Movies - Week of December 22

With a Friend Like Harry ***½ (D)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ****½ (B)
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Design Team Commentary) ***½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of December 15

No movies this week.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of December 8

No movies this week.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of December 1

Grand Illusion **** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of November 24

Synecdoche, NY **** (C)
Watership Down **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene

Movies - Week of November 17

WALL-E ***½ (C)
My Life as a Dog ***** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of November 10

Shall We Go To Your or My Place or Each Go Home Alone *** (S)
Get Smart **½ (D)
Life of Jesus *½ (D)
Touch of Evil ****½ (D)
The Island **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of November 3

Ghost Town *** (C)
If... ** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of October 27

High Falls ***½ (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of October 20

Kurosawa's High & Low ***½ (C)
Born Into Brothels **** (D)
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas ** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of October 13

Boogie Nights *** (T)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of October 6

Pride & Prejudice 2005 **** (D)
McCabe & Mrs Miller *** (T)
Eraserhead **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

From the NYT Books feed

This choked me up. Then Gina made me read it to her (she was busy working away on her computer) and then it choked me up even more.

Movies - Week of September 29

45 RPM (C) ***
Everything is Fine ****½ (C)
Jar City *** (C)
Tracey Fragments **** (D)
Iron Man *** (D)
Beyond 'JFK': The Question of Conspiracy *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Everything is Fine

Movies - Week of September 22

Alberta Shorts Program (overall rating) ***(C)
Included:
- Boiler Room *** (S)
- City of Noise *** (S)
- The Curse of the Piano **½ (S)
- In Translation **½ (S)
- Postmark *** ½ (S)
- Promise ** (S)
- The Real Place ***½
- The Secret Life of Office Supplies ** (S)
- Stolen Horses **½ (S)
- Wait Time ** (S)
Deception *½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Water

Movies - Week of September 15

Shock Corridor **½ (D)
Thelma & Louise **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Water

Movies - Week of September 8

Salam Bombay! **½ (D)
Quicksand **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Water

Movies - Week of September 1

In Which We Serve ** (D)
Water ****½ (D)
Inconvenient Truth ** (D)
House Hunting *** (S)
Drunken Bees **½ (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Water

Movies - Week of August 25

In Bruges *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of August 18

Short Bus ** (D)
Cinderella Liberty **½ (D)
Casino Royale *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of August 11

The Beautiful Country **½ (D)
The French Connection *** (D)
The Dark Knight (C)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of August 4

No movies this week.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of July 28

No movies this week.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of July 21

Napoleon Dynamite *** (D)
Brideshead Revisited ***½ (C)
Yojimbo *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of July 14

L'auberge Espagnole **½ (D)
Spiderwick Chronicles *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of July 7

Planet of the Apes (2001) ** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of June 30

The Company ***½ (D)
Prairie Home Companion *** (D)
The Visitor **** (C)
War, Inc. **½ (C)
Hulk ** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of June 23

Our Time Is Up ***½ (S)
Ausreisser (The Runaway) *** (S)
Six-Shooter **** (S)
Moon and the Son *** (S)
Imago **½ (S)
Return of the Native ** (D)
Young People F***cking *** (C)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of June 16

Four Weddings and a Funeral *** (T)
Hear & Now *** (T)


For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of June 9

Our Time Is Up ***½ (S)
Ausreisser (The Runaway) *** (S)
The Last Farm *** (S)
Cashback * (S)
Six-Shooter **** (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of June 2

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang ***½ (D)
London to Brighton *** (C)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of May 26

Shattered Glass *** (D)
Life of Brian ***** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of May 19

Citizen Ruth **½ (D)
In This World *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of May 12

The Jacket **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Funny Headline

Thought I would share this "great" headline from my BBC news feed:

Movies - Week of May 5

Glastonbury **½ (D)
Little Big Man *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of April 28

The Price of Milk *** (D)
Greenaway on Greenaway *** (S)
Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring ***½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of April 21

A Walk Through H *** (S)
H is for House **½ (S)
Intervals ** (S)
Windows *** (S)
Water Wrackets *½ (S)
Dear Phone *** (S)
Across the Universe *** (D)
Transamerica ** (D)

For those of you wondering what all these shorts are, they are from the collection The Early Films of Peter Greenaway 1.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of April 14

Fait D'Hiver ** (S)
I'll Wait for the Next One... *** (S)
Inja *** (Dog) (S)
This Charming Man ***½ (S)

These are four of the oscar-nominated shorts from 2002. This Charming Man (no connection to the Smiths' tune??) was the winner. The fifth nom, Johnny Flynton, was not included for some unknown reason.

