New Years Eve Reading: A Long Way Down

There are certainly books and movies about New Year's Eve, but compared to it's holiday cousin a week away Christmas gets far more movie and book love.

This past year I read a book by praised British author Nick Hornby, A Long Way Down.

The premise of this book is simple, four totally different characters find themselves on top of a tall building in London called Topper's House on New Year's Eve all with the intentions of throwing themselves off the roof and committing suicide.

The book, written in first person narrative tells the story seamlessly transitioning from one character to the next as they describe the scenes that follow, which are suprisingly comical at times for a book about suicide.

The four characters are quite different: Martin Sharp, a "breakfast television" host whose life is ruined by a sex scandal with an underage prostitute; Maureen, a patheticly lonely single woman who has been raising her disabled son since birth with no human contact with the exception of a her Sunday church friends; Jess a crazy outrage girl who's teen angst and heartbreak seem quite pathetic as the story begin, but who's value to the story is pivotal at every step of the way; and JJ an American kid who's failure as a musician has him artistically contemplative about the meaning of life.

And so the story begins and unfolds in a unique way, with these unique characters take turns telling their story.

One of the things I like about this story is that despite it's collection of relatively unredemptive characters, who's personalities, foul-mouths, and self-centered behavior makes them unlikely heroes. The Maureen character is to be the shining star of the story, because she, in her naivete is the one who warrants the most sympathy. She's the one in the shadow's who sees her life as an unending hopeless string of days.

The other characters certainly don't warrant the same level of emotional connection, but their literary pontification on the meanings of their lives and creating a mental framework for their desire to kill themselves is certainly interesting.

While this book is not quite literary genius, or even the best thing I've read this year, it does some neat things, and is compelling and interesting. My respect for Nick Hornby continues to grow with each project of his, even the screenplay he wrote for this year's (fantastic) film, An Education, demonstrates Horby's best qualities. Whether it's Fever Pitch, About a Boy, A Long Way Down, or any of his other projects I continue to be impressed. Horby walks a careful line between comedy and drama as he captures people as they are with out over-dramatic crescendo's but instead with capturing the fragility of our decisions and responses to everyday life.

Happy New Year's Eve!

9 Sherlock Holmes Thoughts

1. I was excited when I first heard about this film, less excited when I saw the first preview and saw that the style and treatment was more of a super-hero nature than of a literary style...yep, that's what the film was like.

2. Robert Downey Jr is very talented. He plays the part, the way that it's written, excellently, and I can't imagine any actor doing nearly as well.

3. When ever you see a movie people seem to ask, "did you like it?" as if it was so simple. This film was entertaining, but wasn't the gem of this years film season. It was what it was. It'll be popular, I'm sure as some people "fall in love with the film" we will see more polarization of opinion.

4. I enjoyed the film more because of my interest in the television series House. I know that Hugh Laurie's Dr. House character is based in part on Holmes, but with limited knowledge of the complete Holmes-package, I could definitely see how Dr. Wilson plays a Dr. Watson role as well.

5. I don't know if Arthur Conan Doyle's original work focused on dark themes of occult, but the witchcraft elements in this film were a large part of what made me not be completely in love with this film's stories.

6. Speaking of dark elements, when I saw this in the theater there had to be no less than 10, maybe more, previews. Many, many, many of them were ubber-dark themes.

7. Jude Law is good, but not amazing - just does what he's supposed to do. I'd like to see a Jude Law performance that amazes...it's been awhile. Actually Mark Strong (Lord Blackwood), Eddie Marsan (Inspector Lestrade), and even Rachel McAdams (Irene Adler) seem to provide strong under-the-radar performances.

8. Props to Guy Richie for putting together something that will surely be seen as a box-office success story and surely the pieces must be in play for a sequel based off opening weekend numbers.

9. I wish I was more connected to Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes writings and read some of the stories before seeing the film so that I could evaluate his stories better up against the film adaptation.

Denzel Washington's 4th Lead Actor Nomination in 2010?

Besides Johnny Depp and Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington is another actor with three best lead actor Academy Award nominations.

