Going Beyond Celebrity Gossip Rags

When I was younger, I was a voracious reader. In school, I dutifully read every book on the required reading list, then expanded beyond those elementary titles to weightier novels. My passion continued on into young adulthood, when my friends were out partying, I would read late into the night, grab a couple hours of sleep then drag myself into work. I read to my daughter every night from early infancy until she took over the titles and started reading to me. Then, a few years, I realized I had stopped reading. I had given in to my upper extremities issues and just couldn't set aside the pain long enough to linger over a book the way I used to, so I just put them all aside. I started to feel ignorant, having missed the latest releases and being unaware of what book topped what best seller list. Plus, I've really been wanting to go back and read some of the classics I skipped in lieu of more lusty prose from Danielle Steele's early collection.

So now I want to read and I'm much better prepared to handle the adjustments I need to make to get into those long awaited novels. My problem was that I had nothing to read, had too many interests to narrow down to choosing that first book, and starting a book list of my own just seemed like it would take too much energy. So when my sister asked the inevitable question "what do you want for Christmas this year?" I was prepared with my answer: books. But I added one caveat to my request - I did not want brand new books. I did not want to ask her to choose ten titles for me at Barnes and Noble that would ring up to $200.00 or more. I asked her to please head down to our local library and hit up the annual book sale there.

To my total happiness on Christmas morning, I unwrapped a most wonderful package containing just the right mix of books to get me back on the literary path. Sister had managed to snag the following, all in good to great condition:

A brand new copy of Anthony Bourdain's Bits and Pieces (hardback); a 1949 copy of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley; Pandemic by Daniel Kalla; Alice Hoffman's Here on Earth; Homeland by John Jakes; Grift Sense and Funny Money, both by James Swain; I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou; Killer Body by Bonnie Hearn Hill; Helen Fielding's Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination; and a few more. The grand total for this most wonderful Christmas package: $7.00.

Sister is surprised that I chose to write about this, but it is a great example of a couple points: Christmas presents do not have to cost a lot of money, and it is an easy way to support the efforts of our local Friends of the Library.

Just one more thing, next time you're cleaning out your bookshelf, you might consider donating your discarded books to your local library. Most libraries are also willing to take your magazines and other reading material (books on tape / CD, etc). Library volunteers then distribute your donations to reading projects, nursing homes, and public sales.

p.s. thanks Sister for all the other great gifts, as well!

New Year, New You?

It seems every year at this time we see a variety of articles in print and online with the headline "New Year, New You." Having seen this catchy phrase most recently on the cover of Costco Connection - right above a slightly photoshopped picture of one of America's original fitness gurus Jack LaLanne - just got me wondering, what does it mean? If I run to Costco to pick up Jack LaLanne's Power Juice Machine, will my life suddenly change in 2008?

Golden Globe Nominations

Nominees for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning. See the complete list on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's website: http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/index.html.

SF Film Critics 2007 Award Winners

SAN FRANCISCO FILM CRITICS CIRCLE announces its 2007 Awards for Achievement in Film San Francisco, CA, December 10, 2007 – The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has named “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” as the Best Picture of 2007. Andrew Dominik’s Western, based on the Ron Hansen novel, details the complex psychology of Robert Ford and his relationship to the infamous outlaw Jesse James. For his performance as Ford, Casey Affleck was named Best Supporting Actor. Veteran filmmaking team Joel & Ethan Coen took Best Director honors for helming “No Country for Old Men,” an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s existential crime drama. The San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC), which includes twenty-four Bay Area film critics, honored George Clooney as Best Actor for the titular role of a troubled lawyer in “Michael Clayton.” Julie Christie won Best Actress for playing Fiona Anderson, who bravely faces Alzheimer’s disease in “Away from Her.” In addition to Affleck’s Best Supporting Actor nod, Amy Ryan secured Best Supporting Actress for playing Helene McCready, mother to a missing girl in “Gone Baby Gone.” Best Original Screenplay honors went to Tamara Jenkins’ “The Savages,” a seriocomic look at two siblings dealing with the physical and mental breakdown of their father, while Best Adapted Screenplay was awarded to Sarah Polley for turning Alice Munro’s short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” into the film “Away from Her.” The San Francisco critics picked “No End in Sight” as the year’s Best Documentary; Charles Ferguson’s film explicates America’s controversial entry into and occupation of Iraq. Best Foreign Language Film went to Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (“Le scaphandre et le papillon”), a French-language adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby’s autobiographical book about life trapped inside a paralyzed body. The SFFCC issued a Special Citation to recognize the under-looked independent film “Colma: The Musical,” a homegrown song-and-dance extravaganza about the paradoxical drudgery and surreality of life in a city where the dead outnumber the living one thousand to one. Lastly, the group presented its Marlon Riggs Award, honoring a Bay Area filmmaker or individual who represents courage and innovation in the world of cinema, to filmmaker Lynn Hershman-Leeson. Hershman-Leeson’s films include “Conceiving Ada,” “Teknolust,” and this year’s “Strange Culture,” the true story of a Bay Area artist’s Kafkaesque experience as a suspected terrorist in the era of the Patriot Act. # # # The San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC), founded in 2002, is comprised of film critics from Bay Area publications. Its members include Jeff Anderson (Combustible Celluloid), Jeanne Aufmuth (Palo Alto Weekly), Barry Caine (Bay Area News Group), Peter Canavese (GrouchoReviews), Andrea Chase (Killer Movie Reviews), Cheryl Eddy (SF Bay Guardian), Michael Fox (SF360), Susan Gerhard (SF360), Pam Grady (FilmStew), Peter Hartlaub (San Francisco Chronicle), Dennis Harvey (Variety), Johnny Ray Huston (SF Bay Guardian), Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicle), Carla Meyer (Sacramento Bee), Bruce Newman (San Jose Mercury News), Mary Pols (Contra Costa Times), James Rocchi (CBS-5), Tim Sika (Celluloid Dreams), Ruthe Stein (San Francisco Chronicle), Jan Wahl (KRON-TV), Jason Walsh (Pacific Sun), Kelly Vance (East Bay Express), and Richard Von Busack (San Jose Metro).

