Orbiting

The Top 10 Films of 2008

2008 was a wonderful year for movies. To celebrate tonight's Oscar ceremony, here are my picks for the top films of '08 (you can find my '07 list here).

Honorable Mentions (all great, but didn't quite make the list): In Bruges, The Wrestler, Milk, The Fall, Iron Man, Revolutionary Road, The Dark Knight, Waltz with Bashir, Kabluey, Burn After Reading.

Also, I didn't have time to see Frozen River, The Class or Wendy & Lucy, any/all of which may have made the top 10. Now then. Here we go:

10. The Reader

The Reader tells the story of a teenage boy and his secret affair with an older woman. At first. And then it takes a series of surprising turns, each of which deepen their relationships and our understanding of these characters. But none of it would work without Kate Winslet's beautifully layered performance, which anchors the film and gives it a hearty dose of emotional resonance. Deceptively complex and rich, and BONUS! - Lena Olin has two scenes as two different characters, the second of which is worth the price of admission alone.

9. Frost/Nixon

I'm not generally a fan of political anything, but Frost/Nixon is too compelling to pass up. Ron Howard wisely chose to eschew big name stars in the leads and went with Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as David Frost: the two men who played these roles in the stage play. This choice paid off in spades, as Langella and Sheen infuse these characters with an astounding level of detail and realism. It's an amazing acheivement that two hours of political talk manages to feel like a thriller.

8. Doubt

Sensing a theme? Another talky play-turned-film with riveting performances, Doubt asks many intruiging questions and provides few answers. This film ends up being a personality test of sorts: your answers to these questions say more about you than the movie. Add to the mix some of the finest actors of our generation, and tense direction by John Patrick Shanley (who also wrote the screenplay based on his original play) and you've got yourself a winner. Also, my buddy Ben worked on it!

7. Slumdog Millionaire

I was hesitant at first. As I watched each traumatic event batter these characters bloody, I considered checking out. But Slumdog won me over with its beautiful story of redemption and loss and television and poop swimming. You can't help but root for Dev Patel's sweet, naive protagonist. This movie is an incredible accomplishment: a gritty, disturbing foreign film that is also an uplifting crowd-pleaser. How did that happen? Oh right, cause Danny Boyle is a genius, and this is the biggest triumph of his amazing career.

6. Wall-E

Pixar is magic. Everybody knows it. But nobody was expecting Wall-E. Not content to follow the same old Pixar formula and rake in the dough, Andrew Stanton and his crew challenged themselves by doing away with cute talking animals, and centered this kids' movie on a garbage-recycling robot with very few facial features. In addition, the first 30 minutes contain nearly zero dialogue. It should have been a disaster, yet kids and adults alike were completely taken by this beautiful love story about machines, which also happens to be a legitimate cautionary sci-fi tale.

5. Happy Go Lucky

Poppy is unlike any movie character I've ever seen. She is an eternal optimist, full of joy and naivete. And ten minutes into Happy Go Lucky, I had already fallen completely in love with her. Of course, being a Mike Leigh movie, she still lives in working class London, surrounded by volatile timebombs like her new driving instructor, played brilliantly by Eddie Marsan. There's no plot per se, but it's fascinating to watch Poppy interact with the cynical world around her and learn why she is who she is. This is truly a feel-good movie, and had me on a high for days.

4. The Visitor

From the director of The Station Agent, comes a similarly heartfelt, detailed character study. It focuses on a complacent college professor and his re-awakening to life, inspired by a chance meeting with a stranger. Richard Jenkins is a one of our best character actors, but he shines here in a rare (now Oscar-nominated) leading role. Despite dealing with some heavy political post-9/11 themes, the movie's tone is sweet and gentle and gorgeously life-affirming. This is the kind of movie some people call "little" ("a nice little indie"), but that just means they're not paying attention to all the meticulously observed details. It's already on DVD, and you owe yourself to seek this one out.

3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

You may be surprised to see this so high on my list. I'm aware that a lot of people don't like this movie, calling it cliche, overlong, a Forrest Gump ripoff, etc. While it does tread some Gumpy ground (and is unfortunately from the same writer -- maybe he needs to try something new), it is also full of emotional resonance, captivating performances, remarkable visual effects and sharp direction from David Fincher, from whom this kind of romantic story is a complete surprise. Yes, Benjamin Button is a passive character; a blank slate of sorts, but that's partially the point. Even this blank slate deeply effects the lives of every person he meets.

