The Top Five Albums of 2007

5. My December, by Kelly Clarkson

I ache for Kelly Clarkson, and her My December album really grew one me after an initial listen that wrongly made me think it was a little too one-note. Favorites here are “One Minute,” “Don’t Waste Your Time” and “Be Still.” A bunch of us are going to the Kelly Clarkson/Reba McEntire show in January for my friend Melissa’s birthday; I’m not that big on Reba, but that’s okay because I’m pretty sure Melissa’s plan to give me to Kelly as a New Year’s gift is going to work out just fine, and that I’ll spend the rest of my life cooking her meals on her tour bus.

4. Cigarettes & Gasoline, by Emerson Hart

You know Emerson Hart as the voice of Tonic, and on his solo debut he continues the amazing singing and songwriting he displayed on the band’s steady stream of modern rock hits like “If You Could Only See” and “You Wanted More.” Favorites here are “Devastation Hands” and the rockin’ “I Know.” Be sure to give this one a listen.

3. Free Life, by Dan Wilson

Several years ago, I had the great honor of interviewing Semisonic’s Dan Wilson on the deck at Jillian’s in Louisville. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and I was particularly proud of him when he joined the Dixie Chicks on stage at this year’s Grammy’s to accept an award for the songwriting contributions he made to their most recent album. Dan’s solo record is nothing short of breathtaking, filled with lots of elegant, thoughtful lyrics and arrangements. It’s hard to find a truer example of Great American Songwriting than this.

2. The Girl That Killed September, by Garrison Starr

As if the preceding songs weren’t already awesome, the final track from which the album gets its title still kicks my ass every time with its sweet, simple beauty. And Garrison’s show in Nashville a few Fridays ago was one of the absolute best nights I had all year. Garrison also released Fans’ Greatest Hits Vol. 1, in which she recorded new, acoustic versions of songs voted on by her fans. Awesome stuff.

1. Careful What You Wish For, by Jonatha Brooke

For my money, Jonatha has the best “my heart has done what her voice just did” voice I’ve ever heard. From the majestic bassoon/clarinet solo on the bridge of the shimmering pop masterpiece “Baby Wait” to the heart-tugging harmonies on the achingly beautiful “After the Tears,” this album represents every aspect of what makes Jonatha awesome. There are echoes here from every stage of her career and examples galore of her constant evolution as an artist. I got to see Jonatha perform live several times this year, the most memorable of which was a late-October trip with Concert Buddy Numero Uno Melissa to see her play in Cincinnati. I’ve seen her more than a dozen times, and I think that concert might have been the best.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Collective Soul’s Afterwords was a lot of fun. Especially its first song, “New Vibrations.” I saw Collective Soul open for Live and Counting Crows at Slugger Field this year, and they rocked harder than the other two bands combined. Well done, guys.

The dance beats of Seal’s System didn’t live up to this effortlessly bad-ass acoustic demo he posted on his blog earlier this year, but I’m still a big fan of the album’s lyrics and melodies.

I wasn’t as big on Chantal Kreviazuk’s Ghost Stories as I’ve been on her previous albums, but the single “All I Can Do” is superb.

Paul McCartney’s Memory Almost Full shows that the former Beatle still has the midas touch of songwriting; my favorite track is “Ever Present Past.”

And the cover of James Taylor’s “Shower the People” that Babyface cut for his Playlist album is really, really, really good.

What did you hear that you really, really liked?

The Best TV of 2007

5. Battlestar Galactica

As frustrating as its third season was, the December DVD release of the very awesome movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor invigorated my love for this show and got me more excited than ever about its third season, which begins in 2008 after a sinfully long wait. Razor also featured Katee Sackhoff in a black t-shirt, and blondes in black t-shirts are all right by me.

4. My Name Is Earl

The second season was a little uneven for me, but the third season has been hilarious and heartfelt — even with Earl in jail. It continues to have the best guest stars on television, including Ben Foster as a rabid Boy Scout-turned-criminal and Craig T. Nelson as a bumbling prison warden. The episode where Earl’s creative writing class inspires his friends to fantasize stories of their own is a modern comedy classic. “Earl’s in trouble? Now TROUBLE’s in trouble!”

