You’d be forgiven at the moment for thinking we were nearing the end of a decade. The interwebs have been awash of late with more countdowns, best ofs, top tens and general reminiscences of the 2000’s then you could poke a digital stick at. Suddenly everybody is a critic, and while some of the countdowns have been insightful and thought-provoking, others have been….well, like this one. For the nostalgic, these countdowns are practically memory-heaven. But for those who don’t buy into that sort of stuff, it gets a little tiring. So, what better than to list some of the best (and worst) ‘best-of’ lists currently clogging up cyber-space?

Pitchfork: P2K

Over the past months American music site Pitchfork have taken an in-depth look at the decade in music. Way back in the dark ages of 2001 the site barely existed, but since then has grown to be one of the most formidable online music news and reviews sites on the net. Not only does P2K count down the best albums, songs and music videos, it also features a series of essays detailing some of the more interesting developments in music over the past ten years. Of particular note is the ‘Decade in Indie’ and the social history of the mp3.

Highlights
Best Album: Radiohead- Kid A
Best Song: Outkast- B.O.B.

Paste Magazine: The 25 best Album Covers

Slightly more obscure is Paste magazine’s countdown of the best album covers. It has been argued that as digital sales boom and physical CD sales decline, the quality of modern album art is going steadily downhill (as this cover would seem to prove). Regardless, Paste have put together an interesting countdown, which includes the likes of The Flaming Lips, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire and Lil Wayne. Whoever decided to award Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone cover as number 1 though needs to go back and re-take primary school art classes.

Highlights
Number 1: Neko Case- Middle Cyclone
Number 2: Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavilion (and rightly so)

The A.V. Club: The 30 best TV Shows

The problem with critics is often that their views on what is ‘good’ differs from the majority of the viewing public. Which is a shame, but it’s also the reason why most of the shows on the A.V. Club’s list of best TV shows of the decade have either ended or been cancelled. Still, it’s a formidable list. The top 3 (The Wire, Arrested Development and the Sopranos) are undoubtedly some of the finest productions since television’s inception, let alone in this decade. Other notable shows include Mad Men, Lost and The West Wing, just scraping in at number 30. The best part of this countdown though is the shitfight in the comments as to what constitutes a ‘decade’. Hilarious.

Highlights
Number 1: The Wire
Number 15: Veronica Mars
Number 22: Six Feet Under

News.com.au: Moment of the Decade

Oh, News.com.au. Purveyor of fine, quality journalism. Not content with simply telling Middle Australia what the best bits of the noughties were, good old Rupert has gone and encouraged everyone to name their own favourites! For anyone that’s ever read the comments to any article on the site, that should be enough to click your way on over. In case you need any more incentive though, today’s category is ‘Killers, Haters, Tools: Choose the Villian of the decade’. Apparently Kyle Sandilands and John Mayer are in the same league as Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Who would have thought? The fun doesn’t stop there. Oh no siree, it doesn’t. For you creative types, you can even have a go at naming what the next decade should be called! An issue of utmost importance, of course. Seriously, the sooner this site becomes paid-only, the better.

Lowlights
Pop Culture
Money
Sex & Life
…actually, just spend a good 15 minutes trawling through the site. It’ll make your day.

Times Online: The 100 Best Movies of the Noughties

Slightly more classy news outlet Times Online went all out and counted down the top 100 cinematic releases of the decade. With everything from political drama Milk to Roman-epic Gladiator to comedy Knocked Up, the list does well to cater for everyone…up until the odd choice of The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum at number 2 (So really it should have been the best 101 movies). And Team America World Police in the top 5? You must be joking.

In Brief
Number 1: Hidden
Number 16: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Number 34: Finding Nemo
Number 64: Anchorman

Well that’s about it. Some of the best (and worst) countdowns of the best (and worst) things to happen in the noughties. Of course, a quick google search will reveal thousands more best-ofs then the ones here. But really, is there much point? When it comes down to it, who gets to decide that Franz Ferdinand is better than Hot Chip? Or that Monsters, Inc. deserves to place ahead of Pan’s Labyrinth?

Perhaps the best countdown of the decade should go to Hungry Beast. They look at the ten best years of the 2000’s. You can check that out here.

