Wrapping It Up: Favorite Movies 2008

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Yes, I’m aware it’s March and I’m randomly posting Best of 2008s. Blame the economy, hahahaha.
My Favorite Movies in 2008 Were:
(linked to their original Snip reviews)
1. Iron Man. WIthout a doubt. This SHOULD have won awards.
2. Milk. So well done.
3. Let the Right One In. Spooky!
4. Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Hilarious. Yet sweet.
5. Wanted. AWESOME. With a few plot holes. Bygones.
6. Hunger. So sad.
7. The Dark Knight. It wasn’t as good as IronMan. But it was good.
8. Tropic Thunder. Pure utter hilarity.
9. Atonement. Gorgeous. Just as good as the book.
10. Leatherheads. Beautifully filmed. And I really do not care for Renee Z., yet she was unable to ruin it for me.
And if you’d like to hear about other movies I liked or DIDN’T, you can go read the full post.

Duff’s Favorite Movies 2008

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Why no I don’t find it odd at all to be doing my best-ofs in March, three months later. But thanks for asking.

And it’s probably worth mentioning once again that this represents WHAT I SAW in 2008. Not what was released in 2008.

So I saw 40 movies in the theater in 2008 (only counting the first viewing, per my usual) which would be pretty good…except for the fact that 15 of those were seen in 10 days in October at the Chicago Film Festival. So the rest of the year I saw only 25 films which averages out to two a month. Kinda lame. I don’t blame the lack of good movies however (come on); it’s really my preference for lying on the floor doing nothing that gets in the way. Bygones.

The Best Movies I Saw in 2008 Were:
(linked to my Snip reviews)
1. Iron Man. WIthout a fucking doubt. This SHOULD have won awards.
2. Milk. So well done.
3. Let the Right One In. Spooky!
4. Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Hilarious. Yet sweet.
5. Wanted. AWESOME. With a few plot holes. Bygones.
6. Hunger. So sad.
7. The Dark Knight. It wasn’t as good as IronMan. But it was good.
8. Tropic Thunder. Fucking pure hilarity.
9. Atonement. Gorgeous. Just as good as the book.
10. Leatherheads. Beautifully filmed. And I really do not care for Renee Z., yet she was unable to ruin it for me.

Other Movies I Really Liked, Include:
Redbelt. True, I may be the only person who saw it.
Cloverfield. COME ON PEOPLE. Monsters are good.
The Fall. So pretty.
The Duchess. So sad.
Sparrow. Quirky.
Burn After Reading. Look at the layer beneath.

Movies I Thought Were Overrated, Include:
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Too pretentious. Too teenage.
Sex and the City. Too long, too superficial.
Two Lovers. We saw this at the aforementioned festival. It pretty much sucked. Now it’s out in theaters and getting RAVE reviews. SRSLY PEOPLE IT SUCKED.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for the Day. So wrong. Read the book instead.
There Will Be Blood. Great performance by DDL. But I don’t ever need to see it again. EVER.
Vantage Point. Too much of a mess. The more time you spend thinking about it, the more the filmmakers fucked this one up halfway through.

Movies I Thought Were Underrated:
Quantum of Solace. Yes, he needed to take his shirt off more. Yes, it’s a lot like Bourne. AND THAT’S A GOOD THING.
Be Kind, Rewind. Fun. and Sweet.
Wanted. Too many Jolie haters need to get over themselves.

The Worst Movies I Saw in 2008 Were:
Made of Honor. Too fucking horribly bad.
Two Lovers. See “Overrated” above.
North Starr. Too amateur.

Random Factoid
I actually saw TWO animated flicks in 2008 (Wall-E and Bolt!). And sort of enjoyed them. A little. I believe that’s unprecedented.

Two Days of Sick Twittering

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A week later, this all seems hilarious to me.

11:58 PM Feb 22: Getting out of bed to chew pepto tablets with 4 am wakeup looming

4:25 AM Feb 23: puking puking puking all night long. fun times NOT

6:47 AM Feb 23: lying on the bathroom floor sucking on an ice cube and praying for death

8:39 AM Feb 23: needs ginger ale but is too weak to go get it

9:17 AM Feb 23: hiccups in this state canNOT be good

1:08 PM Feb 23: testing out a few saltines thanks to @laureneo taking pity on my patheticness

5:02PM Feb 23: Silvia has the punes too! something on the plane fucked us up

8:52 AM Feb 24: just ate some rice. waiting to see if this stays down…

12:23 PM Feb 24: being sick is so tiring. i think i need a nap.

