1. "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford"
2. "Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go"
3. "Once"
4. "Eastern Promises"
5. "In The Shadow Of The Moon"
6. The pre-war part of "Atonement"
7. "Control"
8. "In Search Of A Midnight Kiss"
9. "Tell No One"
10. "Superbad"

(I don't know whether to base my choices on US release dates, UK release dates, or festivals. But these are the films I loved this year. Still haven't seen some big ones like "No Country" and "Michael Clayton.")

AND an update -- I have now seen Michael Clayton, thankfully it was still in cinemas in NC after being long gone from London. That would easily go in my top 10. What a script, and Tilda and George were great.

Also, forgot to list some other faves in my top 10 -- The Host, Lake Of Fire (even though I saw it at Raindance 2006) and My Kid Could Paint That.

Meanwhile, I will have to pretend to have cooking skills at my post-thanksgiving dinner party this weekend. I plan to introduce my Brit friends to cornbread dressing, southern style!

Only one thing has inspired me to break my blogging silence of more than six months: Iceland. Wow. I got a last minute invite for the Reykjavik Film Festival, and figured why not? (I know, I know, I should never complain about my job again). I have to say that Iceland is probably the most amazing place I've ever visited in my wide-ish travels. It's like nowhere on earth, and that's something rare these days (the more I travel, the more towns and cities all start to look the same...even Hong Kong has 7-11s on every corner!)

Iceland is still wonderfully idiosyncratic. The people are cool and friendly and funny, the music is good (and I saw the Sigur Ros film and one of the band guys in a supermarket! Anyway I can recommend the film, Heima, if you are a fan of their music.), the landscape looks like nothing else. And I got to go visit hot springs (the fab Blue Lagoon - even if it was a bit gross that there was a couple shagging in there) AND dive bars (a shout out to Sirkus), saw a Viking settlement and avoided eating boiled sheepshead. Oh yes and I saw some good films, met some nice filmmakers and got to see Aki Kaurismaki across the bar. If you ever get a chance, Iceland will rock you. I am ready to go back and do a full tour outside of Reykjavik!

And I'll leave you with that while I get packed for Hong Kong Filmart!

And every Sunday in every decent pub, you'll find roast lunch. A sort of mini Thanksgiving every week: roast meat (chicken, lamb, beef, and nut roast for the vegetarians) with stuffing, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips, ladled with gravy. And another essential ingredient that I finally tasted today: Yorkshire Pudding. We were at my great local, the Red Lion in Ealing, and Neil's eyes lit up when he realised I was experiencing my first Yorkshire Pud. Wonderful little light doughy thing - crispy edges and a slightly soggy (in a good way) eggy bit at the bottom. I even found myself mopping up the gravy on Neil's plate with it (it's a good thing he loves me enough to put up with such behavior). Cue the Sunday afternoon nap!

I guess it's like an American popover, but Americans don't get to eat popovers every Sunday. Learn more here. (This recipe is from Delia Smith, grande dame of English food and a strangely rabid football fan.)

So while I'm posting, I hope to break the world's record for the latest-posted best films of 2006 list. Just what the world needs on Feb 15, 2007 I think:

Top Seven Films

The Queen
Not just about royalty and scandal, but about the kind of great inner turmoil that it's rare to see done well on the big-screen.

Old Joy
Perhaps even better because this quiet story of male friendship struck me as slight at first but about a year after my first viewing it looms as a masterpiece.

Red Road
The highlight of Cannes thanks to its stylish execution and great performances.

Tristram Shandy/A Cock And Bull Story
So smart and funny that I'm kind of cheating to put this on my 2006 list after I had it on my 2005 list for its UK release!

Brothers Of The Head
Why why why didn't people flock to this, if not for the soundtrack alone? I thought it was great fun. Hopefully will become a cult hit on DVD.

Casino Royale
Confession time, I've never seen an entire Bond film from start to finish, so this was my first. Daniel Craig kicks ass. Turns out that even if you are a great actor it only makes Bond better. That Chris Cornell song needs to go, though. Neal and Brenda Mitchell also gave it two big thumbs up, and we never agree on films!

Lake Of Fire
A three-hour documentary about the abortion debate in the US, which was so engrossing I wanted another few hours. No matter what your beliefs on the topic, this film will make you rethink your views. So powerful.

