The Year-End Mega Matrix

Our deliberately oversimplified guide to the year in culture.

Published Dec 9, 2007

Who can forget 2007: the year in which our writers wouldn’t write, our cabbies wouldn’t drive, and our stagehands wouldn’t stagehand. America embraced the finale: The Sopranos went out with a bang (not literally, alas), while Spider-Man and Pirates of the Caribbean capped their trilogies (but not their franchises) with a whimper. We lost the life of Kurt Vonnegut and the sanity of Britney Spears. And all to the looping soundtrack of Rihanna’s infectious summer anthem “Umbrella” (ella, ella, ella ...*), which we’ve been unsuccessfully trying to get out of our heads since June.

*..."eh, eh, under my"...

Architecture: From Green Roofs to Glass Houses	Art: Kara Walker Terrified While Richard Prince Tanked
Books: Danticat Delivered What Sebold Did Not	Classical and Dance: The Out-of-Towners Shake Things Up
Movies: Clooney, Bardem, Schnabel, and More	Pop: Who Got Their Groove Back and Who Lost Their Cool
Theater: Revivals and Musicals Take Center Stage	TV: The Big Stars on the Small Screen
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp Talk Sweeney Todd	A Preview of the Culture Apocalypse 2008
The Culturati Caucus: Notable Insiders Weigh In	The Year-End Approval Matrix