Denzel Washington has proven to be a popular Actor loved by the masses and respected by the critics. He has been nominated for 3 lead actor nominations following his 2 supporting nominations (nominations for Cry Freedom, Glory, Malcolm X, The Hurricane, Training Day).

Denzel Washington will take on his fifth project with director Tony Scott with the film Unstoppable. Previous joint ventures include Crimson Tide (1995), Man on Fire (2004), Deja Vu (2006), and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009).

Unstoppable tells the story of a veteran train director (Washington) and a young train director (Chris Pine) who work together to stop a freight train carrying combustible liquids.

This is probably not an Oscar winning film, especially considering that Tony Scott and Denzel Washington have never received nominations for their previous work together.

Denzel Washington will also appear in a couple of other potentially popular films, although neither of these films will probably warrant Oscar's attention.

Those film include a reprise of his previous role of Detective Keith Fraiser in Inside Man 2, as well as the post-apocalyptic super charged story The Book of Eli, set to premier in January.

I don't think this is Denzel's year to score a 6th nomination, and his 4th lead Actor nomination, not for lack of skill, but as a result of the three projects he is involved in do not appear to be specifically Oscar-caliber performances.

Russell Crowe's 4th Oscar Nomination in 2010?

Johnny Depp is not the only actor I'm watching to see if he might score a 4th nomination in 2010.

Russell Crowe really kicked off the decade with a bang showing up at the Oscar ceremony three times for back-to-back critcally acclaimed performances (1999's The Insider, 2000's Gladiator, and 2001's A Beautiful Mind).

Since A Beautiful Mind, the actor has continued to pursue interesting work, but stayed out of the year's top 5 performances.

Every year I wait and watch for Crowe to return to a previous glory, but previous efforts have fallen short.

2010 is not a year packed full of contenders for Crowe, but it would appear his chance comes in Ridley Scott's adaptation of Robin Hood, where Crowe's incarnation will surely be a little more brawny then say the sequins clad Errol Flynn of the 1938 classic.

At this point, I don't count Crowe in early-on, but I certainly never count him out.

Could he get his 4th nomination on 2010? We'll see...but staring alongside Cate Blanchett (Maid Mairan) can't hurt.

Valentino: The Last Emperor

My wife and I recently screened the potential Oscar documentary nominee Valentino: The Last Emperor. The film documents the story of Valentino Garavani, the Italian fashion designer, particularly paying attention to his 45th and final year in the industry as founder of his own historic fashion empire.

As a person who doesn't pay attention to the fashion world, the story was not just interesting to me because it introduced me to the escentric Valentino, but because the film also showed the unique hidden world of the fashion industry.

To see all these women hand sewing on command sequins on to dress accessories, and people prounce around on command was pretty unique. Not to mention, the extravagance of Valentino's celebration and the creation of runway props.

The film is interesting because it doesn't gush over Valentino success, instead it points out his image awareness, his obliviousness to the business and staff around him, and his love for his six pugs. The film also seems to make a case for Valentino's second in command, ex-boyfriend Giancarlo Giammetti might really be the one who has helped Valentino create his empire, playing by Valentino's rules but applying the finesse needed to balance Valentino and the real world around him.

As the creator of the iconic Valentino Red (with dresses Valentino does not prefer but calls "the silliest of them all") this film documents and interesting person at an interesting time in life. Director Matt Tyrnauer has certainly chosen a colorful subject for his debut film and did nice work in allowing time for the camera to really find some personal moments.

I can't say this is my favorite documentary of the year, but I'm glad I've watched it and will be interesting to see if the Academy Awards selects this film to honor it with a nomination.

Merry Christmas!

"Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
And in His name All oppression shall cease."

- O Holy Night (John Dwight Sullivan's Translation of Placide Cappeau's poem Cantique de Noël)

Knee Jerk Reactions: My Favorite Things About 'Up in The Air'

I finally had a chance to catch Up in The Air this week and thought I would share some of my knee jerk reactions...this post will contain some minor spoilers, read at your own risk.

1. The best scene single scene in the movie is when the three leads (George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, and Vera Farmiga) share a scene together at the hotel bar. Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is in the scene only functionally, but these two supporting women get a chance to share their incredible skills together on screen. As their characters discuss what they're looking for in men, the sharp dialogue and exceptional delivery makes this scene one of my favorite scenes of the season.

