Tag: best of
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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.…
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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…
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Favorite Films of 2019
Having already conquered my list of favorite films of the 2010s, I found this list much easier to assemble. I knew my movie watching would take a hit when my son was born last February, and it did, though not as much as I expected. My logbook tells me I watched 63 films in 2019, which…
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Favorite Books of 2019
Compared to 72 books in 2018, I read a relatively paltry 24 in 2019. Between work, a new house, and a new baby, I just didn’t have the mental bandwidth to stick with as many books for extended periods. This resulted in a little more fluff than usual, including several Queer Eye-adjacent memoirs and tons…
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Favorite Albums of the 2010s
See also: my favorite books, TV shows, and films of the 2010s. Listed alphabetically by artist, here are the albums from the last 10 years that sustained and entertained me: Abigail Washburn, City of Refuge. Favorite track: “City of Refuge” The Book of Mormon Original Broadway Cast Recording. Favorite track: “You And Me (But Mostly…
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Favorite TV Shows of the 2010s
See also: my favorite books, albums, and films of the 2010s. I spent a lot more time reading and watching movies over the last 10 years than watching TV, but here are the 10 series I enjoyed the most. 10. Catastrophe. For keeping it (brutally) real. 9. House of Cards. For the pulpy thrills of…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s
See also: my favorite films, TV shows, and albums of the 2010s. This list happens to coincide perfectly with the period of time I began (1) reading for fun once I graduated college, (2) tracking my reading, and (3) reading a lot more. This means I had tons of titles to consider. I forced myself…
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Favorite Films of the 2010s
See also: my favorite books, TV shows, and albums of the 2010s. My initial list for this endeavor had 77 movies. After I barely managed to winnow it down to 50, I just couldn’t figure out how I’d get to that arbitrary yet appealing round number of 10. But once I realized most of the…
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On endeavoring through Top 100 film lists
The primary function of my logbook is to document in a Google spreadsheet what I read and watch. But that’s not all it tracks. Among sheets dedicated to typewriters I own and words I like is one that charts my progress through several Top 100 film lists (see above). I’ve been slowly endeavoring through the…
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Favorite Films of 1999
In case you haven’t heard, 1999 was a great year for movies. I don’t remember seeing any of them in the theater at the time (I was 12), but I fondly remember watching and rewatching many on VHS and DVD later on. I really tried to rank them. But the exercise of ranking felt even…
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Favorite Films of 2009
For some reason I can’t explain, I didn’t make a list of my top 10 films in 2009. My filmlog did get a little sparse that year, but I’m surprised I didn’t at least throw a list together, since I’ve been making best-of lists since 2007. Regardless, once I noticed the discrepancy, I figured now,…
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Favorite Films of 2018
My theme for last year’s movies was the strength of women. This year, it’s time for some manly love. (Archer voice: “Phrasing!”) Since June, when I found out I was going to be a father, I’ve been keenly aware of how fatherhood has been portrayed in this year’s crop of movies. What strikes me now,…
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Favorite Albums of 2018
Most of the music I encountered for the first time in 2018 wasn’t actually new. But here are a few new releases I did fancy this year, in no particular order. Winterland by The Okee Dokee Brothers One of my favorite bands released a full album about my favorite season, so yeah, it’s gonna make…
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Favorite Books of 2018
Goodreads tells me I read 72 books this year. Though I didn’t read as many as last year, with a baby on the way I’ve been trying to read abundantly while I can, for both quality and quantity. Here are the books published in 2018 that I enjoyed the most. (See previous best-of book lists.)…
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Revisiting my top films of 2008
Ten years ago I ranked my top 10 films of 2008. (I also started filmlogging.) Since last year’s revisit of my top films of 2007 was so fun, I thought I’d make this an annual tradition. Here’s my original 2008 list: Lots of interesting choices here. Kinda shocked Happy-Go-Lucky was so high and that Milk…
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Top 5 films of 2018 so far
The Death of Stalin. I’m a sucker for dark and irreverent political satires. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? This documentary about Fred Rogers didn’t make me cry, but it did make me sad about the Kids These Days who don’t know of him and his anti-television TV show. First Reformed. I’m also a sucker for…
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Favorite Books of 2017
Goodreads tells me I read one less book this year than last. Though always tempted to read ever more and more, I’ve become less concerned about hitting arbitrary reading quotas, so I’m able to better enjoy the books I do read. Here are the 2017 books I enjoyed the most, with links to reviews I…
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#SheToo: Favorite Films of 2017
The overarching theme of the year in film, to me, was Wonder Women. Not only was the Wonder Woman film good, but in a year when badly behaving men dominated the news, I’m grateful there were so many richly drawn female protagonists who ran the gamut of strong, vulnerable, funny, and complicated, and who made…
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Top films of 2007: will ‘There Will Be Blood’ be there?
Filmspotting’s recent Sacred Cow review of There Will Be Blood inspired me to rewatch it for the first time since seeing it in theaters, and go back and look at my top films of 2007. They were: 1) The Lives of Others (technically 2006, but released in the U.S. in 2007) 2) Once 3) Waitress 4)…
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Favorite Films of 2016
According to my records I watched 83 films in 2016, 33 of which came out this year. As is the case with my reading, I’m in a “watch as much as I can” zone because I love movies and there’s so much great stuff and there are too many movies and I’ll never have this…