The nice thing about comms like buffyversetop5 is that they inspire me to organize rec lists and celebrate my favourite writers and artists in the fandom.

Here's the posts I did for buffyversetop5:

My Five Favourite Giles/Xander Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Spike/Xander Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Rare Slash Pairing Fics of 2008

My Five Favourite Icons of 2008

It was awesome to recognize some of my favourite people on my flist who produce such great work. I want them to get showered with praise.

And for the heck of it, I thought I'd do my list of ( My Five Favourite Movies of 2008 )

teehee That quote from "All the Way" always cracks me up. Anyway I'm using it because I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest last night.

( Thoughts about representations of race in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest )

---

On a different subject, I'm very very very very excited because a week tomorrow is when I arrive at savoytruffle's for a pre-Writercon visit. And then it's Writercon!!!!!!!! *dances*


ETA: The celebrations for Italy winning the World Cup are still going strong here. I imagine that it must be insane in Italy!

I had the wackiest experience tonight (technically Friday night)!!! Earlier today I made plans to meet some friends and see a movie (Hero Among Heroes aka Fist of the Red Dragon).

( My Wacky Adventure, or What Happens When Three People Don't Read All the Details )


( Very sad news about independent theatres closing and how this likely means the end for Kung Fu Fridays )

I have random stuff today:

Because I cannot resist something that promotes love and fuzzy feelings, I put my name down at itsabigrock's Anonymous Love Meme. Go, put your name down and share the love. It's already at 3 pages!!

One of my friends sent me this amusing review of The Da Vinci Code in the New York Times A 'Da Vinci Code' That Takes Longer to Watch Than Read. Another friend informed me that the movie was booed at Cannes!! Booed!! After telling me that, she asked if I still wanted to see the movie (fyi: I have not read the book). And I'm now actually more interesting because I love bad movies!!

I must direct your attention to my new icon by _jems_. It's a beautiful statement about how the many t-shirts of Veronica Mars' Dick Casablancas reflect his personality. *snicker* For those of you who don't know: Dick is, well, a dick. But a really entertaining and funny one to watch.

Tonight my two BFFs and I will be having a birthday celebration for one friend (we're all 29 this year). I anticipate much talking, laughing and fun. I met the birthday girl ten years ago at scholarship interviews for the University of Toronto. She remembered me as the girl with the great laugh and curly hair, and I remembered her as the girl who noticed that blood gets splattered on the camera in Braveheart (that kind of attention to detail impresses me). We ended up in the same residence house, where we met the other girl (who I immediately noticed was not dressed like all the other girls). Those two became friends first, and I decided that they would become my friends since they actually seemed fun. Sure there's been a couple of rocky times, but our friendship has sustained bad boyfriends, bad girlfriends, school stuggles, family issues, being roommates, and two of us becoming big-time BtVS/AtS fangirls.

So it’s been a crazy week in which I worked too much (because of all the slacking I’d done previously), and didn’t get enough sleep because I still tried to do everything I normally do after work.

Now I’m looking at the “notes” I made while watching various tv shows and shaking my head at how unhelpful they are. For example, here’s something I wrote about this about this week’s Gilmore Girls episode: “Come what may. (Moulin Rouge)” Um, what? I think someone may have said that line and I was noting that it’s the title of that song in Moulin Rouge, but I can’t recall the context.

Anyway, here are my thoughts about my tv shows:

( Gilmore Girls ‘Driving Miss Gilmore’ 6:21 )

( Veronica Mars ‘Happy Go Lucky’ 2:21 )

( Scrubs ‘My Fallen Idol’ 5:21 )

( The Amazing Race ‘Man, They Should Have Used Their Fake Names’ )

( Smallville ‘Oracle’ 5:21 )

( Supernatural ‘Devil’s Trap’ 1:22 )


I did see Mission: Impossible III with a couple of friends and it was a fun time. ( Not really spoilers but there’s a bit of rambling about MI-III and about book references. )


Before I finish this rambly post, I wanted to give people a heads up that I’m planning another music post for this weekend. They’ll be more Arcade Fire and another band/musician (*is mysterious*). I thought I’d see if anyone had any other requests. I love sharing things that make me happy so if there’s something you want to hear more of, let me know!! *g*

My weekend was very relaxing!! There was probably too much ice cream and chocolate consumed, and not enough exercising but I’ve decided not to worry about it!! That’s for tomorrow’s cordelianne to deal with.

I’m now completely caught up on Lost and Smallville (I was 3 weeks behind on both shows). I adore my PVR (like a Tivo), but it’s bad in situations when networks (*cough*ABC*cough*) decide that it will be fun for their show to run an extra minute or two. Hello? Who is this fun for, other than advertisers? It screws over everyone who has a Tivo-type machine and people who programme their VCRs to stop at the hour. ( More grumbling about the recording situation. )

Seeing She’s the Man was definitely one of the highlights of my weekend. Between my 3 other friends and I we laughed throughout the entire movie. Frequently AT the dialogue. ( More thoughts on the movie, none very spoilery. )

My weekend - bizarrely - ended up having a completely unintentional Amanda Bynes theme because I also watched the series finale of What I Like About You (the tv show Bynes stars in with Jennie Garth). Since I’ve already disclosed that I paid to see She’s the Man, I’m freely admitting to crying during the episode (although I do cry at a lot of things, eg. One of the trailers before She’s the Man got me all teary). The episode had a number of the factors that can almost always make me cry: a wedding, a series finale (with sentimental flashbacks), and a happy ending. Now it becomes clear why I love Anne of Green Gables. Oh, I just remembered that there was a VERY slashy flashback, which I like to think they did just for me.

