Johnny Simmons

This is a new feature that I'll be doing once a week. It will be dedicated to an actor [or singer/director/writer] that I love, usually one that is underrated, or out of the limelight. In light of the Emmy Nominees due within the next month I decided I'd start with someone whose name I hope to see there. None other that Amy Ryan. I'm hoping that Amy Ryan gets a nomination for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series, for her outstanding work on The Office this year.

I first took note of Amy in Capote where she played the sheriff's star struck, it was a small part in a good film, and I was duly impressed... but it was the next year with her riveting turn in Gone Baby Gone that Amy made her mark on movie audiences. As a hardcore mother of a missing child living on welfare Amy played looked gaunt and tired in the role, a true transformation that warranted her a well deserved Oscar nomination and other awards. It was definitely one of the best performances of the year, and stole the show from her costars. Her next performance was a turn in the underrated gem Before the Devil Knows You;re Dead, which reteamed her with Capote costar Philip Seymour Hoffman.


Last year [for me] was a big year as far as Amy was concerned. She guest starred in The Office, for eight episodes and showed an unbelievably good comic timing. I am hoping and praying that the Emmy's give her a nomination, and win for her wonderful performance. Last year, she also gave a great cameo performance opposite Angelina Jolie in Changeling. Playing an imprisoned prostitute Amy gave probably the best female cameo of the year, since despite a short time in a long film, she sticks with you.

She's going to be opposite Matt Damon next in Green Zone, which I am hoping is going to once again show the world her greatness.

On a side note, Amy is a two time Tony Award nominee. Below is a picture of her with Natasha Richardson in the Broadway Revival of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Why does some one have to die?
Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more... the poet will die, the visionary The Hours


A fan of Michael writes...
So the news has reached us all by now, Michael Jackson, the king of pop, the superstar, the icon, the idol has left us. Katharine Hepburn once said, Wouldn't it be great if people could get to live as suddenly and as often as the die?, and Michael’s death was sudden. Death is sudden, whether if one comes to it through sickness or surprise. Michael was a famous recluse so we rarely heard a word about him. He seemed like one of those stars who would stay in his lair and outlive us all. I got the news of Michael’s death around 5:00 yesterday [my time]. I thought this was a joke. I refused to believe it, since the link I was directed to said the story was now in development. Eventually I realised that it was all but through and called almost everyone I knew. It wasn’t until later about 9:00 that I even turned on the television. They were showing his music. Then NBC started showing Dateline on Michael Jackson. In reflecting on Michael’s death I didn’t think of many things, but Dateline had to rehash all the old horrors – especially that of his recent trial for child molestation. I was completely dismayed. The thing is, I’m not one of this people who thinks at funerals and wakes you should sugar coat everything, but I’m also not one of this people who thinks that you should dissect the lives of the dead…which is exactly what I think we are doing right now.

It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, who his money goes to, whether or not he was social – people can be so callous. We used to learn in Law Class that life was sacrosanct – it isn’t. People have no respect for the living and even less for the dead. The vultures come to feast as they have another big headline – The Death of an Idol. What makes me even more disheartened is that so many people who never reached out to Michael in his time of need, who hid behind a shroud of distrust and malice are now mourning, and not just mourning – mourning publicly. I don’t know the man, but I think Michael died of sadness and disappointment. Yes, there were fans that supported him [like me] through his trials, the literal and the symbolic; but so many condemned him, without proof. We don’t know what happened, and I couldn’t care less. We don’t know what happened wherever, whenever. What we do know is that there is no person of celebrity left alive, and few have lived. We were blessed to live in the time of Michael. Let’s remember his music, his life was his. Let us learn from his death, and let us remember him, forever.

And now the final actress in what we know as the best friend/maid role.

Alfre Woodard in Cross Creek

There’s Mary Steenburgen, there’s Rip Torn and there’s Alfre Woodard… what’s not to like? Cross Creek is probably one of the most thematically clichéd Oscar bait movie. Woman wants to start a new life, woman moves to secluded area, woman can’t handle area, woman makes friend with servant, servant’s life is interesting,&etc. What makes Cross Creek more than just a generic Oscar fare is the performances. Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen gives a strong performance as Marjorie Rawlings. Unfairly looked over, she deserved an Oscar nomination. Rip Torn is also good (as usual) in his role as Marsh, and Alfre Woodard earned her sole Oscar nomination for her role as Geechee, Rawling’s servant. I think that Alfre is one of the best black actresses of her generation and even though this role bears resemblance to her performance in Passion Fish (for which she should have been nominated) I like it, and am a fan.

