Random theoretical question.

So if we were lucky enough to live in a world where Kate Winslet was the one with the Oscar of the two in this above photo, and Cate Blanchett (rightfully) never had one, whose fanboys (as much as I hate that term) would be more annoying? I'm willing to bet Blanchett. Her fans are already way more so. Yeah, Winslet attracts way more psychos, but Blanchett's average fans are far more irritating; they give her nominations for any time she pops on screen (and no, I don't do that for Kate) and then deny their fanboy-ism. Dude, I'm proud to be a Kate Winslet fangirl. I wouldn't be one if I didn't think she was amazing. Just frickin' admit it already.

Also annoying: People who have Mulholland Dr. as their greatest movie of all time. Okay, it's a good movie. Those that dismiss it as utter shit or "an excuse to have David Lynch watch Naomi Watts touch herself" are d-u-m-b dumb. However, Mulholland Dr. is also one of few movies that are actually pretentious, as in it thinks it's way more important than it really is. It doesn't really say anything about Hollywood, which it's ostensibly trying to do. Also, the end just really bothers me... "it was all a dream!!!" This has been the lazy fallback of sitcoms for decades, but just cuz Lynch does it it's suddenly genius. Not to overly hate on Mulholland though. It's a B.

David Lynch kind of makes me love him in this picture

Don't tell me that's not exactly how you picture David Lynch in real life. Like "yeah...you...I see you...nobody else does...I'M GONNA FREAK YOU OUT!!!!"

Naomi, I say this for your own good.

Hon? You worked with David Lynch and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu. That's not good for anyone's health. Then you were on the set of I Heart Huckabees, which as we all know now, wasn't exactly the most fun place to be in the world. And, I know it's old news, but did you ever look at the man who knocked you up? Yes, Liev Schreiber is pretty hot. Unfortunately, he's also the most terrifying man on the entire planet.

"I say this to help you!" -look, I had to go all Judi Dench on you.

2001

2001 was a pretty darn good year...I like my top 10 a lot. It's super idiosyncratic, and probably closer to a "favorites" list than a "best" list, but I did hate/dislike a lot of the critics' darlings of this year (Ghost World, Amelie, Donnie Darko...).

Best Picture
1. Moulin Rouge!
2. In the Bedroom
3. Lantana
4. Gosford Park
5. In the Mood for Love
6. Shrek (it's become trendy to hate this movie, but I will always love it)
7. Memento
8. Zoolander (!) (it was my favorite movie until like...last year, when I started seriously wathcing movies. I can't help it.)
9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
10. Bridget Jones' Diary

Best Director
1. Baz Lurhmann for Moulin Rouge!
2. David Lynch for Mulholland Dr.
3. Robert Altman for Gosford Park
4. Wong Kar Wai for In the Mood for Love
5. Stephen Spielberg for AI: Artificial Intelligence
6. Christopher Nolan for Memento
7. Todd Field for In the Bedroom
8. Alejandro Amenábar for The Others
9. Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
10. Wes Anderson for The Royal Tenenbaums

Best Actor (GREAT year, and I stand by my #1 100%)
1. Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind
2. Tom Wilkinson in In the Bedroom
3. Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge!
4. Denzel Washington in Training Day
5. Haley Joel Osment in AI: Artificial Intelligence
6. Tony Leung in In the Mood for Love
7. Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko
8. Anthony LaPaglia in Lantana
9. Eric Bana in Chopper
10. Jack Nicholson in The Pledge

Best Actress
1. Naomi Watts in Mulholland Dr.
2. Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!
3. Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones' Diary (one of the best comedic performances maybe ever)
4. Charlotte Rampling in Under the Sand
5. Nicole Kidman in The Others
6. Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love
7. Lena Endre in Faithless
8. Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom
9. Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde
10. Brooke Smith in Series 7: The Contenders

Best Supporting Actor
1. Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast
2. Ian McKellen in Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Steve Buscemi in Ghost World
4. Jim Broadbent in Moulin Rouge!
5. Jude Law in AI: Artificial Intelligence
6. Brian Cox in L.I.E.
7. Jim Broadbent in Iris
8. Tony Shaloub in The Man Who Wasn't There
9. Owen Wilson in The Royal Tenenbaums
10. Justin Theroux in Mulholland Dr.

Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly belongs nowhere near this list)
1. Kate Winslet in Iris
2. Marisa Tomei in In the Bedroom
3. Laura Elena Harring in Mulholland Dr.
4. Gwyneth Paltrow in The Royal Tenenbaums
5. Helen Mirren in Gosford Park
6. Kerry Armstrong in Lantana
7. Maggie Smith in Gosford Park
8. Scarlett Johansson in Ghost World
9. Uma Thurman in Tape
10. Cameron Diaz in Vanilla Sky

Best Screenplay
1. Lantana
2. In the Bedroom
3. Gosford Park
4. Memento
5. Shrek
6. The Royal Tenenbaums
7. Together
8. Mulholland Dr.
9. Sexy Beast
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

You probably haven't seen or maybe even heard of Lantana...and that's silly. Go see it now.

ho-ly shit.

i think i just died a little. one of the most emotionally exhausting films (experiences?) of my life, but genius in all aspects. A

in other news, don't believe the inland empire hype. it's all, predictably, lynch fans. lynch is by no means a bad director (i loooove blue velvet, the elephant man, and the straight story, and many of his other films have their moments too - mulholland dr. and wild at heart most notably), but this is just...ugh. his fans are (ludicrously) hyping it, though, because i think of all the directors working today, he is the one that could, more than likely, film a piece of shit and get incessantly praised for it. dern is amazing but cannot in any way shape or form save the film (though actually, she's stopping me from giving it an F), which plays like self-parody. awful, awful self-parody. sorry, dave. D