1/15/2010

My Movie Life List


Thought it would be fun to reflect on all the movies I've ever seen. Was surprised at how many of these still evoke memories of where I was when I saw them, and with who: I'd nearly managed to forget some of those boyfriends!  Everytime people complain about the quality of movies today, though, I have just four words for them: "Herbie the Love Bug".   (Green highlighting indicates movies I loved; red highlighting indicates hours of my life that I wish I could get back!)

Adventure/Suspense/Mystery
  1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
  2. 48 Hours
  3. Adaptation
  4. Adventures of Robin Hood
  5. African Queen
  6. Air Force One
  7. Andromeda Strain
  8. Angels & Demons
  9. Apollo 13
  10. Armageddon
  11. Around the World in 80 Days
  12. Australia
  13. Backdraft
  14. Baron Munchausen
  15. Batman Begins
  16. Birds
  17. Bonnie & Clyde
  18. Jason Bourne movies - Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne Legacy
  19. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  20. Captain Blood
  21. Catch Me If You Can
  22. Con Air
  23. Conan the Barbarian
  24. Conspiracy Theory
  25. Count of Monte Cristo
  26. Crimson Tide
  27. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  28. Cutthroat Island
  29. Da Vinci Code
  30. Die Hard movies - Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Die Hard with a Vengence, A Good Day to Die Hard
  31. Dirty Harry
  32. Dogma
  33. Excalibur
  34. Face/Off
  35. Fargo
  36. Firm
  37. Fugitive
  38. Good Shephard
  39. Highlander
  40. Illusionist
  41. Independence Day
  42. Indiana Jones  movies - Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull 
  43. Interview with a Vampire
  44. Ivanhoe
  45. Jack Ryan movies - Clear and Present Danger, Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Sum of All Fears
  46. James Bond movies  - Casino Royale, Die Another Day, Goldeneye, Living Daylights, Moonraker, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spy Who Loved Me, View to a Kill, World is Not Enough
  47. John Grisham movies - A Time to Kill, The Client, Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker, Runaway Jury
  48. Jurassic Park
  49. King Kong
  50. Last of the Mohicans
  51. Lethal Weapon
  52. Lord of the Rings movies - The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The Hobbit
  53. Mad Max movies - Mad Max, Mad Max 2, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
  54. Man in the Iron Mask
  55. Marathon Man
  56. Master and Commander
  57. Matrix
  58. Men in Black (1, 2)
  59. Michael
  60. Michael Clayton
  61. Mission Impossible (1, 2, 3)
  62. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
  63. Mummy movies - The Mummy, The Mummy Returns
  64. Name of the Rose
  65. National Treasure movies - National Treasure, Book of Secrets
  66. Net
  67. Oceans 11/12/13
  68. October Sky
  69. Pale Rider
  70. Perfect Storm
  71. Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl. Dead Man's Chest, At World's End, On Stranger Tides
  72. Poseiden Adventure
  73. Presumed Innocent
  74. Red Heat
  75. Right Stuff
  76. Rob Roy
  77. Rock
  78. Rush Hour
  79. Sahara
  80. Scaramoush
  81. Sea Hawk
  82. Silver Streak
  83. Silverado
  84. Sneakers
  85. Something Wicked This Way Comes
  86. Space Cowboys
  87. Speed
  88. Star Trek movies with original cast - Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Voyage Home, Final Frontier, Undiscovered Country
