Top 5 Films of 2008

1) Rachel Getting Married -> I try to avoid Anne Hathaway movies at all costs, but Devil Wears Prada this was not. Arguably a breakout role for Hathaway. That said, my favorite performance was turned in by Rosemarie DeWitt, who played Rachel. My favorite scene from any film of the year was the rehearsal dinner. I felt 100% transported into a seat at the zig-zag dining table complete with alternating feelings of anxiousness, embarrassment, pity and joy. The handheld, somewhat grainy cinematography style lent itself to that feeling of being *truly* present for the entire wedding weekend. Oh, and one last thing, the bridegroom reciting the lyrics to Neil Young's "Unknown Legend" doubling as his "vows" was as heart-tugging as it gets and a reminder to the audience of why the family had gathered in the first place ... to celebrate the love of this great couple.

2) The Wrestler -> A comeback within a comeback! I'm convinced that there's no movie here without Mickey Rourke, my vote for Best Actor. Rourke plays the role of The Ram, the once A-list professional wrestler now squeaking out a living performing in small New Jersey towns and barely making enough money to live in a trailer park. The style in which Aronofsky shot this film gave me this cold feeling throughout the film that just added to the palatable sense of desperation, loneliness and pain that The Ram was experiencing. Marissa Tomei (44 and playing a stripper!!) and Evan Rachel Wood both put in excellent performances as The Ram's girlfriend and estranged daughter, respectively.

3) Slumdog Millionaire -> Incredibly vivid tale of a slum-dwelling boy who rises up to appear on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The way that the story is told is really unique and ultimately attempts to answer - among other things - how we all compile the things we know about life and love. Great soundtrack and visually stunning.

4) Dark Knight -> There was a time that I would have never paid to see this at the theater, let alone put it on a top 5 list, but this Batman sequel was really cool! Batman and Gotham City's finest team up to rid the city of its criminals, but The Joker appears on the scene and creates a new struggle for Batman / Bruce Wayne. Enough has already been said about Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker. Just amazing to see him transformed into this complete psychopath. What a fun, yet scary/eerie character to watch.

5) Revolutionary Road -> One of the heaviest films of the year, but a great meditation on the idea and meaning (or lack thereof) of suburban life, especially at a time (mid-1950s) when the notion of a suburb was shiny and new. I think one of the reasons that I really appreciated the movie is that it spoke to some of our own insecurities about the suburbs, self-fulfillment and perhaps a life more "ordinary".

Worst movie of the year -> Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008 Mix

1. Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie
2. Skinny Love - Bon Iver
3. Fix It - Ryan Adams
4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
5. Song For - Earlimart
6. Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne
7. Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
8. Enjoy the Ride - Morcheeba
9. American Boy (feat. Kanye West) - Estelle
10. Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him

Christmas in Florida

Baby Niam getting ready to hit the beach!

2008 Top 5 Live Shows

1) David Byrne -> 10/6 @ Davies Symphony Hall. I didn't necessarily grow up listening to the Talking Heads, but have grown to really dig their music. I didn't know what to expect from a live DB show, but .... hands down the best show I saw all year and I knew it from the moment he stepped out on to the stage. Incredibly tight, well-choreographed, high-energy show in which he played a lot of the new Eno-produced tracks, as well as a healthy amount of the old Talking Heads material (alas, not "This Must be the Place"). If my memory serves me well, there were 4 dancers, 3-4 band mates and 3 back up singers ... all of them dressed in the same outfit ... white from head to toe, including Byrne himself. Without a doubt, they left EVERYTHING they had out there on the stage. Such a treat to see DB in such a cool venue that doesn't usually host acts like this. Couldn't help but dance to pretty much every song. Fun to see the Baby Boomers jamming out in the aisles and showing the youngsters a thing or two. Not only was this the best show I saw all year, but it also had the most killer encore I might have ever seen ... "Burning Down the House". The San Francisco Extra Action Marching Band comes charging down the aisles from the back of the house up on to the stage and the rest is best experienced by watching this clip.