2. Longer than a scene, but an incredible slice of film is the entire wedding portion of the film. Amy Morton's role as Clooney's sister is great, and the transition to hand held camera creates an intimacy in the film that is executed with great technique, effective without causing distraction.

3. The use of music in this film is truly enjoyable. The soundtrack is filled with a number of "perfect songs." Director Jason Reitman is proving that part of his success comes from his soundtrack. The Up In The Air soundtrack doesn't even include all the songs in the film. One of the best songs in the film appears on The soundtrack is "Help Yourself" by Sad Bad Smith, which occurs during the wedding scene. Other songs on the album include pieces by Elliot Smith, Dan Auerbach and Charles Atlas. (note: Anna Kendrick's rendition of 'Time After Time' by Cyndi Lauper is not on the album.)

4. I believe part of the magic of this film is the way it sociologically captures so many important modern changes and emotions. Whether it's about following boyfriends to new towns, changes in technology and corporate structure, corporate impersonality, conflict between work life and personal life, family differences, corporate business programs, and emotions of being surrounded and alone.

Johnny Depp's 4th Oscar Nomination, 2010?

I feel like it is inevitable. Johnny Depp is one of the most followed actors in Hollywood, who's talent has brought him some of the zaniest parts Hollywood has to offer.

I can't imagine what type of request Depp agent has to screen through, and further still how they decide what crazy roles Depp is willing to take on.

Of course, not every role is absolutely over the top, there's no doubt Depp has range. Early on in the year there definitely seemed like Depp might get Academy Award recognition for Public Enemies playing John Dillinger, but precursor's, even the Golden Globes (8 nominations in lifetime) have passed up this performance.

Johnny Depp's previous three Oscar nominations have all been from this decade and include his performances in Finding Neverland, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Sweeney Todd.

Next year Depp has at least two prestige performances, one as the over the top Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. And while Depp is sure to enchant in this role, I would assume the over the top performance probably isn't his Oscar gem (but of course, one would have thought the same thing initially of his Jack Sparrow creation for Pirates of the Caribbean.)

Depp also has a role in the film the Rum Diary, a long discussed film adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary, where Depp stars as a journalist in the late 1950s who tires of American life and moves to Puerto Rico to write for the San Juan Star newspaper. There he chases women and soaks himself in alcohol.

Could this be Depp's 4th Oscar role?

Maybe, but I get the sense that Depp really doesn't care. His choices and performances lead me to believe he does his own thing and isn't really that concerned with appealing to the critics, but instead creating great characters.

Mai Iskander on "Why Garbage Dreams?"

I asked director/producer Mai Iskander after I posted about her film Garbage Dreams why she made this film and what she hoped to accomplish.

Iskander graciously fielded the question with this answer...

"I hope Garbage Dreams will encourage people to re-examine the true value of what they throw away each day and the real cost of throwing out the expertise of Zaballeen. The Zaballeen would work long into the night to clean up after us, the modern, industrialized world. Beyond that, by creating the world’s most effective resource recovery system they are actually saving our earth. From out of the trash, they lifted themselves out of poverty and have a solution to the world’s most pressing crisis.

"I also hope that everyone who sees Garbage Dreams can see a little bit of themselves in the three teenagers of the film. I hope that everyone who sees the film sees beyond the hardship and poverty of the Zaballeen and discovers the riches they possess - the depth of their love and the strength of their community."

*Pictured above is director/producer, Mai Iskander accepting the One Earth award from Al Gore earlier this year in conjunction with her directing/producing Garbage Dreams.

One, Two, Three, Twenty Years Since The Brandenburg Gate Reopens

Thirty years ago, December 22, 1989 Berlin's Brandenburg gate reopened allowing free travel back and forth through the Brandenburg Gate.

Recently I watched the 1961 Billy Wilder film One, Two, Three about a Coca-Cola man who is in West Berlin spreading the global reach of the beverage. James Cagney stars as a fast-talking business man, and he has a unique challenge when the boss' daughter falls in love with a communist.

