Tag: lists
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Movies with their own making-of book
There are tons of books about filmmaking and filmmakers, but I have a particular appreciation for books written about just one specific movie. These microhistories (a genre I love) go deep on their film’s influences, development, production, and extended cultural relevance, and through that can tell us a lot about the power of cinema beyond…
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Favorite Films of 2025
Forget the Oscars—this is the ultimate resource for the best movies of 2025. Here are the 20 films that stuck with me from the last year. (Check JustWatch to see if and where they are available to stream, or your local library for the DVD/Blu-ray. See this list on Letterboxd.) 20. An Autumn Summer There’s…
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The secret life of nonfiction book subtitles
As a lover of nonfiction books, I’ve noticed many of the same phrases being used for subtitles—something that doesn’t happen with fiction since “A Novel” or “Stories” are basically the only options. Some templates I’ve noticed: What else should be on the list?
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Favorite Books of 2025
Continuing the trend of the last few years, this is a “books I managed to read” list rather than a curated selection of favorites as my reading hit an all-time low. I could blame any number of attention grabbers in my life, but ultimately I’m just not In My Reading Era like I used to…
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2025 in review
See previous year in review posts. My view from the end of all things 2025: Joined my buddy Nicole Kidman at AMC for a 9:15am showing of Marty Supreme. Don’t think I’ve ever done such an early showtime before, but it’s a great way to start the day. Here’s a snapshot of what this year…
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A list of all my nicknames
In the spirit of my band names list, here’s an alphabetical list of every nickname I can think of that friends, family, colleagues, or acquaintances have given me over the years. Some make more sense than others, but I will not be explaining any of them.
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A list of potential band names
For years I’ve kept a running list of random phrases I’ve seen or heard in the wild—or inadvertently made myself—that sounded like they’d make a great name for a band, album, movie, or other work of art. I can’t remember where most of them came from, but that’s what makes them kinda fun. Rather than…
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My top 10 concert moments
I’ve been to many concerts in my life. But I noticed the ones I remember most keenly have a specific song or moment that locked into my consciousness. Here, in chronological order with their venue and specific date (thanks internet!), are the ones that have stuck with me the most. “The City, The Airport” by…
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Favorite Films of 2024
Though I usually do a Top 10 with some honorable mentions, once this year’s list of honorable mentions creeped past 10 movies I figured why not just do a full top 20? The more movies the merrier. Here are the 2024 dramas, documentaries, dystopias, debuts, and other delights I dug. (Check JustWatch to see if…
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Favorite Books of 2024
It would be more accurate to title this post merely “Books I Read in 2024” because man oh man did I slack on reading this year. Long gone is my 80+ per year pace (pre-kids, crucially), replaced by not even hitting double digits. There are various reasons for this, but suffice it to say I…
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2024 in review
See previous year in review posts. My view from the end of all things 2024: A red-tailed hawk plopped itself on our backyard power line this morning, making for a colorful breakfast companion on an otherwise gloomy New Year’s Eve. May we all seek to achieve its steady serenity in 2025. A few highlights from…
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Top 50 Movies of the 21st Century
I’m very proud to share this list of Cinema Sugar’s Top 50 Movies of the 21st Century, something the team has worked on for months in anticipation of celebrating our favorite films from the last quarter century. Please take a look (and share with other movie lovers!) for my short thoughts on Palm Springs, Lord…
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My favorite picture books
I’ve encountered a lot of board books and picture books in my nearly six years of parenting. Many of them are bad, with either poor writing or an off-putting illustration style or both. But several of them hit that sweet spot of beautiful design and quality storytelling. Here are some of those:
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Favorite Films of 1998
I’m creating my movie best-of lists retroactively. See all of them. Hard to believe my last retrospective list in this series was almost two years ago. But I recently rewatched what ended up as my top two movies on this list and realized I hadn’t done this movie year yet, so here we are. I…
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Favorite Films of 2023
As with last year’s list, I decided to skip the usual pressure to make a top 10 by the end of the year without having seen a bunch of the eligible movies. Instead I took my time, waiting to watch titles as they hit streaming or Blu-ray so I’d have a better shot at a…
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Favorite Books of 2023
I read 15 books in 2023, which is the lowest number since I started keeping track in 2010. A few factors contributed to this, including having a second baby in May and opting more often to watch movies in my free time. So it goes. I’ll get back on the reading train in 2024. Until…
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2023 in review
See previous year in review posts. My view from the end of all things 2023: Here’s what this year looked like for me:
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A to-do menu
In the latest issue of his newsletter The Imperfectionist, Oliver Burkeman posits that we should treat our to-do lists more like menus: One great benefit of doing this more consciously, though – of facing the fact that lists are menus – is that it shifts the source of gratification. The reward of pleasure, or a…