In these hard times, you deserve two “best films” lists for the price of one. It is therefore with joy that I list the 20 best films of 2008, in alphabetical order. I am violating the age-old custom that film critics announce the year’s 10 best films, but after years of such lists, I’ve had it. A best films list should be a celebration of wonderful films, not a chopping process. And 2008 was a great year for movies, even if many of them didn’t receive wide distribution.
I love it… greasing the rails. Seriously though, great news! Hopefully rail transit will be part of the new public works projects. I would love to be able to take a train to Chicago or Duluth. Let’s make this happen!
We’ve received tons of messages on facebook the past couple days. It is really awesome to hear from so many friends!
Though, one message in particular caught my eye this evening:
Minneapolis SnowEmergency added you as a friend on Facebook…
Huh?
I clicked over to the profile for a look. It’s pretty dang hilarious. Can’t tell if it is a joke or not (I do have a couple friends who are truly clever and would set up something like this).
Under interests:
I’m mostly interested in streets cleared of snow from curb to curb.
Favorite Books:
Non-fiction books about residents of Minneapolis shoveling their sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowfall. Go to the library and ask for the “Snow shoveling motivation” section. I promise they won’t laugh at you.
I don’t know if you have to live in Minneapolis to find this funny. Do other cities have the Snow Emergency? But this is just the sort of quirky thing that makes living in Minneapolis so funny.
I mean what kind of city makes videos like this:
Wow.
(If you’re on facebook and live in Minneapolis, you may want to friend Mr. Snow Emergency. They’ll post a status update when it’s time to move your cars! I think Facebook has a policy of not allowing fake people to have profiles, but whatever.)
Last night we saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was a soaring and moving experience. We sat down in the crowded theater, and we watched the previews as my mind did the reality-detachment dance. However, when the opening frame flashed upon the screen with text that read, Mumbai 2006, my heart skipped a couple beats as I thought about the reality of the past week in Mumbai — a place I have never been, but a place I would like to go.
I was quickly drawn back into the story, which finds the main character being interrogated (tortured) by the police. They are attempting to find out how this slumdog came to be waiting on the chance to win twenty million rupees. (via the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire)
Through a clever retelling of the slumdog’s life, we learn how he knew the answers. Obviously, I’m not going to give away how it ends, but I strongly recommend that you see this movie. It’s easily one of my best of 2008, and one of my favorites of the past few years.
The characters of this film, the places and situations are made of a strong humanity that was very real, conflicted, and ultimately, extremely compelling. Thanks to my sister for the recommendation!
Side note: we bought tickets while sitting at dinner using the internets. As the line was piling up for the 7pm showing, we decided to spend an agonizing 15 minutes trying to purchase tickets via moviefone.com for the 8:30pm show… luckily, we prevailed, and good thing too, as the movie was sold out!
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