Film Comment Names "Wendy and Lucy" Best Film

My favorite cinema magazine "Film Comment" has named its top 50 films of 2008. The voters included my good friend Bilge Ebiri and many other respected film critics, including Amy Taubin, Nathan Lee, Godfrey Chesire, Wesley Morris and Mark Olsen among many others.

Here are the top ten films as chosen by "Film Comment." The critics chose "Wendy and Lucy" (pictured) as the best film. Needless to say many of these films, with the exception of "Wall-E" have not played in towns like Burlington, NC, or Danville, Va. The *s indicate films I have seen:


1. "Wendy and Lucy" (dir. Kelly Reichardt)

2. "Flight of the Red Balloon" (Taiwan/France, dir. Hou Hsia-hsien)

3. "A Christmas Tale" (France- Arnaud Desplechin)

4. "Happy-Go-Lucky" (dir. Mike Leigh)*

5. "WALL-E" (dir. Andrew Stanton)*

6. "Still Life" (China, dir. Jia Zhiang-ke)

7. "Paranoid Park" (dir. Gus Van Sant)

8. "Waltz with Bashir" (Israel, dir. Ari Folman)

9. "My Winnipeg" (Guy Maddin)

10. "Milk" (Gus Van Sant)

Cereals of Our Youth- Captain Crunch

Your dentist's personal favorite (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Cereals of Our Youth- Post Honey Comb

I haven't had this cereal in a good 25 years, but I presume it's still on the shelf!

Celebrity Birthday- Rowan Atkinson is 54

Our first celebrity birhtday of the year is Rowan Atkinson, best known for being "Mr. Bean" and for that role as a quirky minister in "Four Weddings and a Funeral."

He is 54 today.

Quote of the Week- David Bowie

"I've always had a repulsive need to be something more than human."


David Bowie's 1986 film "Labyrinth" will be shown at the Carousel Cinema in Greensboro, NC, on Wed., Jan.7 (coincidentally, a day before Bowie's birthday). For more details, check out the blog themovieshow.blogspot.com

My friend Joe Scott arranged the special screening.

We have a quote from Bowie's "Dancing in the Street" co-star Mick Jagger on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

First Line of a Novel (4 of 11) from Nick Hornby

Since the electric bills for those front-yard Christmas lights come in January, this month is reportedly notorious for higher suicide rates.

Hence, we are including the first line of Nick Hornby's 2005 novel "A Long Way Down," which consists of character who each want to 'exit stage left,' as our latest entry in this series:

"Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?"

In order to avoid a lawsuit from Mr. Hornby, which might lead to me standing on a ledge, I advise you to read the other 333 pages yourself.

And, if you are actually considering suicide, there is always save.org

Hopefully, someone there can help you more than I could!

Lastly, the image used in this entry is from the classic Harold Lloyd film "Safety Last." It is quite funny, and perhaps if you are very depresses, you should consider adding it to your Netflix que!

Hmmm....that reminds me a dvd of the Nazi Holocaust drama "Sophie Scholl" is awaiting me when I get home.

Know Your Mayors (Entry 3 of 12)

Today we turn our attention to the mayor of my hometown, Roanoke, Va., known as the Star City of the South.

He is David Bowers, 56, pictured here on the left with people who I believe are members of Roanoke City Council (sorry, no fact checkers here!).

Bowers defeated former mayor Nelson Harris last year. Bowers was previously mayor from 1992-2000, and he has also served on city council.

The mayor's day job is a lawyer. He is also a member St. Andrew's Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Kiwanis Club.

Bowers lost a congressional election to Cong. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) in 1998. He graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 1970 (the year I was born).

Mayor Bowers' hobbies include reading James Lee Burke novels and hiking.