A lot happened today ...
One of my favorite athletes of all time .. Reggie White died of Sleep Apnea at only 41 years old.
The biggest earthquake in 40 years rocked 100 miles west of Indonesia in the Ocean sending tital waves thorughout the indian ocean ... An earthquake 8.9 on the richter scale that killed thousands and thousands (we will probably not know how many for weeks) ...
Yuschenko looks to win the Ukrainian election after poisoning ... a battle between Putin and the US ... and one of the closest elections in history....
And I think I found the next place I am going to live... right near the beach in South Portland, ME ....
This December 26th was a lot of day ....
And now for the movies I have seen this year with my 4 star + review system
The best 3 are:
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ... Quite possibly one of the top films I have ever seen ... Makes you realize how much you can love someone .... Felt weird that my wife Ninanna was away from me when I saw it ... She is not even back in NYC yet but I miss her already
) 
Kate Winslet and Tom Wilkinson and Jim Carrey should all be remembered at Oscar time as well as the direction, art direction, and Best Picture nominations ....
*****
2) Sideways .... Alexander Payne's amazing comedy about 2 friends before one of them gets married having hijinks in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, CA ... One wants to taste wine ... the other wants lots of tail before he gets married ... A truly inspired film and one that should ignite Thomas Haden Church's Career
****1/2
3) The Incredibles ... An incredible animated movie that may well be Pixar's best... I am sure most of you have seen it and if you haven't you should .....
****1/2
And here are the others:
The 2 worst:
1) Rear Window .... I love Johnny Depp ... but this was without a doubt the most boring movie I saw all year.... only took 90 mins but seemd like 290
1/2 *
2) Alexander .... I am a HUGE Oliver Stone fan ... loving many of his less appreciated works like Natural Born Killers, Talk Radio, The Doors and of course Platoon ... But this was a howler of a bad movie with some of the worst acting, direction and script I have ever seen ... This may well end up being a bad movie we love ... Recognize how bad it is and it can be quite funny ... Do NOT pay 10 dollars though I repeat do not pay 10 dollars
*
Then there is:
Kill Bill Vol 2... Much more of a story then Volume 1 and a pretty damn good picture .... ****
The Terminal ... Tom Hanks as a Slavic/Russian type is great .... Really cool movie with a trucated finish ***1/2
Shrek 2 .. lots of fun ... I repeat lots of fun ... I really enjoyed it .... Different but almost as good as the first ***1/2
Vera Drake ... Heartwrenching in that the characters are all believable and Vera really is trying to help ... A great job by both direction Mike Leigh and Imelda Swanton ***1/2
Harry Potter 3 ... Much, MUCH better then Harry Potter 1-2 ... Alfonso Cuaron goes from major mexican filmmaker to major filmmaker ... Pity he is not making the 4th movie ... ***1/2
I Robot ... good fun ... although WAY off the book ... Some pretty cool stuff though in the yearly big Will Smith action picture ... ***
Spider Man 2 ... At least as good as the first ... The villian Dr. Octopus is much much better then Dafoe's villian ... A really good superhero movie ****
Alfie ... Jude Law winking at himself a lot ... Kinda fun but also very chatty **
Troy ... Very indulgent film makeing .... Worthwhile if you like looking at guys ... **
I have not seen a few that I think I might really like including: Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, The Motorcycle Diaries and The Aviator ....
But I guess so far the top 10 is:
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2) Sideways
3) The Incredibles
4) Spider Man 2
5) Kill Bill Vol. 2
6) Harry Potter 3
7) Vera Drake
8) Shrek 2
9) The Terminal
10) I Robot ....
So there you go ....
Lets hope tomorrow is less eventful in the world that South Asia can rebuild, and that Yuchenko makes a great Ukrainian president ...
For these stories and more check out http://www.bbc.com
ecq
One of my favorite athletes of all time .. Reggie White died of Sleep Apnea at only 41 years old.
The biggest earthquake in 40 years rocked 100 miles west of Indonesia in the Ocean sending tital waves thorughout the indian ocean ... An earthquake 8.9 on the richter scale that killed thousands and thousands (we will probably not know how many for weeks) ...
Yuschenko looks to win the Ukrainian election after poisoning ... a battle between Putin and the US ... and one of the closest elections in history....
And I think I found the next place I am going to live... right near the beach in South Portland, ME ....
This December 26th was a lot of day ....
And now for the movies I have seen this year with my 4 star + review system
The best 3 are:
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ... Quite possibly one of the top films I have ever seen ... Makes you realize how much you can love someone .... Felt weird that my wife Ninanna was away from me when I saw it ... She is not even back in NYC yet but I miss her already
) Kate Winslet and Tom Wilkinson and Jim Carrey should all be remembered at Oscar time as well as the direction, art direction, and Best Picture nominations ....
*****
2) Sideways .... Alexander Payne's amazing comedy about 2 friends before one of them gets married having hijinks in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, CA ... One wants to taste wine ... the other wants lots of tail before he gets married ... A truly inspired film and one that should ignite Thomas Haden Church's Career
****1/2
3) The Incredibles ... An incredible animated movie that may well be Pixar's best... I am sure most of you have seen it and if you haven't you should .....
****1/2
And here are the others:
The 2 worst:
1) Rear Window .... I love Johnny Depp ... but this was without a doubt the most boring movie I saw all year.... only took 90 mins but seemd like 290
1/2 *
2) Alexander .... I am a HUGE Oliver Stone fan ... loving many of his less appreciated works like Natural Born Killers, Talk Radio, The Doors and of course Platoon ... But this was a howler of a bad movie with some of the worst acting, direction and script I have ever seen ... This may well end up being a bad movie we love ... Recognize how bad it is and it can be quite funny ... Do NOT pay 10 dollars though I repeat do not pay 10 dollars
*
Then there is:
Kill Bill Vol 2... Much more of a story then Volume 1 and a pretty damn good picture .... ****
The Terminal ... Tom Hanks as a Slavic/Russian type is great .... Really cool movie with a trucated finish ***1/2
Shrek 2 .. lots of fun ... I repeat lots of fun ... I really enjoyed it .... Different but almost as good as the first ***1/2
Vera Drake ... Heartwrenching in that the characters are all believable and Vera really is trying to help ... A great job by both direction Mike Leigh and Imelda Swanton ***1/2
Harry Potter 3 ... Much, MUCH better then Harry Potter 1-2 ... Alfonso Cuaron goes from major mexican filmmaker to major filmmaker ... Pity he is not making the 4th movie ... ***1/2
I Robot ... good fun ... although WAY off the book ... Some pretty cool stuff though in the yearly big Will Smith action picture ... ***
Spider Man 2 ... At least as good as the first ... The villian Dr. Octopus is much much better then Dafoe's villian ... A really good superhero movie ****
Alfie ... Jude Law winking at himself a lot ... Kinda fun but also very chatty **
Troy ... Very indulgent film makeing .... Worthwhile if you like looking at guys ... **
I have not seen a few that I think I might really like including: Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, The Motorcycle Diaries and The Aviator ....
But I guess so far the top 10 is:
1) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2) Sideways
3) The Incredibles
4) Spider Man 2
5) Kill Bill Vol. 2
6) Harry Potter 3
7) Vera Drake
8) Shrek 2
9) The Terminal
10) I Robot ....
So there you go ....
Lets hope tomorrow is less eventful in the world that South Asia can rebuild, and that Yuchenko makes a great Ukrainian president ...
For these stories and more check out http://www.bbc.com
ecq
VIEW 25 of 28 COMMENTS
Welcome to the 05'
Best wishes in it and through it,
Later,