2) Radiohead -> 8/22 @ Golden Gate Park. Radiohead kicked off the first annual Outside Lands Festival with a bang! My first time seeing them live and they were as good as advertised, if not better. It was a typical late summer evening in SF about a half mile from Ocean Beach; cold and foggy, which turned out to be the perfect weather for the band's haunting, eerie music and just added to the experience. There must have been well over 20,000 mesmerized heads all bobbing in perfect unison with the music. Now that I think back to that night, I'm not sure I even caught one glimpse of Thom Yorke or anyone else in the band, but it didn't matter (nor did the several AV issues that the band and fans had to endure).

3) She & Him -> 11/3 @ Bimbos. It's hard to describe the sounds of the duo Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M.Ward, but I guess you could categorize it as alt-country indie pop. Zooey's voice is incredibly dreamy and takes you back to another time. Clearly, she was born to perform, but at the same time, has no airs about her. Her and her friends just look like a bunch of little girls "playing dress up" on stage. The band's passion and ability to not take themselves too seriously - not to mention their really unique sound - make them such an appealing act, one that I didn't want to see end. My only complaint was that M. Ward seems to play second fiddle in this project and seemed to almost get lost in the shuffle. I'd love to see him solo later in 2009. MySpace page

4) Bell X1 -> 3/26 @ Cafe du Nord. Irish indie pop band that's been making great music since the start of the decade, but has only recently begun to gain notoriety in the US (with their latest release, Flock, which hit #1 in Ireland). Catchy lyrics, a high energy act and one of the most intimate spaces to see live music in SF (and great company) made for a great night. The previous incarnation of this band included Damien Rice. MySpace page

5) Vampire Weekend -> 3/23 @ Rickshaw Stop. Waited outside this *tiny* club for over an hour to score a ticket to see one of the best new bands of the year and it was well worth it (well, except for the oh so painful, trite parade of Mission hipsters in skinny jeans, smoking cigs and drinking PBRs). These Izod sweater-wearing guys are just a year or two out of Columbia University and so don't have a ton of material, but what they played in the short set was killer. Incredibly unique, contagious sound that the band describes as "Upper West Side Soweto"; their sound seems to be influenced by punk, classical and African music. The experience felt like I was watching a band inside of a diorama, just from the top of the "shoebox". Of course, they'll never ever play a venue like Rickshaw again. MySpace page

6) Honorable Mention
⁃ Ryan Adams -> 1/28 @ Berkeley's Zellerbach Hall
⁃ Josh Rouse -> 9/26 @ Swedish American Music Hall
⁃ Day 2 of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival -> 10/4 @ Golden Gate Park

7) Biggest disappointment
⁃ Pinback -> 10/19 @ Bimbos

Are *you* effing Matt Damon?

Apparently this was written before the WGA strike (and was supposed to air in the fall, I think). Sure, Silverman's crude, blah blah blah, but com'on folks, have you seen a funnier video in months?!

Gettin Pumped for Lost

Great clip posted by a YouTube user that assembles major "Lost" events in chronological order.

Best Movies of 2007

Best

1. No Country for Old Men -- This was an easy pick. I'm not usually a fan of Westerns, but this latest film by the Coen brothers was too hard to ignore. A simple, dark thriller that had me engaged from start to finish. The two main characters - Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem - delivered some of the best acting performances of the year. A character in and of itself was the Texas landscape; if anything, go see it for it's gorgeous cinematography.

2. Juno – This quirky, unique comedy is about an unwanted teen pregnancy. While it may sound like a typical teen comedy on its surface, it definitely turns the genre on its head. Ellen Page is pretty much perfect as Juno what with her witty one-liners and mannerisms. She made it look as if everything was improvised. Already poised to win many awards this season, this flick is everything that Knocked Up wasn't.

3. The Cake Eaters -– Hands down my favorite movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. This coming of age film set in a small town in upstate New York tugs tighly on your heart strings and doesn't let go until the final credits. Kristen Scott Stewart inhabits the role of "Georgia", who is afflicted with an obscure genetic disorder. Probably the role of a lifetime for her. Also interesting to note that it was Mary Stuart Masterson's directorial debut.

4. In the Valley of Elah -– Sadly, this thought-provoking film flopped at the box office, but it was probably the strongest "war movie" in a year where the genre was overdone. Tommy Lee Jones gives a powerfully subtle performance as a father (and Army vet) who takes it upon himself to search for his son who has recently returned from Iraq and gone AWOL.

