My, my, it's been a while, eh? Aubs and I decided that it's time to ramp up the ol' film blog again - by which we mean that we'll post this and come back in a few years to update - with our respective top 50 films of the decade list. In conceiving this idea we decided to simply come up with them on our own under the guise of mutual exclusivity so as not to implicate unto each other's list; no discussion between the two and see how they pan out. As I'm sure you're well aware I tend to be a bit more windy because of my neurotic insecurities and Aubrey tends to keep it puerile and salacious as usual.
What a wonderful bout of hibernation we've been in, eh? Yawn, stretch.
Coming to the close of the year - and the decade as well - lends itself to more self-indulgence from your least-hated and critically acclaimed and somewhat lauded critiquing duo, no?
So how the hell does anybody come up with this list? Yes, by insinuating one's own opinions on everyone else's lists! I get it! Now, obviously, I still haven't seen Norbit or Night at the Museum, or some actual contenders, but I think it's a pretty solid list. Without much unnecessary and hoary speech platitudes from myself, I give you Elliot's top 50 films of the decade; in alphabetical order, with jokes! (that you won't find funny). Feel free to comment on what I missed and/or what a pretentious clown I am at your discretion!
1. The 25th Hour (2002 - Spike Lee) - Mr. Lee gives the direction of a lifetime in Ed Norton's best role to date in an anti-redemptive story of a convicted drug dealer's last hours before serving his prison sentence.
2. 28 Days Later (2002 - Danny Boyle) - Years before Boyle gave us insulting Oscar bait he was able to direct a stunning parable that brought life back to the dead horse killed by the likes of Romero.
3. Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain to you!) (2001 - Jean-Pierre Jeunet) - I dare anybody not to love this movie. Stupendously inventive cinematography and film editing that would make a lesser film's plot direction and story arc's inferiority glare, but everything compliments everything else in this wonderful film.
4. Bad Education (2004 - Pedro Almodovar) - Almodovar seems to reinvent his own formulaic film with each successive installment. This won't be the only time he's on this list.
5. Brokeback Mountain (2005 - Ang Lee) - A gay cowboy story this is not...even though it's primary focus is a pair of homosexual cowboys. Ang Lee puts the cerebral where it normally wouldn't be and slops it around our brains until there's nothing but a loose approximation of what previously lie there - soupcon!
6. Cache (Hidden) (2005 - Michael Haneke) - Mr. Haneke has always had a good head on his shoulders when he feels compelled to torment his audience (see: Funny Games, The Piano Teacher, et al) but this one makes the punishment so much more palpable that you can almost hear him laughing at you from behind the director's chair. Whether you 'get' the ending or not, this gem is not to be missed.
7. Children of Men (2006 - Alfonso Cuaron) - There were a boatload of films that took on apocalyptic themes this decade; none did it so brilliantly and with a love of art-as-film as this one. The tireless tracking shots alone are enough to love this movie, but Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and the lovely Claire-Hope Ashitey take it to a level that combines love, lust and occipital-lobe pornography to take it a few breathtaking steps forward.
8. Closer (2004 - Mike Nichols) - The movie that convinced me Natalie Portman can actually act, as long as her role is conflated with a strong cast and brutally sadistic themes undergirding the whole project. Clive Owen shows us his chops are up to par with the best of them, and I didn't want to gouge my eyes out every time Julia Roberts was on screen, a miracle in and of itself.
9. Cold Mountain (2003 - Anthony Minghella) - A movie that was capable of actually putting an Oscar statue in Renee Zellweger's hands deserves much more praise than this one got. An historically accurate portrayal of Confederates (and their defenders) grappling with the impending loss of the Civil War, the little known Home Guard soldiers, and loss of the ever fleeting last chances of love. Nicole Kidman reminds us all that she's not an overpaid hack and if you need to be reminded as to why Jude Law has a career I encourage you to revisit this gem.
10. The Constant Gardener (2005 - Fernando Meirelles) - The subtlety of this movie is most understood at its most jarring (most notably, the post-pregnancy scene in the hospital, you know the one) but the greater nuance here is the gritty yet stylishly elegant performance by Rachel Weisz that, thankfully, was not lost on the Academy.
