Remembering 2007

For me, 2007 will not be an easy year to forget. There's a good reason I didn't post much this year: I just didn't feel like it. In early February my Mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor. We were soon told it was an aggressive malignant type of tumor that could only be treated but not cured. Watching her slow decline as she dealt with her body and mind failing her made 2007 easily the worst year of my young life. Mom died in November, it took less than a year. With Christmas reminding us of her absence even more, these last few days have been especially hard, but I've been trying to remember how she was special to me.

     I love talking about movies; I will talk to anyone, anytime about any movie. My wife puts up with my endless babbling about how fantastic Martin Scorsese is, most of my friends enjoy discussing recent films they've seen, I've turned my sister into an addict, I even get my dad to watch a new movie once in a while. I get excited when I talk about a good movie, very few things truly garner my emotions and my friends and family all understand that. And whenever I would tell Mom about an upcoming movie or what I saw the night before, she would listen, and comment and sometimes she would get excited too.

     Coming from a family of librarians and writers, I've learned to appreciate the value of the written word. Mom loved books, reading, writing, language and storytelling. Movies have long been my preferred medium for storytelling, yet I always knew I could count on her to watch something with me, if I thought she might enjoy it of course. Likewise Mom introduced me to many of her favorites. Whenever I watch Charade, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, A Christmas Story, or her favorite: American Graffiti; those films will always make me think of her.
     Mom was always able to connect with me about my interests. Maybe that came easy to her, she was my Mom after all. But it's going to take a while for me to accept that there is one less person in the world who understands me. She will be missed.


Best of the Year
I didn't get out to see many movies this year but here is a list of the ones I did (note: many of these I didn't see until they were on DVD).

Catch and Release
Zodiac
300
Reign Over Me
Meet the Robinsons
Grindhouse
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
Hot Fuzz
Spider-man 3
Shrek the Third
Knocked Up
Ratatouille
Transformers
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Simpsons Movie
The Bourne Ultimatum
3:10 to Yuma
No Country for Old men
The Golden Compass
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Juno*

I've been trying to keep up on all the year end reviews and top ten lists for 2007, and what I keep hearing is that this was the best year for film in a long time. Many have compared it to the great years of the 1970's. I wish I could say I had noticed but I simply wasn't paying much attention.

Since I didn't see very much I will give you my top seven films of the year.

1. No Country for Old men
2. Zodiac
3. Knocked Up
4. Ratatouille
5. The Bourne Ultimatum
6. Juno*

7. 3:10 to Yuma
8. Grindhouse

Here's a look back at my 2006 movie list. I still think that was a pretty good year.

*Update 12/31: I got to see Juno on Saturday and it was good; better than most of what I've seen this year.