Movies, Music, Books 2009
The final list!
Matilda - Roald Dahl (reread)
During stupid meetings I still sometimes try to tip over people's water bottles WITH MY MIND.
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Continues - Ann Brashares
A new Sisterhood! I read it in approximately three hours and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks so much, eee1313 for the hookup!
Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli (reread)
I adore this book SO MUCH. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it was. I am now reading it out loud to Alex before we fall asleep.
World War Z - Max Brooks
So I am apparently, like, three years behind, but I fucking loved this thing on, like, seventeen different levels. Zombies = cool, sure, but also? How much research must Brooks have done on things like geography and war tactics and SPACE for fuck's sake??! I adored it. I want to reread it immediately, but since Alex and Larry and Chris and now (finally) I have all read it, Katina is up next. She doesn't know it yet, though.
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction - David Sheff
This was just absolutely wonderful. Heartbreaking and honest and hopeful and beautifully written. I need to track down Nic's book Tweak next (father and son put out memoirs about Nic's drug addiction at the same time last year and did lots of promo together - you may have seen them around).
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
Y'all, I have a Sookie Stackhouse problem. I randomly picked this up a couple of weeks ago, and now I know I'm not going to stop till I'm done with all eight (!) books. Sigh. They're perfect for reading while waiting for and riding the bus, though. And I'm looking forward to renting the True Blood DVDs to see how they compare. Even though Bill bores me.
Living Dead In Dallas - Charlaine Harris
I was kind of bummed that most of the Bon Temps crew take a backseat in this one, but I've started the third one (Club Dead) and it seems to be a theme. I think I was just not all that impressed by the Dallas crowd (except Barry the Bellboy) - the werewolf in Club Dead seems promising.
Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
My fave so far. Funny! Tense! More funny! Alcide! I ♥ Alcide and hope he shows back up. The moment where she wakes up and sees her Three Muskateers? I might have LOLd slightly on the bus.
Dead To The World - Charlaine Harris
NEEDS MOAR ALCIDE. I did love the final battle, though.
Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris
*sadface* for Alcide. I did totally call the Charles Twining connection, though.
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
I liked this one a lot. Amelia is a good time, and so is Quinn. I did kind of feel like I'd missed a whole lot when she kept talking about the circumstances of Hadley's death and how she found out and I had a moment where I thought I'd missed a book, but thinking about it, I'm glad Harris did it that way.
All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris
That climax, with the hotel all asplodey, was kind of scary and awesome. I'm a little tired of Eric, though. I know, I know, BLASPHEMY, but he just...bores me right now. Not as much as Bill did, though, so I'm glad he's not in the middle of the ZOMG TWU LUV nonsense that he was at the beginning of the series.
From Dead To Worse - Charlaine Harris
Good stuff - the last two pages kind of took my breath away a little bit. I cannot believe I read all 8 books in a month. A MONTH. That is ridiculous.
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation - Sheila Weller
I LOVED this. I was completely fascinated and now I need to go out and listen to a bunch more of these women. My mom listened to Joni and Carole when I was little, but I don't know much of Carly's work. And these women and their men. I was exhausted just reading about it.
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Meh. It wasn't awful, but I definitely thought it was the weakest of the series.
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
I didn't loathe the ending the way that a lot of the internet seems to. The book itself was fine, but I'd heard all about this TOTALLY HORRIBLE OMG ending, so I was kind of bracing myself the whole time. I want to see the movie now, of course, but will probably just wait and rent it.
Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading - Lizzie Skurnick et al
OMG BEST BOOK EVER. Based on the Fine Lines column at Jezebel, I read this in about 24 hours, and just grinned like a maniac. The books she wrote about! The books she remembered! (OMG DON'T HURT LAURIE! I thought lillaura and I were the only ones who remembered that!) SO many memories. And so many books that have disappeared from my life that I need to track back down - like, I KNOW that I stole Forever from the library, but I cannot find it and I need to.
Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot (reread)
Size 14 Is Not Fat Either - Meg Cabot (reread)
Big Boned - Meg Cabot (reread)
I do love me some Cabot and Heather Wells, but man - three books in two weeks means Heather, bless her heart, really started annoying me a little. And isn't there supposed to be a new Heather book?
Marked - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Oh great, a new vampire series to be addicted to. My client who I got sucked in to Sookie Stackhouse is returning the favor. This series is about a vampire finishing school in Oklahoma. I KNOW. But they're fun and fast. It took me the whole book to get past the fact that it's "VAMPYRE" in this series - really??! - but now I don't even notice it.