  89. Star Trek movies with new cast - Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness
  90. Star Wars series - Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi,
  91. Sting
  92. Taps
  93. Tequila Sunrise
  94. Terminator (1, 2, 3)
  95. Thelma & Louise
  96. Three Muskateers (multiple versions)
  97. Time Bandits
  98. Tombstone
  99. Towering Inferno
  100. Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  101. Troy
  102. True Lies
  103. Twister
  104. Unbreakable
  105. Wall Street
  106. War of the Worlds
  107. Wargames
  108. Witness
  109. Zorro (Antonio Banderas version + old Disney versions)
Childrens/Teens/Family - Animated
  1. 101 Dalmations
  2. Alice in Wonderland
  3. Alladin
  4. Aristocrats
  5. Bambi
  6. Beauty and the Beast
  7. Bug's Life
  8. Cinderella
  9. Dumbo
  10. El Dorado
  11. Emporer's New Groove
  12. Fantasia
  13. Finding Nemo
  14. Fox and the Hound
  15. Great Mouse Detective
  16. Hunchback of Notre Dame
  17. Incredibles
  18. Jungle Book
  19. Kung Fu Panda
  20. Lady and the Tramp
  21. Lion King
  22. Little Mermaid
  23. Madagascar
  24. Milan
  25. Monsters Inc.
  26. Peter Pan
  27. Pinocchio
  28. Ratatouille
  29. Robin Hood
  30. Shrek (all of them)
  31. Sleeping Beauty
  32. Sleepy Hollow
  33. Snow White
  34. Song of the South
  35. Sword in the Stone
  36. Three Caballeros
  37. Toy Story (all of them)
Childrens/Teens/Family - Film
  1. Absent-Minded Professor
  2. Adventures of Huck Finn
  3. Angels in the Outfield
  4. Babe
  5. Benji (all of them)
  6. Black Cauldron
  7. Black Stallion
  8. Born Free
  9. Cheaper by the Dozen
  10. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  11. Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
  12. Dark Crystal
  13. Davy Crockett
  14. Dr. Seuss cartoons (all of them)
  15. Eragon
  16. E.T.
  17. Flubber
  18. Freaky Friday
  19. Golden Compass
  20. Harry Potter - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkeban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (I, II)
  21. Herbie (all of them)
  22. Holes
  23. Hook
  24. Incredible Journey
  25. Johnny Tremain
  26. Karate Kid
  27. Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe
  28. Love Bug
  29. Mary Poppins
  30. Muppet movies (all of them)
  31. Neverending Story
  32. Night at the Museum
  33. Old Yeller
  34. Popeye
  35. Sandlot
  36. Shaggy Dog
  37. Stuart Little
  38. Swiss Family Robinson
  39. Treasure Island
  40. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
  41. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
  42. Wizard of Oz

Documentary/Educational
  1. An Inconvenient Truth
  2. Ken Burns: The Civil War
  3. Schoolhouse Rock
Funny
  1. 10
  2. 16 Candles
  3. 24 Hours
  4. 9 to 5
  5. Abbott & Costello movies - Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstine, Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Hold That Ghost
