All posts filed under: Best Of…

Year-end compilations and collections

What if Everybody Squeezed the Cat?

Twelve influential books (and a few more thrown in for fun)

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Since  I left Facebook about 18 months ago, I miss 99.5% of the silly contests, lists, and challenges that clog the social media world.  And even when I was on FB, I would occasionally take one of their lists — such as the five albums I’d most want on a desert island — and expand that into blog posts (as in album #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5). But the other day, my sister Debbie put up a list of ten influential books in her life, and asked Candice to do the same.  The challenge was to come up with the list quickly.  Both Debbie and Candice had great lists, and that made me think about what my list would look like. So…here is my off the cuff list of twelve books that I’ve read (and usually re-read, and re-read).  Since this is my blog, I’m not going to be bound by the FB convention of ten.  And, in fact, you’ll see I’ve thrown in a bonus book or two along the way. Through the …

Quest for the Best (Picture) Final Edition

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In this final installment of thoughts from our unqualified but enthusiastic movie reviewer about the 2014 Best Picture nominees, I’ll provide thoughts about why each of the six pictures I saw could, should, or won’t win the Best Picture award. In alphabetical order… American Hustle – Great ensemble acting.  Any of the four principals would deserve an award.  And yes, I love anything that Jennifer Lawrence is in. Amy Adams is pretty amazing as well. But the story line doesn’t hang together for me. (When I read this NY Times article on David O. Howard’s filmmaking style, I realized why.) While American Hustle is one of the favorites, I think there are several better movies in the running this year. Gravity – After seeing this movie on the plane earlier this week, the Tina Fey line at the Golden Globes about the lengths George Clooney will go in order not to date any female his own age finally made sense!  Seriously, this is a terrific movie.  Clooney is Clooney. (These days, he appears to just …

Quest for the Best (Picture) Update

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In our quest to see all the Best Picture nominees before the March 2nd Academy Awards show, Candice and I find ourselves well behind our pace of recent years.  We’re going to blame it all on February.  Have I mentioned that I really hate February? Why does this month even exist? But enough with the excuses…we’ve now seen four of the nine nominees.  I wrote earlier about the first two, so let’s focus on the most recent films we’ve seen.  Both were very satisfying. Philomena stars the incomparable Judi Dench who – as Philomena Lee – undertakes a search for a son she was forced to give up for adoption some fifty years earlier by the nuns of an Irish convent.  This is a deeply moving true story, that is lovingly filmed.  Steve Coogan, as the journalist Martin Sixsmith who uncovers Philomena’s story, interacts very effectively with Dench on the screen.  I won’t spoil it for those who have not seen the movie, but this is one I strongly recommend.  Philomena is a terrific movie. …

Quest for the Best (Picture), Year III

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Yes, we’re at it again.  As has been the case the past two years, Candice and I are out to see all of the Best Picture nominees (or as many as possible) before the Academy Awards show.  We began this new tradition two years ago after we became empty nesters, and I have to say it  has raised my stock as a husband. One of my major failings in life before I came up with this brilliant idea was not making an effort to go to the movies. What can I say… However, we got a late start this year.  (Once again, the “sure things” we went to see early in the year – I’m looking at you Lee Daniels’ The Butler – didn’t make the final cut of the Academy.) So here it is February 1st – with the awards show just weeks away, and we’ve only seen two.  However, I’m pretty sure we’ve seen the winner. If there is any justice in the world, 12 Years a Slave will win in a rout.  …

Best bluegrass of 2013

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This year brought us some very good bluegrass music – much of it coming out of Alison Brown’s Compass Records in Nashville. In looking at the different albums that came to my attention in 2013, three of my top five bluegrass releases of the year came from this eclectic roots music label which has been stretching boundaries and introducing the world to exciting new artists for almost two decades. First up in the More to Come… “Best of Bluegrass 2013” list is the wonderful Claire Lynch and her Dear Sister project (and not just because she signed my CD cover).  This is a great group of songs that include tunes I began writing about almost two years ago.  The title track comes from letters written before the Civil War battle of Stones River – fought near my hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I’ll Be Alright Tomorrow is a new working of the Osborne Brothers classic, that sounds just right in the hands of the newly minted 2013 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Female Vocalist of the Year. …

If I Had a Vote (Or “Quest for the Best, The Final Chapter”)

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Tonight is when the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announce their awards, and for once I’m ready! Friends who have known me for a long time will find it impossible to believe that I’ve seen eight of the nine Best Picture nominees BEFORE the Oscars are awarded…much less that I have an opinion on them.  I’m just not a film junkie. But empty nestdom brought a change in habits, and Candice and I made a pledge to see all the nominees.  We made it through eight before life, health and work kept us from closing out our pledge…but since Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is NEVER mentioned in all the pre-Oscar write-ups as having a chance of winning, I think we’re on safe ground here. Number eight in our marathon was The Tree of Life – which we watched today thanks to iTunes.  Easily the most complex of the nominees, Terrence Malick’s film was not among my favorites even though it attempted to explore greater depths on issues of life …

Quest for the Best Part II (Or Have We Just Seen the Winner?)

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When last we visited, dear readers, Candice and I were on a quest to see all the nominees for Best Picture. Tonight, I think we saw the winner.  Or at the very least, my choice. I know, we still have four movies to go (who in the world came up with NINE nominations?!), but Hugo is such a wonderful story, told in a loving way, with that terrific 3D look…well, I’m ready to place my bets. (Column interruption:  I really don’t bet.  Every monetary bet I’ve ever made in my life, I’ve lost.  My good friend John Lane said it best:  “I have the same chance of winning the lottery whether I buy a ticket or not.”  Now back to the regularly scheduled blog post.) It doesn’t mean the other movies aren’t worth seeing.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all five.  I went to see The Artist with minimal expectations, but found it enchanting.  It didn’t hurt that we caught that movie in the restored AFI Silver Theatre here in Silver Spring – a perfect place to …

A Quest for the Best (Picture, That Is)

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Never in a single one of my 56 (almost 57) years have I seen all the films nominated for the Academy Awards Best Picture category.  Heck, most years I’m lucky to have seen one! This year will be different. What’s the use of having an empty nest if you don’t do things differently now that the kids are away, right? When the Academy announced its nominees for 2011 earlier this week, a light went off in my head.  Heck, I’d already seen two of the films:  War Horse and The Descendants.  How difficult could it be to see the others before the Academy Awards show late in February? How many do they nominate anyway, five? So I shot an email off to Candice and suggested we try to catch all the nominees before the show.  Candice – who would say my major failing as a human being is the fact that I seldom (read almost never) go to the movies – eagerly accepted. Okay, we’re on!  So let’s go to the Oscar website and make …