Betrayed - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
OH THE DRAMA. Zoey is a bit of a Mary Sue - she's the MOST SPECIALIST FLEDGING EVAR and all the boys HEART HER - but she still manages to be tolerable, and her friends are entertaining enough that I can mostly overlook it. Also, the Marks and tattoos and everything fascinate me - I love picturing all these characters.
Chosen - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
The red fledgling stuff is interesting, but I'm still kind of tired of Zoey and All Her Mens.
Untamed - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
This is my favorite cover - I know, important stuff - and I love all the bits with Grandma Redbird. It introduced Kalona, though...
Hunted - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
...who I HATE. I did not much like how super-supernatural things got with this story. I know, I know - it is a series about VAMPIRES. (Excuse me, VAMPYRES.) But for some reason, that whole plot annoyed me. If you're going to write a series about a vamp finishing school, do THAT, you know? Plus, these five books have all taken place in Zoey's first six months of school. Time to take a vacation, Zo. (All this said, I will definitely check out the next book, which comes out in October. Sigh.)
My Story - Ryan White (reread)
I hadn't read this since about junior high, which is interesting, considering that I fill out forms every day with Ryan's name on them. Still as affecting as ever, and kind of shocking to realize that he'd be nearly 40 if he were still living.
Grave Sight - Charlaine Harris
The first book of Charlaine's Harper Connelly series, about a woman who got hit by lightning and can now find dead bodies. A fun little mystery, though I figured out the BIG TWIST relatively early.
Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris
Much tighter than the first one, and I didn't solve it two-thirds of the way through. Seems she's going to Go There with the two main characters, which...is interesting.
An Ice Cold Grave - Charlaine Harris
The last Harper book. I kind of can't believe they Went There, and am unsure how I feel about it.
Kitty And The Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn
A series about a werewolf who hosts a radio call-in show - I mean, she does other stuff too. The author and the setting are local to Denver, which is fun, and I pretty much love it.
Kitty Goes To Washington
Kitty Takes A Holiday
Kitty And The Silver Bullet
Kitty And The Dead Man's Hand
All by Carrie Vaughn, all fun and silly reads. Werewolves, yay! Denver werewolves, bigger yay! Kitty actually only ended up back in Denver in book four, then went to Vegas to get married in book five. She's now back in Denver in book six, which I'm about halfway through. Good times.
I also have the latest House of Night book to read - more Zoey Redbird! Perhaps she will be slightly less Mary Sue-ish!
OH. AND.
A Touch of Dead - Charlaine Harris
The Sookie short stories. A couple were fun - the image of Eric waiting for his Great Pumpkin is awesome - a couple were forgettable. I need to reread Dead and Gone.
Kitty Raises Hell
The most recent Kitty book, although there's a new one out next month, yay!
*The Liar's Club - Mary Karr
I haven't actually finished this yet, so it might not count, but so far, I'm loving it, and I'm excited to read Karr's other two memoirs.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gorgeous from top to bottom, and WOW Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are pretty.
The House Bunny
Started out really adorable, but kind of lost it in the middle and the end. It felt really rushed, I think, and the Oliver subplot was stupid. Anna Faris was great, though, and I loved Heartbroken Hef surrounded by ice cream containers.
Slumdog Millionaire
Me, to Alex: Did you like it?
Alex: THAT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THE YEAR.
Me: Uh, this is the third movie we've seen this year.
Alex: Okay, well, I THINK IT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF LAST YEAR TOO.
Wonderful, seriously. We are already planning on seeing it next weekend with his mom, and maybe another time with Chris and Larry and Katina. Absolutely fantastic.
Jules et Jim
A 1962 Truffaut film that my dad loves. Jeanne Moreau is beautiful - all three of the main characters are - but I think it was just a tad too...French for me? I don't know, I didn't totally heart it. Plus, Tivo somehow managed to cut off the last couple of minutes WHICH ARE CRUCIAL, apparently. I have no idea WTF that is about, but it was annoying.
The Foot Fist Way
Big fat MEH to this. Danny McBride was fun, but the rest of it was pretty obnoxious and/or boring.
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Um, I adored this, not shockingly. Fluffy and adorable and gorgeous and OMG LEE PACE MARRY ME.
