R.I.P. R.E

I found out about Roger Ebert’s death via twitter. I had, just hours earlier, read his blog post from the day before about his cancer recurrence and taking a ‘leave of presence’. So Diablo Cody’s tweet, ‘RIP Roger Ebert’ came as quite a shock. I wasn’t prepared for the news and I instantly felt the loss. The next tweet I read simply said “the balcony is closed”, and the one after that said “RIP Roger, see you at the movies”. It all made me a bit teary.

I am not normally affected so deeply by the loss of someone I’ve never met, but fresh off of reading his blog post about slowing down (which is still 99% busier than I am at my busiest) it just hit me right in the feels. In the 24 hours since then, I have read numerous posts and articles about Roger Ebert and it has become very clear that a lot of people are feeling deeply affected by his death. The topics are varied but all of them boil down to the same core themes – his strength and determination in fighting cancer, his positivity and joy at being able to do what he loved to do, and his passion for both watching movies and talking about them.

Many people have also written about his kindness, his adaptability (he transitioned seamlessly to new mediums – newspaper, tv, blogging, facebook, twitter) and his relatability. He was a champion for films he believed in and didn’t care if anybody agreed. He unabashedly liked what he liked.

What I remember about watching Siskel & Ebert is how unpretentious they were in their movie reviews. Ebert talked about movies in a way that made them accessible. He didn’t talk about movies the way that film students are trained to – by analyzing and dissecting; He talked about movies the way movie-lovers are naturally inclined to – by what they liked and didn’t like and how it made them feel, and that is what I loved about him.

After every movie we see, my sister seeks out Ebert’s review of that movie. Sometimes she forwards them to me and often she just tells me what he has to say. It never mattered if we agreed with his opinion, we still valued knowing it. I think for Stefanie, it wasn’t a complete movie-watching experience if she couldn’t top it off with reading Ebert’s review. I know she will miss that aspect of her movie-going experience.

So, Roger Ebert, you will be missed. See you at the movies, I’ll bring the popcorn.

The balcony is now closed.

WTH?

Well that's annoying. I used a lot of white space in my draft - I'm a fan of short paragraphs when blogging. Yet, when I published, it just shows up as one chunk of text. That's going to bug me!

*Update* I learned how to make paragraphs!

Hello 2013

I have just learned, in a very frustrating way, that blogging from my laptap is going to be annoying. I keep accidentally hitting things that make whatever I've written, disappear. Aaargh!

Twitter has killed blogging for me. There are few times that I wish I had more than 140 characters to say what I want to say. And even then I am usually just wishing for 15 more characters. I've lost the ability to sustain a topic beyond 140 characters - it's terrible! The only other time I wish I had more space for posting something is when I am making a list - I really do love lists!

I am in the process of making a life plan for myself and one of the things on my plan is to blog at least once a week. So that is the new deal. Though, while I figure out what I am going to use this space for, it may be a bit lame to read. In fact, unless you are my mom or my sister, I don't encourage you to watch this space. And if you are my mom or my sister - hi, thanks for reading!

The life plan is an investment plan. It was my chiropractor's idea and the timing was perfectly right for me to love the idea. The plan is to do the things now to invest in me that will pay out in my future (near or distant). I have started to draft what this plan will look like for me - so far I have come up with a fairly intensive but totally doable 6 month plan. Once I have it more concretely mapped out I will share it on here.

Til then, Happy Easter!

Enjoy the sunny long weekend

kt

My top ten movies of 2011

The title of this post is a big ol lie! This isn't a top ten list at all. It's a top twelve. When I combed through the list of movies I saw last year I starred the ones that entertained me the very most. Some wildly amused me (Bridesmaids), some kept me on the edge of my seat (Mission: Impossible), some charmed me completely (The Artist), and two fit every category of movie-going joy I know (Crazy Stupid Love and Drive). When all was said and done, my top ten was a top twelve.

This wasn't an entirely easy process for me. It never is. I am an easy person to entertain. As long as the movie isn't pure crap (I'm looking at you Bad Teacher!) I will probably find something redeeming and enjoyable about it. If for an hour and a half, a movie doesn't bore or offend me then I am likely pretty pleased to have seen it. For the record, the most offensive thing a movie can do is assume that the audience is made up of idiots. Because I am so easily entertained, I could have starred nearly every movie I saw last year. I tried to be more discerning, but I'm not gonna lie, I mean Footloose was really, really good!

