Even though I love Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There and find Cate Blanchett’s performance in the film nothing short of amazing, I was extremely excited to see Tilda Swinton win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Michael Clayton last night. I have long been an admirer of Swinton and her work in such films as Young Adam and The Deep End. The first role of hers that made me a true fan was her outstanding performance as the forever young Orlando in Sally Potter’s film by the same name.
Based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, Orlando follows the story of a young man who’s told “Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old” by Queen Elizabeth I. And he does not, he manages to live 400 years and never age a day. Swinton’s turn as the male Orlando is not the only gender-bending performance of the piece, Quentin Crisp portrays Elizabeth I and halfway through the film Orlando adds a letter to his pronoun and becomes a she, proclaiming :
“Same person. No difference at all… just a different sex.”
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favorites already received honors this weekend at the 
When I heard the news about Heath Ledger yesterday I was sad in a way that I didn’t expect. It got me to thinking about why I was so sad. I can’t but wonder if it has something to do with my age and his age. There have been sad and unexpected deaths throughout my life - John F Kennedy Jr., Kurt Cobain, Chris Farley, Princess Diana (forgive me if I am forgetting some) but for the most part I had no real connection with these folks or was too young to really process it.
Why do people make top 10 lists at the end of year?When it comes to cinema, I think there are two reasons : 1) the people that spend all year watching films enjoy a moment at the end when they can dialogue with other knowledgeable, passionate folks about what they liked and why 2) as Jonathan Rosenbaum puts it “the industry’s desire to resell goods that have already been sold to us again and again.”The reason I’m doing it? A little of the first reason and a little of the second I suppose. In regards to the second, it frustrates me that most movies on my list were never released in the majority of the country, my parents in Ohio for example, didn’t have the chance to see 4-6 of the movies that I loved the most this year (if they were released they probably played once without any publicity).We live in a society that pre-packages our entertainment and has ultimately decided that as a country we can only handle the easiest, the most cliched of movies. In that same way, they pre-package most foreign countries only providing people with fear - when people think of Iran, they think of the words that the Bush administration has fed us, but nobody knows who Kiarostami is (do you?).And people for the most part seem OK with this, OK with choices that suggest they aren’t smart enough to work a little bit while they are entertained. With this, I give you a list of films that I think are worth seeing, that for the most part weren’t at suburban multiplexes and while there a lot of US films on the list, half are from across the globe. The amazing thing about today, is that despite a lack of control on what gets shown in the theater, with Netflix and online retailing, anyone, anywhere has access to tons of DVDs.So take this for what you will - and maybe try something you’ve never heard of. I’ve included a trailer for each and a link to what I think is a representative review. Enjoy!