Zack and Miri Make A Porno
I liked this a lot, but I tend to generally like Kevin Smith's stuff. The love scene between Seth and Elizabeth was really gorgeously done - one of the best bits I think Smith has put together. OH AND. I am now totally justified in my longtime lust for Jason Mewes. How fucking hot did he look? Those tats, nom. Also, you know, MEWES PEEN doesn't suck.
Coraline
Gorgeous. Beautiful. But not perfect - a bit slow to begin with and took a while to draw me in, and the climax felt kind of rushed (and I wish it hadn't been quite so Wybie-focused). Overall, though, I really loved it. If you see it, definitely see it in 3D.
I Love You, Man
I loved this, man. Apart from the PROJECTILE VOMITING, it was adorable and profane and silly and Paul Rudd and Jason Segel were wonderful and there is an adorable puppy and Rashida Jones is so pretty I want to slap her and Jaime Pressly ALMOST makes me want to tune into My Name Is Earl (but I will settle for rewatching Can't Hardly Wait for the millionth time - I don't think she's prettier than Gwyneth either, Jaime!) and it was just awesome.
Watchmen
WAS SO LONG. Other than that, I liked it, though it didn't, like, change my life or anything. The opening credits were amazing, though, and I want to watch them one million more times. (Oh, and "Hallelujah" was the worst music cue in the thing - totally took me out of the moment.)
The Class
The French film that was nominated and lost - to my annoyance, especially now that I've seen it - for Best Foreign Language Film. A really interesting fusion of documentary and by-the-book drama that Salon says, "is a fictional narrative woven from threads of real life, and it sometimes feels more true to life than any strict documentary could." Right on the money. Highly recommended if you can find it.
Role Models
Between this and I Love You, Man, my love for Paul Rudd is in full swing. Seann William Scott also really surprised me, and foul-mouthed moppets are never not funny.
Sunshine Cleaning
Great performances by Emily Blunt and Amy Adams. A really sweet and touching movie, but short. I felt like there was more to their story.
King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters
HAH! I loved this. It was insane, of course, but so much fun. I wanted to slap Steve Wiebe's wife for most of it, but she redeemed herself. Unredeemable was effing Billy Mitchell, but even he was amusing in his own way. Like the abortion debate.
Darkon
Part two of our Geek Documentary Screening. Not as excellent as King of Kong, but weird and excellent in its own way.
Monsters vs. Aliens
Reviews of this one seem to be of the LOVE IT or HATE IT variety. I am firmly in the LOVE IT camp.
17 Again
Let's see. Zefron does his entire first scene shirtless. This is quickly followed by a dance routine. Zefron spends the next 1.5 hours being alternately adorable and fucking hot, often at the same time. Yeah, two thumbs up from me.
State of Play
Good and twisty, fantastic cast, probably won't stick with me for very long. Which, frankly, is fine with me. The boys all saw Wolverine and were disappointed, so I'm comfortable with my pick.
Star Trek
ZOMG I LOVED IT. It was so fun. And it was SO fun to see it with a bunch of boys - Alex, Chris, Larry, Mark (Katina's newish boyfriend), and Heath - who totally geeked the hell out.
Up
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I have nothing more coherant to say.
The Hangover
I haven't laughed that hard in a long damn time.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This made 2/2 Harry Potter movies that made me fall asleep.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Okay, I stayed awake, but still did not heart it. I am sorry!
Eagle Eye
So bad. SO BAD OMG. This would have been a fun movie if the WHOLE POINT had not been SO FUCKING STUPID OMG. I want those two hours back.
Prom Night In Mississippi
The HBO documentary. Loved it loved it loved it. It's possible I cried. I need updates on all those kids!!
(500) Days of Summer
I really loved this. Great music, and my love for JGL is still going strong. A+ all around.
Julie & Julia
Saw this with my mom and dad - but not Alex - on Friday and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. A movie that I like and my dad likes is not too rare, but a movie that we like AND that my mom likes? Cause for celebration. Fun and funny and light and silly and Meryl is amazing, obvs. Also, NOM NOM NOM.
The Time Traveler's Wife
I almost had forgotten I saw this, so that should tell you something. I enjoyed it while I was watching - and OMG could Rachel McAdams BE any more gorgeous? - but it didn't really stick with me. I would like to read the book, though.
Cadillac Records
Rented this in the mountains over the weekend. A lot of the movie takes place in dark clubs and alleys and stuff, and we were watching in the middle of the day (prime glare time) on a crappy TV, so I feel like I missed a lot and would like to rent it again. I enjoyed it, though, and was really very impressed with Beyonce.