This film, a goofy comedy, full of gags and one liners is also an interesting portrayal of American attitudes about communism at the start of the cold war.

In this film that Brandenburg Gate is opened and plays a significant role in the film, but at this point in history the Berlin Wall had not been built.

It's tricky to write a film about foreign crisis. It's hard to watch a film and wonder how different generations, watching at different times might think about this film. Is the subject to sensitive for some? At different points in the cold war would this film had been different? Are the jokes about communism East Berlin less comical over the time?

Anyways, what a great moment in history twenty years ago today, Helmut Kohl, the West German chancellor, walked through the gate, greeted by Hans Modrow.

The biggest box office for a sports movie ever...

This past weekend a record was made at the box-office, and that was that John Lee Hancock's movie The Blind Side now has the title of the highest box-office gross for any sports movie...ever. And that's of any sport...football, baseball, boxing, wrestling, and so forth.

The new top 5 looks something like this...

1. The Blindside (2009) $164 million & Counting (*The Blind Side came in #3 in it's 5th week)
2. The Waterboy (1998) $161 million
3. The Longest Yard (2005) $158 million
4. Jerry Maguire (1996) $153 million
5. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) $148 million

I think this is one of the surprises of the season. When I initially saw the preview for this real-story inspired movie I thought this movie is what America is looking for at the cinema, so am not surprised.

But I certainly know that studios have to be having conversations about this film, based on Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game has become such a success.

Clearly the success is not just that it's a sports movie, because there have been other less successful sports movies.

I think Hollywood wants to credit the success to Sandra Bullock claiming her entertainer of the year and giving her critical buzz, maybe even an Oscar nomination. But it can't just be Bullock, because as of this weekend, this film has grossed more than the popular romantic comedy earlier this year The Proposal ($163.9 million).

I think it's a story that connects with a lot of people, not because they have adopted an over-weight person without a family, but because this act of Christian love and giving is something that is attracted and a desire of people's hearts.

Hollywood doesn't really produce to many contemporary dramas that aren't rated R, and for something to tell a real story, but be not drenched with violence, foul language and sex, is meaningful to people.

This film could have some ripples, if not in the way some respond to the film, but also in some movies that pop-up on the Hollywood calenders in the next couple years.

Side note: Not everyone loves this film -- there is a series of dramatic responses to this film in my first post on this film: Check out those strong comments here.

Side note #2: If you enjoyed this film, may I recommend you check out The Rookie, another sport-themed movie about Baseball directed by John Lee Hancock. This is a moving film about the real-life story of Jim Morris, a baseball player with a short-lived career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The film stars Dennis Quaid.

What to do with Garbage Dreams?

The other night I watched one of the potential Oscar nominated documentaries, Garbage Dreams.


This film is fascinating, particularly in the intimate story telling about the life of the 60,000 Zabbaleen, a group of Coptic Christians who live on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. These people make their living by collecting garbage from Cairo and then from there sorting through it to recycle the raw materials and sell in Egypt and further.

The film is fascinating, because the whole concept of garbage is so different. These people on the lowest end of the social hierarchy want the Egyptian trash, and when Cairo starts outsourcing it's trash services to more modern foreign contractors, the Zabbaleen who's whole society resolves around trash collecting, sorting, recycling is deeply strained.

In Garbage Dreams, I watch as a Westerner initially with some disgust...these people gather trash and bring it to their home. What type of logic is that?, I think. But as their story unfolds, the disgust turns to awe -- these people are recycling 80% of the trash that they collect.

Where my wife and I live, we have the choice the pay more for recycling services, or a lower rate that excludes recycling services. So, it costs to recycle, and in this film these people are using their manual labor and willingness to get their hands dirty to turn a profit. They are manually sorting the garbage and preparing it for recycling - it's fascinating.

And when a few get a chance to travel overseas to see the mechanisation of recycling in Wales, they are in awe of sorting bins and machinery that sorts automatically, but with a recycling rate of less than 30% rate I think their awe is mixed with missed opportunity seeing some recyclable materials missed and sent to landfills - a lost treasure in their mind.

So I watch this and wonder...what is the response.

