Because I Forgot To Stick This In T'Other Post..

[sophieisgod]

In reading/viewing order, because if I have to try and rank them my brain will boil in my head and I'll die.

Books
I'm so pissed off I only made it to 90 - if I hadn't been on a film module this term... *brandishes fists* *repents, because Visionary Film was sexy win*


Elizabeth Knox, The Vintner's Luck
This is how you do a mortal/immortal love story, bitches.


Graham Greene, The End of the Affair
Graham Greene is my guilty Catholic literary boyfriend, and this novel says so much about why love and faith are messy and illogical and damaging and necessary.


Libba Bray, A Great and Terrible Beauty
ALL TEENAGE GIRLS. I'm serious.


Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise
Sharp, heartbreaking, detailed, important; a reminder of what was lost.


Meg Rosoff, How I Live Now
Rosoff has this amazing gift for writing with an adolescent voice; I read all three of her novels in swift succession, and this is my favourite. A fucked-up narrator, careless youths, a dystopian country in chaos, and cousins in love.


Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road
You know what's fun? When the American Dream loses its shine.


David Levithan & Rachel Cohn, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK AND THESE CHARACTERS AND THIS NIGHT.


Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day
I think this is one of the best uses of narrative voice I've ever read; when you finally get a glimpse of the humanity and feeling, it's too late, and it's painful beyond words.


Cormac McCarthy, The Road
God, another heart-ripper-outer. I don't have kids, but the father-son relationship in this blows my mind with the love. Also, post-apocalytic-type things are AWESOME. It's just a fact.


Dodie Smith, I Capture The Castle
Precocious, adolescent female narrators with literary ambitions are my kryptonite (see also: Briony Tallis).


Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
I cannot believe I only read this for the first time this year! Basically, I am more like Catherine than is healthy, but I'm alright with that.


Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca
Gothic, sexy, mysterious riff on Jane Eyre


David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
I am a complete whore for clever structure, and this was delicious


Claire Tomalin, Jane Austen: A Life
Forthright and engaging, it left me with a picture of a sharper Austen than I knew before, and I loved it (see also: Miss Austen Regrets)


Glen Duncan, I, Lucifer
TOO MUCH FUN, FOR SERIOUS. Whips along at a filthy rate, detouring into religion and history and politics and pop culture and damn, that's a charming, infuriating devil.

Films
(This is the part where I wish for the bajillionth time that I had picspam skillz)

Everything Is Illuminated
I adore the book, Alex being one of my favourite characters ever, and I was charmed by this adaptation, which did a great job of streamlining the narrative and also had Elijah Wood's giant eyes. Look, graphics!

Eastern Promises
Russian!Viggo! Naked knife fights! Sexual tension!

Once
See this if you like music. Or have a heart.

There Will Be Blood
holymilkshakes

The Darjeeling Limited
Ohh, Wes Anderson. Also, the noses in this film are magnificent.

Son Of Rambow
Skill on toast! Also, it is sunny and touching and beautiful and there is a flying dog!

In Bruges
Possibly my very favourite thing I saw this year. Hilarious, black as pitch, violent, excellent, Irish accents, Clémence Poésy... Midgets!
"I know I shouldn't.... but I will."

Penelope
Ohh, you know.

Charlie Bartlett
Robert Downey Jr. Kat Dennings. A crazy private school boy. Messed-up kids. Also, this:

Wanted
Don't you want to see Morgan Freeman saying "Kill this motherfucker"? Also, James McAboy has lots of freckles.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
An awesome meta-neo-noir. With RDJ. And Val Kilmer as a gay detective. I LOVE THAT I AM WRITING AN ESSAY ABOUT THIS. Also, picspam!

Brideshead Revisited
It's definitely got significant flaws, but it makes it on here just for Ben Whishaw's performance, my God.

Summertime
David Lean. Katharine Hepburn. Venice. This makes me ache.

St Trinian's
Dirty sexy genius. Also, Colin Firth in a wet shirt. Also also:


Mean Streets
It was a toss-up between this and David Lynch's Lost Highway for Favourite Film I Studied This Term, but come on. It's Scorsese, with young!hot!Harvey Keitel and young!hot!Robert DeNiro. AND CATHOLIC GUILT.

Comments

[tirwen-star03.livejournal.com]

*takes notes* These all look so excellent! I've only read two of them, and since I'm trying to put together a proper to-read list for 2009, this is handy. :D ♥