11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000 - Ang Lee) - Another bromide that you'll no doubt find on every top 50 list that isn't deliberately contrarian, nothing more I can add that won't result in diminishing returns.
12. Death To Smoochy (2002 - Danny DeVito) - No joking here, folks, Ed Norton as a children’s TV show rhino with a plot that you'd more expect out of the porn industry - but I suppose they're mirrored in many ways.
13. The Descent (2006 - Neil Marshal) - Horror always gets the hose in the banality of top film portentions (yes, a made up word). This one makes the grade for relentless paroxysms of claustrophobia that actually tease the audience deeper in its own world instead of shunning it away with calamitous clichés or over-wrought parabolic themes. Avoid the American revision as it’s the small things that make the movies.
14. The Devil's Rejects (2005 - Rob Zombie) - Two horror films in a row? How auspicious. What House of 1000 Corpses missed is batted out of the park here by keeping the film grounded without pandering to effusive ideals or, once again, silly clichés. Zombie found his footing here and we're hoping he holds on for dear life. We want him, even more so, to stop any focus on the music scene and bring us more Captain Spalding!
15. Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) (2007 - Julian Schnabel) - Based on the true story of a French magazine editor who succumbs to a rare debilitating disease in where he's only form of communication is by blinking his left eye. Arguably the best cinematography and use of film stock in a release this decade from one of the most prodigious artists of our time.
16. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004 - Michel Gondry) - Tempted as I was to leave this off my list it's too big a brute to sanctimoniously ignore. I'd watch Kate Winslet read the newspaper and love it, not to mention that if it's possible to make a watchable movie with Jim Carrey then it deserves every last possible accolade it can garner.
17. Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006 - Steven Shainberg) - Robert Downey Jr. delivers the beginning of his legitimate comeback next to the never-better Nicole Kidman; another pervasively subtle film that won't release you from its grip any time soon after initial viewing.
18. Gangs of New York (2002 - Martin Scorsese) - The film that made me finally understand the popularity and utterly great acting of Leonardo DiCaprio. Scorsese does his usual hammy approach to a story that, without such great acting, scoring and camera work would otherwise be petty and indifferent to a harrowing chapter in American history.
19. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000 - Jim Jarmusch) - Jarmusch brings a seemingly laughable title and makes it into the understatement of his career. He doesn't worry about pandering to an uptight bourgeoisie art crowd as many of his others do, he makes a bleak attempt at a divulging a rare art in a city that antiquates it by the day. Forrest Whitaker also begins his streak toward an Oscar - not too shabby.
20. Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001 - John Cameron Mitchel) - Did everybody forget that this movie came out this decade? The musical that makes it less embarrassingly fun to like musicals; Hedwig follows a young man whose botched transgender surgery (to cross the Berlin Wall) has him stuck in limbo and mirroring a popular synth-pop act with an act all her own also has one of the best soundtracks of the decade.
21. The Host (2006 - Joon-ho Bong) - With a funny name like that he's bound to make a good film! Hilarious, engaging, unbelievably believable visual effects with a not-so-masqueraded story line about American exceptionalism and gluttony becoming a monster unto the world. That part doesn't matter, the bond created between the central family and their inevitable encounter with this parasite makes for a rollicking-good time for the whole family.
22. The Hours (2002 - Stephen Daldry) - Combining the best ensemble cast I can recall, with stunning performances from everyone involved (including an Oscar win for the third-mentioned yet Nicole Kidman) likely would have put The Hours in the top five of the list.
23. House of Flying Daggers (2004 - Yimou Zhang) - What could have easily been interpreted as a scant off-shoot of Crouching Tiger...House takes special care to not repeat simple themes of redemption and regret to create an entirely unique - visually and thematically - vision of warring factions in late 9th century China.
24. The Hurt Locker (2009 - Kathryn Bigelow) - After years of studios releasing trite films attempting to sentimentalize, defend, abhor, et al, the war in Iraq, Bigelow scores very big by trimming all that out and simply focusing on a day in the life of an EOD unit's last few weeks of deployment. Jeremy Renner is a revelation here, aside from the American bad-ass hokey ending it's the best war movie of the decade.
25. Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (I've Loved You So Long) (2008 - Phillipe Claudel) - Kristen Scott Thomas gives a heart-wrenching and surreal performance as a woman recently released to her sister's custody after 10 year stint in prison for none other than killing her own son - in her second language, mind you. For shame, Academy.
26. Innocent Voices (2004 - Luis Mandoki) - One of two movies on this list grappling with the consequences of the Salvadorian civil war in the mid-eighties is based on a true story centered on a young boy who must choose between indentured servitude to the Salvadorian army or joining his uncle in a guerilla organization against their intended oppressors. Heart wrenching? Check. Wonderfully performed by a group of unknown child-actors? Check. Hot matriarch? Double check.
27. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (2004 - Quentin Tarantino) - I'm likely in a lonely camp if I were to say that this is Tarantino's best, but it simply is. Dialogue rich and ideally keen to that notion it brings us back to Tarantino's earlier work where he lets the characters present the story for him without subversively bragging to us that we know, no matter what, that he knows film better than most.
28. Kontroll (2004 - Nimrod Antal) - That the film-makers had to get unprecedented permits to film entirely and exclusively in the Budapest subway system is of no surprise here, what they did with this prodigious experience will stick with you long after the lights come up.
29. La Vie en Rose (2007 - Olivier Dahan) - The movie that put Marion Cotillard on the map, and won her an Oscar to boot. Normally bio-pics tend to suffer from their own tacky sentimentality or cynicism, this one, if any, is one of the most incandescent straight-shots of them all.
30. Lady Vengeance (2005 - Chan-wook Park) - The third installment of the vengeance trilogy from the man who can bring cerebral film making and painstakingly visceral realism to stunning lofts is also one of the most disturbing pieces of film in recent history.
31. Little Children (2006 - Todd Field) - Kate Winslet carries a movie that is sardonically understood as being somewhat sarcastic (the overly monotonous narration) surprisingly genuine (all acting performances in general, shout out to Jackie Earl Haley) and beautifully crafted down to the last detail makes for one of the best films of a generation.
32. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003 - Peter Jackson) - I would rather prefer to separate these three but they're so loyal the books and contiguous to each other that it's just not right to do so. The trilogy of the decade turned out to be the most fruitful and rewarding (as opposed to the Matrix sequels and to an even lesser extent Pirates). They said it couldn't be done, but Jackson proved that even with oft-mediocre acting that this is a story appropriate for anything you can amalgamate it with.
33. Man on Wire (2008 - James Marsh) - The best documentary to hit the screen since...well, I don't know. Please see last year's interlocution with Aubrey from the Oscars section.
34. Maria Full of Grace (2004 - Joshua Marsten) - One of the first, if not the first, times that the Academy recognized an undeniably brilliant performance from a very little-known foreign lead actress (Catalina Sandino Moreno). A novice drug mule reconciles life-threatening choices to change a life that would otherwise be equally endangered.
35. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005 - Miranda July) - "Back and forth, forever." If you don't know what that is referencing then go see this movie immediately. Nuff said.
36. Mullholland Drive (2001 - David Lynch) - Naomi Watts' breakthrough performance in David Lynch's most compelling yet not quite understandable movie to date makes for a brilliant romance, a nuanced horror story and a wonderfully engaging waltz through the art of film making. Lynch will be considered ahead of his time for the rest of his career.
37. Oldboy (2003 - Chan-wook Park) - Oft noted as the best of Park's three complimentary vengeance films which creates a world for a man incomparably frustrated after waking up in a cell, and kept there for 15 years for reasons unbeknownst to him. You can feel his unfettered pain as he find out why - and it's a doozy of a resolve.
38. The Orphanage (2007 - Juan Antonio Bayona) - What could have easily become a cheap attempt at shamelessly exploiting fear of 'evil' children, in actuality, turned into this beginner film-crew's masterpiece about a young boy gone missing from his parents in a long-abandoned orphanage in Spain. I promise you won't see this end coming.
39. The Queen (2007 - Steven Frears) - Helen Mirren's acting here is other-worldly, the film itself is a goldmine of luxuriant pleasure that you can't help but fall in love with immediately while watching what could feel like a fly-on-the-wall perspective of Queen Elizabeth II and newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair (the ebullient Michael Sheen), grappling with the aftermath of their homeland's most beloved mistress since Queen Elizabeth, Princess Di.
