I Am The Rain King

Final 2010 Movie List

2011-01-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

Along the lines of my reading list which I posted yesterday, here are the films I saw in 2010. This is primarily based on Netflix ratings so I may be missing some stuff I saw in the theater...

Withnail and I
Gram Parsons: Fallen Angel
Jennifer's Body
District 9*
Extract
The Hurt Locker*
Taking Woodstock
Volver
Whatever Works
Zombieland*
New York, I Love You
Dear Zachary*
Girl on a Motorcycle
Mitch Hedberg: Mitch All Together
(500)Days of Summer
Moon*
Down By Law*
The Squid and The Whale*
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Good Hair
Paranormal Activity
Where The Wild Things Are
Broken Embraces
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Grizzly Man*
Black Dynamite
Fantastic Mr. Fox*
Crazy Heart
The Informant
Gentleman Broncos
The Guatemalen Handshake
Shutter Island*
My Effortless Brilliance
Public Enemies
A Serious Man
The Road
Greenberg*
Hot Tub Time Machine
Capitalism: A Love Story
In The Loop
The Room*
Youth In Revolt
The Vice Guide To Travel
Happy Go-Lucky*
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done
The White Ribbon*
Big Fan
Beyond The Valley of Dolls
Apocalypse Now Redux*
Get Him To The Greek
Burden of Dreams*
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Winter's Bone*
Red Cliff
City of God*
Exit Through The Gift Shop*
Stranger Than Paradise*
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg
Coffy
Knife in the Water
Hannah Takes The Stairs
My Winnipeg
The Girlfriend Experience
Following
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Stroszek
Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior
In Cold Blood
The Book of Eli
Alice in Wonderland
Inception*

* - Highly recommended

2009 movie list
2008 movie list
2007 movie list

Final 2010 Reading List

2011-01-21T22:26:00.000-08:00

Alas my blog has basically died, but in the interest of keeping my list of what I've read for future reference I thought I'd post it here. Maybe one of the days I'll even get back to some regular posts, but no promises.

I didn't quite hit my 50 book goal this year, but Infinite Jest should really count for about 10 :-)

Like a Velvet Glove Cast In Iron - Daniel Clowes
Ransom - Jay McInerney
Nog - Rudolph Wurlitzer
Let The Great World Spin* - Colum McCann
Welcome to The Terrordome - Dave Zirin
Eating Animals* - Jonathan Safran Foer
Juliet, Naked* - Nick Hornby
Asterios Polyp - David Mazzucchelli
Point Omega - Don DeLillo
Electric Literature #2 - Various
Boomerang - Barry Hannah
Baseball's Greatest Series - Chris Donnelly
Infinite Jest* - David Foster Wallace
How It Ended - Jay McInerney
More of This World or Maybe Another* - Barb Johnson
Alternadad - Neal Pollack
The Unnamed* - Joshua Ferris
Tin House: Spring 2010 - Various
Electric Literature #1 - Various
New Stories From The South 2009 - Various
Sonny Liston Was a Friend of Mine* - Thom Jones
The Bullpen Gospels - Dirk Hayhurst
Imperial Bedrooms - Bret Easton Ellis
You Are Not a Gadget - Jaron Lanier
The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande
Footnotes in Gaza - Joe Sacco
The Lonely Polygamist* - Brady Udall
True Grit* - Charles Portis
Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart
Brief Interview With Hideous Men* - David Foster Wallace
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
The Ask - Sam Lipsyte
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 2 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
The Sirens of Titan - Kurt Vonnegut
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 3 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
Nemesis - Philip Roth
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 4 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives* - Brad Watson
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 6 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
The Dog of the South - Charles Portis

* = highly recommended

My 2009 reading list
My 2008 reading list
My 2007 reading list
My 2006 reading list
My 2005 reading list

Top 10 Albums of 2009

2010-01-02T12:35:00.000-08:00

Better late than never, here's my Top 10 list for 2009. Lots of competition this year with many albums I loved not making the cut.

Top 10 Albums of 2009

10.
MF Doom
Born Like This

9.
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

Telekinesis!
Telekinesis!

David Bazan
Curse Your Branches

William Elliott Whitmore
Animals In The Dark

Say Hi
Oohs and Aahs

4.
The Avett Brothers
I and Love and You

3.
Dan Auerbach
Keep It Hid

2.
Ben Gibbard & Jay Farrar
One Fast Move Or I'm Gone

1.
Neko Case
Middle Cyclone

Just Missed
Scott H. Biram - Something's Wrong/Lost Forever, Cave Singers - Welcome Joy, Wilco - Wilco (The Album), Ben Kweller - Changing Horses, Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of a Friend, Levon Helm - Electric Dirt, Heartless Bastards - The Mountain, Phosphorescent - To Willie, A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose, Holopaw - Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness., The Thermals - Now We Can See, The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love, Son Volt - American Central Dust

Best Live Album
Tom Petty Live Anthology

Best Reissue
The Beatles albums

Best Box Set
Neil Young Archives

Best Reissue
The Beatles albums

Best Live Shows I Saw This Year
Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings @ No Depression Fest

Neko Case @ The Paramount
Pixies @ The Paramount
Frank Black @ The Triple Door
Cave Singers @ Bumbershoot Hidden Stage
Son Volt @ Woodland Park Zoo

Previously
2008 Year End List
2007 Year End List
2006 Year End List
2005 Year End List
2004 Year End List

Final 2009 Reading List

2009-12-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

This year's reading list clocked in at an even 50, just barely extending my 50-book challenge streak to 5 years running!

The Mammoth Book of Crime Comics - Various
El Borbah - Charles Burns
Cold Snap* - Thom Jones
Pimp - Iceberg Slim
The Best American Non-Required Reading 2008 - Various
And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks - Kerouac & Burroughs
Oblivion* - David Foster Wallace
McSweeney's #30 - Various
The Outlaw Bible of American Essays - Various
The Best American Comics 2008 - Various
The Soul of Baseball: A Journal Through Buck O'Neil's America* - Joe Posnanski
Welcome to the Monkeyhouse* - Kurt Vonnegut
Songbook - Nick Hornby
3 Nights In August - Buzz Bissinger
Hot, Flat, and Crowded - Thomas Friedman
Cosmopolis* - Don DeLillo
Celebration* - Harry Crews
High Lonesome* - Barry Hannah
Money - Martin Amis
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Wells Tower
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
Amplified - Various
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again* - David Foster Wallace
A Jello Horse - Matthew Simmons
Requiem For A Paper Bag - Various
Odd Man Out - Matt McCarthy
Shadow Country* - Peter Matthiessen
New Stories From The South 2008* - Various
American Flagg v. 1 - Howard Chaykin
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend* - Larry Tye
Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 - Jaime Hernandez
Misconception - Ryan Boudinot
Zeitoun* - Dave Eggers
The Interrogative Mood: A Novel?* - Padgett Powell
Inherent Vice - Thomas Pynchon
Americana - Don DeLillo
Crash - J.G. Ballard
The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment - A.J. Jacobs
The Best American Non-Required Reading 2009 - Various
The Humbling* - Philip Roth
Dangerous Laughter* - Steven Millhauser
Filthy Rich - Brian Azzarello
Thirteen Stories - Eudora Welty
Nobody Move - Denis Johnson
Eating The Dinosaur - Chuck Klosterman
The Best American Comics 2009 - Various
Checkpoint - Nicholson Baker
What's Not To Love - Jonathan Ames
Wise Blood* - Flannery O'Connor
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest* - Ken Kesey

