June 4, 2010

My Top 50 Films

Found this article and thought it was interesting. Can you name your top 50 films? My list below is in particular order up to #40, the last 10 are just good films I couldn't forget to include. Criteria was just something about each that stayed with me long after the lights came up, whether it was a really good laugh, scare, or a different way of looking at life- something important to achieve in any artistic endeavor. This list is always changing, but as of this month this is my 50. What would be your top 50?

1 Shrek
2 Amelie
3 Lilies
4 Superman 1
5 Star Wars- The Empire Strikes Back
6 Avatar
7 The Dark Knight
8 The Usual Suspects
9 A Town Called Panic
10 Jurassic Park
11 La Bamba
12 Mrs. Doubtfire
13 Hot Fuzz
14 Seven
15 As Good As It Gets
16 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
17 The Two Towers
18 The Return of the King
19 Grosse Pointe Blank
20 Gladiator
21 Good Will Hunting
22 Zombieland
23 Superman 2
24 Brokeback Mountain
25 Iron Man
26 Michael Clayton
27 Good Night & Good Luck
28 To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar
29 The Fellowship of the Ring
30 The Ref
31 Monty Python and the Holy Grail
32 Titanic
33 Shawshank Redemption
34 Clerks II
35 Moulin Rouge
36 Standing In The Shadows of Motown
37 Chicago
38 The Queen
39 Mars Attacks!
40 Ocean's 11
41 Independence Day
42 Twister
43 The Birdcage
44 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
45 Interview With The Vampire
46 Spaceballs!
47 Beverly Hills Cop 2
48 Beverly Hills Cop 1
49 The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
50 Office Space

(Image located at: http://larryfire.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/the-50-biggest-movies-of-2009)

July 23, 2009

Jesse Could Die! Or He Might Next Week, But You Should Still Watch!!

Oh what a week! At work I’m doing triple duty- our receptionist is on holidays, so I’m covering the phones, doing my regular work and training a temp to work the switchboard so she can eventually take over. I’m so discombobulated. It’s like staying your friend’s place for over a week. You’re in a home, but it’s not your home (it’s not clean as your home… but I digress) and your routine is all fucked up. In the morning I like to have a coffee first thing while I read my emails (I feel so haughty pointing out other people’s grammar and spelling errors) and then start with some simple stuff to ease into the day. Now I’m training someone how to transfer calls to the right department etc. before jotting back to my desk to put out a few fires, before trotting back to the front to help with the phones, before dragging my knuckles back to my desk to eat. My poor bladder is not amused… When the receptionist returns she’s getting a hug and a kiss from me and a big bouquet of flowers.

Saw Transformers 2 and like mostly everyone I hated it with a passion. It made me wonder why I even liked the first movie. Save your money, this movie sucks more than a ten dollar hooker. It was trying too hard to be an action movie, a slap stick comedy (with big, giant robots- go figure), a romance (&*#!??), and a buddy flick- all at the same time! It’s like Michael Bay just threw a lot of shit at the wall and tried to make it all stick. Oh, and there’s explosions in the shit too.

There’s this new show on TV I’ve been seeing commercials for called Jesse James Is a Dead Man. Now, I’m not sure who the moron was who came up with this concept (perhaps Jesse was the more logical choice after Anna Nicole Smith died. Too bad too, that would have made a really interesting show) but somewhere in TV land somebody thought that flying Jesse James the bike mechanic all over North America to do death defying things would be a good idea. It’s not. This show sucks and blows at the same time. The commercials advertising the show however, are awesome! In a really bad-hysterically-funny-way awesome.

Each commercial is a preview of what Jesse will be doing that week. You can probably find them on You Tube. In one, Jesse is in a Baja dessert race, and a rep from the race course says ominously “if Jesse doesn’t control his car fast enough, he could die”. Commercial two appears to be a race with solar powered cars (?) where again a rep from the activity-of-the-week says ominously “if Jesse is not keyed in, he could die”. Folks, Jesse is NOT going to die. He probably won’t even go… thirsty. He has lawyers, insurance reps… hell he’s MARRIED TO SANDRA BULLOCK!! I doubt there’s ANYTHING dangerous he’s about to do on that show that will put him even close to getting killed. Plus, the show is taped 8 months prior to airing on TV. If he did “die” you can bet the papers would have reported it. It’s a joke, and not a terribly interesting show. There are plans for season two, but dear reader, they need help! You can create the second season of this show, and all you have to do is fill in the blanks, just like the producers did for season one. This could be the next Mastercard Moment. Have fun!!

