The better albums I listened to over the past decade. My “Top 100″ list, if you will. 114, actually.

2009
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Doves – Kingdom of Rust
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Kasabian – The West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

2008
Adele – 19
Beyonce – I Am… Sasha Fierce
British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?
Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst
Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid
Johnny Flynn – A Larum
Juvelen – 1
Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim
Lykke Li – Youth Novels
M83 – Saturdays = Youth
Nada Surf – Lucky
The Stills – Oceans Will Rise
The Subways – All or Nothing
Young Knives – Superabundance

2007
Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold
Battles – Mirrored
Blonde Redhead – 23
The Cinematic Orchestra – Ma Fleur
The Coral – Roots & Echoes
The Enemy – We’ll Live and Die in These Towns
Jamie T – Panic Prevention
Joel Plaskett – Ashtray Rock
Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
The Marzipan Man – Stories
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Mika – Life in Cartoon Motion
The National – Boxer
Pearl Jam – Live at the Gorge (Box Set)
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Silverchair – Young Modern
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Swod – Sekunden
The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
The White Stripes – Icky Thump

2006
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – So Divided
Detektivbyran – Hemvagen (EP)
Kasabian – Empire
The Killers – Sam’s Town
Lily Allen – Alright Still
Peter Bjorn & John – Writer’s Block
Sloan – Never Hear the End of It

2005
Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase
Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine
Hard-Fi – Stars of CCTV
Idlewild – Warnings/Promises
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis – The Proposition (Soundtrack)
The Secret Machines – The Road Leads Where It’s Led (EP)

2004
American Music Club – Love Songs for Patriots
Bjork – Medulla
Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands
Esthero – O.G. Bitch (Remixes)
Feist – Let it Die
Jem – Finally Woken
k-os – Joyful Rebellion
Various Artists – The Ladykillers (Soundtrack)

2003
Anthony Hamilton – Comin’ from Where I’m From
Aqualung – Still Life
The Blood Brothers – Burn Piano Island, Burn
Boomkat – Boomkatalog.One
The Cardigans – Long Gone Before Daylight
Clearlake – Cedars
The Darkness – Permission to Land
The Jayhawks – Rainy Day Music
Sam Roberts – We Were Born in a Flame
Various Artists – Big Fish (Soundtrack)
Sufjan Stevens – Greetings from Michigan
The Thrills – So Much for the City

2002
…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – Source Tags & Codes
Archive – You All Look the Same to Me
Boards of Canada – Geogaddi
Brendan Benson – Lapalco
Death in Vegas – Scorpio Rising
Hot Hot Heat – Knock Knock Knock
Idlewild – The Remote Part
Interpol – Turn On the Bright Lights
Paul Westerberg – Stereo
Sigur Ros – ()
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

2001
The Charlatans – Wonderland
Fugazi – The Argument
Goldfrapp – Felt Mountain
Manic Street Preachers – So Why So Sad (Single)
Remy Zero – The Golden Hum
Various Artists – Snatch (Soundtrack)
Starsailor – Fever (Single)
The Strokes – The Modern Age (EP)

2000
Alpinestars – B.A.S.I.C.
Blur – Music is My Radar (Single)
Chantal Kreviazuk – Colour Moving and Still
Daft Punk – One More Time (Single)
Dead Prez – Let’s Get Free
The Delgados – The Great Eastern
Doves – Lost Souls
Elastica – The Menace
Ian Brown – Golden Greats
JJ72 – JJ72
Mansun – Little Kix
Moloko – Things to Make and Do
Oasis – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
OutKast – Stankonia
PJ Harvey – Stories from the City Stories from the Sea
Primal Scream – XTRMNTR
Radiohead – Kid A
Six by Seven – The Closer You Get
The Smashing Pumpkins – Machina/The Machines of God
Stroke – First In, Last Out
Tegan and Sara – This Business of Art
The Wu-Tang Clan – The W

There’s something inherently wrong about turning a short story into a nearly 3-hour feature length film. Such an adaptation, if faithful to its limited source material, is bound to struggle against tedium, and this is where ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button‘ fails.

This type of story – sharing the basic premise of recounting one’s life with films such as ‘Big Fish‘ and ‘Forrest Gump‘ – needs to survive on its characters and their charm. The story in this case is quite linear, and so simply shuffles off to another adventure as soon as we feel we are getting to know any of those appearing on screen. If these are individuals that are to have made an impact on the story’s protagonist, they should equally make an impact on those of us watching the story unfold.

Yes, the film has its charming moments, it has scenes that might draw a few tears, but ultimately it feels slow and uneventful – a symptom of trying to do too much with story arcs.

A film like this might be saved by the acting, but even here things disappoint. While Tilda Swinton is fabulous, Cate Blanchett still seems to be channeling her over-the-top role from ‘The Aviator‘ and Brad Pitt doesn’t seem to know what to do with the role once he grows out of old age.

Watchable? Yes. What the film does with special effects to make Pitt appear seamlessly older than his years in the early stages is incredible. Deserving of 13 Academy Award nominations? Only in a lackluster year for film.

C

The best song of 2007 was about teenage pregnancy [Kings of Leon - Knocked Up]. The best song of 2008 is about a failing marriage and its consequences on the children [Elbow - Grounds for Divorce].

A

There seems to be a new genre of film these days that tries to tiptoe the fine line between comedy and drama, but instead ends up being nothing remotely similar to either category. ‘Everything’s Gone Green‘ falls into this new genre, as does ‘King of California.’ Both are slightly interesting stories, with some pretty decent performances (especially Michael Douglas as a delusional dreamer in the latter title), but ultimately leave the viewer wanting something more. There are no jokes and any sense of heart-wrenching tension is completely absent. So why watch? They’re just 2 hours of (and to a certain degree, I hate to say this) boredom. I’d rather have spent my time organizing a bookcase.

D

B+

For personal reasons “The Fox” will likely remain burned into my memory. The cliffs at Beachy Head (referenced in the song) were one of the better spots to get away from things during my year in England. That, and I accidentally electrocuted myself (not serious enough to hospitalize, but I wasn’t exactly expecting it) on the security wire that edges the cliffs.

A+