]]> http://schwadegan.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/shooter/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:33:39 +0000 Schwadegan http://schwadegan.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/shooter/

Vad gör jag när det varken finns några spännande filmer eller rykande färska nedladdningar hemma? Jo, då slår jag på kanal 6 och finner att Shooter med Mark Wahlberg precis rullat igång. Trots att jag nog alltid i bakhuvudet tyckt att detta verkade vara en spännande film har det inte blivit av  att jag sett den. Gosse vilken actionrökare jag gått miste om! Har väldigt svårt smälta Bourne Ultimatum-filmerna med samma skådespelare i huvudrollen men här känns Mark mer trovärdig, rakt på sak där en enkel dialog till förmån för mera pang-pang verkar vara rätt medicin.

Welcome to Tennessee,
patriot state of shootin’ stuff.

Alla har säkert sett en spännande film och tänkt precis i slutet; “attans, nu när det börjar bli bra”. Shooter börjar precis där andra filmer slutar – på topp. Och tro det eller ej men kvalitén bibehålls ända tills den sista scenen är förbi tack vare intressanta intriger och svängningar i storyn.

I can’t resist linking to this provocative list of ’the best movies’ of the Noughties. There will be thousands of such lists over the next seven weeks as we see the decade out, but anyone who knows me just a little bit will know that I would rather argue about films than most other things.

It’s great to see first place taken by Austrian auteur Michael Haneke (for Hidden), and second place by Paul Greengrass (for his two populist Bourne thrillers) – as if to say that both Hollywood and the arthouse can achieve cinematic greatness.

But it’s hard to take the list seriously when one of the worst films of the decade – Bond’s relaunch in Casino Royale – comes in at number eight…

Es divertido cuando uno está cansado de ver basura en la cartelera de cine y de repente uno le empieza a hacer fuerza a sólo una oportunidad que pueda salvar la semana, la quincena o incluso el mes. Y cuando llega el momento no importa si es terror, comedia, súper comercial, romantica, thriller, una basura de pulp fiction o una peli clásica de alemanes.

Desde los cortos de la peli, desde que escuché por pimera vez el marcado acento sureño de Brad Pitt, desde que supe que era la última peli de Tarantino, desde que supe que el tema iba a ser de alemanes, desde que vi por primera vez ese Hitler rídiculo, tuve muchas ganas de ver Inglorious Basterds.

Esta peli hecha en 2009, es la continuación de una muy buena peli, Death Proof de la cual ya se hablé  en entradas anterioes y la cual nos sorprendió por su ridícula trama y su excelente musicalización barata. Bueno los basterdos es una peli narrada en capítulos (como le encanta a Tarantino) sobre el final de los tiempos nazis en una Francia invadida por alemanes del Tercer Reich.

No tiene un reparto muy reconocido, por lo menos para mí. Shosanna Dreyfus es una actriz francesa llamada Mélanie Laurent que apenas reconozco de una peli llamada Paris del año pasado y donde interpretó a una deliciosa estudiante enamorada de su profesor casi tres veces mayor que ella, Daniel Brühl un sobresaliente actor alemán que lo reconocemos por Good Bye Lenin! en 2003 o Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei (mejor conocida como Los Edukadores o The Edukators) de pasando incluso por Hollywood como el hermano de Marie en la franquicia de los Bourne. Obviamente, Brad Pitt y la linda Diane Kruger de algunas pelis de Jerry Bruckheimer. De pronto se me escapa el fugaz Mike Myers con un disfraz burlesco pero nadie más. El resto son medianamente conocidos hasta completamente ignorados. Sin embargo que buen el papel de esos alemanes. Que sobresaliente que es Goebbels interpretado por Sylvester Groth, que grandioso que es el Hitler de Martin Wuttke con su ínfima casi impotente imagen, que fuerte y aterrador que es este Hans Landa de Christoph Waltz y su forma siniestra de cazar judíos. Qué reparto logró Tarantino. Qué reparto y que bien desenvuelto. No hubo mayores sobreactuaciones y las que existieron fueron bien encauzadas. Muy buena dirección. Casi que la mejor que ha hecho desde Jackie Brown o Pulp Fiction.

La naturaleza de la ultraviolencia es un toque más personal que algo sobresaliente. Aunque debo decir que desde Kill Bill, en sus dos volúmenes, la ultraviolencia, el gore, lastimosamente, han disminuído un poco, en los basterdos siento pinceladas de una caligrafía maestral. Chorros de sangre sólo en los momentos más especiales, gritos de sufrimiento cuando en realidad se necesitaba y un par de escenas realmente grotescas que aportan mucho carácter a la obra.

La peli tiene una connotación de invención en su desenlace y le quita un poco de realismo a lo que veníamos observando pero por dios qué buen nudo y qué buen desenlace.

Es imposible no amar a Brad Pitt en Snatch de Guy Ritchie en 2000, es imposible no amarlo aqui con esa pasión para matar nazis combinado con esa facción Apache (mitad nativo como el mismo Tarantino que casi entonces logra una oda egocéntrica hacia un héroe creado entorno su misma naturaleza) y su sello de coleccionar cabelleras, en fin, es muy dificil explicar esa empatía. Sin embargo quien vaya a ver la peli y entienda lo bien que está desarrollado el tema de Hitler se dará cuenta que no hay un papel más sobresaliente que él o su enano artista que me imagino fue escogido por el mismo führer para que se viera más grande de lo que era, mientras que  Tarantino se encarnizó en hacerlo genialmente más y más ínfimo (con picados, contraplanos a un inmenso mural, ropas extrañamente pesadas que lo hacían sentir incomodamente minúsculo).

No quiero dañar la peli, no quiero llenarlos de demasiadas expectativas, aunque deben saberlo me la voy a repetir apenas pueda.

So my roommates watched the Bourne Ultimatum the other night.  I didn’t watch all of it, nor can I remember the other Bourne movies very well (I have horrible movie memory), but I did watch long enough to get to the subway scene.  Ok, so I’m sure some of my understanding of the movie is off since I didn’t watch all of it, but I did draw a very interesting parallel to our relationship with God in the subway scene.

Here’s some of the background.  Jason Bourne goes to find this guy Simon Ross who is a reporter.  It seems that Ross doesn’t really know that much about what’s going on, but Bourne knows that Ross has some important information for him.  Bourne also knows that Ross is being watched by the CIA and that his life is in danger.  At the beginning of the clip, the CIA does not know that Bourne is there.  Here’s the clip!

here

There’s more to that clip though.  If you don’t want to know how that scene ended, skip this paragraph.  So after the CIA realizes that it’s Bourne, they try to kill both Ross and Bourne.  Bourne and Ross eventually split ways, and Bourne calls Ross again to direct him to where he needs to go.  Ross ends up being behind a door in the station, and not in plain view from the cameras in the subway.  Bourne starts to realize that something’s up, so he tells Ross over the phone to stay behind the door.  The whole time, a guy is ready to shoot Ross once he comes out of the door.  Bourne keeps telling him to wait, but Ross says that he can make a run for it.  Ross then begins to get paranoid because he thinks someone is coming (he’s obviously not cut out for this high-intensity type of situation) and ends up making his own decision out of fear (again), so he opens the door and steps out quickly.  The dude who was watching from up above shoots Ross in the head and he dies instantly.

What I noticed was that Bourne had this amazing ability to think fast and to protect Ross.  Bourne knew where every bad guy was in the subway station.  Bourne could see exactly where Ross was even when Ross couldn’t see him.  Basically, Ross just had to follow the sound of Bourne’s voice, and he would have been safe.

Point 1.  Bourne understood the danger of the situation so much more than Ross did.  At one point, (not in the clip I don’t think), Bourne even has to tell Ross something like  ”this isn’t one of your news reports.  This is real.”  He also was fully aware of everything that was going on.

Point 2.  Bourne was skilled enough to beat up EVERY bad guy that came after Ross.  He appeared at all the right times, and saved Ross’ butt.

Point 3.  Even when Ross freaked out with thinking that the garbage guy was out to get him, Bourne was able to think fast, step in, and give Ross new directions to save his life. Bourne told Ross “do not deviate” from the path he told him to be on, but he did and put his life in danger.

Now for the religious parallels.  Think of Matt Damon as God (not in real life though, and neither is Alanis Morissette.)  In similar ways, God sits outside of the evil around us.  He can see our every path, he sees the ones that lead to destruction and he sees the ones that lead to safety.  He wants to protect us at all costs.  However, we freak out under pressure the way that Simon Ross did.  He was unfamiliar with this type of dangerous setting it seems, and he became very scared.  His fear caused him to act on impulse and to trust his own instincts, which was harmful to him because he really didn’t see all of the facts clearly.  Bourne knew where ALL the bad guys were, so it was just a lack of faith in Ross because he himself could not see them there.

The parallel breaks down because God is not just trying to get information out of us and manipulate us for his own purposes.  He is, however, protecting us every step of the way and the only one wise enough to guide our steps.  Maybe ask yourself this week about the way you make decisions.  Do we make decisions based on impulse, based on fear, based on convenience?  Or do we trust God’s discernment even when we are in a tough situation and want to take the easy way out.  Remember too, that just as Ross stepped out of line and “deviated,” God can step in and clean up after our mistakes.  Even though Ross put himself in danger by his bad move, Bourne came in and protected him, even to the point where he then put his own life in danger by getting found out.  (“That’s Jason Bourne.”)

“All we, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Is. 53:6

“The watchmen opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” John 10:3,4

Did I mention that I’ve been learning about sheep?

Filmomslag så lika att man kunde tro att det handlar om Finn fem fel...!

Två omslag till två filmer, eller…? Eller en mycket lat filmaffischskapare? Eller en jävligt dålig film som inte innehåller en endaste sevärd frame?

Gladiator, de Lord of the Rings trilogie, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Dark Knight en Slumdog Millionaire. Iedereen kent ze wel, deze blockbusters uit de 21e eeuw die de verwachtingen meer dan waarmaakte.

Er is echter veel meer. Sinds de eeuwwisseling zijn er namelijk ook heel wat prachtige films gemaakt die niet massaal in de bioscoop zijn verschenen en die nog steeds consequent over het hoofd worden gezien. De komende elf weken zal ik aftellen van 16 naar 1 voor de beste onbekende pareltjes van de 21e eeuw. Deze week de nummer 10: Once

Eens in de zoveel tijd stuit je op een prachtige film waarvan je het bestaan slechts bij toeval hebt ontdekt. Geen grootse marketingcampagnes of een enorm aantal uitgebrachte kopieën, maar een film die enkel in wat kleine achterafzaaltjes in de grote steden van het land draaide. Once was zo’n film.

Once is nog het best te typeren als een moderne musical. Let wel, een moderne. Wie echter de film ingaat met in zijn acherhoofd door de hele cast gezongen liedjes en gesynchroniseerde dansacts zal zeker bedrogen uitkomen. Want Once mag dan technisch gezien misschien wel het meest weg hebben van een musical, in de praktijk moet de film het juist hebben van zijn realisme en intieme karakter.

Once gaat in het kort over een straatmuzikant die in Dublin parttime bijklust in de stofzuigerwinkel van zijn vader en over een Oost Europese immigrante die als schoonmaakster in een villawijk werkt. Beide hebben maar één echt passie en dat is muziek maken. Hij droomt van een platencontract en zij zou niets liever willen dan piano spelen.

Een clichéverhaal ligt met een dergelijke plot op de loer, maar Once bewijst maar weer eens dat een standaard plot nog geen standaard film hoeft op te leveren. Once is een film die uitblinkt in eenvoud en die het voor een groot deel van haar muziek moet hebben. Dat wordt nog eens benadrukt doordat je gedurende de hele film geen idee hebt hoe de hoofdrolspelers nu eigenlijk heten. De essentie is dat twee mensen met een passie voor muziek elkaar ontmoeten in de straten van Dublin en dat moet maar genoeg zijn. Gelukkig is het dat ook.

Een film zoals Once, waarin muziek een dermate grote rol speelt, staat of valt daar natuurlijk met die muziek en datgene wat de hoofdrolspelers ermee doen. Ze moeten acteertalemt en muzikaal talent met elkaar zien te verenigen. Dat regisseur John Carney uiteindelijk bij een zanger uitkwam voor de hoofdrol is daarom niet verrassend. Dat deze rol door de zanger en gitarist van de band The Frames (Glen Hansard) wordt vertolkt is dat wel enigszins. Hansard, die buiten een rolletje in The Commitments nog weinig acteerervaring heeft, blijkt echter al snel de enige juiste keuze. De door zichzelf geschreven en gezongen liedjes geven de film precies die intieme sfeer en dat gevoel wat Once tot een bijzondere ervaring maakt. Zijn partner in crime Markéta Irglová is al even goed op dreef. De twee lijken gedurende de film elkaars muzikale talenten steeds beter kennen en weten zich op deze manier tot één geheel te versmelten. Met als absoluut hoogtepunt de scène in een muziekwinkel.

Ook als personage weten de twee hoofdrolspelers meer dan te imponeren. Ze weten te overtuigen als duo dat synchroon aan de muziek ook op persoonlijk vlak steeds verder naar elkaar toegroeit. Waarschijnlijk heeft de relatie die tussen Hansard en Irglová tijdens het filmen ontstond hierin een grote rol gespeeld. John Carney moet beseft hebben dat hij goud in handen had met deze opbloeiende romance want zijn manier van filmen is er één zonder overdreven opsmuk of andere trucjes. De puurheid straalt er vanaf en meer heeft de film ook niet nodig om misschien wel een van de beste films van 2007 te worden.

Is er dan niets aan te merken op Once? Eigenlijk niet nee. Of het moet zijn dat het alleen nog mogelijk is om de film op dvd te kijken. In een achterafzaaltje in een bioscoop zonder eigenlijk te weten wat er nu precies gaat komen zal er helaas niet meer inzitten. Maar ook onder andere omstandigheden houdt Once zich makkelijk staande en blijkt het een van die vergeten pareltjes uit 2006.

Eis om in deze lijst te komen was dat een film minder dat 50.000 stemmen op IMDB had. Vanwege deze regel heb ik helaas Mulholland Drive, Magnolia, Garden State, The Wrestler en The Fountain nipt buiten de lijst moeten houden. Deze pareltjes hier nog even noemen kan echter nooit kwaad. Ook staan er geen documentaires in de lijst waardoor Young @ Heart ontbreekt.

Re-Recording Mixers Scott Millan and David Parker have recently completed two film projects on Stage 2 at Todd-AO West, G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA and FUNNY PEOPLE. FUNNY PEOPLE, directed by Judd Apatow, is scheduled for a July 31st release by Universal Pictures. Directed by Stephen Sommers, G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA is slated for release August 7th by Paramount Pictures.

Sound Editorial services for G.I. JOE were provided by Soundelux. Supervising Sound Editors were Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers.
Millan, Parker, Baker Landers and Hallberg all received Academy Awards in 2007 for THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM. Millan is a 4-time Oscar winner. Parker and Hallberg have won two Oscars. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM was Baker Landers’ first Oscar.

Makeup Master Rick Baker getting "choked" by Benicio Del Toro

Carl DiOrio – HollywoodReporter.com

Universal’s embattled film execs Tuesday newly scheduled several films for release slots, but that potentially positive move came with a downbeat footnote: The studio also bounced “The Wolfman” out of the current fiscal year.

Universal said the “Wolfman” postponement — to Feb. 12 from a previous Nov. 6 release date — was due in part to visual effects work that’s likely to stretch deep into the fall. That would prevent several key scenes from being available for the pic’s marketing campaign, though a trailer from the Benicio Del Toro starrer is set to hit theaters Aug. 21.

“Wolfman” is now slotted for the four-day Presidents Day frame, which also features the Valentine’s Day holiday on Feb. 14. Four other wide releases are also scheduled for the lucrative session: Disney’s 3D rerelease of “Beauty and the Beast”; Summit Entertainment drama “Remember Me,” starring Robert Pattinson (“Twilight”); Warner Bros.’ romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day,” starring Jessica Biel and Bradley Cooper; and Fox’s adventure fantasy “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.”

The move from fall to winter positions “Wolfman” to kick-start Universal’s boxoffice season by giving the studio an early tentpole release. But the high-profile pic’s delay also denies Uni’s corporate parents GE and NBC Universal revenue from a potential hit in a boxoffice year that’s seen the studio mired in market share mediocrity, with its most recent theatrical release “Bruno” underperforming and June tentpole “Land of the Lost” failing utterly.