Obviously, not all documentaries need a response, and while this documentary has been praised by environmentalist and names like Al Gore, the film to me is far more about the modern struggles of this unique group of people, the Zabbaleen, and their unique society and mind-set as they are forced to deal with modernization in a way that adversely effects them...and actually is less ecological.

So is the response that we should care about Egypt's trash collecting future, and discourage these less-ecological foreign companies, is the response to try to be more Zabbaleen ourselves and fight to not bury valuable resources in the dirt, or is it to try to send these kids to America and Western wasteful nations to give them the opportunity to recycle in these places?

The film doesn't really direct a response. So as this film picks up awards and recognition for creating ecological awareness it will be interesting to see what value and meaning is pumped into this film.

I can't quite say what response the film is interested in creating, but I can say that the story of these people a world apart from our own experiences is an incredible story, and I'm thankful for the exposure of these stories. Director Mai Iskander has done a beautiful job telling this story in a clear, thoughtful, and engaging way.

Top 10 Favorite TV shows of the Decade

Everyone's getting in on the best of the decade...so why not?

My selection of 24 as number 1 is for many reasons...one is the creativity and concept of the show, followed by the creativity that keeps it going, although some seasons are certainly weaker than others.

Additionally, and I could certain expound on this as well, but the way that 24's storyline has in many ways told the story of America and the War on Terror this decade is fascinating, the show has adapted as our thoughts, fears, and political rules of engagement have changed. Keep in mind the first season was written prior to the September 11 attacks in 2001, pre-War on terror.

Beyond that the list expresses my preferences and level of personal enjoyment, inclusions like Alton Brown's food network show isn't necessarily saying it's technical the most influential or inventive show, but my own enjoyment of a show that combines basic cooking with science is absolutely fascinating and enjoyable.

My Top 10 TV Shows Of the Decade

1. 24 (Fox, 7 seasons, 2001 - present)

2. Arrested Development (Fox, 3 seasons, 2003-2006)

3. Lost (ABC, 5 seasons, 2004-present)

4. House (Fox, 5 seasons, 2004-present)
5. Gilmore Girls (WB/CW, 7 seasons, 2000-2007)

6. Mad Men (AMC, 3 seasons, 2007-present)

7. Alias (ABC, 5 seasons, 2001-2006)

8. Scrubs (NBC then ABC, 9 seasons, 2001-present)

9. Good Eats (Food Network, over 200 episodes, 1999-present)

10. Heroes [**season 1 only] (NBC, 4 seasons, 2006-present)

The Cove - An Intriguing Must See

I remember back in elementary school when every kid was doing their "research papers" on whales and dolphins.

For some reason there was a fascination, and this resulted in kids photocopying lots of pictures of bottle nose dolphins and humpback whales to glue to a poster board.

Everyone wanted to be a marine biologist.

I think in my mind it was the elementary-aged love affair with the dolphin that kept my interest love in the acclaimed documentary of the year, The Cove.

This is not the oceanic-dolphin-environmental-hold-your hands-sing-kumbaya type of film I expected.

In fact, it's far more like a spy thriller of unlikely activist. A film where DNA experts, deep sea divers, live concert roadie, military ops professionals, and Industrial Light and Magic play a hand in something bigger than Danny Ocean and his gang could ever pull off.

As this assembled team of specialist get together the film creates a true sense of suspense that many film fail to create, and in The Cove the suspense is magnified, because it is real, and has real consequences.

And while I was most surprised and entertained by the spy-intrigue this film melds together other unique, moving, informative and entertaining qualities.

You have a handful of conspiracy's revealed, within the multi-country governance of International Whaling Commission (IWC), as well as the Japanese food and health industry.

Beyond that you have the sentimental story of Flipper trainer Ric O'Barry, who's story is surprisingly touching and captivating.

And finally, you do have the majestic images of these beautiful sea mammals.

With all the other stories, interviews, high-skilled sneakery going on in this film, all with exceptionally documented footage, it's hard to not recommend this film. It's mixture of elements all formed around impactful story telling make it clearly one of this year's best films.

The Cove is surely on the path to an Academy Award nomination, if not a win in the feature length documentary category.