I went to see National Treasure 2 with my family tonight. I'll admit that it wouldn't have been my first choice out of all current options in the theater, but I doubt I could convince my family that we should go see "I'm Not There" or "Juno". Citizen Kane it was not, but I enjoyed it, because it wasn't supposed to be Citizen Kane. It had no intention of being Citizen Kane. It's a fun-for-the-whole-family, mindless good natured movie, and no the plot wasn't realistic, but who cares. I'm currently watching "Blood Diamond" with my brother. I'm having trouble with it. It's an awful story, one that's all too familiar to the continent of Africa, and whether or not this movie has a happy ending, the real life story doesn't seem to have any end in sight. There are currently about ten countries in Africa with some sort of serious war or struggle going on. Many of them have been going for upwards of ten years. I'm headed to a country where two-thirds of the population live on less than a dollar a day, the life expectancy at birth is around 40 years old, and about a million people have AIDS, and all I can think as I continue to learn about Zambia is "wow, I'm lucky to be going to an African country in such good shape."
On a lighter note, everyone else this time of year takes stock of their favorite music of the last 12 months, and since I'm a music nerd, here's my iTunes playlist of the best of 2007, in no particular order:
Once Soundtrack: "Falling Slowly"
Panda Bear: "Take Pills"
Josh Ritter: "The Temptation of Adam"
Bloc Party: "Waiting for the 7:18"
Animal Collective: "Peacebone"
Spoon: "The Underdog"
White Stripes: "Icky Thump"
Jens Lekman: "The Opposite of Hallelujah"
Feist: "I Feel It All"
The Shins: "Phantom Limb"
New Pornographers: "Challengers"
A Place To Bury Strangers: "Don't Think Lover"
Arcade Fire: "Keep the Car Running" (favorite concert of the year)
Stars: "Take Me To The Riot"
Menomena: "Muscle n' Flo"
The National: "Mistaken For Strangers" (favorite album of the year)
LCD Soundsystem: "All My Friends"
Radiohead: "Videotape"
Battles: "Atlas" (favorite song of the year)