I have spent the better part of 2008 reminiscing about 2007 (can you believe it's over?) by perusing the stack of year-end issues on my desk, so you can imagine my embarrassment when I realized that I hadn't put together a single Top [whatevers] Of 2007 list. I've resolved to not let this happen in 2008. So in the spirit of Entertainment Weekly, People, Blender, Cindy Adams' psychic, and every single publication on the planet, here are my choices for the top things of 2008. (It's never too early to start!)
Feel free to add this column to your 2008 time capsule (just throw your laptop in there, that way the whole Internet will be included–and subsequently remembered– too).
Top 3 Movies Of 2008
Clang
This simple, moving story about two musicians falling in love, and also forming a handbell choir, was the little movie that could in 2008. Love has never seemed so pure, characters have never seemed so human, handbells have never seemed so indie.
Funny Voice, Gay Panic
Would Adam Sandler's brave performance as a hairdresser with some kind of foreign accent have been as powerful under the movie's original title, Don't Mess With The Zohan? Fortunately, that's something we as an audience will never have to consider.
A Child Goes Missing
Yes, it kind of fell apart midway through, and, yes, it went from believable to implausible in the space of 5 lines, but a child went missing! In short: Most gripping movie, 2008.
Top 3 Photos Of 2008
Britney Falling Down Or Something
Holy shit! She really fell down. Remember that? It was crazy. Something to tell your future grandchildren about.
Katie Holmes Trims Her Bangs
It was the haircut that had women everywhere heading to their stylists and demanding the slightest adjustment to the length of their hair. With one minor snip of the shears Holmes went from woman married to Tom Cruise to woman still married to Tom Cruise!
Patrick Dempsey In A Tux
If there was one image that defined 2008, it was this one: Patrick Dempsey, wearing a tux at some black tie event, just standing around and breathing.
Top 3 TV Shows Of 2008
The Wire
If there was one show that you pretended to watch in 2008 because everyone kept saying how great it was but when you tried to watch an episode that time you couldn't really get into it probably because you need to watch it from the beginning or something, it was The Wire.
Make A Dress, Change A Life
Reality television has never been more inspirational than this ABC gem. Watching the contestants make a new dress as part of a lazy metaphor for starting over in life was both moving and entertaining. And who could forget Emma's tin-foil/patchwork/cat-hair belt? LOL
American Idol
[default pick, there was nothing else on in 2008]
Top 3 Soundbites Of 2008
"Huh?"—Lauren "LC" Conrad on The Hills having trouble understanding Brody Jenner and what they mean to each other and stuff.
"Here's looking at you, kid. I mean, Carrie."—Mr. Big, Sex & The City: The Movie
"Banana-nah-nah-nah"—That guy in that thing on funnyordie.com or whatever.
Top 3 Memorable Moments Of 2008
Something That Happened On The View
Remember when the ladies got into that heated debate about something with Laura Dern or whomever that time?
The Internet Melts Into Televison
It's not really a moment, but, apart from Patrick Dempsey in a tux, this is what 2008 was all about. (To be illustrated with a graphic of a TV set on fire underneath a laptop.)
Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie Smiling, Oct. 15th, 2008
There have been many Brad and Angelina smiles, but this one, captured while the couple were at their most coupley, was by far the brightest.