Fill in this sentence:

If Jesse …. he could die!

For example…

If Jesse doesn’t wash his hands after handling raw chicken, he could die!

If Jesse steps in a puddle and plugs in those Christmas lights, he could die!

If Jesse walks around downtown Baghdad in a dress, he could die!

July 12, 2009

Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Hey there,

So it’s been three years since I created this blog and in that time my attempts to start my business have been put on hold… and put on hold… and stopped cold. While in quite a dramatic reverse rate of speed my debts have increased… and increased and, well… you get the idea.

My name is Chris and I’m a 34 year old gay guy living in Toronto, Canada. While I’ve had my ups and downs for the last three years, I’m determined more than ever this year to get my production company up and running while I handle whatever life throws at me. My first task is to begin paying down this goddamn debt I incurred. Now you might think it’s because of extravagant living that got me in this mess, but believe me, if you could see the conditions I’m living in right now you’d know that it’s not because I tried to update my apartment to resemble this month’s issue of Martha Stewart Living (oh Martha it’s not because I doubt you, it’s just that picking hay and pine cones on weekends has not been what we humans call a priority).

What I have spent my money on and what set me back financially, were two things: going back to school in 2005 and in 2007 I ended a 4 year relationship. Needless to say, I had to find a new place- quick. Hello emergency loan and 29.9% interest rates! Oh, and then Marley died. (See eulogy below)

Since then trying to find work in my field has been next to impossible. I’m just getting started in the film industry and finding set work as a PA in Toronto has been about as productive as finding a three legged unicorn (if do I find him, I’ll call him Tripod). So I have a day job that pays the bills while I use my evenings/ weekends to work on my animation, scripts and, if time permits, have a life. Now that things are slowly back to normal, I’ve returned to working 35 hours a week, instead of 73, and have the time to finally focus on what’s important.

July 16, 2008

Goodbye and Goodnight Miss Marley


On Friday July 4th my four legged friend passed away. Her name was Marley, and while she wasn’t any taller than a Munchkin in Oz, she packed more attitude in her than Moesha, Rihanna and Serena & Venus all combined.


Marley had a way of expressing herself with just a few selective looks that were either to tell you a) she wasn’t amused by something you were doing b) you looked ridiculous doing whatever it was you were doing or c) she was now hungry and it was time for the Royal Food Procession. This last look was important because if you didn’t catch on to what she was trying to tell you, Marley had a few weapons at her disposal. The first was repeated scratches on your leg (most effective if you were wearing shorts) and if that didn’t work she would escalate to the Cavalcade of Barking. Used by Ms. Marley quite frequently, the listener is pummelled into submission by an onslaught high pitched barking. It was in these fits of sassy-ness that I referred to her majesty as Princess Fiona.


What I’ll remember about Marley were the times she just couldn’t leave a box of tissue alone- and the times when she couldn’t hide the evidence. Just follow the trail of torn Kleenex right up to her dog bed, or spot the pieces in her whiskers, and the culprit was easy to identify. Another one of her comical moments was when her long ears sometimes got in the way of a good squirrel chase. But the memory that sticks with me the most is how after every groom she loved to walk home and show off. Her head was up, there was a spring in her step and strangers would stop and compliment how good Marley looked- and one look from those soulful brown eyes you knew she knew it too. This is the Marley I’m going always to remember.


Thank you, Miss Marley, for those neighbourhood walks, thank you for your never ending affection, and thank you for all the sassy-ness.


Your human family down here loves you and misses you greatly. It was an honour to serve you.


With Love,


Your Pack Leader

aka Chris


"it's gonna be a long walk home"