Finally!

It's about time.

And now, a sobering message about aging

Or you could see it as inspirational. You choose.

And here's a slumbering pug:



And a place to collect more information concerning the best dog breed ever.

"I drink your milkshake! I drink it up!"

Let it be known that within just a few days of seeing There Will Be Blood, I suggested to all who would listen that the Notorious Line be mashed up with Kelis' "Milkshake." I wish I could offer a prize of some kind to the first person who does it. If you find out that somebody has, please let me know.

In other news, I'm seeing The Host tomorrow with Reed, both because many critics named it one of their top 10 films of 2007 and because I have four tickets reserved for Friday's 9:30 p.m. Cinerama showing of Cloverfield, which I'll be blogging about this week for my employer. (Here's the segue: They're both monster movies, and early -- and ridiculous -- speculation around Cloverfield suggested that it might be a remake of The Host.) If you're interested in getting the (spoiler-free) 411, visit Cloverfield Clues.

Now that spoilers are all over the Internet -- apparently you can even get the scoop on the monster's birth -- I'll be avoiding Cloverfield Google searches, for the most part, until after Friday. As I recently told someone, I haven't bought tickets to a movie this far ahead of time since The Blair Witch Project, which I admit was overhyped, but c'mon. The fun of getting caught up in movie hype, at least for me, is as much about the hype as about the movie. It's the pop-culture phenomenon that excites me as much as what the movie is about (though I do have a weakness for disaster movies). No doubt Cloverfield will be terrifying on the huge Cinerama screen, but whatever kind of movie it turns out to be, it'll be a trip seeing it in a gigantic theater packed with crazy fans like me.

Updated Top 10 list

No particular order yet.

No Country for Old Men
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Ratatouille
Away From Her
Zodiac
There Will Be Blood
The King of Kong
Into the Wild
Lake of Fire
Margot at the Wedding

Acocella vs. Gibran

In the current New Yorker: Joan Acocella's funny, extremely satisfying piece on The Prophet author Kahlil Gibran. It's a refreshing reminder that some of our most "inspirational" books and movements come from deeply imperfect people.

Pretzel font

Bored at work? This should kill 10 minutes.

Hollywood shuffle

Though I'm not yet ready to unveil my Top 10 Films of 2007 -- I'm seeing There Will Be Blood tonight and hopefully watching The Host on DVD soon -- the Village Voice/LA Weekly Film Poll has no such reservations.

Here's what's on my list thus far, in no particular order:

No Country for Old Men
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Ratatouille
Away From Her
Zodiac
The King of Kong
Into the Wild
Lake of Fire
Margot at the Wedding

This is one of the first years in a while that I haven't known what my #1 movie was by year's end. Perhaps not coincidentally, this was one of my least active movie-going years in some time. SIFF was practically a nonevent for me, mostly because every year I stress out about how much ground I'm going to be able to cover, and it's never enough. So this year I threw in the towel before the whole thing even started and saw only a few films.

In other movie/nonevent news, looks like the Globes will be pretty much starless this year. I must say, much as I admire her convictions, the sight of Tina Fey picketing entirely seriously is kind of jarring:


I've never seen her do anything entirely seriously.

Yet more movie news: SIFF Cinema's upcoming schedule is fabulous enough to make me scold myself for not getting there more often in the past. I especially want to catch Billy the Kid and Imaginary Witness, and if anyone wants to join me, drop me a line. I always welcome company.

One more thing:

Yikes.