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of April 7

Devil and Daniel Johnston *** (D)
Don't Come Knocking ** (D)
The Chubbchubbs! *** (S)
Das Rad ***½(S)
The Cathedral *** (S)
Mt. Head **½ (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of March 31

Out of Sight ** (T)
Cars ** (D)
What's New, Pussycat? ** (T)
Syriana **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of March 24

Stand By Me ***½ (D)
Spirited Away **** (D)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off *** (D)
Spiderwick Chronicles *** (C)
Moulin Rouge **** (D)
Topsy-Turvy *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of March 17

Along Came Jones **½ (T)
The Cowboy and the Lady *** (T)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of March 10

L'Enfant *** (D)
For Your Consideration ** (D)
Peter Pan (2003) *** (T)
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus **½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of March 3

Princess Bride **** (D)
Barton Fink **** (D)
Journey Into Fear **½ (D)
Once ****½ (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of February 25

The Girl in the Café **½ (D)
Stardust *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of February 18

Be Kind Rewind ***½ (C)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of February 4

Flirting *** (D)
Ugetsu **½ (D)
Away From Her *** (D)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of February 11

The Pool Shark *** (S)
The Golf Specialist **½ (S)
The Women *** (T)
Enchanted *** (C)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl

Movies - Week of January 28

The Third Man **** (D)
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street * (C)
Winged Migration *** (T)
La Chatte Andalouse ***½ (S)
Never Like the First Time*** (S)
Kitchen ** (S)
Lars & the Real Girl ****½ (C)
Charlie Wilson's War *** (C)
Making of the Misfits ** (D)
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello **½ (S)

For legend, see Week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
Lars & the Real Girl (knocks out The Savages)

RE: Sweeney Todd: Sorry, folks, I guess I don't get what people see in Sondheim's musical. There is really only one "song" - the rest is just [terrible] exposition sung to the same tune throughout. It's a classic example of what's wrong with the genre. They have so little plot and therefore should have much time to show you characterization, etc. on screen but fail to do even that. Yes, Helena Bonham Carter looks hot even when she looks dead but it's not enough to save this one.

Movies - Week of January 21

Juno ***½ (C)
The Anniversary Party *** (T)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead **** (C)
The Science of Sleep **** (D)
High Falls *** (S)
Two Cars, One Night **½ (S)
Tom's War On Terror *½ (S)

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
The Savages

Footnote: The Anniversary Party is a must for any Phoebe Cates fan, since it's the only thing she has done since 1994.

Movies - Week of January 14

Cinephiles might get a kick out of this Guardian story about Christian "guidance sites" that let you know what to expect if you go to the movies.

O *½ (D)
The Savages **** (P)
The Ox-Bow Incident **** (T)
Hard Candy *** (D)
The Lady in the Water * (D)

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
The Savages (knocks out American Gangster)

Movies - Week of January 7

Murderball *** (D)
Storytelling **½ (D)
I'm Not There ***½ (P)
Der Amerikanische Freund *** (D)
El Orfanato **** (T)

For legend, see week 1

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
American Gangster

2007 The Year in Review

2007 flew by. QTLibrarian inspired me with her year in review, so here is my not-so-month-by-month recap:

January-February - read almost 100 short screenplay entries for thinsoapy's contest in a search to find a new script. Found one and to my surprise it was from a writer living in Calgary.

March-April - started casting for the short film. Original plan was to try and shoot it in April or May. Had some issues with an addendum to the IPA that removed the ability to use union actors in projects less than 15 minutes, so we had to re-cast one of the leads.

May - Started cycling to work a couple of days a week; 12km each way. Felt great but my neck started to bother me. Switched from knapsack to pannier, helped a bit. Our plan of getting the film shot before our big trip is foiled by losing a location and then our DP to a strike. Some other things went wrong, too but I can't remember them all.

June - I finally left the continent for the first time in my life! Gina had been to Europe before but I was beginning to wonder if I would ever travel. The artificial hip was great - walked more than I had ever before and did lots of cycling. Three weeks in Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and France - eating waffles, pannenkoek and tasting many, many beers - and still we lost weight!



July - back from Europe in time for Bre's birthday on the 2nd. Started looking for a replacement location and found a perfect substitute. Tried to get everyone together to shoot the film but postponed it to September (too many holidays). Bought a new bike so I'd be sitting up straighter. Helped the neck and took some time off the ride (smaller tires=less friction=higher average speed)! Harry Potter 7 released.

August - got down to business planning the shoot. It felt strange working through August, since it's usually the month in which we take our vacations. Continued to ride two or three days a week. Another good consequence of riding (and being gone for 3 weeks): when Honda calls to remind me it's time for my 96,000 km service I laugh at them - I'm only at 92,000! Bookclub camping trip (that should become an annual event) was fantastic.

September - Gina's family BBQ at Sheep River Falls. Finally got the film crew and cast together and shot the short. Whew!



October - Gina got another year older. Also the month we stopped cycling to work. Me, earlier than Gina because of a Gall Bladder attack (out of left field, and during the film festival - argghh!). Kels- this is also why I wasn't at your Austin send-off. At least the film festival was excellent (saw 10 of 12 films we purchased tix for, Gina saw 11). If you can find Adrenaline by Robert Lynn, which is a feature shot in one single continuous shot, I highly recommend it.

November - went for an early winter ride around the resevoir. Busy at work but still had some time to do a rough cut of the film.

December - went on the annual Solstice Tree Hunt. Shopping, holidays with families, the usual. As always, fun. The girls got a Wii and presently I suck at GH3 and putting in golf.

Looking forward to 2008.

Movies - Week of December 31

I'm going to keep track all year. That way, when Gina asks what my favourite movies of the year were, I can just look it up.

Stardust **** (D)
Nanny Diaries ** (D)
Memoirs of a Geisha * (T)
American Gangster **** (C)
The Stranger **** (D)
Brick ***½ (D)

Best Movie of the Year so far (Cinema or new DVD releases only included)
American Gangster

Legend
* - Rating (out of 5)
C - Cinema
B - Blu-ray
D - DVD
L - LaserDisc
P - Free Preview
T - TV/PVR
S - Short