top/bottom ten of '05

It is getting harder and harder to do a top ten list every year. A large percentage of the problem is the fact that movies were pretty sub-par this year. But sadly I have to admit that it’s also because I find it harder and harder to LOVE movies. Really love them. Really be swept up in a movie theater and forget what’s going on around me and in my life. I can’t remember the last time that happened. And that’s more of a product of my age I fear. I’m sure I’ll never get completely immersed in a film like I did with Star Wars when I was 5. But dammit Hollywood! In the future at least try a little harder to make me happy.

Before I do my lists, I feel like I have to clarify what makes a “best” movie. There’s been much discussion of this and I feel like I’ve finally nailed it down. It all comes down to if I’m moved. Moved to laughter, moved to tears, moved to insightful reflection. Something in the movie has to engage me and move me. This definition leaves room for comedies, dramas, musicals, and every other little movie. So yes, sure, some of the movies that didn’t make my Best list are “good” movies in that the cinematography is beautiful and the acting is good and the sound is great, but they are bland and I didn’t find them compelling at all.

Okay, enough clarification, here they are:

TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2005
10. Brokeback Mountain
i'm still not sure this movie should be on this list because i didn't LOVE it like other people did. i didn't cry either. but it has stayed with me a bit and the acting and scenery are beautiful.

9. Good Night and Good Luck
another movie that i wasn't blown away by but it was good and well done. david strathairn is finally getting some recognition which is great. besides, how can you not love clooney? that guy's funny. (and apparently cool enough to save syriana from my worst ten list).

8. Capote
phillip seymour hoffman is amazing in this and should win the oscar. his performance alone elevated this movie to the top ten.

7. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
i went into this movie expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was. just good fun where sexy people are doing sexy things. and it's got vince vaughn being funny in it.

6. Jarhead
this movie isn't getting much attention but i thought it was pretty damn good. the visuals alone were fantastic and i thought it was a pretty interesting way to do a "war movie".

5. and 4. a tie between The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers
two great movies that i loved this summer. i couldn't decide which deserved to be higher on the list though. Virgin is probably a better movie overall and the comedy is spread throughout. but i do love my vince vaughn and his parts of the movie are hysterical. i would pay to see that guy read the yellow pages.

3. Pride and Prejudice
yes, i'm a sucker for the story but i was actually surprised at how well done this was. and keira knightley didn't even bug me that much. just a little.

2. Walk the Line
yay! a great movie! i really enjoyed this movie and thought joaquin phoenix was great. and i'm not a big joaquin fan. but he nailed this and the music and the acting all come together to make a great movie.

1. The Family Stone
as predicted, this did turn out to be my favorite movie. on the surface it looks like a romantic comedy but i thought it was better than that. it was the only movie that moved me to tears and i loved it. i laughed, i cried, i loved luke wilson (unusual), and liked sarah jessica parker (also unusual). check it out.


TEN WORST MOVIES OF THE YEAR

And, of course, these aren’t the WORST movies of the year. They can’t possibly be the worst because I didn’t pay $12.50 to see Son of the Mask, Elektra, or The Pacifier. These are just the most disappointing that I saw....or perhaps the most overrated.

10. Must Love Dogs
i'm fairly easy to please when it comes to romantic comedies but this one was lame with a capital "L". in the end if i'm rooting for diane lane to go back to the fun dermot mulroney rather than stay with boring ol' john cusack, there's a problem.

9. the 10 minutes of Phantom of the Opera that i saw on HBO
horrible, horrible, horrible. i'm glad i didn't pay to see it in 2004.

8. The Upside of Anger
i love kevin costner when he's doing the funny and i generally respect joan allen too. but the culprit here was writer/director mike binder. all of his work is terrible including hbo's 'mind of the married man' and damon wayan's 'blankman'. he even has the audacity to give himself a big part in the movie. and don't even get me started on the ending.

