Wrap up

The end of the year can be a terrible time. Seeing family you wish to avoid, summing up your mishaps and mistakes, emptiness, loneliness, and the deflated void you're left with, come January 2nd.

2012 promises to be quite an interesting year. For some, they believe it'll be the end of the earth itself, for those in the east, it's the lucky Chinese year of the dragon, but for most, it's just one more year that we have to worry about work, money, relationships, and health.

This April- May Michael Apted's acclaimed Up series documentary will return with 56 Up. An intriguing glimpse of varied English individuals, their struggles and triumphs as they age every seven years. It's a slow, almost surreal memory of a world that's been muffled by twitter, tabloids, new gadgets, media, advertising, and facebook.

If you ever feel old, and wish you were a decade younger, appreciate this... the freedom most of us experienced is rapidly vanishing for the next generation, and should not be taken lightly. Even if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, nothing lasts forever... eventually your day in the sun will come.

What did Steve Jobs say? Stay hungry, stay foolish.

A Face lift

Movies are dead. Words that no studio exec wants to hear. Is it true? Not sure.. all I hear around me is: "There's nothing worth seeing right now. I'd rather just watch a few re-runs at home." Sad isn't it?

The LINE UP of Fall 2011, 2012, 2013

Sandal flicks and the 300 look.

Immortals? Clash of the Titans? Prince of Persia? B-O-R-I-N-G! Heroes that are perfect, not funny.. I can't relate to them... at all. So why did 300 work? Well Gerald Butler doesn't look like them, he was married, was walking toward his death, and it was the FIRST of it's kind. Slow motion shots feel like a parody now. It's old.

Superheroes are dull

Unless they are drunk, cocky, brash, arrogant pricks. Which is why Iron man, Batman, and Thor are cool.

Aliens and Robots

Skyline, Battle L.A., Cowboys and Aliens, Rise of the Apes. Will I remember them later? Nope.

So what makes Avatar, and soon to be Prometheus and Robopocalypse buzz worthy? The director. Period.

Fairy dust

Hoping to sprinkle a little bit of magic dust from Alice and Wonderland, Hollywood is tapping into the huge vault of long dead writers of the past. Both versions of Snow White are a little obnoxious. Julia Roberts as the evil queen? Idiotic. The twilight girl battling horsemen? Stupid.

Right now I want to step back into history layered in reality. Which is why Anonymous, Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy, and A Dangerous Method are on my list.

What would I like to see?

I must admit Noah's Ark could be interesting... Devil in the White City is fascinating.. a dark version of Atlantis? Arabian Nights from the view of the jaded pissed off genie? Whatever it is be different (ie no cheesy action slow mo shots), be personal, be worth $12.

Sherlock Returns

Benedict Cumberbatch (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) will finally return to the small screen as our dear neurotic but undeniably brilliant Sherlock in early 2012 on BBC.

If you can't wait, you can always discover old gems such as "State of Play" (and I don't mean the Russel Crowe version) in 2003. Directed by David Yates starring familiar faces such as Bill Nighy, James McAvoy, and Kelly Macdonald. John Simm shines as Cal McCaffrey in this six part series.

There's also the spectacularly popular second season of "Downton Abbey", the original sci-fi series "Torchwood", Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice) in "Spooks", or the cancelled two season romp, "Life" starring Damien Lewis.

Lately television has proven to be more original, interesting and imaginative than most multi-million dollar movies. Tired of vampires and zombies? Angels are the new Vampire. Immortal, beautiful and dangerous, what else? Look for biblical huge epics in the next few years. Noah's Ark, the teen Angel trilogy Mortal Instruments, and Milton's Paradise Lost are just a few upcoming stories to grace the big screen.

Listening Library Presents..

Not many audiobooks have the depth and quality of a full cast and production, however a great reader truly does make the difference.

Lately I've been hunting through audible.com. It's a difficult hunt, a book that doesn't require 100% concentration to follow, that can capture your imagination without difficulty. Some may love the dry informative reads such as Outliers, Lost city of Z or Devil in the White City. I however avoid them like the plague. Action, drama, mixed with a good amount of comedy is essential for any listener, especially a novice.

So far? This is not necessarily a criticism of the writing nor the reader, but sometimes the stories just need to be read on paper. Often, light fluff makes for the best campfire stories...

5 stars

BBC Lord of the Rings

George Orwell, War of the Worlds

Harry Potter series

The Other Boleyn Girl

The Hunger Games

Neverwhere

Agatha Christie series with full cast and production value Radio 4 (Murder on the Orient Express, Death in the Clouds, Thirteen at Dinner)

Bridget Jones Diary

4 stars

The Night Circus

Tigana

The Ring of Solomon

Discovery of Witches

American Gods

City of Embers by

Gideon the Cutpurse

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Spy Who came out from the Cold

3 stars

Robopocalypse: A Novel

Bartimeaus Trilogy

The Pale King

The Alchemyst

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Pride and Prejudice & Zombies

Neuromancer

Bossypants

Blood Meridian

Year of the Flood (best to read...)

The Road

2 stars

George R. R. Martin series Song of Ice and Fire: DON'T BOTHER, his books are a great READ, but the dense storyline and vast group of characters can easily lose any attentive listener.

Falling into old habits

24 hours just isn't enough. I often fall into the whole "work, life, balance" water cooler conversation. Why? Because it's bullshit. 12 hours a day, 60 hours a week and I still go home feeling guilty that I'm not a "team player", working the weekend like all the other keener newbies in the office.

Fortunately the fall season has begun and I'm about to deluge my brain with television, weird indie dramas, and rush seats to random plays or exhibits. Continuing my boycott on all gyms, which only serve to make me feel like I'm either a) wasting money for not going b)shitty for my old sweats and dirty sneakers and c) irritated when some ***hole is taking too long on the machines in front of me. Eat less and cut out sugar. Gave me the same result after years of running like a hamster on the treadmill.

Great finds...

11 Flowers (above): One of the best films to debut at TIFF, made by the celebrated filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle). A personal, quality film that reminded me of Stand by Me (although very different). An 11 year old boy becomes entangled in a local crime during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

We Need to Talk about Kevin: Tilda Swinton's oscar calibre role in Lionel Shriver's raw, haunting tale of a mother's love for her murderous son.

Drive: Ryan Gosling continues his winning streak with this moody action flick.

Most anticipated flick of the year? Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.. only annoy aspect of the film is the name.

TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) has turned into a bit of an over-bloated greedy pig ($22 for a BLOODY TICKET??? WTF is that?) with the line ups, hiked prices for flicks that come out in theatres in a few weeks, and annoying fans. The best part? The foreign selection that most never get access to and energetic vibrant hum of the audience.