We know that by the time you see this, you'll probably feel that you've just spent a year reading year's-end wrap-up pieces, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention that one of our favorites has been posted at Not Coming to a Theater Near You. Eighteen essays by writers you should have heard of even I hadn't, ranging from engaging to provocative, laid out in a design that, one commenter at GreenCine Daily notes, "Makes me feel like my site is created with two rocks and a stick." A special shout-out to Adam Balz, who had the taste and decency to single out two performers who had a little screen time in big, highly praised pictures, and whose amazing work threatened to get lost in all acclaim that those movies' stars (deservedly) received: John Carroll Lynch, a veteran character actor extending his range in surprising and scary ways as a front-running serial killer candidate in Zodiac, and Kristen Thomson, a fresh new face as a perfect caregiver in Away from Her, who unexpectedly takes a moment to remind the people onscreen (and the people in the audience) that she does have her own feelings about some of the bullshit she has to listen to from grieving, self-pitying spouses, and then politely resumes giving solace--leaving ripples in the picture that will continue to resonate after we've seen the last of her. I probably would have missed the "Not Coming" feature entirely if GreenCine hadn't linked to it, which may be a sign of how thoroughly I have my head wedged under a rock, but with any luck is really proof of two things, both of which have come to feel more and more true to me over the course of the past year: there are untold riches to be unearthed on the Internet, and GreenCine is the on-line film lover's best friend. Happy New Year, all.