As I mentioned earlier, the plot for Cross Creek is rather generic, and there is no character that seems more generic (on paper) than Geechee. Apparently the character is based on a composite of maids that Rawlings had over they years. The role reads like any stock best friend/black ally role, but Alfre totally elevated the role and give a strong performance earning a well deserved Oscar nomination. In terms of good acting I always like the scene where Geechee is trying to convinve Rawlings to give her a job. We know that Geechee is not as stupid as she’s pretending to be, the scene itself is nothing grand, but it’s good seeing Alfre show her chops, she’s good with the comic and the drama of the film and it really it’s my favourite performance of the film. Of all the five supporting women of 1983 Alfre seems to approach her role with the most gusto, of course that could be an occupational hazard because of the type of character Geechee is, but I don’t know. She just seems really submerged in the character. Imagine that this performance is over half a century old and although is not at the peak of her career as an actress we see signs of the multiple Emmy winner that she was to become.



Cross Creek itself is a good movie. It didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything like that, but it’s a good biopic in the traditional sense and it features some great performances


I find it abhorrent that there are no good pictures of Alfre in this role on line. I had to get this from Stinkylulu

It's time to look at the hottie nominee.

Amy Irving in Yentl

Amy Irving is definitely the prettiest of the five nominees. Yentl is a strange film for me. I generally like musicals. Actually, I like very much (West Side Story, Chicago, The Sound of Music, Mary Poppins), there are some that are good but I’m a bit meh about (Singin’ In the Rain, A Star is Born, Gigi) and then there are those (one in particular) that I despise (An American in Paris). Yentl probably falls into the middle category. Barbra Streisand’s best (musical) performance for me will always be as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! In Yentl Barbra plays a young, Jewish woman who pretends to be a man in order to further studies. She falls in love with a man Mandy Patinkin ( who will always be George to me) who is engaged to a girl – Amy Irving. Hadass also falls in love with Yentl which is part of the main conflict of the movie. The plot is kind of been-there-done-that, but not in a bad way.

This movie is Barbra’s show, and this is not just because she directed the film. The writing is biased towards her, and all the other characters are not particularly realistic, and more importantly none of the other primary cast members have principal singing parts. There is only one scene Barbra is not in, and you still her voice, so it doesn't count. Amy Irving is just weak as Hadass. I suppose in a way she was supposed to be all meek and pious, and in that sense she did well. But when is too much, too much?…it’s just completely ignorable. I sort of wished her character would just die, or just get out of the damn movie, pretty face or not. This was definitely a waste of a supporting actress slot; I just didn’t find this performance appealing in an actress-y sort of way. Amy is just boring, boring, boring, boring. I mean this could have been something for the books.


Kind of off topic, Yentl has one my favourite songs Papa, Can You Hear Me? written by Marilyn Bergman. It’s a good song.

Michael Bay Does Serve A Purpose
JA has finally become free of hoping that Michael Bay has potential. Good for him.

In Defense of Minority Report
Keith Lucas gives an in depth look at his (and my) favourite Spielberg film.

The Most Produced High School Musicals
Chris Caggiano takes a look at what musicals high schoolers were doing last year. GAH High School Musical is on the list? For shame!

The Shadow of a Doubt
Rupert Alistair offers up his thoughts on Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt.

Year One Review
This piece of shit is given what it deserves in a rather scathing review. It's hilarious!!

Peter Weir is a good director The Truman Show was a great film, Green Card was good and funny and Dead Poet’s Society is fine and more recently Master & Commander – The Far Side of the Universe – which I didn’t quite love – but wasn’t a bad effort. However, I do not like The Year of Living Dangerously - I like Sigourney Weaver and I like Mel Gibson, but I didn’t like this movie. I first saw this movie about five years ago on TV. I caught it some time into the narrative. It was late, I was young and I was bored. I am sorry, I know some people like this film, but I struggled through it and somewhere between in and out of consciousness I sat through. Still here are my thoughts on the Academy's pick for Supporting Actress that year.

Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously

The film’s about an Australian journalist, Guy, (Gibson) covering the overthrowing of Indonesian leader President. He falls in love with a British Officer – Jill (Weaver). Linda Hunt plays Billy Kwan, Jill’s friend and a source of information for Guy.

Anyways, Stinkylu’s smackdown comes around and I have to watch it again and granted, I don’t find it as tedious… but I don’t find it that stimulating either. There are good things though, the writing is good and the editing and direction is fine. Still I don’t like it. But I’m digressing from the main topic up for discussion – Linda Hunt. Linda Hunt plays Billy Kwan – a man. I am not besotted with this performance. It’s a really baity role, and not just because she’s a woman playing a man – this would have been a baity role even if a man was playing the role. I don’t really see the point of casting a woman as Billy Kwan. When I think of women acting as men Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There; and that wasn’t meant to be realistic casting. We were never supposed to believe that Cate was THE Bob Dylan. Are we to believe that Linda is Billy and not Billie? Maybe it's because I knew her from She Devil, so I always knew it was a woman. But I’m nitpicking here, Hunt’s sexuality is not a key problem in the film, and this is not my main gripe with her performance. Her masculinity (or lack thereof) is not essential to the film's plot.

I just am not a fan of the performance. Although her playing a man is bewildering it doesn’t affect my disliking of the performance. There’s nothing tangible that I can use to say that was a bad acting decision or that was a bad performance. I am just not a fan it. It didn’t appeal to me – and that’s generally how I feel about the whole movie.

Comedy Series
The Office
30 Rock
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
Pushing Daisies
Californication
Samantha Who?
Parks & Recreation
Scrubs
Family Guy

Comedy Actor
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Zack Braff – Scrubs
Steve Carrel – The Office
David Duchovney – Californication
Adrien Grenier – Entourage
Lee Pace – Pushing Daisies
Tony Shauloub – Monk
Kevin Connolly - Entourage
James Roday - Psych

Comedy Actress
Christina Applegate – Samantha Who?
Marcia Cross – Desperate Housewives
America Ferrera – Ugly Betty
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Anna Friel – Pushing Daisies
Felicity Huffman – Desperate Housewives
Debra Messing - The Starter Wife
Eva Longoria Parker – Desperate Housewives
Mary Louise Parker - Weeds
Amy Poehler – Parks & Recreation


Comedy Actor in a Supporting Role
Aziz Ansari – Parks & Recreation
John Krazinksi – The Office
Neal McDonough – Desperate Housewives
Tracy Morgan – 30 Rock
B. J. Novak – The Office
Doug Savant – Desperate Housewives
Paul Schneider – Parks & Recreation
Neil Patrick Harris - How I Met Your Mother
Rainn Wilson – The Office



Comedy Actress in a Supporting Role
Kristin Chenoweth – Pushing Daisies
Jennifer Esposito - Samantha Who?
Jenna Fisher – The Office
Rashida Jones – Parks & Recreation
Jane Krakowski – 30 Rock
Swoozie Kurst – Pushing Daisies
Elizabeth Perkins – Weeds
Nicolette Sheridan – Desperate Housewives
Jean Smart – Samatha Who?
Vanessa L. Williams – Ugly Betty

The second woman up for discussion is the only actress who had been nominated before of the lot.

Glenn Close in The Big Chill

Glenn Close is my second favourite living actress (to Annette Bening), even though neither of them is doing any regular work…on the silver screen. I remember clearly the first time that I saw The Big Chill. I loved it. I’d always heard about The Big Chill, and I though it mean chill as in fright, not as in hanging out… so I was expecting a horror film – or a thriller at least. Obviously, I was wrong. The Big Chill tells the story of a group of former college friends who spend a weekend together after the suicide of one of their clan. Apparently this movie is about the baby boomer generation, but as an eleven year old this was completely lost on me when I saw this showing one night on TV, and to this day I didn’t really see that as a major theme.

For me, the movie is essentially about friendship and how it changes over time. The cast is pretty much an ensemble. Upon my first viewing three cast members stood out for Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum and of course Glenn Close. I am prepared to stand by my belief that (other than the great soundtrack) Glenn was the best thing in this GREAT movie (followed closely by the screenplay and then the rest of the cast). I saw this movie at a time when I knew Glenn for three roles – Cruella De Ville, Countess Merteuil and Alex. Sarah was miles away from any of these three women. She and Kevin Kline have great chemistry as husband and wife – in fact the entire cast has a decidedly realistic chemistry with each other.

Glenn Close is really the heart of The Big Chill, it's such a clichéd thing to say, but she really is. She was really at her peak in the 1980s and although I love her at her macabre best later in the decade she was outstanding playing such a sweet character. There are some obvious moments that stand out as good acting, like the famous shower scene and of course the tug-of-war when she allows her friend to sleep with her husband. That plot point is actually kind of strange. To keep it simple Meg (Mary Kay Place) is unmarried and wants a child so Sarah lets her husband sleep with her. I guess there was no such thing as a sperm donor back then. The scene where Sarah gives her husband away is really subtle and nice and good acting on Glenn's part.



For me though, why I love this performance is less about cetain moments and more about the alacrity with which Glenn is able to deliver her lines. She is just so fluid as Sarah, not only the big scene stealing moments, but all around. That is a good performance.

Karen: I don't know how you're holding up but everything's just beautiful.
Sarah: Yeah we put on a great funeral here.
Michael: [sarcastically] Yeah, maybe I'll have mine here.
Sarah: Well we give first priority to those who kill themselves in one of our bathrooms.
[the three stop smiling]
Sarah: That was a terrible thing to say... I don't know why I said that.

This is up at IMDB as one of the memorable quotes, and it is always one of the scenes I remember immediately about this film.


The Big Chill was my favourite film of 1982, I know I may stand alone, but I feel it was way better than the other dramedy that year – and a few of the men in it (especially Tom Berenger ROBBED of an Oscar nomination) could have gone toe to toe with Jack Nicholson (who gave his best supporting performance two years earlier in Reds). In case you did not notice as yet I LOVE THIS MOVIE and I love all the performances in it... but most of all I love Glenn Close.

3I’m one of the participants in Stinkylulu’s June Supporting Actress Smackdown for 1983. I was planning on writing reviews on each of the five films up for consideration, but I opted out. I don’t have patience. Instead I decided to write some short vignettes on each of the five actresses and anything that struck me about their films. Some more than others, but I decided I’d go with a 400 word limit. At the end of the series I'll post my favourites of the year. I'll begin with the music star making a cross over...

Cher in Silkwood

Silkwood marks the beginning of Cher’s Oscar career – which just consisted of two nominations really. The film is a showcase for Meryl Streep, this is the Meryl Streep that I liked – the Out of Africa, Sophie’s Choice Meryl not the One True Thing or Bridges of Madison County Meryl or the Doubt and The Devil Wears Prada Meryl, but I deviate. Cher plays the lesbian friend of Karen Silkwood the protagonist of this film. I have always admired (to some extent) Cher as an actress more than her as a musician. Strangely enough my favourite performance of hers was in The Witches of Eastwick, which is not exactly an excellent film – but Cher does well in these type of roles – as she further showed in Moonstruck. I figure that the AMPAS had an agenda nominating Cher for an Oscar. Her performance was actually her first good performance.

As I mentioned earlier, the film is a Meryl showcase and we know that not many could have outdone Meryl back in the eighties. I always get the feeling that Cher was just happy to get a good part; I can always notice a certain earnestness in her performance. It’s not the best performance, but she has me interested… and that’s one thing you can’t fault ever fault her for. She’s not a bland actor.

As I said earlier I figure that AMPAS had an agenda nominating Cher, she was a big movie star and they like the movie (not enough to give it a Best Picture nod), but just enough. So they're not too fond of Kurt Russel and are probably uncertain whether to put him in lead or supporting so they nominate Meryl and they nominate Cher. Back then they seemed really into giving popular people a chance to get invited to ceremony.

Cher's performance is not bad; it just wasn't one my favourite of that year, but it’s always good to see people improve their range.

