Taking Stock: 2008

During 2008, I got to see only 24 movies in the theater, primarly because of my surgery for skin cancer which kept me mostly housebound for more than four months (March to July), and I saw another 29 on DVD. I'm watching a lot of movies still, but most of them are ones that I have saved on the DVR nowadays. I managed to read 43 books, still fewer than I'd like to have finished, but reading student essays takes a lot of time and energy away from "pleasure reading." I also only saw ten plays or musicals in theaters this year, again a result of being stuck at home for all of those months. Still, there were delights to be found even in such a year of relatively low activity on my part.

Favorite Movie: Wall-E. I still maintain that this is not a movie for kids. It's almost a modern-day silent film, and its subject matter--the devastation of our planet and its aftermath--is just too sophisticated for children. (The kids at the screening I attended kept asking their parents, "What is Wall-E doing now?"). Yet, as serious as the subject may be, there was no more joyous experience at the theater for me this past year. I loved the insertion of songs and clips from Hello, Dolly (a genius move on someone's part) and the commentary on our consumerist culture. Who knew that a film about the romance between two robots could be so magical?

Runner-Up: Milk. For me, there was no more satisfying political statement than the one made by this film. I only wish it could have arrived a month or two earlier so that the LGBT community and its allies could have been inspired by the efforts of Harvey Milk. Sean Penn gives a wonderful performance as the gay civil rights pioneer, and he is ably supported by a stunningly good supporting cast. This movie uses the life of one man to show us how much of a difference each of us can make--an important lesson in these post-Prop. 8 days.

P.S. I was tempted to make Atonement my favorite runner-up since I didn't see it until January, but I'll try not to "cheat" this year the same way that I did a couple of times last year. Still, it was one of my favorite moviegoing experiences of this past year; I saw it twice on the big screen because I liked it so well. I think it will grow in stature as the years progress. It certainly stands as an example of the value of having a good script (with good source material for it) and a sharp editor.

Favorite Performance (Female): Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia! Heresy, I know, but I didn't see that many great female performances this past year. I know I could have gone for a more serious choice, but the category is "favorite," not "best." And, yes, I know it's not a very good movie overall. However, was there anyone who seemed to have more fun on the screen than Streep did this past year singing the songs of ABBA? Her performance of "The Winner Takes It All" is still my personal favorite, but she and the rest of the cast seemed to be having a ball in the musical number at the end of the movie. For sheer joy alone, I'd pick this performance (and not her performance in Doubt, which doesn't plumb the comic moments as much as I remember Cherry Jones doing in the production at the Ahmanson last year).

Favorite Performance (Male): Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. This just made it in under the wire; I only saw the film yesterday. Eastwood plays a retired auto worker whose racist attitudes almost keep him from developing a friendship with a Hmong family next door, particularly the son who needs a male influence in his life to keep him from becoming involved in a gang. Again, the movie is not that great overall--it takes too many easy turns, I think--but Eastwood plays the role as if it's an amalgam of all of his best roles. There's a lot of Dirty Harry in there, naturally, but you wouldn't be wrong to suspect a bit of Bronco Billy or some of his other "fun" roles as well. If you're familiar with Eastwood's career, this performance is a marvel. Try, though, to keep from laughing at his singing at the end of the film; Jamie Cullum will be along in a moment to sing the theme song the way it should be done.

Runners-Up: Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott in Role Models. I really loved this movie. It seemed to have its heart in the right place. As two screw-ups who have to serve as mentors for young boys, Rudd and Scott are near-perfect. Rudd is the guy who realizes that he may be getting too old to achieve all of his dreams, but he finds a way to maintain a sense of hope by movie's end. Scott plays the wild guy who always seems to be up for a party, but he reveals a sensitivity that is deep and touching. I know some of the plot points are familiar, but watch this one again to enjoy the interplay between these two actors. And the rest of the cast is all pretty great too, particularly Jane Lynch (if only she had a whole movie built around her one of these days...).

Favorite Play: Fuddy Meers. This was a student production at my college, and the cast members (including one of my fellow teachers) made it into an exciting evening at the theater. I didn't see any dramas at so-called "legitimate" theaters this year, which is surprising to me, but no matter when you have local talent like this. To try to describe the plot of this farce would be impossible, but despite all of the twists and turns (or, perhaps, because of them), I had a great time.

Favorite Musical: Xanadu. I went with my dear friend J (he's responsible for getting me out to see theater more often than I would on my own, certainly) to San Diego to see the touring production of this show at the La Jolla Playhouse. It's the most fun I've had all year. The only complaint I'd have is that it only lasts about 90 minutes. I could have watched for hours and still have had a great time. Yes, it's a take-off on the movie. Yes, it uses old ELO and Olivia Newton-John songs. Yes, you'll sing along just like everyone else does. The cast seems to have as much fun as the audience does, and the self-referential nature of the show makes it even more of a clever joy. I would have loved to have seen this on Broadway with the original cast too. I bet it was a hoot (as we say in the South).

