Movies of the Year!

In years past I've done movie lists and kept it to ten or eleven movies, but this year I pretty much enjoyed everything I saw, so I think I will take a page from my friend Howard Tayler's book and just list all the movies I saw, in order of personal enjoyment.  (Howard Tayler is a web cartoonist and the creator of Schlock Mercenary.  If you don't know Schlock, check out www.schlockmercenary.com, and you're in for a treat!)  I was looking at my list of movies and thinking, am I just not as discerning about FILM as I once was?  I searched in my heart and the answer that I came up with was . . . Well, sort of.

Once upon a time, Webmaster Mikey and I used to go to the movies every week.  We saw things like Zoolander, and Drop Dead Gorgeous, and also things like Mirrormask and The Whale Rider, because we could!  We could drop everything and go to the movies any time we wanted!  Because there were no children who needed babysitting, and so it was very easy!  But now there are three children, THREE, and one of them will not even sit still long enough to see a Disney movie, so now we are more choosy.  How badly do we want to see this movie, and is it getting good reviews?  Has my sister seen it?  Does she think it's worth getting a babysitter for?  These are questions that we must first ask, and so the list of movies I've seen has narrowed.

Also, it rarely includes poignant films in which ugly people talk about their issues.  But it does include movies in which superheroes save things and stuff gets blown up, because if I'm going to drop $25 for a babysitter plus the price of movie tickets and popcorn, I want to see a Hemsworth brother with no shirt on, and that's that!

And so, the lists!

Here are my favorite animated films from this year:

1. Frozen
2. Monsters University
3. Despicable Me 2

And the grownup movies:

1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
2. Iron Man 3
3. Thor: The Dark World
4. The Way, Way Back
5. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
6. World War Z
7. Warm Bodies
8. Star Trek: Into Darkness
9. Saving Mr. Banks
10. The Lone Ranger
11. Man of Steel
12. Elysium
13. Pacific Rim
14. Gravity
15. Ender's Game
16. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
17. R.I.P.D.
18. The Wolverine
19. Jack the Giant Slayer

Voila!

Although, speaking of people talking about issues: I did go see Philomena last night, and it was wonderful!  Two thumbs way up for that sweet film!  And in the coming year I'm really looking forward to Winter's Tale, The Lego Movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and The Muppets: Most Wanted.

How about you guys?

The 2013 Wrap Up

So!  Happy New Year!  2013 was quite the year, eh?

I don't know about you, but I had some ups and downs this year.  For instance (on the up side), Baby Roo turned one!  I read 151 books!  And saw some really great movies!

Oh, and I also discovered I had a couple of kind of serious health problems, but that's all under control now.  (Side note: don't drink soda, kids!)  Also, I had set a goal of reading 160 books this year, and fell nine books short.  Sigh.

But of course, WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER was a New York Times Bestseller, so that's a win, right?  And I found out it was on the list while I was on a cruise . . . so yes, also full of win!  I went on my first ever book tour, which was fun, but also exhausting.  Baby Girl turned 5!  Boy turned 9!  I turned an age between 35 and 40!

What's in store for 2014, you ask?

Well, I've written some updates for the FAQ page, and those should be up this weekend.  My next book will be out in September, and is yes, the sequel to WEDNESDAYS.  The title is THURSDAYS WITH THE CROWN, and the cover will be by the same fantastic artist, David Hohn, and I hope to post it soon!

Also coming soon to the website will be my always anticipated BEST OF lists, like the best movies and the best books of 2013, according to me!  So watch this space!