My top 12 in a very loose (and not agonized over) top down order based on sheer entertainment value and enjoyment level:

#1. Bridesmaids
I loved this movie. It was funny, well written and fun from beginning to end. I giggled from the time it started until it ended. I had received free passes to see a preview of it and loved it so much that when it came out in wide release, I went back and paid full price to see it again. I have to add that my mom didn't like this movie and I cannot for the life of me understand why. Yeah it had some good crude bathroom humour but done in such a ridiculously fun and charming way. Yes, I believe I just referred to Melissa McCarthy defecating in a sink as fun and charming.

#2. Drive
Ryan Gosling, 80's sounding infectious pop music, hot pink titles, an intriguing story, creepy-cool visuals, car chases, shootouts, crazy unexpected bursts of violence, a scorpion jacket, and a sweet love story. This slow moving, character driven movie was compelling and thought-provoking. I wanted to see it again in the theatre but just never got around to it. It has been nominated for a BAFTA and I am hoping it gets an Oscar nod or two.

#3. Crazy Stupid Love
Again, Ryan Gosling, in all his shirtless wonder. As Emma Stone's character exclaims when she sees him shirtless, dude looks photoshopped. This movie is a triple threat, drama, comedy, and romance. A Dromancedy if you will! (I am more proud of that word than I probably should be). In terms of what I'm looking for in a movie that I wish I could experience for the first time over and over again, Crazy Stupid Love has it all!

#4. Footloose
Everybody cut, everybody cut, Footloose! Better than the original I dare say. Updated and less bleak than the original. And the dancing is just so damn fun to watch!

#5. 50/50
Aside from being a touching, heartwarming and ultimately uplifting film, this movie was enjoyable just to look at for a couple of reasons; it was filmed in Vancouver, so it was fun to see so much of our fair city (even if it was posing as Seattle), and it stars the adorable and talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is just a pleasure to watch do anything. This movie has the distinction of being the one movie this year to get me to do the ugly cry - twice!

#6. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
I'm not sure I took a single breath during the Dubai hotel sequence. Tom Cruise is crazy! My palms were actually sweating. It was interactive movie-viewing at its best! Without any 3-D tricks. I saw it on IMAX and I'm so glad I did. Also filmed in Vancouver (posing as ... everywhere!) it was fun to spot my neighbourhood! This was just good, clean, adrenaline-pumping fun!

#7. Hanna
The opening scene made me cringe and wonder what I'd gotten myself into. The next 109 minutes were thrilling and made me glad I was there. The story of a 16-year-old girl (the amazing Saoirse Ronan) who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin, dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives.

#8. Moneyball
I didn't have much of a desire to see this movie. I'm not a big fan of Brad Pitt and it is a movie about baseb..zzzz. What? Oops, sorry did I drift off there?! Well, thankfully Moneyball is the least boring movie about baseball ever! I was enthralled and fully entertained! And Brad Pitt was, dare I say it, great! Jonah Hill ruled the movie and the side story about Billy Beane's relationship with his daughter captured my heart - so sweet!

#9. The Artist
I had to do a bit of smooth-talking to get my sister to go see The Artist with me. She didn't have much interest in seeing a black and white silent movie. As we sat among a sea of white-haired movie patrons waiting for the movie to start, I felt the pressure of having talked my sister into a movie that I knew nothing about, all based on one positive word-of-mouth review. What if the black and white silence is gimmicky? The movie began and, admittedly, it took about 10 minutes before I felt no longer aware of the 'gimmick' which wasn't gimmicky at all! It was charming and beautiful and entirely enjoyable.

#10. Midnight in Paris
I am a fan of the Woody Allen movies I end up seeing, which seems to be every other one or so. Apparently, I'm on the right track because I hear that every other Woody Allen movie is not very good. I somehow jumped on the right schedule! I am also an Owen Wilson fan, and a fan of Paris and charming time travel stories, especially when the time travel is into the character doing the traveling's favourite era.