  6. All About Eve
  7. Airplane
  8. Army of Darkness
  9. Arsenic and Old Lace
  10. Arthur
  11. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
  12. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
  13. Back to the Future (1, 2, 3)
  14. Bad Teacher
  15. Bedazzled
  16. Beetlejuice
  17. Beverly Hills Cop (1, 2, 3)
  18. Big
  19. Big Daddy
  20. Big Trouble in Little China
  21. Billy Elliot
  22. Biloxi Blues
  23. Birdcage
  24. Blades of Glory
  25. Blazing Saddles
  26. Blues Brothers
  27. Brewster's Millions
  28. Bridget Jones's Diary
  29. Burn After Reading
  30. Canterbury Ghost
  31. City Slickers
  32. Clue
  33. Coming to America
  34. Court Jester
  35. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
  36. Devil Wears Prada
  37. Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood
  38. Dodgeball
  39. Dragnet
  40. Earth Girls are Easy
  41. Election
  42. Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
  43. Evan Almighty
  44. Evolution
  45. Father of the Bride
  46. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
  47. Fish Called Wanda
  48. Full Monty
  49. Galaxy Quest
  50. Get Shorty
  51. Ghostbusters (1, 2, 3)
  52. Groundhog Day
  53. Guarding Tess
  54. Harvey
  55. History of the World, Part 1
  56. Ideal Husband
  57. Importance of Being Earnest
  58. Incredible Mr. Limpet
  59. Informant
  60. Joe vs. the Volcano
  61. Jumpin' Jack Flash
  62. Juno
  63. Kind Hearts & Coronets
  64. Legally Blonde
  65. Liar Liar
  66. Life of Brian
  67. Little Miss Sunshine
  68. Man With One Red Shoe
  69. Mars Attacks
  70. Meet the Fokkers
  71. Meet the Parents
  72. Men Who Stare at Goats
  73. Miss Congeniality (1, 2)
  74. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
  75. Money Pit
  76. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  77. Moon Over Parador
  78. Mr. Deeds
  79. Mrs. Doubtfire
  80. Murder by Death
  81. My Best Friend's Wedding
  82. My Cousin Vinny
  83. Naked Gun
  84. National Lampoon Animal House
  85. National Lampoon Vacation
  86. Oh, God!
  87. Overboard
  88. Pacifier
  89. Parenthood
  90. Pink Panther movies - Pink Panther, Shot in the Dark, Return of the Pink Panther, Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Trail of the Pink Panther
  91. Pretty in Pink
  92. Pretty Woman
  93. Princess and the Pirate
  94. Private Benjamin
  95. Producers
  96. Protocol
  97. Purple Rose of Cairo
  98. Radioland Murders
  99. Raising Arizona
  100. Revenge of the Nerds
  101. Risky Business
  102. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
  103. Rocky Horror Picture Show
  104. Secret of My Success
  105. Simpsons Movie
  106. Sister Act (1, 2)
  107. Soapdish
  108. Some Like It Hot
  109. Spaceballs
  110. Spies Like Us
  111. Stripes
  112. Sunshine Cleaning
  113. Sweet Home Alabama
  114. Thank You For Smoking
  115. There's Something About Mary
  116. Three Amigos
  117. Three Men and a Baby
  118. Tootsie
  119. Trading Places
  120. Tropic Thunder
  121. Twins
  122. Waterboy
  123. Wedding Crashers
  124. Weird Science
  125. What About Bob?
  126. What Women Want
  127. Wildcats
  128. Working Girl
  129. Yellow Submarine
  130. You Don't Mess with the Zohan
  131. Young Frankenstein
  132. You've Got Mail
Holiday
  1. Christmas Story
  2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
  3. It's A Wonderful Life
  4. Miracle on 34th Street
  5. National Lampoon Holiday Vacation
  6. Santa Clause (1, 2)
  7. Scrooged
  8. White Christmas
Horror
  1. Alien
  2. Amityville Horror
  3. Blob
  4. Carrie
  5. Dracula (several versions)
  6. Exorcist
  7. Fly
  8. Frankenstein
  9. Halloween
  10. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  11. Jaws
  12. Nightmare on Elm Street
  13. Omen
  14. Plan 9 From Outer Space
  15. Poltergeist
  16. Psycho
  17. Rosemary's Baby
  18. Shining
  19. Silence of the Lambs
  20. Sixth Sense
  21. Sleepy Hollow
  22. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
Musicals/Dancing Movies
  1. All that Jazz
  2. Amadeus
  3. Annie
  4. August Rush
  5. Bride and Prejudice
  6. Center Stage
  7. Cotton Club
  8. Chicago
  9. Dreamgirls
  10. Eddie and the Cruisers