I love having a friend who’ll call me up just to tell me the Frighteners is on because she knows I’m a big Peter Jackson fan, but haven’t seen the movie yet!!! She also called me a bit into it to see if I’d caught Peter Jackson’s Hitchcockian cameo as a punk guy. Very good movie, by the way, very fun and thrilling in a scary way.

Tomorrow is new 24 AND 2 hours of new Everwood (8pm-10pm on the WB)!! It's been far too long since there was a new Everwood, I'm very glad it'll be back.

Hello all!! It has been a stressful last couple of weeks in cordelianne-land. It’s been mostly work stress and it should be over soon. I built up enough overtime that I took the day off yesterday and I basically accomplished NOTHING (well there was some LJ & fic reading and tv watching, but no apartment cleaning or laundry done). I didn’t even get enough sleep. *shakes head at self* I think my stress level inspired Tuesday’s Angel & Wes story so at least the stress has inspired some productivity!

So to ignore the stress and focus on more HAPPY things I offer you, or things that are making me happy:

1. She’s the Man: It’s the Amanda Bynes (yes the Amanda Bynes from What a Girl Wants and the tv show What I Like About You) movie that’s a teen version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Bynes plays Viola, the one who disguises herself as her brother. I have a huge weakness for teen movies, and an even bigger weakness for modernizations of Shakespeare. Throw in any form of gender bending and I’m there! Seriously. I actually will be going to the theatre to see it on Saturday.

2. Veronica Mars returns to its Tuesday 9pm timeslot on April 11th: Okay I’m not sure how happy I am about this (especially since Wednesday night is the better night for my friends and I to watch the show together), but I’m trying to see this as positive because it won’t be up against Lost anymore. It’ll just be up again House and Scrubs, at least Supernatural will have already moved to Thursdays at 9pm (on March 30th.)

( A Spoilery question & thoughts about VM ‘The Quick and the Wed’ 2:15 )

Definitely good VM news: The actors who played George Michael and Maeby on Arrested Development are guest starring next week!!! VM has definitely become the place for actors from my favourite no-longer-airing shows to guest star!

3. Bones and David Boreanaz: I re-watched the yummy DB parts from last week’s fantastic episode because my friend hasn’t seen it so I had to show her!! ( Possible spoilers for Bones ‘The Woman in the Tunnel’ 1:16 )

4. In one week James Marsters returns to Smallville: He’ll be back on Thursday, March 30th at 8pm on the WB.

5. The new album, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" by Neko Case: It's SO good!!

I would love to have included J.August Richards being back on television but I feel like he has a less of a role on Conviction than he did during parts of Angel seasons. And on Angel he could at least kick ass. I'm still “watching” the show (ie. not really paying attention until JAR is on the screen) but I don’t recommend tuning in.

Other than my outing to see She’s the Man, I’m planning to keep my weekend void of socializing and instead I will write fic, go shopping, write fic, read fic, and catch up on tv watching. Chocolate may be involved as well.

ETA: This just cheered up and made me cry happy tears: Fandom is ...

ETA #2: More good news: Bones is renewed for a second season!!!

I guess I should talk about the Oscars for a second. I was annoyed that Crash won over Brokeback Mountain. crossoverman has some interesting thoughts on the win and karabair has an awesome theory about it.

Thank you to my friends who reminded me that the Oscars aren't actually about the best movies of the year. How could I actually forget that?! Silly me. I also must thank them for listening to me talk about how much I hate Queen's University (the university in my hometown) and its cultish school spirit because, for some odd reason, my annoyance with the Crash win fueled a completely unrelated rant! I am weird.

Fortunately Jon Stewart made the evening funny. If only the celebs had more of a sense of humour. *worries he will not get to host next year*

At least Ang Lee - who's one of my favourite directors - won best director! And Larry McMurtry thanking book sellers was awesome because we got to applaud two of my friends!!

My favourite moment of the show was when The Day After Tomorrow (one of my guilty pleasure movies) was included in the "movies about serious issues" montage!!!!!! That made my night because it was just too funny! Oh! I just remembered Jon Stewart and George Clooney in bed together!! *g*


I am sick. Grumble grumble. I've had this cold since Thursday and I thought I was getting better on Sunday but it came back with a vengeance. I spent 3 hours waiting to see a doctor today because I was worried it might be more than a cold (and I am neurotic), fortunately not. Of course I still feel AWFUL and I wish I'd just spent the day cuddled under a blanket.


I did see BSG 2.19 but have no coherent thoughts on it right now, aside from liking the episode. However 24 kicked ass tonight and the ending completely surprised me and made me cry (not hard considering I've been on the verge of tears all day, but still an emotional moment).


