Here we are again: My 'Best of 2009' Lists

The Best Music, Movies, TV, & Books of 2009 in my little world.

MUSIC:

1. Fun. - Aim & Ignite
2. Brandi Carlile - Give Up the Ghost - {"I laid this suitcase on my chest so I could feel somebody's weight."}
   
3. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
4. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. Jars of Clay - The Long Fall Back to Earth
6. Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
7. Derek Webb - Stockholm Syndrome - {"...we affix all their scars to our walls so there’s heartbreak for everyone"}
8. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
9. Sufjan Stevens - The BQE
10. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
11. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane - {"If it doesn't break your heart, it isn't love."}
12. Thad Cockrell - To Be Loved
13. The Mountain Goats - Life of the World to Come
14. Monsters of Folk - s/t
15. Wilco - s/t
16. St. Vincent - Actor
17. Gregory Alan Isakov - This Empty Northern Hemisphere
18. Sara Groves - Fireflies & Songs
19. Regina Spektor - Far
20. M. Ward - Hold Time

Yet to Hear from 2009: Mew, Passion Pit, Dirty Projectors, Girls


MOVIES:

1. Inglorious Basterds - dir. Quentin Tarantino
2. A Serious Man - Joel & Ethan Coen - {"Just look at that parking lot."}
   
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox - Wes Anderson
4. Antichrist - Lars von Trier
5. Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze
6. Anvil - Sacha Gervasi
7. Nine - Rob Marshall - {"You're just an appetite..."}
8. Humpday - Lynn Shelton
9. District 9 - Neill Blomkamp
10. Avatar - James Cameron
11. Observe & Report - Jody Hill
12. Up in the Air - Jason Reitman
13. The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
14. Watchmen - Zack Snyder
15. Coraline - Henry Selick
16. Up - P. Docter & B. Peterson
17. Baader Meinhoff Complex - Uli Edel
18. Sin Nombre - Cary Fukunaga
19. Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince - David Yates
20. (500) Days of Summer - Marc Webb

Yet to See: A Single Man, Moon, Invictus, Precious, Sugar, The Limits of Control, In the Loop, Che & Summer Hours

DOCUMENTARIES:

1. Anvil - dir. Sasha Gervasi
2. The National Parks: America’s Best Idea - Ken Burns - {"Man can only mar it."}
   
3. The Cove - Louie Psihoyos
4. Food Inc. - Robert Kenner
5. This is It - Kenny Ortega
   

Yet to See: The Yes Men Fix the World, & My Neighbor My Killer


On the TEEVEEs:

1. Glee - {"We're not naming our baby Drizzle."}
   
2. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
3. Daily Show / Colbert Report
4. South Park
5. 30 Rock

Yet to (really) See: Mad Men (come on Hulu!)


BOOKS:

1. Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder - {"...don't wait for people to feel like their lives are not worth living. Once they feel that way, how are they going to feel about another person's life?"}
   
2. Animal Dialogues - Craig Childs - {"...people tell me at times they wish to get in touch with the animal spirit. I will tell you this about the animal spirit: it will tear you in two as quickly as it will bring you wholeness. It is not a thing of value or judgment. It is a thing of purity, and it will not take issue with either death or ecstasy."}
   
3. Sacredness of Questioning Everything - David Dark
4. Production Diary from the Heart of Darkness - Werner Herzog
5. Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller

Yet to Read: The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics, Patience with God: Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism), & How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read (though, clearly, I should just say I've read it)