District 9
Really really good. Tense. A little gross once in a while, and the end really got me. I liked it a lot.
Inglourious Basterds
Oh Lord I LOVED this. Fun and funny and gorgeous and gross and Very Wrong but also awesome.
Zombieland
OKAY AWESOME. About as much fun as I've had in a theatre in a long long time. Just insane and hilarious and smart and unpredictable and gory and...I loved it. We're seeing it again on opening night tomorrow with a bunch of people.
Whip It
I wish I was cool enough for derby. I might be tough enough - or at least be able to get tough enough - but I am definitely not cool enough. This was such a great time. Ellen Page is adorable. Drew's character (Smashlee Simpson heeee) was stoned the whole movie, which was hilarious. Kristin Wiig was toned down and very funny. NEEDS MOAR ZOE BELL (who, PS, looked HOT), but just about everything does. Also Ari Graynor, Eve, and Alia Shawkat were all just gorgeous. Landon Pigg? Not so much, but that's fine. Great soundtrack, too.
The Proposal
Sandra and Ryan are charming as shit, which helped this a lot. Totally predictable, but also very cute.
28 Days Later
This...ended up in a very very different place from where it started. And I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, it was good and creepy, certainly, but I preferred the zombie stuff to the v.v. disturbing soldiers. Also, since we watched on BluRay, we got to see the theatrical ending - much more of a downer, but I also much preferred it.
Where The Wild Things Are
This movie is one of my favorite things I've seen in the last couple of years. I didn't, like, weep at it or anything, but it hit so close to home for me in so many moments - the ever-changing emotions, the confusions about changing sibling relationships, the beginning of occasional resentment towards parents, the desire for responsibility and the realization that it's not actually something that's easy to handle, and the way anger and so many other emotions can overwhelm you all of a sudden, and how scary that is. I was never a nine-year-old boy, but I saw so much of myself in Max's story. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, and can't wait to see it again.
My Sister's Keeper
I definitely stole this movie from Frontier (TIP! If you have a Visa/AmEx/whatever gift card that is empty, the credit card readers on airplanes may still read it as a card and will give you your movie or TV or whatever). I liked it, it was nice, I didn't totally fall apart at the end (though there were another couple of moments where I was close), and I'm glad they made the changes from the book that they did. Abigail Breslin hasn't taken one wrong step as far as I'm concerned (ZOMBIELAND!), and I thought Cameron Diaz was actually really great. She played a character that was awfully unlikeable, and did it with gusto.
Drag Me To Hell
Enh. Alex haaaaaaaaaated it. Hated. It.
An Education
I liked this a lot. Carey Mulligan was fantastic, of course, and I thought Peter Saaaarsgaaaard was also really great. Katina and I had a conversation afterwards about how, as adults, we could look at that character and realize how skeevy he was, but also how totally charmed we would have been by him at 16 or 17. We were both girls similar to Jenny, in that we were very smart and mature and academic and thought we were much less naive than we actually were.
*Anvil: The Story of Anvil
We both really liked this. Robb and Lips are second only to Julia and Paul Child as my couple of the year.
*8 1/2
To prep for Nine, obviously, which I'm probably not going to actually see anytime soon. I'm fairly certain I am not nearly cool enough for Fellini.
*Up In The Air
One of my favorites of the year, for sure. All three stars were great, but I thought that both women were absolutely phenomenal. I loved Anna Kendrick in Camp (and want nothing to do with the Twilight nonsense), so I'm thrilled to see her doing so well.
*Sherlock Holmes
Entertaining (although I lost it a little in the middle because I was so so exhausted from being up really late on Christmas Eve) and gorgeous to look at. Downey and Law are adorable and charming and sexy as hell.
Kala - M.I.A.
Fearless - Taylor Swift
Hairspray OST (I downloaded this over the summer, but finally just bought it)
It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen
Middle Cyclone - Neko Case
Ellipse - Imogene Heap
Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson
Rated R - Rihanna
Raphael Saadiq 3/11 (Bluebird Theatre)
Dakota Blonde 4/5 (Little Bear)
Lily Allen 4/9 (Ogden Theatre)
Neko Case 5/30 (Ogden Theatre)
Addicted to Gods, Eyedea & Abilities, Murs, Aesop Rock, Atmosphere 8/14 (Red Rocks)
Ingrid Michaelson 10/19 (Gothic Theatre)
Ozomatli 11/14 (Ogden Theatre)
Matilda - Roald Dahl (reread)
During stupid meetings I still sometimes try to tip over people's water bottles WITH MY MIND.