2. Rachel Getting Married

I was not an Anne Hathaway fan. Consider me a convert. Hathaway's Kym is a ragged ball of misplaced anger, neediness and tension. Watching her, you can't help but oscillate between empathizing and cringing. Shot like a home movie, with the musical score provided only by on-site musicians, Jonathan Demme makes us feel like guests at this wedding, and by the end, we truly feel like we know every member of this family, and love them despite their faults. Propelled by a powerful ensemble cast (including Rosemarie Dewitt, who I have a huge crush on), this is one wedding I actually want to relive.

1. Synecdoche, New York

This movie is a foolishly ambitious dream about foolishly ambitious dreams. Everything about this film is a risk, except for the lineup, which was pulled straight from my dreams: the cast features Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Hope Davis and Samantha Morton. It is written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (one of the greatest screenwriters of all-time), and scored by Jon Brion (who I am slowly trying to become). The film centers on theatre director Caden Cotard (played by Hoffman), and his life-long quest to capture truth in art. This may sound like a simple setup, but it grows increasingly surreal and complicated, until Caden is building sets the size of New York City (literally) and begins hiring actors to play the actors playing the actors. It's all incredibly meta and incredibly brilliant. Oh also, it's hilarious. Granted, it's a very very dark brand of humor, but I laughed for nearly the entire length of the movie, unaware it was simultaneously breaking my heart, until the end when the laughs slowly tapered off. The control of tone here is astounding. But it wouldn't be at the top of my list if this movie didn't have a huge heart, and Kaufman recognizes that everyone, deep down, wants to be seen and known. The title is a play on Schenectady, New York (where it takes place) and the word "synecdoche," which means "a part representing the whole, and the whole representing a part." As the end credits play, a woman sings, "I'm just a little person, one person in a sea, of many little people, who are not aware of me." Unlike Caden, Charlie Kaufman's foolishly ambitious dreams have been realized, and we are all better for it.

For the Chuckles

Here are some things I've been laughing about lately:







And an all-time favorite, for anyone who's ever had to suffer through Dora the Explorer:

Let the Firetrucks Bring Us Together

I love it when a fire engine is sirening its way down the street and everyone pulls to the side of the road and freezes.

For a moment, everyone puts aside the enveloping sagas of their lives and works together toward the common goal of getting the truck to its destination quickly.

It's such a beautiful simple moment where suddenly everybody, regardless of politics, religion or taste, is on the same page. A rare moment of grace.

A Handmade Horror Movie for Children

I've always been a sucker for creepy kids movies. As a kid, I loved Beetlejuice, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Nightmare Before Christmas... So of course, I adored Coraline, which I saw in 3D last night. Most kids movies nowadays have become incredibly watered-down with scatological humor and celebrity talking animals, but this movie remembers that kids have an attention span, and that they like to be a little scared, within the safe confines of a movie.

Button Your Eyes

This is my favorite Coraline trailer, which focuses more on how it was made than on the movie itself.

Brilliance in Your Eardrums

In case you missed the Grammys the other night, this is what magic sounds like:

Radiohead - 15 Step
Uploaded by Alisvideo

Versailles

Flashback: Paris. On day 3, Jaco, Candice and I went to Versailles to explore the palace.

Seriously beautiful and seriously over the top.

The trees were manicured to within an inch of their little twiggy lives.

No Photoshop, Seriously

The palace itself was a testament to excess and royal insanity.

At odds with the beautiful gold-leafed everything was an art exhibit, unnerving in its randomness. You see, this palace-wide sculpture installation might have been cool... Somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn't the friggin' Palace at Versailles.

What was this installation, you ask? Balloon animals. Made of steel.

Inappropriate

Quite modern and cool actually, but not when standing in front of a gorgeous mural from the French Revolution.

Uber-inappropriate

And, as if things couldn't get more arbitrary, one piece was a steel sculpture of Michael Jackson and his chimp, Bubbles.

Which of These Things is Not Like the Other?

Then we frolicked through the gardens of Marie Antoinette. That party princess had a serious party house with a serious party yard.

