A Look Back

Apparently, the future meant to bring a wicked bad cold that kept me in bed for 3 days (literally. Today was the first day I'd been out of the house since Monday. ) And a reality check--when I finally got back today all my textbooks had been delivered and I had (alas!) homework, several meetings to schedule, laundry, dozens of e-mails, and work tomorrow--not to mention a pile of errands I had meant to do over the course of several days and am now doing...before work tomorrow. Urgh.

SO, to stave off impending reality just a bit longer, I'm going to recap some of my favorite books/movies of 2008 (movies that came out in 2008, the books are those that I just read this past year). Because I feel like it.

Movies
My top ten movies of 2008: (in no particular order)

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Great costumes, music, and a happy ending. My favorite kind of movie.
• Valkyrie. Tension, WWII, and Nazis getting what they deserve. I could do without Tom Cruise's freaky fake eye, though.
• The Tale of Desperaux. This movie was very well animated, and I thought the story held some important moral lessons for kids (heck, for adults too). Plus it had Emma Watson in it.
• The Dark Knight. Wayyy better than the original Batman movies. If Heath Ledger doesn't get an Oscar, it's a tragedy, just like his death.
  
• 27 Dresses. Chick flick? Obviously. But again, a happy ending and an entire movie about weddings, which, as you all know, was a bit of an obsession for me this past year.
• Sex and the City. This movie had some stupid moments (Carrie's ridiculous bird wedding hat being one of them) but the look on Steve's face when he and Miranda got back together was worth it.
• Wall-E. Adorable robots, great animation,and, you guessed it, a happy ending (beginning to see a theme here?).
  
• Baby Mama. Tina Fey + Amy Poehler=Hilarious. No matter what they're doing. Even Brian thought this one was funny.
• Australia. Good costumes and sets, a really interesting and captivating story, and, of course, a happy ending. Mostly.
• Young@Heart. Old people singing rock songs sounds dumb..but it was AMAZING.
  

As for the WORST movies of 2008, here are my tops:

• Penelope. She looked better with her pig snout..which kind of gets rid of the whole purpose of the story.
  
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull...aliens?? really?
  
• Wanted. The only good part of that movie was when Morgan Freeman said, "Shoot me, motherf***er". There's just something wrong there.
• Hancock. This was just dumb all around. Shame on you, Will Smith.
• 21. Winner winner, chicken dinner. Alas, this film was not a winner.
• Fool's Gold. Generally I like romantic comedies. But Matthew McHoweveryouspellit got hit too many times with things that went "clang!" for this to be funny.
• Twilight. I've posted on this before so I won't repeat myself.

Clearly the Academy and I differ.

Books

What sticks out to me about books this year is my newfound addiction to the Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig and the Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George. There are also a few standouts by non-series books:

• The Thirteenth Tale. I just finished this, and it was one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was...magical. I really, REALLY, recommend it.
• Julie & Julia. Cooking + chick lit=a book for me. Which is also getting made into a movie. BONUS!
• Brideshead Revisited. This was like a serious Jeeves & Wooster. I missed Tuppy and Stinker Pinker and all his weird pals...but not for long.
• The Blind Assassin. I love Margaret Atwood, and this was one of her best.
• The Perfect Summer: England 1911, Just Before the Storm. Only I would pick up and read a book like this...but it was very good and I recommend it if you like social history.
• The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I had written this off as a mindless best seller...but it's not.
  
• Mister Pip. I read this for a class..but this story of the embattled natives of Papua, New Guinea, involved one of my favorite books (Great Expectations) in such a fantastic way I couldn't have ever imagined it...but it was just right.

Ahh. What a refreshing look back. Now to the present..but more on that later.