7. Munich
this movie is a failure as far as i'm concerned because i should have been emotionally involved and i wasn't. wasn't sad when the olympians died, wasn't sad when the assasins were killing everyone, wasn't sad that these people were forced to become killers. the only emotion i remember having was indignation when spielberg actually decided to juxtapose the athletes getting killed with eric bana climaxing while having very sweaty sex. just stop it.

6. Crash
we are all racist in los angeles. and all of us casually throw about racial slurs all day every day. and it's not very subtle. just wanted to warn you in case you come to visit.

5. Sin City
boo. besides looking cool (which i could have appreciated in a 5 minute short), this movie wasn't very good and for the first time in my life i found myself being disturbed by the violence and misogyny.

4. Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
the only good thing i can say about this movie is that i'm glad the star wars prequels are finally over.

3. King Kong
this movie almost was my worst movie of the year but my respect for peter jackson kept it from being number one. never in my life have i wanted a movie to be over more than this one. literally i just remember sitting in the theater and praying for it to end. from the scenes that went on too long to the endless repetitive reaction shots to the ridiculous ice skating scene to my general dislike for the king kong storyline. yep, i didn't enjoy it. but you did so fine.

2. A History of Violence
the tragedy of this movie is that the opening scene of the movie is actually one of the greatest scenes i saw all year in any movie. after it i was very excited about the movie. oh yeah, then those two characters die in the first ten minutes and the movie is taken over by over the top unlikable characters followed by the even more ridiculous william hurt doing some sort of italian mobster impression that made my head hurt. definitely the most overrated movie of the year.

1. Broken Flowers
Nothing. Happens. bill murray doesn't speak or move so i guess i shouldn't be surprised that it was so fucking boring.

BONUS SECTION
You all know that I think television has a lot more quality right now than films. The writing and acting are excellent on a lot of shows. So here are my favorites:

TOP TEN TV SHOWS OF 2005:
10. any and all awards shows
9. Veronica Mars
8. Carnivale
7. The Wire
6. Sopranos
5. Rescue Me
4. Lost
3. The Shield
2. Deadwood
1. Grey's Anatomy

RUNNERS UP OR BEST REALITY TV THAT I WAS TOO EMBARASSED TO LIST IN TOP 10 TELEVISION PROGRAMS:
America’s Next Top Model
Project Runway
American Idol
Real World/Road Rules Challenge
the True Life series on MTV

pennsylvania dreamin'

pennsylvania is different than california. very different. though i think i should clarify and say that i'm talking about harrisburg, pa which is in central pennsylvania. i'm sure philly and pittsburgh are much different. but harrisburg sure does offer some interesting local color. i love to make fun of it and yet i also love it. here are some things that may be different from where you live...

people hunt. a lot.

i thought this sign was amazing and insisted that john pose with it. it's a sign outside a bass pro shop (apparently very big in places like central pa). keep in mind that this store was inside a mall with regular stores like victoria's secret and the limited. weird.

another insane store...

this photo is inside the cabela's store which is INSANE. seriously as much parking as disneyland and the store is enormous. the centerpiece of the store is this huge nature setup in which they've placed hundreds of stuffed deer. awesome. there's also a section with polar bears and of course the biggest aquarium with live fish that you've ever seen. those pennsylvanians love their outdoors.

mexican or hispanic people? i don't think so.

i also found this to be amazing so i took a picture. you may be familiar with a delicious minty and refreshing alcoholic beverage called a mojito. that's right. mojito with a "j". and, granted, if you are not familiar with the spanish language, you may pronounce it wrong. but pennsylvania solved that problem by just changing the "j" to an "h". genius.

would you like some salad with your carrots?

this is the best but i don't think the photo does it justice. when you're lucky enough to find a salad without french fries on top, this may be what you'll get. sadly, i despise carrots so i don't really enjoy having five carrots shredded on top of my sad iceberg lettuce and weird tomato wedge.

ahh, but i truly LOVE my time in pennsylvania over the holidays. it's so peaceful and relaxing and we have a great time. and there's lots of things to love. check it out...

