geek 
