2008: The Year in Review

This is an odd year in that it left me searching desperately for answers. It is the first period of the most modern era that clued me into the downturn in cinematic quality--the Hollywood studios seemed unwilling to do anything great, and so I had to search through indie output for a conclusion. The surprise ascension of Danny Boyle's ho-hum Slumdog Millionaire still leaves me with a feeling of "What the hell happened here?" So I had to rewatch the year's output all over again to find what production I really felt was the best. At first, I was ready to go with Tomas Alfedson's brilliant blending of horror and young romance Let The Right One In, but it didn't feel completely correct as a Best Picture choice. As much as I loved Charlie Kaufman's dazzlingly personal epic Synecdoche, New York, I also realized it's an incredibly odd film that probably would not connect with most viewers. Neither does Mike Leigh's most challenging work Happy-Go-Lucky, juiced by Leigh's unusual script and astounding performances by Sally Hawkins and Eddie Marsan. Meanwhile, the 2009 Best Picture winner, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, first revealed at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival and a recipient of a few 2008 Independent Spirit nominations, was terrific in its visceral recreation of the Iraq War, but is also not factually correct in its depiction of military operations; I wish the movie was more well-researched (many veterans had problems with the film's screenplay). But it is incredibly strong in its most tense moments, and so there was a big push to make Bigelow the first female winner of the Best Director Oscar the following year. But I consider The Hurt Locker to be a 2008 release, and as such, I have to deny Bigelow the top spot. And, also, I see The Hurt Locker as a terrific imitation of a male-oriented tale, and so I am in search of something else.

I definitely agree that a female director finally needed to be recognized. And in my recount of 2008's output, I uncovered the film I believe should've been roundly lauded. Kelly Reichardt's debut, 1994's River of Grass, was a black-and-white, beautifully low-key hit at that year's Sundance Film Festival, but it would be years before her real breakthrough landed with 2006's Old Joy, a minimalist masterpiece about the last gasps of a male friendship, all breathed during a tentative, woodsy reunion. With only two films under her name, Kelly Reichardt had already commanded a unique place in American cinema. But this position was cemented by her biting, totally moving tale of poverty and desperation Wendy and Lucy. Reichardt lent her own sweet yellow dog Lucy as the film's co-lead and, in doing so, she perfectly portrays the undying adoration humans can have for animals (a focus I find needs more support from filmmakers; this is the most affecting film on this largely unexplored subject since Paul Mazursky's 1974 movie Harry and Tonto).

More importantly, Reichardt expertly portrays the desperation of poor people trying to find their way to happiness without a cent in their pockets (making it a perfect film for 2008, where the US and world economy took an epic dive). Michelle Williams, in the lead, delivers a crushing show as a woman whose savior trip to Alaska, dog in tow, is interrupted by complications that will send any pet-loving viewer into a frantic, head-grabbing tizzy. The economical Wendy and Lucy is easily the year's most emotionally effective movie--one that I defy anyone not to weep at its conclusion. And so I ultimately had to find in its favor as 2008's best film. It has so much to say to us. To those who haven't seen it: be patient. This is miles away from the year's most popular movie The Dark Knight (a well-crafted superhero movie most notable for Heath Ledger's startling supporting performance). Wendy and Lucy carefully dramatizes the desolate places we are headed. Are you a pet owner? It makes me sad to say it, but you might have to get ready to really experience something like this in the future. Even if you don't share your life with an animal, anyone with any empathy whatsoever will be reduced to tears and to further understanding by Reichardt's remarkable movie, and by Michelle Willams' undeniably ravishing performance. I love, love, love the bravery of Reichardt's subtly profound film. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold.