3. Gilmore Girls

I’m really going to miss Rory and especially Lorelai Gilmore on my television, but at least we got what I thought to be one of the best final episodes of a television show ever. Original review here.

2. 30 Rock

Oh, Tina Fey! I discovered the first season of this on DVD, and it’s brilliant. Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan … everybody’s hilarious and the writing couldn’t be sharper. Don’t miss it.

1. The Office

Still quite possibly the best show ever.

I also watched lots of The X-Files and Arrested Development on DVD this year, and loved the final episode of the wrongly canceled Sci Fi Channel series The Dresden Files. I’m sorry that it won’t be back, but I’m glad it at least ended as perfectly as it did.

And so it is.

What were some of your favorites this year?

The 10 Best Movies of 2007

In compiling this list, there were a lot more good movies made in 2007 than I’d remembered.

Here are my favorites, followed by a big list of honorable mentions.

The Top 10

10. Sunshine

Totally breathtaking. In the future, the sun is dying. So a ship is sent out in space with a special kind of bomb that will reignite the sun. But contact with the ship is lost, so a second ship with a second bomb is sent out to do the job. But as the crew of the second ship approaches the sun, they receive contact … from the first ship. And from there, terrible decisions have to be made and horrifying horrors are experienced. The team dynamics reminded me a lot of the original Alien, and there’s a lot of amazing work from Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis and Rose Byrne, who also wins the 2007 award for Girl I’d Most Like to Save from a Potentially Horrifying Science Fiction Death and Bring Home for a Fine Homemade Meal and, If She’s Interested, a Life Filled with Love and Happiness and Babies.

9. Transformers

Even from the first trailers I was pretty sure this movie would be a lot of fun, but I still can’t believe how legitimately good and fun and entertaining the final product turned out to be. Original review here.

8. Seraphim Falls

Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson star in this post-Civil War Western about revenge and redemption. Original review here.

7. Live Free or Die Hard

Original review here. I’ve almost worn out my DVD showing it to friends who didn’t catch it in theaters. It’s not the best Die Hard movie, but it just might be the most entertaining.

6. Stardust

This is a fun, lovely, magical movie that’s kind of in the same vein as The Princess Bride. Original review here.

5. Rescue Dawn

Christian Bale gives the most inspiring performance of his career as a U.S. Navy pilot who’s shot down over Vietnam and masterminds a daring escape from the prison camp he’s sent to. Jeremy Davies and Steve Zahn are equally awesome in supporting roles. Original review here.

4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Brad Pitt is mesmerizing as James, but the real star here is Casey Affleck.

3. The Bourne Ultimatum

The best possible conclusion to what just might be the most consistently satisfying film trilogy I’ve ever seen. Original review here.

2. Gone Baby Gone

Ben Affleck cements himself as a true actor’s director in his directorial debut, and makes a true actor out of his brother Casey in the lead. Amazing.

1. The Kingdom

The Kingdom, by director Peter Berg, hit me harder than any movie I saw this year, mixing heart, smarts and dazzling action with timely reflections of current events. It’s unpredictable, unrelenting and totally entertaining.

The opening credits play over cleverly edited animation that chronicles the political and business history between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Then, during a baseball game played by an American oil company’s employees and families at their secure Saudi Arabian housing facility, terrorists strike with an efficiency that rips out your heart with one gut-wrenching sucker-punch after another.

FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) and his team — a bomb expert (Chris Cooper), a forensics specialist (Jennifer Garner) and an intelligence analyst (Jason Bateman) — have to play a mean game of political hardball just to get five days on Saudi soil to solve the case and bring those responsible to justice. Political obstacles and cultural differences create complications and frustrations at every turn, while unseen dangers lurk around every corner.

