2007 Film
A Few Good Men - 8/10
A Prairie Home Companion - 7/10
Adam's Rib - 5/10
Almost Famous - 8/10
Amadeus - 6/10
An American in Paris - 6/10
An Inconvenient Truth - 8/10
Babel - 6/10
Best in Show - 5/10
Bobby - 7/10
Bride of Frankenstein - 6/10
Capote - 7/10
Casino - 5/10
Children of Men - 9/10
Chocolat - 7/10
Clerks II - 5/10
Collateral - 5/10
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - 5/10
Crash - 8/10
Dreamgirls - 8/10
Finding Nemo - 8/10
For Your Consideration - 4/10
Frankenstein - 5/10
Friday Night Lights - 8/10
From Here to Eternity - 5/10
Ghost Busters - 7/10
Happy Feet - 5/10
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 8/10
Hitch - 7/10
Hot Fuzz - 8/10
Infamous - 6/10
Inside Man - 7/10
It Happened One Night - 5/10
JFK - 6/10
Jurassic Park - 8/10
Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World - 5/10
Kill Bill Vol. 1 - 4/10
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - 8/10
Lady in the Water - 4/10
Little Miss Sunshine - 8/10
Lord of the Rings 1: Fellowship of the Ring - 9/10
Lord of the Rings 2: The Two Towers - 9/10
Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King - 8/10
Marie Antoinette - 4/10
Memoirs of a Geisha - 6/10
Midnight Cowboy - 6/10
Miss Potter - 6/10
Monsters, Inc. - 8/10
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - 6/10
Music and Lyrics - 7/10 |
My Beautiful Laundrette - 5/10
My Fair Lady - 6/10
Network - 4/10
Night at the Museum - 5/10
Ocean's Eleven - 8/10
Ocean's Twelve - 5/10
On the Waterfront - 5/10
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing - 7/10
One Fine Day - 6/10
Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) - 7/10
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 8/10
Practical Magic - 8/10
Remains of the Day - 5/10
Schindler's List - 8/10
Se7en - 8/10
Shrek 2 - 7/10
Shrek the Third - 4/10
Smokey and the Bandit - 7/10
Snakes on a Plane - 5/10
Spider-Man 3 - 4/10
Sunshine - 4/10
Superman Returns - 4/10
Syriana - 8/10
Taxi Driver - 4/10
The Big Sleep - 7/10
The Birdcage - 8/10
The Black Dahlia - 6/10
The Break-Up - 4/10
The Departed - 7/10
The Devil Wears Prada - 6/10
The English Patient - 7/10
The French Connection - 5/10
The Fountain - 4/10
The History Boys - 8/10
The Lake House - 5/10
The Last Emperor - 6/10
The Money Pit - 7/10
The Odd Couple - 5/10
The Pianist - 8/10
The Prestige - 8/10
The Pursuit of Happyness - 6/10
The Queen - 6/10
The Sound of Music - 7/10
Top Gun - 5/10
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines - 5/10
Transformers - 8/10
Venus - 6/10
Walk the Line - 8/10
West Side Story - 4/10
While You Were Sleeping - 7/10 |
By the numbers
100 films in total
80 (ish) films that were new to me
63 films via LoveFilm (really getting my money's worth from unlimited dvds, one at a time)
47 films I consider good
40 films I consider mediocre
22 from imdb's top 250 (as of Jan 3rd 2007)
16 Oscar winners
13 Films I consider bad
12 2007 films - Babel, Dreamgirls, Harry Potter, Hot Fuzz, Infamous, Music and Lyrics, Shrek the Third, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, The Fountain, The Pursuit of Happyness, Transformers
11 films from the old American Film Institute top 100 films
9 Films off the new American Film Institute top 100 films
8 films seen in the cinema
5 films each featuring Sandra Bullock (something of a rom com phase in the middle helped by Infamous), Cate Blanchett (3 Lord of the Rings, doing nothing in Babel and apparently she was in Hot Fuzz...), George Clooney (predictable), Brad Pitt (also predictable)
1 film with William H. Macy - that's rather poor
Best film
Sometimes my ratings don't quite work and I end up thinking the best film of the year is something that gets better the longer I think about it, this year, I think I'll go with the the only new 9/10 rated film this year. Children of Men. I really enjoyed watching it; an interesting story well acted and beautifully directed that had me fascinated from the very beginning.
