The Ten (Not That Ten)

No time like early March—indeed, no time like Oscar morning—to finally announce a Top Ten List for 2009. I can't possibly see how this will get lost in the shuffle of Oscar blogging, can you? But since I don't have time to write any fuller endorsement of these titles, and since the top half of the list has been evident in other ways for a couple of months, I figure it'll help me get through the evening to have this little photobook to look through. If that doesn't work, I'll have to pull out all the stops on those Na'Vi Martinis I'm supplying to the viewing party I'm attending. Never has Bombay Sapphire gin been put to such noble use. Hopefully I'll still be cognizant when Bigelow blasts that gold-plated glass ceiling off the Best Director Oscar. I'm really looking forward to that.

Best wishes for that and other moments worth revisiting (or even visiting!) in tonight's Oscar show, but if they prove few and far between, that's okay, too. Once awards season is finally over, we can all settle down and study the movies we really love, and those that have the most to teach us. For me, they were these:

The Paranormal Activity Project

And furthermore, I have lived through one of those incredibly canny midnight screenings in order to tell you that this is as terrifying as this, if not quite its equal in low-fi ingenuity and craft. I can't imagine that Paranormal Activity will work nearly as well without the room-thickening tension of being packed in a multiplex at the witching hour with a group of largely confused patrons, who all file in saying to the smuggest-looking member of their respective groups, "So, how did you hear about this? What is it?"



The theater where I saw it exhibited it simultaneously at midnight at its three largest screens, all of which stand consecutively to each other, so that 99 minutes later, a throng of stricken souls filed out amid shared jitters. I will admit to experiencing a dip in my estimation of my fellow man. It might be snobby, but I was not quite prepared for the sheer number of conversations I overheard that had fallen hook, line, and sinker for the already-hoary marketing device of "These are the real tapes! This really happened!" But nitpicking seems less important in the face of a few truly Richter-scale jolts. The worst for me: the leg. (Click here for Kris Tapley's take.)

I came home at 2am, keyed myself into my apartment, and my partner, expecting my arrival and knowing where I had been, had the sweet disposition but the extraordinarily bad luck to be standing in three-quarters shadow in the first doorway you see as you enter from the hallway of my building. I am not proud, but Reader, I shrieked like a mandrill and stumbled backward all the way into the elevator door.

P.S. Resist the urge to watch the trailer for this film, if at all possible. I gather from Kris's piece that a key bit of action is spoiled, and an incredibly starkers moment in the film would have been spoiled entirely for me if I'd known what to expect.

Whip It On

For nine years I've wanted to know, once again, what love is. I wanted Drew Barrymore to show me. She did: this is as delicious as this. The Hurl Scouts even share a color scheme with the Compton Clovers. "Babe Ruthless" she is, but she's also Bliss.

Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art -

You've still got It, Jane. You've never not had It, and Bright Star offers further, subtly risky, occasionally frisky, unabashedly romantic proof. Would that all period dramas had greasy hair and restless kitty cats. Would that every love story recognized that two people can grow respectful of each other's talents, even besotted with them, without necessarily entering into them, or fully adopting them as one's own. Would that every under-tested actor in the world got a role in a Jane Campion movie to demonstrate her mettle, or his. And if anything, would that all the critics who are relishing Bright Star will recognize in retrospect that In the Cut was already working toward these exciting dares in variable focus and semi-subversion of literary tropes, and that The Portrait of a Lady is as strong, rich, and evocatively idiosyncratic as this one is, but times ten.

Here's to the global resuscitation of Jane, even if she never should have needed "resuscitating." I'm still clapping in the front row, just like Holly, Anna, and I did back in the day. Granted, they were in the front row of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and I was in the front row of my living room, but the principle was the same!

Bring It On: Fall and Holiday Season '09

Most of the titles I'd be most excited to see are either still on the fence as to whether they'll even be released this year or they're starting to pick up deeply divisive word of mouth (though this, in itself, is usually catnip to me). I can't say my felt level of enthusiasm for the next three months of moviegoing is all that high, but it's comforting when I sit down with this list to realize how many more temptations still fall on the horizon than I have really been acknowledging. Grab a jacket and a scarf, hold your nose, and hope for the best!

