I'd the be first to admit I saw very few movies this year, mainly because there were so few that caught my interest. The best movie I saw this year was released in 1950, Harvey, starring James Stewart.
- Dan In Real Life. Utterly delightful (and adult) comedy starring Steve Carrell as a widowed father of three daughters who is charmed by a women he meets in a chance encounter at a bookstore. Image his surprise when he discovers the woman is the new girlfriend of his younger brother. What a delight it is to find a well-written movie from Hollywood that deals with romance without resorting to crude sexual humor.
- Enchanted. Hilarious Disney send-up of itself. Cartoon princess is pushed down a well by her evil stepmother. Princess arrives at the bottom of the well which turns out to be New York City. The prince pursues and chaos ensues.
- Charleston, S.C.: A Magical History Tour. Filmed in 1991 and released in 2006 this is an uncomfortable viewing experience. It features David Farrow giving the type of Charleston tour that I have spent six years trying to combat - the romantic sepia-toned version of Charleston history. Billed as a walk though 'old Charleston' Farrow spends most of the tour standing in front of new buildings. The tour spends a total of 2 minutes exploring the houses south of Broad Street. Farrow spends most of the time drinking coffee and talking about being sent for dance lessons, and trotting out tired one-liners about Charleston that were out-dated when Jefferson Davis was president of the CSA. Farrow goes into a local's home to discuss Charleston's wild drinking history. If you are having trouble sleeping, I suggest you watch THAT minute segment. However, the most glaring 'OH MY GOD' moment is when Farrow takes the camera into the art studio of Elizabeth O'Neil Verner. Verner's elderly daughter proceeds to discuss her mother's career painting the "darkies" in their "sweet simplicity". Wow!
- The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen. Even though it was in published in 2003, this was by far the best book I read in 2007. A fascinating mixture of the history of the 1893 Chicago's World Fair with the methodical murder spree of H.H. Holmes, considered one of the first American sexual serial killers.
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Amazing novel that is old-fashioned in the greatest sense - a great story veiled in mystery. I hope Hollywood doesn't screw it up when they make it into a movie.
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles / Geoff Emerick. This may be the best book about the Beatles I have ever read - and I've read most of them! Emerick was the sound engineer for most of the Beatles' recorind sessions, and he relates the stories about how the music was made. Completely fascinating. This helped re-enforce my opinion that John was a jerk, Yoko was /is a nutcase, and Paul was the glue that kept the band together after Sgt. Pepper.
Music
- Not Too Late / Norah Jones. Another gem from Norah, doing what she does best - singing bluesy torchish songs.
- The Calling / Mary Chapin Carpenter. Any Chapin release is worth having, but this one was slightly disappointing. However, a weak Chapin is better than the best of most current artists.
- Build Your Own Fire / Jimmy Hall. Wow! Hall, former lead singer of Wet Willie (one of my favorite 70s bands) still sings and blows the harp like a young man. This is modern southern soul music at its finest.
- The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions / Cat Anderson. Recorded in 1978, this is an amazing collection of W.C. Handy standards with Jenkins Orphanage alum Anderson wailing away on his trumpet. This CD possibly got the most air time this year in my CD and MP3 player.
- Home / Delany & Bonnie. Recorded in 1968-69 and re-released in 2006. Long before the terms "root music" and "Americana" became a music category, these guys were playing it. Bonnie Bramlett has one of the greatest soul voices EVER.