  11. Fame
  12. Fiddler on the Roof
  13. Great Balls of Fire
  14. Gypsy
  15. Hello, Dolly
  16. Jazz Singer
  17. King and I
  18. La Bamba
  19. Mama Mia
  20. Marigold
  21. Meet Me In St. Louis
  22. Moulin Rouge
  23. Mr. Holland's Opus
  24. Music Man
  25. Pirate
  26. Road movies (Hope/Cosby) - Road to Singapore, Road to Zanzibar, Road to Morocco, Road to Utopia, Road to Rio, Road to Bali, Road to Hong Kong
  27. Saturday Night Fever
  28. Shall We Dance? (Japanese version with subtitles)
  29. Singing in the Rain
  30. Sound of Music
  31. Star is Born
  32. Sweeny Todd
  33. That Thing You Do
  34. Victor/Victoria
  35. West Side Story
Mystery/Noir
  1. Agatha Christie movies - Appointment with Death, Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun, Mirror Crack'd, Murder on the Orient Express, Ten Little Indians,
  2. Basic Instinct
  3. Big Easy
  4. Big Sleep
  5. Black Dahlia
  6. Body Heat
  7. Chinatown
  8. D.O.A
  9. Dial M for Murder
  10. Dorothy Sayers mysteries (all of them)
  11. Double Indemnity
  12. Dressed to Kill
  13. Fatal Attraction
  14. Gaslight
  15. In the Heat of the Night
  16. Key Largo
  17. L.A. Confidential
  18. Maltese Falcon
  19. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
  20. Miss Marple mysteries (all of them)
  21. Mildred Pierce
  22. Notorious
  23. Postman Always Rings Twice
  24. Rear Window
  25. Rebecca
  26. Sherlock Holmes movies (Robert Downey) - Sherlock Holmes, Game of Shadows
  27. Sherlock Holmes movies (old) - Dressed to Kill, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
  28. Sherlock Holmes movies (other) - 7 Percent Solution, Murder By Decree, Young Sherlock Holmes,
  29. Sorry, Wrong Number
  30. Sunset Boulevard
  31. Talented Mr. Ripley
Romantic
  1. 2 Week's Notice
  2. 27 Dresses
  3. 50 First Dates
  4. Age of Innocence
  5. Always
  6. American President
  7. Annie Hall
  8. Bridges of Madison County
  9. Casablanca
  10. Chocolat
  11. City of Angels
  12. Coming to America
  13. Crocodile Dundee (1, 2)
  14. Cyrano de Bergerac
  15. Dave
  16. Dirty Dancing
  17. Emma (multiple versions)
  18. Father of the Bride
  19. Footloose
  20. French Lieutenant's Woman
  21. Frenchman's Creek
  22. Ghost
  23. Ghost & Mrs. Muir
  24. Goodbye Girl
  25. Gone With the Wind
  26. Hitch
  27. I.Q.
  28. It Could Happen to You
  29. Jane Eyre (multiple versions)
  30. Jerry Maguire
  31. Jewel of the Nile
  32. Ladyhawke
  33. Legends of the Fall
  34. Love, Actually
  35. Mansfield Park
  36. Meet Joe Black
  37. Moonstruck
  38. Music & Lyrics
  39. My Best Friend's Wedding
  40. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
  41. Now, Voyager
  42. Officer and a Gentleman
  43. Out of Africa
  44. Overboard
  45. Peggy Sue Got Married
  46. Persuasion
  47. Philadelphia Story
  48. Pride & Prejudice (multipe versions!)
  49. Princess Bride
  50. P.S. I Love You
  51. Romancing the Stone
  52. Roxanne
  53. Runaway Bride
  54. Sabrina
  55. Sense & Sensibility (multiple versions)
  56. Shakespeare in Love
  57. Sleepless in Seattle
  58. Splash
  59. Strictly Ballroom
  60. Sweet Home Alabama
  61. Titanic
  62. Top Gun
  63. Walk in the Clouds
  64. Way We Were
  65. Wedding Singer
  66. When Harry Met Sally
  67. While You Were Sleeping
  68. Witness
  69. Working Girl
  70. Wuthering Heights (multiple versions)
Serious
  1. 12 Angry Men
  2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  3. Akeelah and the Bee
  4. All the President's Men
  5. Anonymous
  6. Argo
  7. Artist
  8. Atonement
  9. Aviator
  10. Beaches
  11. Beautiful Mind
  12. Being There
  13. Ben-Hur
  14. Bird Man of Alcatraz
  15. Blade Runner
  16. Breakfast Club
  17. Broadcast News
  18. Castaway
  19. Charlie Wilson's War
  20. China Syndrome
  21. Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
  22. Color Purple
  23. Constant Gardener
  24. Contact
  25. Crucible
  26. Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  27. Dances With Wolves
  28. Dangerous Liaisons
  29. Dead Poet's Society
  30. Driving Miss Daisy
  31. Elizabeth
  32. Erin Brokovich
  33. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  34. Fail-Safe