PICTURE: WENDY AND LUCY (US, Kelly Reichardt)
(2nd: Synecdoche, New York (US, Charlie Kaufman)
followed by: Let The Right One In (Sweden, Tomas Alfredson)
Happy-Go-Lucky (UK, Mike Leigh)
The Hurt Locker (US, Kathryn Bigelow) (won in 2009)
Still Walking (Japan, Hirokazu Kore-Eda)
In Bruges (UK, Martin McDonagh)
The Beaches of Agnès (France, Agnès Varda)
WALL-E (US, Andrew Stanton)
Somers Town (UK, Shane Meadows)
The Wrestler (US, Darren Aronofsky)
Hunger (UK, Steve McQueen)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Canada, Sacha Gervasi)
Tropic Thunder (US, Ben Stiller)
Man on Wire (US, James Marsh)
Of Time and the City (UK, Terence Davies)
Julia (France/US/Mexico/Belgium, Erick Zonca)
Trucker (US, James Mottern)
Two Lovers (US, James Gray)
Vicki Christina Barcelona (US, Woody Allen)
The Promotion (US, Steve Conrad)
Nights and Weekends (US, Greta Gerwig and Joe Swanberg)
The Dark Knight (US, Christopher Nolan)
Doubt (US, John Patrick Shanley)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (US/UK, Marina Zenovich)
Role Models (US, David Wain)
Medicine for Melancholy (US, Barry Jenkins)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman)
Blindness (US, Fernando Meirelles)
Bronson (UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Idiots and Angels (US, Bill Plympton)
Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (UK, Jon Ronson)
Departures (Japan, Yôjirô Takita)
Pray The Devil Back to Hell (US, Gini Reticker)
W. (US, Oliver Stone)
The Class (France, Laurent Cantet)
Be Kind Rewind (UK/France/US, Michel Gondry)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel)
Iron Man (US, Jon Favreau)
Burn After Reading (US, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
35 Shots of Rum (France, Claire Denis)
Changeling (US, Clint Eastwood)
The Wild Man of the Navidad (US, Duane Graves and Justin Meeks)
The Bank Job (UK/US/Australia, Roger Donaldson)
Frozen River (US, Debra Granik)
Gran Torino (US, Clint Eastwood)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France, Philippe Claudel)
Frost/Nixon (US, Ron Howard)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (US, Nicholas Stoller)
JCVD (Belgium/Luxembourg/France, Mabrouk El Mechri)
Lovely Still (US, Nicholas Fackler)
Transsiberian (Spain/Germany/UK/ Lithuania, Brad Anderson)
Dying Breed (Australia, Jody Dwyer)
What Just Happened (US, Barry Levinson)
Baghead (US, Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass)
Revolutionary Road (US, Sam Mendes)
Che (US, Steven Soderbergh)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (US, Kevin Smith)
Rachel Getting Married (US, Jonathan Demme)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (US, David Fincher)
Shine a Light (US, Martin Scorsese)
Gran Torino (US, Clint Eastwood)
Wanted (US, Timur Bekmambetov)
Milk (US, Gus Van Sant)
Slumdog Millionaire (UK/India, Danny Boyle)
Australia (US/Australia, Baz Luhrmann)
Me and Orson Welles (US/UK, Richard Linklater)
Speed Racer (US, Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski)
The Reader (US, Stephen Daldry)
Twilight (US, Catherine Hardwicke)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (US, Steven Spielberg)
The Happening (US, M. Night Shyamalan)

ACTOR: Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER (2nd: Michael Fassbender, Hunger, followed by: Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, New York; Tom Hardy, Bronson; Joaquin Phoenix, Two Lovers; Josh Brolin, W.; Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon)



ACTRESS: Michelle Williams, WENDY AND LUCY (2nd: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky,  followed by: Tilda Swinton, Julia; Michelle Monaghan, Trucker; Angelena Jolie, Changeling; Meryl Streep, Doubt; Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You for So Long)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT (2nd: Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky, followed by: Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder; Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road; Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading; Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker; John C. Reilly, The Promotion)



SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Viola Davis, DOUBT (2nd: Penelope Cruz, Vicki Christina Barcelona, followed by: Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler; Tilda Swinton, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Amy Adams, Doubt; Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, New York; Lina Liandersson, Let The Right One In)

DIRECTOR: Kelly Reichardt, WENDY AND LUCY (2nd: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche New York, followed by: Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In; Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky; Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (won in 2009); Andrew Stanton, WALL-E; Agnès Varda, The Beaches of Agnès)

NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Sweden, Tomas Alfredson) (2nd: Still Walking (Japan, Hirokazu Kore-Eda), followed by: The Beaches of Agnès (France, Agnès Varda); Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman); Departures (Japan, Yôjirô Takita); The Class (France, Laurent Cantet); The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany, Uli Edel); 35 Shots of Rum (France, Claire Denis); I’ve Loved You So Long (France, Philippe Claudel))



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: THE BEACHES OF AGNES (France, Agnès Varda) (2nd: Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Canada, Sacha Gervasi), followed by: Man on Wire (US, James Marsh); Of Time and the City (UK, Terence Davies); Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (US/UK, Marina Zenovich); Waltz with Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman); Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (UK, Jon Ronson); Pray The Devil Back to Hell (US, Gini Reticker)))

ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL-E (US, Andrew Stanton) (2nd: Idiots and Angels (US, Bill Plympton), followed by: Waltz With Bashir (Israel, Ari Folman))