#11. The Help
I struggled with putting this movie on my list. I read the book two weeks before seeing the movie and so it was nearly impossible not to make comparisons and see what was different. It's a mistake I will try to avoid in the future. Having said all that, I was fully entertained, if not a bit distracted by my brain. The cinematography was beautiful. I'm frustrated by two minor changes to the ending of the movie because when it comes down to it, they aren't really minor changes at all in how much they alter the message of the book.

#12. My week with Marilyn
Michelle Williams is a wonder! Having said that, I also struggled with putting this movie on my list. I enjoyed every part of MWWM, so I have no reason not to add it to my top movies. It's like the difference between an A and an A+ on a college paper; it did everything right, it just didn't go over and above for me. Other than Michelle Williams of course, she really is a wonder!

#13. Super 8
I didn't star this movie at all originally. I looked back over my list and wondered how on earth I could've missed it. Kids, aliens, Steven Spielberg, JJ Abrams. This movie was like the love child of Goonies, E.T, Stand By Me, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Cloverfield - all great movies!

Ok, ok, so I snuck in a last minute 13th movie! Whaddaya gonna do?!

Movies 2011

I wasn't going to do it but I am such a movie person and such a list person that I can barely stop myself!

I was able to compile a list of all the movies I saw in 2011 by relying on lists made by my two movie buddies. I knew that the list was going to be shorter than years past but I didn't really know by how much. Turns out it was a fair amount. I saw only 31 new movies in the theatre in 2011.

Because I am me, and slightly O.C.D. with my list making, I categorized the list of 31 movies 7 different ways: chronological, how many per month, by days of the month, by days of the week, alphabetical, from favourite to least favourite, and then my top movies of the year.

I won't bore you with the statistics (though I probably really will at some point) and instead just jump into the full list. My top picks for the year will be in another post.

Movies I saw in 2011 in chronological order

No Strings Attached
Blue Valentine
Cedar Rapids
The Adjustment Bureau
Paul
The Lincoln Lawyer
Source Code
Bridesmaids
Hanna
Something Borrowed
Super 8
Midnight in Paris
Bad Teacher
Forks over Knives
Horrible Bosses
Friends with Benefits
Crazy Stupid Love
The Help
Our Idiot Brother
Drive
50/50
Ides of March
Footloose
Moneyball
Breaking Dawn
The Muppets
New Year's Eve
Young Adult
My Week with Marilyn
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
The Artist

I saw only one absolutely terrible movie this year and it was Bad Teacher. Awful movie!

There were so many other movies that I wanted to see: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Margin Call, Beginners, The Trip, The Tree of Life, Another Year. But for whatever reason I just didn't get out to the theatre as often in 2011. I would like to think that for 2012 I'll be back in the swing of regular theatre going, but it is Jan 20th today and I have yet to see a movie this year!

2012 - here we go!

Usually at this point in the year, I write blog posts about the year in review. I'd cover events, concerts and movies. I know of one person who actually uses my movie review list to help decide what movies to rent but that's it. This past year, I didn't keep track of any of the movies that I saw. I kept no running list throughout the year. In a way, I knew I could skip it because I knew that the two people I see movies with the most were both keeping their own lists and at the end of the year I could use their lists to compile my own - which I think I will do.

I have no interest in writing a year-in-review post. I have no desire to look over the past year and pick through the things that happened. It was a year like any other, with ups and downs, and I am happy to be putting it behind me and moving forward. I learned some valuable lessons and had some experiences. I spent a year of sowing (years of sowing actually) and I am optimistic that 2012 will be a year of reaping.

So to 2012!
Cheers to all of you!
May this be a year of blessing and reaping for you all!
kt

The power of a song

I'm trying something new. I have found with my schedule this semester that I don't make time for the coffee shop/writing lifestyle that I enjoy so much. So my plan is to get up early one weekend morning each week and fit it in then. It brings me joy, it makes me happy, it brings me peace; therefore, I must do it!

There is a website that I have been using sporadically for the past two years that lets you build a playlist of music that others can go listen to. My playlist isn't long, maybe 25 songs is all, but they are songs that inspire me to write. I have always plugged in headphones, added a new song and started writing while listening to my playlist.

It's been ages since I've been on that website and I am sad to report that most of my songs are now listed as 'unavailable' which means I've turned elsewhere for my musical inspiration.

