Monday, January 01, 2007

The Top 10 reasons why I don't have my Top 10 list ready yet

1. I am such a wuss that I still can't decide whether two or three films I would like to include would be eligible for a Top 10 of 2006 list. (Of course, it's my list, so I should be able to make the rules, right?)

2. Due to various demands on my time -- like, the six college courses I taught during Fall 2006, the master's thesis prospectus I finally prepared, and the full-time job I landed in December -- I still haven't seen all of the eligible movies I want to see.

3. I devoted an entire week to serious drinking after the death of my father. He would have wanted it that way: We're Irish.

4. I devoted what seemed (to me, anyway) an unusually large amount of time to writing obituaries for other people. Indeed, I often found myself thinking of something Francois Truffaut said: "Each year we have to cross out names from our address book, and a moment comes when we realize we know more dead people than living." On the other hand: When I repeated that quote to a dear friend, she countered: "Well, that's why you have to keep making new friends."

5. I missed several screenings to stay home and watch Keith Olbermann's "Special Comments."

6. I missed several other screenings because, while I waited for my insurance company to process my claim after my car was totaled by an uninsured driver, my transportation options were seriously limited.

7. I missed a few more screenings because they were scheduled on nights when I just didn't feel like going to the movies. (Hey, it happens.)

8. During the past week, I have had to cope with several interruptions -- including, no kidding, a power brownout on New Year's Eve -- while viewing and re-viewing films on DVD.

9. I feel fairly crummy today -- and not because of any New Year's Eve revelries. Truth to tell, I have sleep apnea, but because of the aforementioned brownout, I wasn't able to use my CPAP machine while I slept -- or, more accurately, tried to sleep -- last night.

10. I strongly suspect that there aren't many of you out there impatiently awaiting any Top 10 list I might complete.

In any event: I hope to have the list posted by Thursday. Maybe Wednesday, if the electricity doesn't go out again.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:36 AM

    There are lots of films I haven't seen yet for '06, and even so, no top ten list will ever be complete. I wonder what someone's top ten list would be like if they could see every film released world over? I bet it'd be radically different...Anyhow, just a thought. For me the best film of the year was The Fountain.

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  2. Anonymous12:54 PM

    Hey Joe,
    Where's the Top 10? Read you in the Post for years and love to disagree with you.

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