Odds and Ends

There's a long list of movies I want to see, and haven't seen yet; the rest of my life has been taken up way too much of my time lately.

In the meantime, it's the season of year end movie review lists: "Best of," "Worst of," and all that. I notice that the East Bay Express has an interesting series of articles from their busy band of critics. The Express doesn't stop with a list -- they have dueling lists and big arguments.

Film reviewers are a dime a dozen. There are critics I trust to give every genre a fair shake. Roger Ebert comes to mind -- I don't always agree with him, but he always gives me something to ponder. Mick LaSalle is interesting reading. There are other critics who seem more interested in making snooty statements that boil down to "my taste is better than Everyman's taste, nyah, nyah." I heard enough of that in junior high, thanks.

There are some movies I haven't seen this year that I'm sorry I missed in the theater. Eventually I'll get around to The Terminal, for instance; I may yet catch Being Julia on a big screen. Seeing films on my laptop screen just isn't the same.

In the meantime -- Christmas movies? Linda, we've already disagreed about Bad Santa. My favorite Christmas film is Edward Scissorhands. With all the improbable business, it still carried a sense of wonder that I associate with the best of the season. Can you suggest a favorite Christmas movie, Linda? Anyone out there in the peanut gallery want to nominate their own Best Christmas Movie?