ANIMATED SHORT: LAVATORY--LOVESTORY (Russia, Konstantin Bronzit) (2nd: The House of Little Cubes (Japan, Kunio Kato), followed by: This Way Up (UK, Adam Foulkes and Alan Smith); I Am So Proud of You (US, Don Hertzfeldt))



LIVE ACTION SHORT:  THE WITNESS FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306 (US, Adam Pertofsky) (2nd: Next Floor (Canada, Denis Villeneuve), followed by: Toyland (Germany, Jochen Alexander Freydank); Signs (Australia, Patrick Hughes))



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Martin McDonagh, IN BRUGES (2nd: Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York; followed by: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky; Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Jim Reardon, WALL-E; Shane Meadows, Somers Town)



ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: John Ajvide Lindqvist, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, Wendy and Lucy; followed by: John Patrick Shanley, Doubt; Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David Goyer, The Dark Knight; Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Hoyte van Hoytema, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2nd: Frederick Elmes, Synecdoche, New York, followed by: Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight; Sam Levy, Wendy and Lucy; Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire)

ART DIRECTION: SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, The Dark Knight, Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

COSTUME DESIGN: REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, Australia, Synecdoche New York 



FILM EDITING: THE HURT LOCKER (won in 2009), Wendy and Lucy, Let The Right One In, In Bruges, The Bank Job

SOUND: THE HURT LOCKER (won in 2009), The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Wanted, Iron Man

 

SOUND EFFECTS: WALL-E, The Hurt Locker, Wanted, The Dark Knight, Speed Racer



ORIGINAL SCORE: Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, THE HURT LOCKER (2nd: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire, followed by: Thomas Newman, WALL-E; Johan Söderqvist, Let the Right One In; Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, The Dark Knight)



ORIGINAL SONG: “The Wrestler” from THE WRESTLER (Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen) (2nd: “Down to Earth” from WALL-E (Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; lyrics by Peter Gabriel), followed by "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino (Music and lyrics by Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, and Michael Stevens); “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire (Music by A.R. Rahman; lyrics by Gulzar))

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE DARK KNIGHT, Iron Man, Synecdoche New York, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Speed Racer

MAKEUP: TROPIC THUNDER, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Master List #29: Six current filmmakers who have perfect records

Answering a good friend's call to name a currently-working filmmaker who I thought had done nothing but excellent work, I felt compelled to do a little research. So, very quickly, here are the filmmakers whom I believe have, as of April 2018, have a perfect record. Not all the films listed here are flat-out masterpieces of the same cloth, but all achieve what they set out to, with extreme artistry. I should note that I required that a filmmaker be making movies for at least a decade, and they had at least four suitable films under their belt (many of these filmmakers have done extensive episodic TV, music video, and short film work, but I'm really concentrating on their features, whether done for theatrical release or television). Here are my choices:
 

Mike Leigh (17 titles)
Bleak Moments (1971)
Hard Labour (1973, TV)
Nuts in May (1976, TV)
The Kiss of Death (1977, TV)
Abigail’s Party (1977, TV production shot on video)
Who’s Who (1979, TV)
Home Sweet Home (1982, TV)
High Hopes (1988)
Life is Sweet (1990)
Naked (1993)
Secrets and Lies (1996)
Career Girls (1997)
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
All or Nothing (2002)
Vera Drake (2004)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Another Year (2010)
Mr. Turner (2014)

Alfonso Cuaron (7)
Love in the Time of Hysteria (1991)
A Little Princess (1995)
Great Expectations (1998)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Children of Men (2006)
Gravity (2013)

Paul Thomas Anderson (7)
Hard Eight (1996)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Magnolia (1999)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Master (2012)
Inherent Vice (2014) 
Phantom Thread (2017)

Nicole Holofcener (5)
Walking and Talking (1996)
Lovely and Amazing (2001)
Friends with Money (2006)
Please Give (2010)
Enough Said (2013)


Kelly Reichardt (5) 
River of Grass (1994)
Old Joy (2006)
Wendy and Lucy (2008)
Meek's Cutoff  (2010)
Night Moves (2014)
Certain Women (2016)


Spike Jonze (4)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Adaptation (2002)
Where The Wild Things Are (2009)
Her (2013)

Alexander Payne was on the list until the excruciating Downsizing hit in 2017. Terrence Malick, The Coen Brothers, Brad Bird, Michael Haneke, Peter Weir, David Lynch, Mike Judge, Christopher Nolan, Terrence Davies, Edgar Wright, Pedro Almodovar, Darren Aronofsky, David Cronenberg, and Quentin Tarantino almost made the list, except for one or two missteps each. Lynne Ramsay, Bennett Miller, Sylvain Chomet, and Charles Ferguson all have perfect records, but each needs to get working on another feature or two. The following filmmakers nearly got mentioned as well, but when I investigated their careers, I realized there were many more of their films I needed to see; nevertheless, I find it kind of impossible to believe any of these artists have helmed anything less than superlative cinema: Ross McElwee, Lars Von Trier, Werner Herzog, Zhang Yimou, D.A. Pennebaker, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Agnes Varda, Albert Maysles, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, and most especially Frederick Wiseman; the extraordinary work that I have seen of his convinces me that I have more great films to eventually see.