Jaco took a pic of me with my serious face:

Don't Mess with the German-Egyptian Frenchman

One more beautiful night in Paris, and then we flew to London to finish the Eurotour with Miley (to be continued).

EXTREME Home Makeover of the Sad Kind

You may have heard by now that our gig with Billy Ray didn't go exactly as planned. Witness for yourself:



What is it with me and fire!?

Fortunately, no one was hurt. But the building was a total loss.

Microchips Make Joy Machines

I got a Nintendo DS for Christmas. And I love it. It teaches me how to cook, I can compose music on it, bring Mario with me, shorten a long plane ride with a deep Japanese RPG... it's a glorious thing. A glorious thing that fits in my pocket. Dee-lightful.

Also, I have a soft spot for touch screens... and stylus pens for that matter, though I realize they are "so five years ago." Come on. You can write on the screen!

What was your favorite Christmas gift in '08? Hit me up in the comments.

Love Stinks, for Free and with DJs!

In addition to the Love Stinks playlist I spoke about yesterday, CDBaby is featuring my song "The House We Built" on their very special Anti-Valentines Day edition of the Music Discovery podcast. This is an awesome podcast that I listen to regularly, so it's quite an honor. Check it out.

Available here:
http://musicdiscovery.cdbabypodcast.com/

You can also listen and/or subscribe on iTunes:

Love Stinks

In honor of Anti-Valentines Day, CDBaby has created the Love Stinks playlist, featuring my album "The House We Built." In their own words:

"Do you think candy hearts and pink balloons are for sentimental suckers? Here are some songs about loneliness, breakup, and divorce for those of us that love to hate Valentine's Day."

I Believe the Children Are Our Future, Teach Them Well and Let Them Lead the Way, Show Them All the Beauty They Possess Inside...

The night before the Inauguration, we flew to DC to play a Kids Inaugural concert presented by Michelle Obama. She was in the front row with her kids, enjoying Miley, The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovado, Corbin Bleu (my favorite chicken dish) and Lil' Bow Wow, who I was notified is no longer lil'. He still looks lil', however, so it is quite confusing.

We began with soundcheck, as always. Here's a slice of how slow and uneventful those things are:



Despite the Big Nothing happening in that video, you can still hear how sweet Billy Ray is, as he makes small talk with a crew member.

Then Clay (our playback guy and my dear friend) and I decided to hit the streets and see the hoopla!

Mainly, the hoopla consisted of icy cold air, tons of people (half of whom were selling Barack-related merchandise to the other half), and many many cops.

Obama Obobbleheads

Obama Water

(Because you'll never go broke underestimating the American public)

The Street-level Mosh Pit

We pushed and shoved our way back to the arena for our show:

And then we made history all over the place. Miley even brought a tear to us hardened band members when she sang "The Climb."

The Pistachio Game

Okay, one more Noah video from Christmas.

He really enjoyed bringing pistachios to his uncle Doug.

"Biiiiiiiiite?!"

Who's This Andre Gill, Anyway?

Ah yes. Back to my EuroStory. From October. I'm that far behind.

When we stepped off the train in Paris, I immediately fell in love. I was sort of geared up for disappointment. After all, how many things in life can possibly live up to my high expectations?

Well, Paris was exactly what I thought it would be: a gorgeous city full of passionate artists, intimate bistros and cheese. Lots of cheese.

Upon arrival, I checked into my impossibly tiny hostel, the Hotel Andre Gill. Yeah, they called it a Hotel, but it was a hostel. In fact, it was basically what you'd get if somebody made a French cartoon about a hostel, complete with a big spirally staircase, Japanese tourists, and the management baking croissants in the kitchen. It was sort of like living in The Triplets of Belleville, only with much less awesomeness and much more body odor.

Okay, not exactly the Ritz, but Disney was not paying for this room. I was. And I am not a person of wealth.

Proudly Displaying Our Two-Star Rating

After checking in, I crammed myself and my bags into the smallest elevator in Europe.

I attempted to turn around while in the elevator, but my backpack and the tiny lift prevented any of that nonsense. This was the kind of elevator one could only "back out" of.

Oh also, my room was on the 6th floor, and the elevator only went to the 5th. Why?

