Rudi and I got to more movies this past year than I ever have, averaging a new film every two weeks. That’s thanks in large part to AMC’s free Stubs Insider program, which offers $5 tickets on Tuesdays. We have two AMC theaters close by and a third within the District, so that offers a lot of screens to choose from. I also try to pay attention to free screenings, but those have grown in popularity, so I feel like they’re far harder to get into than they once were.

Anyway, what this means is that we actually saw more than 10 new releases in the theater, as well as catching some of the year’s earlier films on DVD/streaming, so I can do more than just list the only ten films we saw this year. Also worth noting is that these are the films I liked best, rather than the films I thought were the best pieces of art. I can appreciate the importance of a movie without ever needing to see it again. These, on the other hand, I’d re-watch, which is probably the best compliment I can offer.

10. The Greatest Showman: This came out in December 2017, but we didn’t see it until January. Unlike Mary Poppins, this had a stellar soundtrack, which I absolutely adored and which has now spawned a tribute album that I’m eager to listen to. The acting, however, varied, as did the pacing a bit.

9. Bohemian Rhapsody: This was a highly enjoyable, well acted biopic of Freddy Mercury and his time with one of the biggest bands of the 1970s. It truly gave you a sense of how interactive their songwriting and recording processes were.

8. The Post: We didn’t catch this until the summer outdoor movie season, but it was worth it to wait, since they asked Len Downie, a former editor of The Washington Post and a consultant to the film to come and introduce it at the Farragut Square (which sits only two blocks away from the White House and a couple more blocks from the newspaper’s offices) showing. The acting was stellar and it was great to see a counterpoint/companion film to All the President’s Men.

7. Mary Poppins Returns: It was hard to know where to place this one. I liked it, but didn’t love it, in part because I love the original. There were lots of homages to the Julie Andrews version, but this probably falls as far down as it does because it’s a musical and I have a hard time recalling any of the songs, let alone singing them. The acting was solid across the board, and Lin-Manuel’s accent, which drove me nuts in the previews, didn’t bother me during the movie. Also, I loved how colorful it was.

6. On the Basis of Sex: We just saw this last night as the first part of our New Year’s Eve movie extravaganza. A biopic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life between her first year of law school and arguing her first court case, which established the precedent for gender bias in federal law. Well acted, the film succeeds in making you love RBG even more. I’m going to see if the library has the documentary about her life that came out earlier this year and will also check out her autobiography. Also the costumes for the 15 years of the film were great.

5. Crazy Rich Asians: I hadn’t been especially excited by the book series when it came out, but the previews made me think this might be fun. It absolutely was, in part because so many of the characters are so over the top and in part because the setting (Singapore) is allowed equal billing to the actors. It inspired me to listen to the book and I’m looking forward to reading the second installment in the book trilogy and to watching the next movie. The soundtrack to this film is very good and surprisingly varied. Also, between her roles in this and Ocean’s 8, I will now investigate every film Aquafina stars in.

4. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse: This was the final film of last night’s movies (The third film we saw, If Beale Street Could Talk, was one of those films that I can appreciate, but that I didn’t especially like.). I had such high hopes for this film that I was really afraid it wasn’t going to be able to live up to them, but it did. The voice actors did a great job, the writing was solid, they used visuals and sound to their best effect, and they did all that without taking itself overly seriously. Really quite well done.

3. Black Panther: I haven’t hidden the fact that I really enjoyed this Marvel action film when it came out back in February. It did a great job of portraying both Black characters and female characters as strong, multidimensional characters without sexualizing any of them (which is not to say they weren’t sexy), and it featured a villain you were honestly sad to see lose, which I think puts it shoulders above most action-adventure films. I would watch films about pretty much any of the characters portrayed.

2. Christopher Robin: What happens when the human boy from the Hundred Acre Wood moves away, gets older, and grows up? And when he’s about to lose everything? Winnie the Pooh to the rescue. This was an utterly sweet and charming film with surprisingly good and lifelike special effects bringing stuffed animals to life. It absolutely never veered into sentimentality even though it would have been easy to do.