Ashraf Barhoum is excellent as the Saudi colonel assigned to Fleury’s team. He shares a particularly strong rapport with Jamie Foxx, whose own charisma and screen presence remain as indomitable as always. Cooper’s southern charm is undeniable. Bateman, whose wit gets quite a workout, flexes plenty of other muscles — both physical and emotional — in what’s got to be the year’s most suspenseful subplot. Garner’s character lacks the physical confidence of her Alias alter ego, which makes her own big action scene even more thrilling and powerful. (No need to worry, Sydney Bristow fans. When it comes to fighting, Garner’s still got it.)

Berg’s direction allows this talented group to incorporate and nurture believable character bonds within the formidably-paced framework of Matthew Michael Carnahan’s compellingly layered screenplay. Action fans will be talking for a long time about a massive fight sequence that drops a claustrophobic homage to the rocket launcher bit from Clear and Present Danger into the middle of a meticulously choreographed gun battle that defines Berg as a formidable action auteur on the level of Mann and Frankenheimer.

And then there’s the ending, which will leave you thinking and feeling long after it’s over.

See it!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Dan in Real Life. Steve Carell stars as a lonely widow who attends a family reunion with his three daughters. He meets a woman at a local bookstore who awakens a spark inside him, only to find out she’s his brother’s new girlfriend. And it goes on from there. Heartfelt, sweet, sad and ultimately a very uplifting little movie with amazing work from Mr. Carell, who has the humor/heart balance of guys like Bill Murray and Steve Martin down pat. And I’m not sure I could give higher praise than that.

Arrested Development was a stronghold of comedic genius, but somehow young Michael Cera’s sweetly awkward portrayal of George-Michael Bluth earned him some of the show’s best and funniest moments. It’s no surprise, then, that he’s so hilarious in Superbad, with equally solid work from co-star Jonah Hill. It’s crude, but it made me laugh. A lot.

Keri Russell was absolutely luminous in Waitress, which is nothing like what I expected it to be and even better because of it.

3:10 to Yuma should have been in the Top 10, but I still can’t come to terms with what I see as a major tonal problem with its ending. That being said, Christian Bale and especially Russell Crowe did spectacular work in one of the truly best Westerns I’ve ever seen.

The first half of I Am Legend was legendary. The second half, not so much. Had the terrible special effects been on the same level as Will Smith’s emotional performance, this could have been a modern classic.

300 looked great and had tons of quotable dialogue.

No Country for Old Men is an awesome piece of work, but its second half isn’t for everyone. That being said, I enjoyed it for what it was and appreciated what they were trying to say with the ending.

The Mist kicked my ass, took my name and sent me on my way with a hole in my gut. But I’m still not sure how I feel about what they did with the ending. Regardless, Frank Darabont should be proud of how powerfully his film depicts the terrifying depths of human frailty and fear. In that regard, it was certainly the most terrifying film I saw in 2007.

I liked the old-school camera tricks David Goyer used in The Invisible.

I totally fell in love with Nikki Blonsky in Hairspray.

This is was a good year for Shia LaBeouf, who was excellent in Transformers and did wonderful leading-man work in the fun, suspenseful Hitchcock homage Disturbia.

Speaking of Hitchcock, I liked Vacancy a hell of a lot more than I expected to.

It’s been fun watching Daniel Radcliffe grow along with Harry Potter, and his work in The Order of the Phoenix was no exception. Big points, too, for Gary Oldman.

Knocked Up cemented Seth Rogen as a comedy genius. But my favorite part of the whole movie was the speech by Craig Robinson — who plays Darryl on The Office — to Leslie Mann’s character outside of the club when he won’t let her in because she’s too old. “I know. You’re right. I’m so sorry. I fuckin’ hate this job. I don’t want to be the one to pass judgment, decide who gets in. Shit makes me sick to my stomach. I get the runs from the stress. It’s not cause you’re not hot. I would love to tap that ass. I would tear that ass up. I can’t let you in ’cause you’re old as fuck. For this club, you know, not for the Earth.”

I didn’t see The Darjeeling Limited because I was afraid of it. Wes Anderson’s movies get me where it counts, and this just wasn’t the year for that. Whew.

What were your favorites?