A completely precise, most-to-least-anticipated lineup is too hard, and the previous eight years of airline travel and American government mean that I don't even know what "Code: Red" or "Code: Orange" or whatever even means anymore. So, as is my past custom, these previews of coming attractions (and repulsions) are scaled according to levels of enthusiasm that would actually make sense in the context of my life. As is equally my custom, I'll update with one-line responses as I "check" these titles off my list, and attempt to keep up with shifting release dates and fluctuating buzz.

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The Day My Credit Balance is Zero
Bright Star - Shut it, "comeback" mongers; Jane has Brought It every time
   B+ - Occasionally blunt, but mature and irreverent, and very moving
The Headless Woman - Come on, Chicago, come through with a release!
   B - Martel's skills still dazzle, but they slide here into mannerism and vagary
The Sun - I've already waited breathlessly for four years
   B+ - A few wobbles, especially early, but provocative and moving
Where the Wild Things Are - I hope it's every bit as unusual as they say
   B - Snags in shape and momentum, but still an engaging wonder
Antichrist - I might be indignant, but I cannot possibly be bored
   D - But I was! What's duller than shapeless, self-diluting provocation?

The Day I Meet Jessica Lange
35 Shots of Rum - Denis, Godard, Descas, Colin: I love when they hang out!
   B+ - Almost too low-key, but fully controlled; great last shot
Precious - Almost in the top bracket; all my fingers are crossed
   B - An odd, impassioned, erratic, well-acted film with some dubious biases
Nine - I hope it's got more depth than Chicago, but I'm already hooked
   D+ - A staggering inattention to whether the audience has any reason to care
An Education - A scrumptious cast, great preview, and star-is-born potential
   C - Carey charms, but no one, least of all Scherfig, pushes hard enough
A Single Man - Thanks, Harv! Now let's see what Tom, Colin, and Juli can do!
   D+ - A very old boxed wine, embarrassingly masked as a $15 cocktail

Oscar Nomination Day
A Serious Man - I blow hot and cold on the Coens but love the trailer
   C– - An endurance trial; the Coens at their most stiffly obnoxious
The Road - Inevitably a softer beast than the book, but does that matter?
   B - Lighting and music problems, but sturdy and extremely moving
The White Ribbon - The split votes persuaded more than the real raves
   B– - Crisp b&w imagery can't hide the diffuse, overfamiliar ideas

Oscar Day
Whip It - I think this looks like a blast. Plus: Juliette! And Kristen Wiig!
   B+ - Bright, pert, very funny, economically edited, specific to its milieu
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Miller's stuff usually sounds better than it is
Up in the Air - Sure seems to be affecting people; bonus point: Vera!
   C– - As evasive and canned as the firing rhetoric in the film
Disgrace - An adult-sounding adaptation of promising material
   D - Club-footed, cruddily photographed stab at a very tricky story

My Birthday
Broken Embraces - I'm not as pro-Pedro as some, but I'm sure it's tasty
   C - Needlessly convoluted; hard to find a new idea here
The Informant! - Hoping for inspired cheekiness, not Schizopolis
   C– - Tediously facetious; less revealing of character than it should be
Crazy Heart - Great cast, but I hope this trumps Tender Mercies
   C - Trumps it a little, but not by much, though Bridges is great
Invictus - Just hoping it's not too, too on-the-nose with its nobility
   C - Eastwood never gets past the surface, maybe because he doesn't try

The Average 3-Day Weekend
Paranormal Activity - If it's as nail-biting as they say, I'll be elated
   B - Several structural flaws, but it still scared the @#$% out of me
The Messenger - Strong notices; bonus: from Velvet Goldmine co-writer!
   B - Modest but moving; Foster and Harrelson are great
La danse - Wiseman's a legend, and if it's half as good as The Company...
   B+ - Splendid; the To Be and To Have of ruthless artistic training
Avatar - It's just so hard to bet against Cameron, but that teaser smells
   C - Fine, it "moves," but it's wispy and politically off-putting
Me and Orson Welles - Lots of great names attached, plus McKay buzz
   D+ - Dim and diffuse; Linklater never gives it any point