1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?: This documentary about Mister Rogers was the exact antidote to 2018 we all needed. It showed how Fred Rogers came to be on television and a pioneer in child development and children’s programming, why he gave it up for a period of time, and why he came back to it. It also showed some of his shortcomings and how over time and through soul searching he mostly overcame them. I was already a big fan of his, but his hero status has been underscored of late by his advice to children that when there is a scary situation, they should look for the helpers because there always are some. 2018 was filled with stressful scenarios and, with a lack of national leadership, the sentiment (and its author) are well remembered.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

• A Wrinkle in Time (this wasn’t the movie I wanted it to be, but it’s possible that even the movie I wanted wouldn’t have been the movie I wanted)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Ralph Wrecks the Internet
• Love, Simon
• Ocean’s 8
• Juliet, Naked
• Paddington 2

The Best Netflix Original Movies I Saw This Year (also in no particular order)
(It didn’t seem fair to include streaming films in with big-screen and big-budget films, but also not truly fair to categorize them as television.)

• Dumplin’: Based on a book I loved, this is about a plus-sized Texas teen girl, who decides to enter the teen beauty pageant her mother runs in honor of her recently deceased aunt, who, she discovers, once wanted to enter it herself. Several other unlikely contenders also enter with her and they form an unlikely sisterhood with each other and with some of her aunt’s friends.
• To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before: The letters a teen girl once wrote to each of the five boys she had had crushes on — including the longtime boyfriend of her older sister — somehow end up getting mailed and the main character has to come up with a plan for dealing with that. She decides her best course of action is to pretend to be dating one of them — but lines get blurred.
• The Christmas Chronicles: The first holiday season after the patriarch of a Christmas-loving family dies, his preteen daughter and teenage son accidentally mess up Santa’s Christmas Eve deliveries — and end up halfway across the country to boot. This was the best of this year’s streaming and network Christmas original programming, in large part thanks to Kurt Russell’s portrayal of Santa Claus. This is destined to be a holiday classic.

The 2018 film I’m most annoyed at myself for missing was The Hate U Give. It came out when I had volleyball on Tuesdays and Rudi and I had conflicts. I’m already on the holds list for the library copy of the dvd, which I hope arrives shortly after it’s released on the 22nd of this month.

What were your favorite films you saw in 2018?

I’ll be back tomorrow with some superlatives, but, in the meantime, happy 2019!

The Broke and the Bookish came out of retirement briefly to conduct their annual Secret Santa book swap earlier this month.

My package came from Lea of Lea Out West. She lives in Lake Tahoe, but her brother lives here in D.C. and surprisingly close by!

It didn’t strike me as unusual that both cats were interested in the box Lea sent. They’re big fans of boxes of any kind. But what I didn’t realize was that Lea had included presents for Jeremiah and Corey. I’d barely gotten the box open to pull things out when Corey hopped up, rooted around inside quickly, and ran off with this squirrel tail:

Jeremiah was not to be left out, but he is older and knew he should wait patiently for me to share a present with him. He got toast.

I’m not sure they shared willingly, but they did each steal the other toy to make sure they got to experience both.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Lea was my cats’ favorite person that night. It shouldn’t surprise me, since this is the great Christmas card she sent:

But it was not just the cats who got presents. I got some as well!

I’ll be honest. Lea’s package arrived the week before Christmas, and it was kind of a crappy week for me. I was PMSing, the apartment had flooded, my Christmas preparations were not humming along in the way that it felt like they should for someone with no day job to distract them from getting stuff done, and I was in the emotional and mental place one might expect to result from that combination. So I used the package as a daily pick-me-up. Every day I opened a gift or two, and every time I did, the world felt a little bit more right.

I have four new books to read and have already started in on the Christmas-themed one. I’m saving the other three as treats to read this winter (okay, the new Lady Sherlock may only wait until New Year’s Day — I can’t wait to start it!). I have new nail polish in sparkly confetti and purples, which will be the festive manicure I give myself on New Year’s Day while watching the parade. There is a fancy tea to drink late at night when I should be sleeping (like now). There are bookmarks (already in use!), notepads, sparkly pens, stickers, and bags to tuck into purses to hold pens, pads, and knitting needles (the last of those may not have been in Lea’s plan, but they’re just the right size!).

