Sand Mountain Reporter

The New Year is here and everybody’s doing best-of and worst-of lists for 2007.

I thought I’d throw in my 2 cents, because I’m an entertainment nut.

I’ll just do a best-of list, because frankly there’s so much worst-of stuff, I wouldn’t know where to start.

This year’s list was easy to make, particularly in the movie category. All the blockbuster movies were just a mess, with “300” and “Transformers” the only ones even watchable to me. And all the serious movies were just plain boring.

Of course, I didn’t see, hear or read everything and this list is just based on what I did.

BEST MOVIE: “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Sure, it’s in Spanish, but it really was the only movie to inspire and fill me with wonder. It’s an R-rated adult fairy tale set in World War II Spain. Lots of allegorical content that’s particularly cool to fans of literature.

BEST CD: “Neon Bible” by Arcade Fire. An alternative band with a knack for soaring melodies and angst-filled vocals. Nothing like it on the radio.

BEST COUNTRY CD: “Dwight Sings Buck” by Dwight Yoakam. Why mainstream country radio continues to ignore Dwight, I’ll never know, but they’ve been doing it for years. Dwight’s heartfelt take on the best songs of the late Buck Owens is filled with a lot of joy tinged with sadness. Nothing on radio even came close to the hardcore honky-tonk sound of these 15 gems.

BEST SONG: “The Story” by Brandi Carlile. First song in 15 years that as soon as I heard it on VH1, I had to go out and buy the CD — and that was at 2 in the morning. With lyrics like “Even when I was flat broke, you made me feel like a million bucks,” this is not only the best song I’ve ever heard but could be the best song I’ll ever hear.

BEST SONG ON RADIO: “No One” by Alicia Keys. Not a fan of the R&B songstress, but she belted this beauty out with a lot of passion. It’s what I like most about great songs — simple and honest.

BEST COUNTRY SONG ON RADIO: I really want to listen to country music on the radio, but months are turning into years of hearing the same old mid-tempo yawners. The only country song on radio that made me stop hitting the scan button was an energetic number by LeAnn Rimes called “Nothin’ Better To Do.” But the best country song of the year is “Gone, Gone, Gone” by the unlikely duet of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and neo-bluegrass queen Alison Krauss.

BEST TV SHOW: “Dexter”on Showtime. Dexter is a sympathetic serial killer played to perfection by Michael C. Hall. The blood spatter expert on the Miami Police Department tends to kill people guilty of crimes, but his personal life is even messier than what he does to his victims. Definitely not for children.

BEST BOOK: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” by J.K. Rowling. I read mostly horror and swords and sorcery novels, and I wanted to pick a book nobody else would. But the Potter finale was unavoidable, inevitable and ultimately satisfying.

[Lionel Green is a staff writer for The Sand Mountain Reporter.]

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Publisher: Ben Shurett

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