Best of the Decade? (Five Books, Five Movies)

I’m not the best at Top 10 lists — partly because my reading and viewing habits are less comprehensive than I’d like and I never feel like I’m caught up on the latest hot topics. But looking back at the double-oughts, there are a number of books and movies that have stuck with me for various reasons. These aren’t meant to be the “best of the decade” as so many lists are being touted these days, and with the films at least, I guarantee that I could find “better” ones; A.I., in my opinion, is fundamentally flawed and uneven, but it hit me hard when I saw it and that feeling has stuck with me. So basically these lists are something more personal: The books and films that have meant something to me for one reason or another. Call it “Navel-Gazing Part II” after yesterday’s post.

Five Books That Stuck (chronological):

1. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2001)
2. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
3. Phone Calls from the Dead, Wendy Brenner (2001)
4. The Human Stain, Philip Roth (2003)
5. In The Woods, Tana French (2007)

Five Movies That Stuck (and often troubled)

1. Memento, Christopher Nolan (2000)
2. Artificial Intelligence: A.I., Steven Spielberg (2001)
3. Dogville, Lars Von Trier (2003)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Michael Gondry (2004)
5. Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney (2005)