Tag: lists
-
Things I’m thankful for: a Thanksgiving list
my wife family friends my job my banjo books the coming winter movie theater gift cards the Judge John Hodgman podcast Sam Cooke the smell of evening air Thanksgiving a warm bed in a cool room lakeside morning runs egg nog health insurance trees
-
It’s fall: what music are you listening to?
Here’s an incomplete, totally subjective playlist of music that reminds me of fall. Let me know in the comments what music reminds you of autumn. “October” by Eric Whitacre. Played the orchestral version of this in high school, but the choral version is just as good and beautifully evocative of the season. “Oh Shenandoah” folk…
-
Music of the Moment, ctd
It’s been almost 10 years since I last did a “music of the moment” post (then called “soundtrack of the moment”), so I figured it was time for another. There’s no use trying to summarize a whole decade of musical discoveries and interests, so I’ll just try for the last few weeks. “Hole in Your…
-
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…
-
Favorite Books of 2016
According to my records I read more than ever in 2016. Partially this was due to starting as a book reviewer for two library trade journals, thus increasing the volume of pages coming my way. But I also made more time overall for reading, because I love it and I work at a library and…
-
The Apu Trilogy
Finally watched all of Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy: Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956), and Apur Sansar (1959). The Criterion editions are, no surprise, beautifully rendered. Filmspotting’s recent Satyajit Ray marathon compelled me to finally give them a go. I’d heard of the trilogy first from Image‘s Arts & Faith Top 100 Films list, which I’ve…
-
Favorite Films, Books & Albums of 2015
Resurrecting my 2013 choice to include all my best-ofs into one omnilist, here are 15 films, books, and albums I loved from 2015. Film 1. BrooklynThere’s a scene about five minutes into Brooklyn that setup the whole film for me. Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), soon bound for a new life in 1950s America, watches as her…
-
Fourteen Memories
Fourteen scattered memories, in no particular order, written at whim on the occasion of my birthday on the fourteenth of September. 1. Every summer, on their way down to or up from Texas, Grandma Helen and Grandpa Cliff stayed with us in Madison for a few days. Knowing they’d be there when I got home…
-
Favorite Books of 2014
My favorite books from 2014 are all nonfiction, a thoroughly unsurprising result of it being way easier for me to get through a 700-page historical tome than a 200-page novel. Sorry, novels: this year it was especially true that the truth is stranger and more fascinating than fiction. Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us…
-
Favorite Films of 2014
Because synchronicity has been on my mind recently, I wondered while considering my favorite films of 2014 if any of them were thematically aligned, explicitly or otherwise. Turns out they are. The ten-ish films that lodged themselves into my brain this year naturally arranged themselves into pairs or groups—some odd ones, to be sure, but nevertheless interesting. I…
# best of, Boyhood, Calvary, film, Ida, Interstellar, Life Itself, lists, Locke, movies, Noah, review, Snowpiercer, The LEGO Movie, They Came Together, Whiplash -
Ten Books
In the Filmspotting tradition of naming lists after what you know will be on everyone’s list so should be removed from consideration, I’m going to name this the To Kill A Mockingbird Memorial List of Ten Books That Have Stuck With Me For Some Reason. Acknowledging the usual disclaimers of making lists (it’s not binding, it could…
-
2013 In Film: The Best Of The Rest
I tried something different with my recent 2013 Omnilist, naming 13(ish) of my favorite films, books, TV shows, and albums from the last year instead of a traditional top-10 list for each medium. But in that process I had to cut out a lot of films from the final list I otherwise would have loved…
-
13 In ’13: A Pop Culture Omnilist
Standard operating procedure for making year-end culture lists says to rank your ten favorite films/albums/books, but I’ve recently soured against this convention. Choosing a pre-determined number of “the best” among many great works, as all award shows do, is great entertainment but entirely arbitrary. So this time around, I decided to institute my own arbitrary…
# 12 Years A Slave, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Before Midnight, best of, books, Chris Hadfield, film, Francis Spufford, Gravity, Haim, Her, House of Cards, Like Someone in Love, lists, Lucius, movies, music, Neil Gaiman, review, Rod Dreher, Short Term 12, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, This Is Martin Bonner -
Ringo Starr Beatles Songs, Ranked
Because the Internet needs more lists. “Octopus’s Garden” — Abbey Road (1969) “With a Little Help From My Friends” — Sgt. Pepper’s (1967) “Good Night” — The White Album (1968) “What Goes On” — Rubber Soul (1965) “Don’t Pass Me By” — The White Album (1968) “Yellow Submarine” — Revolver (1966) “I Wanna Be Your Man” — With the Beatles (1963) “Act Naturally” — Help! (1965) “Honey Don’t” — Beatles…
-
Favorite Music of 2012
To me, music is blood. It runs through me, providing life and warmth in even the coldest and loneliest times. Here are a few albums from the last year, with a song from each, that gave me life and color in 2012. Lord Huron, Lonesome Dreams (Song: “Ends of the Earth”) First Aid Kit, Lion’s Roar (Song: “Emmylou”) Good…
-
Favorite Films of 2012
With a fortnight now between us and 2012, I’ve had time to consider which films I liked in what I think was overall a weaker year for films than previous ones. Keeping in mind I’ve yet to see a few key films, here (in alphabetical order) are seven movies from last year that grabbed hold of…
-
Favorite Films of 2011
I saw a number of fine films in 2011. Here, I talk about the great ones and what I thank them for. Beginners, for Christopher Plummer’s exuberance as a recently-out elderly gay man; for Ewan McGregor’s hopeful melancholia as his perpetual bachelor son, and for this exchange between them: “HAL: Well, let’s say that since…
-
My Favorite Albums of 2011
Happy List-Making Month everybody! It’s my favorite of the year. To celebrate, I present my list of albums that I love from 2011. There was a lot of good stuff, but these top few were the ones that kept me coming back. The Book of Mormon by Trey Parker, Matt Stone & Bobby Lopez Admittedly, I…