Unyielding Commissioning Full Of Itself Sometimes Too

Good one - As an aspiring writer, I find it sometimes helps to go back to things I've written that I thought were good or clever. It's useful for two reasons. 1) I often realize that I wasn't so good or clever, and it is a nice reminder that progress can be made (and hopefully has been made). 2) It turns out that the line was indeed quite a good one and it's fun to feel like you put something good together. It's nice to see that one of the best writers working today, Roger Ebert, engages in the same type of self-aggrandizement. Today in his blog, he looks back on some of his favorite lines from the thousands of reviews he's penned. Maybe of them are derogatory zingers, a way of dealing with the pain of enduring horrendous films. As you might imagine, it's a very long list (and continues to get longer as fans leave reminders of their favorites in the comments section). Here's one that made me chuckle:

It was W. C. Fields who hated to appear in the same scene with a child, a dog, or a plunging neckline--because nobody in the audience would be looking at you. Jennifer Aniston has the same problem in this movie even when she's in scenes all by herself. -- "Picture Perfect"

And this one:

Two things that cannot be convincingly faked are laughter and orgasm. If a movie made you laugh, as a critic you have to be honest and report that. Not so much with orgasms.

Still that time of year - Now Greg Kot has declared his top ten concerts of the year. His list is vastly superior that of his colleague, Jim DeRogatis, and Greg and I actually have the same #1s - Stevie Wonder at Taste of Chicago. Jim's still going with his year-end lists, giving us his worst/most overrated albums.

ITTOYA - Over at Baby, You've Got A Stew Goin', Steve is laying out all kinds of end-of-the-year lists. His favorite albums, songs, books, even TV shows. (There are good TV shows? I had no idea.) Rather than link each of those individually, I simply direct you his way so you can peruse on your own.

ITTOYA, Part IX - The Onion's AV Club has a great rundown of the year's best films. Reading their list, one can't help but note what a weak year it was. Decades from now, we'll be looking back at 2007 as one of the great years in cinema history. 2008, not so much, but in case you're wondering what to rent or watch, they provide an excellent year-end roundup.

Everything's coming up Milhouse - Mental Floss presents a Milhouse Van Houten quiz. And just in time for Christmas! I scored 11/12. How'd you do?

Tohhhh-gah tohhh-gah! - Yes, I find myself linking to Scene Stealers Top Ten list every week. But that's only because they keep putting out great lists. This one leaves something to be desired, but only because there are so many examples of Great Movie Party Scenes that just can't fit into the list. However, it seems that every time they make a list I end up leaving a comment about a John Landis movie that they forgot. I don't know why this keeps happening, especially because he only has five movies that I really dig. Mayeb they each have a slice of life that can be found in a top ten list... But this time, he tops the list. Go take a look in case you haven't figured out which one I'm talking about yet.

HOOOooooo! - Someone put a lot of effort into this. No, as far as I know there isn't a real Thundercats movie in the works, but who needs real when someone can throw this together for us? (HT: TMB)