Happy New Year, everyone! It’s scary to think it’s now been 9 years since the tick of the clock to 2000. To think, I had so many plans back then… that… er… mostly involved… ok, so I can’t remember a single one of those plans for the life of me, but I think they mostly involved getting through school and having a car. That’s me, ambitious as all heck. So, er, here’s to more plans! Or plain ol’ spontaneity, as the case may well be. ...

Slumdog Millionaire: Jamal, a slum kid done good, is just trying to get back with his girl. The universe seems to have other plans for him, and it involves appearing on the Indian Who Wants to be a Millionaire? - where, despite his slum upbringing, he knows a streak of answers. This however makes the host suspicious, and he calls the cops to take him away for a shake-down. A film adaptation of a novel, Q & A by Vikas Swarup, Slumdog Millionaire is up for serious Oscar contention. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting), it’s little wonder a story like this is being considered a dark horse for Best Picture. Timelines are interspersed, but each subtly clear and distinct, though it does like to meander. Told mostly in English, the plot manages to keep its thread, though there are moments of credulity that the suspension of disbelief is required to overcome. Scenes of the slums can be confronting, and occasionally it appears to be exaggerated to make the point, but it’s all in there, and then some. ...

Tropic Thunder: The line between action movie and spoof action flick blurs wildly in this, though it pulls out just ahead in the spoof column. I suppose it’s only a commentary of our times when you wonder whether the product placement in this is intentional or whether it’s there to be parodied. While there aren’t any stand-out performances, the movie does chug along nicely enough, and it’s worth a few laughs. ★★★ ...

Whatever you’ve done to your car, you will be outdone by these Japanese cars. My favourite? The exhausts that empty directly into the ozone layer. (via kahiti)

All I want (and this and these and this and this funky thing and this and these ingenius things and this awesome mug and this and this clever thing and this beautiful thing and this ) for Christmas… is a lot of money.