One should not ask questions at the Hotel Andre Gill. If one does, that question may lead to other questions. Like perhaps:

• Why is my bed made for a little person?
• Why is there only a closet and a sink in my room, and no toilet?
• Why is the toilet on the 6th floor out-of-order, forcing me to walk down the stairs, in the dark, in the middle of the night, in my boxer shorts?
• Which leads to, why is there no light in the hallway?
• Why, when I finally do reach the 5th floor toilet, is the light broken, forcing me to try and aim properly in the dark?
• Why, when I want to (heaven forbid) actually shower, do I have to walk to the 5th floor, take the elevator to the 1st floor, and then wait in line for the only shower in the entire building?

So... One should not ask questions at the Hotel Andre Gill.

Apparently, Andre Gill was a famous caricaturist. Just take a moment to let that sink in.

But none of that mattered anyway, because I was in Paris (!), and I certainly planned on spending as little time as possible in my Hotel/hostel.

So out I went. First, to the Eiffel Tower:


Then, to gorge on EuroSweets:

I had quite an adventurous day out, riding the trains, meeting Parisians, speaking pigeon-French.
___________

The following day, I met up with Jamie, Jaco and Candice for a little museum hopping. First, the Rodan museum, for a little sculpture 101.

Staring Contest

The Thinker(s)

Consoling the Inconsolable

Okay, that last one wasn't in the Rodan museum. Because in Paris, there's just random sculpture on the streets. It's like a big art explosion. Otherwise known as "Mike Schmid's New Favorite Place."

At the end of that day, Jamie and I took a little tour of Monmarte: him because he's all cultured n' stuff, and me because I like Amelie.

Sacre Coeur Basillica was a sight to behold: partially because it is a marvel of architechture, and partially because the French insisted on partying hard in front of said marvel, creating a depressing and ironic sight:


Oh, Paris. Even your flaws are strangely artful.

The next day, we checked out Notre Dame, The Musee D'Orsay, The Latin Quarter and...just everything awesome. Lots of walking, lots of bread & dairy, and great...great escargot.

The final day, we went to Versailles. (Next entry).

Christmas Pics

Christmas with Noah!!!

My family and I were very fortunate to have Noah visit us for Christmas. Here's some delightfulness from the first day:



And the next day:



And Christmas Eve (the "Hide Eeeeeeeee" game never gets old!)

Bad Girls Club...again!

My song, "Little Noah," will be featured on next week's episode of The Bad Girls' Club. No idea how they're gonna tie that song in. If you're as curious as I am, tune in Tuesday, January 13th, at 7 or 10pm (depending on where you live - check local listings) on the Oxygen network.

All Covers @ Genghis Cohen

This Friday, I'll be playing a very special all-covers show at Genghis. I've never done this before, so come on out and get all experimental with me.

Friday, Jan 9th @ 10pm
Genghis Cohen
740 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046

Christmas Day Parade

If you had your TV on during your Christmas day festivities, you may have seen Miley and Billy Ray playing the Disney parade. If you squinted, you may have also seen us.

The day of the show, I woke up in Disney's Animal Kingdom hotel, which was...odd:



We took a shuttle from Animal Kingdom to the Magic Kingdom for the big show, where it was bonkers-hot outside. Frying. But the set was huge and impressive:


We soundchecked and rehearsed for a bit, while the thousands of fans were still barricaded behind ropes.



And I took a moment to grab a couple shots with my new friends:


I pretended not to notice these signs, sprinkled throughout the set:

After awhile, they let the fans pour in.

We played "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with Miley:



In between songs, Jamie flirted with Stich (not sure if he/she/it flirted back) and I was entertained by Donald Duck:

Note how Kay's eye-rolling actually hurt Donald's feelings. Joy destroyer.

Then we played with Sir Billy Ray Cyrus (the out-of-syncness due to YouTube):



After that, I went back to the resort to watch the lonely animals pace.

New Year, New Look

Welcome back! Hope you had an amazing holiday, filled with wonderfulcrazysillygood times!

And a happy 2009 to you. To celebrate the universe plunging forward into possibility, I changed up the look of the blog. Seemed apropos.

I'll finish up the Euroblog soon, and also I'll have some pics & vids of my incredible Christmas with Noah shortly.