Worst film
There are 13 films I rated 4/10 so it would seem I don't have a very good grasp of rating bad films. Looking at my reviews, many are rated bad for missed opportunities or the fact that I just didn't get it. I think the Worst Film Award has to go to Lady in the Water however, for a review that starts "What an awful, awful film!"
Miscellaneous Awards:
Does What It Says on the Tin Award: Transformers
Best Comeback Award- Al Gore, Inconvenient Truth
Surprisingly Good Award - Dreamgirls
Taking the Piss AND Being Funny Award - Hot Fuzz, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Everyone Should Watch Even if They Don't Want To Award: Schindler's List
Immediately Want to Watch It Again Award - The Prestige
How To Do A Complex Plot Without Making Me Fall Asleep Award - Syriana
How NOT To Do A Complex Plot Without Making Me Fall Asleep Award - The Fountain
Film that Doesn't Do As You expect Award - Friday Night Lights
Aw Aren't They Lovely Rom-Com Couple Award - Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore in Music and Lyrics
You Should Know Better Award - Shrek 3 producers, M. Night Shamalwhassit for Lady in the Water
Predictably Awful But I Paid To See It Anyway Award - Spider-Man 3
What Am I Missing? Award - Taxi Driver, Kill Bill
It Started So Well - Sunshine - good opening, plummeting to awfulness
So Bad It's Just Awful Award - Superman Returns
Stupidest Plot Award - Network (for endless loops of hirings and firings and being surprised at the next screw-up)
Most Tenuously Connected Collection of Short Stories Where the Best One Has No Actual Connection to the Main Plot Award - Babel (ditch Brad Pitt et al and just make the Japanese section an entire film)
Stay Behind the Camera Award - Emilio Estevez for Bobby, a great film from a mediocre actor
Best Play For Those That Don't Go to the Theatre- The History Boys
Great Film I Can Never Watch Again - Little Miss Sunshine - the ending was perfect, but just remembering it makes me want to hide behind a cushion.
Nice Idea Shame About the Outcome - Night at the Museum
2007 Books
Fiction
Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson *
The Steep Approach to Garbadale by Iain Banks *
Coalescent: Homo Superior by Stephen Baxter
Traces by Stephen Baxter
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier *
Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy
Chart Throb by Ben Elton
Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian William *
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon *
George's Secret Key to the Universe by Lucy Hawking and Stephen Hawking *
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
The Death of Dalziel by Reginald Hill *
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch *
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Aldabreshin Compass 4: Eastern Tide by Juliet E. McKenna
The Diviners by Rick Moody *
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 2: Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 3: Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Temeraire 4: Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik *
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl *
Discworld 30 - Making Money by Terry Pratchett *
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter 6: The Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter 7: The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling *
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Book of Dave by Will Self
Orbitsville by Bob Shaw
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
A Series of Unfortunate Events 1: A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events 2: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Atrocity Archive by Charles Stross
Glasshouse by Charles Stross
Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee by Meera Syal
Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary by Martha Wells
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
Non-Fiction
The Long Tail by Chris Anderson (2007-06-12)
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (2007-02-14)
The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin (2007-02-22)
On the Edge by Richard Hammond (2007-12-28) *
Anyone Can Do It by Sahar and Bobby Hashemi (2007-01-11)
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (2007-07-20)
Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug (2007-11-19)
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman (2007-12-13)
The Planets by Dava Sobel (2007-01-28)
Penguins Stopped Play by Harry Thompson (2007-12-05)
By the Numbers:
59 books in total
56 books that were new to me, I re-read a couple of Potters and I accidentally re-read Babel-17 as I'd forgotten I'd read it
53 different authors (including 4 books by 2 authors)
49 fiction
41ish books I consider Good
38 male authors
31 new authors
26.5 UK authors (Malcolm Gladwell was born in the UK but raised in Canada)
20 American authors
19 books that were part of a series
19 Fantasy books
15 female authors (I feel a bit bad about that)
14 SF books
13 2007 books (according to a quick check on amazon)
10 non-fiction
9 books that are kinda written for children
7 books I consider Bad
5 Masterworks (one fantasy, four sf)
3 Hugo Award Winners (lord of light, dispossessed, starship troopers)
2.5 Canadians authors
1 each of Irish, Italian and Indian authors
Reviews of all books are here
Best 2007 book
I think this goes to One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson, which I actually finished at about 12.30am on January 1st 2008, but felt should be included in the 2007 list. It's a great mystery novel that effortlessly intertwines plots and characters and is perfectly paced throughout.