It really is a great package, don’t you think? Thank you so much to Lea for making me a box that I (and the cats) loved and to Jamie and Jana for running the swap again. I had a lot of fun shopping for my swap partner (Megan of The Hungry Bookworm) and got so much enjoyment out of opening each present Lea sent.

As I mentioned yesterday, Riverby Books, one of D.C.’s longtime used bookshops, is closing at the end of the year.

It has long been a favorite haunt of mine when over on on Capitol Hill, and I decided that I wanted to make one final pilgrimage before it was no more.

D.C.’s used bookstores each have their own unique feel. Capitol Hill Books is literally piled high with books. (They sit on the window sills, countertops, and in the bathroom, and used to be piled on the stairs until, I assume, the fire marshal shot that down.) Second Story Books in Dupont Circle has more of a storefront feel, with wide aisles and fluorescent lights. Wall of Books up Georgia Avenue is similar, but takes it further, being a bigger space, but it also is more a bookstore of the people, rather than of the collectors, so there’s less highbrow work and a broader selection. Idle Time in Adams Morgan has more ephemera (paintings and postcards), while Riverby fits into the upscale but laid back category, with a classy main floor (lots of wood, a couple wingback chairs, and a corner where you could brew yourself a cuppa to drink while browsing) aimed at adult bibliophiles and a cozier, more casual basement filled with kids books and a few overflow grown-up sections.

For the holidays, they’d assembled book bundles — trios of books relating to a theme, such as classics or movie fodder or titles based on Shakespeare quotations. This one was my favorite:

And did I come home with anything new, you ask?

As you can see, I had some luck finding an assortment of reading material. There are three books of poetry, including a local anthology; a classic; a middle-grade caper I’ve been meaning to read; three Christmas items (two dvd collections and one novella); and two books on language, including one by Bill Bryson. And with the closing sale discount, it all came out to less than $2.50 per item. Quite a good haul, if I do say so myself.

With a final long weekend of the year upon us, I have a few more things I’d like to get done before closing the books on 2018:

• Get outside. The weather in D.C. is supposed to be mild, and, in a surprise from the forecast of earlier this week, dry.
• Do some baking. I failed in all my holiday baking here (although I was somewhat more successful up north) and there are some recipes I’d like to make. I also received a macaron pan for Christmas, and I admit to being intrigued by the idea.
• Make a few end-of-year donations. I made more donations year-round in 2018, but there are a few more I’d like to send in.
• Ask at the hardware store about grow lights. My violets and orchids are mostly hanging in there, in my daylight-challenged subterranean dwelling, but they definitely aren’t thriving. I’d like to see if they have any recommendations.
• Finalize our list of New Year’s Eve movies. Sarah, Rudi, and I have put forward a list, and I’ll take a stab at coming up with a schedule that works for three of them.
• Cuddle with the cats. (Jeremiah said I should add that one to the list.)
• Visit the library. I have some things to return and a couple new items that came off the holds list this week.
• Send a last few Christmas cards. I know, I know. But we’re not even halfway through the twelve days, so I think it’s okay.
• Finish a few final books. I’ve pulled out several that have been in-progress for a while and/or are short, and will do my best to add them to the read pile.
• Knit a bit. And maybe get pictures of the final couple FOs of the year.
• Listen to some of my new music.
• Pick up groceries at the farmers market. Topping my to-buy list will be collard greens or kale (the latter will probably be easier to find) for our New Year’s Day meal. (This year, I may try adding cornbread to the menu, since I attended a talk recently that reminded me I should have been serving that alongside my black-eyed peas, as well.
• Stop at Riverby Books one last time. The used bookstore down the street from my dentist is closing at the end of the year, and they have discounted their used books by 50% before they lock their Capitol Hill rowhouse for good.

How about you? What are you hoping to check off your list this weekend?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. My friend’s mother, who is recuperating from complications relating to surgery, got to come home on Christmas Day.

2. There was conversational snow on Christmas Eve.

3. We got a late jump on our drive north Saturday, which meant we were driving through northern New Jersey along the Garden State Parkway after dark, rather than during daylight. After disappointing me after Thanksgiving, the New Jerseyans of that area reclaimed their title of most festive neighborhoods of the mid-Atlantic with their cheerful and abundant holiday light displays.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately?