A New York Times news alert to my phone was my first notice that tragedy struck at a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona yesterday morning.  I’ve thought about little else since.

In times like these, I turn to CNN on TV, NPR on the radio, and mainly The New York Times and The Washington Post online.  I can’t help but admire the way CNN manages crisis coverage and to wish that this type of coverage – hard news with balance when needed for context and with accuracy – was the norm every day instead of the punditry and lighter fare that that has come to characterize the network between crises.

Even so, I think I’ve nearly reached my threshold for minute-to-minute coverage hour after hour.  Following this story has been numbing, intrusive to sleep patterns, and so very sad.

We will know more in coming days, but whatever is revealed about the shooter and the other person officials seek for questioning, the vitriol characterizing so much political speech now needs to stop.  No good can come from hatred.

My thoughts and prayers stay with everyone involved in the shooting and with the people who care about them.

 

Drumroll, please.  Here are my favorites among the films I saw in 2010.*

Until a few weeks ago, I was wondering if I could come up with ten, but the flood of prestige pictures and Oscar contenders in the last month or so have given me some late entries to fill in the gaps.

1.   I loved The Secret in Their Eyes, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film (Argentina) last year but didn’t play here until spring 2010.  Get the DVD immediately if you have not seen this film!

2.  Winter’s Bone is another favorite.  I would not change a frame of this film.  Check it out on DVD.

3. Just thinking about Robert Duvall in Get Low makes me smile.  There are funny moments, tender moments, teary moments, and even a few scary moments in this picture, which is also out on DVD.

4.  My favorite animated film this year is Despicable Me, also available on DVD, because it is original, heart-warming, and Steve Carrell gives a great voice performance.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie.

5. / 6.  It was a good year for docs to get theatrical release even if the box office for them was not as robust as I would have hoped.  I thoroughly enjoyed Exit Through the Gift Shop, but when it comes to the list, two other docs get the nod.  The Tillman Story is out on DVD, and Inside Job just left a Greensboro screen yesterday (January 6).  The first is the story of Pat Tilman’s family’s quest to learn the truth about his death and the second is a captivating and revealing look at the financial meltdown of 2008.  Both of these films are must-see documentaries.

7.  I have to include Darren Aronofsky’s film Black Swan, which is a curious but perfect bookend to his recent film The Wrestler.  The latter is a perfect character study and the former a psycho-sexual thriller, but the parallels are impossible to ignore.

8.  True Grit improves on the original in ways I find particularly appealing.  Even if it feels a bit conventional for the Cohen Brothers, this is a crowd-pleaser that also pleases me!

9.  The Fighter is a true story that unfolds beautifully and is marked by great performances all around (notably the leads Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and their mother played by Melissa Leo) and a style that invigorates the boxing genre.

10.  The King’s Speech is another true story with terrific performances.  There’s nothing surprising about this film, but is it entertaining and, maybe surprisingly, kind of like True Grit in the way it fits audience expectations for a genre but delivers such good production values, solid performances, and a fine-tuned script that inventiveness would threaten the recipe and possible diminish a very good film.

Some of the other films I considered include Cairo Time, The Kids Are All Right, Exit Through The Gift Shop, and I Love You Phillip Morris.  But, in the end, none of them could displace the other titles from the list.  Here’s to looking forward to more films in 2011!

*Note:  these are my favorites not necessarily what I consider the “best” films in an Oscar sense.  Those posts will come later in the season!

 

Black Swan – for the first half, I admired the film but was not fully engaged emotionally.  Then, the film really takes off.  Ultimately, the story unfolds the way it must to work as well as it does.  Billed as a “psycho-sexual thriller,” it represents a different genre from Darren Aronofsky’s earlier film The Wrestler (which I love), but even while watching Black Swan, I began to see the two films as bookends.  Both of them are essentially character studies of performers who operate within subcultures, a man and a woman each defined by the practice of his or her art in ways that are ultimately damaging but inescapable for them.  It’s hard to miss, too, the parallel between the endings of these two films.  Yes, I see these films as bookends, and you should simply see them!

True Grit – well, the Cohen Brothers have definitely improved on the original with authentic landscapes (not glossy images of Colorado!) and better actors.  Even with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon turning in convincing performances, it is newcomer Hailee Steinfeld who steals nearly every scene.  This movie feels more conventional than the average Cohen Brothers film, but there’s nothing wrong with a crowd-pleaser when it is this well-crafted.  It’s good to have some films you can take either a parent (as I did) or even a young teenager to see without hesitating.

The Fighter – Wow, David O. Russell makes interesting films, but not since Three Kings have I liked one nearly as much as The Fighter.  The hardscrabble existence and complicated family dynamics of these characters seem fresh, the boxing tale is invigorated (much as the genre was with Million Dollar Baby), and Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale are terrific as brothers in this story based on actual events.  The entire cast is wonderful, but I have to single out Melissa Leo as their mother, Alice Ward.  I love watching her work.  I also like the style of the film…and the script…and, well, just about everything.

The King’s Speech – what’s not to like about Colin Firth as the King and Helena Bonham Carter as the young version of the Queen Mum, especially when we also get to see that the royals have foibles (and worse) just like the rest of us?  Actually, this is not a love story; it’s a friendship story.  Before he becomes King George VI, Firth’s character meets an eccentric Australian, played by Geoffrey Rush, who is hired to help his famous client overcome a stammer, or, as we would put it, stuttering.  In the process, the men eventually become friends.  Like The Fighter, this film is based on real people and actual events.  The King’s Speech is a period picture without any surprises but with plenty of pomp, some wartime drama, and great actors.

 

I got the chance to turn the tables on Denise Franklin by interviewing her about a show we both love.  Catch up if you’re not watching!  The season finale is Monday night, January 10th.

Check this out: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1230/Top-five-movie-trends-and-surprises-of-2010/Based-on-a-true-story

Lots of docs in release…wish they had made more money at the box office.

 

 

I’ve heard a rumor that Snooki is coming to Wake Forest, and I realized that I could not put off watching The Jersey Shore any longer.  MTV obliged me over the weekend with a marathon of episodes of the popular series, but I sort of wish that had not been the case.

Five or so hours of the show (with lots of knitting to keep me sane) revealed more than I ever wanted to know about Snooki and The Situation and the other housemates during their summers in New Jersey and Miami.

Suffice it to say that I won’t be tuning in Thursday for the third season premiere.  I don’t get it.

Or, maybe I do but have progressed beyond the point of needing something like The Jersey Shore to make me feel better about myself.  Years ago, when I was going through a difficult time in my life, I used to watch The Jerry Springer Show many Friday mornings.

I’m not proud of this, but watching the show once a week reminded me that no matter how awful certain challenges made me feel, lots of people had bigger problems to deal with and few resources for dealing with them.

It was a silly, short-term crutch, and I’m really glad that I don’t need it anymore.  As for The Jersey Shore, I’m not planning to spend any more time with it providing a background for my knitting.

And, I certainly don’t plan to see Snooki when she’s in Winston-Salem.  I realize that it is a student organization that is sponsoring her appearance, and maybe these leaders think it’s a lark, but bringing her to town seems like a reward for really bad behavior and a waste of time and money.

Speaking of bad behavior and superficiality, I also recently watched two episodes of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  Apologies to Kim Richards, whom I met years ago when she was in High Point to shoot a film and who seemed nice enough then, but I don’t get the superficiality of these shows and the fascination of people who watch them over and over again.

I have to agree with my son’s girlfriend who wandered in the room when I was watching some of The Jersey Shore:  “Shows like that make me feel disappointed in the world.”