the list of now

Oh hi, middle of January. It was time to do this 3 weeks ago. Alas, I had some priority issues over the past month – this blog being one of the things that had to go hang out on the back burner for a while.

So here’s my list of highlights from 2011:

Books

Music
Some of these are albums and tunes I revisited this year, some are ones I discovered this year.  Most were not new releases from 2011.  Click albums to launch on spotify, the individual songs I listened to are all playable in that handy widget guy.

Albums

Songs

(in totally random order)

Movies
I didn’t see as many movies as I would have liked to this year. And I didn’t keep track of the older ones I watched (there were a lot of dvds from the library, netflix and hulu streaming this year).  Here is a handful of movies from this year that I really enjoyed. I will do better keeping track in 2012.

Here are my picks (if I ruled the world), my predictions (what I think will actually happen) and Ebert’s picks (just for fun comparison!)

best picture
what I would pick: The Social Network or Black Swan
what will probably win: The King’s Speech
what Ebert says: The King’s Speech

direction
who I would pick: David Fincher for The Social Network
who will probably win: I really don’t know on this one.  It’s a total grab bag, but it’s likely to go to whoever won best picture.
what Ebert says: Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech
*note: I’m really sad that Nolan did not get a director’s nod for Inception. I happened to love it, but I understand why people did not love the screenplay. Regardless, he directed the fuck outta that movie.

screenplay (original)
what I would pick: The King’s Speech
what will probably win: The King’s Speech
what Ebert says: The King’s Speech

screenplay (adapted)
what I would pick: The Social Network
what will probably win: The Social Network
what Ebert says: The Social Network
*note: Why the fucking fuck is Toy Story 3 in this category?  Great film, but an adapted screenplay? No. Just no.

best actress (lead role)
who I would pick: Nathalie Portman.
who will probably win: Annette Bening
what Ebert says: Nathalie Portman

best actor (lead role)
who I would pick: Colin Firth
who will probably win: Colin Firth, although, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a James Franco upset!
what Ebert says: Colin Firth

best actress (supporting role)
who I would pick: Hailee Steinfeld (who really should have been nominated but not won for leading role… how the fuck was her part in True Grit not a leading role? The star of that movie was not Jeff Bridges, even though he rocked it as usual!)
who will probably win: Melissa Leo
what Ebert says: Hailee Steinfeld

best actor (supporting role)
who I would pick: Jeremy Renner.  He brought it in The Town. He was exceptional.
who will probably win: Christian Bale (Which I’m fine with. I’d also be happy if Geoffrey Rush won.)
what Ebert says: Geoffrey Rush

cinematography
what I would pick: Black Swan, Inception or The Social Network (if for nothing else, that beautiful tilt-shift scene just killed me!)  If I had to pick only one, I’d go with Black Swan.
what will probably win: True Grit
what Ebert says:True Grit

So that’s the basic set of awards I care about.  The only other two I’m really, really pulling for:

best documentary: I haven’t seen any of the others. I don’t care, I want Exit Through the Gift Shop to win.  I have no idea if it will.

best music: The Social Network.  That soundtrack was epic, it added layers of brilliance to the experience of watching that film which was good to begin with.  I am terribly excited that Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor have signed on for the soundtrack to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. You can sign me up for that right now.

will you be watching tomorrow?  what would your picks be if you were an Academy voter?

I enjoy public challenges, especially centered around reading and writing, I think it’s a great way for people to be inspired and gain exposure to great books, other writers and artists and have a record of their own progress. So I’m hoping that by posting this, a couple of you will join me!  I would love to see the books you pick for your bucket list or the numbers you aspire to read.

1.  Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge

This one is simple.  Sign up for Goodreads if you aren’t on there. Pick the number of books you are challenging yourself to read in 2011.  Use widget to display your progress or just monitor it within your own account.  I picked 50. We’ll see how that goes.

2.  The Book Bucket List Challenge

I follow yaReads on twitter and noticed they were discussing this challenge weeks ago.  I finally got around to sitting down and making my ultimate “Book Bucket List”.  You know the one, the infinite list of books that you always meant to read and just keeps getting longer and longer.  I work in a library and I love reading new book reviews, therefore there are a number of classics and older books that sit on my list, constantly overlooked by whatever catches my eye that is new.  So I signed up.