  35. Finding Neverland
  36. Fried Green Tomatoes
  37. Frost/Nixon
  38. Forrest Gump
  39. Gandhi
  40. Godfather (all of them)
  41. Good Night and Good Luck
  42. Good Will Hunting
  43. Gladiator
  44. Hidalgo
  45. Inherit the Wind
  46. King's Speech
  47. Lincoln
  48. Lost in Translation
  49. Madness of King George
  50. Man for All Seasons
  51. Man Who Would Be King
  52. M*A*S*H
  53. Medicine Man
  54. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
  55. Network
  56. On Golden Pond
  57. Outsiders
  58. Phenomenon
  59. Philadelphia
  60. Planet of the Apes
  61. Pursuit of Happyness
  62. Rain Man
  63. Ray
  64. Reds
  65. Restoration
  66. Scarlet Letter
  67. Schindler's List
  68. Shawshank Redemption
  69. Silkwood
  70. Slumdog Millionaire
  71. St. Elmo's Fire
  72. Stand and Deliver
  73. Ten Commandments
  74. To Kill a Mockingbird
  75. Truman Show
  76. Unforgiven
  77. Untouchable
  78. Up in the Air
  79. Walk the Line
  80. World According to Garp
  81. Yentl
Shakespeare
  1. All's Well That Ends Well (Kenneth Branagh version)
  2. Hamlet (Mel Gibson version)
  3. Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version)
  4. Midsummer Night's Dream (Kevin Cline, Michelle Pfeiffer)
  5. Much Ado About Nothing (Kenneth Branaugh version)
Sports
  1. 8 Men Out
  2. Any Given Sunday
  3. Bend It Like Beckham
  4. Blind Side
  5. Breaking Away
  6. Bull Durham
  7. Caddyshack
  8. Chariots of Fire
  9. Cool Runnings
  10. Express
  11. Field of Dreams
  12. Happy Gilman
  13. Hoosiers
  14. League of Their Own
  15. Major League
  16. Million Dollar Baby
  17. Mr. Baseball
  18. Natural
  19. Pride of the Yankees
  20. Remember the Titans
  21. Replacements
  22. Rocky movies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
  23. Rookie
  24. Rudy
  25. Seabiscuit
  26. Tin Cup
War
  1. Apocalypse Now
  2. Braveheart
  3. Bridge Over the River Kwai
  4. Courage Under Fire
  5. Glory
  6. Good Morning, Vietnam
  7. Patton
  8. Saving Private Ryan
  9. Zulu

1/02/2010

Top 10 News Stories of 2009


Here are my (highly partisan) picks for the top news stories of 2009.  If you have other suggestions, let me know.
  1. Barack Obama Inauguration.  Barack Obama sworn in as the coutry's 44th president, in an inauguration ceremony watched by the world.  Immediately appoints his primary rival, Hilary Clinton, to be the country's new Secretary of State.
  2. Economic crisis/recession.  Jobless rate continued to hover at 10%.  Many Americans forced to abandon their homes to foreclosure as rash loans made during the housing boom came back to haunt them.  Obama passed massive federal stimulus/bailout program to create jobs and keep big businesses (especially banks, brokerages and automobile manufacturers) from declaring bankruptcy and plunging the country into fiscal chaos.  "Cash for clunkers" programs launched to stimulate the purchase of U.S. cars.  Widespread outrage as AIG executives collected big cash bonuses anyway.
  3. Health care reform. In one of the most uncivilized examples of civil discourse ever, Obama tried to coax Americans and Republicans alike to embrace universal health care.  The debate was punctuated by angry town hall meetings, ignorance ("Keep your government hands off my Medicare!"), misinformation ("'Death panels' will decide who lives and dies!"), partisan politics (during a Presidential address to the joint houses of Congress, one congressman actually shouted "You lie!"), and lots of lobbying by pharmaceutical firms ... but at this time it appears that at least some form of reform will pass.
  4. Swine flu (a.k.a. H1N1).  After some initial panic (including school closings all over the U.S.), researchers finally gathered enough data to conclude that H1N1 was not actually that much more deadly then seasonal flu, allowing folks to relax (and schools to significantly loosen their criteria for quarantine). Eventually a vaccine was produced, but not until many folks contracted - and mostly survived - this new strain of flu.
  5. Supreme Court appointment.  Sonia Sotomayor confirmed as first Hispanic and 3rd female justice in Supreme Court history. 'Bout time.