red

we don't get trees like this with winter berries in southern california. so pretty!

family

check out this cool family. they're rad and they're sort of mine so you can't have them.

have i mentioned there's a pool table in the basement?

you may recognize sydney second from the right as our all-star wedding attendee. quality.

check out my aunt's farm.

it's gorgeous, has lots of horses, has great sledding, and you can explore the 50 acres on a rad 4 wheel drive little tractor vehicle.

of course, the BEST reason to go to pennsylvania is obviously the boys (and their significant others). they are so incredibly rad that they got me this t-shirt.

pq posse, i know you may feel abandoned but don't. there's enough of me to go around...i can handle two posses.

quick tip

i'm in pennsylvania and having a blast relaxing with the family and hanging with the PA Posse but I'll write about all of that later. Quickly, I just want to save people from possibly wasting 3 and a half hours of their lives... Do not see "King Kong". It is not good. So save those hours. Trust me. Of course, if you've already seen it and liked it, we need to talk because you're wrong.

Merry Christmas!!!

i miss san diego.

golden tuesday

not much has prompted me to blog recently but today is different because the gloden globe nominations were announced. more interesting than the oscars because they include comedies, television and movies, and alcohol, i LOVE the gg's. i've been told recently (and not so recently) that i have very strong opinions on movies. i don't know what happens when people start talking about actors and movies...i immediately go into warfare mode and everyone who disagrees with my opinion obviously must be an idiot. (OBviously). i think people at work were a bit taken aback when i called a certain kirsten dunst a disgusting snarled tooth actress with sagging boobs and no talent. or when i called scarlett johansson an ugly whore with no talent. get the picture? anyways, here are my uncensored reactions to the golden globe nominations. yes, i am typing as i read the list i printed out for the first time.

best picture drama...
what the f*&%! they managed to nominate two of my least favorite movies of the year. 'constant gardener' was sooo not good. but it can't even COMPARE to the sludge that was 'history of violence'. that movie was horrible. more than horrible. painful. foreign people are clearly idiots if they think it is a good movie. i haven't seen 'matchpoint' but see my point about scarlett johansson above.

best actress drama...
maria bello in 'history of violence'...puhleeze. how much can i say how bad of a movie this was? it's nice to see felicity huffman getting props since she is a good actress and is stuck on that crappy 'desperate housewives'. and yes i watch that show but still. clearly there are so few good roles for women that the two actresses who just have to be in a movie to get nominated did, indeed, get nominated. at least i'll be interested to see what gwyneth and charlize will wear.

best actor drama...
russell crow in 'cinderella man'...hmm...people keep saying this movie is great. maybe i should try to see it. the other nominees are all good actually. david strathairn was great in 'good night and good luck' and phillip seymour hoffman was amazing in 'capote'.

best picture musical or comedy...
'pride and prejudice' yay! 'walk the line' yay! but 'mrs. henderson presents'? really? do they have to nominate judi dench for everything? i would have liked to see an awesome surprise nom for '40 yr old virgin' but the foreign press just doesn't roll that way. oh, by the way, 'the squid and the whale'? sooo overrated. and i didn't laugh. so not much of a comedy is it?

best actress musical or comedy...
um, i love this category because it included sarah jessica from 'the family stone'. which i haven't seen yet because it's not released but it's still my favorite picture of the year. though reese witherspoon should win this of course. and she's a great dresser.

best actor musical or comedy...
go joaquin! i usually don't like mr. phoenix but he was amazing as johnny cash. plus he's a weirdo so that adds excitement to the red carpet. the other dudes have no chance. which is fine.

best foreign language film...
um, yeah...i don't see foreign language films.

best supporting actress...
arghh!!! that bitch scarlett johansson! as i recently told a male friend who is in love with her, "you just love her because she has huge cans." he actually responded, 'yes, totally.' hello! is that all it takes? the other nominees are fairly lame except that would be rad if michelle williams won because she was totally on 'dawson's creek'.