There are three levels that you can participate in if you officially want to do this challenge – to read 4, 8 or 12 “Bucket List” books.  I picked 12.  (I’m a go big or go home kind of gal)  Even though my life Book Bucket List probably numbers in the hundreds (I keep thinking of more).

I like this challenge because it’s something I’ve been meaning to do anyway, this just gives me a fun way to organize myself, see what other folks are doing and have a pretty badge in my sidebar.

You can sign up on yaReads if you also want to play along at home.  And no, they don’t have to be YA titles.  None of mine are on this list, even though I have several on my bigger, broader list for the future.

In case you are curious, here is my 12 for 2011:

Franney and Zooey – J.D. Salinger
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
1984 – George Orwell
A Room of One’s Own - Virginia Woolf
A Spy in the House of Love – Anais Nin
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
No Exit - Jean-Paul Satre
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

And number 12 is a series bonus comics challenge item:  I need to reread all of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and finish it this time.  (I never got through it because I couldn’t afford to buy them all at once and then I got distracted by others).

There are a lot of great filmmakers working on some very exciting projects right now.  Lucky for us, some of those are finished or in post-production and set to be released in 2011.

Here’s a list of the ones I know about so far that I am excited to see.  I’m sure there will be some indie and foreign releases that I haven’t heard about yet (or unfortunately do not yet have exposure enough to reach a theater near me).  So I am banking on some surprises as well.

• Somewhere
  directed and written by  Sophia Coppola
  release date: already released in major cities.  no wide release specified.
  
  I really loved The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation.  I even really enjoyed  Marie Antoinette which arguably was not as great a film as the other two, but I found it completely delicious to watch.  The trailer for this is simply lovely.  Being attached to the 90′s as I am, I’m really pleased to see Stephen Dorff back and apparently, in good form.  Elle Fanning looks promisingly less annoying than her sister.
• Red State
  directed and written by Kevin Smith
  release date: TBD.  it premieres at Sundance January 23rd.
  
  Having heard about this film from his podcast, shortly after he finished writing it, I had been worried that it would never get made.  I also wasn’t sure what to expect seeing that it’s a complete departure from his usually style and fare.  I’m relieved on both counts. The official teaser is out and it looks fucking riveting and terrifying.   A horror movie about religious extremism called “Red State” is a really, really ballsy endeavor in the age of the Tea Party and no end in site to an American culture saturated in Christianity.  Excellent timing for this.
  I am not familiar with the gentleman playing the preacher, Michael Parks.  The supporting cast includes Melissa Leo and John Goodman who seem to always be safe bets for a good performance.  I also noticed in the trailer that Kyle Gallner is in it.  I have no idea how big his role is, but I’m pleased just the same.  I’ve had my eye on him since season two of Veronica Mars, when he blew my fucking mind with his performance.  Anyone who’s watched it knows what I’m talking about.  I’m hoping to see him get more work.

• Restless
  directed by Gus Van Sant, written by Jason Lew
  release date: January 28
  
  Gus Van Sant is really hit or miss for me.  No doubt he’s a fine, very skilled director, but I don’t always love his vision or his choices.  I absolutely loved Good Will Hunting and Milk. I absolutely loathed Elephant and didn’t even try to watch Gerry.  So I guess I would say that I’m cautiously optimistic with this one.  From the trailer, it looks simple and beautiful,  with themes about isolation and connection that I am always drawn to.

• Hanna
  directed by Joe Wright, written by David Farr, Seth Lochhead, Joe Penhall and Joe Wright
  release date: April 8th
  
  It was in Joe Wright’s pitch-perfect film adaptation of Atonement that Saoirse  Ronan became a girl to watch out for.  I had no interest in seeing last year’s The Lovely Bones even though I’m sure her performance was probably one of the highlights.  So I am pleased to see her featured in something that I very much do want to see, even more so that it’s another Wright film.  With the way he handled something fairly dry like Atonement and build palpable emotional tension, I am very much looking forward to seeing what he does with an action film.  Alongside Ronan is Cate Blanchette, always excellent and Eric Bana (also a favorite person to watch even though his performances are largely inconsistent from film to film).   Olivia Williams (Rushmore, Dollhouse) is also on the roster, although I have no idea how big her role is.

