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Year-end lists
Dec. 28th, 2005 05:07 pmYear end lists abound. Seen about half a dozen so far and they all have one thing in common, about 50% of the stuff listed I either haven't heard of, haven't read, or haven't seen. Which I suppose is nice - since gives me rec's on what to see, read, etc. next year - assuming find the time.
Here's my mini list. Keep in mind, I'm moody about my tastes and change my mind a lot. Also I tend to like stuff that many of my friends don't. So with that caveat in mind - here's my lists:
Books:
These are the ones I remember, may have read more, but at this point in time they've skipped my mind. Most have been reviewed in my journal at any rate.
1. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (not deep, but very enjoyable light read. Great for subways and airplanes and when you are sick or depressed)
2. Bel Canto (can't remember the author, yes I know I could look it up, but I'm tired and lazy) (The fact I can still remember it even though I read the novel over 10 months ago, I suppose says something. Haunting. About an opera singer and a bunch of tourists held hostage by guerilla fighters in Boliva.)
3. Kite Runner by Khalad Husseini (flawed but fascinating book about a boy's coming of age in Afganistan during the 1980s, has some interesting bits about friendship and courage that continue to haunt me)
4. The Samauri's Garden by Gail Tzumari (sp? I did it right in the entry where it's reviewed) (Quiet story about a Chinese boy's coming of age in Japan during the WWII - the best part of the book is it's depiction of a Japanese leprosy colony.)
5. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (best depiction of the emotional disconnection I felt after 9/11 that I've read, also an apt description/examination of what discussion boards and forums are truly like.)
Honorable mention: George RR Martin's Game of Thrones & Clash of Kings- overly long to the point of possibly being tedious at times, but may have the most complex characters I've seen in a fantasy or any novel. Also unpredictable. If you are a fan of Dorothy Dunnett, Leo Tolstoy and/or Tolkien - you'll love this intricate epic - that comes with a complicated mythology and intricately plotted battles. Although I think Martin's characters may be more unpredictable and complex than Dunnett's and Tolkien's. Not sure about Tolstoy.
Of the two novels - Game of Thrones is better. Haven't read Storm of Swords yet, which I hear is the best.
Movies
1. A History of Violence - still haunts me, even though I saw it in September. An odd film. It seems so obvious on the surface, yet when you peel away the layer, look deeper, it has some disturbing things to say about violence, specifically the role of violence in our mythology, American and elsewhere.
2. The Squid and The Whale - another film that haunts me, but I do not wish to see again. Painful film. Yet apt depiction of narcissim and how people can use their cultural taste as a weapon against one another, hurting themselves more than anyone else in the process. At it's heart? It's a boy's coming of age tale in Brooklyn during the 1980s. But dig deeper and it says some disturbing things about society, specifically the well-educated.
3. Serenity - on the surface a fun space opera/action flick, dig deeper - some interesting views on human aggression, our current administration, and the idea of too much government involvement. Dig deeper still and you may find a few disturbing bits about gender politics. I liked it enough to buy the video. And I'm planning to write an entry about "human aggression", using bits and pieces from it as examples. Flawed in places? Yes.
But perhaps the most innovative science fiction film to come out since Blade Runner. Plus, some nice literary allusions intermingled for those bookworm geeky types. A smart action film - a rarity in this day and age.
4. The Upside of Anger (I saw this on DVD, but it did come out this year, so does count) - interesting movie about anger and how people deal with it. Possibly the best performance of Costner's career since Bull Durham. But what haunts me is Joan Allen's performance and character - a woman who assumes her husband abandoned her and her four daughters to take off with his secretary. The film looks like it will be one thing but becomes something completely different halfway through.
5. Crash - another haunting film that I saw on DVD and had mixed feelings about. It still haunts me. One of the few films I've seen that manage to depict a broad range of prejudices and the causes behind them. How those prejudices hurt us. Also how complex and inconsistent people truly are.
Honorable mention: Rent (I adored this movie and will buy it, we all have films we adore that we can't quite explain to people why. ),Bride and Prejudice and Pride and Prejudice (see the bit on Rent. Adored both these films. One fluffy and fun like cotton candy, the other a warm chocolat cake), Batman Begins (flawed, but satsifying in places.)
TV shows:
1. Battlestar Galatica new series or BSG. Still in my opinion the best tv series on. Possibly the best tv series on since well, Farscape. Tightly written. Perfect soundtrack. Fantastic cast. Almost flawless. First season was flawless. Second had it's problems, but still kept pace. Both pushed the envelope and dealt with tricky and relevant issues - which is what science-fiction, good science-fiction, is supposed to do. A thinking person's TV series.
