2010 in Film: Highlights

I decided to post my favourites of the 2010 cinematic year in quite a different format from last year. For starters, I added one more category to my lists (cinematography, and I’ll add production design next year since it’s my favourite category and I’m surprised I haven’t tracked those contenders for these past two years). I’m also not going with any arbitrary number like 5 or 10. I’m just sticking with all my favourites. Today’s post is the first part in a three part review and it includes write-ups on five (random) things I wanted to talk about that don’t necessarily fit the “favourites” post. Tomorrow night is the SAG awards, but I’ll be back in the beginning of next week with the final two posts (The first one on acting, cinematography, editing, writing and directing; the second one on my favourite films of the year.)

Enjoy! And come back on Monday for the goodies.

*Disclaimer: I missed the following films which I suspect could have in some shape or form been included in my favourites: Biutiful (opening in Toronto on February 11^th), Enter the Void, Temptation of St. Tony, Cell 211, and Steam of Life.

The Perfect Marketing Campaign

Black Swan

Minus the one poster I didn’t really like much (The one where Mickey Rourke’s hand is pasted on Natalie Portman’s body) every poster designed for Black Swan could top a list of best of the year. Each of them had a new idea behind it and somehow they all managed to work perfectly. Aside from the posters, that trailer spread through the web like wildfire. EVERYBODY was talking about it. Even people who never showed any interest in film had all of a sudden seen it, and no one could wait for the film to come out. And after all, irrespective of the quality of the film, if that’s not what marketing is supposed to do, then what is it?

Original blockbusters with no robots can sell tickets. Who knew?

Inception doesn’t personally excite me as much as it does some. Nevertheless, to have a brainy blockbuster in the summer that exceeds expectations with its ticket sales, leads to discourse among people who otherwise would never discuss cinema, and has more to drag teenagers to the theatre for than Megan Fox’s tits or the Kraken is a reason to celebrate.

(On a side note, the popularity led to the whole meme of Inception jokes on the web, and unlike previous films with similar memes, some of these actually turned out to be really funny.)

Black Swan makes another case for an unlikely blockbuster. To date, the film has sold almost 85 million dollars, which admittedly isn’t much when compared to superhero films or successful action flicks, but for a psychological thriller directed by an auteur that is less known by the public that number is a miracle. If you remember similar numbers for a film of this type, do remind me, but I think this is the first in a very long time.

Best Film Ending of the Year and the Best Trilogy Ending of All Time

Toy Story 3

Finishing the most beloved film series in history is no easy task. How do we bid farewell to the characters we’ve loved for so many years? Well, no worries. Leave it to the geniuses at Pixar, sit back and enjoy. Virtually everyone walking out of the theatre had tears running down their cheeks. Andy’s really a symbol of all of us watching the film. This wasn’t an animation for kids; it was for people of my age who grew up with Andy. The toys are our toys. We’ve played with them for 15 years and they’ve become an unforgettable part of our childhood. Saying good goodbye isn’t easy but at the Pixar crew made it a classy one. Thanks Guys. 
The video can't be embedded from youtube, but you know you want to watch the ending again.  (Obviously HUGE spoiler alert!)

Overlooked Gems

Not counting films from the festival circuit that are often underrated and rarely released for a wider audience in time, and not counting Four Lions, which despite its brilliance, is too indie and too controversial to really go wide, I could make a case for two films. The American, which I understand is not everyone’s cup of tea, was ignored on all fronts because some people were mislead by its marketing campaign or just merely didn’t like the film much. I never had any hopes for the film to score with any of the guilds, but it’s surprising to see so few people even remember the film’s accomplishments at all (no cinematography citation by anyone?). 

Andy Garcia in City Island

The second film is City Island. It has no “stars” so it wouldn’t have really scored with the crowd that lines up for Grown-Ups, but it was actually a genuinely funny film with neatly realized characters and terrific performances. A more publicized release would have helped the box office of the film at least. To be honest, I can’t even remember when it was released; I caught it on DVD myself, but I’ve gone back to it so many times and it’s given me a good laugh every time.