• Rabbit Hole
  directed by John Cameron Mitchell, written + adapted from the play by David Lindsay-Abaire
  release date: already open in major cities, wide release not specified.
  
  At some point I had vowed never to see another film with Nicole Kidman in it, seeing that she seemed to have lost nerve function in her face and I grew tired of her wooden performances.  She appears to have gotten it back, so I will risk it in order to see this.  I have long been waiting to see John Cameron Mitchell direct something that wasn’t his own creation entirely.   As a play I think Hedwig is a fucking masterpiece, but I was underwhelmed by the movie, even though it’s lots of fun and I’m glad they made it.  I was then the only person on earth that thought was Shortbus was very fun visually, but just ok narratively.  Didn’t blow my mind.   So I am amped to see him take that kind of vision and adapt a play.  I think this could be brilliant.  I’m also pleased to see Aaron Eckhart in another serious dramatic role.  I think he does delicate emotional issues very, very well.  Enough even, perhaps, to make up for Nicole Kidman’s face.

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
  directed by David Yates, written by Steve Kloves
  release date: not soon enough July 15th
  
  I don’t really have anything to say about this.  We saw only hints of the action in the combined teaser, so I look forward to seeing a full Part 2 trailer.  I’m guessing that will come out around the same time as the dvd for Part 1, which is rumored to be happening March 15th.   I wonder if my Part 1 high will hold out that long or if I will be having withdrawal as soon as it leaves the theaters for good?

And some films that I can’t wait to see trailers for or hear more about:

• Bernie
  directed by Richard Linklater
  release date: unknown

  I really love Linklater.  He’s had some great films and some random commercial joints that I wasn’t so into.  I’m not sure yet which this will be.   I look forward to finding out.  I am already looking forward to seeing the end to his decade-long project Boyhood, but that won’t be released until next year (at least).  /film has some more info on Bernie here.

• Mildred Pierce
  directed by Todd Haynes
  run date: beginning in April, HBO

  This is actually a mini-series, but after seeing Mike Nichols take on Angels in America for HBO, I think we all can agree a mini-series can count as film.   As for this?  It had me at Todd Haynes.  No really, that’s all I need.  But even if it wasn’t, here’s another one:  Kate Winslet.   Done and done.

• The Skin I Live In
  written and directed by Pedro Almodovar
  release date:  September

  I see everything he does, but this one also marks the first time Antonio Banderas has worked with him in over 20 years.  I love the early films with him, so this should be good.  I’m slightly sad that Penelope Cruz is not a part of this film, but only because I’m in love with her and want to see her as much as possible in movies that are actually good.

• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  directed by David Fincher
  release date:  December 2011

  I am usually not on the American remake boat, but I wasn’t actually thrilled with the Swedish film.  I adored Noomi Rapace in the title role, she absolutely rocked it with everything in her and she carried the whole thing.  I enjoyed it, but really wasn’t impressed with the direction of the adaptation or the pacing.  I thought they made weird choices.   And I really didn’t understand the casting swedish actor who played Blomqvist, at all.   So I am excited to see Fincher take a shot.  I’m delighted with most of the casting, especially Daniel Craig, but the jury’s totally out on Rooney Mara for me.   In her brief role in The Social Network, I didn’t find anything remotely compelling about her.  I know it’s unfair to judge from a brief role that was perfectly fine within the context of that film.  But I don’t find her at all attractive.  And so far in pictures and interviews… I’m just not getting a read on her at all that’s interesting in any way.  Maybe it’s because I loved Noomi Rapace from moment ONE in a trailer.  I don’t know.  I’m hoping there is some kind of deep inner spark she releases for this role or else it’s going to be a really disappointing trilogy that had a lot of potential to be great.  At least we know the music will be epic.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross once again team up for the score.  After what they did for The Social Network, I would pay to get in for that alone.

*Note on the images: All posters shown are the official studio versions released for promotion of the films.