You will notice I changed the font again, this time it's permanent.

Exams are finally finished!!!!!!!!! No more Law, no more Economics, no more French, no Sociology and no Literature. NOTHING.

They are just too beautiful to look at

1. The Aviator (Martin Scorsese)
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michael Gondry)
   
3. Finding Neverland (Marc Forster)
   
4. Closer (Mike Nichols)
5. Hotel Rwanda (Terry George)
   
6. Mean Girls (Mark Waters)
   
7. Birth (Jonathan Glazer)
   
8. Vera Drake (Mike Leigh)
9. Sideways (Alexander Payne)
10. Being Julia (Istvan Szabo)

1. Meeting Katharine Hepburn – The Aviator
2. Young Joel with Clementine - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
   
3. The Play – Being Julia
4. Opening – Closer
5. Meeting Her ‘Husband’ – Birth
6. Going Crazy - The Aviator
   
7. Killing Bill – Kill Bill II
8. The Trip to Montauk –Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
9. Meeting the Plastics Mean Girls
   
10. The Arrest – Vera Drake

1. Scorsese for The Aviator
2. Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Leigh for Vera Drake
4. Glazer for Birth
5. Alexander Payne for Sideways

6. Nichols for Closer
7. Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby
8. George for Hotel Rwanda

9. Forster for Finding Neverland
10. Mann for Collateral

1. Leonardo DiCaprio The Aviator
2. Don Cheadle Hotel Rwanda
3. Jude Law Closer
4. Jim Carrey Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Johnny Depp Finding Neverland

6. Paul Giamati Sideways
7. Javier Toro The Sea Inside

8. Jamie Foxx Ray
9. Liam Neeson Kinsey

1. Annette Bening Being Julia
2. Kate Winslet Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Imelda Staunton Vera Drake
4. Julia Roberts Closer
5. Nicole Kidman Birth

6. Lindsay Lohan Mean Girls
   
7. Hilary Swank Million Dollar Baby
8. Scarlet Johansson A Love Song For Bobby Long
9. Uma Thurman Kill Bill II

1. Clive Owen Closer
2. Thomas Haden Church Sideways
3. Alan Alda The Aviator
4. Freddy Highmore Finding Neverland
5. Jamie Foxx Collateral

6. Morgan Freeman Million Dollar Baby

7. James Garner The Notebook
8. Peter Sarasgard Kinsey
9. John C. Reilly The Aviator

1. Cate Blanchett The Aviator
2. Natalie Portman Closer
3. Virginia Madsen Sideways
4. Kate Winslet Finding Neverland
5. Sophie Okenodo Hotel Rwanda

6. Sandra Oh Sideways
7. Laura Linney Kinsey
8. Lynn Redgrave Kinsey

1. The Aviator
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Sideways
4. Finding Neverland
5. Closer
6. Hotel Rwanda
7. Birth
8. Kinsey
9. Collateral
10. Vera Drake

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. The Aviator
3. The Incredibles
4. Hotel Rwanda
5. Birth

1. Finding Neverland
2. Closer
3. Sideways
4. Mean Girls
5. Million Dollar Baby

1. The Aviator
2. Hotel Rwanda
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

1. The Aviator
2. Finding Neverland
3. The Passion of the Christ

1. The Aviator
2. A Very Long Engagement
   
3. Finding Neverland
4. The Merchant of Venice
   
5. Being Julia

1. The Aviator
2. The Merchant of Venice
   
3. Finding Neverland
4. A Very Long Engagement
   
5. The Phantom of the Opera

1. Finding Neverland

1. The Aviator
2. The Passion of the Christ
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

1. The Aviator
2. Finding Neverland
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. A Very Long Engagement
   

1. The Passion of the Christ
2. The Aviator
3. The Merchant of Venice

1. Look To Your Path Le Choristes
   
2. Accidentally in Love Shrek 2
3. Learn to Be Lonely The Phantom of the Opera
4. Al Otro Lado Del Río The Motorcycle Diaries

1. Paul Giamati Sideways
2. Jim Carrey Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Johnny Depp Finding Neverland
4. Jude Law Closer
5. Leonardo DiCaprio The Aviator