Most Overrated Film of the Year

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

I literally screamed in joy when I heard that Dogtooth had made it in the Academy Finalist shortlist instead of this film, which I was suspecting would be shoved in the list to prove the Academy’s progressive taste. To me, Uncle Boonmee was the biggest disappointment among 2010 films. Partly because I actually like Weerasethakul’s earlier films, and partly because I was expecting this Cannes winner to follow in the footsteps of White Ribbon, The Class and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. But alas, Tim Burton’s career is not the only thing going downhill; so is his taste in film clearly. Unclee Boonmee’s pretentious and unashamed snobbery in insisting upon its own importance makes it completely unbearable in the second half of the film: once we realize that the monkey ghost and the sexy catfish want us to take them seriously. Weerasethakul stated once that Kiarostami’s films were a source of inspiration for him, and I suppose his calm and meditative approach to his stories is supposedly an indication of that. What he hasn’t learnt from Kiarostami – and neither has the jury who rewarded this film in Cannes over Kiarostami’s infinitely superior Certified Copy – is the elementary lessons in his brand of contemplative minimalism.

Annual Bitching: Part 1

*I reserve the rights to part two of this post for the day after the Oscar ceremony.

As with every other year's Oscar nomination morning, the announcement includes snubs that really sting, inclusions that make me wanna jump off a cliff, and also some  (and by that I mean veeerryyyy few) pleasant surprises. Highlight of this year’s nominations?

Pretty much the only pleasant surprises of this morning.

• Without question, the most pleasant surprise this morning was Dogtooth’s nomination for Best Foreign Language film. You will see the extent of my appreciation for the film when I post my own favorites of the year next week, but when it was announced that Greece would send this film to the Academy, I thought it wouldn't have the smallest shot. Thank God (or Mark Johnson) for the executive committee though. Dogtooth’s lucky streak will most likely end with this nomination. A win would need a miracle, but this is rewarding enough.

• The most hurtful snubs of the morning were Ryan Gosling and Andrew Garfield. Ryan Gosling is the victim of Academy’s bias against romantic leading men, in my opinion. Michelle Willaims’ nomination is an indicator that the actors branch did actually see the film. Even though it’s hard to argue with the quality of the performances nominated (I haven’t seen Biutiful yet) but I would nominate Ryan Gosling over any of the twenty performers nominated. He’s THAT good. Garfield was also brilliant in The Social Network and I would have thought he could get in over Renner who wins the sole nomination for The Town.

Christopher Nolan on the set of Inception

• The most surprising snub of the morning was unquestionably Christopher Nolan for Best Director. Everybody was talking about Russell and the Coens fighting it out for the last spot and next thing you know, they both get in at the expense of Nolan. I’m actually not a big fan of Inception but seriously, can the man catch a break? The Academy literally changed their rules because his last film was snubbed, and they still managed to ignore him again. He is nominated for Best Original Screenplay though, but I think Inception’s shortcomings mostly came from the weaknesses of its screenplay, not Nolan’s directing, which is no doubt really impressive. Can The Dark Knight Rises finally get him nominated? I doubt it. If Inception couldn’t, another Batman movie most certainly won’t. Almost as shocking is the exclusion of Lee Smith from the editing category. Even the detractors of the film were in awe of its seamless construction. How anyone can think the editing of The King’s Speech is superior to Inception is beyond me. Which makes me think...

• …The thing I hate most about the Oscars, and most other awards bodies, is that year in, year out, they nominate the best picture frontrunners in categories where they have no business being nominated. Even if editing was conceivable, as it is usually with best picture nominees, that sound mixing nomination for The King’s Speech is just absurd. Off the top of my head, I can think at least four movies that had better sound mixing. Black Swan anyone?

• Exit through the Gift Shop and The Illusionist were both nominated in their respective categories, presumably at the expanse of Waiting For Superman and Tangled. Particularly in the case of the Documentary category, that snub is a HUGE surprise, but as long as Gift Shop makes it, who cares? Imagine the possibility of Banksy showing up at the Oscars (hopefully with a mask. HA!) You probably know how happy The Illusionist’s nomination makes me already.

