2007: A year in lists

As is evident by the sidebar at left, I'm a compulsive list-maker. The habit started innocently enough: I began to keep track of all the films I see so as to ease the composition of a best-of list at the end of the year. The system grew in my personal calendar to include dates, format (unless otherwise noted as screener, DVD, or TV, you can assume I viewed the title in a theater or screening room), and highlights of those that were released in that particular year—again, to ease the annual list-making process.

Then I expanded the log to include the books I read, which, like the neat stacks of books on a shelf, lends a sense of accomplishment to the whole endeavor. Ditto the list of all the events I attend—at once satisfying to see where I've been and encouraging as to what I might yet experience.

So, before I wipe the slate clean for 2008, here's a recap of 2007 in lists:

Books 2007
For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Doing Nothing by Tom Lutz
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Lake of Fire by Kate Gale
In the Middle of All This by Fred Leebron
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power
Swann's Way by Marcel Proust
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicole Kraus
Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane
Cry of the Peacock by Gina Nahai
Evening by Susan Minot
The Confessions of St. Augustine
Best American Short Stories 2006
Not on Our Watch by Don Cheadle and John Prendergast
Baltasar and Blimunda by Jose Saramago
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences by Lawrence Wechsler
Zodiac by Robert Graysmith
Spy by David Wise
Answered Prayers by Truman Capote
The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez by John Rechy
Capote: A Biography by Gerald Clarke

Readings, Signings, and Other Literary Events 2007
Truth, Lies or Scam panel discussion
Rhapsodancy poetry reading
MPW Halloween student reading
Gina Nahai book signing
MPW student reading
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Concerts, Plays, and Other Cultural Events 2007
The Met Live in HD: Romeo et Juliet
Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie
The History Boys
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
The Shins
Bright Eyes
Avenue Q
Norah Jones
Yellow Face
Lily Allen
Modest Mouse
Snow Patrol

Movies 2007
There Will Be Blood
The Bucket List
Charlie Wilson's War
Letters From Iwo Jima (DVD)
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
The Spiderwick Chronicles
The Mouse That Roared (TV)
Flags of Our Fathers (TV)
Juno
Happy Feet (TV)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Savages
P.S. I Love You
U2 3D
Snow Angels
Southland Tales
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Lagerfeld Confidential (screener)
I Am Legend
Margot at the Wedding
Prime (TV)
Now, Voyager (TV)
Casablanca (TV)
Notorious (TV)
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (TV)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (DVD)
Just Like Heaven (TV)
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (TV)
Beowulf (digital 3D)
Lions for Lambs
No Country for Old Men
Beowulf (Imax 3D)
Love in the Time of Cholera
Steep
With Your Permission
The Aerial
Enchanted
The Duchess of Langeais
Night Train
Noise
The Year of the Nail
1000 Journals
On the Road With Judas
Confessions of a Superhero
The Mugger
American Gangster
Bee Movie
Saw IV
Dan in Real Life
DarkBlueAlmostBlack (screener)
Saw III (DVD)
Meeting Resistance (screener)
The Ten Commandments (screener)
Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Lars and the Real Girl
King Corn (screener)
Michael Clayton
In the Valley of Elah
The Darjeeling Limited
Eastern Promises
The Seeker: Dark Is Rising
Into the Wild
The Game Plan
Resident Evil: Extinction
Sydney White
Open Hearts (internet)
After the Wedding (DVD)
Dragon Wars
Mr. Woodcock
Shoot 'Em Up
3:10 to Yuma (DVD)
Rocket Science
Halloween
Halloween (DVD)
Death Sentence
Slipstream
Reservation Road
Sweet Land (DVD)
War
Live-In Maid
Illegal Tender
Becoming Jane
Cut Sleeve Boys (screener)
Superbad
The Last Legion
3:10 to Yuma
The Nanny Diaries
American History X (VHS)
Descent (screener)
Hairspray
Bratz
The Nines
The Bourne Ultimatum
The King of California
The Ten
The Bourne Supremacy (DVD)
The Bourne Identity (DVD)
The Sugar Curtain (screener)
The Simpsons Movie
I Know Who Killed Me
No Reservations
Black Dahlia (DVD)
Rescue Dawn
Goya's Ghosts
My Kid Could Paint That
Lake of Fire
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (DVD)
Harry Potter and the Golbet of Fire (TV)
Paris je T'aime
Gone Baby Gone
Time (screener)
Dr. Bronner Magic Soap (TV)
The 11th Hour
The Lives of Others
Transformers
A Mighty Heart
Live Free or Die Hard
Fur (DVD)
The Real Dirt on Farmer John
Die Hard (DVD)
Live Free or Die Hard
Ratatouille
Things We Lost in the Fire
Evening
Trade
Blood and Tears (screener)
Unborn in the USA (screener)
For Your Consideration (DVD)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Resurrecting the Champ
2 Days in Paris
You're Gonna Miss Me (screener)
Ocean's Thirteen
Brand Upon the Brain!
Hostel II
Sunshine
Hostel (DVD)
Knocked Up
Brick (DVD)
Moliere
Once
Waitress
Bug
28 Weeks Later
Georgia Rule
Shrek the Third
Gracie
Spider-Man 3
Grindhouse
The Condemned
Next
The Damned (DVD)
The Wendell Baker Story
Perfect Stranger
Day Watch
Pathfinder
Trouble in Paradise (DVD)
Blade of Glory
300
Fracture
Eagle vs. Shark
The Prestige (DVD)
Meet the Robinsons 3D
The Hills Have Eyes 2
The Exterminating Angels (DVD)
L'Iceberg (screener)
Shooter
TMNT
Hot Fuzz
El Cantante
Disturbia
Talk to Me
Elizabeth I (TV)
Black Snake Moan
300
Mimzy
Duel in the Sun (DVD)
Reno 911! Miami
Ghost Rider
Gray Matters
Zodiac
The Last King of Scotland
Breach
Providence (DVD)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
The Ultimate Gift (screener)
Sunset Boulevard (DVD)
The Illusionist (DVD)
Catch and Release
Smokin' Aces
Alpha Dog
The Family Stone (TV)
Persona (DVD)
The Hitcher (DVD)
In Her Shoes (TV)
Pan's Labyrinth
God Grew Tired of Us
All the King's Men (DVD)
Dreamgirls
Junebug (DVD)
Perfume
The Good German