5. A Very British Gangster – We got up at 6:30am to stand in line for a chance to see this documentary at Sundance last January and it was well worth it. The doc introduces us to one of the UK's most feared crime families based in Manchester and their fearless, larger than life leader, Dominic Noonan. I'm still blown away by the unparalleled, intimate level of access provided to the filmmaker. I can't imagine the Gotti family even giving a proposal like this the time of day. Needless to say, the director succeeds in putting a vividly human face on these monsters.


Honorable Mention:

* The Lives of Others –- Set in 1984 Berlin, this chilling political thrilled is about a member of the Stasi who is asked to set up surveillance on a well-known couple

* The Savages –- Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are perfectly cast as bickering siblings who go to Arizona to bring their estranged, dying father - back to the east coast to deposit him in a nursing home, where they are faced with caring for the man who abused and neglected them as children.

* After the Wedding – Another superbly original Danish film with many layers that continue to surprise and haunt.

* Hotel Chevalier – This short film (set in a hotel room in Paris) starring Natalie Portman (featuring her, ahem, first nude scene) and Jason Schwartzman is the prologue to Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited.

* 3:10 to Yuma – Not one, but two westerns making this year's movie list! Christian Bale steal the show as a down on his luck, noble rancher who is struggling to not only win his ranch back, but also the respect of his family.


Worst

* Superbad – Most likely an unpopular choice with many of you, I'm sure. They still can't make 'em like they did back in the day. God bless John Hughes, wherever he is today. Not sure this movie would have gotten made if it weren't for Judd Apatow.

Argentina Recap

Buenos Aires was a very European city; probably the most of any South American city (architecture, population, vibe). It's also the 8th or 9th largest city in the world, I think. Needless to say, there were your typical elements of cosmopolitan city living -- traffic, pollution, noise and a huge disparity in income levels.

There were many streets that I visited that were almost identical to what I don't like about streets like Broadway or 7th Avenue in NY. Luckily, however, I stayed at a hotel in Palermo, which is a neighborhood in the NW part of town that stands apart from downtown (Microcentro). It's really leafy, relatively quiet and local. Tons of cafes, bars, restaurants and boutiques. It's got a very bohemian, artsy vibe. I've got to think that Buenos Aires is one of the design capitals of the world. The furniture design and fashion were truly impressive.

Although the subway was fairly easy to navigate, I did tons of walking here and came across a few neighborhoods similar to Palermo that were easily my favorite - La Recoleta and Las Canitas. Lots of open park space and plazas, tree lined streets and boulevards and French-influenced architecture. It seemed as if locals were always spending their free time lounging about the open spaces regardless of the time of day. Many of the sights in BA included the usual old government buildings, churches and what not and I could have done without them. The one that was somewhat interesting, if not morbid, was the Recoleta Cemetery that houses over 6,500 mausoleums. It was built in the late 1800s, I think. The main attraction is Eva Peron's resting spot.

My first day in BA was the most memorable for reasons good and not so good. I attended a cooking class of sorts in a chef's home. Turned out the chef (Argentine) and his wife (San Diego) had just returned from living in SF for 2 years (which also helped in the language barrier department). They have just started an underground restaurant of sorts in their home. They can accommodate up to 15 folks 3 nights a week and the seasonal, healthy menu changes every week. They don't advertise and rely purely on word of mouth. One night a week, they also hold a cooking class for up to 4 people. Fortunately, there was only one other dude on the night I was there, so the vibe was more like cooking with friends than sitting through a class or something. The meal was good (not great), but the experience was killer! [For those that care, we made vegetarian chorizo, saffron risotto and stuffed portobellos.]

After dinner, I was off to see an underground tango show (yep, the theme of the night was definitely, ahem, subterranean) on the outskirts of Palermo. I pulled up in a taxi (more on this later) and there was an unmarked steel door behind which there was a long passage way which led to a large, high-ceilinged space that resembled a mini airplane hangar. The bohemian orchestra was made up of 12 members playing various instruments - 4 playing the accordion - and one singing with a change of costume every few numbers (gas mask, wig, skirt, etc). I can't imagine any of the players were older than 30 or so. Lots of trippy lights, dry ice/smoke and a decidedly Mission vibe. No dancing that night, but the orchestra was really the main event anyway.

