2008 was a pretty good year: losses & gains...

Invariably I'd get down to finally listing my favorite and most notable things about the past year... 2008 was a pretty good year -with some hard losses & major gains...

Trying to avoid a 'top ten' list was difficult with so much going on...the ups and downs on stage and in life were as fluctuating as the markets...but I digress. Here are my lists, the long and short of them for 2008:

Although I don't normally review or comment on films, the award season is one of my favorite passions and guilty pleasures. To enjoy them even more I actually see the films in cinemas and of course rent copious amounts of DvD's. Christmas holiday season being when I do most of my marathon viewing. Admittedly I still have a few on my list to see, but from what I've seen so far I am able to list the favorites.

In no particular order: Iron Man; Frost versus Nixon; Benjamin Button; Doubt; Milk; Slum Dog Millionaire; Leaving Shara Marshall; Mama Mia; Dark Knight; Kung Fu-Panda. My favorite Imagine & Nation film: C.I.A.O. And my favorite film for 2008 was WALL-E.

This leads me to our greatest losses in the industry in 2008: Roy Scheider; Anthony Minghella; Richard Widmark; Sydney Pollack; George Carlin; Harvey Korman; Estelle Getty; Paul Newman; Eartha Kitt; Bernie Mac. The biggest loss for me was naturally: Heath Ledger.

People who made a mark / marked my existence most in 2008: Kristina Sandev; Pamela Pachal; Tim Evanicki; Eric Pineault; Robert Vezina; Guy Millet; Sam Dahdal; Jane Needles; Hillary Clinton; Barrack Obama. The person who marked my life the most is the person who literally saved it, on June 23rd @ 21:30: my husband, Ricky Smith.

And now for what you've all been waiting for; the top ten picks in local theatre for Dee Arr:
In no particular order...

@ CENTAUR, Sky Dive; Life Is A Dream; Maddy Heisler.
@ D.B. Clarke, Dulcinea's Lament.
@ McGill, The Importance Of Being Earnest; Urinetown.
@ La Chapelle, Down Dangerous Passes Road.
@ Gesu, Altar Boyz.
@ Segal, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; The Odd Couple.

Top Fringe pick is: A tie, Dishpig & Sputniks.
Top Harvest pick is: Fluid.
Top pick for 2008 Montreal theatre season is: I Claudia - studio space, Segal Center.

If your not on the above list it doesn't mean that you didn't affect me in some positive way with your art. No one sets out to mount a 'bad' show. It is all subjective to the observer. I think that my reviews 'speak' for themselves.

I'm not sure why it turned out that my top favorites were all one (1) person productions with little to no set and a running time of under 90 minutes. Maybe it was the simplicity in a very tumultuous and emotionally roller coaster year.