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Best Movie
5. The Dark Knight – Chistopher Nolan
4. Wall-E – Andrew Stanton
3. Waltz with Bashir – Ari Folman
2. Rachel Getting Married – Jonathon Demme
1. Let The Right One In – Tomas Alfredson

Best Movie New to Me
Streetcar Named Desire – Elia Kazan (1951)

The nominations for the Academy Awards are out and it looks like not one of my favorite movies made the big list. There are some consolations though. Sean Penn got nominated for Milk which would be #6 on this list, Wall-E’s up for best animated feature, Heath Ledger got a best supporting actor nomination and Anne Hathaway got the nod for best actress. The fact that Let The Right One In didn’t get nominated for either best picture or best foreign film is a travesty.

I read lots of books each year, but very few are brand new, so these are my favorites that I read this year regardless of when they came out.

Best Books
5. John Updike – Rabbit, Run (1960)
4. Joshua Ferris – Then We Came to the End (2007)
3. Tom Vanderbilt – Traffic (2008 )
2. Richard Adams – Watership Down (1972)
1. Herman Melville – Moby Dick (1851)

Best Comic Book
Michel Rabagliati – Paul Goes Fishing (2008 )

Happy New Year Everyone! Here’s a quick wrap up of my favorite music from the year.

Best 5 Albums
5. Crooked Fingers – Forfeit / Fortune
4. Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 8, Tell Tale Signs
3. Vampire Weekend – self titled
2. The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound
1. Chuck Ragan – The Blueprint Sessions

Best Album That Was New to Me
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)

Best 5 Tracks
5. Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
4. Chuck Ragan – Done & Done
3. American Steel – Old Cory Road
2. Tom Gabel (Against Me!) – Anna is a Stool Pigeon
1. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazurus Dig!!!
If you only listen to one thing on this list, please, let it be this one.

Best Track That Was New To Me
Iron & Wine & Calexico – A History of Lovers from In The Reins (2005)