So, the taxi ride over to the show was, how shall I say, in-te-res-ting. From the moment I saw the driver's face, I knew I shouldn't have gotten into the car, but it was already 11p and I was running late to the show. His eyes were glazed over and it was hard to figure out what he *wasn't* on at the time. We stopped at a stop sign and as we're waiting for a girl to cross the street, he says "Hola" to her (she couldn't have been more than 21 or so). This was more than just a friendly, "Hola". The tone was devilish at best. Anyway, turns out the girl's boyfriend was waiting on the other side of the street and saw/heard the cab driver. The boyfriend is as wrecked as the driver and has a sea of zits that would probably rival that of Manuel Noriega. The driver gets out of the car and the two start yelling at each other. As the driver gets back into the car and belts up, the boyfriend comes over to my side of the car, starts twirling his sneakers in the air like a friggin mad man, hitting the car repeatedly and threatening to unleash them on the driver. He's not having much luck with the tied-together sneakers, so he takes his open palm and jams it into the window on my side of the car unleashing a blizzard of glass all over me - hair, face, clothes, arms, shoes, socks, etc (I'm still finding glass in my stuff). Finally, the driver (with great reaction timing, of course) decides to speed away, but doesn't stop for what seemed like 10 mins after he finally realizes what happened in the back. We get out and clear the glass out of the car and off of my body. Yep, I know you're wondering why I didn't just ditch that cab. I had *no* clue where I was and the cab situation in BA is one that everyone warns you about, so I just decided to stick with it. Needless to say, my first beer couldn't come quick enough at the show.

Buenos Aires Pics -- Click Here


After 3 days in BA, I flew to Iguazu Falls in the NE part of the country. I stayed one night on the Brazil side and one night on the Argentine side. The falls are smack in the middle of a subtropical jungle, so the humidity was a pretty intense change after a totally pleasant spell of mid-70s, Spring temperature in BA. Igauzu Falls are made up of over 270 waterfalls that have formed over 120 million years. It's truly one of the wonders of the world. Seeing the sheer force of the falls up close is awesome, but I was ready for my next destination after half a day.

Iguazu Pics -- Click Here


After 2 days at the falls (and by this point, saddled with a nasty bout of the flu), I flew to Mendoza, which was by far the prettiest of the three stops. It's the home of the majority of Argentina's wine production, specifically, Malbec. I stayed in a tiny (6 rooms) hotel that sits on a small vineyard in the middle of nowhere. Frankly, on hindsight, I should have added at least one if not two more days to my stay there and skipped my trip to Iguazu Falls altogether.

I spent one full day wine tasting at both big and boutique-sized wineries. There are of course many geographic similarities to California's Wine Country, but Mendoza takes the cake because of the awesome Andes mountain range (you'll see many snow-capped shots in the album) as its stunning backdrop. The next day was a 9 hour trip up into the Andes; we made it to within 5 km of the Chilean border. The highlight was Aconcagua, the highest peak in not only South America, but in the Western Hemisphere at over 22,800 ft. The rugged scenery was out of this world, but the flu coupled with some altitude sickness essentially knocked me into a daze for most of the day. Mendoza is an outdoor-lovers paradise and I didn't even get to scratch the surface. [A quick side note: Argentina has free health care. For everyone. Including tourists. I got a free doctor's visit to the hotel and the meds only cost $10. Gotta love it. University and post-grad are free, too.]

Mendoza Pics -- Click Here


New gig starts manana. Shocking how quickly the 6 week "sabbatical" evaporated. Definitely not ready to head back to the cube farm just yet.

You're My Blue Sky

It's going to be close to impossible for the 'rental units to match their 2007 Christmas gift to me ... a ticket to the UNC vs. Duke basketball game at the Dean Dome. Yep, last game of the 2007 regular season. The most storied rivalry in all of college sports, if not the entire sports world, some might argue (check out my related post from 3/7/05; search "Duke"). In fact, they shouldn't even think about giving me any more Christmas gifts because anything else would just be a disappointment. To be frank, they've essentially screwed themselves. Not that I'm complaining or anything.

In any case, after a quick night in DC with J&K, I landed up in Chapel Hill on the Saturday evening before gameday ... just in time to see my first lunar eclipse. There's a new boutique hotel that opened barely 8 weeks ago right on West Franklin Street, the main drag of Chapel Hill, so to speak. The first hotel on Franklin that is anywhere close to the main action. They gave me the Rain Man suite for some reason which was kind of a waste given the time that I was actually planning to spend in the room. Shame.