Honourable Mention - A Spot of Bother was a lovely read for a summer afternoon, wonderfully real characters and very entertaining.
Worst book of 2007 and possibly of all history - The Diviners by Rick Moody, I stuck with it through over 500 pages, just 'cos I assumed it was going to go somewhere or do something. I was wrong.
Dishonorable mention - Foucault's Pendulum, if you like 500 pages of exposition about the vagueries of the Templars it might be ok. I do not.
Best non-fiction - of the somewhat pathetic 10 non-fiction books I'd recommend 5 of them. Long Tail, Tipping Point and Don't Make Me Think are all interesting and well written. Penguins Stopped Play is hilarious wether you know anything about cricket or not. I felt cheesy buying Richard Hammond's biography, but then stayed up until 4am to finish it and found it to be a remarkable insight into dealing with brain injuries.
Walking away with most of the other good awards will be Scott Lynch for his brilliant Gentleman Bastard series. Lies of Locke Lamora takes the best book of the year award and Red Seas Under Red Skies was only deprived the 2007 award because I expected slightly better from the plot. He would also take awards for best characters, best universe, "I can't believe he did that!" and "Most eagerly awaited sequel". I can't recommend these books highly enough, they're extremely well written and hugely entertaining to read.
Miscellaneous Awards
Best title - Special Topics in Calamity Physics, how brilliant is that?! Not a bad book either actually.
Best concept poorly told - toss up between The Brief History of the Dead and The Book of Dave
Best concept well told - an alternate history with dragons during the Napoleonic Wars. Genius.
What the blithering heck is going on? - Lord of Light
Best Book I Should Have Read Ages Ago - Starship Troopers, absolutely brilliant.
2008 Television
Band of Brothers
Battlestar Galactica - 3
Brothers and Sisters - 1
Bones - 1
Caroline in the City - 1
Criminal Minds - 1, 2
CSI - 6,
CSI NY - 3
Deadwood - 1,2,3
Doctor Who - DT 2
Due South - 1,2
Friday Night Lights - 1
Grey's Anatomy - 3
Heroes - 1
Hotel Babylon - 1
House - 3
Hustle - 1, 2, 3
Long Way Round
Long Way Down
NCIS - 4
Party of Five - 1
Primeval - 1
Sports Night - 1, 2
Stargate Atlantis - 3
Stargate SG1 - 10
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - 1
The State Within
Top Gear - 9, 10
Torchwood - 1
Veronica Mars - 3
Weeds - 1
Some of these I watched half of in 2006, but for most of those in exchange I've watched half of the subsequent season as well. It's possible that I've actually seen entire seasons of some of those thanks to the Writers' Strike possibly halving the length of US seasons.
I'm not counting re-watches of recent shows as I haven't really tracked them. They include West Wing (4,5,6 and 7), Angel (2), most of Grey's Anatomy, NCIS, Heroes, old episodes of Top Gear. I've also watched the first half of Lost season 3 but gave up, a few episodes of Without a Trace which was desperately dull and the few episodes of Drive that actually aired before the inevitable cancellation
Reviews of most things
By the Numbers
(Large number of hours of viewing which I'm not calculating 'cos it scares me)
39 seasons
30 different series
20 2007 seasons
19 dvd box sets purchased (plus a few others of older shows that don't make that list)
19 series which will have new episodes in 2008 (writers strike allowing)
9 British Series
7 scifi shows
6 crime solving shows (should Hustle be counted? it's not exactly about 'solving' the crimes)
4 Canadian shows (counting 2 Stargates, Due South and Battlestar)
4 ~miniseries - Band of Brothers, State Within and 2x Long Way Somewhere
3 documentaries (if you count Top Gear)
New Kids on the Block
Brothers and Sisters is a bit of a guilty pleasure, from the same genre of drama/comedy as Desperate Housewives and I love it.
Friday Night Lights sounds awful on paper, a show about high school football in Texas, but thanks to an amazing cast and a creative and fluid style it's been a hit with the critics and a hot contender for my show of the year.
Heroes - the sort of show cynical me would never expect to last more than 6 episodes, let alone be a popular success. Smart, exciting, creative and fascinating.
Studio 60 - huge potential, moments of brilliance, not as bad as many made out, but apparently fatally flawed nevertheless.
How Did I Miss This?
Criminal Minds is an interesting addition to the many many procedural shows out there. A level of intelligence that is lacking in the newer CSIs.