At a friend's recommendation, I'm trying to sweat the cold out but now I'm feeling feverish and my brain is all fuzzy. /whining


ETA: A BtVS/AtS community has been having shipper polls (eg. who do you like better Spike/Buffy, Spike/Dru or Spike/Harmony), which can be fun but also makes me uncomfortable because I've noticed the whole shipper thing can be divisive in fandom. Anyway, two posters for separate Spike and Angel polls said that Spike/Angel aren't listed as an option because they're not a canonical pairing. I'm too wimpy to make a comment there (maybe I should instead of posting here), but they're a canonical pairing in my book. grrr

In my quest to see all the Oscar nominated movies (I've already seen Brokeback Mountain and Crash), I saw Munich on Friday night. ( Spoilers for Munich and Brokeback Mountain. )


I watched the Superbowl with some friends and had a really good time. A few of my friends are big football fans and follow the CFL and NFL, so I enjoy watching football with them because they'll explain strategy, rules and other helpful info. This is the first time watching with them that the team we were rooting for won!

I suspect that our superbowl party is different than most:

Friend One: This is so exciting, I'm participating in mainstream culture! Now I'll have something to talk about with my co-workers tomorrow.

Me: I'm drinking a girly drink and watching the superbowl!

Friend Two: Oh look! That player just helped the guy on the opposing team up. Ahh.

Friend Three: Maybe I shouldn't be knitting during the superbowl. I've just added 4 stitches, and my stitches too tight.

Me: [After hearing some of the players comments on the 'mic'ed up' segment.] He just called that other guy 'baby'! I should write RPS about the football players. If, you know, I knew any of their names.

Friend One: I'd like a Zima.
Me: A cool refreshing Zima? I then giggled at my own BtVS reference.

Also I was wearing my sportiest shirt: a TWOP Veronica Mars hoodie that says 'Go Pirates' on it (yes I know neither team in the superbowl were the pirates). Friend One was wearing an extreme sport deodorant in honour of the occasion.

It should be noted that one of my friends was wearing a Steelers' jersey, and two of my friends did drink beer. We also had LOTS of junk food and pizza. I think I still have a sugar high.

hee. I just noticed I haven't actually talked about the game. I really enjoyed it, and there were a few times when I was jumping up and down in excitement. It reminded me that I must watch the women's hockey in the Olympics because it was the best when the Canadian Women's Hockey team won last time!!!

An awesome part of the evening was eating the yummy Grumblecakes my friend made. Grumblecakes are from homestarrunner (if you click on the email "stupid stuff" that's the first mention of them). According to homestar runner lore (hee), they're "like a little cake with some, like, steam and sugar" and "only liars and thieves eat them."


I also saw Grey's Anatomy which was pretty fun. I like the show because it's fun to watch - and keeps getting better and better - but it doesn't require a lot of thought. It's just good entertainment. Christina Ricci did a pretty good job guest starring. Like the Scrubs episode a few weeks ago, GA also played Joseph Arthur's "In the Sun", which is a song that I love and frequently listen to on repeat.

I’ve decided to do something completely original and inventive to recap 2005!! ... Okay, not really. Like Entertainment Weekly, TVGal, Watch with Kristin, etc I’m compiling lists of the best – and the worst – of 2005.


Best Moments of 2005 in TV (ahem, I’m using a very loose definition of “moments”)

1. Veronica Mars’ renewal and awesome season one finale. VM has been a bright spot for me this year.

2. The media’s response to Hurricane Katrina. The heartfelt, active and horrified response of the media to this situation was a nice counterpoint to the tragedy of the event.

3. What sophomore slump? It’s great that VM, House and Grey’s Anatomy are having impressively good second seasons.

4. Bright & Hannah kiss in the Everwood season three finale. This was particularly satisfying because of how their relationship developed organically throughout the season. It’s also damn cute.

5. Buffyverse actors return to TV. James Marsters on Smallville, Charisma Carpenter on VM, Alyson Hannigan on How I Met Your Mother, David Boreanaz on Bones, Christian Kane on Close to Home and Nicholas Brendon on the sadly canceled Kitchen Confidential.

6. The news that Scrubs is returning to TV in January. It’ll be on NBC Tuesdays at 9pm and 9:30pm.

7. Lorelei tells her mother We’re over in mid-season 5, then a few episodes ago reassures her You haven’t lost me. I love the complexities of the relationships on Gilmore Girls.

8. Veronica and Logan’s first kiss on VM. Best.Kiss.Ever.

9. The reunion of Jin & Sun and Bernard & Rose on Lost. Oh man, the tears were flowing for that moment.

10. Uchenna and Joyce win the Amazing Race - you could just tell that all the other contestants were happy also, it was such an air of celebration. It was great to watch really really nice people win.


Worst Moments of 2005 in TV

1. Joan of Arcadia not renewed. I still have much bitterness towards CBS for canceling such a thought-provoking and nuanced show about spirituality.

2. Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise and Scientology. Tom Cruise and his sudden expertise in post-partum depression (despite being neither a doctor nor a medical/drug expert). Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Tom Cruise and couches. The list could go on and on.

3. Sophomore slumps. It’s been disappointing to see Lost and Desperate Housewives, shows that were so original and compelling in their first seasons, struggle in their second seasons.

4. Watching the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Or should I say, lack of response.

5. Arrested Development and Kitchen Confidential canceled. There may be a silver lining for AD because it could be picked up by Showtime!

6. Paris Hilton. To quote from Joan of Arcadia: Now, who decided I need to care about Paris Hilton?

7. The return of Fear Factor to primetime. (Thanks to my brother for this providing this item on my list!)

8. The “War on Christmas” or should I say “the talking point created by the Christian Right who are freaked out by the fact that there’s other religions and faiths than Christianity.”

9. The brilliant Everwood being put on hiatus again by The WB so a reality show can be aired.

10. The Amazing Race: Family Edition and its incredible suckiness. I’m excited about the real Race returning in February: interesting looking contestants who will actually be traveling around the world!


Best Movies in 2005

1. Brokeback Mountain. A beautiful love story that’s well-acted, beautifully shot and continues to resonate days later. A brilliant and ground-breaking movie.

2. King Kong. This is what blockbusters the movie experience should be: good story, edge of your seat action, interesting characters, good acting, homage to old movies, good use of special effects and touching scenes.

3. Serenity. This movie is clearly made with passion which creates an amazing movie: it has love, hatred, and grief as well as action, humour, excitement and creepiness on a big screen scale. Firefly lives!

4. A History of Violence. It's a deceptively simple story that examines the violence that's underneath the surface of everyone. Definitely one of the best films of the year.

5. Batman Begins. This is pretty geeky, but I loved how coherent the story is - it's very tight storytelling (I really hate the sloppy storytelling and continuity that's in a lot of movies, particularly ones with significant CGI). It’s also a kick-ass superhero movie!

6. Walk the Line. This is more than just a biopic of another musician who started off poor, became famous for an innovative sound and struggled with drug addiction because of the love story at the heart of the film. This isn't cutsie romantic comedy love story material, this is a painful, intense and hard love story that's captivating to watch.

7. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. This is a great adaptation of the book, because it retains the significant aspects of the story while moving along at a fast and engaging pace. It was so good it got a friend to read all the novels.

8. Jarhead. A compelling war film that has no action scenes (unless you count the troops watching war movies). Excellent acting, beautifully shot, thought-provoking and relevant to today’s conflict.

9. Crash. An impressive yet flawed movie, the most notable flaw is how the multiple storylines are resolved. What's great about the movie - I optimistically hope - is that it encourages dialogue around racism and self-analysis of personal racism. Content aside, the acting is excellent, the shots beautifully done, and the scenes just blend together seemingly seamlessly.

10. 40 Year Old Virgin and The Wedding Crashers. As much as I love teen movies, it’s been great to have actual adult comedies. Neither of these movies are the best movies I’ve ever seen, so I've combined them as one item because they’re both damn funny movies that don’t have to shy away from adult topics.


Best TV shows of 2005

1. Veronica Mars. This show really is "the New Buffy" - it's intelligent with excellent dialogue and a smart, independent and fun heroine who's the centre of an enthralling universe of mystery, suspense, humour, pain, drama and often a combination of more than one of the above. To quote Joss Whedon Best.Show.Ever.

2. Gilmore Girls. Although Gilmore Girls is no longer the cozy and reassuring dramedy it used to be, it has grown up and is now successfully exploring the painful issues of becoming an adult and how this changes family relationships.

3. Everwood. Whenever I watch an episode of Everwood I always declare it The Best Show on Television. It has consistently high quality episodes with complex characters and storylines.

4. Arrested Development. This is the type of show that makes me laugh so hard that milk sprays out of my nose (if – you know – I actually was silly enough to drink anything while watching AD). Definitely the edgiest and funniest show on TV.

5. Reba. This show draws from the tradition of old-fashioned family sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show but also has clear influences from the more cutting-edge Roseanne. Reba deals with lots of serious issues really well – weight gain and weight loss, adultery, alcoholism, depression – however it’s not a serious drama because it succeeds is finding the humour in these difficult and painful scenarios.

6. Grey’s Anatomy. I never would have guessed last year that this show would have made my list. It’s gone from being good soapy fun to a show with increasingly well-written episodes and smart/interesting story decisions (ie. Having Dr. McDreamy’s estranged wife stay and be a likeable character).

7. My Name is Earl. It's definitely one of my new favourite shows. It has a great premise (Earl discovering the concept of Karma and now trying to make amends for all the bad things he's done) that has resulted in interesting and funny episodes (eg. trying to make up for faking his own death to break-up with a girl, or kidnapping a woman to help her quit smoking).

8. Doctor Who. For some reason I didn't expect the show to have such a fabulous combination of fun, heart-wrenching drama, suspense, and interesting stories. It’s so hard waiting a whole year for the new season. I’m very excited about the special The Christmas Invasion airing on Boxing Day at 8pm to 9:30pm on CBC.

