THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Movies -

The two best movies I saw in cinemas in 2007 -- the only two to garner full four star ratings from me -- were actually leftovers from 2006: Little Children (which earned Kate Winslet an Oscar nomination for Best Actress) and the German film The Lives of Others (Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film). Other 2006 movies seen in 2007 that I really liked included After the Wedding, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, and Vitus.

My official Favorite Movie of 2007 won't be known until a few more high profile candidates make their way to Louisville, but so far the contenders include:

- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

- Eastern Promises

- Into the Wild

- Juno

- Knocked Up

- No Country for Old Men

- Once

- Ratatouille

- 3:10 to Yuma

- Waitress

As I type this, Juno, No Country..., Once, and Ratatouille seem to stand head and shoulders over the others. Heck, No Country for Old Men would have be awarded four stars if it hadn't had a fake and phoney "555" phone number depicted on screen. (I wasn't as bothered by the abrupt ending as others were). Here I am having a great time at the movies when somebody shows or mentions a "555" phone number, which to me is like an alarm saying "HEY YOU IN THE AUDIENCE! THIS IS A PHONY PHONE NUMBER BECAUSE IT'S NOT REAL LIFE, IT'S A MOVIE! NOW JUST TRY TO FORGET I INTERRUPTED YOU AND ENJOY YOUR MOVIE! THANK YOU!"

The best classic movie I saw in a theater this year was Harvey.

Music Madness -

In 2007, I made my best effort in years to go out and discover new music. A January CBS Sunday Morning feature story on Regina Spektor turned me on to her excellent 2006 album Begin to Hope; her catchy piano melodies and quirky vocals kept me entertained for months. Icky Thump, the third White Stripes album released since I discovered them four years ago, is a rockin' good time, but I prefer their 2003 album Elephant. My latest discovery is the band Spoon and their new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, which is gettin' lots of spins on the ole MP3 player. (Speaking of which, we switched to a Sansadisk flash-based one last spring, and really love it).

Loads of musical acts hit my ears for the first time in 2007. Here are the ones of which impressed me with multiple clever tunes: !!!, Brazilian Girls, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the Cribs, Datarock, Dropkick Murphys, Feist, the Fratellis, the Futureheads, Klaxons, LCD Soundsystem, Lily Allen, Lupe Fiasco, The National, Peter Bjorn and John, Rilo Kiley, the Rakes, the Rumblestrips, Tapes 'n Tapes, the Thrills, Towers of London, Wolfmother, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

However, when it came to attending concerts, I fell back to two old favorites: the Police at Churchill Downs, and Men at Work's Colin Hay at Headliners. Both were excellent concerts... Although the former was attended by perhaps 1000 times as many people as the latter!

Travel -

A favorite family vacation repeated -- we went back to Walt Disney World in October. Some new solo action -- I checked out Portland, Oregon in June. The future -- a tentative return to London in April, 2008.

Family -

We had some trials and tribulations, but the worst is behind us. We had a great family vacation and look forward to many more. Also... if Benjamin is ever going to have a baby brother or sister.... it is going to happen in 2008. So wish us luck on that mission!