y favorite movies of the year might be very different from yours. My taste in movies tends towards the diverse, sometimes the bizarre, often documentaries or foreign films, but I also love to laugh. Basically I love a movie that either 1. makes me think, 2. makes me laugh, 3. makes me feel, 4. is beautiful, 5. introduces something completely new and interesting to the art form or 6. entertains the heck out of me. If I movie manages to do more than one of these things, it's likely to make it onto this list or if it does anyone of them
really really well, then that might be enough to make it on the list all by itself.
Before I get to my list, a short note about ratings: I don't pay much attention to them. Why? Well, it's a personal thing. For some people that gives them an idea of whether or not they want to go to a movie in the first place. For me, I find, that a rating very very often gives you absolutely no idea whether or not something is going to be worth my time or not. In fact, to be honest with you, there were several PG13 movies I saw this year which I found absolutely full of things which made me squirm or uncomfortable to watch with my children, whereas I saw several R rated movies that I would have no problem with them attending. For reals. The rating system is seriously messed up and I hate how they are determined, and for that reason, I pay almost zero attention to any of them. There are much better ways to determine the value of content in my opinion. (see my list above as to what I am looking for in a movie...) So having said that I honestly haven't got much idea what any of these movies are rated and so if you care about that aspect of it, you'll have to go digging for that information. This is just my impressions and my top 10. Starting with 10 and working towards my most favorite at 1:
10 - Shutter Island: Coming in at number 10 is this Leonardo Di Caprio film which I thought was an intelligent little thriller. A quite decent twist ending that you might not quite see coming, though you may be guessing at something happening and see the clues, you probably won't have it all figured out prior to the end. Plus I don't know, sometimes I think Leonardo is a little dreamy.
9 - Inception: Another Leonardo film, and he's pretty dreamy in this one too. This film is one that you need to be paying attention to or you really aren't quite sure what is going on. I had no problem following it and most people I know didn't either (nor did my two kids ages 13 and 15) but having said that there were some people in the theatre who seemed to walk out confused. Individual mileage may vary. But I think it was quite a thinking man (or woman's) sci-fi, which doesn't happen all that often and which I don't normally like all that much (sci-fi in general not being my usual choice in moving going genres). Interesting take on concepts of consciousness, dreams, etc, which I always find interesting.
8 - I'm Still Here: I know, the movie almost everyone loved to hate this year, so what am I doing endorsing it? The film blew me away on a number of levels. First of all - even if you sorta thought maybe it might be a hoax, seeing it before the word was out that it actually was a hoax of sorts, was an entirely different thing than seeing it after you knew for sure. There was no way to really
know if Phoenix was snowing us or not. Not for abosolute certain. And even when you do know - there some really crazy good acting going on here. So you either think you're watching amazing acting (after you find out) or you think you're watching this really raw performance peice (before you find out) and either way it's very mesmerizing. I always really like Joaquin, I always felt he had this quiet intensity that was just really great and you see it in spades in this movie. Is it disturbing? YES! Very much so. And I will say the subject matter is definitely MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY. But as a student of psychology, it's endlessly fascinating. It's also endlessly fascinating in a whole other sense - in the way that it explores celebrity and media and cultural obsessions and a score of other societal ills. I know I'm one of like 2 people in America who genuinely admired it, so I'm on my own here, but I really think it's a great little peice of art.
7 - Greenberg: A quirky film to be sure, but mining some serious emotional depths. I loved Stiller's performance here and I loved the subject matter explored. What happens when you don't live up to your expectations? What happens when you wake up and find yourself a grown-up except you aren't sure how you got there? There are some moments of intense emotional honesty here that you just don't see in a film all that often. Really great.
6- The American: Don't let the title fool you, this film is anything but a typical american film. Really it's more of a foreign film with the main character being american and in english (mostly) - set in Italy (and a tiny bit in Sweden) this film moves and feels like a foreign film. It's largely quiet for huge swaths of time. But I loved that about it. The tension gets so ramped up at times that I found myself almost getting a pain in my neck from sitting with my muscles so taut. When I left the theatre I felt slightly transformed by it. The ultimate mark of a good movie for me.
5 - The Ghost Writer: Also basically of a foreign film (directed by Polanski), I loved this beautiful moody little piece. The story is intriguing and the acting is great (I usually adore Ewan McGregor), but in addition the gorgeous setting of the thing is amazing. From the austere modern home where most of the action takes place to the gray weather and wonderful shots, I could feel the chill in the room emanating off the screen. More or less a thriller, it's a really well done movie.