* = Highly recommended

Previously:
My 2008 reading list
My 2007 reading list
My 2006 reading list
My 2005 reading list

Final 2009 Movie List

2009-12-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

With work getting busier and the emergence of Facebook as my primary means of communication, I haven't been posting here lately. Don't know if that'll change in the new year, but at least over the next few days I hope to post my normal year-end wrap ups on music, books and movies. With no further adieu here are the 87 movies I've seen this year (blowing away my old 2007 record):

Best new movie I saw: Away We Go or Inglourious Basterds (relatively weak year)
Best 2008 movie I saw this year: The Wrester (honorable mention to Ballast and Wendy & Lucy)
Best old movie I'd never seen: Coal Miner's Daughter
Best TV Series on DVD: Twin Peaks

The Lives of Others*
Factory Girl
Brazil*
Pineapple Express
Notorious
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Bright Lights, Big City
Vicky Cristina Barcelona*
The Wrestler*
Zack & Miri Make a Porno
Forgetting Sarah Marshall*
Man on Wire*
Choke
The Notorious Bettie Page
Slam
Shotgun Stories*
Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan
The Watchmen*
The Visitor*
I Love You Man
Synecdoche, New York*
Rachel Getting Married
Religulous
Milk
Snow Angels
The Gits
Factotum
Old Joy*
Doubt*
Observe & Report
The Hawk Is Dying
Foot Fist Way*
Interview
Frost/Nixon
Reign Over Me
All The Real Girls
The Spirit
Tropic Thunder
Wendy & Lucy*
Vanishing Point
Eastern Promises
American Teen
Tell No One
A Woman Is A Woman
The Yes Men Fix The World
Summer Breakdown
Gotta Dance
Zombie
Facing Ali
Know Your Mushrooms
Teeth
Art & Copy
The Hangover
Wild At Heart*
Year One
Everything Is Illuminated
Let The Right One In*
The Comedians of Comedy
Bruno
The Spanish Prisoner
Julie & Julia
Inglourious Basterds*
Gore Gore Girls
Fire Walk With Me
Junebug*
Amores Perros*
Tyson*
Visioneers
Away We Go*
Donkey Punch
Adventureland
Coal Miner's Daughter*
Breathless
Undertow*
Anvil: The Story of Anvil
Senator Obama Goes to Africa
The Beatles: Help!
Precious
Humpday*
Paper Heart*
Sugar*
One Fast Move Or I'm Gone*
Bourne Identity
Cthulhu
Man In The Sand
Ballast*
Repulsion*

Previously:
2008 movie list
2007 movie list

* - Highly recommended

Observe & Report

2009-04-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Film #30 for me in '09 was Observe and Report.

My NetFlix rating: 2.5 stars
Jamie says: Amusing at times, but pretty much the same ol' film with a less likeable main character.
RIYL: Any of the slew of Seth Rogan films from the last couple years

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Doubt

2009-04-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

Film #29 for me in '09 was Doubt.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: Another jewel in the crown of great movies I've seen so far this year. Loved it. How can it only have a 78 on Rotten Tomatoes? For shame.
RIYL: Great acting + a stirring script

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Old Joy

2009-04-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

Film #28 for me in '09 was Old Joy.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: Fantabolous subtle goodness.
RIYL: Bonnie Prince Billy, Oregon, Raymond Carver

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Factotum

2009-04-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

If you think I'm behind on my movie blogging, what 'til you see my book blogging. Sigh.

Film #27 for me in '09 was Factotum.

My NetFlix rating: 2.5 stars
Jamie says: Who knew you could make Bukowski boring?
RIYL: Lili Taylor, Matt Dillon

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Gits

2009-04-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Film #26 for me in '09 was The Gits.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: So-so documentary about an icon of the Seattle music scene.
RIYL: Hype

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Snow Angels

2009-04-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

Film #25 for me in '09 was Snow Angels.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Another stunning tragedy from David Gordon Green.
RIYL: Shotgun Stories, George Washington

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Milk

2009-04-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

Film #24 for me in '09 was Milk.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Still not convinced that Sean Penn should've beat out Mickey Rourke for the Oscar, but I'm at least more zen with it now.
RIYL: Malcolm X, Into the Wild

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Religulous

2009-04-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

Film #23 for me in '09 was Religulous.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: At times hilarious, at times annoyingly self righteous. Basically exactly what you'd expect from a Bill Maher film.
RIYL: Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchins

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Rachel Getting Married

2009-04-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Film #22 for me in '09 was Rachel Getting Married.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Dear Anne Hathaway, I am sorry I wrote you off based on The Princess Diaries. I now see the error of my ways.
RIYL: Girl Interrupted, Robyn Hitchcock, Neil Young

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Synecdoche, New York

2009-04-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Film #21 for me in '09 was Synecdoche, New York.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Always good when your biggest complaint about a film is that it's too ambitious
RIYL: The Truman Show, Being John Malkovich

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Films #1-20

2009-04-07T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick recap of the 20 films I've seen so far this year.

* - Highly recommended

I Love You Man

2009-04-07T22:25:00.000-07:00

Film #20 for me in '09 was I Love You Man.

My NetFlix rating: 3.75 stars
Jamie says: Paul Rudd & Jason Segal are some funny dudes.
RIYL: Role Models. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Visitor

2009-04-01T00:19:00.000-07:00

Film #19 for me in '09 was The Visitor.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: This is going to be a strong contender for best film I see this year.
RIYL: Indie films, Richard Jenkins, Babel

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Watchmen

2009-03-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

Film #18 for me in '09 was Watchmen.