Uni placed “The Fourth Kind” — a modestly budgeted thriller recently acquired from Gold Circle Films — into the Nov. 6 slot vacated by “Wolfman.”

Uni gained another big first-quarter release by newly slotting for March 12 a CIA thriller tentatively titled “Green Zone,” which reteams “Bourne Ultimatum” director Paul Greengrass and topliner Matt Damon. And the studio tagged its sci-fi thriller “Repo Men” — formerly titled “The Reposession Mambo” — as an unslotted first-quarter release.

In other moves, Rogue Pictures’ comedy “MacGruber” is now set for release on April 16, and the Judd Apatow-produced laugher “Get Him to the Greek” is set for June 11. Uni marketing and distribution president Adam Fogelson said he was particularly pleased with slotting “Greek” on a date corresponding to the June launch pad for this summer’s R-rated comedy blockbuster “The Hangover.”

“We think we have a real winner of a movie,” Fogelson said.

Another early summer tentpole — Universal’s Robin Hood adventure starring Russell Crowe — remains slotted for May 14.

June 20, 2009

 We’re watching Bourne Ultimatum and this is how Carnivore works, I cannot believe they made a movie about this.  This guy is about to die.  He just isn’t smart enough to get away from the CIA, and that is just too bad.  He isn’t as smart as Bourne.  I don’t feel good about this reporter and I don’t feel good about how the CIA treats people in any part of the world.  Let’s face it, I don’t like how America treats people.  But this is a such a good movie, I wonder if the CIA has ever done one good thing. Well, one thing I can say… David Strathairn makes me weak at the knees, I could just stand looking at him.  Oh, David… you are my man.  Forget Matt Damon, I’m sorry Matt. 

This is how Carnivore works.  He said “Blackbriar.”  He was dead within an hour.

A selection of favourites – of films so immaculately crafted and executed, a mark of excellence… although several of these filmmakers have numerous films to their credit, I have selected the film that stood out for me as perfectly sculpted. They are not chosen for being serious dramas, or alternative art – infact they are not chosen for their genre – the craft of the director lies in the translation of the story onto screen – and even action films take a certain depth of skill to pull off. This list is my way of applauding the director:

Al Pacino for Looking for Richard

Alexander Witt for Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Alex Proyas for The Crow

Alfred Hitchcock for North by Northwest

Andrew Davis for Under Siege

Andrew Niccol for Gattaca

Andrew Stanton for Wall-E

Andy Tennant for Anna and the King

Ang Lee for Hulk

Antoine Fuqua for Training Day

Bahman Ghobadi for Turtles Can Fly

Barry Levinson for Good Morning Vietnam

Barry Sonnenfeld for Get Shorty

Betty Thomas for Only You

Blake Edwards for The Party

Boaz Yakin for Remember the Titans

Bobcat Goldthwait for World’s Greatest Dad

Brad Bird for Ratatouille

Bress-Gruber for The Butterfly Effect

Brian De Palma for Scarface

Bryan Singer for X-Men

Cameron Crowe for Jerry Maguire

Cecil B. DeMille for Samson and Delilah

Chris Columbus for Rent

Chris Noonan for Babe

Christian Duguay for The Assignment

Christophe Gans for Silent Hill

Christopher Nolan for The Prestige

Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby

Coen Brothers for Intolerable Cruelty

Craig Brewer for Black Snake Moan

Curtis Hanson for 8 Mile

Danny Boyle for Sunshine

Danny DeVito for Death to Smoochy

Darren Aronofsky for The Fountain

David Cronenberg for Dead Ringers

David Frankel for The Devil Wears Prada

David Fincher for Fight Club

David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia

David Twohy for Chronicles of Riddick

Donald Petrie for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Doug Liman for Mr & Mrs Smith

