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Inspired by the Top 10 Worst End-of-the-Year Top 10 lists list that we posted at FaithVillage, here is my own Top 10 End-of-the-Year Top 10 lists list.

10. The Best Selling Video Games of 2011
Sadly, my absolute favorite of the year, Portal 2, was ranked #10. It’s one of the smartest games in existence. I’m playing through #8, L.A. Noire, during my Christmas break, and it’s a little unnerving to have more than a few actors from Mad Men (including the game’s lead actor) appear in the game.

9. Top 10 Words of the Year
As a writer, I felt like I had to include this, but the words this year are lame. I’ll save you the trouble: The word that was most looked up online in 2011 was “pragmatic.” Additionally, “‘austerity’ also made the top 10 list in 2011 along with ambivalence, insidious, didactic, diversity, capitalism, socialism, vitriol and ‘apres moi le deluge.’

8. Top 10 Most Bizzare Tech Stories of 2011
This list exists because someone failed to tell someone else that just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should do something. A self-hugging vest? An internet-enabled kissing machine? An MC Hammer search engine? At least they all have this in common: They make me say, “What the what?”

7. Top 10 Gorgeous Gadgets of 2011
Function does not have to follow form. These gadgets remind us that useful tech doesn’t have to be just a metal box.

6. 10 Most Viewed YouTube Videos of 2011
#1 makes me weep for humanity. My favorite is #2, embedded below.

5. Top 10 DFW Sports Moments of 2011
As a recent resident of the DFW area, I couldn’t have picked a better place or year to root for the home team. Having never lived close enough to an NBA (or NFL or MLB) franchise to attend games, I had the opportunity to attend multiple Mavs games, two Cowboys games, and multiple Rangers’ games. I even went to an FC Dallas soccer match, but don’t tell anyone. I was thrilled when the Mavs took home the Larry O’Brien, but I fear this year is going to be quite different. I still plan to attend the games though.

4. Top 10 New iPhone Gaming Apps for 2011
No list can exist on my website if it doesn’t refer to an Apple product at least once. My faves on this list include Jetpack Joyride and Scribblenauts Remix. I’m also addicted to Tower Run, which isn’t on the list, but should be. For more 2011 iPhone fun, check out the Best iPhone Apps of 2011 (get Flipboard A.S.A.P.) and the 50 Best iPhone Apps of 2011.

3. The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011
Yeah, so it’s not a Top 10 list, but the pictures are powerful. Many of them deal with the devastation that’s been wrought throughout the world this year, whether through natural catastrophe or human depravity. You’ve been warned. While each picture elicited a certain response from me, #20 was the most moving to me.

2. Rolling Stone‘s 10 Best Movies of 2011
I’ve seen five of them, including Peter Travers’ intriguing, brutal pick for the best of the year. I still don’t know what to think of #8, but I do know that I counted 20+ people who walked out of the theater when I saw it. It was as equally sublime as it was pretentious. As for the ones I haven’t seen, they’re on my to-be-seen list.

1. The Top 10 FaithVillage Posts of 2011
One of my articles (a Top 10 list itself) barely eked onto the list, but I’m proud of our team and highly appreciative of our contributors. I’m also pleased that our list is topically diverse and by multiple writers. One of our goals is to always have quality content that’s sure to connect with nearly any type of reader. In other words, if you’re a Christian, you should be able to find something helpful or inspiring on our site. I hope you’ll bookmark us, subscribe to our RSS feed, or sign up for our email newsletter. I’m anxious for 2012 at FV!

What was your favorite Top 10 list of 2011?

Truth be told, The Invention of Lying, the recently released-on-DVD film starring Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner, caught me off-guard. I knew the basic premise, that no one ever lies, or even knows how to, but one man, our protagonist Mark Bellison, learns to lie. I assumed the movie would be funny because of Gervais’ leading role. Some parts were funny, in that cringe-inducing way that Gervais seems to have perfected. Some parts were more crass, or even mean, in a darkly comic way. I did not, however, expect an overtly spiritual bent to the last half of the film. If you have yet to see the movie, I recommend that you buy it, rent it, or stream it, watch it, then come back to this article.

 Especially since I’m going to spoil stuff.