9. Entourage. Overall I love this show because it has heart - it really feels like these 4 guys are good friends. They may tease each other but they ultimately look out for each other. Also, how can I not love a show that has Jeremy Piven’s deliciously sleazy agent say Hug it out, bitch?

10. How I Met Your Mother. One of the reasons I’ve declared that there’s a “Sitcom Renaissance”. Definitely my favourite new sitcom this season (ie. half-hour comedy with a laugh track). It has sustained its funny from the pilot and it does over-the-top really well. It’s also has excellent writing and a very good cast.

11. Everybody Hates Chris. A very funny and smart new approach to the family sitcom (ie. no laugh track). Race issues and racism are explored in an intelligent and humourous way thanks to Chris Rock’s excellent narration.

I’m very impressed that I contained myself to ten items for each category, except for the Best TV shows and I’m very pleased that I only exceeded by one item! I’m now excited to compare my lists with Entertainment Weekly’s (I purposefully didn’t look at it before created my lists)!!


Right now I’m at my parent’s place in Kingston having a relaxing Christmas Eve! I slept in until 1pm!! We decorated the house and tree last night so it’s all festive, and there’s a tray of yummy treats to snack on. My mom sings in a United church choir so we’ll be attending a Family service and then the midnight service tonight. Right now I plan to do a little more livejournal reading and work more on my screenplay. I LOVE that I brought my laptop with me, and that my brother has set up the house for wireless internet!!! Yay to my younger and very technologically capable brother!!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

I'm unwinding from my first day of vacation (I'm off until Tuesday January 3rd!) ... so I bring you some random stuff about movies and tv:

Brokeback Mountain

Damn you Toronto's Cumberland theatre and the faulty equipment(?)/film(?) that caused the film to start PLAYING UPSIDE DOWN AND BACKWARDS an hour into the movie!! WTF!!!

What could be worse than a section of the movie being unwatchable (people were laughing it was so ridiculous)? The Cumberland (the only threatre currently playing Brokeback Mountain in Toronto) couldn't get it fixed, so we had to leave and I haven't seen the remaining hour and a half. Sure they gave us 2 free passes but it still means that I've only seen the 1st hour of the movie, and I didn't have time to catch the next show because I had plans with another friend later (for more movies). Fyi: because it was a matinee they gave us free matinee passes. Personally I thought that was stingy - they should have given us full priced passes - since it ruined our viewing experience, and means we have to find time another day. Of course, I'm pretty grouchy about the whole thing because I was LOVING the movie, and I had just gotten fully into the characters and the story.

To feel better I went shopping at Winners and bought a pair of warm and waterproof winter boots, and 2 warm yet cute sweaters. I'm all about trying to be as warm as possible this winter.

Part One of my evening double bill: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

My annoyance at the Brokeback Mountain situation was soothed by an enjoyable repeat viewing of Harry Potter. I went with a friend who laughs at all the same stuff I do so it was really fun.

Part Two of my evening double bill: King Kong

This is what blockbusters the movie experience should be: good story, edge of your seat action, interesting characters, good acting, homage to old movies, good use of special effects and touching scenes. I love Peter Jackson, and Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

I LOVED King Kong!!! I cried multiple times during the movie. Kong is definitely my favourite character!!

Post-modernism and meta-storytelling is prevalent in this movie ... but in a good way, not in a self-indulgent, I'm just lazy so am relying on other sources kind of way. Peter Jackson succeeds in making this remake an original film.

House

I just saw the Emmy winning episode "Three Stories" and was blown away by the brilliance of the episode. I must congratulate the Emmy voters for actually making a good call. "Three Stories" made me immediately include House Season One on my Christmas Gift List.

I love the way the episode deconstructs linear episode structure by melding at least 4 different time periods together. It's awesome the way this is made clear to the viewer:

House: Oh, right, you guys [House's team] don’t know about him. He doesn’t get bitten until three months after we treat the volleyball player. Luckily, it’s been well established that time is not a fixed construct.

Also, the use of Carmen Electra to stand in for a patient actually made the revelation that one of the patients is/was (I'm going with the whole "time is not a fixed construct" thing) House a surprise for me!

The Daily Show and its coverage of "The War on Christmas"

I'm actually in the Christmas spirit this year: I've decorated my apartment with lights and a small Christmas tree. However, my happiness about the holiday is being ruined by this Christian right dramatics about the so-called "War on Christmas". The whole thing is so annoying and offensive to the many people who aren't Christian that it's hard for me to be articulate about the situation. Thank god Comedy Central for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and its good response to the whole situation. This is why I have a crush on Jon Stewart.

The quote in my title perfectly describes Serenity and my experience viewing the movie. I couldn't fit the entire quote in the title, so here it is: "Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief."

Serenity is clearly made with passion, I could feel Joss Whedon and the cast's commitment to the film while I sat raptly watching the two hour movie. Of course I approached the movie filled with my own passion for all things Joss Whedon and especially with a passion for the Firefly verse. I love that Serenity has love, hatred, and grief as well as action, humour, excitement and creepiness on a big screen scale. Basically I loved Serenity!!!!!