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Continues - Ann Brashares
A new Sisterhood! I read it in approximately three hours and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks so much, eee1313 for the hookup!
Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli (reread)
I adore this book SO MUCH. I had almost forgotten how wonderful it was. I am now reading it out loud to Alex before we fall asleep.
World War Z - Max Brooks
So I am apparently, like, three years behind, but I fucking loved this thing on, like, seventeen different levels. Zombies = cool, sure, but also? How much research must Brooks have done on things like geography and war tactics and SPACE for fuck's sake??! I adored it. I want to reread it immediately, but since Alex and Larry and Chris and now (finally) I have all read it, Katina is up next. She doesn't know it yet, though.
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction - David Sheff
This was just absolutely wonderful. Heartbreaking and honest and hopeful and beautifully written. I need to track down Nic's book Tweak next (father and son put out memoirs about Nic's drug addiction at the same time last year and did lots of promo together - you may have seen them around).
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
Y'all, I have a Sookie Stackhouse problem. I randomly picked this up a couple of weeks ago, and now I know I'm not going to stop till I'm done with all eight (!) books. Sigh. They're perfect for reading while waiting for and riding the bus, though. And I'm looking forward to renting the True Blood DVDs to see how they compare. Even though Bill bores me.
Living Dead In Dallas - Charlaine Harris
I was kind of bummed that most of the Bon Temps crew take a backseat in this one, but I've started the third one (Club Dead) and it seems to be a theme. I think I was just not all that impressed by the Dallas crowd (except Barry the Bellboy) - the werewolf in Club Dead seems promising.
Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
My fave so far. Funny! Tense! More funny! Alcide! I ♥ Alcide and hope he shows back up. The moment where she wakes up and sees her Three Muskateers? I might have LOLd slightly on the bus.
Dead To The World - Charlaine Harris
NEEDS MOAR ALCIDE. I did love the final battle, though.
Dead As A Doornail - Charlaine Harris
*sadface* for Alcide. I did totally call the Charles Twining connection, though.
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
I liked this one a lot. Amelia is a good time, and so is Quinn. I did kind of feel like I'd missed a whole lot when she kept talking about the circumstances of Hadley's death and how she found out and I had a moment where I thought I'd missed a book, but thinking about it, I'm glad Harris did it that way.
All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris
That climax, with the hotel all asplodey, was kind of scary and awesome. I'm a little tired of Eric, though. I know, I know, BLASPHEMY, but he just...bores me right now. Not as much as Bill did, though, so I'm glad he's not in the middle of the ZOMG TWU LUV nonsense that he was at the beginning of the series.
From Dead To Worse - Charlaine Harris
Good stuff - the last two pages kind of took my breath away a little bit. I cannot believe I read all 8 books in a month. A MONTH. That is ridiculous.
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon - and the Journey of a Generation - Sheila Weller
I LOVED this. I was completely fascinated and now I need to go out and listen to a bunch more of these women. My mom listened to Joni and Carole when I was little, but I don't know much of Carly's work. And these women and their men. I was exhausted just reading about it.
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Meh. It wasn't awful, but I definitely thought it was the weakest of the series.
My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
I didn't loathe the ending the way that a lot of the internet seems to. The book itself was fine, but I'd heard all about this TOTALLY HORRIBLE OMG ending, so I was kind of bracing myself the whole time. I want to see the movie now, of course, but will probably just wait and rent it.
Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading - Lizzie Skurnick et al
OMG BEST BOOK EVER. Based on the Fine Lines column at Jezebel, I read this in about 24 hours, and just grinned like a maniac. The books she wrote about! The books she remembered! (OMG DON'T HURT LAURIE! I thought lillaura and I were the only ones who remembered that!) SO many memories. And so many books that have disappeared from my life that I need to track back down - like, I KNOW that I stole Forever from the library, but I cannot find it and I need to.
Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot (reread)
Size 14 Is Not Fat Either - Meg Cabot (reread)
Big Boned - Meg Cabot (reread)
I do love me some Cabot and Heather Wells, but man - three books in two weeks means Heather, bless her heart, really started annoying me a little. And isn't there supposed to be a new Heather book?
Marked - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Oh great, a new vampire series to be addicted to. My client who I got sucked in to Sookie Stackhouse is returning the favor. This series is about a vampire finishing school in Oklahoma. I KNOW. But they're fun and fast. It took me the whole book to get past the fact that it's "VAMPYRE" in this series - really??! - but now I don't even notice it.