best supporting actor...
argh! more awful movies!! i don't understand why people like bad movies. 'syriana' was not good but i'm fine with the clooney nomination because he's funny. but matt dillon in 'crash'? first of all, hated the movie. second of all, um, matt dillon? do we really want to start taking him seriously? i don't think so.

best director...
woody allen, you're sick and make bad movies. george clooney, wanna hang out? peter jackson, how did you lose so much weight!!?? ang lee, you're quiet and weird, but sometimes make good movies. fernando meirelles, 'the constant gardener' sucked. sorry dude, someone had to tell you. and steven spielberg, no one has seen your movie yet, but i just hope it has a happy ending and that aliens come down to save the israeli hostages.

best tv series drama...
it is a fact that television nowadays is better than feature films. better writing, better storytelling. my two favorite shows on tv? 'lost' and 'grey's anatomy' and they're both nominated! take that bitch. i'm sad 'the shield' and 'rescue me' were ignored, but i'll let it go this time.

best actress tv drama...
patricia arquette is a rad nomination just because she always looks like a train wreck. glenn close was amazing on 'the shield' though. she should win.

best actor tv drama...
hey taryn, hugh laurie got nominated! and he'll probably win too because they won't seriously give an award to patrick dempsey or matthew fox. it's just nice to be nominated guys.

best tv series comedy...
hmm...pretty poor choices here. 'desperate housewives' will win but my vote goes to 'my name is earl'.

best actress tv comedy...
all of the desperate housewives!! and mary louise parker who is pretty. hmm....

best actor tv comedy...
i still vote for jason lee even though he is a scientologist. though maybe steve carrell will win to reward him for '40 year old virgin'.

best supporting actress tv...
yeah for sandra oh! i like her even though john says she "looks weird". i tell him she's just asian but he doesn't think that's it.

best supporting actor tv...
naveen andrews on 'lost' is rad because he's dating an old barbara hershey. cool. jeremy piven is not cool but funny so i'll take it.

and that's it folks! i'll be watching in january, will you?

thankful

yeah, it was thanksgiving so it's around the time where you're supposed to say what you are thankful for. a week ago i almost posted a list of things that suck. it was that type of week. and it would have been a long list but i held off. who needs to hear that crap anyways? now this week i get to do a list of things that are good. which is much nicer i think.

things that are good

1. one of the most vivacious, happy, awesome couples around was finally united and i got to bask in some of their glow.



2. my parents made one of my favorite meals on sunday for my early birthday. it was prime rib and yes i love meat and no that is not gross.

3. the chargers won their game in overtime and i got to see it in a crowded san diego bar. moondoggies in P.B, but still.

4. see number one.



5. christmas music is all over the radio. l.a. kost 103.5 is in full effect and i was happy to hear that san diego had a radio station dedicated to christmas music as well.

6. yogurt shoppe in pq. always thankful for that.

7. lots of card playing with my family. not a lot of winning but a lot of playing.

8. a few good movies... FINALLY. ones i can recommend? "pride and prejudice", "jarhead", "good night and good luck", "capote" and "walk the line".

9. four words... PUMPKIN. CHOCOLATE. CHIP. MUFFINS. they seriously might be one of my favorite desserts of all time.

10. this lady. this lady right here. she'll hate this picture but it's an awful picture of me too. i made it all "artsy" which i think forgives the ugliness of the picture.



