Happy New Year! I hope the start of 2008 finds you well. All in all, it was a pretty good year for film/music/books and live entertainment. It was especially difficult keeping the DVD list to five, now that so many great TV/cable shows are released in the format. While not all of the selections below came out last year, that is when I caught up with them (I live in Sonoma, give me a break). So, I humbly submit my 2007 Top 5’s:
TOP 5 MOVIES
Children Of Men (an incredible achievement in dystopian filmmaking)
Once (captures the thrill of musical collaboration)
The Lives Of Others (humanity conquers oppression)
3:10 To Yuma (the western will NEVER die)
Juno (she is invincible)
TOP 5 DVD'S
Flight Of The Conchords Season 1 (100% irony-free musical/comedic genius)
Lady Vengeance (what revenge really looks like)
Deadwood Season 1 (*#!%ing incredible)
Hard Candy (Juno as an American lady vengeance)
The Descent (all-time top horror film)
TOP 5 LP'S/CD'S
The Hold Steady- Boys & Girls In America (Kerouac with guitars blazing)
Ace Of Hearts Records- 12 Classic 45’s (Boston rock & roll soundtrack of my teenage years)
Sloan- Never Hear The End Of It (keeping the northern pop fires burning)
The Weakerthans- Reunion Tour (more proud Canucks, even a song about curling!)
Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond (biggest surprise of the year)
TOP 5 BOOKS
The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (alternative universe Philip Marlowstein)
Boomsday- Christopher Buckley (no one under 45 is laughing)
The Shadow Of The Wind- Carlos Ruiz Zafon (extreme bibliophilia)
No Country For Old Men- Cormac McCarthy (when did it all go wrong? 1980.)
Night Train- Martin Amis (existential noir)
TOP 5 LIVE PERFORMANCES
Sloan 4/30/07 The Independent, San Francisco (anti-shoegazers)
Cheap Trick 6/22/07 Sonoma-Marin Fair, Petaluma (Daddy’s all right)
The Weakerthans 10/03/07 Slim’s San Francisco (rock, pop and songs about a cat)
The Hold Steady 11/06/07 Mezzanine, San Francisco (keeping the rock & roll dream alive)
Elvis Costello & Clover 11/08/07 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (an historic event)
Agree? Disagree? Let me know. Also, please respond with Top 5’s of your own. My quest for new viewing/listening/reading material is never-ending. Here’s to a great year in 2008!
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