New York Film Critics Circle 2007 Awards Winners

THE NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS “NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN” BEST FILM OF 2007 December 10, 2007 (New York, NY) -- Stephen Whitty, Chair of the New York Film Critics Circle 2007 and critic and columnist for the Newark Star-Ledger (Newhouse News Service), announced today that the Circle has awarded top honors to the following films: Best Picture — No Country For Old Men Best Director — Joel & Ethan Coen / No Country For Old Men Best Actor — Daniel Day-Lewis / There Will Be Blood Best Actress — Juiie Christie / Away From Her Best Supporting Actor — Javier Bardem / No Country For Old Men Best Supporting Actress — Amy Ryan / Gone Baby Gone Best Cinematography — Robert Elswit / There Will Be Blood Best Screenplay — Joel & Ethan Coen / No Country For Old Men Best Animated Film — Persepolis Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary) — No End in Sight Best Foreign-Language Film — The Lives of Others Best First Film — Away From Her Lifetime Achievement Award — Sidney Lumet Special Critics Award — “Killer of Sheep” by Charles Burnett Whitty says “We started the vote without any clear front runners, but NO COUNTRY... quickly emerged as a favorite. It is a pleasure to welcome back these NY based filmmakers for their stunning achievement. It was also nice to see several debut efforts by female filmmakers (Sarah Polley for AWAY FROM HER and Marjane Satrapi for PERSEPOLIS) make our list this year. With such an interesting list of talented winners, I am really looking forward to our January 6th awards dinner.” The Circle’s awards ceremony will take place at Spotlight in New York City on Sunday, January 6, 2008. Founded in 1935, the Circle’s membership includes critics from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers and magazines. Every year in December the organization meets in New York to vote on awards for the previous calendar year's films. The Circle's awards are often viewed as harbingers of the Oscar nominations, which are announced each February. The Circle's awards are also viewed — perhaps more accurately — as a principled alternative to the Oscars, honoring esthetic merit in a forum that is immune to commercial and political pressures. http://www.nyfcc.com

‘300’ Conquers 2007 High-Def Awards

‘300’ Conquers High-Def Awards DEC. 5, 2007 — Warner Home Video’s hit film 300 dominated the first-ever High-Def Disc Awards, taking High-Def Title of the Year and Best Bonus Feature honors. The High-Def Disc Awards dinner was part of High-Def 2.0, a one-day conference held Dec. 4 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, Calif. High-Def 2.0 was presented by Home Media Magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and the Entertainment Merchants Association. A panel of critics determined the best titles in 11 categories, with eligibility dating back to the inception of each high-def format — HD DVD in April 2006 and Blu-ray Disc in June 2006. Not only was 300 the only multiple winner, but it was also the only winner released on both high-def formats. Specifically, the 300 Blu-ray earned title of the year, while the HD DVD version won the bonus feature award for a function that allows a bluescreen version of the film to run simultaneously with the feature, allowing fans to compare the two and see the extent of the special-effects work done on the film to depict an ancient battle between Spartans and Persians. A live-action title of the year for each format also was awarded: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s James Bond epic Casino Royale won for Blu-ray and Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s cop comedy Hot Fuzz won for HD DVD. Sony Picture’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind was named best multidisc set. The definitive collection uses seamless branching to store three different versions of Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi film on a single disc, allowing viewers to compare them. High-Def Award Winners: High Def Title of the Year: 300 (Blu-ray), Warner Home Video Best Live-Action Blu-ray: Casino Royale, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Best Live-Action HD DVD: Hot Fuzz, Universal Studios Home Entertainment Best Animated: Ratatouille (Blu-ray), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Best Picture Quality: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Blu-ray), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Best Audio Quality: Transformers (HD DVD), Paramount Home Entertainment Best Bonus Feature: 300 (HD DVD), Bluescreen Picture-in-Picture, Warner Home Video Most Innovative Use of New Technology: HD DVD U-Shop feature (Internet purchase ability), Universal Studios Home Entertainment Best Long-Form Music Video: Dave Mathews & Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall (Blu-ray), Sony BMG Best Catalog: Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Best Collection/Multidisc Set: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Home Media Magazine is the leading home entertainment business-to-business trade. It is published weekly by Questex Media Group Inc.

National Board of Review

Winners of the National Board of Review Awards were announced today. Awards will be presented in New York City on January 15, 2008. Actor George Clooney got the Best Actor award for Michael Clayton, Julie Christie was named Best Actress for Away From Her. Tim Burton was named Best Director for the film adaptation of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp, and No Country for Old Men was named Best Film. See the complete list at http://imdb.com/Sections/Awards/National_Board_of_Review_USA/2007.