Once more, as in
we look back over the year and try to work out what comes out on top.
As usual, we begin with...
and the usual variety of categories.
I'd felt that there hadn't been so many good movies this year but I think that that reflects more the trend in the last few months where I'm more aware of not having seen the latest Kubrick, Star Wars and Bond movies. However, there has been spectacle with Star Trek: Insurrection , Godzilla and The Mummy; there has been laughter with Cruel Intentions, An Ideal Husband and A Bug's Life; there's been quirky, alternative and thought-provoking with Dark City, The Truman Show and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The Object of My Affection was my most heart-warming film of the year, Gods and Monsters my most moving and The Matrix my most enjoyed. However, the award goes to
which took a lot of getting to (three tries) but was well worth it for script, acting and visual flair.
There wasn't much theatre this year - fringe performances of Martin Sherman's Bent designed by Keith and The Davids a play with middle aged crises and naked men. But the award goes to
at The Globe for showing how entertaining Shakespeare can really be.
Most gay boys would as a matter of honour place Queer as Folk on the top of their list and to be sure it was good (in parts). The usual round of costume dramas, comic series and thrillers continued but none really grabbed me enough to be unmissable, aside from Shooting the Past back in January which still haunts me. So, being honest, I would have to give my vote this year to
because I did make a point of tuning in, enjoyed the format and used the catch phrases - "Do you want to go 50/50 or phone a friend?".
As with the TV, though I've read a lot this year, nothing has leapt out and grabbed me. So, this year there is
I've enjoyed Samuel Barber's Vanessa performed by Seattle Opera and Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment performed by English Touring Opera. Opera North made a welcome London visit which included a fabulously sung and cleverly produced outing for Mozart's Don Giovanni. The Royal Opera were hardly in the frame so it fell to ENO to provide the bulk of the best evenings with a ravishing production of Boito's Mephistopheles, a gripping account of Poulenc's The Dialogue of the Carmelites and a moving evening with Britten's Peter Grimes. Controversially, the award this year is spread over two performances.
and
I'd given the ENO Traviata the award last year so it felt a little odd to give the ON production the award this year. However, if anything, this performance was even more heart-rending. So if the Verdi moved the heart, the Tippett engaged and challenged the intellect. It was the model of a modern production suitably fitted to the subject and the piece.
This year, there is
I enjoyed hearing John Mark Ainsley sing Britten's Nocturne for Tenor and Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco and was entertained by the Seattle Gay Men's Chorus. But easily the best music was contained in the
which Gill and I attended in February which included music from the African Equatorial rain forest, Copland's Appalachian Spring, Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.
The award can only go to
at the Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts in San Francisco where I passed a pleasant hour with landscapes by Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Gaugin, Caillebotte and Renoir.
There's a number to choose from
However, without doubt, the award goes to
because Mary is just a delight.
Well this just has to be
because it took me so long to pluck up the courage to do.
There's been a lot of fine nookie this year but not really any outstanding moments. So I'm going to give
for the reason that it was all pretty good.
Well there was lunching with John Patrick and Bruce in the Firewood in San Francisco and dinner partying with Ross and Chris and Gavin but the best meal was
I cooked for my parents because I don't often get to treat them with my (limited) culinary skills.
I met up with a couple of old friends this year - firstly Denise and then Henryk - and it was good to see them both. However, the real discovery of the year has been meeting and getting to know
who is likely to remain a chum for a long time to come.
As in previous years, I can easily give this award to
However, I want to break a tradition and give the award to
because I think I deserve it. After four years of producing this EJ, I'm going to give myself a bit of recognition for all the hard work, effort, perseverance and creativity I have put into this endeavour which will never become a major motion picture shortly to arrive at a cinema near you.
And that, usually, is that...
However, this year, as it's the end of a decade, I'm going to review all the reviews from the previous four years.
