Goodbye 2007, Here's to a Great 2008!

To all, please party responsibly tonight. For me, like 40% of Canadians, I intend to cuddle up next to my partner, order in some Chinese food and enjoy a couple of DVDs and maybe a little spice later on...lol. A quieter New Year's Eve for us has been long in coming.

By this time next year, I look forward to watching the new Democratic President-elect, whomever that will be, preparing to meet with our new Prime Minister Stephane Dion to discuss how to better coordinate efforts to fight climate change and other issues of international significance.

Am I naive about Dion? Don't think so. Dion continues to be the most underestimated politician alive in Canada today. And I get the feeling he likes it that way.

All the best for the New Year!

Top Ten Movies I Saw in 2007

I admit I'm no film critic, although I've been an avid film fan my whole life. I simply don't have time to see all of the flicks I want to see in a year. Thus I provide this list now only in the interest of being timely (with New Year's Eve around the corner.) I doubt anyone would be interested in my Top Ten Films list in February after I've seen all the 2007 films I want to see.

2007 TOP TEN FILMS THUS FAR:

Zodiac (Director David Fincher is a genius, one of the best directors working today, this film was gripping from start to finish. It wasn't about finding the Zodiac killer, it was about the hunt itself and our collective fascination with evil, with great performances and great 1970s art direction. Superb in all ways.)

Into The Wild (Wow, Emile Hirsch emerges as a great young actor in this beautifully shot tale by writer-director Sean Penn about the youthful rush to escape from the frustrations of modern life. The lead character learns the truth sadly too late that, "Happiness is only real when shared...")

Atonement (Simple, focused adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel, with great performances by James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, very moving and exquisitely produced.)

Away From Her (one of the most beautiful cinematic portraits of love I've ever seen, Canadian Sarah Polley confirms her brilliance and Julie Christie is mesmerizing.)

Hairspray (absolute fun, entertaining from start to finish, I loved John Travolta in this, I don't care what others say. Plus the best, queer-friendly PG-rated eye candy I've seen this year. Zac Efron is one hot babe!)

Amazing Grace (Wonderful history lesson about William Wilberforce, who led the charge to end the British slave trade in the early 1800s, this film reminds how establishment forces will always fight for the status quo, no matter how evil, all in the name of the almighty dollar and why it's so important to continue the fight for justice despite seemingly insurmountable barriers.)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (gripping, great tale about Irish liberation from British rule and the splintering of the Irish Republican movement in the 1920s, told with unflinching intimacy and very thick Irish accents.)

Manufactured Landscapes (beautiful, terrible Chinese workplace images I'll never forget. 'Made In China' will never seem the same again.)

A Mighty Heart (superbly directed by Michael Winterbottom, I've never seen Angelina Jolie give a better performance, her screams after learning of her husband's death haunt me still.)

Control (beautifully shot in black & white, we learn of the origins of the British 70s band Joy Division, forerunners of New Order, and particularly the troubled life of lead singer Ian Curtis, played by the beautiful Sam Riley.)

If only to provide some insight into how successful certain movie PR/hype campaigns have been, here is my list of 2007 films I have yet to see, but which I am very excited about viewing as soon as possible:

- No Country for Old Men
- Juno
- Charlie Wilson's War
- There Will Be Blood
- Michael Clayton
- Sicko
- No End In Sight
- 3:10 To Yuma
- Gone Baby Gone
- Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
- I'm Not There

Obviously, I haven't yet seen many of the year's reported best films. So you can take my Top Ten list with a grain of salt.

The most disappointing films I saw this year:
- Danny Boyle's Sunshine (cool premise, but stupidly executed, explored no new territory and collapsed into an uninteresting hide & seek horror movie by its end.)
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Cate Blanchett will likely never doubt her instincts again after reluctantly agreeing to re-visit Queen Elizabeth in this unaccomplished letdown of a sequel to 1998's Elizabeth.)

Rick Mercer's masterpiece: "Oil is like sunshine"

Too funny not to share...

Nollaig Shona Daoibh

True to my (partly) Irish heritage, this phrase in the headline is pronounced 'NO-Lihg HO-nuh JEEV' and it literally means "You have a Happy Christmas." It's meant to address two or more persons with best wishes. "Nollaig Shona Duit" (NO-Lihg HO-nuh ghwich) is the phrase to be used when addressing one person.

Seasons Greetings to All! And to All a Good Night!

Toronto's NOW Magazine Hacked!

I wanted to provide a link to a great article by NOW Magazine editor Alice Klein this week, but earlier this morning the publication's website was victimized by a hacker or hackers. When you logged on, you found a dark screen with only the words, "Umm... Sorry, but you've been hacked. Fuck you media. .g0d wuz here."

But things seem to be fixed now. Klein's article is the best thing I've read in NOW (outside of the Movie section) in years. Normally NOW takes the kind of pro-NDP-no-matter-what stance that she criticizes in her piece, but perhaps her article signals a new era in fair, progressive news coverage for the rag. In it, Klein calls on NDP Leader Jack Layton to put aside his old-fashioned, overly partisan schtick and work with Green Party leader Elizabeth May and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion (as they have already done) to help ensure Stephen Harper's Tories don't win again. Sage advice.

New Star on the Hollywood Screenwriting Scene: Ex-Stripper Diablo Cody writes for EW

Unlike most people, I tend to notice when some obscure screenwriter suddenly makes it big with a breakout movie hit and gets some press for it. Screenwriters rarely garner much attention in our celebrity-obsessed culture. Writers, by their very nature, are shy, unassuming people who shun attention ;-). I'm in my element when I'm alone at my computer with a glass of wine, not surrounded by schmoozing media types at some god-awful industry party. This puts me at a distinct disadvantage when compared to other media types who seem to feed off of such social interactions. But I figure when it comes to other scribes, I must be somewhat typical. There's no such thing as an extroverted writer.