Betrayed - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
OH THE DRAMA. Zoey is a bit of a Mary Sue - she's the MOST SPECIALIST FLEDGING EVAR and all the boys HEART HER - but she still manages to be tolerable, and her friends are entertaining enough that I can mostly overlook it. Also, the Marks and tattoos and everything fascinate me - I love picturing all these characters.
Chosen - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
The red fledgling stuff is interesting, but I'm still kind of tired of Zoey and All Her Mens.
Untamed - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
This is my favorite cover - I know, important stuff - and I love all the bits with Grandma Redbird. It introduced Kalona, though...
Hunted - P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
...who I HATE. I did not much like how super-supernatural things got with this story. I know, I know - it is a series about VAMPIRES. (Excuse me, VAMPYRES.) But for some reason, that whole plot annoyed me. If you're going to write a series about a vamp finishing school, do THAT, you know? Plus, these five books have all taken place in Zoey's first six months of school. Time to take a vacation, Zo. (All this said, I will definitely check out the next book, which comes out in October. Sigh.)
My Story - Ryan White (reread)
I hadn't read this since about junior high, which is interesting, considering that I fill out forms every day with Ryan's name on them. Still as affecting as ever, and kind of shocking to realize that he'd be nearly 40 if he were still living.
Grave Sight - Charlaine Harris
The first book of Charlaine's Harper Connelly series, about a woman who got hit by lightning and can now find dead bodies. A fun little mystery, though I figured out the BIG TWIST relatively early.
Grave Surprise - Charlaine Harris
Much tighter than the first one, and I didn't solve it two-thirds of the way through. Seems she's going to Go There with the two main characters, which...is interesting.
An Ice Cold Grave - Charlaine Harris
The last Harper book. I kind of can't believe they Went There, and am unsure how I feel about it.
Kitty And The Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn
A series about a werewolf who hosts a radio call-in show - I mean, she does other stuff too. The author and the setting are local to Denver, which is fun, and I pretty much love it.
Kitty Goes To Washington
Kitty Takes A Holiday
Kitty And The Silver Bullet
Kitty And The Dead Man's Hand
All by Carrie Vaughn, all fun and silly reads. Werewolves, yay! Denver werewolves, bigger yay! Kitty actually only ended up back in Denver in book four, then went to Vegas to get married in book five. She's now back in Denver in book six, which I'm about halfway through. Good times.
I also have the latest House of Night book to read - more Zoey Redbird! Perhaps she will be slightly less Mary Sue-ish!
OH. AND.
A Touch of Dead - Charlaine Harris
The Sookie short stories. A couple were fun - the image of Eric waiting for his Great Pumpkin is awesome - a couple were forgettable. I need to reread Dead and Gone.
Kitty Raises Hell
The most recent Kitty book, although there's a new one out next month, yay!
*The Liar's Club - Mary Karr
I haven't actually finished this yet, so it might not count, but so far, I'm loving it, and I'm excited to read Karr's other two memoirs.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gorgeous from top to bottom, and WOW Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are pretty.
The House Bunny
Started out really adorable, but kind of lost it in the middle and the end. It felt really rushed, I think, and the Oliver subplot was stupid. Anna Faris was great, though, and I loved Heartbroken Hef surrounded by ice cream containers.
Slumdog Millionaire
Me, to Alex: Did you like it?
Alex: THAT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THE YEAR.
Me: Uh, this is the third movie we've seen this year.
Alex: Okay, well, I THINK IT IS MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF LAST YEAR TOO.
Wonderful, seriously. We are already planning on seeing it next weekend with his mom, and maybe another time with Chris and Larry and Katina. Absolutely fantastic.
Jules et Jim
A 1962 Truffaut film that my dad loves. Jeanne Moreau is beautiful - all three of the main characters are - but I think it was just a tad too...French for me? I don't know, I didn't totally heart it. Plus, Tivo somehow managed to cut off the last couple of minutes WHICH ARE CRUCIAL, apparently. I have no idea WTF that is about, but it was annoying.
The Foot Fist Way
Big fat MEH to this. Danny McBride was fun, but the rest of it was pretty obnoxious and/or boring.
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Um, I adored this, not shockingly. Fluffy and adorable and gorgeous and OMG LEE PACE MARRY ME.