And Top Three Moments from other films that weren't quite top 10 material for me:
the NYC subway scene in Borat
the pageant sequence at the end of Little Miss Sunshine
the final goodbye in Candy

I just got back from Berlin, but in my capacity of industry reporter for a daily trade, there's not much time to see films. I did manage to see two: Lady Chatterley (much to admire although the 3-hour running time did make me think 'TV miniseries' a few times) and Irina Palm (I'm not a fan, I'd better leave it at that). The other highlight of Berlin was the band of Danish teenagers playing Robbie Williams and hair band medleys at the Trust Film party. I had been in a super cranky mood and they cheered me up immensely. I think the band's name is Tennis if you know your Danish pop groups.

And then last night I saw Stranger Than Fiction (Will Ferrell gets serious...and even gets me to shed a tear. Recommend this one definitely). And not only does the film open with a Spoon song (The Way We Get By), but Spoon frontman Britt Daniel helped with the music on the entire film. And during the closing credits there is a Spoon song that I don’t think I’ve heard before…something with a title about writing something -- anyone know?…and it might just be good enough to make my year-end CD if I ever get to hear it again!

Lastly, I don’t have anything to say about the music in The Queen, but I will say it might be the best film I’ve seen so far this year. Not just for Helen Mirren’s impeccable performance but for the complex emotions at the heart of the film – you may not think you want to see a movie about the monarchy after Princess Di’s death, but trust me, you do.

The best film I saw was probably Jindabyne, Ray Lawrence's follow-up to Lantana which stars Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne. It's set in a small town in Australia, where a young woman is murdered and the discovery of her body changes the lives of several couples. For the first hour or so I thought it was near perfect (very slow and moody), and definitely onto one of those top 10 films of the decade lists. It lost it a bit for me as it went on, but still a film you should investigate.

I also liked this new buzz film London To Brighton, which will be at Toronto -- a low budget yet nicely slick British thriller about a prostitute and a young runaway girl on the run from some criminals.

Other films I give a thumps up to include Little Miss Sunshine (actually very good - I was scared it would be this year's Happy, Texas); Stephanie Daley (excellent performances by Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamlyn); and Life & Lyrics (a sort of softer, British 8 Mile which is a good thing).

I missed Soderbergh's Q&A (which was said to be really great), but I did see Charlize Theron drinking whiskey on stage. And I went to a party at the National Gallery, where I saw festival patron Sean Connery at a party, he seemed like a nice chap, is taller than you'd expect, and looks great for his age and also appears that he hasn't had any work done (hurrah). Or maybe that's just me after a few whiskeys myself. They were also serving bacon sarnies inside the art gallery...nice touch.

Away from the festival, I didn't have much time to explore Edinburgh again. I ate sausages at Monster Mash (what a great idea for a restaurant) and saw a lot of binge drinking (as in four people who were so drunk pre-10 pm on a Friday night that they fell down in the street. I'm happy to say they weren't film fest folks.)

Assorted thoughts/links:

They're making a film of one of my all-time favorite books,

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. And at first I was having a hissy fit thinking they were casting Siena Miller as the awkward Phlox. But I was wrong about that and I thikn Mena Suvari can pull it of. Sarsgaard as Cleveland is a really good sign…but cutting out gay Arthur is a really bad sign so we'll see what happens.

I actually know two male converts to Bloke Coke so I guess the marketing is working. Tastes fab.

Pigs in a blanket are making NY Times headlines. About time.

London Underground is going to start selling Oyster cards overseas. Oyster cards are great -- like a thicker NYC MetroCard. But they cost about 8 times as much. So maybe they're not that great. Still, if you're planning a trip to London…

Some guy's made a
film of people vomiting. I think I'd rather sit through the equally nauseous Garfield Two: A Tail of Two Kitties.

This week's playlist: "Cherry Lips" by the Archie Bronson Outfit, "Better" by Regina Spektor, and "Made Up Love Song #43" by Guillemots

Speaking of Nascar, I took this picture of Stu & Tiff at Fruitstock in Regent's Park on Saturday, but I think they look like they'd fit right in down at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I was completely unprepared for Fruitstock, for starters I thought it was in Hyde Park, not Regent's. But I did find myself in the right park eventually, thinking I was going to join a few hundred people sitting on picnic blankets, a la Central Park Summerstage. But I show up and there were 100,000 people there. It was madness. Trying to navigate through the crowds for a pint or a pee was nearly impossible. From where we sat, we had a view of some Innocent smoothies van (and this jackass dancing on top of it), but not the stage. The only band I really heard was Nouvelle Vague, which was good. The headliners on Saturday were Arrested Development. Faced with hearing Mr. Wendell live 13 years after its prime meant that we didn't feel bad skipping out early to go eat a curry in Brick Lane. This restaurant was great and notable for its house special coconut paste to accompany the poppadums.