2. Veronica Mars Season 1 ( dark and gritty, with just the right touches of noir. Also one of the first multi-racial teen shows in years. Far more realistic in tone than most teen shows. The second season doesn't quite hold a candle to the first, but it could pick up some speed. The first had just the right blend of quirky mystery and teen noir soap to work. The second is swinging a bit too far in the teen soap direction sans noir, but there is hope it may swing back again shortly.)
3. Lost Season 2 (If you gave up on Lost, you do not know how good this show has become. Granted the first two episodes were a tad on the slow side, but after that, things picked up. Lost may contain the most complex ensemble I've seen on TV in a while. No clear good guys or bad guys here. Everyone has a tainted past. Everyone is slightly quirky. The plots are twisty, but the characters are more so and the story comes from them. Add to that it's mix of philosophy and social psychology and you got an intelligent serial for adults. )
4. Grey's Anatomy ( a soft, fun, fluffy show - with a steller cast and some quirky writing. I watch it for five people: Chandra Wilson's Nazi, Isiah Washington's Burk, Sandra Oh's Christina, George O'Mally, Alex, and
the female doc who booted poor Meredith from Doc McDreamy's bed. Though to be honest, I don't think there is a character in this show that I don't like, a rarity.)
5. Dead Like Me (not sure it counts, if it doesn't - Season 2 of the L Word). Dead Like Me is a quirky coming of age comedy that deals with death and the crap that we deal with before it. But I adored it most for how it realistically it depicts office environments, temp work and that struggle to make ends meet. Hating your job but liking it too at the same time. Plus the hell of dating. One of the few shows in my opinion that gets it right.
Honorable Mention: L Word (which is tied with Dead Like Me for fifth place. On the surface it looks like a soap opera but there's so much more - one of the few series that examines gender and what it's like being a woman in the world. Gay or straight, it hits to the heart of many timely issues.), House Season 2 - the sherlock holmes of the medical field - House proves you can have a disagreeable, snarky, not necessarily nice lead and still do very well. Possibly the most interesting character in any procedural on television. Twists the mystery form on its head. Nip/Tuck - somewhat lacklustre this year partly due to the fact that it went a little overboard in its desire to "shock" it's audience. After a while I began to roll my eyes as much as I cringed at it's heavy-handed metaphors and plot-twists. That said - it still has fascinating characters and the chemistry between the two leads Scean McNamara and Chritian Troy is palpable. A guy buddy series that is dark and gritty and examines the mid-life crisis and our need to be "beautiful" as society defines it.
*I'll spare you my worst lists.
Here's my mini list. Keep in mind, I'm moody about my tastes and change my mind a lot. Also I tend to like stuff that many of my friends don't. So with that caveat in mind - here's my lists:
Books:
These are the ones I remember, may have read more, but at this point in time they've skipped my mind. Most have been reviewed in my journal at any rate.
1. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (not deep, but very enjoyable light read. Great for subways and airplanes and when you are sick or depressed)
2. Bel Canto (can't remember the author, yes I know I could look it up, but I'm tired and lazy) (The fact I can still remember it even though I read the novel over 10 months ago, I suppose says something. Haunting. About an opera singer and a bunch of tourists held hostage by guerilla fighters in Boliva.)
3. Kite Runner by Khalad Husseini (flawed but fascinating book about a boy's coming of age in Afganistan during the 1980s, has some interesting bits about friendship and courage that continue to haunt me)
4. The Samauri's Garden by Gail Tzumari (sp? I did it right in the entry where it's reviewed) (Quiet story about a Chinese boy's coming of age in Japan during the WWII - the best part of the book is it's depiction of a Japanese leprosy colony.)
5. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson (best depiction of the emotional disconnection I felt after 9/11 that I've read, also an apt description/examination of what discussion boards and forums are truly like.)
Honorable mention: George RR Martin's Game of Thrones & Clash of Kings- overly long to the point of possibly being tedious at times, but may have the most complex characters I've seen in a fantasy or any novel. Also unpredictable. If you are a fan of Dorothy Dunnett, Leo Tolstoy and/or Tolkien - you'll love this intricate epic - that comes with a complicated mythology and intricately plotted battles. Although I think Martin's characters may be more unpredictable and complex than Dunnett's and Tolkien's. Not sure about Tolstoy.
Of the two novels - Game of Thrones is better. Haven't read Storm of Swords yet, which I hear is the best.
Movies
1. A History of Violence - still haunts me, even though I saw it in September. An odd film. It seems so obvious on the surface, yet when you peel away the layer, look deeper, it has some disturbing things to say about violence, specifically the role of violence in our mythology, American and elsewhere.