Zack and Miri Make A Porno
I liked this a lot, but I tend to generally like Kevin Smith's stuff. The love scene between Seth and Elizabeth was really gorgeously done - one of the best bits I think Smith has put together. OH AND. I am now totally justified in my longtime lust for Jason Mewes. How fucking hot did he look? Those tats, nom. Also, you know, MEWES PEEN doesn't suck.
Coraline
Gorgeous. Beautiful. But not perfect - a bit slow to begin with and took a while to draw me in, and the climax felt kind of rushed (and I wish it hadn't been quite so Wybie-focused). Overall, though, I really loved it. If you see it, definitely see it in 3D.
I Love You, Man
I loved this, man. Apart from the PROJECTILE VOMITING, it was adorable and profane and silly and Paul Rudd and Jason Segel were wonderful and there is an adorable puppy and Rashida Jones is so pretty I want to slap her and Jaime Pressly ALMOST makes me want to tune into My Name Is Earl (but I will settle for rewatching Can't Hardly Wait for the millionth time - I don't think she's prettier than Gwyneth either, Jaime!) and it was just awesome.
Watchmen
WAS SO LONG. Other than that, I liked it, though it didn't, like, change my life or anything. The opening credits were amazing, though, and I want to watch them one million more times. (Oh, and "Hallelujah" was the worst music cue in the thing - totally took me out of the moment.)
The Class
The French film that was nominated and lost - to my annoyance, especially now that I've seen it - for Best Foreign Language Film. A really interesting fusion of documentary and by-the-book drama that Salon says, "is a fictional narrative woven from threads of real life, and it sometimes feels more true to life than any strict documentary could." Right on the money. Highly recommended if you can find it.
Role Models
Between this and I Love You, Man, my love for Paul Rudd is in full swing. Seann William Scott also really surprised me, and foul-mouthed moppets are never not funny.
Sunshine Cleaning
Great performances by Emily Blunt and Amy Adams. A really sweet and touching movie, but short. I felt like there was more to their story.
King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters
HAH! I loved this. It was insane, of course, but so much fun. I wanted to slap Steve Wiebe's wife for most of it, but she redeemed herself. Unredeemable was effing Billy Mitchell, but even he was amusing in his own way. Like the abortion debate.
Darkon
Part two of our Geek Documentary Screening. Not as excellent as King of Kong, but weird and excellent in its own way.
Monsters vs. Aliens
Reviews of this one seem to be of the LOVE IT or HATE IT variety. I am firmly in the LOVE IT camp.
17 Again
Let's see. Zefron does his entire first scene shirtless. This is quickly followed by a dance routine. Zefron spends the next 1.5 hours being alternately adorable and fucking hot, often at the same time. Yeah, two thumbs up from me.
State of Play
Good and twisty, fantastic cast, probably won't stick with me for very long. Which, frankly, is fine with me. The boys all saw Wolverine and were disappointed, so I'm comfortable with my pick.
Star Trek
ZOMG I LOVED IT. It was so fun. And it was SO fun to see it with a bunch of boys - Alex, Chris, Larry, Mark (Katina's newish boyfriend), and Heath - who totally geeked the hell out.
Up
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I have nothing more coherant to say.
The Hangover
I haven't laughed that hard in a long damn time.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This made 2/2 Harry Potter movies that made me fall asleep.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Okay, I stayed awake, but still did not heart it. I am sorry!
Eagle Eye
So bad. SO BAD OMG. This would have been a fun movie if the WHOLE POINT had not been SO FUCKING STUPID OMG. I want those two hours back.
Prom Night In Mississippi
The HBO documentary. Loved it loved it loved it. It's possible I cried. I need updates on all those kids!!
(500) Days of Summer
I really loved this. Great music, and my love for JGL is still going strong. A+ all around.
Julie & Julia
Saw this with my mom and dad - but not Alex - on Friday and we all enjoyed it thoroughly. A movie that I like and my dad likes is not too rare, but a movie that we like AND that my mom likes? Cause for celebration. Fun and funny and light and silly and Meryl is amazing, obvs. Also, NOM NOM NOM.
The Time Traveler's Wife
I almost had forgotten I saw this, so that should tell you something. I enjoyed it while I was watching - and OMG could Rachel McAdams BE any more gorgeous? - but it didn't really stick with me. I would like to read the book, though.
Cadillac Records
Rented this in the mountains over the weekend. A lot of the movie takes place in dark clubs and alleys and stuff, and we were watching in the middle of the day (prime glare time) on a crappy TV, so I feel like I missed a lot and would like to rent it again. I enjoyed it, though, and was really very impressed with Beyonce.
