It’s here! At long last! The annual list of my favorite good movies, bad movies, and books seen or read in 2008 is here!
Check it out and then come back here to comment on my choices, tell me I’m a big stupidhead for not liking Christian Bale, or fill me in on one (or more!) of your favorites from 2008.
Thanks again for being the most awesomest readers of all time. You guys rule!
megwood.wordpress.com 
January 13, 2009 at 7:03 am |
Well, I’ve certainly added some books to my “must read” list, which is already way too long, so THANKS A LOT.
3 out of 5 on the bad movies list…never have I felt so accomplished!
January 13, 2009 at 5:22 pm |
Okay, here’s the thing: out of your top -10 good movies, I’ve seen exactly … 3. Out of your top -only (only??) 5 bad movies, I’ve seen … 3! What does that say about my average viewing habits? I agreed with you about the stuff I knew about, and was interested in the other stuff.
One other comment – when you said “Tony – gleam – Curtis” I IMMEDIATELY thought, “No, she can’t possibly be referring to one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE movies – “The Great Race!” Why am I even surprised that your WERE? Way back when, I taught all my friends the theme music for the “Professor Fate” (Jack Lemmon) and “Max,” (Peter Falk) scenes, and we even sang it with harmony! They still remember it! Is there something wrong with me?
January 13, 2009 at 5:47 pm |
Hah, that’s awesome, Lizzie!
FG: Looking forward to the Film Club selections in 2009!
January 13, 2009 at 5:54 pm |
I can’t believe one of my all-time favorite bad movies made it to your 2008 list! Every time it comes on TV my husband yells “Honey, it’s naked space vampires!” then for me it’s “Yahoo….”Lifeforce” is on again!” and he knows that I’ll be doing nothing for the next two hours except laughing at the TV.
I read the booklist too and have added most of them to my reading list for the new year. Great choices!
January 13, 2009 at 5:55 pm |
MEG YOU AND I FINALLY AGREE ON SOME MOVIES!!!!! I loved Movie 3-5, this is a break through. LOL
On a sadder note, we didn’t agree on one of the books, which is unusal for us. 😦
I tried reading Ghostwalk, and couldn’t get through it. I just couldn’t take the writing style, and just when it started to get fast-paced, she would stop, and start talking to “whats his name”, I can’t even remember what his name is. HOWEVER, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher sounds great, and I’ve added it to my booksfree.com account.
January 13, 2009 at 6:26 pm |
I totally understand the “Ghostwalk” thing, Alisa — I had some problems with her writing style too. But I really enjoyed the science geekery elements of it, which is why I was able to overlook some of its flaws!
“Naked space vampires”! I love it, Kim!! 🙂
January 13, 2009 at 7:35 pm |
meg, not sure if this movie is up you ally, but I loved Across the Universe. I’m listening to the soundtrack right now. It’s awsome if you like The Beatles.
January 13, 2009 at 11:03 pm |
Some movies I would recommend if you haven’t seen them: Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Man on Wire
January 13, 2009 at 11:32 pm |
Saw “Diving Bell” — “Man on Wire” is available for Watch Instantly at Netflix, so I’m hoping to get a chance to see that soon (on my Roku player — the best $99 I spent in 2008, incidentally.)
January 14, 2009 at 2:05 am |
Alisa, I really liked “Across the Universe.” One small complaint; when Jude’s English girl friend, Molly, got married, her husband’s name really should have been “Desmond” – O-Blah-Di, O-Blah-Da”, after all!
January 14, 2009 at 11:43 am |
My God, I thought I was the only one left alive with warm childhood memories of The Great Race, with its heady mix of world travel, slapstick, heroes, dastardly villains, rocket sleds, hot air balloons…magic to this 7-year old kid…
It was on TV every year about Christmas time, and no matter what time it was on, day or night (usually night), I went out of my way to sit through all three hours (with commercials), regardless of parental consequences. I credit that movie with first planting the seeds of my lust for travel.
HEY PROFESSOR!!!
January 14, 2009 at 1:45 pm |
I also loved “In Bruges” and it’s the movie that I keep recommending to people. It’s the movie that made me laugh the most last year.
I love that “The Lookout” made your top 10. I’m full of pride that I did just a tiny bit to bring this wonderful movie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt some attention. Yeah me!
“Catch and Release” – one of the few romantic comedies that got it right.
Hated “No Country..”. Thought “Iron Man” and “Slumdog Millionaire” were overrated.
