Best of 2007

Since everyone else seems to do the "best of" lists at the end of each year, I thought I'd throw out my favorites in a few categories.

Movies:
I didn't see very many in the theater this year, but the ones I did were generally top-notch. Here are the ones that moved me most:
1) Juno. Extremely well done movie. Great dialog, acting, storyline. Funny, sad, dramatic, all at the same time. It's hard to get that combination right.
2) Dan in real life. I usually don't like Steve Carrell but I really liked him here. He created a very lovable, endearing character and I was rooting for him to get the girl!
3) 3:10 to Yuma. I was quite surprised that I liked this one since I generally don't like westerns. But the acting was superb and the drama/tension kept me glued to the screen. I would've preferred a happy ending, though.
4) Michael Clayton. Great, old-fashioned drama with a solid performance from George Clooney.
5) Knocked Up. A little on the gross side, but I liked how this movie raised the societal issue of young guys acting like children. It's so true!
6) Music & Lyrics. Yes, it's cheesy but right up my alley.

There are several that I haven't seen yet, that I have high hopes for. Here's the list: Atonement, Love in the time of cholera, No country for old men and The Kite Runner.


Books:
I made it through some really great books this year -- including a couple that will probably reside in my top 5 for a long time to come. Here they are:
1) A thousand splendid suns. I could not put this one down. I was so moved by the two female characters and I felt sick over the horrible things they had to put up with, cried at the death of one of them and cheered when the other gets her reward.
2) Richistan. This is non-fiction written by a reporter from the Wall Street Journal who writes about the super rich. This book is just packed with detail about how these people live and how they live such different lives from the rest of us that they essentially have their own country that the author has named "Richistan." I think I plowed through this thing in something like three days.
3) The Kite Runner. Disturbing, moving account of two boys in Afghanistan. This one is probably better in terms of the writing quality than A thousand splendid suns (and won more awards), but I think I related to "suns" more because the characters were female. Still, Kite Runner was spell-binding and deeply moving. Wonderful characters.
4) Bridge of sighs. This is the latest from Richard Russo, who wrote Empire Falls -- my all-time favorite book. This one wasn't quite as good, but I liked it because Russo creates such wonderful, deep characters.

TV shows:
I'm starting to get ticked about the writers strike cause there's nothing to watch on TV. I'm subsisting on Netflix, re-runs of Gilmore Girls and movies on HBO. Not sure how much longer I can hold out.

Here are the shows I'm most anxious to see back:
1) Brothers & Sisters. Great cast. Great acting. Need I say more? Oh yeah, and Rob Lowe as eye candy.
2) Gray's Anatomy. I know this gets slammed for being too much of a soap opera, but who can't help but want to know what happens next?
3) Private Practice. This spin-off from Gray's has been thoroughly panned by the critics, but I like it cause it's an escape for me. They live in such a vastly different world than my own, I like to see what happens to them.
4) How I met your mother. This is one of the few shows my husband and I can agree on. The dialog is sharp and witty and they seem to keep coming up with entertaining storylines.
5) The Closer. This TNT drama with Kyra Sedgewick is fun to watch.
6) I'm also eagar to see "24" and Jack Bauer back on the air. It hasn't been on since last May and I haven't heard a peep about when it might be back.