District 9
Really really good. Tense. A little gross once in a while, and the end really got me. I liked it a lot.
Inglourious Basterds
Oh Lord I LOVED this. Fun and funny and gorgeous and gross and Very Wrong but also awesome.
Zombieland
OKAY AWESOME. About as much fun as I've had in a theatre in a long long time. Just insane and hilarious and smart and unpredictable and gory and...I loved it. We're seeing it again on opening night tomorrow with a bunch of people.
Whip It
I wish I was cool enough for derby. I might be tough enough - or at least be able to get tough enough - but I am definitely not cool enough. This was such a great time. Ellen Page is adorable. Drew's character (Smashlee Simpson heeee) was stoned the whole movie, which was hilarious. Kristin Wiig was toned down and very funny. NEEDS MOAR ZOE BELL (who, PS, looked HOT), but just about everything does. Also Ari Graynor, Eve, and Alia Shawkat were all just gorgeous. Landon Pigg? Not so much, but that's fine. Great soundtrack, too.
The Proposal
Sandra and Ryan are charming as shit, which helped this a lot. Totally predictable, but also very cute.
28 Days Later
This...ended up in a very very different place from where it started. And I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, it was good and creepy, certainly, but I preferred the zombie stuff to the v.v. disturbing soldiers. Also, since we watched on BluRay, we got to see the theatrical ending - much more of a downer, but I also much preferred it.
Where The Wild Things Are
This movie is one of my favorite things I've seen in the last couple of years. I didn't, like, weep at it or anything, but it hit so close to home for me in so many moments - the ever-changing emotions, the confusions about changing sibling relationships, the beginning of occasional resentment towards parents, the desire for responsibility and the realization that it's not actually something that's easy to handle, and the way anger and so many other emotions can overwhelm you all of a sudden, and how scary that is. I was never a nine-year-old boy, but I saw so much of myself in Max's story. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, and can't wait to see it again.
My Sister's Keeper
I definitely stole this movie from Frontier (TIP! If you have a Visa/AmEx/whatever gift card that is empty, the credit card readers on airplanes may still read it as a card and will give you your movie or TV or whatever). I liked it, it was nice, I didn't totally fall apart at the end (though there were another couple of moments where I was close), and I'm glad they made the changes from the book that they did. Abigail Breslin hasn't taken one wrong step as far as I'm concerned (ZOMBIELAND!), and I thought Cameron Diaz was actually really great. She played a character that was awfully unlikeable, and did it with gusto.
Drag Me To Hell
Enh. Alex haaaaaaaaaated it. Hated. It.
An Education
I liked this a lot. Carey Mulligan was fantastic, of course, and I thought Peter Saaaarsgaaaard was also really great. Katina and I had a conversation afterwards about how, as adults, we could look at that character and realize how skeevy he was, but also how totally charmed we would have been by him at 16 or 17. We were both girls similar to Jenny, in that we were very smart and mature and academic and thought we were much less naive than we actually were.
*Anvil: The Story of Anvil
We both really liked this. Robb and Lips are second only to Julia and Paul Child as my couple of the year.
*8 1/2
To prep for Nine, obviously, which I'm probably not going to actually see anytime soon. I'm fairly certain I am not nearly cool enough for Fellini.
*Up In The Air
One of my favorites of the year, for sure. All three stars were great, but I thought that both women were absolutely phenomenal. I loved Anna Kendrick in Camp (and want nothing to do with the Twilight nonsense), so I'm thrilled to see her doing so well.
*Sherlock Holmes
Entertaining (although I lost it a little in the middle because I was so so exhausted from being up really late on Christmas Eve) and gorgeous to look at. Downey and Law are adorable and charming and sexy as hell.
Kala - M.I.A.
Fearless - Taylor Swift
Hairspray OST (I downloaded this over the summer, but finally just bought it)
It's Not Me, It's You - Lily Allen
Middle Cyclone - Neko Case
Ellipse - Imogene Heap
Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson
Rated R - Rihanna
Raphael Saadiq 3/11 (Bluebird Theatre)
Dakota Blonde 4/5 (Little Bear)
Lily Allen 4/9 (Ogden Theatre)
Neko Case 5/30 (Ogden Theatre)
Addicted to Gods, Eyedea & Abilities, Murs, Aesop Rock, Atmosphere 8/14 (Red Rocks)
Ingrid Michaelson 10/19 (Gothic Theatre)
Ozomatli 11/14 (Ogden Theatre)