  6. Iraq/Afghanistan.  As the conflict in Iraq gradually began to calm down, violence in Afghanistan continued to escalate, finally convincing Obama of the necessity of sending in 30K additional troops ... though he did  promise that he would be able to begin withdrawing them in July 2011.
  7. Large Hadron Collider Goes Online. The Large Hadron Collider was fired up and did not, as some had feared, cause a rupture in the space-time continuum.
  8. EU Elects a President.  Europe chose its first president, Belgian Premier Herman Van Rompuy. Although he's a minor figure on the world stage, the very idea of a "president of Europe" was a milestone. Europe also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - the event that signified the end of the Cold War and made it possible for the European Union to swell to 27 member states by taking in 10 former communist countries.
  9. Anti-Governmetn Protests in Iran.  In Iran, sweeping anti-government protests received international coverage but were eventually suppressed by the country's military police.
  10. Drug War in Mexico.  In Mexico, the government continued to fight an increasingly bloody war against the big drug cartels. Murders, kidnappings, and other atrocities became daily occurrences in some regions of the country, such as the town of Juarex on the Texas border.

1/01/2010

2009 in Review


I already did the Top 10 News Stories of 2009, but that doesn't begin to cover what 2009 will really be remembered for!  Here's a more comprehensive list of the cultural highlights (and lowlights) of the year.
  1. Notable deaths: Michael Jackson, Ted Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, Farrah Fawcett, Dom DeLuise, Patrick Swayze.
  2. Sports: The Pittsburgh Steelers won their 6th Superbowl, setting an NFL record; also, the New York Yankees won their 27th World Series. (Not exactly a year for upsets.)
  3. Television: Jay Leno tried to do a talk show at the 10am hour, but doesn't look like the experiment will last much longer. Oprah announced that she will retire from TV next year to focus on her new television network. Some long-running soaps ended, victims of lower advertising budgets. A homely British woman with a Broadway-quality voice made an international splash on Britain's Got Talent. Reality TV was HUGE: almost every celebrity seemed to be signing up to produce a peek-and-tell show, from Michael Jordan to Jon & Kate + 8 - the phenomenon eventually becoming so pervasive that one couple tried to market themselves by hoax (they claimed their 5yr old son was aloft in a home-made balloon), while another couple tried to market themselves by crashing a state dinner at the White House. Among the biggest television shows of the year were Mad Men (a cable show about advertising), dancing shows (So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With the Stars), and Glee.
  4. Movies: The biggest movies of the year were the 6th installment of the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), New Moon (the first book in the Twilight series), and Star Trek, a movie that walked the characters back to their origin. Outside of theaters, most people chose to have their movies delivered to them via Netflix or cheap movie rental kiosks located in grocery stores and fast food restaurants.
  5. Technology: Twitter overtook iPhone as the hot technology of the year. Still, it was a little startling to see congressmen busily twittering as Obama addressed them during his State of the Union address! Iphone, Facebook, Youtube, Hulu, Google and Kindle (electronic book) were also significant technology players this year, while Blackberries became just the littlest bit "passe." There was great furor about banning texting while driving, after several high-profile accidents.
  6. Kids: When they weren't reading the latest installments of the hugely popular Wimpy Kid series of books by Jeff Kinney, little ones spent their time enthralled by the Webkins line of plush toys - you buy the toy, then oversee its virtual life on a webkins website.
  7. Books: The top 4 books on USA Today's list of 2009 Bestsellers were the four installments of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. #5 was Dan Brown's Lost Symbol, which failed to reclaim the magic of DaVinci Code but earned plenty of money anyway. Lots of people cried over The Last Lecture by Randy Paush, but Sarah Palin's autobiography made me cry more.
  8. Food: For some reason, 2009 was all about food! It was hard to flip channels without running across at least one cooking show (Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, etc.). Stores like "Dinner Zen" allowed folks to prepare their own meals utilizing proven recipes and pre-prepared ingredients, and much attention was devoted to the merits of organic produce.
  9. Fashion: Michelle Obama caused an international stir with her sleeveless dresses and blouses.
  10. Quote of the Year: "You lie."