Saturday night was a great start to the weekend. Dinner across the street at Elaine's, which has been around for almost 8 years and is arguably one of the best restaurants in the Triangle area, was off the charts. Right after I checked into the hotel, I ran across the street to Local 506 to grab a ticket to see a few live bands that night ... one of which is from San Francisco. The first band, Dirty on Purpose, was by far the best of the evening and funny enough, wasn't really the band that I was there to see. I left during the Papercut's set and found myself at a new wine bar that opened about a block from Local 506. They happened to be hosting a late night jazz session made up of what appeared to be local UNC students. Guys were just rotating in and out of the band for the hour that I was there and playing out of their minds.

After spending most of the chilly, yet sunny Sunday morning and early afternoon wandering around town and campus, I made my way over to the Dean Dome to soak in the pre-game festivities going on outside the arena. They let us all in around 2:30p; 1.5 hrs before game time. It's pretty damn difficult for me to put into words what transpired over the course of the next 4.5 hours, so check out these pictures for a photo essay instead. Here are some quick highlights, though:

• Senior Day - Carolina has a tradition of using the last home game of the regular season to honor it's seniors. This year, it's Wes Miller, Reyshawn Terry and Dewey Burke. They parade the families out at the beginning of the game and then let the players take the mic at the end of the game. Incredibly emotional stage.


• Champions - By virtue of beating Dook, Carolina won a share of the regular season ACC championship and took the #1 seed in the ACC tournament. The team got the opportunity to cut down the nets after Senior Day festivities were over.


• Oh, my nose! - As some of you have seen by now, Duke's Gerald Henderson came down hard on Tyler Hansborough with less than 15 seconds left in the game and the game already well out of hand for the Dookies. Blood everywhere and the Tar Heel faithful wanted no less than the blood of Coach K and Henderson (ultimately ejected/suspended) in return! Tyler's nose was broken, we'd later find out. Henderson was ejected and ultimately suspended for the first game of the ACC tourney later in the week. He needed his 3 assistant coaches to escort him to the locker room because the 22,000+ fans were ready to pounce! Coach K had the gall to insinuate in post-game interviews that Carolina shouldn't have had their best players on the court that late in the game in any case given that the game was out of hand already. Interestingly enough, he was the one that was still calling timeouts with less than 30 seconds left and leaving *his* best players on the court. Mind you, the point differential was rougly 12-15 at that point. A-hole. Here's a great column from ESPN.com's Forde on the incident and the black eye it left on the Dook program.


• Speaking of noses - Yep, my seats were 3 rows from the top. I was sure my nose was on the verge of a nice big bleed, but no such luck. Speaking of luck, out of the 8 folks sitting in my direct radius, how did I get saddled sitting next to 3 of the total of 20 Dook fans in the entire building?!?! Of course, they were not afraid to show their true colors, which made for an interesting afternoon of, ahem, conversation.


• Lunch - BBQ pulled pork sandwich. Mmmm. Now, them was some good Southern eats.


• The Temple - The arena is pretty lax about letting fans travel down to courtside to take pictures of the floor, the arena, the players warming up, etc. Makes for a pretty damn intimate fan experience. Standing on the cushioned, hardwood floor staring up in awe at the 4 NCAA championship banners and the too-many-to-count retired player and coach jerseys and ACC tournament and regular season championship banners. It never ever gets old.


• The Game - Oh yeah, we won.

Scorcese!

Some random thoughts/hightlights from tonight's 2007 Academy Awards telecast:

- so, jodie foster is gay, right? why can't she just acknowledge it? she's already got a steady career
- john c reily, will ferrel and jack black -> funniest part of the evening
- ellen -> less funny that I expected, but i still like her delivery/timing/sense of humor
- photograph that i would pay a LOT for -> marty, coppola, spielberg and lucas walking off the stage side by side and greeting nicholson who was waiting in the wings. hollywood doesn't get ANY better than that right there. classic, unassuming, old school, hollywood power.
- top 5 ladies -> reese (man, i used to hate her, but damn, ryan is a friggin idiot!!!), penelope, cameron, winslet, naomi watts (honorable mention - isla fisher)
- stud -> clooney (possibly verging on man-crush)
- reason # 7496 to always go with your gut / first guess -> the departed
- did gweneth really mention you tube in front of a glaobal audience? did they pay for that promotion?
- kiki dunst -> she was kinda drunk when she came out with toby, no?
- if she was 20 yrs younger (ok, maybe 15) -> helen mirren in that dress. yes, sick, i know, but still
- i've seen corpses on 6 ft under that look better -> peter o'toole
- where were they -> scarlett, charlize, jennifer connelly
- already in training to be a nagging, pushy/bossy girlfriend -> abigail breslin
- did i mention reese already?
- how come none of the white peeps ever thank god?
- someone forgot her undergarments -> jessica's biels
- best canned presenter's "joke" -> robert downey jr.
- favorite/most sentimental moment -> scorcese finally winning
- j-hud -> stop the madness. you'll never work in this town again. did that really happen?
- worst couple -> marc anthony and j lo. what a dud that guy is.
- best acceptance speech -> william monihan referring to his valium rx
- MIA -> jay-z ... where you at, jigga man?
- forest whitaker wins for best actor in his role as charles jefferson? nice!! 25 yrs late, but still
- viva mexico!
- biggest snafu -> ellen inplying that penelope was ... umm, mexican
- reeeeese!

Eyes of the World

There's a small list of events that I've always wanted to attend and thanks to the Purple and Yellow, I can now cross the Sundance Film Festival off of my list.

Things came together pretty late in the game and I wasn't sure if I was going to get lodging right in Park City, let alone tickets to any screenings of the 125+ films. Thanks to some last minute luck, I ended up getting a better than decent room in a lodge in town.

After we (O came along for the ride) checked in early Monday morning, we headed into town to get acclimated, pick up tickets to a few parties and see if we couldn't snag some more screening tickets (we only had 1 pair upon arrival and ended up seeing 5 films by the time we left). I know I've been complaining about the weather out there, but damn, it was f'ing cold! Right around or below 1 F in the evening and in the mid-to-low teens during the day with a touch of sunshine depending on which side of Main Street you were. No fewer than 5 layers required at all time including my Everest-ready parka!

I was surprised by all the friendly people we met. I guess I assumed that because half of LA comes to Sundance, they'd be bringing the attitude, too. Not the case (well, except for the clown at the deli, but he got his due in the end). Some of the evening events were a great chance to meet some new biz contacts and incredibly creative/talented folks in and around the independent film world. Yep, you're right ... I have no idea what *I* was doing there, but quickly forgot about that once we spotted Heather Graham on the first night! Nice. Very nice. There was definitely your fair share of hangers on and the requisite LA-based struggling writer/director/actor combo (shout out to Molly and August!), which only added to my overall entertainment quotient.

I expected the festival to be a logistical nightmare, but was super impressed by how well everything was organized ... from the screenings to the shuttle buses to the ticket sales. 50,000+ people descend on Park City for 10 days every January and the town does a great job of welcoming them ... and their wallets. Outside of the festival, Park City remains a popular desination for skiers. The cost of living is pretty high (higher than nearby Salt Lake at least), so the town's businesses do ok for themselves, but there definitely are groups of locals who are being pushed outside of town as each year goes on.

The festival programmers receive thousands and thousands of entries every year and only select about 125 movies to show during the 10 day festival. I think that many folks (myself included) think that each of those films is going to be amazing in some way, shape or form, but that's definitely not the case. It was great to hear everyone's opinions about all of the movies and trust me when I say that *everyone* certainly had one. There's no wrong or right opinion/review and that was one of the great things about meeting new people out there - you got to hear varying points of view/analysis. Here are the films that I had a chance to check out:

• Ezra (1 star; out of 4)


• Adrift in Manhattan (1.5-2 stars)


• A Very British Gangster (3 stars)


• Never and Forever (2.5 stars)


• Trade (4 stars)

Trade is the only one from the list that I know has been picked up for distribution. In fact, it was lucky enough to have secured a distribution deal before the festival. O said it was one of the top 10 most disturbing films he's ever seen and I don't think he's far off with that statement. It's definitely worth seeing when it hits your local art house theater, but be forewarned that this is very far from a romantic comedy (actually, there were maybe 3-4 comedies that I saw in the guide; the rest were dramas and documentaries). People who weren't at this year's festival are going to be luckier than in years past in that a large number of the 2007 festival movies have been picked up for distro. Keep your eyes peeled for some of these names over the next 12-18 months. Variety did a good job of covering the festival if you're interested in digging a bit deeper.