Runner-Up: Spring Awakening. I know there were complaints about the acting abilities of the young cast of this touring company that stopped at the Ahmanson this fall. Yet their talent for singing and dancing is above complaint. They're staggeringly good in those respects. And it's an energetic show, fueled by some great songs. You might not expect a musical about teen rebellion in early 20th Century Germany to be a lot of fun, but it is. I've already downloaded "The Bitch of Living" and several other songs into my iPod, just so I can remember that night again and again.

Favorite Book (Fiction): Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. How does a book that's more than 70 years old become my favorite of 2008? By surpassing all of the contemporary stuff that I read, that's how. I picked up this Faulkner novel after reading for who-knows-how-many-times As I Lay Dying for my American literature class. This is no quick read, certainly, but the depth of characterization and the scope of the themes he's working with here make this book worth the amount of time it takes to figure out. I hadn't read this book in at least twenty years, but I find it even more impressive now than I did when I was in graduate school. On the surface, it's the telling of what happened to the Sutphen family, but of course, this being Faulkner, it's actually about the South and race relations and gender roles and class distinctions and the aftermath of the Civil War and the interaction between Northerners and Southerners and...well, you get the idea. Tackle it again (or for the first time). You deserve it.

Favorite Book (Non-Fiction): Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. No one seems to dissect aspects of our culture better than Gladwell, and he can find the most obscure examples to make difficult concepts easy to understand (e.g., why hockey players born in January, February, and March tend to do better--who would have thought of that? Gladwell, of course.). I was a fan of The Tipping Point from the moment I first read it, and now I'm trying to figure out how to use Outliers in the same ways in the classroom that I've used that earlier work. Gladwell is ostensibly writing about success and how we achieve it, but what he really does is dismantle our preconceived ideas and forces us to rethink what we believe we already know about a topic. I read this book while my students were writing their finals, and I almost wanted to give a couple of classes more time so that I could finish it faster. I have to pick up Blink now and see what Gladwell has to say about decision-making.

Runner-Up: Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. This book was loaned to me by my friend J after I suggested that he should check it out. I hadn't read it before--I had just read all of the glowing reviews--but his love of graphic novels could surely only be enhanced by reading Bechdel's book, right? To be honest, my respect for them grew with this text as well. It's Bechdel's story of her coming to terms with her own lesbianism as well as her father's homosexuality, and it's brilliantly drawn, masterfully written, and engrossing to read.

P.S. Pictures at a Revolution by Mark Harris and My Trip Down the Pink Carpet by Leslie Jordan were two other favorite non-fiction books this year. I actually read more non-fiction than anything else in 2008, and the quality of them overall was outstanding. Oddly enough, three of these four were actually published in 2008 as well. I know I claim that I don't read books that are current, but sometimes the subject matter is just too enticing. Harris takes the five nominees for Best Picture of 1967 and delves into their history and impact; it's one of the most entertaining and informative books on film I've read in recent years. Jordan's book is bascially the story of aspects of his life that have been turned into his most recent one-man show. His humor is so refreshing, and there's such a delightful aspect to his storytelling that I couldn't wait to read this book from him.

Favorite Book (Poetry): Why God Permits Evil by Miller Williams. I hope more people start to read Williams' poetry and stop just thinking of him as the father of the talented Lucinda Williams. This is a collection of poems that I was assigned to read while still in college in Mississippi, and I've always treasured them. I came back to them this year because I wanted to get in touch with my love for poetry, something I don't get to "indulge" very often these days when I'm not teaching a literature course. Williams has a sense of humor about many subjects, including the one that serves as the focus of the title poem, but he also writes with a clarity about what would seem to be depressing topics in such a way that you can empathize and appreciate their importance. I may have to look up some of his more recent work.

Runner-Up: Under a Soprano Sky by Sonia Sanchez. I met Sanchez many years ago at the Southern Literary Festival (early or mid-1980s) and was spellbound by her reading of her poetry. I bought a couple of her books and read them then, but returning to them now was a rare treat. Hers is a welcoming, open poetic voice. She seems to know how to take anger and frustration (over racism and death and mistreatment of all people) and make it seem like we are headed in the right direction overall anyway. That's a rare gift indeed.

Highlight of the Year: Would it be wrong of me to say that, for the second year in a row, it was getting to see Rufus Wainwright play live? I got to see him twice last year, the first time at the beautiful Wiltern Theater with his band and the second time at my alma mater, the University of Southern California, by himself. The second time was actually the week before I went in for my surgery (too fully chronicled on this blog already), and it was a lovely way to say goodbye temporarily to going out in public. Here's hoping he comes back to Los Angeles this year.

Runner-Up: Jamie Cullum at the Hollywood Bowl. I've already blogged about this night, so I won't go into the details again. This might have been the highlight of the year had it not been for having to sit through two opening acts, one of which was an improvisational jazz group. Cullum himself, though, was worth the wait. An energetic performer, he has the style and voice to be a major player for years to come. And what a surprise it was for me to hear him sing the theme song from Gran Torino (which he and Clint Eastwood and a couple of others collaborated on) on the last day of the year. A lovely way to end 2008, in my opinion.