The other highlight of my weekend was a visit to the set of Atonement. I was there to witness a hospital scene, so there were lots of soldiers in period WWII uniforms and a lot of fake blood. Somewhat surprisingly for a $30 million film, everyone was really chatty and relaxed and friendly. Keira wasn't on set but I got to talk to James McAvoy and Romola Garai. Anyway, I enjoyed Ian McEwan's novel and I'm anxious to see how Joe Wright's film turns out. The 20 seconds or so that I saw filmed on Saturday morning look good so far.

First there was Junebug (whose most brilliant detail may be the brother who works at Replacements Ltd.). Now there’s Talladega Nights. Which, with me being an indie snob, might not seem like my cup of tea. But it’s really great. Very very funny. Funnier than Anchrorman, Elf, or The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Go see it. Even the Brits seemed to get the humour (aside from the Katie Couric references) at the press screening I went to. It’s set in a fictional NC town but filmed mostly in Charlotte, and while I thought the premise would be to make fun of Nascar rednecks, it’s actually handled in a way that celebrates the culture in a funny but welcoming and not-very-mean-spirited way. Will Ferrell is genius as usual, but you’ll be shocked at how funny John C. Reilly is. And Amy Adams proves she’s got range after stealing Junebug's show. And now would be a good time to mention that I once had a friend in high school who went out on a date with Dale Earnhardt Jr. It didn’t work out, and she’s better off in academia than being a Nascar trophy wife I think.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s this HBO doc about a miscarriage of justice in NC. The Trials of Darryl Hunt has been winning total raves (and prizes) on the festival circuit, and I’m dying to see it. Darryl Hunt and Deborah Sykes are names I grew up hearing on the local news quite often, but was too young to really understand. Should be of interest far outside the Tar Heel State.

And finally I just read that there’s a Sundance Institute-backed project from Adam Zucker, who is making a documentary called Greensboro: Closer To The Truth about the 1979 shootings at an anti-Ku Klux Klan rally in my hometown.

So continuing on that trend I offer a few Greensboro links: the radio station where Jenn Cole and I launched "The Milk & Cookies Show" when we were 16, a guy I went to high school with (Dan, you win because you’re the only NW Viking I know with a blog!), the Woolworth sit-ins of 1960 and BBQ. Or of course I can’t forget the cultural landmark that is Emerald Pointe (ha, Melissa, I just wanted to put that in for you – as Bill would say, “White trash washing up on a cement beach.”)

I’m trying to think of the best Greensboro band – Dan would say Tiger Bear Wolf, or I should say my old pal Ryan Eversole’s bluegrass band, but in reality I'll date myself and vote for The Raymond Brake (one of those guys is in Vetiver now I guess.).

Here’s how old I am – despite being a big soft rock fan (there, I’ve said it), I had never heard the term “yacht rock.” Sean Rowley explains in this great Q guilty pleasures podcast. (Kornmann there is several minutes devoted to breaking down the musical structure of “Guilty,” by Babs and Barry Gibb which I know you will appreciate). Or there seems to be a related Yacht Rock series here.

That’s all for today…except for links to tell you how cool my friends are:

Tully has been named a filmmaker to watch!

Matt Ross made this short film Lola featuring Luna’s Dean Wareham. Although I guess the indieWIRE crowd knows all about it already! I like the tagline: A short film about a long night.

Fraser tries to cure his hangovers by making Pepto-Bismol ice cream. I’ll stick with Diet Coke and a fry up, I think.

Matt Dentler from SXSW belts it out at punk-rock karaoke at the student bar.

