It seems only fitting that the first posting this year be a Twitch-O-Meter. On this auspicious occasion I was the lucky sod who’s week it was to submit. And just finding the time to write that earth shattering edition of the ToM was proving difficult, what with the holidays and time spent traveling and jet lag. So, I had all these ideas rattling around in my head. Everyone else here will back me up on this, writing a ToM is not that easy sometimes. We bounce ideas around with each other about our chosen topic. Look to the others for ideas and suggestions, then ignore them, and try to do them ourselves. I ignored the ignoring part and tried to do this on my own. And then I cocked it up. I had lots of topics for ToMs, just not enough to substantiate each one. So bring in the revelry and strike up the band. It is the first ToM of 2008, held together by tape and love. She’s a bit delicate...
Highlight moments of 2007 – I could have made a list of highlight movie geek moments of the last year. It would have been easy. There was the time at the Hot Fuzz premiere party in Toronto. Admittedly I am not an attractive man, nor particularly cool in that so-cool-that-I-must-find-out-more-about-him sense, so it took me up until the end of the night to get a moment to speak with Simon and Edgar, after all the pretty people had left and it was just before they were about to leave. But in a glorious revelation of vindication as I exchanged pleasantries with Simon Pegg and we were having our picture taken he said he remembered me from the night following the premiere of Shaun of the Dead when it was just our small group of friends and the three guys from Shaun, Simon, Edgar and Nick. I could have also included in that list the night when I tagged along with Todd and his ladyfriend to the Midnight Madness cocktail party and met a lot of the directors from the Midnight Madness: Wilson Yip of Flashpoint, Adam Mason of The Devils Chair, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury of A l'interieur, and Jake West of Evil Aliens fame. But then all I see it as is boasting and not particularly cooperative…
Top Festivals of 2007 – I thought about putting together a list of the great festivals I got to in the last year it would have been a great list of five festivals except that I only went to two. Not really a list is it? I got press cred for another festival a bit later in the year but just couldn’t make it work with my work schedule. It would have gotten me closer that magic number five. Anyways, TIFF is always a good time. Somehow this last year didn’t quite measure up to past years and having that split in schedules between the press and public screenings meant that I didn’t get to see the rest of the Twitch gang as much as I wanted to. I was somewhat vindicated when Toronto After Dark came around and I got my press pass again. I also appreciate going to a festival and having that small pocket of fellow geeks that I can meet up with each night. I would give a shout out to the guys over at rowthree.com and then the list would stop there…
Top bands I would want on my movie’s soundtrack – When I getting to knocking around ideas for scripts and treatments I also would think about what kind of music I would want to go on the soundtrack. While I couldn’t list a particular song I would have listed bands. So I got to perusing my iPod and noting which bands would have a coveted spot on my movie soundtrack list. If I were looking for an ethereal anthem of sorts I would have gone with Sigur Ros from Iceland. If I were to go with something a lot harder then I may have chosen a metalcore band like As I Lay Dying. I could have further proven my international depth and asked for a Japanese band like Asian Kung Fu Generation or a band like Thee Michelle Gun Elephant, but since they’ve broken up I would have to go with one of their offshoots, ROSSO or The Birthday. And perhaps for those quiet and contemplative moments I would have something from Sufjan Stevens. Yeah. That would be nice. But this list would have gone to prove not having any relevance to film and given you a preview of the music on my iPod so you knew what was on it when you stole it from me…
Top Asian chicks I would make my wife – And then I thought about a list of Asian Actresses that I wish were Mrs. Mack. But what the hell would that prove?! One, I’m lonely. Two, this is the reason behind in each Chinatown mall in Toronto there could be posters of my hapless mug with the statement below ‘Do not take checks from this man - and hide your daughters’. For the record, since I’ve already stooped to this misogynist and chauvinistic depth I might as well give you a few. I have always loved Michelle Yeoh. Always. Zhang Ziyi makes me forget my name sometimes. Korean actress Ha Ji-Won. Oh, and Jun Ji-hyun. Japanese actress Aki Maeda. Pretty much any Korean or Japanese actress. Yeah, this list would just get longer and further prove my loneliness… sigh. I’m a whore.
Top Prospects for 2008 – And then I thought about what am I looking forward to this year, now that it is one day old? With another 364 days to go anything is possible but some notables would be the only Hollow-wood entry, J.J. Abrams’ monster flick Cloverfield, and then I would go back to the international flavor with Prachya Pinkaew’s martial arts flick Chocolate, Jake West’s Doghouse, Neil Marshall’s Doomsday and Noboru Igushi’s Machine Girl. I’d have kept it at five knowing that there were more and then I would look back at this list and say, ‘Damn, it would have been cleverer to mention this movie’. And doubt would rise.
Love that photo!!
Mack, that was brilliant! Why didn't I think of this myself? :cheese:
Few things are more frustrating than thinking of a perfect ToM-list to write and being stuck with only three examples for your list of five (so yes, I'll definitely back you upon the not-so-easy part!).