40. Requiem for a Dream (2000 - Darren Aronofsky) - If Pi is what put Aronofsky on the map, Requiem is what burned that map to ash. Be prepared to need three or four showers by the end, and remember why it is that we love Ellen Burstyn as much as we do in a monologue that would make the coldest of us shiver.
41. Sin Nombre (2009 - Cary Fukunaga) - The Levi's Jeans director shocked me with this. Refer back to my review of this in May - best foreign film I've seen this year.
42. Sunshine (2007 - Danny Boyle) - Once again Boyle shows us that he doesn't just Oscarbate with one of the most visually stunning FX-heavy films I've ever seen. The premise is undeniably implausible, but this film lovingly pays homage to other sci-fi films without deference and creates a world that we really want to root for.
43. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002 - Chan-wook Park) - The first installment in the vengeance trilogy from Park is a hard one to deny on any level. Come for the camera work, but stay for the narrative.
44. Hable Con Ella (Talk to Her) (2002 - Pedro Almodovar) - Almodovar does his best dialogue work to date with the film that won him his Oscar for best original screenplay. A man falls in love with a comatose woman only to find out that there are consequences to fetishist fulfillment.
45. There Will Be Blood (2007 - Paul Thomas Anderson) - Epic in scope and monumental in application. No, it's not a tampon, its P.T. Anderson's best movie yet, and he'll not likely encroach on these high lofts for a long time. Daniel-Day Lewis wins his second Oscar by playing a sociopathic, narcissist oil man who will stop at nothing to get to the top.
46. Traffic (2000 - Steven Soderbergh) - Being named on several accounts as the director of the decade began with one of the best of his career - no, I'm not talking about Ocean's 13 - Traffic traces an epoch of an addict who's father happens to be the United States Drug Czar. Michael Douglas reminds us that he's still a force to be reckoned with and Topher Grace shows some chops with a performance that changed the way we think about his entire career.
47. Transamerica (2005 - Duncan Tucker) - Felicity Huffman gets the role of a lifetime as a man recently having undergone transgendered surgery to become a woman, then finds out that she has a vagrant, tagalong son. At turns hilarious and heart-breaking this film will make anybody smile by the end.
48. The Triplets of Belleville (2003 - Sylvain Chomet) - Simply put, the best animated film I've ever seen. Beautifully crafted without any of the bells and whistles of computer 3G animation or hackneyed 3D to masquerade a tired or flat plot. This wondrous film tackles some pretty turgid themes (human trafficking, underground gambling, murder...) but somehow manages to keep it light, kind-spirited and laugh-out-loud funny.
49. Unfaithful (2002 - Adrian Lyne) - Diane Lane puts forth her best performance as a capriciously adulterous wife while the simmering brew of Richard Gere is unlike anything he's done this decade. The ending won't throw you for a loop, but the look of it will.
50. The Wrestler (2008 - Darren Aronofsky) - As mentioned previously as one of the most salient Oscar omissions of the year, The Wrestler takes a story of failed redemption and turns it into something transcendent in its own sense of irony. Mickey Rourke turns in the best performance of his career and, with little doubt, will rejuvenate his career toward higher ambitions than one circumstantial comeback.
Instead of going over the list with a fine-tooth comb (did I really put Unfaithful in there?) I think I'm just going to leave it at that. Aubs? Whatcha got?
Aubrey would like to note: "can you also say something about how i'm lazy for not putting the year/director next to mine, but that if the audience is too lazy to just imdb it for that info, that's their problem." Suck it, lazy bastards. And now, Aubs' intro and list.
Here is my list, not of the “best” films of the decade, but rather my favorites. I invite you to carefully ponder the difference, because had I written a “best of” list, it likely would have looked a little different, and may I add, a lot better. These are not the movies that I think are the objective crème-de-la-crème at the finest restaurant, but rather the subjective goodies in the junk food aisle at the gas station (although many fit into both categories simultaneously). These are the movies that grabbed me and smacked me around a little, made me pee with laughter or cry with misery… or pee with misery and cry with laughter, or at least not get distracted by all the other shiny objects within grasp. These are the ones I want to rewatch, over and over and over, and have and will. These are the ones that I couldn’t stop thinking about, or recommending, or IMDBing. I purposefully eschewed some of the more obvious 5 star “Best Of” movies that I do also love on a personal level, such as Pan’s Labyrinth, City of God or Eternal Sunshine, because they have already shown up on so many lists elsewhere. So without further adieu, my Fifty Favorites, in alphabetical order.
1. 25th Hour- As a general fan of Spike Lee, the combination of his vision of New York and hottie Ed Norton’s ability to dig into his roles frighteningly deep manifests as his latter-day masterpiece.
2. (500) Days of Summer: even though I hate Zooey Deschanel’s big gooey kewpie eyes, trendy indie cred and even the ridiculous spelling of her name, I loved this movie. She plays the perfect girl you love to hate, especially if you‘ve ever been strung along and dumped by the girl you hate to love. This one struck a nerve for me.
3. Bad Education: oh Almodovar, you never let me down. I’ll never hear “moon river” the same way again. Gael Garcia Bernal begins to show his range.
4. Ballast: this one pulled on my heart like the dead weight its title implies, although I’m still pondering the multitude of meanings behind its moniker to this day. Haunting and sparse and sad and beautiful, it is a portrait of an America both lost and found.
5. Best in Show: um, hello? Parker Posey and dogs. I don’t need to explain this one.
6. The Bridge: there is nothing as disturbing as the cognitive dissonance resulting in actually watching real people commit real suicide on film over and over and over again. The ethical issues that arise with just filming and producing this one in of themselves make it fascinating.
7. Control: although I’m not at all a fan of Joy Division (believe me, I’ve tried), the blacks and whites of Corbijn’s palette sucked me and spit me back out.
8. Coraline: a must-see in 3D that loses some of its magic in 2D but none of its moxie. I was consistently impressed from first frame to last with Selleck’s choices of how to adapt (and what to change) in Neil Gaiman’s literary fantasy. A mirror for every bored only-child, including me.
9. Day Night Day Night: this one just chilled me to the bone. I walked out of the theatre and didn’t quite know how to go back to real life. I guess I managed…eventually. Out of all the terrorism films I liked this decade (The War Within, Paradise Now, etc.) this was my favorite by leaps and bounds.
10. Devil’s Rejects, The: Oh Robbie, your gory nasty filth fest is just what the doctor ordered. Speaking of ordering, I should order the soundtrack on Amazon right now. Don’t show this one to grandma.
11. Dirty Love: remember when I said this wasn’t a “Best Movies” list? As they say, there’s no accounting for taste! This movie is horrible…ly funny. Never you mind that it made the Razzie’s 10 Worst list, it remains firmly here for me.
12. Fall, The: As soon as I saw this movie on dvd, I knew I needed to buy a blu-ray player. The title sequence alone deserves an award.
13. Far From Heaven: Julianne Moore in 50s garb and a closet-case hubby. Cook up a pot of fondue and go swimming in it.
14. Finding Nemo- just simple, sweet fun. Everyone has seen this, with good reason.
15. Frida- this imaginative portrait of one of my favorite artists is what made her one of my favorite portraiture artists to begin with. Perfectly cast, pitch perfect tone.
16. Ghost Dog- samurais and gangsters and mobsters oh my.
17. Death Proof: a car movie for girls, crisp and popping with Tarantino’s dialogue that we all have come to love… as only a mother could.
18. Grizzly Man: watching crazy people is fun! In general not a huge fan of Herzog, but this one got to me.
19. Host, The- best monster movie….ever? yup. Wrap me up in your warm tentacles and rock me to sleep.
20. I’ve Loved You So Long: Scott-Thomas’ performance and a solid series of directorial decisions made this linger in my brain long after. A quiet and nuanced force.
21. Inglourious Basterds: I honestly didn’t expect to like this at all, and was frankly scared by my own blood-lust during the final scene. And just when I thought the Nazi genre movie was (finally!) dead, Tarantino does it different, and better, and best. Suck it, Schindler.
22. Jesus Camp: it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me speak in tongues my priest wouldn’t approve of.