1. Annette Bening Being Julia
2. Imelda Staunton Vera Drake
3. Cate Blanchett The Aviator
4. Sandra Oh Sideways
5. Natalie Portman Closer

The Hours is #30 in my list of favourite movies… of course the more accurate title would be Films I’d Watch Over and Over again. The first time I saw this movie was sometime back in 2003 on A&E and I can’t forget thinking how bleak it was, but not in a bad way. There are a lot of things I like about this movie, but what I like the most is the acting. Every actor in the movie give outstanding performances making me think it was the best ensemble of 2002. It’s hard, and unfair, to judge the performances against each other but the standout performance for me in many ways was Meryl Streep’s Clarissa Vaughn. The Academy love her so much and yet they couldn’t nominate for this. This is arguably my favourite Streep performance, it may not be as good as others, but it’s still pretty damn good. Her Clarissa is the most sympathetic protagonist of the three part story and she has some really strong scenes especially those with another big star – Ed Harris. I am still pissed that Harris did not win the Oscar he deserved for Best Supporting Actor that year, it was way better than that other actor. Claire Danes, Jeff Bridges and Alison Janey who are also participants in Clarissa’s arc also play important roles and give strong performances.



If Streep plays the most sympathetic I guess that ostensibly Julianne Moore plays the least sympathetic, but that’s such a cop out in terms of judging her performance. Julianne Moore is really, really, really a good actress. Of all the actors in The Hours she achieves the most with the least. Just looking at her eyes we see so much more, which prevents her Laura from become a caricature… and that voice. It’s just freakin’ wonderful. A completely deserving Oscar nomination followed – and don’t you know it sometimes I wish she had won the Oscar even though I was supporting Catherine at the time. She has the most poignant line of the whole movie for me when she says It was death, I chose life. Toni Collette is the only person in this arc that really wows me (other than Julianne), this is my favourite performance of hers, I never saw as this kind of coquettish character, although I suppose coquettish is the wrong word...



Then there is Nicole Kidman’s Virginia Woolf, who invisibly, holds the narrative together. It is her Mrs. Dalloway that Laura is reading… that Clarissa has become. Virginia is really a troubled character, and although I know many people will identify the train scene as there favourite there are two other scenes which show the wonderfulness of Nicole Kidman’s performance. There’s the scene where she is cajoling Nelly into going to London. It’s just so freakishly weird, and uncomfortable as she tries to command her with her eyes and that taunting tone and expression with the cigarette in hand. Then there is the scene with Miranda Richardson, no not kiss. It’s when she tells her, even crazy people like to be asked Nessa. This line, I think, represents the entire point of Virginia’s arc. The problem is not that she is crazy, but at least let others treat her as a person… and oh wasn’t Miranda Richardson outstanding? Don’t you wish Oscars were given for cameos? I almost wish she’d have a movie of this character; she was so effective as the Woolf’s sister. Kudos too to Stephen Dillane who played Leonard, Kidman’s husband.



All the actors in The Hours need to thank David Hare for his wonderful script. The novel seems almost inadaptable, but he is able to make it just wonderful and gives each character so much to do. And let’s not forget Stephen Daldry. Some have criticised his lack of subtlety, but that’s not the point of the movie… or maybe it is, who knows. Still, you can’t really fault him. If they HAD to split the director/picture category in 2002, couldn’t they have given it to him? Or at least give the Oscar to Philip Glass for his amazing score. Anyway, that’s all gone, but this movie remains.

The Hours is a great movie, and I think everyone needs to see it – I suppose it won’t be for everyone, but you won’t know until you see it… so you should see it.

I'm addicted to making lists, it's sort of my thing actually. So what better way to merge making lists with the blog than by making a list of my favourite movies? This is not a list of the best movies, or the most innovative. Actually the more accurate title would be movies that I'd watch again. All the movies are from 2007, I did not include any of the gems from lasts year. But suppose I was, I would rank In Bruges higher than The Dark Knight, even though The Dark is obviously a better film (to everyone but me), just because I would not put The Dark Knight high on my favourites. In the same way some really good films might not have high rankings. It's all personal taste anyway..

It's not going to be in chronological order either, although of course I'll save number one for last.

PS. It's a hundred films, so that's going to take me a while...