Tag: lists
-
Favorite Films of 2021
In 2021 I only saw three movies in theaters, which is two more than I saw in 2020. A personal historic low, it probably goes without saying. But ultimately I’m just grateful to be able to watch great movies, whether at the theater, on a streaming service, or with a library Blu-ray. To that end,…
-
2021 in review
See previous year in review posts. My view from the end of all things 2021: With the day off from work, I spent the morning traipsing around our snowy yard with Little Man. He introduced me to his snowman (above), we threw snowballs at trees, and rolled down the small hill in our backyard. Lots…
-
Revolver Soul
My Better The Beatles series rolls on with the ultimate selection of the best from Rubber Soul and Revolver. I ended up with a clean eight from each, combined here into Revolver Soul: Good Day Sunshine Taxman Drive My Car Eleanor Rigby Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) Yellow Submarine Michelle You Won’t See Me…
-
Favorite Films of 2002
I’m creating my annual movie lists retroactively. See all of them. Looking at the full list of 2002 releases brought up lots of random memories: going to Changing Lanes and Signs in the theater with my dad seeing the original teaser trailer for Spider-Man on TV in fall 2001 that featured the World Trade Center…
-
Let It Abbey Road
I’m two-thirds of the way through The Beatles: Get Back, the 8-hour documentary on Disney+. It inspired me to add another installment of my Better The Beatles series, wherein I trim the fat from their discography to create super albums of only their best stuff. (Previously: Sgt. Pepper’s Magical Mystery Tour, The (Single) White Album,…
-
My son’s media of the moment
A spinoff of an ongoing series Library books galore. Between my work library and the two public libraries close to home, we’ve established a pretty regular rotation of titles old and new. Recent hits include The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak and Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sara Levine. Bluey. The…
-
Presidential trivia pursuit
One of the chief pleasures of my presidential biography mission is the accumulation of historical trivia. These factoids aren’t good for much except trivia nights and some Jeopardy! categories, but they fascinate me nevertheless—and illustrate that history is a lot richer than just a boring list of dates in a textbook. A few tidbits I’ve…
-
My favorite presidential biographies (so far)
Ever since reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s excellent Abraham Lincoln biography Team of Rivals years ago, I’ve been fascinated by the lives and times of U.S. presidents. So much so that I made a goal to read a substantive biography of every U.S. president. This goal isn’t motivated by politics. If anything the legislative minutiae, policy…
-
Favorite Films of 2003
I’m creating my annual movie lists retroactively. See all of them. We’re now deep into an era that was, at least for me, dominated by DVDs. I seemed to get a new one or two every birthday and Christmas, and rented aplenty from Family Video or Blockbuster. My movie collection has changed a lot since…
-
Top 5 autumn movies
I have a pretty good handle on my Christmas/winter movie canon. But fall? Not so much. That’s what inspired me to consider the movies I return to during autumn, or seek out when I want that Mr. Autumn Man feeling on screen regardless of the season. To qualify, they have to take place primarily within,…
-
Quotes of the moment
An ongoing series “Memory comes in to fill the spaces of whatever isn’t there. … Memory has a way of growing things, of improving them. The hardships get harder, the good times get better, and the whole damn arc of a life takes on a mystic glow that only memory can give it.” – Josh…
-
Favorite Films of 2004
I’m creating my annual movie lists retroactively. See all of them. As a freshman/sophomore in high school, this year provided me several memorable theater experiences, including the last great M. Night Shyamalan movie, some surprisingly excellent sequels, and a romance that inspired one of my very first blog posts. But chief among these theatrical outings…
-
Podcasts of the moment
I won’t do this quite as often as Media of the Moment, but I think it’s interesting to check in every once in a while with my podcast lineup and habits, since they do change over time for various reasons. What hasn’t changed since my last dispatch: I listen to too many podcasts, and/but I’m…
-
5 tips for planning a wedding
Wedding season has got me thinking about what I learned from my own experience putting together a wedding six years ago. Here’s what I got. Pick four things to really care about. Wedding planning is chock-full of choices, but you can’t care about everything equally unless you want to have a mental breakdown. Pick four…
-
Favorite Films of 2005
I started making annual top-10 movie lists in 2007, so I’ve been going backwards from there to create lists for each year retroactively. See all my best-of lists. I really enjoyed kicking off my back-in-time film rankings series with the 2006 slate. Most of my indelible memories from this moviegoing year involved the late, lamented…
-
Favorite Films of 2006
My annual top-10 movie lists begin in 2007, so I thought it would be fun to start going backwards from there and create lists for each year retroactively. First up is 2006, which is now 15 years ago and a notable year for me in several ways: it’s when I graduated high school, went on…
-
My favorite ‘Boomtown’ moments
After writing my paean to Boomtown, the cry of the masses rang out from sea to shining sea with a resounding message: “More Boomtown content!!!” I live to serve. During my latest rewatch, I took note of the moments that have stuck with me in the almost 20 years since the series debuted. I considered…
-
Top 5 Taylor Swift songs
Why not. 5. “Blank Space” – 1989 4. “You Need to Calm Down” – Lover 3. “I Forgot That You Existed” – Lover 2. “We Are Never Getting Back Together” – Red 1. “Shake It Off” – 1989
-
Favorite Films of 2020
Along with all the other lamentable things that happened (or didn’t happen) this year due to COVID-19, I mourn the movies I missed out on seeing on the big screen. The last time I was in a theater was in late February to see Little Women, which ended up being my favorite film of 2019.…
-
Favorite Books of 2020
In his year-end summary of reading, Seth Godin wrote: “Books are an extraordinary device, transitioning through time and space, moving from person to person and leaving behind insight and connection. I’m grateful every single day for the privilege of being able to read (and to write).” I read 18 books in 2020. For some people…