Top 5 lists

I went into this year planning to watch 50 movies I hadn't seen before and to read 12 books. I finished 18 books and saw 54 movies. I watch numerous TV shows on a regular basis and listen to podcasts daily. I wouldn't say that I only watch, read or listen to the same type of thing over and over again, but there are certain genres I avoid, like for example horror movies or reality TV.

Making year-end lists is somewhat of a staple of critics in the entertainment industry, but most of them are Top 10. I feel if you don't reduce it to a small enough number the selection doesn't mean anything. And if it's good enough for Nick Hornby, John Cusack and Jack Black, it's good enough for me.


When you actually try to make a list like that you realize a.) how hard it is and b.) that you need some criteria to help you make the decisions. I didn't want to make this an exercise in cultural criticism. I don't feel qualified to judge the technical skill involved in making the objects and I also don't think that's the criterion I would want to use. These are not best-of lists, they're not Desert Island Top 5's, which should take compatibility and rewatchability into account, they're not End of Human Civilization Top 5's, where you try to preserve something important, they are my favorite books, movies, etc. of 2012. In the end, I I decided to rank them by how much I enjoyed them and how much I was emotionally invested in them, which is not exactly the same thing.


The plan is to count down from 5 to 1 and release all number 5's, 4's, etc. at the same time and to write a short paragraph on what it was I enjoyed about them and why your life would be much improved with them in it. Because I really only have your best interests at heart.