( Major spoilers for Serenity to follow!! )

I know that there's zillions of Serenity reviews right now, but I particularly love the one in New York Magazine. It's written by my favourite former television columnist at Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker. Here's his excellent review.

I saw David Cronenberg's A History of Violence on Friday and was very very impressed. I haven't been the biggest fan of Cronenberg's films in the past, eg. I didn't like Crash (Cronenberg's Crash, not the excellent one that was in theatres this summer), so I feel confident recommending this film to other people who aren't Cronenberg fans. In fact, I might be so bold as to declare A History of Violence the best film I've seen this year.

It's a deceptively simple story that examines the violence that's underneath the surface of everyone. I enjoyed that scenes - normally violence scenes - which would normally be climatic in other movies aren't, instead they lead into the significant climatic scenes. Obviously the violence scenes are climatic but they're not the focus on the film, rather they direct the viewer to watch what plays out afterwards.

A History of Violence reminded me of the popular claim that violence is increasing and it's way worse now than it used to be. (By the way, I hate when people claim that "things aren't as good as they used to be.") I'm certainly not a historian, but I've taken enough history to be impressed by the significance that violence has always had in human society. Nowadays we just have increased technology so we can make bigger and more lethal weapons. I don't actually support violence or war but I'm also not so blinded by idealism that I ignore the continual presence of violence in human existence. It just occurred to me that the title of the film also suggests that violence is not just a contemporary issue rather it has a history.

I don't want to say too much more without being spoilery. However there is this excellent review in the Globe and Mail by Rick Goen that really beautifully analyzes the film.

With A History of Violence on my mind I watched last Monday's episode (English, Fitz or Percy) of Prison Break this evening. Although the first couple of Prison Break episodes had some violence in them, the last couple of weeks have been all about strategy. Interestingly, there's clearly lots of violence seething beneath the surface but everyone is keeping it together so they can attain their goals.

( More thoughts on Prison Break that are spoilery up to 1:4. )

Bottom line: I'm still hooked on Prison Break and can't wait for tomorrow's episode, and not just because of my not-so-secret love for Wentworth Miller.

I'm so glad that TIFF is finally over! It's not that I didn't enjoy myself but I'm so exhausted from trying to do too much (work, volunteer, see movies, socialize, visit with my family).

Here's my Celebrity Encounters/Sightings at TIFF:

- Roger Ebert (as noted on Sept 9/05)

- Jamie Babbit (the director of But I'm a Cheerleader, one of my favourite movies) and her adorable baby. Oh yeah, I also saw her movie The Quiet which was pretty good (although I'm not into watching the theme of incest/sexual abuse). During the Q&A, Jamie Babbit said that her next film will be about radical feminists!!! I can't wait.

- Gabriel Byrne, who was so nice that I gave him my copy of the TIFF movie listings.

- Matthew Modine, who was also nice (I didn't know who he was till later).

- Kevin Bacon walked by me - do you think I can now include myself in "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon"?

- Colin Firth!! Yes I was a few feet away from Darcy! Just for the record my friend and I were not one of the women yelling "I love you Colin."

- Michael Stipe was just a few feet away from me but I couldn't think of anything to say to him. I just kept wishing that one of my friends (who's a huge REM and Michael Stipe fan) was there with me.

- Andy Stochansky (who used to tour with Ani diFranco) chatted with me and a co-volunteer, and gave us each a promo album. He's super sweet!

- Spike Lee!! I didn't get to talk to him but it was just cool to actually see him!

- Justin Timerlake and his security guards. I got to see one of the security guards secure the washroom for Timberlake. Fortunately there appeared to be no unfortunate washroom incidents!

- LL Cool J - he really does look cool.

- I got to sit in at a press conference for Annette Benning's film Mrs. Harris, and she really impressed me by how articulate and professional she is.

- I also spoke with a couple of nice directors were all excited about their films being in the festival: David Uloth and Dionysus Zorvos.

I also saw these celebrities at the Gala screenings: Orlando Bloom (who I now just refer to as Orlando), Kirsten Dunst, Cameron Crowe, Susan Sarandon, Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix, Madonna, and Guy Ritchie.

I'm completely exhausted from working, volunteering at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and trying to actually see some movies.

So far my highlight of TIFF has been James Mangold's Walk the Line, the film about Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Joaquin Phoenix is excellent as Johnny Cash: he not only embodies the role, he also does all his own singing (which adds to his excellent performance). Reese Witherspoon also does her own singing, as well as giving an Oscar worthy performance (Phoenix also deserves an Oscar).

What makes Walk the Line more than just a biopic of another musician who started off poor, became famous for an innovative sound and struggled with drug addiction is that the film is a love story. However this isn't cutsie romantic comedy love story material, this is a painful, intense and hard love story that's captivating to watch.

As my friend observed, you also leave Walk the Line really impressed by June Carter Cash's strength. I'm now inspired to read autobiographies about both of them ... and watch the movie again when it's out in wide release!

I also saw the Guy Ritchie film Revolver which was interesting and certainly kept me engaged. I'd describe it as an Art Cinema action movie. I must admit that my favourite part of the movie is Andre 3000's fabulously suave style.