Read the rest at RelevantMagazine.com…

I’ve come to understand that I like movies dealing with the way we remember, or forget, certain things.  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is another favorite, for instance. For a long time I couldn’t figure out why I was drawn to these types of movies. I started to blame this affinity for memory movies on the fact that I can’t remember most of what I’m told. I have a friend who chides me for this every chance they get. Honestly, I think my short-term memory shorted out when I gave myself a concussion during my sophomore year (which is apt considering sophomore means “wise fool”), and which shall remain an interesting anecdote saved for another post…. once I remember what happened.

Where was I?

Oh. Right. Remembering.

More than having a personal connection to these kinds of stories, because I do, in fact, wake up every morning thinking, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” and  “What am I supposed to be doing today?” (and, let’s be honest, we all ask ourselves these questions every morning, even if they’re not spoken aloud, or even consciously thought) is having the very real desire to be free of who I was, to have a proverbial clean slate, to be able to consciously forget the things I can’t quit remembering.

Yet, for all the complexities of the movies I’ve mentioned (well, maybe not Clean Slate), life is even more invariably complex and vague and difficult and rife with things we’d sometimes rather forget. We accrue memories, both good and bad, like packrats. We can’t help it; it’s just what we do. In the same vein, certain memories are stored, but forgotten. Some are kept close, like treasured heirlooms. The worst memories are tossed like yesterday’s newspaper, only to reappear as front page news on an otherwise spectacular day. We can suffocate and drown in these memories.

But the clean slate offers witness relocation. It promises the hope of an unencumbered past, a new residence minus the detritus of the past. And this is why I like these kinds of movies. I want the simplicity of a white-washed life.

Sure, you can make the case that yes, Jim Caviezel, er, Jesus, promises us just that. He’ll make all things new. I know that. I get that (sort of). But that’s not exactly what I’m talking about here.

If I woke up tomorrow with amnesia, completely forgetting everything that had happened in my life up to this point, who would I be? Would I be happy or hopeful? Would I still consider myself a Christian? Would I believe other people if they tried to tell me who I was? I think the answer to those questions is “no.” I’d have no identity whatsoever, and that would be terrifying. More than that, if I truly wanted a clean slate, I’d have to forget the days my nieces and nephew were born, or the day I had a very meaningful talk with my grandmother, or any other joyful, memorable, moment.

In the end, the clean slate is a dream best left to movie plotlines. In real life, for good and ill (because the ill oftentimes makes the good that much better by contrast), I’ll take, and cherish, all my memories (at least the ones I can remember).

ScriptShadow is the brain-child of Carson Reeves (@scriptshadow) in which Mr. Reeves succinctly summarizes, grades, and analyzes upcoming Hollywood scripts, often including a link to read the script itself. It’s a fascinating look at what sells and consequently gets made in Hollywood. It’s an equally beneficial site for any type of writer. I only found out about it a few weeks ago, but became a quick fan.

At the end of most reviews, Carson tells “What I Learned” from reading the script. I was especially taken with his recent conclusion based off the script for Renko Vega and the Jennifer Nine:

What I learned: Is there a theme more powerful than redemption? I struggle to think of one. Maybe it’s the man inside me that feels stained, that feels like I need to somehow find a way to “right” things. I don’t know. Maybe it’s why I like noir so much. Characters trying to wash the blood from their hands, characters trying to balance a ledger that’s been corrupted by their own misdeeds and mistakes. I connect with these characters, and I love it go on the journey with them as they try to break through a wall and come out a more honorable person. It’s not only cathartic, there’s something about it that’s peaceful to me. In Renko Vega’s case, what’s so astounding to me is that he’s a character that re-discovers his own worth. He’s a character that learns how to believe in himself again. And belief, the ability to hope and to dream and to matter, that’s a powerful thing. I think, as writers, we shouldn’t be afraid to aim high. To dream big. Don’t be afraid. And writing about redemption, well, I think that’s as high as you can get…

I know that if I ever write something of worth, redemption will be the arc. What is it in that kind of narrative that is so universal? Why does it resonate so deeply within us? What is it about The Shawshank Redemption, Simon Birch, Gran Torino, A Tale of Two Cities, or Braveheart or any other number of films that allow us to glory in the death of a beloved character? Or that make us believe that wrong can be made right? And that death, in some form or fashion, is always a part of that equation?

What are some other films worth watching with redemptive themes? Why do you think they resonate?

HT: Cinematical