It's pretty clear that the festival has changed quite a bit over the past 4-5 or so years. You can see that from the amount of mainstream media that now descends upon Park City to cover the festival, as well as talking to people who have been attending for years. It's become glitzier and a bit more commercial in a few ways, but once you're sitting in a packed theater that's roiled with anticipation and the director comes out to announce his or her film and then the credits start rolling, you're quickly reminded of why everyone is really there. I can't wait to go back next year. I'd love to make an annual event out of it and combine it with some skiing.

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose

The 2006-07 TV season got off to a pretty strong start as far as I'm concerned. The biggest trend that continues to invade our living room is the one hour drama. The incredible success of Lost has everyone scrambling to come up with their own copycat show. There are very few comedies that sit in the weekly top 10-15 shows and the ones that are up there continue to confound me (Two Men, etc). In any case, here's my top 10 for 2006 (note that this also includes spring and summer):

• Friday Night Lights (it's NOT all about football; trust me)
• Arrested Development (good bye, Busty. we hardly knew ye)
• Rescue Me (best combo of comedy & drama, not to mention kick ass music)
• Entourage (how can you not watch if you're a guy? it's our dream and they're living it)
• The Office (took me awhile to come around, but easily the best comedy on tv today)
• Scrubs (lost some of its initial luster and might be on its way out)
• West Wing (after a few down seasons, NBC took the show out with a bang)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (everyone can relate to Larry's misanthropic ways)
• The Sopranos (johnny-cakes)
• Lost (i've got a love-hate relationship with the castaways, but hear that spring 07 is going to be huge!)

Best reality show: The Real World - Denver (I've now seen every season save for Chicago and was close to a boycott after last season's disaster, but this cast has given the show its needed shot in the arm)

Runner up Reality Show: Laguna Beach - Spring (I heart LC)

Biggest disappointment: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (I still watch every episode because it's an Aaron Sorkin show, but I think I'm not alone in expecting a LOT more out of him, especially after a few off years with West Wing)

Bring it Back: The Nine was cancelled after a handful of shows were aired, but apparently, ABC hasn't completely pulled the plug on the show. They've shot their initial order and are now hoping to air the remaining shows in the spring. I invested myself in the initial shows and hope we get to see some closure, at the very least. It's got potential, but I think that this is one of the shows that suffered from the glut of one hour dramas. The networks can't expect the public to commit to so many weekly serials, especially with the growing risk of having them cancelled at a moment's notice.

Hurry Up, Already: The Sopranos is probably the most anticipated show for spring 07. Looks like the show is finally going to end after this mini-season. It's lost a lot of viewers because of all of the hiatuses it's chosen to take, but it's still considered by many to be one of the most important (and compelling) shows of the past 10 years.

Watching the Detectives

The number of visits to the movie theater in 2006 decreased dramatically compared to years past. Not until the end of the year were there too many movies that really drew me to the theater. It doesn't help that - in what's quickly becoming the rule - the studios are releasing all the Oscar hopefuls in December, which leaves little to no time to watch and review before 2007 begins. All that said - and as pathetic as it sounds - I was only able to come up with 4 that I really enjoyed in 2006 (not including 206 flicks that I'm watching in January/February):

• The Departed
• Stranger than Fiction
• Little Children
• Inside Man

The worst movie of the year was The Last Kiss. Zach, what's happened to you?! Mandy made you soft! I'm planning to see Babel over the next few weeks, as well as Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima. I can't bring myself to see Dreamgirls because it's a musical and the last time I gave a musical (Chicago) a "chance", I almost shot myself in the theater. Little Children reminds me of In the Bedroom's chances years ago. It got similar buzz (same director, Todd Field), but was largely shut out on Oscar night if I remember correctly. I enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine, but not as much as other people did. There were some parts of the movie that seemed "borrowed". Sure, not every movie is going to be 100% unique, but I guess I expected a bit more from it given that it's an independent film. In any case, I'd probably put it in a top 10 slot. Finally saw The Queen last week and enjoyed it. The acting was special and the premise compelling. I'm still searching for info on what source material was used for the movie because I have no idea how they had all that insider access to the royal family.