11. booty basement.

the post where i combine various unrelated and overdue topics

i am lazy. that is for sure. lazy in lots of aspects in life. getting up early to go running, making the bed, doing my laundry, etc. it seems that this laziness extends to blogging. i'll think of things to write and then just be too lazy to log on and write about them. i only tell you this because the end result is usually one post with tons of unrelated topics. a medley of sorts. a compilation. but, now that i think about it, i LOVE that. song medleys. compilation cds. "best of" clips shows. who doesn't? man, maybe my rambling posts are awesome.

i walked to the grove on saturday. i made the 2 mile walk with my beloved ipod. i started on pop music but then decided, "what the hell, it's time" and switched over to my christmas playlist. it was awesome.

saw the new "pride and prejudice" movie this weekend. i am a HUGE fan of the story. but i adore the A&E mini-series with colin firth so i wasn't expecting much. but this one was very pleasant and entertaining. sure, they had to cut a lot of stuff out to get it down to 2 hours...and sure, keira knightley has this weird way of smiling where you can see her whole bottom row of teeth, and sure she's as flat as a board which is a little disturbing...but still....any movie that ends with a big romantic music-swelling scene is okay by me.

my office mate has the crappiest taste in music. it seems that her itunes playlist only includes shitty rock like incubus, blur, perfect circle, bush, or prodigy. who listens to that stuff? my god. i can't hear myself think.

i need another thai massage. i got one two months ago and this small asian woman who didn't really speak english walked all over my back and stretched me every which way. i loved it, it was cheap, and i want another one.

sometimes things are so good that you don't even want them to arrive because then the anticipation will be over and that's the best part. okay, so you have no idea what i'm talking about. but i'll give you an example from last weekend. and any males reading this, feel free stop reading now. okay, good, we're all alone girls. how good is "grey's anatomy"? it's my favorite show on television and there's been this great interaction between these two characters izzy and cute sarcastic dude. no, neither of them are patrick dempsey or scarily anorexic girl from 'old school'. anyways, these two characters are rad and i love their flirting and sexual tension. it's been going on for a while now (since last season) but last week, halfway through the episode, i could tell that they were finally going to kiss at the end of the episode. and i was a little sad. sure, i knew it would be rad, but then what? there's only one awesome first kiss scene between two characters and i was about to witness it. so the end of the episode came and there was the amazing scene with the first kiss. it was lovely and enjoyable but now that part of the show will never happen again. do you know what i mean or do i just sound like an idiotic 13 year old? both?

chinese fortune cookie

this is my favorite fortune from a recent fortune cookie at the excellent genghis cohen restaurant:

"Quality counts and you've got it!"

the sun will come out, tomorrow

it's a weird thing not seeing daylight every day. i get up and go to work when it's dark and then go home when it's dark. during the day i don't leave the building and there are no windows in our offices. it definitely messes with how i perceive time. each morning when i open the door to my office i swear that i just left about 15 minutes ago. but maybe that's because i've only spent about two WAKING hours away. that's not much. but, all that being said, i like my job and like making movies.

MUCH has happened since my last post. i could tell you about how excited i am for stacey and kevin and their engagement but words wouldn't do it justice. i could tell you about the sweet "congrats stevin" cake we got them but a picture would be better.

i could tell you about the weekend in big bear and the ferocious trivial pursuit game and the illegal "cigarettes" and the ten pounds of brownies and potato chips. oh and of course i would include big bear's oktoberfest with the chicken dance, log sawing contest, and worst churro in the world, but i'm too lazy to type it all out.

i could tell you about our new hippie neighbors and how they are very "spiritual" and how they have a feng-shui consultant coming to the apartment and how they are so incredibly friendly that everytime i run into them they keep me there for 30 minutes. but you'll totally meet them eventually and GIL and LORRAINE can tell you how they pride themselves on their "integrity".

i could totally tell you about this cast read thru i ran for the movie i'm on, but i don't want to be fired. as SWEET as my b.b.t. story is, even i'm not dumb enough to broadcast it over the internet.

i could tell you how our dear friend ken is moving back to texas and how sad it is when people start getting older and moving away and starting their own lives, but that's a bit heavy for a blog that's favorite topic is red carpet fashion.

i guess i could talk about a lot of stuff but i'm not going to. instead i'll just say, happy tuesday.

a steamy eden

this post is a day late but yesterday i had a shower for the first time in a long time. it was hot. it was long. it was glorious. don't ever take your shower for granted people. that's my lesson for today.