A friend of mine had recommended a song for me to listen to and (as I do) I put off listening to it for a while. It might be because of why he wanted me to listen to it...

My high school sweetheart was a bit of a troubled soul. He'd had a rough childhood though when I met him in grade 8, you never would have suspected it. He was full of happy energy. We didn't really become friends until our grade 12 year when a new girl at our school ended up befriending both of us and bringing us together. He made me laugh and I found myself completely drawn to him.

We had a year-long, whirlwind, tumultuous relationship and I loved him deeply and painfully. The end came when he wanted to start experimenting with drugs and I wanted nothing to do with that kind of lifestyle. We split but stayed friends (also tumultuous and painful). I watched as he smoked pot, dropped acid, took ecstasy, drank heavily and dated a slough of other women. He got tattoos, piercings, brandings and even tried scarification in front of a live audience. He danced in a cage for money at a couple different clubs (gay and straight) and did a variety of other odd jobs.

We didn't see each other often but I was invited to his wedding. I had the flu at the time but didn't want to miss it. I think I must have fooled myself into thinking that we were truly friends. The truth probably being closer to me just being a glutton for punishment. I stayed for the ceremony and left. He was divorced within the year. We saw each other once or twice after that, the final time being a dinner out. Three of us went for dinner and he announced that he was moving to Toronto. Recognizing this as a opportunity, we hugged goodbye at the end of dinner and my friend and I watched him walk away. I never expected to hear from him, let alone see him, ever again.

Two years ago he found me on facebook. We wrote short, simple messages back and forth as a quick catch up. He was living in Australia, married and owned a tattoo shop. Two months ago he came to Vancouver to see his family and friends.

I saw him a few times while he was in town. It was an interesting experience. Emotions I weren't expecting, popped up. I didn't have any lingering feelings for him, it was more the trigger of the memories and a sadness for the passing of time. We are 20 years older than when we dated and 12 years older since the last time we saw each other. He has more tattoos, more scars, more lines on his face and more sadness behind his eyes. I never saw him without a drink or a cigarette in his hand and he very unabashedly told me about his life. I heard about his heavy drug use, his arrest, his divorce, remarriage, infidelity, money problems, business partner problems and family problems. He was dirty, stinky, unkempt and strangely carried a briefcase everywhere he went. He had a manic air about him. He moved constantly, never sitting still and his memory was full of holes. And yet, his overall attitude was positive. Life was going to keep on trucking and so was he.

While he was in town we arranged a bbq. He wanted to see some of his other friends that I am still friends with. Friends that I actually met through him when we dated. Friends that had stayed in touch with him well past the time that I had let go. One friend in particular was excited to see him and the feeling was mutual. They had been the closest in high school and through the following years had kept in touch as much as they could.

They ended up spending a fair bit of time together while he was in town and at the end of the visit my friends and I debriefed the visit. We'd all had a similar reaction to him. My friend who had spent the most time with him said to me

"Do you know Pearl Jam's song Off He Goes?"
I didn't.
"You HAVE TO listen to it. It is heartbreaking in how much it is Tim."

I listened to it this morning for the first time when my playlist on the other website came up as unavailable. Not only did it inspire this entire post but it did break my heart. It is Tim.

Here's the song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hthj9KZrgpo

Here are the lyrics

I know a man, his face seems pulled and tense
like he's riding on a motorbike in the strongest winds
so i approach with tact
suggest that he should relax
but he's always moving much too fast
said he'll see me on the flipside
on this trip he's taken for a ride
he's been taking too much on
there he goes with his perfectly unkept clothes
there he goes...
he's yet to come back
but i've seen his picture
it doesn't look the same up on the rack
we go way back
i wonder about his insides
its like his thoughts are too big for his size
he's been taken... where, i don't know?
off he goes with his perfectly unkept hope
and there he goes...
and now i rub my eyes, for he has returned
seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned
for he still smiles...
and he's still strong
nothing's changed, but the surrounding bullshit that has grown
and now he's home
and we're laughing like we always did
my same old, same old friend
until a quarter-to-ten
i saw the strain creep in
he seems distracted and i know just what is gonna happen next
before his first step
he's off again