My top movies of the year:
“There Will Be Blood” – loved everything from the great cinematography to Daniel Day-Lewis
“In Bruges”
“Dear Zachary” – a mesermizing documentary
“Milk” – Sean Penn’s best performance, and hey James Franco can act!
“The Reader” – great performances and a thought provoking story
“The Counterfeiters” – a mesmerizing lead performance
“As Far as My Feet will Carry Me” – thanks Meg for recommending this, the first hour is one of the finest hours of film
“Shelter” – a sweet movie about identity and family
p.s. I’d miss “Boyfriends in the News” if you changed the name but I understand your reasoning. You make it ok to have a crush without it being creepy 😉
January 14, 2009 at 4:25 pm |
Trip: “Throw more brandy, throw brandy! More brandy! Brandy!”
January 14, 2009 at 6:16 pm |
“You good Leslie, you!”
January 14, 2009 at 6:36 pm |
I think you need to create a new catagory, just so you have a place to put Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Unless you didn’t like it, in which case la-la-la-la-i-can’t-hear-you.
January 14, 2009 at 6:38 pm |
I LOVED “Dr. Horrible.” I almost did a “best TV” thing this year too, except I got bored with my list before I’d even finished it. TV has kind of sucked lately. But Dr. H — genius! If you still haven’t seen it, hie thee to Teh Interwebs STAT!
January 14, 2009 at 7:05 pm |
Too many procedurals on US tv. But thank the heavens for “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report”. “Burn Notice” is great eye-candy. “Life” is a quirky treat. Alas, “The Wire” has ended but what a ride! My tv find of the year has been “The Big Bang Theory”. What a joy to actually laugh at a sitcom. And it celebrates genius – what a concept!
January 14, 2009 at 7:13 pm |
Oh, and “The Constant” episode of “Lost” was wonderful. It combined the mind-twisting concept of time travel and a heart-breaking/heart-warming duo of Desmond/Penny. Not a wasted moment in this episode.
January 14, 2009 at 9:10 pm |
Oh Meg!
I just remembered that I had meant to tell you that they released Dr. Horrible on DVD (I think its only available through Amazon so far)!
Why would anyone who already paid for the Itunes version, pay 11 bucks for the DVD?
Why, “Commentary – The Musical” of course. Joss rules!
I can’t really comment on the list because the only movies I’ve seen are Catch and Release (which I mostly dislike except for the awesome setting, me loves them Colorado mountains), and The Dark Knight (which I suspect will only be seen that one time). I added several books to my to-read list though!
January 15, 2009 at 2:21 am |
When I saw you had the “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” listed, I was so excited! I LOVED that book (and usually I only read fiction written by people who have been dead for at least almost 5 decades). So I had to share the wonderful news: a movie is being made based on the novel! So no matter who is cast to play Dawsey, you HAVE to list him as a Boyfriend, just because! Anyway, just thought I’d share.
January 15, 2009 at 4:15 pm |
Oh yeah, whoever plays Dawsey I will immediately fall in love with. Hope it’s not someone I already know — be nice to meet a new guy. 🙂
Can’t wait for the movie!
January 15, 2009 at 7:32 pm |
I loved “Dr. Horrible!” And TV Guide listed it as one of the top (10?) show of the year! I never downloaded the tunes, so I think I will get the DVD! “Leverage” isn’t working for me, but “Sanctuary” is! Didn’t it start on the internet?
January 16, 2009 at 1:50 pm |
Hmm Lizzie, I’m just the opposite. “Sanctuary” didn’t work for me but “Leverage” is. But I must admit that I just enjoy watching Timothy Hutton.
January 17, 2009 at 6:23 pm |
Lorraine, I tuned in to watch CHRISTIAN KANE. Timothy Hutton – feh! (LOL) The show seems like it ought to be really good – sort of a twisted “Mission Impossible,” which I LOVED. But something just isn’t quite working for me. ?? (But I’m still watching “Nip/Tuck,” so what do I know?)
January 19, 2009 at 7:56 pm |
Meg- I am happy to see that Stargirl made the list. Be sure to put the sequel on your list for this year…it too, is a great read! I just read two other books by Jerry Spinelli at the start of this year, Maniac Magee and Eggs, and enjoyed them both.
I also loved Last Days of Summer. It was a fun, quick read and your review reminded me how much I loved it. I just recommended it to one of my friends.
I have to say, I tried reading Saturday, and just couldn’t get through it. I had a hard time keeping up with all of the thoughts Henry goes through and found myself asking the quesion, do people really think like this all day?! Exhausting. I set the book down almost at the 1/2-way point and admit that I have been tempted to keep trying, but for now, it sits.