the pod bay door

When I consider my top ten movies of the year, it’s a list of my ten favorite movies, not the ten best per se. I saw 91 movies last year, but that’s hardly enough to qualify me to consider which might be the ten best. I would have had to have seen about 150 more movies, as well as films that are released in NY and LA only at the end of December. For example, The Hours, and Adaptation have not played here yet, and About Schmidt opened here on January 3rd. The alphabetical list below is the ten films I saw in 2002 for the first time that moved me the most in any number of ways, and brought me the most enjoyment I experienced going to the movies.

Bloody Sunday
Far From Heaven
Gangs of New York
The Grey Zone
In The Bedroom (2001 film released in 2002 in Edmonton)
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Minority Report
Max
No Man’s Land
Rabbit-Proof Fence

Honorable mentions: Gosford Park, The Royal Tenebaums, Apocalypse Now Redux, Kissing Jessica Stein, Monsoon Wedding, Insomnia, Lovely and Amazing, Tadpole, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Good Girl, One Hour Photo, startup.com, Bowling for Columbine, Secretary, Tully, Igby Goes Down, Auto Focus, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Catch Me If You Can.

David Suzuki will be on campus at the U of Alberta on Thursday, Jan 9. His talk is part of The Revolutionary Speakers Series. Last year in September, Ralph Nader spoke to a packed house about the environment, government, and citizens’ civic responsibilities to get involved. My guess is that Suzuki will be addressing the Kyoto Accord, which our provincial government has done everything it can to discredit and slam. It fascinates me one of our premier’s favorite sayings is “short term pain for long term gain”, yet when such pain might affect his oil baron buddies, it doesn’t apply. I’m looking forward to Suzuki’s lecture. I have seen him speak twice before, once in the late 60s when I skipped high school to watch him at the U of Manitoba.

School begins tomorrow, and I have lectures to deliver in various engineering design and report writing courses. January is always our heaviest month on campus.

Happy New Year to everyone! Begin your 2003 by reading the “28th annual ‘extreme’ List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness, which the world needs ‘now, more than ever.’” The 2002 list is still applicable and relevant, especially the note on “9-11” “9-1-1”, the use of which I’ve railed against since September 11, 2001. All the lists are here.

2003 is the year I turn 50. I can’t believe it. I’m still wrapping my small mind around it. It feels very, very strange, and at the same time, it feels like nothing. But it’s a benchmark year in a person’s life, and already I’m wasting time going the motions of evaluating all I’ve done up the now. *sigh* I know, age is just a number.

Anyway, my best to all who read this little blog. Thanks for visiting my site, and the very best to you in 2003.

I saw my 91st and in all likelihood, final movie of 2002 last night: Rabbit-Proof Fence. Let there be no doubt that movies can still be simple yet overwhelming in their power, originality, and inspiration. This movie tells the story of three sisters, taken from their aboriginal home in 1931 in Western Australia by the government. Considered “half caste” because they have white fathers, they are taken to a camp with other half caste children, and taught the ways of the white man, with the ultimate goal being that the children grow up to marry white men and women, and eventually breed out their aboriginal past. Molly Craig, 14 years old, decides to take her younger sisters and escape from the camp, and walk 1,600 kilometers back to Jigalong, to their mother. It is a true story.

The film conveys how strong the ties of love and family can be – at a time when the world continues to spawn wars and terrorism, I found the movie to be life-affirming in the deepest way possible. Such a simple movie – three girls walking home, and yet such a powerful story. I was pleased to see David Gulpilil, whom you might remember from the groundbreaking Australian film Walkabout, in the role as the tracker, Moodoo. The movie also features a stirring score by Peter Gabriel and stunning cinematography by Christopher Doyle. A fascinating study guide is available, from the Australian movie magazine called Metro Magazine. As well, read this interview of Noyce and commentary on the film by a Canadian aboriginal, Carmen Daniels, currently living in Australia and contributor to the Aboriginal Youth Network.

This is a picture of director Phillip Noyce with the three actors who portrayed the girls in the movie: Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury, and Laura Monaghan.

I will compile the list of my 10 favorite movies of 2002 soon. It is never a “best” list, because I don’t see everything.

Today, Dec 31, my mom turns 70. Happy Birthday, Mom!!! I love you lots.

It snowed today in Edmonton. Not the first heavy snowfall, that was in early November, but it melted later that month. Until yesterday, the grass in Edmonton was covered in frost. Now there is a lot of snow on the ground – it’s a pain to drive, but we need the moisture, and the x-c skiers are besides themselves with joy. First permanent snow of the winter: Dec 29. Not too bad. And less than 12 weeks of winter left. Cool.

In other news that’s too exciting to handle, I began cleaning up and down and around my house this afternoon. It feels good to rid oneself of old papers, knick-knacks, curious, doo-dads, and everything else in between. Now that I’m on a roll, I’ll do more tomorrow. But not before a workout in the morning. With luck, I’ll see Rabbit Proof Fence on Monday night.

What are your plans for Dec 31? I’m going to a house party, and will be wishing my Mom a Happy 70th Birthday.

Peace.

Tonight was one of those memorable evenings. My friend Robert and his wife Mary asked me to babysit their amazing daughter, Tigana, while they went out for dinner. They are visiting from Lethbridge for the holidays. Tigana kept me busy for three hours, with reading, games, stencilling and general hijinks. I was worn out when the parents returned. Robert and I had a great visit afterwards, and I will see them again on Monday. When you visit and spend time with a good friend, the rewards are not measurable.

In last week’s NYTimes Magazine is a fascinating article about a movie called Decasia. The film was “made” by Bill Morrison, although he didn’t shoot a single frame. The film is composed of segments from movies that are decades-old, going back to the earliest films of the 20th century. However, these nitrate-based films have decayed and decomposed badly, and Morrison has grouped together bits from different US-based archives to craft a fascinating movie that according to what I’ve read, reveal a surreal beauty in the final stages of these films’ lives. The film has no distribution yet, but was shown on the Sundance Channel this week (not available in Canada :-(, of course). A number of reviews are available here, and here.
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