The Average 2-Day Weekend
The Last Station - Sounds worth a look, though I'm not panting
A Woman in Berlin - Still intrigued by Nina Hoss after Yella
   B– - Important story, polished style, but overlong and a bit too opaque
The Bad Lieutenant... - It'll have to be the right kind of nutso
   B– - A bit mangy, but gets more interestingly nutso as it goes
It's Complicated - Despite Meyers' record, I'm really holding out hope
   B - Kinks more than compensated by three luminous star turns
The Lovely Bones - Could be great, but premise and trailer turn me off
Amreeka - The previews and reviews are selling it to me
   C+ - Well acted, some pert details, but the script is much too klutzy
Good Hair - The trailer's a stitch, and I'm interested anyway
   C - Good chuckles and tidbits, but too slapdash and superficial
Bronson - Strong reviews from across the Pond; curious about Hardy
   C+ - Starts out awfully and over-acted but grows oddly absorbing
Fantastic Mr. Fox - Looks like less of a real stretch than I'd hoped
   C+ - It passes the time, but there's just no soul to it

The Average Workday
Big Fan - Confused by what I'm hearing; should I make an effort?
   B– - Homespun and limited, but savvy moments and a killer climax
Coco Before Chanel - Unsure about Tautou, but few female leads this fall
   C - Good work from Tautou and Poelvoorde can't quite elevate the film
Skin - I'd get even more bent out of shape if the UK reviews were better
   C– - Intriguing, but pitifully disjointed and erratically acted
Brothers - Would it have killed 'em to hire a less callow cast?
The Princess and the Frog - I appreciate the gesture... but how's the movie?
   B– - Enough high points to count as a more than honorable try
The Young Victoria - I'm just not sure that Blunt is really working out
   C+ - Actually, she and Friend do very well, but the movie's still gratuitous
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Even in good weather, Gilliam can grate
Sherlock Holmes - Many ways to go wrong, but duds and dudes could be fun
   F - A crass vandalizing of the brand, and joylessly incompetent as reimagined

The Average Cold
The Blind Side - Mayyyyyybe, unless it's limo-liberal porn
   D+ - Plennnty of problems, but enough heart to squeak by

The Average Broken Face
(i.e., And I am telling you... I'm not going...)
The Other Man - If someone you love messed up, would you want to watch?
Motherhood - The dread Uma, forever trying her hand at "comedy"
Ninja Assassin - By the V for Vendetta guy? No, thanks. Really.
Couples Retreat - A genre I dislike, saddled with unenticing actors
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel - That title! [shudders]
Saw VI - Five years ago, I thought this looked like a pip. It wasn't. Go away!
Old Dogs - Only if my other option is to drown in a grain silo

Hope Springs Eternal for...
The Tree of Life - Malick + Penn + Lubezki + Desplat. Please open!
A Prophet - Reviews are dreamy, but looks slotted for February
   B+ - Not unfamiliar material, but strongly acted and helmed
Vincere - Apparently has a web-stream release, but big screen?
   D+ - An opulent ordeal, empty, static, and weirdly self-monumentalizing
Lovely, Still - I thought this would be a sure thing, with Best Actress so sparse
   D - TV-ish at best, tacky, show-offy, and ridiculous at worst
Beeswax - Hasn't bowed in Chicago yet, so I'm hopeful
Creation - I applaud the chutzpah of a mainstream film inclined to atheism
The Vintner's Luck - I'm guessing this depends on Toronto buzz?

@^#$!
(i.e., I meant to go but played myself)
Import/Export - Missed out, despite my love for Lachman
Afterschool - One-night showing sold out before I could get to it
Still Walking - I should've cared more, but it just sounded so tepid
The Box - Can Richard Kelly woo me back after Southland?
The Damned United - Rooting for Sheen after Queen, less post-Frost
Zombieland - Zombie-comedy is getting weirdly rote; neat cast, though
Cloud 9 - Could be a genuine boundary-pusher; lots of strong notices
The Burning Plain - Charlize and Kim entice, but Jennifer's got the buzz
Amelia - Potential for a good story, but the trailer's so kitschy
The Fourth Kind - Wouldn't give it a thought, except the trailer's nifty
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - Who knew? Reviews are bubbly
What's the Matter with Kansas? - I've now missed the book and the film

