Friday December 29, 2006 SGN.org |
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Volume 34 Issue 52 |
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Friday, Sep 05, 2008
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The best and worst of 2006: Movies, TV, local productions and more |
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| The best and worst of 2006: Movies, TV, local productions and more | ||
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by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid -
SGN A&E Writer Well, as my bleary eyes woke up this morning--nothing like pain medication sleep to dull one's day, and tooth pain to wake one up--I realized it was time to write this year's best and worst list. I could start with my personal worst, which is my 'army sweetie' taking off for the war without saying goodbye. Boo hoo, and a big 'life bites' for yours truly. Still, there were some great films this year (and I honestly can't remember any bad ones, because I think I avoided all of those). Here's my list of best films for 2006, best plays, and a few 'actors to keep an eye on' in 2007, and highlights and lowlights of the news this year too. I think the lowest 'light' of the past year was the multiple murders on Capitol Hill, which touched those of us who shopped at Madison Market even more, as two of our little family were among the six dead in the 'blue house' where a gunman opened fire at an after-rave party. For weeks the whole Hill felt wounded, and living near the neighborhood of the murders felt completely creepy and cast a gloomy pall over an otherwise upbeat area. Unfortunately, that was to start a spate of gun deaths, including the one at the Jewish Federation Building in my old neighborhood of Belltown, where five women were wounded and one died. And, then, there were the other tragedies, like a woman killed under a Metro bus and the loss of life resulting from the windstorm of 2006. It was a year that death was as busy as the right wing, who kept trying to roll-back time to the 1950's, with the initiative Tim Eyman sponsored to defeat a bill that gave LGBT folks basic rights. The right to marry the partner of one's choice was denied to LGBT couples. That defeat in Olympia was one of the low points of 2006, but was followed by a high point, the trouncing of the Republicans by the Democrats in November's election. Getting Jamie Pederson elected in the 43rd district was an even sweeter victory, and icing on an already tasty cake. Another high point of the year was the national immigration rights marches that brought together a number of local activist groups, and put numbers like 5,000 people in the streets of Seattle in April and May to bring attention to the plight of undocumented workers nationwide. The battle continues in the White House, but marchers and, particularly, their huge numbers put lawmakers on notice that this was an issue that would not go away overnight. Moving from news to features and art, it's been a big year for Seattle, with the Seattle Art Museum still in the midst of a major makeover, to conclude sometime next year, and low points include the loss of the Empty Space Theatre and Consolidated Works. Let's hope next year bodes better for the fringe arts community, with more funding coming from our wealthier citizens and from others in the area. And I'm still hoping to see the Fringe Theater Festival return some day soon. So, what were my favorite films this year and favorite new TV shows? Well, number one on my list of films was the quirky and sexy Shortbus, a highlight of this year's Lesbian/Gay Film Festival. Number two would be the futuristic and nearly perfect Children of Men, and number three would be the disturbing but absorbing 'Innocence' which played at the Northwest Film Festival back in the summer. I'd rank The Departed, (in spite of the over the top violence) number four, and Infamous, another look at Truman Capote's book In Cold Blood as number five. For six, seven and eight, I'd have to go with Invincible, Running With Scissors and Blood Diamond. For nine and ten, I'd have to say Dreamgirls and The Black Dahlia, both of which moved me in completely different ways and I'm hoping for Oscar nods to both of them. The Good Shephard is in a class by itself of excellence in filmmaking. Guilty pleasures? Sure, and those would be Employee Of The Month, The Holiday, and Eragon (though if I had a number eleven for films, this would be number eleven). And for my favorite new TV shows, I'd have to list 'Jericho' and 'Shark' as my two top faves, and '3 lbs' as my number three, and I'm still going with 'CSI/Miami' and 'CSI' as my absolute faves. I'm starting to warm to 'CSI/New York' and 'The Ghost Whisperer', as well as the erudite 'Numbers', as reasons to enjoy the boob tube again. Those shows and 'Late Night with Craig Ferguson' kept me smiling, as did 'Stargate/SG1' with hunky Ben Browder and the ever delightful Claudia Black adding spice to an old charmer. My absolute favorite play last year had to be Intiman's Native Son, and second to that was Seattle Rep's Radio Golf, the last of August Wilson's trilogy of Black plays. Third would have to be the marvelously crisp and witty Richard, III, that Intiman did, and I also loved 5th Avenue Theater's version of Wonderful Town, and White Christmas, both of which made this curmudgeon very happy, if only for a moment. So, that's my 'short list' of things I loved and hated about the past year, and I hope to see more of local actors Billie Wildrick, Ato Addy, and Laurence Ballard, who made Heartbreak House at Intiman so memorable. |
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