My NetFlix rating: 3.75 stars
Jamie says: I waited far too long and was far too excited that this was coming out to be a fair judge. I do think that the movie did a reasonable job of adapting the book, but the book is still way better :-)
RIYL: Comics, The Dark Knight

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan

2009-03-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Film #17 for me in '09 was Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan.

My NetFlix rating: 3.75 stars
Jamie says: Like watching your Grandparents old home videos...if your Grandparents were June and Johnny Cash.
RIYL: Real country, Cowboy Jack Clement, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Dolly Parton...

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Oblivion

2009-03-04T23:51:00.000-08:00

Book #7 on my reading list this year was the short-story collection Oblivion by David Foster Wallace.

Very good throughout and sometimes spectacular. "The Soul Is Not a Smithy", "Oblivion", "Incarnations of Burned Children" and "Good Old Neon" stood out to me as the best of the bunch. The first story is both long and my least favorite, so if you're stymied by that one keep chugging.

Why I Read This One?
After thoroughly enjoying Consider The Lobster, I've resolved to work my way through all of DFW's catalog.

And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks

2009-03-04T23:38:00.000-08:00

Book #6 on my reading list this year was And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks, the so-called 'lost novel' from Jack Kerouac & William S. Burroughs.

The back-story on this one is unfortunately more interesting than the book itself. Kerouac and Burroughs alternate chapters, taking a thinly fictionalized spin on Lucien Carr's stabbing of David Kammerer. A very early work for both authors, the writing is definitely not matured to the styles they would later become known for. I actually found Burroughs chapters to be pretty painful reading, not that Kerouac's were much better. This one is really only for hard-core Beat fans. Gotta dig that title though.

Why I Read This One?
Do you really need to ask?

Excerpt

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2008

2009-03-04T23:36:00.000-08:00

Book #5 on my reading list was The Best American Non-Required Reading 2008.

Last year's BANRR was a big hit for me, so I came into this year with pretty high expectations. Unfortunately I didn't find this one nearly as compelling as last year. There are still some winners sprinkled throughout, but the overall quality just isn't what I was hoping for. I guess all those non-required authors had a down year last year. The big winner for me by far was George Saunders' excellent, excellent, excellent "Bill Clinton, Public Citizen". Laura van den Berg's "Where We Must Be" also stood out.

Why I Read This One
I'm a big fan of the series so picking this one up was a no-brainer.

George Saunders interviews Bill Clinton

Pimp

2009-03-04T23:16:00.000-08:00

I have fallen woefully behind on my book blogging again. Will attempt to remedy that with some quickfire reviews of what I've been reading.

Book #4 on my reading list this year was Iceberg Slim's Pimp: The Story of My Life. This is not surprisingly the "true" story of Iceberg's life as a pimp. Interesting factoid: did you know that Iceberg Slim has sold more books than any other African-American author except Alex Haley? Look it up.

Why I Read This One
Clearly because I'm big pimpin' spendin' G's. Actually picked this one up because it's often referenced as one of the classics of underground-lit.

Iceberg on Wikipedia

Shotgun Stories

2009-03-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

Film #16 for me in '09 was Shotgun Stories.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Shakespearean tragedy meets Faulkner
RIYL: Southern Gothic, Deliverance, George Washington, Lucero

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Slam

2009-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Film #15 for me in '09 was Slam.

My NetFlix rating: 3.75 stars
Jamie says: Saul Williams could just read his poems for the whole film and it'd still be awesome, but we get Saul and Sonja Sohn too?!
RIYL: Amethyst Rock Star

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Notorious Bettie Page

2009-03-01T23:52:00.001-08:00

Film #14 for me in '09 was The Notorious Bettie Page.

My NetFlix rating: 1.5 stars
Jamie says: Gouge your eyes out boring. The casting & acting save it from being a total wreck.
RIYL: The Notorious P-A-Ge.

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Choke

2009-03-01T23:43:00.000-08:00

Film #13 for me in '09 was Choke.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Really had a hard time not comparing this one to the book. Read it instead.
RIYL: Fight Club

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Man on Wire

2009-03-01T23:34:00.000-08:00

Film #12 for me in '09 was Man on Wire.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Excellent (now Academy Award winning) documentary of an amazing story
RIYL: Heist films, magic

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Cold Snap

2009-02-16T23:30:00.000-08:00

Book #3 on my reading list this year was Thom Jones' short story collection Cold Snap.

Why I Read This One
Picked this one up because The Pugilist at Rest was one of the best books I read in 2007. Don't remember off hand when I first heard of Jones but he's one of the great NW writers so if you keep your ear out up here his name comes up a lot. If you like Harry Crews, Raymond Carver, Barry Hannah, or Larry Brown you'll dig Thom Jones.

Time Magazine review

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

2009-02-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

Film #11 for me in '09 was Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Was worried this would be a bad chick flick but turns out to be one of Apatow's best
RIYL: Superbad, Knocked Up

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Zack & Miri Make a Porno

2009-02-09T23:02:00.000-08:00

Film #10 for me in '09 was Zack & Miri Make a Porno.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: We've seen this same movie about 10 times in the last couple years. Meh.
RIYL: 40-Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Pineapple Express, Clerks II, Etc.

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Wrestler

2009-02-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

Film #9 for me in '09 was The Wrestler.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: Early front runner for film of the year
RIYL: Macho Man Randy Savage, damn fine acting

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews (98!)
Wikipedia

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

2009-02-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

Film #8 for me in '09 was Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Best Woody Allen film of the decade
RIYL: Match Point, ScarJo, beautiful footage of Spain

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Bright Lights, Big City (pt. 2)

2009-02-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

Film #7 for me in '09 was Bright Lights, Big City.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Pretty staight adaptation of the book.
RIYL: Re-living the 80's

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas

2009-02-05T00:37:00.000-08:00

Film #6 for me in '09 was Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: A classic case of skip the movie and read the book
RIYL: Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Gonzo, Naked Lunch

Fan Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Notorious

2009-01-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

Film #5 for me in '09 was Notorious.

My NetFlix rating: 1 star
Jamie says: Gouge your eyes out bad.
RIYL: Giving Puff Daddy more money

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Pineapple Express

2009-01-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Film #4 for me in '09 was Pineapple Express.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Disappointing. Moments of hilarity but it's no Superbad
RIYL: Judd Apatow

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Brazil

2009-01-22T22:23:00.000-08:00

Film #3 for me in '09 was Brazil.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: How does a film from 1985 still feel futuristic?

RIYL: 1984, A Clockwork Orange, V For Vendetta

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

El Borbah

2009-01-15T23:51:00.000-08:00

Book #2 on my reading list this year was Charles Burns' El Borbah.

El Borbah is a cross between a luchador and a private eye. Honestly does it get any better than that?

