Best of 2007

I usually do an annual list of my favorite things in pop culture. I have been waiting to do it this year because I still haven't seen a few of the movies that have been getting the most Oscar buzz. Well, the Oscars are next week, and I still haven't seen them. The one I want to see the most is There Will Be Blood because I am assuming that Daniel Day-Lewis is going to win the Best Actor award and I figure I should be able to weigh in on that race. The other movie that is getting all the buzz and will probably win for Best Picture is No Country for Old Men, which I also haven't seen, nor will I see it (the only thing I've heard about it is that it's really violent). I don't know about you all, but I feel this has been a weak year in movies. Remember when American Gangster was supposed to be so good and it really wasn't? Here goes anyway...

Best Movie -- Waitress (not even nominated, but my favorite of the year).
Best Actor -- Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah. Again, haven't seen a lot of the other
nominees, so I may amend this when I see Blood, but I loved this movie and thought his performance was amazing.
Best Actress -- no one stands out for me, but again, didn't see some of the big movies of the year but I'll go with Laura Linney in The Savages
Best Supporting Actor -- Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James (the one category I actually feel pretty strongly about. I thought he was great in this role).
Best Supporting Actress -- Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Best Original Screenplay -- I really liked both Juno and Lars and the Real Girl. I would be happy if either one won the award, but I think Juno will take it.
Best Adapted Screenplay -- Atonement
Best Director -- Jason Reitman for Juno (hey, why not?)
Best Documentary -- Sicko (I think there were probably others that were better, like No End in Sight, but I never got to them)

Some of my friends do a Top Ten movies of the year. I never get 10 on the list, but I'll do a Top Seven

1. Waitress
2. Once
3. Juno
4. In the Valley of Elah
5. Gone Baby Gone
6. Michael Clayton
7. Lars and the Real Girl


As for TV...

Drama -- "Friday Night Lights"
Comedy -- "30 Rock"
Best new show -- none! I had such high hopes for "Gossip Girl" but found it unwatchable. The other shows I thought I'd love were "Private Practice," and "Chuck" but also just never got into them. I really want to catch up on "Pushing Daisies" which I found cute but had too much on my plate (er, DVR list) to really devote myself to it.
Favorites from last year that I gave up -- "Heroes" (but will tune in in the fall for season 3) and "Grey's Anatomy"
Guilty pleasures -- "Scott Baio is 45 and Single" (I posted raves about the follow up "Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant" a few weeks ago, but must admit I'm already sick of it.)

Music...
Favorite CD -- James Morrison "Undiscovered"
Best concert -- John Mayer at Madison Sq. Garden, but a close second was John Mayer at Garden State Arts Center (for those of you not from NJ, it is now called the PNC Bank Arts enter) because the audience was so good even though the traffic was so bad (thus making me miss opening act, James Morrison). The reason I picked MSG show is because it was it was a tad onger, but really both shows were amazing. As always. Especially in front of a hometown audience.

Books...
Fiction --Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I love this book passionately. Last year, I said the author's wife's book The History of Love was my favorite of 2006. Luckily, I read that one in December 2006 and this one in January 2007, so they both win spots in my lists because it would be hard to choose between them. (but, I think she would win.)
Memoir -- The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Talk about a messed up family!!