Deadwood - I only arrived at the party after it had finished, but it was a very interesting and enjoyable series to watch, although I felt the third season got a little over complicated.
British TV doesn't suck! From the slickness of Hustle, the polish of Hotel Babylon and the charm of Doctor Who through to the silly fun of Primeval and hilarity of Top Gear I watched more British TV last year than I did in the last 5 years combined!
Sports Night - to compensate for Sorkin's disappointing new series, I finally hunted out one of his older ones which has all the sparks that would later develop into the genius of the West Wing.
Shark Jumping for Beginners
There's a few shows that are showing alarming signs of heading south. Grey's Anatomy and House both had some ill-advised subplots (Tritter and the relationship-that-shall-not-be-named). Battlestar's 3rd season is remembered for its moments of genius, but had some stunningly mediocre filler scenes and episodes.
I gave up on Lost when I lost faith that the writers had the foggiest idea what they were doing. I intended to finish off season 3 until they killed off my favourite character and I couldn't be bothered. I've half given up on Boston Legal as well, not for any particular reason, just because I'm not engaged enough to bother downloading or buying it.
Gone, but not forgotten
Stargate SG1 petered out of existence with the tedious Ori plot being left to resolve in a tv movie, the last season was looking a little tired by the end, but I'll miss it all the same.
Veronica Mars was a cult favourite, but that was about it. I loved the cast and the dialogue, but the plots were pretty mediocre a lot of the time, particularly by season 3. I'm not that disappointed that I won't be seeing the Veronica in the FBI spinoff as losing the supporting cast would have been a shame, but it's frustrating the show was cancelled before being given a chance to reinvent itself (cf The West Wing).
Nostalgia Ain't What it Used to Be
I was probably the only person at my school not to watch Party of Five, watching it now I can see that I probably would have liked it at the time, hopefully appreciating the fine acting and production, now however it's too painfully 90s and melodramatic. On the flip side, Due South was another much talked about show at school and that has aged surprisingly well, at least the first season has, the second is a little ropey.
Nice Idea But...
Torchwood - oh dear. As my review said "messy, cheesy, hole-ridden, painful show that was unsuitable for kids, unappealing to adults and just completely wrong". Hopefully the second season will be better.
Weeds is popular in the US and wins awards, but the plot of an ex-rich widow selling marijuana made me feel rather uncomfortable and unwilling to watch more than one season.
And the awards go to...
Best actor - Matthew Perry for Studio 60, totally un-Chandler, perfect delivery of Sorkin dialogue and a great chemistry with Bradley Whitford. Ian McShane in Deadwood was a close runner up, and I never thought I'd be nominating Lovejoy for anything.
Best supporting actor - the entire cast of Band of Brothers, TR Knight for the hugable George in Grey's Anatomy, Masi Oka for the equally hugable but slightly scary at times Hiro in Heroes, Michael Weatherly does a great job as SA DiNozzo in NCIS as well.
Best actress - Sally Field edges out co-star Callista Flockhart on Brothers and Sisters. Mary Louise Parker is wonderful in the otherwise mediocre Weeds, but to be honest, there wasn't much competition for this award. There's a definite shortage of strong female led shows.
Best supporting actress - Robin Weigert as Calamity Jane in Deadwood, a bizarre character played perfectly. Chandra Wilson for the brilliant Dr Bailey on Grey's Anatomy, 11 year old Lacey Chabert was amazing in Party of Five.
Best relationships - a three way tie, Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton as husband and wife in Friday Night Lights, Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni as father and daughter in Veronica Mars and Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford as dysfunctional partners in Studio 60. Close runners up - the guys from Top Gear and Casey and Dan on Sports Night.
"I only get 3 lines an episode but I really nail them" actors - Timothy Busfield as Cal in Studio 60, Wallace Langham and AJ Buckley as lab rats in CSI and CSI NY respectively, David Nykl as Dr Zelenka on Atlantis, Tina Majorino for Mac in Veronica Mars. Robert Sean Leonard's Wilson has been reduced to this category recently which is a real shame.
"Yay! They're Back on TV" - David Boreanaz in Bones and Rob Lowe on Brothers and Sisters
Best show - Heroes season 1 edges past Battlestar Galactica and Friday Night Lights. It never put a foot wrong and was fascinating and fun from the first scene of the series to the last. I was honestly beginning to despair that a quirky genre show could succeed both critically and in the ratings.
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