•  The volatile supporting actress category had no surprises. Bleh. In fact, unbelievably it is the only category I predicted 100 percent right. I was really expecting a more exciting line-up but what I got instead is my least favorite of the acting categories. The yearlong buzz on Helena Bonham Carter’s bland performance finally paid off for her and Hailee Steinfeld’s nomination came in the wrong category. Several of my favorites didn’t have a realistic shot but I would have much rather seen Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, Dianne Wiest or Keira Knightley. *sigh*

• Final note: Luckily this is not the definition of good make-up, as I’d suspected the Academy would believe. There’s still some hope here and there. But Alice did still manage three nominations. Three too many I’d say.

Oscars 2010 Predictions: Round 4, January

The Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow morning and this is gonna be my final set of predictions. As usual, the categories I’m covering here are the ones that I personally track throughout the year for my own annual lists, but this time I’ve added some commentary at the end regarding other categories as well.
Without further ado, let’s get right to it.

Nominees?

Best Picture
1- The Social Network
2- The King’s Speech
3- Black Swan
4- The Fighter
5- Inception
6- Toy Story 3
7- True Grit
8- The Kids Are All Right
9- The Town
10- 127 Hours
Alternative: Winter’s Bone
This line-up basically matches 100% with PGA’s line-up. I don’t mean to say that the PGA is always perfectly in sync with the Oscars. In fact, they never are. Last year’s slate of nominees had two differences with Academy’s line-up (Invictus and Star Trek were replaced with The Blind Side and A Serious Man). But frankly, the only way I can see it happening otherwise is if Winter’s Bone somehow sneaks in. Despite the film strong showing at the critics’ awards, it hasn’t fared well with any guild really, except for SAG, where Lawrence and Hawkes both got nominations. Actors are the biggest branch in the academy and if Winter’s Bone actors are beloved enough, then the film may end up as a nominee. I’m sticking with 127 Hours for now though. I’m sensing a whole new wave of enthusiasm for Shutter Island. It’ll be a real shock if it gets in here, but less shocking than The Ghost Writer, Blue Valentine or Another Year.

Best Director
1- David Fincher (The Social Network)
2- Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
3- Christopher Nolan (Inception)
4- Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech)
5- David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Alternative: Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)
I let go of Danny Boyle before my last predictions in December, but now I’m certain he doesn’t really have a chance anymore. 127 Hours might overcome its miniscule box office and absence in most precursor awards in the top category with ten nominees but in a field of five, no matter how impressive Boyle is, he won’t have a shot. Besides, he was awarded only two years ago. Martin Scorsese and Debra Granik are the dark horses, but walking past any of the top five here is not easy.

David O. Russell on the of The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg

Best Actor in a Leading Actor
1- Colin Firth (The King’s Speech)
2- James Franco (127 Hours)
3- Jeff Bridges (True Grit)
4- Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
5- Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine)
Alternative: Robert Duvall (Get Low)
I’m predicting Ryan Gosling only because I’m hoping for a self-fulfilling prophecy. I actually think Duvall has a much better chance, but I haven’t seen Get Low and everything about the film sounds incredibly dull to me. Maybe I’ll watch it when he’s actually nominated. Gosling on the other hand, gives what I probably consider the best performance of the year in any category. I really don’t see how people won’t vote for him if they actually see the movie. Could Bardem somehow find room here?

Best Actress in a Leading Role
1- Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
2- Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
3- Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
4- Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
5- Lesley Manville (Another Year)
Alternative: Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right)
Julianne Moore seemed to have lost her chances until the BAFTA nomination was announced. You never know. Double nominees in a lead category are as rare as anything, but I’m sure there are people in the Academy who believe (like I do) that her performance is just as deserving and she’s just as overdue as Bening. Michelle Williams could take that final spot or Hailee Steinfeld if they nominate her in the lead category, where she actually belongs.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1- Christian Bale (The Fighter)
2- Geoffrey Rush (The King’s Speech)
3- Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
4- Jeremy Renner (The Town)
5- Andrew Garfield (The Social Network)
Alternative: John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
Originally I thought Renner would have the shakiest spot, but it seems like his momentum and the fact that this is actually one of the few spots where they can reward the film will carry him all the way to the Kodak theatre. If anyone is getting bumped off, it’s probably Garfield, but I also don’t see another contender here other than Hawkes. Anyone outside these six will be a shocker.