I tried to see Brokeback Mountain, the new Ang Lee movie, but couldn't get in. The same for These Girls which had David Boreanaz in it. Fortunately, it's normally fun to wait in the rush lines as there's normally interesting people to talk to.

I'm still hoping to see a couple of more films at the festival. It's a difficult time for me because the new tv season has starting during TIFF. I'm all torn between two of my biggest loves: tv and movies. As a result I'm already putting my PVR to good use!

While watching Elizabethtown this evening, I kept being reminded of that Buffy quote. Fortunately, I wasn't thinking of it because the movie failed spectacularly, rather Elizabethtown starts with Drew (Orlando Bloom) contemplating the extent of his failure at his job. As the movie progresses we discover that Drew's failure to design the perfect shoe (he lost his company $972 million - "rounded up that's one billion dollars") is really a symptom of his failure to connect to other people and enjoy life.

Near the beginning of the movie when Drew is looking at his dead father in a coffin, he's arrested by the expression on his father's face. After much reflection he determines that the expression is one of whimsy. Basically that describes the film - it's a whimsical journey through death, life, love, loss, relationships, and learning how to embrace it all. Unfortunately this means that if you're going to the movie to enjoy how pretty Orlando Bloom is (and he's very pretty in this movie), you might have this reaction: "That was the most boring 2 hours ever! Sure Orlando was pretty but I didn't understand some of the stuff they were talking about." That's almost a direct quote I overhead from a girl leaving the theatre. I was a little shocked because the conversations don't get all theoretical and complex - perhaps she had trouble following because she was distracted by Orlando's cuteness.

There's some great stuff in Elizabethtown:

- It's very funny, even though - of maybe because - it's dealing with death and failure.
- Susan Sarandon is fabulous as Hollie (Drew's mother). The highlight of her performance is the stand up comedy routine Hollie does that's so funny I actually felt like I was there (I also rarely like stand up comedy so she really wowed me). Sarandon is also impressively good at physical humour.
- Alec Baldwin is excellent in his cameo as Phil, Drew's boss who likes everything in twos (I enjoyed the randomness of that info). He delivers one of the film's funniest lines when he laments that he'll have to cut the environmental watchdog division of his shoe company (!) because of the one billion dollars Drew lost the company: "We could have saved the planet." What makes it funny is Baldwin's delivery which falls perfectly between earnest and manipulatively smarmy.
- Judy Greer (Kitty on Arrested Development) shines as Drew's sister.
- I enjoyed that Kirsten Dunst's character is very quirky and definitely an individual. Sometimes I felt that Dunst played her a little too cute though.
- There's this awesome - kind of random, but in a good way - video starring this guy Rusty who uses the promise of blowing up a house to get kids to behave. We even get to see the house blow up. Awesome dude!
- The entire memorial sequence is hysterically funny, especially the part with the band and the bird (once you see it you'll know what I mean).

As much as I enjoyed the whimsical nature of the film, it felt like it wandered a little too much off course sometimes. What makes the movie work is that there's emotional issues at the core. Overall a very enjoyable movie and exactly what I was in the mood for - uplifting with some moments of thoughtfulness included - I'd give it a B+ or an A-.

The message of Elizabethtown is the same as the tagline for Chuck and Cindy's wedding (an amusing aspect of the film) which is "Lovin' Life" in all it's variables.

Things I need to remember from my first volunteer shift at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)

1. As cute as I look in my boots with heels, they should NOT be worn when volunteering as it leads to sore feet and a cranky cordelianne. Although it's advisable to look good because you never know who you'll meet (maybe a woman with a sexy voice who takes note of your name), but I'm going to have to work it in comfortable sneakers for my theatre shifts.

2. I don't want a job as a publicist in case I become self-involved, self-important and someone who takes over an entire area. I know that sounds bitter, but I'm not - I actually had a positive interaction with the publicist who inspired this observation - I just wasn't impressed by her attitude and demeanor.

3. Most people are very nice and agreeable (which balances pushy publicists), and if you ask them to do something nicely, they'll do it. Also, I'd heard some less than positive stories about Roger Ebert so was pleasantly surprised by his niceness. He actually said to me and a couple of other volunteers that we deserved a "standing ovation."

4. The first three-quarters of Breakfast on Pluto is very good. I wanted to stay and watch the end but was thwarted by the previously mentioned sore feet, the end of my shift and errands I need to do before I go to work.

Breakfast on Pluto is a Neil Jordan film that tells the story of Kitten (played by the excellent Cillian Murphy) as she/he (Kitten is transgendered) grows up in Ireland and later moves to London. It has some fun and funny parts, as well as serious moments. I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the movie, the audience was really liking it as well and laughing in all the right parts (that makes me very happy). Also, I don't think that anyone walked out (people frequently won't stay for an entire movie at TIFF if they're not loving the movie because if they leave they can watch another movie).

Now I just need to see the last quarter of the movie!!