Why Did I Read This One?
Did I already mention that El Borbah is a cross between a luchador and a private eye? Aside from that I picked this one up because it's Charles Burns whose Black Hole is a classic.

Go 2009

2009-01-15T23:32:00.001-08:00

We're only 15 days into the new year and I've already got two nominees for best new discovery of the year: Zune Pass and the newly launched MLB Network. Seriously, baseball 24/7 and all-you-can-eat music for $15 a month (you even get to keep 10 tracks...that was the kicker that finally won me over). Sign me up!

Factory Girl

2009-01-11T23:03:00.000-08:00

Film #2 for me in '09 was Factory Girl.

My NetFlix rating: 2 stars
Jamie says: Yawn. How do you make Andy Warhol boring? And seriously, Jimmy Fallon?
RIYL: I Shot Andy Warhol, Basquiet

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia
How Factory Girl Insults Andy Warhol

The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics

2009-01-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Kicking off year five of my attempts at the 50 book challenge was The Mammoth Book of Crime Comics.

This one gets a hearty meh from me. Pros: lots of historical comics, good way to sample a wide variety of artists' works. Cons: some real clunkers mixed in, no color.

Why I Read This
Picked this one up primarily because I wanted to read some of Will Eisner's 'The Spirit' and this was all the library had. Also was intrigued by the inclusion of Charles Burns, Alan Moore, and Neil Gaiman.

Official site

Go Gators

2009-01-11T21:55:00.000-08:00

National Champs and Tebow's coming back? It sure is great to be a Florida Gator!

The Lives of Others

2009-01-07T23:24:00.000-08:00

I kicked off my 2008 film watching with a good one, The Lives of Others.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Would've rated even higher with a modified ending
RIYL: The Conversation

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Top 10 Albums of 2008

2008-12-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

With less than 7 hours to spare here are my top albums of the year. Overall a somewhat disappointing music year, but still plenty o'favorites. My top 2 techinically released late last year though I wasn't able to get either delivered until this year hence 2008...deal with it :-)

Top 10 Albums of 2008

10.
The Black Angels
Directions To See A Ghost

9.
Lucinda Williams
Little Honey

Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes

Moondoggies
Don't Be A Stranger

Okkervil River
The Stand Ins

Gary Louris
Vagabonds/Acoustic Vagabonds

4.
Damien Jurado
Caught In The Trees

3.
Black Mountain
In The Future

2.
A.A. Bondy
American Hearts

1.
Travis Tooke
Artichoke

Just Missed
Avett Brothers - The Gleam II, Black Keys - Attack & Release, Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago, Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Grand Archives - Grand Archives, Raveonettes - Lust, Lust, Lust, Retribution Gospel Choir - Retribution Gospel Choir, Ryan Adams - Cardinology, Sun Kil Moon - April, Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams

Best Live Album
The Thermals - Live At The Echoplex 12/07/07

Best Soundtrack
Juno

Best Reissue
Whiskeytown - Stranger's Almanac, All of the Replacements albums

Best Live Shows I Saw This Year
Damien Jurado @ Triple Door
Cave Singer @ The Moore
John Vanderslice @ Bumbershoot
Old 97's @ Bumbershoot
Lucinda Williams @ Bumbershoot
Colin Meloy @ The Showbox

Most Disappointing Albums of the Year
Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Ryan Adams - Cardinology

2008 Mixtape
1. Counting Crows - "Hanging Tree"

2. British Sea Power - "Waving Flags"

3. Black Angels - "You on the Run"

4. Raveonettes - "Aly, Walk With Me"

5. The Muslims - "Bright Side"

6. Moondoggies - "Changing"

7. Black Mountain - "Evil Ways"

8. Ryan Adams - "Magick"

9. My Morning Jacket - "I'm Amazed"

10. Magnetic Fields - "California Girls"

11. Damien Jurado - "Coats of Ice"

12. Grand Archives - "Torn Foam Blue Couch"

13. Throw Me The Statue - "About to Walk"

14. Avett Brothers - "Murdered in the City"

15. Gary Louris - "True Blue"

16. A.A. Bondy - "There's a Reason"

17. Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"

18. Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal"

19. Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - "Rattlin' Bones"

20. Roadside Graves - "Far and Wide"

21. Travis Tooke - "Would You Burn?"

Previously
2007 Year End List
2006 Year End List
2005 Year End List
2004 Year End List

Final 2008 Movie List

2008-12-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

Here's the full list of movies I saw for the first time this year. Not quite as many as last year mostly thanks to my new obsession with catching up on TV series on DVD.

Best new movie I saw: Burn After Reading
Best old movie I'd never seen: Blue Velvet
Best TV Series on DVD: The Wire

* - Highly recommended

Previously: 2007 movie list

Final 2008 Reading List

2008-12-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I humbly present my final 2008 reading list:

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007* - Various
This Is Your Brain on Music - Daniel Levitin
Hellfire* - Nick Tosches
The Nimrod Flipout - Etgar Keret
Shortcomings* - Adrian Tomine
McSweeney's #25 - Various
Kafka - R. Crumb & David Mairowitz
The Worst Hard Time* - Timothy Egan
The Fermata - Nicholson Baker
The Call of the Weird - Louis Theroux
Y: The Last Man, Volume 1: Unmanned - Vaughan and Guerra
An American Dream - Norman Mailer
My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead - Various
Y: The Last Man, Volume 2: Cycles - Vaughan and Guerra
Rock On - Dan Kennedy
The Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step - Vaughan and Guerra
Knockemstiff* - Donald Ray Pollock
A Voyage Long and Strange* - Tony Horwitz
All the Pretty Horses* - Cormac McCarthy
McSweeney's #24 - Various
Candy Girl - Diablo Cody
Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various
Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk
Y: The Last Man, Volume 4: Safeword - Vaughan and Guerra
Maps and Legends - Michael Chabon
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman
Bastard Out of Carolina* - Dorothy Allison
Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth - Vaughan and Guerra
The Sandman: Doll's House - Neil Gaiman
The Mulching of America - Harry Crews
Y: The Last Man, Volume 6: Girl on Girl - Vaughan and Guerra
Bad Behavior* - Mary Gaitskill
End Zone - Don DeLillo
A People's History of American Empire - Howard Zinn
Y: The Last Man, Volume 7: Paper Dolls - Vaughan and Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Volume 8: Kimono Dragons - Vaughan and Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Volume 9: Motherland - Vaughan and Guerra
The Moviegoer* - Walker Percy
Indignation* - Philip Roth
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction* - Ivan Brunetti (ed.)
The Best of Roald Dahl - Roald Dahl
The Moon is Down - John Steinbeck
Consider the Lobster* - David Foster Wallace
The Lottery* - Shirley Jackson
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores - Vaughan and Guerra
Bright Lights, Big City* - Jay McInerney
Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Joan Didion
Speaking With the Angel - Nick Hornby (ed.)
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction Vol. 2* - Ivan Brunetti (ed.)
The Point - Charles D'Ambrosio

* = Highly recommended

Previously: My 2007 reading list, My 2006 reading list, My 2005 reading list

The Point

2008-12-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Book #53, also clocking in as the final book on my reading list this year, was The Point by Charles D'Ambrosio.