I have a couple of feature scripts in pre-production with a Toronto production company. I get paid for the first script when it goes into production, the second when it's sold for distribution. Oh the joys of being a non-union writer.

One short film script I penned was filmed last year by ClearLight Films, a new Ireland-based production company that set up temporary shop in Toronto last year to build some Canadian partnerships. They're back in Dublin now, but we're trying to get our creation Coughing Fit into various festivals and there's talk of more collaboration.

The break-out scribe this holiday season is no doubt ex-stripper Diablo Cody (pictured), who penned the new comedy Juno. I have yet to see Juno, but the previews look quite charming. Cody's been nominated for a Golden Globe, and most foresee an Oscar nomination early in the new year. She's also been given a column at Entertainment Weekly. She's clearly mega-talented.

I mention Cody (not her real name) because she too is a blogger. Apparently, some film producer was a regular reader of her Pussy Ranch site and got in touch with her to see if she'd become a screenwriter. Wow!

If there are other film producers out there looking for up-and-coming screenwriters with loads of talent who will work for little or no pay (to start), drop me a line. You'll make my day.

Gay film director helps Pope with makeover?

Isn't Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli gay? Apparently so. It makes this Pope Benedict makeover story all the more interesting.

Check out this similar post for more background on Zeffirelli's filmography, which includes Callas Forever, Tea With Mussolini and of course the 1968 version of Romeo & Juliet which featured the very hot Leonard Whiting as young Romeo in the buff (pictured).

A few Canucks & Scottish cutie James McAvoy snag Golden Globe nods

Enough of the Mulroney-Schreiber affair. I'll let other bloggers wax on at length about that ongoing circus.

I prefer lighter discussion this close to the holidays, like today's nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, the forebearer to the Academy Awards early next year. Yes, movie awards' season is back to keep our hearts warm this terrible winter.

A handful of Canadians are amongst the Globe nominees this year:

- Ellen Page for her comedic turn in Juno.
- Ryan Gosling for his comedic lead performance in Lars and the Real Girl.
- David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises earned a Best Dramatic Feature nomination, as did his star Viggo Mortensen in Best Dramatic Actor.
- International icon Julie Christie earned a well-deserved Best Dramatic Actress nod for her role in Sarah Polley's directorial debut Away from Her.

Overall, the British historical drama Atonement starring Scottish hottie James McAvoy (pictured) led the competition garnering seven nods, including Best Dramatic Actor for McAvoy.

The funniest nomination: John Travolta for his turn as Edna Turnblad in the wonderfully gay Hairspray, also up for Best Comedy/Musical. Travolta was great in one of the best films of the year.

For a full list of the nominations, click here. Stay tuned for my Golden Globe predictions closer to the day.

I Second That: Why I Don't Link To Bourque Newswatch Anymore

Fed up with Bourque.org, I criticized his site earlier this year for many of the same reasons listed today by James Bowie. I missed the Bourque link back in August that Bowie says is his main objection to that news aggregator site, but wow!

I agree with James: if you want a quality online news link site, you can't do better in Canada than National Newswatch.com.

Jodie Foster reveals her lesbian lover

Yay for Jodie Foster! I've long admired her talent. I'm not one of those commentators who believes all queer celebrities are obliged to "come out of the closet". But when one does, even after years of speculation, they should be congratulated.

Foster referred to her partner Cydney Bernard during a speech after receiving an award by the Hollywood Reporter at a Power 100 breakfast earlier this week. Jodie thanked, "my beautiful Cydney who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss."

Cydney is also co-mother to their son. With the salaries she commands, plus two Oscars, Ms. Foster could obviously take the risk involved with this acknowledgement.

Alberta panel denounces ex-pastor's anti-gay comments

This is excellent news. This case came about after a former evangelical Alberta pastor, Stephen Boissoin, published a venomous letter in the Red Deer Advocate in 2002 which attacked, "Homosexual rights activists and those that defend them...as immoral as the pedophiles, drug dealers and pimps that plague our communities."

The letter urged readers to, "take whatever steps are necessary to reverse the wickedness" of the "homosexual machine." Two weeks later, a gay youth was assaulted in Red Deer. Darren Lund, a local high school teacher at the time, filed the complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, which led to yesterday's ruling.

Boissoin tried to defend himself by claiming he was merely aiming to inspire a "spirited" community debate with his hateful letter. But the panel rightly dismissed that argument.

Deliberate or not, Boissoin's words had the effect of completely dehumanizing a group of his fellow citizens and inspiring any and all attacks against them. Violent homophobes for generations have used similar words to justify many forms of violence against their victims.

True to form, Boissoin's Christian colleagues are being anything but Christian in their reaction, complaining again their religious freedoms are more important than the rights of homosexuals to live safe in a community where violence against them isn't promoted by abusive community leaders.

"If you really can't speak out your religious viewpoints, that is tyrannical," says Jim Blake, the national chairman of what is now Concerned Christians Canada.

As far as I'm concerned, people of any religion (or non-religious affiliation) have every right to express dislike or disdain for any group of people or any type of behaviour, without that expression being judged as "hate material" or "hate speech."

But clearly this is a case where the pastor went completely overboard with his published rhetoric. He wasn't merely expressing a religious viewpoint. His call for readers to take action and use "whatever steps are necessary to reverse the wickedness" of the "homosexual machine" clearly can be interpreted to include promoting violent action against LGBT citizens. Justice has been served in this case.