All the performances that are superior to lock nominee, Helena Bonham Carter.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1- Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
2- Amy Adams (The Fighter)
3- Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
4- Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
5- Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)
Alternative: Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
It seems like the category finally has a front-runner after Leo’s win at the Globes, but the nominations are still confusing overall. The biggest question mark is Hailee Steinfeld. Everybody in the world knows that she’s the lead in True Grit, but everybody also knows that the academy doesn’t like rewarding kids in lead, except when they do (à la Keisha Castle Hughes). But unless her votes are enough to nominate her in lead, we’re most likely going to see her nominated here, which is upsetting. I like her performance just fine, but I don’t think it’s an Oscar worthy one and there are far superior possible nominees here. Carter’s lock status is even more annoying though. I still have a hard time believing she was nominated for nearly every single award so far. Why? She really doesn’t do anything special in this film, and she’s been much better before for works that went completely unnoticed. Dianne Wiest, Barbara Hershey and Keira Knightley all give better performances.

Best Screenplay Original
1- The Kids Are All Right
2- The King’s Speech
3- Inception
4- Black Swan
5- Another Year
Alternative: The Fighter
If Another Year is completely snubbed, then The Fighter could snatch that last spot. Although between the two auteur-driven “director’s piece” films, I think The Fighter’s screenplay is better than Swan, but I don’t vote for the Oscars.

Best Screenplay Adapted
1- The Social Network
2- True Grit
3- Toy Story 3
4- Winter’s Bone
5- The Ghost Writer
Alternative: 127 Hours
I think The Ghost Writer will pop up here. The film was too good to be completely shut out and despite the lack of precursor attention I’d say the Academy will be more moved by the film. Otherwise, previous winners in this category will come back to the race with 127 Hours.

Best Cinematography
1- True Grit
2- Inception
3- Black Swan
4- The Social Network
5- Shutter Island
Alternative: 127 Hours
Most people tend to think this is Deakins’ year, and if it is, I won’t complain even though he wouldn’t have my (imaginary) vote. (ahem, my own favourites lists coming next week.) 127 Hours actually had award worthy cinematography, but it will depends on the love for the film. I don’t expect the top three to be snubbed under any circumstances though.

Best Editing
1- The Social Network
2- Inception
3- The Fighter
4- Black Swan
5- The King’s Speech
Alternative: True Grit
This category tends to favour best picture nominees and action films. Given that the action spot is already covered by Inception, and not much else really has any buzz going for it, I’d say The King’s Speech slides in. Don’t be surprised to see the Coe... I mean Roderick Jaynes nominated though.

Anyway, as I said, I didn’t really keep track of my favourites in other categories this year (although, next year, I will add Art Direction and Original Score to my charts), so I haven’t predicted them before, but now that we have only one day left to go, I’m thinking why the hell not?
So for what it’s worth, these are some random predictions/hopes for Tuesday morning’s big announcement.

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat will be nominated for The King’s Speech, but I was really hoping for a nomination for The Ghost Writer. His score for the former is actually really good, it’s just that, if he’s done better work this year why not nominate him for that one?
My favourites in this category don’t really have a shot at nomination, but among the ones that are conceivable nominees, I’m pulling for The Social Network and How to Train your Dragon.
In general, several of this year’s contenders seem a little too hip for the Academy’s taste, so we’ll have to wait and see if they nominate The Social Network at all.

Best Art Direction
As with Score, my real favourites are too far out of reach, but True Grit and Inception are my horses in this race. They will most likely both be nominated (if one of them is omitted, it’ll be True Grit), although the design of The King’s Speech was also quite the eye candy. I just pray to the gods of cinema that Alice in Wonderland doesn’t get nominated. Speaking of which...

I guess this is what good make-up means these days...

Best Make-up
Seriously, all you need to be able to understand that Alice doesn’t have any business among the best of the year is eyes. I admit that I didn’t finish watching the film, but the first half was disastrous enough. The sad thing is that I actually really like Alice in Wonderland. You know, the original tale. But Tim Burton really (pardon my French) fucked it up. My favourite three here would be True Grit, The Wolfman, and The Fighter. Partly because these are the only three I’ve see, and partly because The Fighter really deserves that nomination. But if you’re wondering about predictions, it’ll probably be Alice, Barney’s Version and The Wolfman.