Joss Whedon & Veronica Mars:

Joss Whedon loves Veronica Mars! He recently posted on whedonesque.com detailing his love for VM. Here's the link to his post. He's all excited about how fabulous VM is - which I totally agree with - and describes it as "The Harry Potter of shows." I love how the connection to Harry Potter describes how VM can also suck you into an obsessive fandom mode in which you want to continually experience the universe and are very invested in the characters. (When I use "you" in that previous sentence, I really mean "me", of course.) Unsurprisingly, I also feel that way about Joss Whedon's shows (which is likely why he and I like Harry Potter and VM).

My unofficial VM conversion campaign is going well, I have most of my friends hooked on the show now. I'm so committed to getting people into VM that I'm lending out my tapes (I normally have a no lending policy). I'm pleased that Joss has declared his love for the show as it should get other Buffyverse fans to check it out. Although my sense is that most people who are into Buffy are already into VM. Veronica Mars really is "the New Buffy" - it's intelligent with excellent dialogue and a smart, independent and fun heroine who's the centre of an enthralling universe of mystery, suspense, humour, pain, drama and often a combination of more than one of the above. What I like about the title "the New Buffy" is that it recognizes that Veronica Mars is it's own show with it's premise (ie. not a copy of Buffy) that happens to share some core qualities with Buffy (namely an intelligent show with a kick-ass heroine).

2046:

It was with great excitement that I went to a free screening of the new Wong Kar-Wai movie, 2046, on Wednesday night. The movie, unfortunately didn't live up to my excitement, however it was still very good.

I'm a big Wong Kar-Wai fan so was disappointed that I didn't love it as much as Chungking Express, Happy Together and In the Mood for Love.

I'd still recommend that people see it (particularly if they've seen In the Mood for Love as 2046 is its sequel, of sorts) because it's still an enjoyable movie. My biggest complaint was that it was too long. Now I'm someone who can watch 5 episodes of Buffy consecutively with only brief bathroom breaks so I don't mind long viewing experiences as long as I feel it's not just because the director doesn't want to cut anything out.

As my friend pointed out, Chow (played by the always fabulous Tony Leung) and most of the other characters are expressions of existential philosophy so their constant state of inaction can be frustrating to watch (which aids in the movie feeling long). Fortunately, the excellent performances by all the actors (including the always awesome Gong Li, Faye Wong and Zhang Ziyi), the beautiful settings, costumes, lighting and incredible cinematography make the movie a worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

House:

As a rule, I avoid procedural shows because I'm not interested in law, order, crime, science, and medicine (I have previously made the exception for Numb3rs). After hearing so many good things about House, I finally saw an episode the other day, Role Model (1:17) - which, no surprise, I really enjoyed. I'm now excited to watch more of the show (I've been taping House for a while now and meaning to watch it). Like everyone else who enjoys the show, I love Hugh Laurie's House - prickly yet an engaging character (he's sort of in the tradition of Dr. Cox from Scrubs, if Dr. Cox was in a drama). There's also impressively witty and sharp dialogue - which always wins me to a show. After watching that first episode, I'm considering buying the season 1 dvd, that's how much the show impressed me.

Smallville:

I'm very excited because I've returned to catching-up on last season tv watching. I basically need to watch the 2nd half of this season of Smallville. I found all the episodes (they're scattered on many different tapes) and started watching the first one I need to watch (from February), Recruit. It guest stars Chris Carmack, from the O.C., and it's very fun to see him again. Because it took me so long finding the tapes, and figuring out which episode I need to watch first, I've only seen the 1st 20 minutes of Recruit so I can't really comment on the episode yet. I am, however, pleased that I'm working to get caught up on last season, especially since I'm psyched for the James Marsters presence on Smallville this season!

Amazing Race:

I keep watching the Amazing Race when I get home from work, which is a fun way to relax ... in theory. Unfortunately for me, the Amazing Race is so engaging that I'm awake and alert when I should be going to bed (I work till late at night).

I'm really enjoying the 3rd season! A few random questions regarding it:

If you have instructions that say "walk to the pit stop", how could you possibly interpret that to mean, "ride a cab to the pit stop and then walk in"? I didn't feel sorry for Heather and Eve when they got eliminated as it was a stupid mistake. Shows you that Harvard Law School can't even get you into the final 6, let alone win the Amazing Race.

Would the stress of traveling, exacerbated by competing for $1 million make most of us as cranky and bitchy as Flo is?

Were Michael and Kathy really as nice as they seemed? I was very sad when they were eliminated.

Is Ian as sexist and domineering in real life as he is on the Amazing Race? I sadly suspect yes.

Am I really in love with how kick-ass and cool Jill is? Am I also loving how sweet and supportive John Vito is?

Will the final three be John Vito & Jill, Derek & Drew, and Ken & Gerard? Those are my picks for the final three, so that's more of a hopeful question.

Serenity:

I'm still very excited about the movie - I saw the trailer again at a friend's house the other night which got me even more excited!

A very nice co-worker picked me up the 2nd of the 3 Serenity comics which are bridging the television show and the movie. I'm enjoying the comics so far, although I don't feel qualified to give a good review as I rarely read comics. This isn't because I don't like comics, I do. In fact I plan to read more in the future.