Gateway

With the end of the year winding down, one non-profit organization is looking to honor many local performers with an award ceremony in 2008. The Omaha Entertainment Awards Inc. is back for its second annual "Omaha Entertainment and Arts Awards" show, which will be held at the Holland Performing Arts Center on Jan.

Every year on Christmas day my friends and I have to see a movie. It's a tradition that started on the first Christmas night the AMC Oakview Plaza 24 Theater had been open for. We can remember every movie we have seen for each of those Christmases but three movies will always be known as "Christmas movies" that are necessary to truly enjoy Christmas: Die Hard (1988) Nothing says Christmas like "Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho.

As another year comes to a close, we'd like to take a moment to reflect back on all that this year has brought us: triumphs in technology, celebrity debacles and groundbreaking moments that will forever change the course of history.

Radiohead - In Rainbows Spitting in the Recording Industry Association of America's eye by allowing fans to pay whatever they want for a pre-release version of In Rainbows is only one reason why the band's sixth full-length album made headlines this year.

Bioshock (Xbox 360, PC) Bioshock, the much-anticipated sequel to System Shock II, offers one of the best shooters this year. Set in a creepy, dystopian underwater city filled with mutated "splicers" set out to kill you, it offers some of the creepiest atmospheres available.

Zanna, Don't! The top play of the season had to be Zanna, Don't! by Tim Acito. The Omaha performance of this interesting play was staged by SNAP! Productions. Stephen Michael Shelton starred as Zanna, Heartsville High's magical matchmaker. In this intriguing comedy, the world is turned topsy-turvy as the normality of the societal relationships are same-sex couples.

Top Action/Adventure: Shoot 'em Up There's probably no film this year that better encompasses the "action/adventure" title. Oh, sure, you've got your blockbusters like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Transformers, but how can you deny the brilliance of a film that has prim-and-proper Clive Owen killing someone with a carrot, a shoot-out while falling from an airplane and easily one of the best soundtracks of the year? That's right.

Best PC Game of 2007: Crysis Crytek, developer of the jaw-dropping Far Cry back in 2004, has once again set the bar extremely high for all games to follow. Crysis, a first-person shooter game, puts you in the boots of a Delta Force operative named Nomad. His nano suit can augment strength, speed and armor as well as make Nomad appear invisible for short periods of time.

Check out the Gateway's annual holiday gift guide!