i've been reading up on the critics' favorite films of 2000-09 so i decided to make a list of my own. i'm not going to try to quantify it with a 1, 2, 3... thing. rather, i'll give you my top for each year. then i'll give you a chance to vote on what was your favorite film of the decade. it'll be fun...

2000
Almost Famous
Requiem for a Dream
High Fidelity
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Traffic

2001
LOTR:Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
A Beautiful Mind
Donnie Darko
Vanilla Sky
3000 Miles to Graceland

2002
LOTR: Two Towers
Bowling for Columbine
Monster's Ball
The Pianist
About Schmidt
8 Mile
25th Hour
Punch Drunk Love
The Road to Perdition

2003
LOTR: Return of the King
Lost in Translation
American Splendor
Identity
Thirteen
28 Days Later
Bad Santa
Kill Bill (Volume 1)

2004
Closer
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Passion of the Christ
Sideways
Finding Neverland
Kill Bill (Volume 2)
Shaun of the Dead
Man on Fire
Fahrenheit 9/11
Garden State
Alexander

2005
Sin City
Crash
Constantine
Elizabethtown
Domino
Hustle & Flow
The Jacket

2006
Apocalypto
V for Vendetta
Borat
Clerks II
An Inconvenient Truth
The Illusionist
Little Miss Sunshine
The Fountain
Inside Man

2007
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
No Country for Old Men
300
Alpha Dog
I Am Legend
Sunshine
Across the Universe
August Rush

2008
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Dark Knight
Rock N' Rolla
Slumdog Millionaire


2009
Star Trek
Sunshine Cleaning

admittedly i haven't seen all the films from 2008 or 2009. what o have seen have been pretty lame. i want to like up in the air, and i really didn't like most of what i saw this year. avatar was very visually stimulating (especially in 3d and IMAX) but the story was fucking stupid. sherlock holmes was a major disappointment. i would have liked to see the lovely bones get released for the 2009 awards season. that it didn't makes me wonder if it's shit. we'll see. i've been looking forward to that film for years.

anyway, there is my list by year. it was a challenge, but i narrowed it down to my top ten for the decade. here it is...

LOTR trilogy
Into the Wild
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Closer
The Pianist
Memento
Donnie Darko
Requiem for a Dream
Almost Famous
Kill Bill (1 and 2)

anyway, there you have it. let the debate begin. what's on your top ten list for the decade?

later, if i'm feeling really ambitious, i'll put together a list of the best albums of the decade. that'll be really fun.

finally made it back to michigan. it's -1 farenheit. i can't remember the last time i saw a temperature below zero. it's bitterly cold and i really miss the desert. but here i am, and here i'll be at least through the winter.

i was looking at a map while mixing my theraflu (i'm deathly sick too, but i won't complain about that, because, well, it seems to be a common theme for me lately) and i realised that i made it to 29 states (not counting the district) in 2009. i logged somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty thousand road trip miles. that's an all-time high. 'twas the worst year on record for me, but at least i got around, eh?

anyway, i was in DC yesterday. it was really amazing. my first dev of 2010 will be a statement of sorts. i may get it posted tonight if the drugs don't kick in too soon.

gearing up for the most depressing day of the year next saturday. this one promises to be better than the last couple (not that the bar is very high) so i guess there's that...

other than that, i'm exhausted. just wanted to pop in and say happy new year to everyone.

oh yeah, something fun (or not, we'll see) i signed up for formspring. if you're not familiar, it's one of those 'ask me anything anonymously and i'll answer' sites. so, if there's something you've been dying to know about me, or just want to feed my endless narcissism, pop over and ask me something. i promise to answer anything. so have fun with it. or don't.

well, the drugs are starting to take hold and my eyelids are getting heavy, so i think i'm going to bid you adieu. hope everyone had a safe new year celebration. here's to a better 2010.

be excellent to each other



ajm

wanted to pimp these one last time.

and wish everyone happy holidays.

i'm enjoying florida for the most part.

see you next year...































be excellent to each other.



ajm

so here we are again. it's a thursday morning. and, as anyone who's been around the last few years will tell you, my favorite holiday is upon us. it's thanksgiving here in the states. the day americans get together to drink too much, eat copious amounts of turkey, watch football and, hopefully, take at least a little time to think about the things they're thankful for.

so happy thanksgiving. enjoy your tryptophan overdoses and don't drink and drive for christ's sake. hug your family. enjoy them, they're not always going to be there.

meanwhile, i'm going to spend the holidays with family for the first time in many years. that's what i'm most thankful for. i've wandered this world and been everywhere else on occasions like this. it's nice to be here. it's nice to choose to be here.

i'm also thankful for all of you out there in the box(my computer). you've made it a good year even though it's easily been the worst of my life. so thanks for you and to you.

and for all of you that don't live in the box, a special thank you. especially the new ones i've met over this year. you guys are great.

past that, i won't give yo a list of what i'm not thankful for (it's been a rough year). i'll just wrap this. enjoy your thursday boys and girls.

be excellent to each other



ajm

yellow bird flying
gets shot in the wing
good year for hunters
and christmas parties
and i hate and i hate
and i hate and i hate
elevator music
the way we fight
the way i'm left here silent

oh these little earthquakes
here we go again
these little earthquakes
doesn't take much to rip us into pieces

we danced in graveyards
with vampires till dawn
we laughed in the faces of kings
never afraid to burn
and i hate and i hate
and i hate and i hate
disintegration
watching us wither
black winged roses that safely changed their color

oh these little earthquakes
here we go again
these little earthquakes
doesn't take much to rip us into pieces

i can't reach you
i can't reach you

give me life
give me pain
give me myself again

oh these little earthquakes
here we go again
these little earthquakes
doesn't take much to rip us into pieces

--tori