4- Inside Job: If there's one movie I think everyone should
have to see this year it would be this one. Such a well done and thoroughly researched and presented documentary outlining in detail the financial collapse and why we should all be pretty mad about it. Pointing blame exactly where the largest portion of blame lies - which is basically outside of all political lines but shares blame all the way around between anyone with true power in this country - this movie will make you madder than you've ever been and still entertained and intrigued while it's happening. Please go rent this.
3 - Exit Through the Gift Shop: a seriously hilarious little documentary of sorts (well...kind of...there's some question about some aspects of the movie and how much of it is documentary and how much of it is Bansky having us on again). If you don't know all that much about Banksy maybe this won't be as enjoyable as it is for those who have followed his work, but I tend to think even if this was your introduction to Banksy and street art in general, you'd enjoy it. I saw it twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times and would love to see it again.
2 - It's Complicated: Okay for so many reasons I
loved this. And I almost didn't go because I thought it looked sort of stupid in the previews. It's funny, but also it's really well acted. Meryl is amazing as usual. I love Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin does a good job too. It touches on some themes that you don't see touched on all that often in a movie which were not only funny, but serious as well - actually making light of something that in real life, often isn't that funny at all. Which is part of what you have to love about it. And men going through a mid-life crisis definitely
should see it, as a cautionary tale. I can't imagine why every woman over the age of about 35 wouldn't love it.
1 - A Single Man: This film stuck with me all year. I think I saw it around March? And I think about it still very frequently. It was gorgeous.
Gorgeous. Did I mention it was absolutely gorgeous? Well it was. Besides that, it gave me so much to think about. There was so much substance to it that I find myself still ruminating on it's message - and how often does a film do that? This is one that I would definitely like to own and watch again on occasion. Films don't slip onto my all time favorite list all that often, but this one defintely did. And not very many people saw it, which is such a shame. Tom Ford blew my socks off. The man knows a visual image that seers. And the acting is superb. Definitely my favorite of the year.
There's my year end list. What would you add? What did you see that you really loved this year?
The Help by Kathyrn Sockett: Touching on themes of racism and southern gentry, told with the perfect combination of serious and humor with delightful characters, every once in a while a book comes a long and makes that rare list of "most favorite books", books like To Kill a Mockingbird, or Catcher in the Rye or Life of Pi. This book makes the list. Loved it. Probably one of my favorites in the past 2 years or so. 
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho: In every way I thought this book was beautiful and amazing. And unless you read it for the fable that it is - for it's allegorical insights, I'm not sure you can love it. I found myself underlining so many things that had such personal and truthful bite sized pieces of wisdom, like a discovery of delicious little bits of chocolate a long the way. In fact, the whole book is really about wisdom. But it also about the wonder of life, and the eternal nature of truth and the nature of the universe and man's place in that universe. It doesn't matter what "religion" you feel that you belong to - or even, whether or not you belong to an organized religion, that is part of the beauty of the book, whatever religious background you have or do not have, the wisdom of the book speaks to all. I personally felt the book dovetailed very nicely with my own religion, but I'm sure many Catholics, and Muslims, and Lutherans and those belonging to Judaism would feel the same. And for those who feel they don't need an organized religion, this book will speak to them too - because it is the nature of the book that gets deep inside you and makes the world seem a better place than the day before you found this book, and what better recommendation can you make for a book than that?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: I found the story and the writing so compelling, I couldn't put this down. I was deeply touched upon finishing the book, and proceeded to cry. The writing is gorgeous, even though the themes are disturbing and bleak. A post apocalyptic nightmare, which offers us some hope in the human spirit, while it makes us doubt all at the same time. I highly recommend. 
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami: I understand why Murakami maybe isn't to everyone's taste. I really loved this. I felt like in the end, I understood most of this and there's still enough to explore that I would actually like to read portions of it over again. Not only do I find the symbolism so interesting, but the style of writing and the dream-like way the story unfolds is lovely. I felt like the book was about so much, and some of it is about personal issues I am facing right now, so I really related. Particularly there is one letter May writes to Mr. Wind Up Bird that I felt I could have written myself. The book took on a really personal meaning for me. Symbolism that I noted particularly, or themes explored - water as life, misplaced destinies (or alternate destinies) - doors, the labyrinth & the bull as in greek mythology - (which could really become a long analysis as the minotaur and exploring the themes with Creta and her sister, etc.). See what I am saying? This thing is just layer on layer, but a straight through reading is also just mesmerizing, even if you weren't noticing any of this. The book is divided into 3 sections which explores 3 different ways of viewing the world and fate. Sex is explored also a metaphor for life and death here as well, and birth as a part of that same exploration. There is even more than this...what a great book this would be to have assigned as a project for analysis in school. Anyway, for me, there's a lot to love here.