D'Ambrosio is one hell of a writer and this is the only one of his books I hadn't read yet, so it was a pretty easy selection. The stories don't disappoint, especially the first few. I'd recommend one of his other books as a starting point, but when you can't get enough this one will be there for you.

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction Vol. 2

2008-12-30T01:24:00.000-08:00

Book #52 on my reading list was An Anthology of Graphic Fiction Vol. 2 a comic collection edited by Ivan Brunetti.

I finished Vol. 1 of this series in October just in time to pick up this one. Vol. 2 builds on the momentum from the first book, bringing together some of the finest works from all kinds of comic genres spanning the 1900's. If you were going to teach a Comics 101 class these two books would make a great start for required reading.

Speaking With The Angel

2008-12-30T00:43:00.000-08:00

Book #51 of my reading list was Speaking With The Angel, a short story collection edited by Nick Hornby.

My standard review for short story anthologies is that they're usually a mixed bag: a couple of gems, a bunch of so-so stuff and a few stinkers. This is one of the rare collections though that's pretty darned solid throughout. I had a few faves, Hornby's "NippleJesus", Dave Eggers' "After I Was Thrown in the River and Before I Drowned" and Roddy Doyle's "The Slave", but even Colin Firth's piece is surprisingly good (who knew he was a writer?).

Why I Read this One
Main thing that drew my attention on this one was the quality of writers included (including Eggers who is a fave and an early work from Zadie Smith). Hornby also is a voracious reader and his "Stuff I've Been Reading" column in The Believer is always intriguing so that also increased my faith that he'd put together a great collection.

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

2008-12-30T00:40:00.000-08:00

Book #50 (woot!) on my reading list this year was Joan Didion's Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Lazy I know, but it's tough to beat this synopsis from Powell's both for explaining what the book is about and why I read it:

"Universally acclaimed when it was first published in 1968, Slouching Towards Bethlehem has become a modern classic. More than any other book of its time, this collection captures the mood of 1960s America, especially the center of its counterculture, California. These essays, keynoted by an extraordinary report on San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury, all reflect that, in one way or another, things are falling apart, "the center cannot hold." An incisive look at contemporary American life, Slouching Towards Bethlehem has been admired for several decades as a stylistic masterpiece."

This is the first Didion book I've read. I wasn't sure quite where to start but since I've read a lot about 60's San Fran (Kesey, Merry Pranksters, Hell's Angels, etc) this seemed as good a place as any. Some of the essays feel a bit dated now but overall it was an interesting read, especially the titular piece.

Bright Lights, Big City

2008-12-19T00:55:00.000-08:00

Book #49 on my reading list this year was Jay McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City.

If you had to pick just one book from the 80's to stick in a time capsule it'd probably be this one. Yuppies? Check. Cocaine? Check. Michael J. Fox? Check. It's also smart, dynamic (2nd person!) and a great read.

Why I Read This One
It's a book that pops up frequently in discussions of the best novels of the past 25 years. I'd avoided it a long time due to the movie, which is odd since I've never even seen the film and shouldn't harbor any ill will towards it. The thing that finally pushed me over the precipice was McInerney's associations with Raymond Carver who he studied under and who blurbed BLBC as a 'rambunctious, deadly funny novel that goes right for the mark - the human heart'. Anyone who's alright with Carver is alright with me. Didn't hurt that the two other blurbs on my copy were Richard Ford and a comparison to Catcher in the Rye.

Wikipedia
Salon interview
Fan page
EW's 100 New Classics

Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores

2008-12-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

Book #48 on my list this year was Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores, which is unfortunately the last of what was a quite entertaining The Last Man series. Wikipedia has a good overview here and a there's a nice long piece on IGN here (both are full of spoilers).

Why I Read This Series
I think my interest in this series originated from a review I read in Entertainment Weekly. That lead me to looking up more online where I was impressed by the rabid fans and the consistently glowing reviews from other sources I respect (Jonathan Lethem, NPR, Time, Salon, etc). Once I read Vol. 1 I was hooked.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8
Volume 9

The Lottery

2008-12-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

Book #47 on my reading list was the short story collection The Lottery: Adventures of the Daemon Lover by Shirley Jackson.

You may be familiar with "The Lottery" from high school English. It's often taught during short story writing 101 and has become one of the classics of the genre. Why? Because it's awesome. Jackson's stories fall somewhere between Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King and the Salem Witch Trials. They're creepy, goth-ariffic and distinctly Shirley Jackson.

Why I Read This One
I picked this one up at a booksale after reading We Have Always Lived In the Castle last year. I'm always looking for good short story collections and the combo of having enjoyed WHALItC, my memory of reading "The Lottery", and her rep as a short story auteur made this one a no brainer.

And for good measure the tuneage that was stuck in my head as I wrote this (a classic in it's own right):

Consider The Lobster

2008-12-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

Book #46 was David Foster Wallace's excellent essay collection Consider The Lobster.

I really, really enjoyed this one. Top to bottom the essays are smart, insightful, funny and thought provoking.

How I picked this one
I'd heard the buzz around Wallace for years, occassionally catching one of his always wonderful smaller pieces in magazines such as Rolling Stone but sadly never getting around to picking up one of his books. I wish I could say I was a long time fan, but the truth is that when he tragically passed away in September his name popped up again and I finally got around to bumping this one to the top of my stack. Turns out I've been missing out for a long time and DFW was every bit the writer people said he was. I'll definitely be picking up more of his works soon (maybe Infinite Jest?) though it's depressing to know there won't be any new ones.

Further Reading
"Consider the Lobster" essay <-- highly recommended
Excellent tribute from Rolling Stone

The Moon Is Down

2008-12-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, first off I am pathetically, woefully, embarrassingly behind on my book blogging. It's sad I know. I will try to catch up rapidly over the next few days so expect the posts to be short, sweet and not particularly insightful. Then again if you're here for insightful you're probably in the wrong place...

Book #45 on my reading list was John Steinbeck's The Moon is Down.