2. The Squid and The Whale - another film that haunts me, but I do not wish to see again. Painful film. Yet apt depiction of narcissim and how people can use their cultural taste as a weapon against one another, hurting themselves more than anyone else in the process. At it's heart? It's a boy's coming of age tale in Brooklyn during the 1980s. But dig deeper and it says some disturbing things about society, specifically the well-educated.
3. Serenity - on the surface a fun space opera/action flick, dig deeper - some interesting views on human aggression, our current administration, and the idea of too much government involvement. Dig deeper still and you may find a few disturbing bits about gender politics. I liked it enough to buy the video. And I'm planning to write an entry about "human aggression", using bits and pieces from it as examples. Flawed in places? Yes.
But perhaps the most innovative science fiction film to come out since Blade Runner. Plus, some nice literary allusions intermingled for those bookworm geeky types. A smart action film - a rarity in this day and age.
4. The Upside of Anger (I saw this on DVD, but it did come out this year, so does count) - interesting movie about anger and how people deal with it. Possibly the best performance of Costner's career since Bull Durham. But what haunts me is Joan Allen's performance and character - a woman who assumes her husband abandoned her and her four daughters to take off with his secretary. The film looks like it will be one thing but becomes something completely different halfway through.
5. Crash - another haunting film that I saw on DVD and had mixed feelings about. It still haunts me. One of the few films I've seen that manage to depict a broad range of prejudices and the causes behind them. How those prejudices hurt us. Also how complex and inconsistent people truly are.
Honorable mention: Rent (I adored this movie and will buy it, we all have films we adore that we can't quite explain to people why. ),Bride and Prejudice and Pride and Prejudice (see the bit on Rent. Adored both these films. One fluffy and fun like cotton candy, the other a warm chocolat cake), Batman Begins (flawed, but satsifying in places.)
TV shows:
1. Battlestar Galatica new series or BSG. Still in my opinion the best tv series on. Possibly the best tv series on since well, Farscape. Tightly written. Perfect soundtrack. Fantastic cast. Almost flawless. First season was flawless. Second had it's problems, but still kept pace. Both pushed the envelope and dealt with tricky and relevant issues - which is what science-fiction, good science-fiction, is supposed to do. A thinking person's TV series.
2. Veronica Mars Season 1 ( dark and gritty, with just the right touches of noir. Also one of the first multi-racial teen shows in years. Far more realistic in tone than most teen shows. The second season doesn't quite hold a candle to the first, but it could pick up some speed. The first had just the right blend of quirky mystery and teen noir soap to work. The second is swinging a bit too far in the teen soap direction sans noir, but there is hope it may swing back again shortly.)
3. Lost Season 2 (If you gave up on Lost, you do not know how good this show has become. Granted the first two episodes were a tad on the slow side, but after that, things picked up. Lost may contain the most complex ensemble I've seen on TV in a while. No clear good guys or bad guys here. Everyone has a tainted past. Everyone is slightly quirky. The plots are twisty, but the characters are more so and the story comes from them. Add to that it's mix of philosophy and social psychology and you got an intelligent serial for adults. )
4. Grey's Anatomy ( a soft, fun, fluffy show - with a steller cast and some quirky writing. I watch it for five people: Chandra Wilson's Nazi, Isiah Washington's Burk, Sandra Oh's Christina, George O'Mally, Alex, and
the female doc who booted poor Meredith from Doc McDreamy's bed. Though to be honest, I don't think there is a character in this show that I don't like, a rarity.)
5. Dead Like Me (not sure it counts, if it doesn't - Season 2 of the L Word). Dead Like Me is a quirky coming of age comedy that deals with death and the crap that we deal with before it. But I adored it most for how it realistically it depicts office environments, temp work and that struggle to make ends meet. Hating your job but liking it too at the same time. Plus the hell of dating. One of the few shows in my opinion that gets it right.
Honorable Mention: L Word (which is tied with Dead Like Me for fifth place. On the surface it looks like a soap opera but there's so much more - one of the few series that examines gender and what it's like being a woman in the world. Gay or straight, it hits to the heart of many timely issues.), House Season 2 - the sherlock holmes of the medical field - House proves you can have a disagreeable, snarky, not necessarily nice lead and still do very well. Possibly the most interesting character in any procedural on television. Twists the mystery form on its head. Nip/Tuck - somewhat lacklustre this year partly due to the fact that it went a little overboard in its desire to "shock" it's audience. After a while I began to roll my eyes as much as I cringed at it's heavy-handed metaphors and plot-twists. That said - it still has fascinating characters and the chemistry between the two leads Scean McNamara and Chritian Troy is palpable. A guy buddy series that is dark and gritty and examines the mid-life crisis and our need to be "beautiful" as society defines it.
*I'll spare you my worst lists.