The Boneyard
(i.e., My eagerness has died on the vine)
2012 - So plausible at some core level, it's unseemly as entertainment
9 - I needed convincing, and the reviews didn't achieve that
The Baader Meinhof Complex - I'd hoped for edge, but no one's implying any
The Boys Are Back - Best of luck to Clive, but the trailer oozed
Capitalism: A Love Story - I'm worried he's jumped the shark
Did You Hear about the Morgans? - Review-dependent; Parker's a liability
Disney's A Christmas Carol - I'm guessing sub-Lemony, which isn't good
Il Divo - Not a huge fan of florid Italian drama, but I'll try it
Endgame - Not Beckett, sadly, but is there room for a buzzy performance?
Everybody's Fine - I can be sweet-talked, if De Niro's really "back"
Fame - I don't much care, but several friends might; I like Naughton
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - For fortuitous personal reasons
The Invention of Lying - My only hook was Garner, and she wasn't enough
Jennifer's Body - Sounds like a missed opportunity, if even that
Katyn - Embarrassed to say, it will be my first Wajda
Law Abiding Citizen - Any film with Viola as mayor works for me
Love Happens - I never was eager, considering the titular allusion
The Men Who Stare at Goats - Promise me it's not just A-list smuggery
My One and Only - Renée buzz only lasted 5 secs! Safe to avoid! YAY!
New York, I Love You - Expecting good bits amid a lot of floss
Pandorum - It all rests on the reviews; I'm not hopeful
Paris - Sounds iffy, but Duris and Binoche have sure been on a roll
Pirate Radio/The Boat that Rocked - New title, same lukewarm reviews
Planet 51 - I'm almost sure to skip it, unless someone really goes to bat
Red Cliff - Loved Face/Off, but often bristle at Chinese action epics
The Stepfather - The original's a cult classic, and the trailer is a snooze
The Stoning of Soraya M. - Intriguing, but sounds like rhetoric > substance
Surrogates - Hate to miss a Mostow pic, but this looks so desperate
Trucker - I actually showed up and couldn't make myself stay
The Twilight Saga: New Moon - I haven't so far; why start now?
Women in Trouble - What is this? Is it for real? A real part for Gugino?

Meanwhile, Titles to Catch on DVD
12 - Some Foreign Film nominees really stink, but I'm hopeful
Adventureland - I wasn't prepared for such strong reports from friends
   B - Sober and comical and nostalgic and tough: quite a combo!
American Violet - I was especially sorry to miss this in theaters
   D+ - Depressingly soft-headed and hypocritical; mishandled cast
Anvil! The Story of Anvil - I've only heard affectionate responses
   A– - Could this be the deftest, most rounded film I've seen this fall?
The Beaches of Agnès - Hafta admit, it looked too "cutesy" for me
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) - I'm in it for Kuras but heard few raves
Everlasting Moments - Another film I especially regret missing
   B - A poem in light, good perfs, a bit too self-consciously quaint
Funny People - I only heard bad reviews until too late
   B - A funny, usefully stilted film about Hollywood hating itself
Goodbye, Solo - Is Bahrani the Real Deal people say he is?
   B - Buoyed by its strong sense of place and a gracefully handled finale
Grey Gardens - Sure, it's TV, but I need to have an opinion
   B– - Unexpectedly moving; a welcome antidote to the doc's coldness
The International - Color me shocked, but I keep hearing raves
   C - Bits of flash and punch, but just as often flat-footed
Lake Tahoe - Duck Season was good enough to sell me on the follow-up
   B– - Unabashedly slim, but some nicely wry, succinct observations
Lemon Tree - Hiam Abbass draws raves every time she shows up
   B– - Despite overt bias, conjures estimable feeling and tension
Leonera/Lion's Den - I had no idea this had finally opened
Life Is Hot in Cracktown - High hopes for Kerry Washington
   D+ - A few moments pop, but it's all risibly pedestrian
Medicine for Melancholy - The second coming of love jones?
   B - Tougher and more tender than its slimmish first impression
Orphan - Is this just Joshua again, with anti-Semitic overtones?
   C+ - More sadistic, more cheats, but admirably weird, and Vera's great
Séraphine - I meant to catch this; now the LAFCA is rubbing it in
Spread - Missed in theaters, but like Mackenzie, love Heche
   D+ - Vacuous, show-offy, and erratic, but yay for Heche and that toad
Three Monkeys - Intriguing, though Ceylan and I haven't sparked before
   C+ - Clicks for a while, but awfully overbearing by the end
Tokyo Sonata - Strong buzz in the winter, but it passed me by
Treeless Mountain - A nice change from all the Korean genre stuff
   B - Beautifully lit and empathetic with the kids' POV, if a bit soft
Valentino: The Last Emperor - This sleeper hit is getting me curious
   B– - Glorious clothes, vivid subject, but gauzy and a bit gross
World's Greatest Dad - Goatdog swears by this one, so I'm suddenly curious
   C+ - Thrilling, scabrous fun... till the main plot kicks in