Best Visual Effects
Sadly, I missed TRON, but I think it’s a solid bet for a nomination in this category. Inception should technically have the golden guy in the bag, so I’d bet on that for a nomination. I’d really love to see Scott Pilgrim nominated as well. I don’t share the blogosphere affection for the film at all, but the visual effects were unquestionably great and integral to the story. That nomination probably won’t happen though, because, well, what are we gonna do without Alice in Wonderland? *sigh*

Winner?

Sound Categories
I’d like to see How to Train your Dragon nominated for sound editing, and it probably will. Inception and TRON are givens here, but Dragon’s sound work was truly inspiring.
Both Inception and TRON also have the sound mixing nomination in the bag. I wouldn’t mind seeing Black Swan in each category either and that’s not too much of a long shot. The films seems like the next likely choice in both places. Is it possible to see The Social Network in Sound Mixing though?

Best Animated Feature
Toy Story 3 and Dragon are obvious choices here, but that third spot is tricky. Tangled is relying on good reviews and really good box office. The Illusionist is counting on the artsy vote. Despicable Me is counting on ... frankly, I don’t know. I haven’t seen Tangled unfortunately (unbelievable I know, but there’s only so much time in my life) but I have a hard time believing anybody in their sound mind would pick Despicable over Illusionist. Then again, far worse animations have been nominated here.

Best Documentary
By far the Academy’s most boring branch, the Documentary voters have never really followed the critics. But I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that Gift Shop won’t have the same fate as Anvil! and will find room. Inside Job and Waiting for Superman should be givens and Last Train Home will be sadly missed.

Denis Villeneuve and Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin from Incendies

Best Foreign Language Film
I’d love to see Canada and Greece nominated for three reasons: 1- These two are the only ones I’ve seen. 2- Both movies are TERRIFIC. (Did I mention my favourites lists are coming next week?) 3- Go Canada!
In reality though, Canada has a much better shot than Greece. Dogtooth is just too eccentric for the crowd that voted for Departures. Will the executive committee have enough power to sway the vote that way? I’m not sure. For now it looks like Denmark and Canada will be joined by South Africa, Algeria and Mexico, but the Dogtooth nomination wouldn't be as surprising as their inclusion in the final nine was.
(On a side note, if we’re talking WINNING chances, I think Denmark can win it more easily. Even though Incendies is thematically different (and miles ahead quality-wise) isn’t it too similar to The Secret in their Eyes to win just one year after? It doesn’t deal with the same issues exactly, or shall I say completely, but it’s the same type of film.)

A Few Thoughts on the Golden Globes

Before getting to the actual show, let’s just take a moment grasp this:

;)

Okay, on to the show:

• Ricky Gervais is becoming so hit and miss, both in his career and in his stand-up jokes. Love Love Loved the introduction of Bruce Willis though.

• Glee’s wins are irritating. I don’t think the show is bad, or the actors are weak, but seriously, Chris Colfer over Eric Stonestreet? Jane Lynch over Sofia Vergara? GLEE OVER MODERN FAMILY? What the hell? Glee can’t touch Modern Family with a ten foot pole.

What? Colfer took my Globe?

• Why does the director/cinematographer of the show keep getting people wrong? Do they not know these celebrities by name? Or do they just not care about matching faces to the names being announced?

Unhappy! My name is not Helena Bonham Carter.

• How charming was Robert De Niro? People are talking about his speech being all over the place and his career going down to nowhere. It doesn’t really matter. I love the guy and I loved the Matt Damon (in The Fighter) and 3D jokes.
  

• Two of the awards tonight were slightly unexpected and incredibly delicious: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (so well deserved! If The Illusionist and White Material are not nominated for score, then The Social Network really is the worthiest winner) and Paul Giamatti. Now I admit about this second one, I haven’t seen Barney’s Version, but Giamatti’s a consistently reliable actor, and in that field of competition (minus Spacey whom I haven’t seen either) he really was the best possible outcome.
  