Quick, name five John Steinbeck books. Did you name The Moon is Down? I didn't think so. Know why? Because it's not one of his best. It's still Steinbeck though and The Moon is Down definitely has its stellar moments especially early on. I wouldn't start here if you haven't read Steinbeck before but if you're a fan it's a nice treat.

A co-worker recently asked my how I select the books I read. I muddled my way through an answer but the more I thought about the question the more I realized it's difficult to explain. I find I'm never at a loss for reading material and that one book just leads to another and another eventually piling up faster than I can read them but how that happens I suppose is a bit of magic. Anyways, I realized that how I select my books might be an interesting topic to speak to here (what with this being a personal blog and all) especially since most books already have a gazillion well researched reviews and synopsi (is that a word? if not it should be) you can find on the internets elsewhere.

Wanna hear it? Here it goes. This particular selection hit my radar for two reasons. Firstmost is that I really like Steinbeck, in fact I might even put him in my top 10 or so (ever-evolving) favorite authors. I've read a lot of his more popular stuff so I thought this might be a chance to get off the beaten path so to speak. The second reason this one piqued my interest is that it was referenced in Norway's Resistance Museum which we visited a couple of years ago. The story is set in what seems to be a Nazi occupied Norway (though that's never explictly made clear in the novella) and centers around the people's resistance to the occupying army. The book caused a bit of an sensation during the war, even inspiring it's own military operation. It also won Steinbeck Norway's Haakon VII Medal of freedom.

"The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who
win the battles and the free men who win wars."

Did I say this was gonna be a short post? Sigh.

Gonzo

2008-12-15T23:41:00.000-08:00

Film #58 for me this year was Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Fascinating look into a fascinating life. Putting "Fear and Loathing in America" at the start was especially brilliant.
RIYL: Fear and Loathing, Bukowski

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

George Washington

2008-12-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

Film #57 for me this year was George Washington.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: What all indie films should strive to be
RIYL: Me, You and Everyone We Know, Stand By Me

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Surfwise

2008-12-04T22:25:00.001-08:00

Film #56 for me this year was Doug Pray's Surfwise.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Them Paskowitz's is some strange cats. And the cameo from The Flys? Too cool for school.
RIYL: Documentaries, way down down down in this Subbacultcha

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Best of Roald Dahl

2008-11-20T23:26:00.000-08:00

Book #44 on my reading list this year was The Best of Roald Dahl.

First off, yes this is the same Dahl of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach fame (and no his young YA stories are not included here). Turns out when Dahl wasn't churning out children's classics he was using that same delightfully twisted mind to write sinister short stories for adults. Yeah!

Clocking in at 520 pages, this 'Best of' collection could probably have used a heavier editing hand. Many of Dahl's earlier stories suffer from the 'ironic twist ending that you know is coming and thus is no longer really a twist' problem. With the stories arranged chronologically here I was got close to giving up early on, but was really glad I stuck it out as the later stories turned out to be superb. I'd recommend seeking out a better collection but the stories are definitely worth reading especially if you were a Dahl fan growing up.

Fun fact: "Man From the South" was adapted into Quentin Tarantino's piece in Four Rooms. How cool is that?

Dahl on Wikipedia
Official site

The Ten

2008-11-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

Film #55 for me this year was The Ten.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars (when you average it all out)
Jamie says: Ten stories ranging from cringe-worthy bad (especially the first half hour) to bust a gut hilarious all in 90 minutes. Ah, sketch comedy.
RIYL: The State, absurdist comedy, cameos

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Role Models

2008-11-11T00:16:00.000-08:00

Film #54 for me this year was Role Models.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: What seems like a pretty stupid setup (cuz it is) actually turns out to be funny and enjoyable. Why can't all sucky movies be this good?
RIYL: Wet Hot American Summer, Knocked Up, McLovin, Big Daddy

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

RocknRolla

2008-11-11T00:06:00.000-08:00

Film #53 for me this year was RocknRolla.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Gangsta gangsta. It's no Lock Stock but it's alright with me. Bonus points for co-starring The Wire's Idris Elba (offsetting the negative points for Ludacris).
RIYL: Lock Stock, Snatch, Get Shorty

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Monster Camp

2008-11-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

Film #52 for me this year was Monster Camp.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Documentary? Check. Set in Seattle? Check. People acting out DnD-style role playing games in real life (LARPing)? Check mate.
RIYL: World of Warcraft, J.R.R. Tolkein

Official site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

An Anthology of Graphic Fiction...

2008-10-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Book #43 on my list this year was An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories.

Compiled by Ivan Brunetti and published by Yale Press, this anthology provides a great crash course in modern comics ranging from popular graphic novels such as Maus to more subversive underground strips. Of the comic anthologies I've read only McSweeney's #13 comes close to this one in terms of successly spanning the genre. Now I'm looking forward to checking out Volume 2 which just came out earlier this year.

Powell's review

Nashville

2008-10-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Film #51 for me this year was Robert Altman's Nashville.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: Classic. Loved it.
RIYL: Short Cuts, The Last Waltz, old country

Salon.com looks back on 25th anniversary
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Day of the Locust

2008-10-20T00:39:00.000-07:00

Book #42 on my list was The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West.

DotL is a novel that shreds the celebrity obsessed culture of Hollywood...only it was written in 1939. Prescient, aye? Seventy years later I wonder what West would think about the blog-o-sphere and Tod Hackett's "The Burning of Los Angeles"?

And yes it does have a character named Homer Simpson which may or may not be the origin of Matt Groening's character's name. So it's got that going for it...

Wikipedia
Blog Critics review
Time's 100 Best Novels
Excerpt

Indignation

2008-10-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

Book #41 for me this year was Philip Roth's new novel Indignation.

I really enjoyed this one. The youthful angst reminded me of Roth's earlier work and of J.D. Salinger. Another wonderful addition to the Roth canon.