Brushes with Greatness: My Ten Thrilling Celebrity Sightings of 2008

Living in New York City has a few minuses, to be sure. But the pluses far outweigh them, especially if you're an attentive and active movie lover such as myself. One of those benefits is being able to see and even talk to your favorite film and media stars. They're milling about all over the place up here--appearing at film festivals, special screenings, and even just going about their daily lives. Here are ten instances in which I met up with some of my favorite people in 2008.

1) I was SOOOO excited to meet Keir Dullea (star of my favorite movie of all time, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey) after a screening of Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing at NYC's Film Forum. He signed my posters from 2001 and David and Lisa (he was REALLY impressed to see the David and Lisa poster; he said he hadn't seen it in over 30 years). As he was waiting for his car after the autograph session, I approached him and, struggling for a question, asked if he found Kubrick to be humorous in any way. He seemed flummoxed and answered, basically, "No, he was way too caught up in the details of making the movie to crack any jokes." I dunno why I asked this question; I suppose I had heard about Kubrick's cutting-up with Malcolm McDowell and Peter Sellers while making A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove, respectively, and I just wanted to know if the great director's mood was just as light on the 2001 set. I guess it wasn't.2) At the terrific 2008 TriBeCa Film Festival, Matthew Modine submitted a fine short film he directed and starred in called I Think I Thought. He also participated in a Kubrick-centric symposium following a 40th Anniversary screening of 2001 (in case you don't know, Modine played Private Joker in Kubrick's 1987 movie Full Metal Jacket). After the program, I followed Matthew outside and got my picture taken with him, plus he gave me a really nice autograph humorously illustrated with a peace symbol (which famously appeared on his helmet in Full Metal Jacket). I gave Matthew the web address to FILMICABILITY, and told him I'm trying to write articles about my 2000 favorite movies. He asked which one of his own films made it on to my list, and I answered Full Metal Jacket (of course), Birdy (Alan Parker, 84), Married to the Mob (Jonathan Demme, 88), Short Cuts (Robert Altman, 93), and Baby It's You (John Sayles, 83). He said those were good choices, and that he would definitely visit my site. I hope he did!3) NYC's Walter Reade Theater (part of Lincoln Center) showed Malcolm McDowell's newest movie Never Apologize in September of this year. A filmed version of McDowell's one-man show about his relationship with the late director Lindsay Anderson (with whom McDowell did three of his most notable films, known as "the Mick Travis Trilogy": If..., O Lucky Man!, and Britannia Hospital), Never Apologize was great fun. But I really showed up not only to see If... and O Lucky Man! on the big screen (both of which looked resplendant), but to meet Malcolm McDowell himself. Note: I believe I set a record few could match: McDowell would be the third Kubrick movie hero I'd met in one year. The star of A Clockwork Orange came ambling into the theater about ten minutes before O Lucky Man! ended and I got to speak with him, all by my lonesome, right inside the theater's lobby. I failed to get a picture with him (dang it!), but I did get him to sign his photo in my massive Stanley Kubrick Archives book, as well as my O Lucky Man! and Time After Time posters. I asked him only three questions: (1) Who has the famed golden-threaded suit from O Lucky Man! (he does--"though I don't think I could fit into it now"--and he told a fascinating story about why Anderson decided to include the suit as an element in the movie). (2) Why was If... filmed in both color and black-and-white? He smiled and said he'd been asked that question hundreds of times. His answer: the black-and-white sequences were done out of necessity because the location in which they were filmed wouldn't allow for the sort of lighting that color film required, so Anderson just resorted to shooting the sequences in B&W (sometimes the answers behind such bafflements are just that simple). And (3) when is the famed Stanley Kubrick museum exhibit going to make it to the States--more specifically, to New York? He told me the big problem was shipping all this valuable stuff from London to the U.S. I told him I thought it'd be a massive financial success, and that the effort would be more than worth it. He assured me when he got back to London, he would speak to Kubrick's widow, Christiane, about bringing the exhibit here (it excites me to know that, if it happens, I may have had a hand in it; it looks like the most amazing thing ever!!!) Malcolm then invited me in to sit with him as we watched the joyous final scene of O Lucky Man! together. Listening to Alan Price's kickin' title song, I whispered to Malcolm "This is the best original rock-and-roll score ever written for movies." He gave me a playful punch in the arm and a "Damn right!" smile. What a thrill!!!