I would like to applaud the organisers of the first Britdoc festival, which was held Weds-Fri in Oxford. I signed up to go because a) being in Oxford is nicer than being in the office b) the organisers are cool people and I’d trust them to put on a cool event c) I’d never been to Oxford before d) they asked me to be on a jury with a member of Radiohead and e) it’s the only film festival in the world to offer both croquet and punk-rock karaoke. So Radiohead guy pulled out of jury duty, but that didn’t stop it from being a great event. There were loads of aspects to Britdoc that other festivals can learn from, I offer a few:
1) Film festivals and college campuses are a natural fit. You’re always in walking distance of everything and everyone! Film-makers (not to mention film journalists) are too poor to afford five-star accommodation so if you get a high-class dorm-style accommodation, you’re set. That way everyone can stay together, have easy access to events, and also the rooms aren’t so nice that you’re tempted to lie in bed and get room service instead of going out and meeting other festival attendees!
2) As I’ve mentioned before Britdoc encouraged attendees to do a myspace-style profile before the event, which was exceedingly handy to see who was coming and how to get in touch with them before or after. And photos helped to ID people on site.
3) Mood music goes a long way – instead of silence or muzak before screenings or in festival offices, they were playing some great tunes. You’d be surprised how good "Jive Talking" sounds before a 10 am screening. And a festival trailer cut to Belle & Sebastian was inspired because I never got tired of hearing it before each screening.
4) Communal lunch and breakfast gets people talking. We ate in one of those Harry Potter-style dining halls, which meant you had to sit with strangers at least at some point, which is good for conversation. I’ve even been told that Keble’s hall was where they actually film Potter. That makes up for them serving pork pie when I wanted a light lunch.
Aside from that, it was the usual festival mix of good films and good attendees. Our jury was in charge of the British competition, and we gave our prize to Ben Hopkins’ 37 Uses For A Dead Sheep, with a jury mention to Hacked by Simon Ardizzone & Russell Michaels and a rising talent nod to Xiaolu Guo’s How Is Your Fish Today? (that one will also be in Edinburgh.)
The only drawbacks, aside from missing my life's only chance to hobnob with Radiohead, was the heat. No A/C + no fans + 90 degree heat = no fun. But that’s not the festival’s fault.

Assorted Odds & Ends:

It may be juvenile but I can’t help laughing picturing Mr. Passion Of The Christ calling someone “Sugar Tits.” Nice one, Mel.

Sitting in my garden as the heatwave continued on Sunday, I stumbled upon BBC London's Guilty Pleasures, hosted by Sean Rowley (who also hosts a club night of the same name). I’d heard of the concept but never actually heard the show before. It was soft rock heaven. I happened to tune into a Wham block, when Sean played Wham’s “Last Christmas” IN THE MIDDLE OF JULY. It made my entire afternoon. And I salute him for being braver than I am -- no matter how late or how drunken the Hot Bird dance parties got, I don’t think I ever shamed myself by putting this one on the turntable (yes, I did have the single on vinyl). Kornmann this guy is your British soulmate. You should be able to listen to the show online.

So I finally had my great Norfolk adventure with Tom, Leslie, Charles and Neil. Tom grew up there and it was grand to see him in his natural environment (until now, I thought that was the Bar du Marche.) His family has an estate there, and we stayed in Tom’s 17th century cottage which was very “shabby chic” (I mean that as a compliment) although it did have a nice 21st century inflatable pool out back because the heatwave continued. We also got a glimpse of the main house and garden, also 17th century, that his parents live in. Jaw-dropping but I won’t be such a geek to tell you how big it was (I’ll just say I’ve never met anyone that has their own quince orchard before.) We did some lazing around, wine drinking, reading, sunbathing and also got out for some short tours of Norfolk. For the uninitiated, Norfolk is famed for its broads, which are like large shallow lakes. The estate has a huge broad of its own, which we went out on a little row, and everyone else went for a swim but I was too afraid of mud and possible eels to venture into that brown water. We also went along the river to eat some excellent seafood at a nearby village, and went on a nature walk, and ate some more good food and drank more wine, played a game of Scrabble and talked about the film biz a little too much (Tom was way outnumbered with film-industry folks). Sunday we ventured to see a sneak preview of a cool treehouse world that Tom is building. Sort of like a themepark but without the cheesy Disney-ness that phrase implies. And picnicked in Thetford Forest on the way back. Was great to get a break in the country – felt like I was gone for a week, not just a weekend. And always fun for a cityslicker to get reintroduced to nature: sheep, cows, ducks, swans, toads, a fox, a rabbit, a few dogs, coots and other various birds, and a few too many wasps, horseflies and mosquitos. (By the way, to my North Carolina ears hearing the word "mosquito" with an English accent is the weirdest sound ever). I avoided looking in the eel bucket. I'll get some more photos up soon.