This one is brand spankin' new so online reviews are available aplenty:

NPR Review and excerpt
The Complete Review

W

2008-10-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

Film #50 of '08 was Oliver Stone's W.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Worth seeing for Josh Brolin, but rather ho-hum overall.
RIYL: Misunderestimating

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

A Dirty Shame

2008-10-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

Film #49 of '08 was A Dirty Shame.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Every bit as crazy as you'd expect a John Waters film to be.
RIYL: Let's face it, you're really only gonna like this if you like John Waters

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

2008 Reading List - Books #1-40

2008-10-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the first forty books of my '08 50 book challenge:

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007* - Various
This Is Your Brain on Music - Daniel Levitin
Hellfire* - Nick Tosches
The Nimrod Flipout - Etgar Keret
Shortcomings* - Adrian Tomine
McSweeney's #25 - Various
Kafka - R. Crumb & David Mairowitz
The Worst Hard Time* - Timothy Egan
The Fermata - Nicholson Baker
The Call of the Weird - Louis Theroux
Y: The Last Man, Volume 1: Unmanned - Vaughan and Guerra
An American Dream - Norman Mailer
My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead - Various
Y: The Last Man, Volume 2: Cycles - Vaughan and Guerra
Rock On - Dan Kennedy
The Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step - Vaughan and Guerra
Knockemstiff* - Donald Ray Pollock
A Voyage Long and Strange* - Tony Horwitz
All the Pretty Horses* - Cormac McCarthy
McSweeney's #24 - Various
Candy Girl - Diablo Cody
Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various
Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk
Y: The Last Man, Volume 4: Safeword - Vaughan and Guerra
Maps and Legends - Michael Chabon
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman
Bastard Out of Carolina* - Dorothy Allison
Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth - Vaughan and Guerra
The Sandman: Doll's House - Neil Gaiman
The Mulching of America - Harry Crews
Y: The Last Man, Volume 6: Girl on Girl - Vaughan and Guerra
Bad Behavior* - Mary Gaitskill
End Zone - Don DeLillo
A People's History of American Empire - Howard Zinn
Y: The Last Man, Volume 7: Paper Dolls - Vaughan and Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Volume 8: Kimono Dragons - Vaughan and Guerra
Y: The Last Man, Volume 9: Motherland - Vaughan and Guerra
The Moviegoer* - Walker Percy

* = Highly recommended

Previously: My 2007 reading list, My 2006 reading list

Moviegoer

2008-10-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

Book #40 on my reading list this year was Walker Percy's National Book Award winning The Moviegoer.

Percy described his novel as the story of "a young man (Binx Bolling) who had all the advantages of a cultivated old-line southern family: a feel for science and art, a liking for girls, sports cars, and the ordinary things of the culture, but who nevertheless feels himself quite alienated from both worlds, the old South and the new America." Binx reminded me a lot of the thinking man characters found in the novels of Richard Ford, Saul Bellow, and Phillip Roth (pretty good company). He is a man on the proverbial existential quest to find himself, a task he titles 'the search'.

"What is the nature of the search? you ask. Really it is very simple; at least for a fellow like me. So simple that it is often overlooked. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life." -- Binx Bolling

Preach on brother Binx. The best part of the book to me was the wonderful nuggets of wisdom which sneak up and bite you every few pages. It's about as quotable a book as I've read.

Speaking of quotes, (how do you like that segue?) here's the main blurb from the back of the book which I found sort of amusing.

"Percy is one of the supplest and most deftly modulated new voices in Southern literature"

Deftly modulated? Supple? Huh? I also like that he's only 'one the supplest'. Apparently there's plenty of supple to go around. Anyways, here's a more traditional kudo that resonated more with me:

"Mr. Percy is a breathtakingly brilliant writer." -- The New York Times Book Review

Wikipedia
Blogcritics review

Orgazmo

2008-10-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

Film #48 of '08 was Orgazmo.

My NetFlix rating: 1.5 stars
Jamie says: South Park stripped of all its sly social commentary. The result is not pretty. Matt Stone is pretty funny though.
RIYL: Team America, Porky's

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Eraserhead

2008-10-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Film #47 of '08 was Eraserhead.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Makes Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway and Blue Velvet look sane.
RIYL: Surrealism, David Lynch, The Pixies

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Eagle Eye

2008-10-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

Film #46 of '08 was Eagle Eye (not my selection :-) ).

My NetFlix rating: 2 stars
Jamie says: I can't help but think that I've seen this movie a few times before...only the other times it was done better. Oh and worst ending ever.
RIYL: Speed, action over plot

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Dr. Strangelove

2008-10-07T00:15:00.000-07:00

Film #45 of '08 was Dr. Strangelove.

My NetFlix rating: 4.5 stars
Jamie says: I can finally cross this one of the list of movies I'm embarrassed not to have seen. It's worth the hype, Strangelove is still hilarious and poignant 44 years after its release.
RIYL: Catch-22, Austin Powers, Kubrick

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia
Teaching Guide

Six Feet Under

2008-09-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

My new(ish) Netflix obsession is catching up on some of the great premium channel series that I never get to see. A one hour episode is easy to squeeze in here and there unlike a movie which requires a bit more dedicated of an effort (especially when some clock in at 180+ mins, ugh). On the downside though my new kick probably explains my lack of consistent blogging lately.

Anyways, the first show which got me going on the TV on DVD thang was Dexter (still my favorite). After that I got deep into HBO's Six Feet Under. It took about three months to work my way through an episode at a time, but I just bittersweetly finished the fifth and final season. Turned out to be an excellent show which will definitely go on my list of all time favorites. Next up, The Wire.

Persepolis

2008-09-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Film #44 of '08 was Persepolis.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Funny, sad, sad, funny. This movie's got it all.
RIYL: Ghost World, Rushmore, Joe Sacco/Maus, Heavy Metal Baghdad

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Y: The Last Man, Volume 9: Motherland

2008-09-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

Book #39 on my list this year was Y: The Last Man, Volume 9: Motherland.

Only one more and then I'm all done :-(

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7
Volume 8

Y: The Last Man, Volume 8: Kimono Dragons

2008-09-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

Book #38 on my list this year was Y: The Last Man, Volume 8: Kimono Dragons.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6
Volume 7

Y: The Last Man, Volume 7: Paper Dolls

2008-09-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

Book #37 on my list this year was Y: The Last Man, Volume 7: Paper Dolls.

Volumes 8 and 9 are here now, so I should be done with them soon.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5
Volume 6

Aguirre, The Wrath of God

2008-09-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Film #43 of '08 was Werner Herzog's Aguirre, The Wrath of God.

My NetFlix rating: 3.5 stars
Jamie says: Another Herzog treatise on obsession. The filmmaking process for this one is perhaps more amazing than the film itself, so be sure to check out the director's commentary.
RIYL: Fitzcarraldo

Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia
Time 100 Best Movies

Burn After Reading

2008-09-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Film #42 of '08 was Burn After Reading.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: I can't decide who was better, Pitt or Malkovich. Wait, that's because they're both awesome!
RIYL: Fargo, Being John Malkovich, Small Time Crooks

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

A People's History of American Empire

2008-09-22T21:06:00.000-07:00

Book #36 on my reading list this year was A People's History of American Empire.

A graphic novel/reworking (sorta sequel) of Howard Zinn's modern classic, this one didn't really do it for me. It's neither a great history nor a great graphic novel. I'd recommend skipping it and reading the real thing.