4) Working at the sadly now-defunct Kim's Video in the East Village during the first half of 2008 provided me with a few short Brushes with Greatness. The first: helping a bearded Ryan Gosling (The Believer, Stay, The Notebook, and Oscar nominee for his brilliant showing in 2006's Half-Nelson) as he tried to locate a copy of John Huston's great 1972 boxing movie Fat City. Knowing the difficulty of finding a single title amongst the legendarily vast collection at Kim's (which is soon to be relocated to a small town in Sicily, of all places!), I stepped out from behind the counter to find the film for him (while wondering if he was researching a new role), and he said, "Oh, you don't have to do that!" I answered "Hey, I'd do it for anyone else. That's what I'm here for!" 5) I was struck dumb at Kim's when I found the beautiful Chloe Sevigny standing in front of me, renting (strangely enough) Lindsay Anderson's If... I acted as if she were not a huge movie star (as you're supposed to do in NYC), and I recommended O Lucky Man! to her. As to let me know what name was on her account (so I could type it into the Kim's computer system), she humbly showed me her driver's licence (as if I didn't already know who she was). I can still feel that shock of hidden desire that shot painfully up my spine as I locked glances with her big, beautiful blue eyes. What a stunner she is!6) I met three directors I admire at Kim's, too: the wonderful Kelly Reichardt (the director, pictured below, of Old Joy and my #3 movie of 2008 Wendy and Lucy), Chuck Workman (the Oscar-winning director of Precious Images and the man who compiles all the film history tributes at each year's Academy Awards), and David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees). I quickly complimented them all on their work. 7) I'll never forget sitting in the front row at the TriBeCa Film Festival's 2001: A Space Odyssey symposium and looking straight at Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step foot on the moon, as he discussed his impressions of 2001 and his trip to that great gray rock in the sky. I didn't get to meet him: famously shy, Aldrin made a bee-line to the door (refusing to give autographs) once the photo ops were over. But it was incredible hearing him speak about the details of his most famous mission.8) At the same film festival, I saw the unmistakable Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Roger and Me, Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11) making his way through the crowd. He kindly made time for a quick handshake, after which I patted him on the back and thanked him for both his films and his political bravery.9) Through my good friend, photographer/filmmaker Richard Sandler (The Gods of Times Square), I got to meet another accomplished photographer, Sylvia Plachy, a number of times. Pictured at right below (with director Rebecca Dreyfus, maker of 2008's Self-Portrait with Cows Going Home and Other Works: A Portrait of Sylvia Plachy), the brilliant and generous Ms. Plachy is also notable as being the mother of Oscar-winner Adrian Brody (she and her husband regaled me over dinner about Adrian's experiences filming The Pianist with Roman Polanski, and his more recent travails playing the famed matador in the yet-to-be-released bio-pic Manolete). I got to feel famous myself, however briefly, as we shared a few laughs over drinks. I even gave her an original drawing of mine (which I titled "Self Portrait Without Cows"). She told me later she had my drawing framed and that it was now hanging up in her pad. Wow! 10) At the film festival, I talked briefly with legendary filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles--the man behind the groundbreaking Sweet Sweetback's Baaaaadassss Song. I mentioned how much I particularly loved 1970's The Watermelon Man, and he kindly told me some tales about his experiences filming that subversive and underseen masterpiece. What a guy!All this, plus I got to see magician David Blaine performing on the streets, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NY Governor David Patterson speechifying at the TriBeCa Film Festival's opening press conference, This is England and Somers Town director Shane Meadows outside of the Strand book store, Blair Witch Project co-director Daniel Myrick at the opening party for his newest movie The Objective, character actor and acting professor Austin Pendleton (What's Up Doc, A Beautiful Mind, Skidoo, Catch-22, My Cousin Vinny, The Muppet Movie, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge) at a Whole Foods Market, and music legend Nick Lowe (below) performing an intimate and extra-entertaining 30-minute set at a small TriBeCa venue. All these fine people, in their own small ways, helped make 2008 a memorable year indeed for me. Now I have 2009 to look forward to!