November 27, 2003

THE SEVENTH ANNUAL
THINGS I’M THANKFUL FOR

I’M THANKFUL THAT in just one year, Movie City News has become a living, breathing part of the industry conversation.

That movies can still change the way I feel, the way I think, the way I breathe. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it is as powerful a feeling as I have in my daily life.

That Bill Nighy got two chances to blow us away this year in inferior movies and scored like a rock god both times.

That Ludivine Sagnier isn’t shy.

That Warner Bros. chose to allow the Wachowkis the finance of their convictions, even though they had to know that they weren’t going to deliver up-tempo repeats of their first massive success.

I AM THANKFUL that Tim Burton and Ron Howard found challenging new projects that redefine their work and take them to new and unexpected heights.

That theatrical exhibition of documentaries has been given a new life.

That Stephen Frears remains one of the finest character filmmakers of all time.

That Disney got Jerry Bruckheimer to do Pirates of the Caribbean and that Jerry got Gore Verbinski to direct his second surprise hit in a row. Now, if we can only figure out what a “Gore Verbinski Movie” is…

That I haven’t seen Timeline.

I THANK MY LUCK STARS that Vadim Perelman, Sofia Coppola and Andrew Jarecki have done so much so early in their careers.

That Charlize Theron found a challenge that virtually no one would believe she was up to… and delivered magnificently.

That Danny Boyle found a way to make digital photography that looks digital feel right.

That Bill Goldman likes MCN so much… even if nobody knows anything.

That Open Range did $58 million domestic, helping to bring back the western, the commercial value of adults, and the possibilities of late August at the box office.

THANKS COME TO MIND NOW that John Singleton found both some humility and a place at the table again.

That John Favreau finally found a guy who could be as funny on screen being as stupid (or more stupid) on screen as Vince Vaughn.

That Wes Anderson, David O. Russell and Bill Condon are delivering movies next year.

That Richard Linklater and Mike White found success in the world of commercial cinema.

That we’ve gotten some time off from horrible Vin Diesel movies after A Man Apart.

THANKS COMES IN SURPRISING WAYS… WHO KNEW that Frances McDormand could actually become better and better in front of the camera? Now if only Sony Classics would remind someone that Laurel Canyon was released this year. (Ya don’t need screeners for that!)

That the grotesquely overrated Cabin Fever would do less at the box office than Biker Boyz, Cold Creek Manor or Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star?

That Michael Bay would become a producer and be able to keep it (his budget) in his pants?

That producers would be this upset about not sending out 20,000 free copies of their movies?

That a nearly wordless animated film from Frances (The Triplettes of Belleville) could be one of the great movie experiences of recent years?

MY THANKS ARE EXTENDED TO the filmmakers and executives who have taken time to participate in this column, anonymously or otherwise.

To Pixar for doing it so damned well.

To Manohla Dargis for indulging me even though she really doesn’t know me.

To Bad Santa for making me laugh harder than any other film this year.

To Jim Sheridan for opening his heart, opening his process to his daughters and opening our tear ducts with the kind of tears that feel good.

I’M THANKFUL YET AGAIN FOR Peter Jackson’s unquenchable passion and proficiency.

For the freedom to write what I think whatever some think of what I write.

For Samantha Morton’s blue-eyed DNA.

For “movie friends.”

For Every Studio Exec Who Understood The Point Of This Column And Approached It With Smarts And Not Fear.

I’M THANKFUL TO the writing staff of Movie City News – Gary Dretzka, Len Klady, Ray Pride & Patricia Vidal – and all our other contributors, past, present & future, who bring their original voices to the table.

To Peter Bart & Peter Guber for opening the door to the possibility of someone doing a really good movie chat show.

To Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle for diagnosing thousands of cases of epilepsy by triggering fits as people tried to watch the film.

To Bob Richardson for making Kill Bill look better than it has any right to look.

To Columbia for letting John August make a complicated book like “Big Fish” into a masterful screenplay.

I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN TO BE THANKFUL FOR James Caan.

For my health.

For the Bolger Sisters, who may be the most memorable kid(s) to hit Hollywood since Haley Joel Osment.

For the friends I sometimes forget that I have.

For Chloe Sevigny’s irrepressible earnestness.

A SPECIAL THANKS to Laura Rooney, my partner in MCN, who brings her focus and energy to the table day after day, week after week to a very needy child of a website. There would be no MCN without her.

And to you, my loyal readers. Some of you have been with me for years…. others may be finding the column for the first time today. Thank you for participating in this dialogue. I know it can’t be easy. But you keep me thinking and you keep me honest. And there is nothing more important for a journalist… particularly one who works without a senior editor.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And for those of you who are in other countries… have a happy Thursday.

The Oscar column will be up on MCN and I will see you on Monday.