So, I have done a top movies of the year list for a while, and I figured that since I now have this little blog, I might as well post my list for this past year. I tried to choose movies that were actually released in 2007, but there may be a couple that were technically released in 2006 and didn't make it to normal theaters and/or England until 2007. So here are the ten movies I most enjoyed in 2007 (in chronological order of viewing):
1. The Lives of Others
2. The Painted Veil
3. Hairspray
4. Sunshine
5. Transformers
6. Knocked Up
7. Across the Universe
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. Michael Clayton
10. Lars and the Real Girl
Considering I saw nearly 70 movies in the theater this year (what can I say, I had a lot of free time), it was hard to narrow it down to ten, but these are the most memorable, the ones that have stayed with me in the media overload of my mind.
Meanwhile, on the books front, I was reading anything I could get my hands on via Bunch of Grapes care packages, the Oxfam shop, Bryce, and the Uni library. I came across some real gems this year, and I discovered that reading non-fiction and learning something new can be very rewarding. Top ten books in chronological order of their reading:
1. In the Skin of a Lion -- Michael Ondaatje
2. Little Children -- Tom Perrotta
3. Mergers & Acquisitions -- Dana Vachon
4. Thirteen Moons -- Charles Frazier
5. Critical Mass -- Philip Ball
6. How We Are Hungry -- Dave Eggers
7. Hangover Square --Patrick Hamilton
8. What Is the What -- Dave Eggers
9. My Life in France -- Julia Child
10. The Omnivore's Dilemma -- Michael Pollan
I also reread His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), by Philip Pullman. These are by far my favorite books, and I recommend them to anyone.
While I am constantly listening to music, I go through far too many phases over the course of a year to distill thousands of sonic waves into a top ten list. However, I can generate a list of the top ten new or new-to-me artists I have discovered and started listening to:
1. Calvin Harris
2. Mark Ronson
3. LCD Soundsystem
4. Clarias
5. Chester French
6. Vampire Weekend
7. The Low Millions
8. Metro Station
9. The Feeling
10. Luke Bryan
. . . with honorable mentions for Take That (a re-discovery), James Morrison, and Jeff Buckley.