Watch it on YouTube

End Zone

2008-09-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Book#35 on my '08 reading list was Don DeLillo's End Zone.

End Zone on its surface is about a rebellious college football player exiled to a small college in the middle of nowhere. Under the surface it's a book about philosophy, becoming a man, and the parallels between football and war (which DeLillo both draws and pokes fun at in that oh so post-modern way). Not my favorite DeLillo book (that'd be White Noise) but a good read and nice insight into the early work of one of our generation's greatest writers.

Apparently another in my continuing theme of books I read and then find out are being made into a movie.

Wikipedia

Bad Behavior

2008-09-09T21:57:00.000-07:00

Book #34 on my reading list this year was Mary Gaitskill's Bad Behavior.

Bad Behavior is a sterling collection of relationship-related short stories including "Secretary" the inspiration for the Maggie Gyllenhaal film. It's subversive, sincere and at times funny, but most of all it's just darned good writing.

Interview in Bomb Magazine
A B-side

Y: The Last Man, Volume 6: Girl on Girl

2008-09-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Book #33 on my list this year was Y: The Last Man, Volume 6: Girl on Girl.

Six books in to the ten book series I am firmly hooked. Volume 7 coming soon...

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
Volume 5

The Mulching of America

2008-09-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

Book #32 of my reading list was Harry Crews' The Mulching of America.

A sort of modern update on Willy Loman, Crews' The Mulching of America is a novel about Hickum Looney a door-to-door soap salesman working his way up the corporate ladder. Crews brings in a cast of crazy characters including a guest appearance by Russell Muscle of Body fame. Not my favorite Crews novel, but a beauty nonetheless.

"Everybody that speaks the truth that's close to the bone is pretty nearly always talking po'try" - Hickum Looney

Batman Begins

2008-09-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

Film #41 of '08 was Batman Begins.

My NetFlix rating: 3.25 stars
Jamie says: Probably should've seen this one before The Dark Knight as this one paled in comparison. Could've used more incompetent attempts at being Batman scenes and less learning kung fu scenes.
RIYL: VH1: Before They Were Superheroes, less scary Batman villians

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

Films #1-40

2008-09-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a recap of the 40 films I've seen so far this year.

* - Highly recommended

The Dark Knight

2008-09-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

Film #40 of '08 was The Dark Knight.

My NetFlix rating: 4 stars
Jamie says: High expectations that didn't disappoint. Now that's a true rarity for a summer flick. And Ledger's Joker is indeed an amazing feat.
RIYL: Not being the only person in the world who hasn't seen it .

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia

The Sandman: Doll's House

2008-09-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

Book #31 for me this year was The Sandman: Doll's House.

This is the second book of the ten part Sandman series. Not sure yet if I'm going to continue on or move on to something else...perhaps the Sandman will pay me a visit and show me the way.

Book One

2008 Reading List - Books #1-30

2008-08-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

Here are the first thirty books of my '08 50 book challenge:

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007* - Various
This Is Your Brain on Music - Daniel Levitin
Hellfire* - Nick Tosches
The Nimrod Flipout - Etgar Keret
Shortcomings* - Adrian Tomine
McSweeney's #25 - Various
Kafka - R. Crumb & David Mairowitz
The Worst Hard Time* - Timothy Egan
The Fermata - Nicholson Baker
The Call of the Weird - Louis Theroux
Y: The Last Man, Volume 1: Unmanned - Vaughan and Guerra
An American Dream - Norman Mailer
My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead - Various
Y: The Last Man, Volume 2: Cycles - Vaughan and Guerra
Rock On - Dan Kennedy
The Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3: One Small Step - Vaughan and Guerra
Knockemstiff* - Donald Ray Pollock
A Voyage Long and Strange* - Tony Horwitz
All the Pretty Horses* - Cormac McCarthy
McSweeney's #24 - Various
Candy Girl - Diablo Cody
Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me - Various
Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk
Y: The Last Man, Volume 4: Safeword - Vaughan and Guerra
Maps and Legends - Michael Chabon
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman
Bastard Out of Carolina* - Dorothy Allison
Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth - Vaughan and Guerra

* = Highly recommended

Previously: My 2007 reading list, My 2006 reading list

Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth

2008-08-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

Book #30 was Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth.

Half way done with the series and it keeps getting better. I'm firmly hooked now.

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4

Bastard Out of Carolina

2008-08-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

Book #29 on my '08 reading list was Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison.

Two words: modern classic. What else do you need to know?

Author's website
Sadly sparse Wikipedia entry.

Recommended by Will Johnson :-)

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes.

2008-08-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Book #28 of my reading list was Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes.

Part 1 of 10: I've got a long way to go on this series. To find out more about the Sandman series Wikipedia is a good place to start. I gathered this little nugget from there: 'the only comic book to ever be on the New York Times Bestseller List.' Also quality is some of the info on the attempts to make it into a movie including this gem: "Gaiman called the last screenplay that Warner Brothers would send him '...not only the worst Sandman script I've ever seen, but quite easily the worst script I've ever read '".

Sandman summary on Gaiman's website
The Annotated Sandman

The Year of Living Biblically

2008-08-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

Book #27 on my '08 reading list was The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs.

Straight from the Danny Wallace school of journalism, Jacobs' book (just as the title suggests) is about him trying to follow the exact wording of the Bible from the easy (thou shalt not kill) to the odd (not trimming the edges of his beard) to the downright creepy (sacrificing chickens...well sort of). It's a fun and funny ride, but Jacobs manages to avoid being condescending or derogatory by keeping an open mind and truly exploring the Bible's teachings. The result is a book that's entertaining but also enlightening. Oh and for the record he's still agnostic.

Author's website
Excerpt
Esquire Interview
Slate

Maps and Legends

2008-08-14T00:37:00.000-07:00

Book #26 on my reading list was Michael Chabon's non-fiction collection Maps and Legends (not to be confused with the R.E.M. song).

The essays included in M&L range from literary critiques of Sherlock Holmes, The Road, and graphics novels to memoir-y stories from Chabon's past. Some of the essays make for interesting reads, but as a collection it's probably best reserved for only the most diehard of Chabon fans. Gotta dig the Jordan Crane cover art though.

Excerpt
McSweeney's page
Wikipedia page

Hellboy

2008-08-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

Film #39 of '08 was Hellboy.

My NetFlix rating: 3 stars
Jamie says: Pretty ho-hum overall but Hellboy is one cool looking cat
RIYL: Tom Waits...don't know why but that's who Hellboy reminds me of, Guillermo del Toro

Official Site
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Wikipedia