I Can't Do Friday All By Myself...

...so I decided to ease into it with Tyler Perry and his bumptious, earnest, patchy, draggy, and sort of wonderful I Can Do Bad All By Myself, which admittedly makes all kinds of disappointing choices in editing, story structure, match cutting, and character profiling. (We get it - he's perfect, and he's terrible!) There's nothing in the movie to resemble the pleasingly graceful camera movements in last fall's sudsy but delicious Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys, or the impressively pared-down directness of Perry's own performance in that joint, or the consummate candor and luminosity of Alfre Woodard's performance, especially in close-up.

But I'll tell you, I Can Do Bad... still makes for a great kickoff to the weekend. Every critic has got at least a couple of genres that they are willing to indulge, and if you're going to throw this much sisterly charisma and bracing music on the screen, I am going to enjoy myself, even more than during the belly laughs Madea sometimes gets from me when she's threatening to shank some kids. I was hoping that the opening, big-'fro run-through of Aretha's "Rock Steady" really was sung by Taraji P. Henson, who works that multi-threat, Toni Collette-style, funny and crafty and oversized and sympathetic groove in movie after movie (though I think she got Oscar-nommed for one of her weakest performances). Turns out that's steadfast R&B/gospel trouper Cheryl Pepsii Riley doing the actress's vocals, but Henson still lip-synchs the smack out of 'em, and it's a great opening for a movie that gives her plenty of chances to delight in small ways, even if it never goes for broke by really cutting her loose, comically, musically, or emotionally.

Henson was a big enticement behind my purchase of this ticket (she was great in a second-tier role in Family that Preys), but you usually have to pay more than $6 to get two full-length stage recitals apiece from the legendary Gladys Knight and the legend-to-be Mary J. Blige. Knight, in her modest, controlled, but forceful way, tears up a sort of secular spiritual bit called "The Need to Be," and though I wasn't taken with the title number that gets somewhat obligatorily foisted on Blige, watching this woman sing is as electrifying as listening to her. Her whole body becomes this wild muscle, flexing 101% conviction in every phrase of every song. Her sign-off rendition of her own hit "Good Woman Down" is so thumping and kinetic (the stylish turquoise dress doesn't hurt), that she almost literally blows Henson off the stage and makes you wonder if she hasn't earned the lead role in the next Perry production. In future years, we'll be as happy to have Blige recorded on film, doing her magical thing, as we are having Lena Horne and Billie Holliday tucked away into sublime corners of their occasionally lackluster vehicles.

I Can Do Bad All by Myself is, finally, a middling movie, but Perry's protracted attention to these and other musical performances varies the rhythm and dials up the emotional intensity of the film to its incontestable peaks. I stopped even minding about the gratuitous and klutzy flashbacks, which raise questions like, who brings a bag of groceries to work? Meanwhile, the other lead story that ought to grow out of this frustratingly uneven but easily enjoyable soap is the commanding performance by Hope Olaide Wilson as a 16-year-old with a barbed-wire attitude and a tough row to hoe. You can sometimes see Wilson wishing that Perry and her other co-stars would rein things in a little and treat the material as frankly as she's doing, but she isn't being a drama queen. It's a forceful and honest performance, sailing over the hurdle of how to hold our attention and our empathy despite being so sour for almost the full 113-minute running time. Complexions aside, she's a dead ringer for Anna Paquin, and I hope she gets the same kind of professional nurturing and career opportunities.

And speaking of careers, I've already been peppier and more productive this afternoon by having started my Friday with a party instead of ending it with one. Thanks, Tyler, and thank you, ladies! Praise God for long but flexible hours, and TGIF, everybody.