Ed Harris for Pollock

Edward Zwick for The Last Samurai

F Gary Gray for Friday

Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck for The Lives of Others

Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather

Francis Lawrence for Constantine

Frank Coraci for The Waterboy

Frank Darabont for The Shawshank Redemption

Frank Oz for Housesitter

Fred Schepisi for Fierce Creatures

Gary Ross for Seabiscuit

George Miller for Mad Max II

Gil Junger for 10 Things I Hate About You

Gregory Hoblit for Primal Fear

Guy Ritchie for Revolver

Gore Verbinski for Pirates of the Caribbean

Gordon Chan for Fist of Legend

Harold Ramis for Groundhog Day

Iain Softley for K-Pax

Ivan Reitman for Dave

James Cameron for Terminator II

James L Brooks for As Good As It Gets

Jason Reitman for Thank You For Smoking

Jean-Paul Rappeneau for Cyrano De Bergerac

Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Amelie

Jeremy Sims for Last Train to Freo

Jesse Dylan for American Wedding

Jessica Bendinger for Stick It

JJ Abrams for Mission Impossible III

Joe Johnston for Hidalgo

Joel Schumacher for The Number 23

John Cassavetes for A Woman Under the Influence

John Dahl for Rounders

John Frankenheimer for Ronin

John G. Avildsen for Karate Kid II

John Hughes for The Breakfast Club

John Landis for Coming To America

John McTiernan for Hunt for Red October

John Woo for Paycheck

Jon Amiel for Sommersby

Jon Favreau for Iron Man

Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs

Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves

Kevin Macdonald for Touching the Void

Kevin Smith for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Kurt Wimmer for Ultraviolet

Larry Charles for Bruno

Lawrence Kasdan for French Kiss

Len Wiseman for Underworld

Liz Friedlander for Take the Lead

Luc Besson for The Professional

Mark Forster for Stranger Than Fiction

Marlon Brando for One-Eyed Jacks

Martin Brest for Scent of a Woman

Martin Scorsese for The Last Temptation of Christ

Martin Campbell for Casino Royale

Matthew Vaughn for Layer Cake

Meirelles-Lund for City of God

Mel Gibson for Braveheart

Michael Almereyda for Hamlet

Michael Bay for The Island

Michael Mann for The Insider

Michel Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Mike Figgis for Leaving Las Vegas

Mike Nichols for Primary Colors

Milos Forman for Man on the Moon

Miranda July for Me And You And Everyone We Know

M Night Shyamalan for Lady in the Water

Nancy Meyers for What Women Want

Neveldine-Taylor for Crank

Nicholas Ray for King of Kings

Nicholas Stoller for Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Oliver Stone for Any Given Sunday

Pan Nalin for Valley of Flowers

Paul Anderson for Event Horizon

Paul Greengrass for The Bourne Ultimatum

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood

Paul Verhoeven for Robocop

Peter Brook for The Mahabharata

Peter Weir for Dead Poet’s Society

Phil Alden Robinson for Sneakers

Phillip Noyce for The Saint

Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill

Reginald Hudlin for The Great White Hype

Richard Attenborough for Gandhi

Richard Curtis for Love Actually

Richard Donner for Maverick

Richard Loncraine for Wimbledon

Ridley Scott for Gladiator

Rob Reiner for A Few Good Men

Robert Altman for Gosford Park

Robert Rodriguez for Desperado

Robert Wise for The Sound of Music

Robert Zemeckis for Forrest Gump

Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful

Roger Donaldson for Thirteen Days

Roger Spottiswoode for The 6th Day

Roland Emmerich for The Patriot

Ron Howard for Ransom

Ron Shelton for Tin Cup

Rowdy Herrington for Gladiator

Sam Mendes for American Beauty

Sam Raimi for The Quick and the Dead

Scott Hicks for Shine

Sergei M. Eisenstein for Que Viva Mexico

Sidney Lumet for Network

Simon West for Con Air

Spike Jonze for Adaptation

Stacy Title for The Last Supper

Stanley Kubrick for A Clockwork Orange

Stephen Chow for Shaolin Soccer

Stephen Sommers for Van Helsing

Steven Spielberg for Schindler’s List

Steven Soderbergh for Ocean’s Eleven

Tarsem Singh for The Cell

Taylor Hackford for Ray

Terry George for Hotel Rwanda

Terry Gilliam for The Fisher King

Tim Burton for Batman Returns

Timur Bekmambetov for Wanted

Tom Shadyac for Patch Adams

Tom Vaughan for What Happens In Vegas

Tony Kaye for American History X

Tony Scott for Deja Vu

Vincent Ward for What Dreams May Come

Wachowski Brothers for The Matrix

Walter Hill for Last Man Standing

Warren Beatty for Bulworth

William Friedkin for 12 Angry Men

Wolfgang Petersen for Outbreak

Woody Allen for Deconstructing Harry

Xavier Gens for Hitman

Zack Snyder for 300

A special mention must be made for the following directors whose visions are so illumined that they have more than once delivered works par excellence:

1 Michael Mann – The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004)

2 Michael Bay – Bad Boys (1995), The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), Bad Boys II (2003), The Island (2005), Transformers (2007)

3 John McTiernan – Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), Hunt For Red October (1990), Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

4 Steven Spielberg – Amblin’ (1968),  Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Always (1989), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler’s List (1993), The Lost World (1997), Amistad (1997), Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Munich (2005)

5 Tony Scott – Top Gun (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), Enemy of the State (1998), Spy Game (2001), Man on Fire (2004), Deja Vu (2006)

6 Stephen Sommers – The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004)

7 Ridley Scott – Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), G.I.Jane (1997), Gladiator (2000), Hannibal (2001), A Good Year (2006), American Gangster (2007)

8 Len Wiseman – Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Die Hard 4.0: Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

9 Robert Zemeckis – Romancing the Stone (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Pt II & III (1989-90), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004)

10 Luc Besson – Leon: The Professional (1994), The Fith Element (1997), Angel-A (2005)

11 Danny Boyle – Transpotting (1996), The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

12 James Cameron – The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), True Lies (1994), Titanic (1997)

13 Christopher Nolan – Memento (2000), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Night (2008)

14 Bryan Singer – The Usual Suspects (1995), X-Men (2000), X2 (2003)

15 Terry Gilliam – Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Tideland (2005)

16 Wolfgang Petersen – In the Line of Fire (1993), Outbreak (1995), Air Force One (1997), Troy (2004)

17 Robert Rodriguez – Desperado (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), Sin City (2005)

18 Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven (1992), A Perfect World (1993), Million Dollar Baby (2004)

19 Rob Reiner – Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), The American President (1995)

20 Christophe Gans – Necronomicon (1993), Crying Freeman (1995), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Silent Hill (2006)

21 Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather (1972), Godfather Pt II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), Dracula (1992), The Rainmaker (1997)

22 Brian De Palma – Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987), Carlito’s Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000)

23 Richard Donner – The Omen (1976), Superman (1978), The Goonies (1985), Maverick (1994), Assassins (1995), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

24 Alex Proyas – The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998), I, Robot (2004), Knowing (2009)

25 Frank Darabont – The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), The Majestic (2001)

26 Roland Emmerich – Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), The Patriot (2000)

27 Barry Levinson – Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Rain Man (1988), Disclosure (1994), Wag the Dog (1997)

TOP 10 HIDDEN GEMS – Some mindblowing films you’ve probably never seen:

1. The Assignment
2. The Last Supper
3. Bulworth
4. Hidalgo
5. 13 Days
6. Outbreak
7. The Insider
8. Turtles Can Fly
9. Any Given Sunday
10. Me And You And Everyone We Know

Head Cases & Stolen Bases

I thought I’d do something fun this time around: head cases and stolen bases. Why? Because there’s nothing like a good old fashion head case! Oh yeah, and stolen bases are fun too.

Head Cases       

J.D. Drew 

As a Dodgers fan, I think J.D. Drew is the anti-Christ. As a fantasy player, he’s annoying injury bug with an goatee that’s too well trimmed. J.D. sucks. Don’t draft him. Ever!

Milton Bradley

As a Dodgers fan, I think Milton is just a little loopy. That’s okay because Milton can hit. Now Milton’s pitting his crazy against Lou Piniella’s insanity with the Cubs. Crazy is as crazy does.

Manny Ramirez

Manny being Manny is as Manny as Manny could want it. That’s right. Welcome to Mannywood.

Stolen Bases    

3. Michael Bourn

Don’t sleep on the Bourn Identity. For soon you will find yourself with a Bourn Ultimatum if Michael becomes the Bourn Supremacy. 

2. Willy Taveras

Willy stole so many bases last year but nobody seemed to really notice. Probably because Taveras ain’t so hot at the plate. At 68 stolen bases, he’s worth a spot on the bench.

1. Jose Reyes

Jose can flat out fly. He can all flat out hit, steal bases, get doubles, triples and runs. Jose is fantasy baseball.