Bonfire of the Vanities

Do You Tube?

Been experiencing a bit of a Men at Work phase as of late. KFOG played an acoustic version of "Who Can it be Now" a few weeks ago on Acoustic Sunset, but it's nowhere to be found (Limewire included). So, if anyone comes across it, please send my way. Also, thanks to O, you've gotta check out this choice clip from season 2/espidode 1 of Scrubs with Colin Hay (former Men at Work frontman) doing an "Overkill" montage.

Identity Production

There's been lots of buzz flying around lately re: MySpace and more generally, the concept of online social communities. Some members of the mainstream media have attemped to coin many of the users of these sites as "The MySpace Generation" just as easily as they threw out terms such as Gen X and Gen Y. Not so fast, my fine feathered lefty friends! This isn't just about some slacker-filled generation that still lives with their parents at age 28 ... this is a truly significant shift in social life, the likes of which we haven't seen in ages.

Regardless of what most of you think, I'm not rocking a MySpace page. Not yet, that is. I met a bunch of the site's employees a few weeks back and it's all true, they are hipper than hip can be. Painfully hip. Yes, even the bidness folks. It was laughable. Think LA meets start-up meets hippest brand currently online meets rich little punks with insatiable egos. It. Was. Awesome.

This essay by danah boyd (she refuses to capitalize her name appropriately, oddly enough) is not only the best piece I've read on the MySpace Generation, but is also one of the better essays I've read in general in a lonng time. While danah is an academic, her writing style is very down to earth. She uses terms and concepts which are simple and not littered with high-brow garbage (for example, her examination of *cultural currency* is very thoughtful, yet basic. She frames these ideas up well in the context of the online social space).

danah's thesis is this: "To an outsider, Friendster and MySpace seem identical. But they are far from that. They are rooted in different cultural practices and values. People use them differently and they relate to them differently. If you want to understand the differences, you need to understand the history, the decisions that were made, and how these decisions affected practice."

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Also, (and no comments on the born-on date of this clip, please) this season of SNL has spawned a few interesting digital video clips (you've all seen Lazy Sunday by now and if you haven't, you are forever banished from visiting this site again!). Anyway, this clip (Always Be Cobbling) with Alec Baldwin is genius, especially if you are a fan of Glengarry Glen Ross.

Self Storage

The Evil 1-2 Punch

By the end of the month, the curtain will have fallen on The West Wing, arguably one of the best television dramas of the past 7+ years. As most fans will tell you, the past 3 years have been less than stellar and have led to a thrashing in the ratings. The timing of this slide coupled with co-creator Aaron Sorkin's departure is probably not entirely coincidental. The current season, however, is flashing some signs of brilliance from the show's early years. About 80% of this season's content is focused on a tightly-contested Presidential election - the 2 candidates being Alan Alda (R-CA) and Jimmy Smits (D-TX). The focus on the race has injected both new blood and story lines into the mix. The campaign story arc is not just about the headline-grabbing events, but a riveting deep dive into the hectic, behind the scenes, daily minutae that made The West Wing such a compelling show when it first aired back in 1999. It remains to be seen how many loose ends will be tied up for the remaining viewer base over the next few weeks, but you'll be glad to know that Josh and Donna are finally hooking up. I think that it was below Sorkin (and most of the viewer base) to move the show in a more "soapy" direction. It was always billed as one of the "smarter" shows on television and I think they'd much rather see it rest in piece than morphed into something that it never was or never should be, at least.

The good news for Sorkin fans is that he's got a new drama airing in the fall tentatively titled Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip with a fairly sizable ensemble cast including Matthew Perry and Amanda Peet. I've seen the script for the pilot and I can easily say that it's going to be one of, if not the best dramas on the fall schedule. It's vintage Sorkin ... a behind the scenes look at a fictional late night sketch comedy show (think: SNL).

Today's terrible news is that Arrested Development has finally/officially been put to rest. After months of rumors, including a 2 season commitment from Showtime and a 1 season commitment from ABC, the shows creators finally decided to call it quits. Sounds like they weren't willing to continue to put the creative effort forth that the show ultimately requires. A sad ending for a 2-time Emmy winner. Long live the Bluth family (on DVD)!