The Damn Basterds Won't Let Me Be...

...and though I have a lot else to get done this weekend and can't afford the time to write or deliver a finished screed, I am finding myself too upset but also too gripped by my response to this movie, and by several other people's responses to this movie, that I can't not write about it. Plus, I figure: what the hey. Tarantino loves chapters. And he's hardly one to balk at breaking his own mammoth pieces into smaller chunks (if only because higher powers force his hand), and hoping nonetheless that people will keep checking in. So, that's how it's going to be.

Chapter 1: Whipped Cream
Chapter 2: Perspective

Go Ahead, Make My Year

Lucifer Rising (1981), dir. Kenneth Anger; image © Fantoma Films

One thing I'd like to do more of in the new year is fill some gaps with directors whose work I haven't explored much, or only in a skewed way, or not at all. Without leaving myself entirely to my own devices, I'd love to solicit your opinions. I'll (mostly) name the directors, and you tell me what to rent. I'll see where consensus starts to build, and hopefully I'll get around to these titles sometime in the next twelve months. What do you say?

KENNETH ANGER - I saw lots of his stuff, but quite a while ago, and I missed a few of the later, purportedly even crazier films. What should I revisit or look at next?

SHARUNAS BARTAS - Has anyone run into the work of this Lithuanian endurance-tester? Got any tips?

YOUSSEF CHAHINE - The Siskel Film Center is showing a lot of the late Egyptian master's work this month. Besides the Alexandra films, what's essential?

CARL-THEODOR DREYER - If we set aside Vampyr and Joan of Arc, what impresses you most in his filmography?

CLINT EASTWOOD - Are Bird, White Hunter, Black Heart, and A Perfect World as great as they say? Are any of those late '90s and early '00s policiers worth catching up with? How about Pale Rider or Heartbreak Ridge? I've got holes to fill and a mind to make up.

BARBARA HAMMER - A pioneer of feminist and queer filmmaking, but I haven't paid her the full attention she deserves. Guide me!

EMIR KUSTURICA - Haven't even dipped a toe, and he's a major world figure. Who's got a favorite?

ANTHONY MANN - Revered by many, but I haven't seen a frame. Where to start? Is Winchester '73 too obvious?

JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE - I've been sitting out of the whole recent resurgence in his work, but the shame and the curiosity are building. Tell me what I have to see first, or what I can put off till later. Will it matter if I'm not a huge noir guy?

VINCENTE MINNELLI - Every time I see one of his, it changes my impression of him, and I love the generic diversity. I've seen: Meet Me in St. Louis, Yolanda and the Thief, An American in Paris, The Band Wagon, Tea and Sympathy, Gigi, Some Came Running, and On a Clear Day... I'm most curious about The Bad and the Beautiful and Two Weeks in Another Town, but am happy to take other cues.

KENJI MIZOGUCHI - Where to go next if I was floored by Sanshô?

YASUJIRO OZU - I'm embarrassed to say that I've only seen Tokyo Story, and I have missed two public presentations of The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums. Where should I start bettering myself?

MICHAEL POWELL (and EMERIC PRESSBURGER) - Tilda will never date me if I don't get my act together a little better. Fans seem to have different favorites. What's yours? I've seen The Edge of the World, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and Peeping Tom, and I liked them all. I Know Where I'm Going, A Matter of Life and Death, and Colonel Blimp are screaming for attention, but is there a preferred order here?

SATYAJIT RAY - I need to finish the Apu trilogy, but then, where next? I'm tempted by The Music Room.

ROBERTO ROSSELLINI - Some great stuff bowing soon on DVD from Criterion and Eclipse, but what's your favorite Rossellini film?

OUSMANE SEMBENE - I am gaga for Xala and quite wild about Mandabi. Who has a favorite Sembene film?

FRANÇOIS TRUFFAUT - Sometimes I get it (400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Stolen Kisses), sometimes I totally don't (Jules et Jim). Day for Night is pleasant, but I almost prefer the choked and flawed but kind of bravely cold The Green Room. I saw Adèle H. a hundred years ago. Is this helping you pick a next title for me to screen?

FREDERICK WISEMAN - Not fabulously treated by DVD, but I'll grab what I can find. What's most essential here?