23. Jesus is Magic: (twas the decade for “Jesus” movies apparently, although Jesus’ Son didn’t make the list) The one liners from Sarah Silverman’s comedic genius are permanently tattooed in my brain. Although I could do without the song-and-dance numbers, the actual standup portion is the chronic, yo.
24. King of Kong, The: my vote for the decade’s absolute best-yet-little-known documentary. How did a movie about gaming nerds make me shed a little tear at the end? It just (sob, weep, snort) did.
25. Kissing Jessica Stein: my favorite gay movie, which I like even more when people insist that it isn’t “really” because she isn’t “really”. Adorable acting, adorable dialogue. A good staying-home-sick-in-pajamas movie.
26. Kontroll- kickass foray into the Budapest subway system, rife with murders, marauders, and bunny costumes.
27. Laramie Project, The: I’m not even going to qualify this one, except to say that I have never been able to get all the way though without crying, which I guess makes me kinda gay, but in the good way. Plus, I love me some Ricci.
28. Little Children: an inverted fairytale with two (well, three) yummy leads and that guy who narrates Frontline and NOVA as the Man Behind the Curtain here as well.
29. Man on Wire- I couldn’t let my favorite movie from 2008 be absent from this list. It sounds so cheesy to describe this film as evidence of the triumph of the human spirit, but it’s just too true. It’s movies like this that remind me to be grateful simply to be alive and able to witness such feats.
30. Manderlay: and in addition, its predecessor, Dogville. Too smart to even comprehend, but I want to.
31. Maria Full of Grace: after watching this movie, Elliot and I just looked at each other and whispered “whoooaaaaaaa”. It’s one of THOSE.
32. May- for anyone who ever felt like an outcast, this bizarre little fairytale is right up your alley.
33. Me and You and Everyone We Know- I fully admit to and own that this movie is really obnoxious, sort of in the same way Zooey Deschanel is obnoxious, but I almost (okay did) peed myself laughing at the “back and forth forever” part. It’s an annoying movie, but it has its charms.
34. Mean Girls- I would like to take this opportunity to publically offer my hand in marriage to Tina Fey.
35. Mulholland Drive- not explaining this one.
36. Orphanage, The- classified as “horror”, this consistently gorgeous film is so much more than its genre would imply.
37. Old Boy- the wackiest part of the “revenge” trilogy, not for the squeamish.
38. Quid Pro Quo- I said it last year and I’ll say it again…well, actually I won’t. Just go look at what I said last year.
39. Ring, The- even though now it’s fairly easy to make fun of now, this is the only scary movie that ever really scared me. Plus Naomi Watts always gets five stars in my book, on looks alone of course.
40. Save the Last Dance- shut up, I don’t want to hear it okay? Even though you won’t admit it, we both know the dance sequence at the end gave you chills.
41. Sea Inside, The- an impassioned plea for the right to end one’s own life with dignity in place of suffering, the cinematography in this one helps to transform an otherwise borderline boring topic into something worth fighting for.
42. Secretary- I’m sort of wishy washy on how well this one stands the test of time, but the feeling I got upon the first viewing was nothing short of nasty bewilderment. Twisted, depraved, and Maggie Gyllenhall looking about twelve years old.
43. Sita Sings the Blues- you’ve never seen anything like this. I can’t even give it a proper introduction. Find, watch, love. Repeat.
44. Spirited Away- I went back and forth over whether or not to include this, since it is on sooo many Best Of lists, but considering it is the only anime movie I can even stand (let alone really like), I decided to keep it.
45. Swimming Pool- a brain twister requiring multiple viewings, a shining example of the Froggie “Huh?” ending.
46. Synechdoche, New York- loved it because it made me feel intellectually superior, and if you didn’t love it, you are automatically inferior. So there.
47. Talk to Her- no, I’m serious, call her up, and have a little chat. My first introduction to Almodovar holds a special place in my heart.
48. Unfaithful- half trashy porny romp in which Diane Lane has never looked hotter, half serious pensive meditation on the bonds of marriage, in which Richard Gere has never looked mopier.
49. Volver-my mouth waters just thinking about Penelope Cruz’s……cooking. Damn, Pedro, this decade sure was good to you!
50. Waking Life- aside from some really cool rotoscope animation and an interesting (if long winded) introduction into lucid dreaming, the real reason I like this one is the same as #46.