Columbine by Dave Cullen: Well written and concise and offered as much perspective as can be gained. I read it as part of an adolescent psych class I am taking, but I almost couldn't put it down. Such a compelling and thorough accounting of everything, from the communities reaction, the media mistakes, the sherrif department cover-up, gun control, profile of a adolescent psychopath, profile of an adolescent depressive, as much information as we've ever had on the parents of Eric and Dylan, the triumphs of some who have lived, the ways in which grief can change the course of a persons life forever and what happens when you can't let go of hate. Even after all of that both Dylan and Eric are ciphers to me. It is still so hard to wrap around.
The Other Bolyen Girl by Phillipa Gregory: Maybe it's partly because I was just at the Tower of London and Windsor Castle, where much of the action of this book takes place, but I was very taken with the story. I had read a scholarly book on the wives of Henry the 8th, quite a while ago and I have always been interested in this era of history. Introducing the character of Mary Boleyn, makes this otherwise interesting story even more interesting. I had to keep going back to history to figure out how much of the author's plot line was made up and how much was actual history, and usually, I was pleasantly surprised to find that these were all real characters, and for the most part, real history. I would like to read more of these novels, particularly the Tudor series. The writing is good and moves at a good pace, she gives you a great sense of the period, while not making you feel bogged down in wordy or difficult language
Goldengrove by Francine Prose: I really loved this. Quite unexpectedly. It's really a story about grief and loss but it's written in this really lovely way. There are some really lyrical moments in the writing and I found myself entranced by the story. I found myself carrying it with me everywhere I went and reading it whenever I had a chance. I love it when books like this just sort of fall in your lap
House of Sand and Fog by Andres Dubus III: I really enjoyed this. I saw the movie years ago but I really couldn't remember what happened so it did not affect my enjoyment of the book. I think his writing is lovely. The ability to present 3, really almost 4 separate viewpoints in one story - writing in 1st person sometimes and switching to 3rd for other portions/characters was really genius. This is not a 'cheery' book. But I was totally okay with that. I thought it was aI perfect example of how people misunderstand each other, and miscommunicate needs and wants and misread each other all the time. It also showed the inner lives and thoughts of all these people, it was easy at any given time to sympathize with almost any character. In the end I found Mr. Behrani the most sympathetic, which I think was intended. It also shows how quickly good intentions can go awry. And how quickly a life can change. A few bad choices can have very long term consequences. We know this, and yet, humans make this mistake repeatedly.
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert: At times I found the author self-indulgent and selfish and frustrating. But at other times I found myself amazed at her journey. Best of all I think, is that I found my own mind - my own ways of looking at life, opening up in new ways that I had never before thought of - and that was a nice surprise. A memoir rarely has the ability to do that - so while I did find it interesting, for me, it was more than that - I was able to take my own personal inventory and journey along with her and in many ways, I came out a better person for it. You can't say that about a book very often. I'm still not in love with Elizabeth Gilbert as a person - I find her a bit flighty and she reminds me a little too much of people who have been in my life - people who are a little too self-involved in ways that harm other people around them. But the experience itself was mind expanding, and I loved every bit of that.
Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison: I enjoyed this a great deal. It's semi-autobiographical, and a very raw story. The writing is good, though straight forward, the characterizations and tone are really well done. I did feel less than satisfied by the ending and I wished the book were a little longer. I felt like there was more to explore and the author just didn't want to go farther than she allows us. That was somewhat disappointing. I know life is often messy and doesn't always end with everything tied up in bow - but I still felt she could have explored further her relationship with her mother and her mother's relationship to her husband - and her little sisters relationship to each of them as well - that just felt like it didn't really get full closure for me. I do recommend it, though not for people who are put off by stories which involve abuse of children. I know some people just cannot even read fiction which involves that sort of thing and the book is full of it. I really felt for the little girl "Bone" - and all the characters in the book really, I wanted them to have better than they had. I wanted Bone to have hope, but in the end, I wasn't sure if she really had that at all, or would ever be able to have it. 
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes: A beautiful little book which has nothing much to offer in the way of plot but makes up for it in wonderful imagery and enchanting details. Chronicle of Mayes adventures in purchasing and renovating a house in Italy with her boyfriend, this book was a nice respite from reading books where the subject matter was serious, challenging or dark. A perfect little fantasy for each of us who would love to tackle the romantic notion of buying a house in Tuscany and spending our spare time there soaking up the culture (not to mention the food!). Frances Mayes makes us feel that this is not an impossible dream
Clockers by Richard Price: I loved this. I could hardly put it down for a few days. I adored the tv series "The Wire" and when I found out Richard Price was one of the main writers for the show I was intrigued to read his books. His ability to transport you to the streets and get you wrapped up in the stories from both the cops and the people of the neighborhood's perspective is genius.
