Okay, 2005 is almost history. I have taken a few moments to look back at the year and comment on things that happened. This post will be rather pastiche in nature, mixing up sports, politics, movies, music, and whatever else I think of as I’m writing. I apologize in advance for the subjective nature of the piece, but it is strictly opinion and not based on a formal critique or scholarly research: just what I like and don’t like about 2005.
THE WINNERS
What I’ve found this year is that when I like something, it really seems very good to me. For example, I loved Wedding Crashers, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Capote very much. This is an odd combination, I know, but they just stood out in a rather tepid year for movies. Each of these films delighted me in different ways. Although I know Philip Seymour Hoffman will (and definitely should be) nominated for playing Truman Capote, I also feel that Johnny Depp deserves recognition for his amazing turn as Willie Wonka (because of my 4 year old, I’ve seen it at least a half dozen times and his acting gets better and better). This film is just a delight, and I think I’d like to make a law that Tim Burton-Johnny Depp-Danny Elfman should be required to make films together for the rest of their careers. Oh, and Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Steve Carrell made me laugh until my sides hurt. That is definitely good, if not for an Oscar, at least for notice that they are some of the funniest actors out there.
I liked only a few books that I found time to read. I am becoming a harsher critic than I used to be, but only because time seems more at a premium for me than ever. If I’m going to invest the effort to read a six hundred page book, it better be worth it. My favorite books this year were Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice, and One Matchless Time: A Life of William Faulkner by Jay Parini. Each of these books were worth the effort and then some. Rice’s is the only work of fiction that I truly enjoyed this year, and I think more than anything else it is her evolution as a writer and person that inspires me. The only thing you’ll find here remotely resembling her vampire books is solid writing, but even that has lost its flowery tendencies and is thus more illuminating. Carter’s book is necessary reading in this chaotic moment in time, when what we treasure as a national way of life is being eroded by the bigger political picture and military concerns. Carter has always been a voice of decency and intelligence and he continues to be in this volume. Parini’s work on Faulkner is simply the best book I’ve read about the great writer I admire so much. It is assiduously researched, beautifully written, and stands out not just as a biography but as a fine piece of writing. It is the best book I’ve read this year.
Article comments
1 - Mark Edward Manning
You know, Victor, maybe it is time for your Mets (and I'd certainly love to see New York under the domain of another winning baseball team), but they're not really cursed. The two Sox teams that were beat their curses. I think it's time the Cubs or the Indians beat theirs. Or, as I've hypothesized in the past, if we seem to be going back in time - 1918 to 1917, both history - we might go back further to 1916 when the Red Sox won it all! Don't even get me started on the 2006 baseball season, I'm so looking forward to it.
I'm incensed that Raphael Palmeiro got off the way he did. Hopefully his chances at Hall of Fame status are ruined ...
"All reality TV people - they are not stars!" Amen to that, brother!
Re: Mary Kate and Ashley, LOL! When, oh when, will those two take the permanent vacation from the spotlight that the rest of us so richly deserve?
Lastly, Sen. Lieberman is one of my political heroes too, a straight-talking, Scoop Jackson Democrat who says what he feels and is not tied down by the extremist (read: majority) faction of his party.
2 - Victor Lana
Thanks for your comments, Mark. Lieberman is really a refreshing guy who speaks honestly about issues. I can't imagine that he has "minders" to make sure he is saying the right things (like lots of other politicians). He and McCain are true leaders, the kind I used to think we had more of. They are definitely presidential timber, but the trouble is the electorate doesn't want that kind of person anymore (or so it seems).
3 - Eric Berlin
I love this piece, Victor -- please consider making it a regular column!
I wasn't thrilled by this version of Wonka, though I believe that Depp is very nearly always great. Crashers and Virgin both absolutely stand-out because they were allowed to actually take risks and break formula-rules... and of course Carrel and Vaughn and Wilson were all perfect in doing what they do.
Totally agree on Lupica -- he's always been far and away my favorite sports writer. No one does it better.
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4 - Scott Butki
Great summary, Victor. You are always a pleasure to read.