2:36PM Feb 24: marvelling that I watched an entire hour of desperate housewives of new york

RIP Bill Holm.

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A Minnesotan and a Icelander.

A poet. An essayist. 2008’s McKnight Distinguished Artist of the Year.

Author of one of my favorite travel/experience books EVER!!!: Coming Home Crazy.

And Barton Sutter sums him up poetically: “Tis also a gift to be complex and ornery / with a house full of music / cigar smoke and whiskey / and Icelandic sagas / preserved by farmers / for nearly a thousand years.”

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for February.

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Bought:

  • Rogue Angel: Renaissance, by Alex Archer (trilogy in one volume)
  • Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories, by Lauren Groff
  • L.A. Outlaws, by T. Jefferson Parker*
  • The Devil’s Bones, by Jefferson Bass*
  • Lies of Silence, by Brian Moore^
  • Every Dead Thing, by John Connolly^
  • Sweetheart, by Chelsea Cain^
  • For All We Know, by Ciaran Carson (poetry)^
  • Nocturnes, by John Connolly (stories)^
  • The Three Evanglists, by Fred Vargas^
  • That They May Face the Rising Sun, by John McGahern^
  • Domestic Violence, by Eavan Boland (poetry)^
  • Finding the Gossamer, by Patrick Hicks (poetry)^
  • Eureka Street, by Robert McLiam Wilson^
  • All Summer, by Claire Kilroy^
  • The Pillowman, by Martin McDonagh (play/drama)^
  • The Feminists Go Swimming, by Michael Collins (stories)^
  • The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson^
  • Antarctica, by Claire Keegan (stories)^
  • Dark Hollow, by John Connolly*
  • Carved in Bone, by Jefferson Bass
  • Flesh and Bone, by Jefferson Bass
  • The Killing Kind, by John Connolly

Read:
  • Satan Says, by Sharon Olds (poetry)
  • The Broom of the System, by David Foster Wallace
  • L.A. Outlaws, by T. Jefferson Parker
  • The Devil’s Bones, by Jefferson Bass
  • Lies of Silence, by Brian Moore
  • Every Dead Thing, by John Connolly
  • Sweetheart, by Chelsea Cain
  • Dark Hollow, by John Connolly
  • Delicate Edible Birds, by Lauren Groff (stories)
  • For All We Know, by Ciaran Carson (poetry)

*bought in airports
^bought in Dublin, baby

A Surely Incomplete List of Chicago Photobooths

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Old B&Ws (often broken):

  • Schuba’s (Southport & Belmont)
  • Empty Bottle (Western just south of Division)
  • Reckless Records (the Wicker Park one, on Milwaukee just south of North)
  • Double Door (round the Milwaukee/Damen corner from Reckless)

Old Color (and in the case of * =POLAROID!):

  • Sheffields (just north of Belmont on, wait for it, Sheffield)
  • Waveland Bowling Alley* (Western & Addison)

New B&W:

  • The Bottom Lounge (waaaay west on Lake)

New B&W/Sepia/Color:

  • Lucky Strike (Bowling Alley)(at the River East cinema)

À la Super Eggplant, currently, I am…

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Eating: Toaster Strudel. It’s my go-to breakfast when I have to leave the house before 5 a.m. Like I have to every day now.

Making: Supposedly working on two baby boy quilts. Supposedly.

Reading: Our challenge book for February, “The Broom of the System” by David Foster Wallace, which I am loving. I call it “Vonnegut if he wrote female narrators.”

Watching: BStarG season 4.5 and Holy Frak the last two episodes have been NUTS. Remember all those interviews Tahmoh was giving where they asked him about the last 10/11 and he said “Everybody dies!” Yeah, I’m wondering if that might not be the truth! Also loving Bones (hockey dream sequence!!!) and the past few episodes of The Office have been really side-splittingly funny. I have a bunch of random other series on DVD saved up but I just can’t get around to watchin’ ’em.

Listening to: “Alopecia” Why (like a lot); “Oracular Spectacular” MGMT (Love! and hello where have I been?); Bon Iver “Blood Bank” (love) and a few singles from LadyGaGa (sounds like a combination of Pink + Gwen Stefani? no?) and just bought the latest singles from Kelly Clarkson (only the second song of hers I own! but it’s fun!) and Eminem!