I've decided

that I am going to leave out the films I'd already seen when I started my AFI endeavor (unless someone out there in cyberspace wants my take on them). For the record, I will give the name of the movie with the 2007 ranking first, and the 1997 ranking next in parentheses. So here is the list of those movies (which made me realize I'd only seen 25 when I started I guess):


#5(10) Singin' in the Rain


#6(4) Gone with the Wind


#10(6) The Wizard of Oz


#13(15) Star Wars


#17(7) The Graduate


#20(11) It's a Wonderful Life


#24(25) E.T The Extra Terrestrial


#34(49) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs


#39(26) Dr. Strangelove


#44(51) The Philadelphia Story


#50(-)The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring


#51(41) West Side Story


#66(60) Raiders of the Lost Ark


#71(-)Saving Private Ryan


#72(-)The Shawshank Redemption


#73(50) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid


#74(65) The Silence of the Lambs


#76(71) Forrest Gump


#83(-)Titanic


#89(-) The Sixth Sense


#99(-)Toy Story


#100(72) Ben Hur


#-(53) Amadeus


#-(58) Fantasia


#-(64)Close Encounters of the Third Kind

That. Was.

AWESOME.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Read it. Love it.

I was enthralled by this novel almost from the moment I picked it up. I am such a sucker for mystery novels though - it's probably because I love hearing gossip (though not necessarily passing it around), reading tabloids, etc. purely for the knowledge of whatever the information may be. It could pertain to something that I don't have a care in the world for (please see: anything to do with celebrities) but I just want to know, otherwise just knowing there's something within my grasp to know would drive me crazy.

I digress. (That all makes me sound like a crazy person.)

Although the book is a translation from Swedish (which can sometimes be hit or miss), I could barely tell the difference. That's what good editorial work should get as a result!! Ahem. I got so engrossed trying to figure out the mystery that I was scribbling notes on scrap paper and cross referencing different things mentioned earlier in the novel. I think I've lost more sleep over this book than any other I've read for a long time. I couldn't put it down last night so I resolved to get only 4 and a half hours of sleep before putting in a full work day. AND THEN I am up til 1am again to finish it! Without a doubt I am sleeping in tomorrow.

In short, it's great. I would very much recommend it be added to your list of things to read.

Up next? The Girl Who Played with Fire, of course!

AFI's two top 100 movies of all time lists

The American Film Institute (AFI) has been making 100's lists since 1998. The first one they put together was 100 Years, 100 Movies, which is pretty self explanatory.

My freshman year of college, I heard about this list and immediately wanted to see which movies I'd already seen, and then watch any of the movies I hadn't already. If I remember correctly, I'd only seen something like 34 or so of the movies, which kind of surprised me because my family is full of big movie watchers. So Brooke and I decided to start making our way through them.

Then the AFI put out other top 100s lists, and then in 2007 they did their 100 Years, 100 Movies 10th Anniversary Edition. There were quite a few changes to the 1998 list, so I decided to combine the two, which made the list total 123 movies.

Here I am 4 years later (FOUR YEARS?!) and I am still making my way through them. I only have 25 left!

I am going to go through all of the movies I've watched so far and post little reviews/comments of my thoughts. Get ready!!

It's too late now

but I kind of wish I had written a short review or something of all of the AFI movie's I've watched. Maybe I can go back and do this retroactively in my spare time?

Things to consider, things to consider.

Also: I am losing sleep over The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's just so good!!

It's been a

bed by 9:30 kind of week. Finishing the week out strong!!

...I just want to feel better.

It feels like

I have a billion cotton balls jammed up in my sinuses. That and a small child is sitting on my chest (thanks congestion).

In other news, I went to the dentist today and somehow I magically have two cavities. Maybe my old dentist was just a moron and didn't see them before, so somehow my teeth have gotten attacked in the last 6 months. Blurg. I hate hate HATE dental work (ESPECIALLY Novocaine) so this should be super fun. Something to look forward to next week...