Things I Liked About 2010, Pt. 1

I'm just now getting around to making my Best of 2010 list. I might be a little late to the party, but here it is nonetheless. Without further ado, I present my list of Things I Liked about 2010 (a very incomplete list).

Movies:
The Fighter, The King's Speech, Black Swan, The Social Network, Inception, Carlos (the longer version), Made In Dagenham, Never Let Me Go, Toy Story 3, Illégal, Certified Copy, Winter's Bone, The Kids Are All Right, True Grit, Mr. Nobody
Documentaries: Les Arrivants (The Arrivals), Waiting for Superman, Freakonomics, Exit Through the Gift Shop, The Other City.

Items of Note:
I saw Casablanca for the first time ever. Luckily, I was able to see it on the big screen at the AFI theatre. I loved it.

This year Eagan and I took advantage of the many great special film events in the area. There were free screenings; advanced screenings; and screenings with discussions afterwards with the director, writers, and/or actors. This year we attended screenings that included Edward Norton, Sam Rockwell, Tony Goldwyn, Betty Anne Waters and Barry Scheck -- who were portrayed in the movie Conviction, Oliver Stone and the writers of South of the Border, the people involved with 8: The Mormon Proposition, Ambassador Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame -- who were portrayed in the movie Fair Game (the director, Doug Limas, was also there). And Neal Conan, from NPR, moderated two of the above discussion panels.
We also enjoyed the different film festival and film showcases in the area, including the Silverdocs documentary film festival, the European Union Film Festival, The Latin American Film Festival, and the Labor Film Festival.

During Thanksgiving break, the AFI was the host of a special road show of the full (uncut) version of Carlos. It was 5.5 hours long (with 2 intermissions!). That is definitely the longest movie I have ever seen -- and all in one sitting. It was a really fascinating film and didn't seem like 5.5 hours. Edgar Ramirez, the actor that played Carlos, did an amazing job.

TV:
Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Community, 30 Rock, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Parks and Recreation, Louie, The Walking Dead, The Ricky Gervais Show, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, Dexter, The United States of Tara, The Big C, The Benson Interruption, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret

Music:
Rocky Votolato - True Devotion, Arcade Fire - The Suburbs, Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Girl Talk - All Day, Sarah Jaffe - Suburban Nature,  The Black Keys - Brothers, Matt Pond PA - The Dark Leaves, Stars - The Five Ghosts, Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP, She & Him - Volume Two, Broken Bells - Broken Bells, Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now, Best Coast - Crazy For You, Mumford and Sons - Sigh No More, Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues, Azure Ray - Drawing Down the Moon, Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me, Band of Horses - Infinite Arms, Midlake - The Courage of Others, Jakob Dylan "Women and Country", J. Tillman - Tillman Sings 'Tonight's The Night'.

Items of Note:
Aaron Neville played a free concert in our neighborhood! He played all his major hits and other great R&B/Soul standards.

The best concert I attended in 2010 was an intimate living room concert that Rocky Votolato played in Ogden. One of the best shows I've ever attended.

Books:
The Best American Magazine Writing 2009 by The American Society of Magazine Editors; Franklin & Eleanor by Hazel Rowley; Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs by John Bowe, Marisa Bowe & Sabin Streeter; Everything is Going to be Great by Rachel Shukert; American Voyeur by Benoit Denizet-Lewis; The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson; The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall; The False Friend by Myla Goldberg; The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender; I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson

Items of Note:

I know it's not a book, but Eagan got me a subscription to The New Yorker this year as a gift and I love it dearly. Each weekly issue is usually 100+ pages, so it's pretty much like a book. Each issue is like a really great book of essays. There are great in-depth articles on politics, social issues, economics, science, pop culture, and profiles on interesting people.

We attended a lot of great book readings this year. My favorites were David Rakoff (for "Half Empty", Jonathan Franzen (for "Freedom"), Jonathan Safran Foer (for "Eating Animals"), Roxana Saberi (for "Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran", and Nell Irvin Painter (for "The History of White People").

David Rakoff and Jonathan Safran Foer (*swoon*)