• On the same note, how terrible is this: in the future, when discussing the 2010 cinematic year, people are going to look at these nominations and find out that only one actor managed two nominations at the Globes: Johnny Depp. *sigh*

Okay, time for another beauty break:

...And...moving on:

• Was David Fincher reading off that sheet of paper or was that just a point form list? He was kinda reading and kinda not reading. Awkward. But I think the speech was fine overall.

• Last year’s win for Avatar left a bitter aftertaste in our mouth. A best picture/director for Avatar just didn’t seem right, so the narrative changed and The Hurt Locker, after winning the hearts of the critics, went on to prevail at the Oscars. This year’s critical darling is the winner of the globe as well, so the story is kind of different. But what do you think of this as the first major test for Team Fincher/Sorkin? Worthy winners?

I think so.

You can check the full list of winners here.

Anyway, we’ll end this post with a shot of the actor who gave one of the best and most underrated performances of the year, and the winner of my “man crush of the year” award for five years in a row:

Trailer Time: Oliver Sherman

It looks like Anglo-Canada is trying to catch up with our francophone compatriots in the movie world.
I caught this trailer at the beginning of a screening of Another Year and I'm very much looking forward to it. Partly because I can't remember the last time I watched a top notch Canadian film in English (Away From Her?), and partly because Garret Dillahunt is such a watchable actor.
The last time I saw Garret Dillahunt was in Winter's Bone in a terrific short turn as the sherrif, but his relatively short roles in several great films from the past few years (No Country for Old Men, The Assissination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road) are enough to prove his talent. This looks like a real showcase for him in the lead.
Oliver Sherman opens February 4th in Toronto. IMDB lists no release dates for the US, but it doesn't have any data on the Canadian/Torontonian date either, so you should probably look for the release information somewhere else.

*Maybe "Trailer Time" could be a series where I talk about trailers I find interesting? Countless number of other blogs are doing it already though, so we'll see.

Oscar's Favourite Brothers

I watched True Grit, the new film by the Coen brothers last week. As expected, it was a solid film, though perhaps not in my favourite 3 or even 5 of their filmography. Nevertheless, I think it’s bound to get a nomination for best picture come Oscar nomination morning, which will make the film their second straight inclusion in the top category.

Joel and Ethan Coen

What I’ve had on my mind since then is this: Are the Coens going to become perennial Academy favourites in the best picture category now that there’s room for ten films? A Serious Man managed its best picture mention despite being only considered in one other category: Best Original Screenplay. True Grit will most likely have a different story. If they embrace the film, it may even lead the nominations given its potential in the technical categories.
If you look back at their filmography though, you’ll notice that they could have likely been nominated for the top category more than just three times (1996 for Fargo, 2007 for No Country for Old Men, and 2009 for A Serious Man). It may seem unlikely for films like Raising Arizona or The Big Lebowski to show up in the top ten, regardless of their quality (and if you ask me The Dude deserved a nomination even in a field of five) but Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing and most likely Barton Fink would have probably showed up in the top ten list of their respective years.











Still can't choose my favourite film by the brothers:
Barton Fink or Fargo?












Barton Fink was the winner of Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991, and managed three Oscar nominations in other categories and whoever thinks that Fink is too eccentric for a nod has not seen A Serious Man yet. Of course, Academy voters’ tastes has changed a lot since the Coens started making movies, as has the Oscar game in general.
It’s even changed since I started following the Oscar season (2003); but the way it looks now makes me think that directors as respected as the Coens and films with the quality of their works may find their way to the top field much more often. Regardless of the Oscar prospects, as an ardent fan of their films, I can say that there are very few directors I anticipate as much as them, even when they make movies every year.

Year End Reviews

I was planning on having my year end reviews ready by January 1st this year, but Toronto's release schedules aren't helping. So it looks like my top picks of 2010 have to wait until February 1st, when I will have hopefully watched all I wanna watch and have had time to think about them.

Left:
Not likely to leave the top ten

Right:
Likely to join the top ten

Major upcoming dates are January 7th (Blue Valentine, Somewhere), January 14th (Another Year), and January 21st (Incendies, The Way Back). Some DVDs are waiting on my desk too, but I'm working my way through them. Major titles include: Enter the Void, I Am Love, Cell 211, White Material, and Alamar.