Movie of the Year

It was a pretty slow year for movies, and not a lot jumped out as great. There is however, one movie I enjoyed more than any other: Little Miss Sunshine. This movie had a great cast that featured Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Abigail Breslin, who was around 9 when this movie was filmed. She is fantastic in this, as is the rest of the cast, and she really deserves accolades from the numerous award shows Hollywood uses to pat itself on the back at the end of the year. That said, it should be noted that by no means is this family friendly fare, given the standout performance comes from a 9 year old. The film deals with things like depression and death, albeit in the most humor-filled ways possible. This movie had such a hold on the audience at the screening I attended, that when one of the characters in the film was confronted with a particularly awkward situation, the entire audience began to cheer hoping to encourage this person who was on film. A strangely captivating movie.

Book of the Year

Anyone who knows me, would know I would pick Philip Yancey's book Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? as my favorite book this past year. I was lucky enough to read an advance copy from the publisher Zondervan because I am on a Philip Yancey mailing list, and they were looking for volunteers to read the book, and then submit a survey. So, was the book good? Yes, very much so. It was classic Yancey, taking a hard look at a subject about which volumes have already been written. It's not a feel good piece of fluff that one might expect from say, a Max (Shudder) Lucado, but a well thought out book that raises questions of its reader without necessarily providing answers in neat little packages that is so common in Christian books. It definitely forced me to look at my own prayer life and desire to make some drastic changes. By all means, get this book. It gets an A from me.
On a side note, I was able to hear Philip speak at a church in the Bay Area a couple of months ago. I was excited and anxious about hearing him, as seldom do the people admired from a distance come off as anticipated. It was a great relief to find both Philip and his wife Janet exceptionally nice people, especially as I groveled on about what a great writer he was as he signed my book at the speaking engagement. A true highlight for me, even as I resisted the urge to ask him what Bono was like in person.