The Birthday Boy

I skimmed through a few birthday memories in this post, and some have been more memorable than others - my 30th was my all-time best, for sure, what with all the members of both my families plus childhood friends and my then-girlfriend together in the same room, most of them for the first time in 29 years, culminating with a short film recap of my life so far and everybody having chipped in for my trip to Cuba.

I've had some with events I regret - like when I was 3 or 4, coming home to a surprise party, pretending to be offended by it, and going as far as to refuse chocolate cake in protest of half my family being there. I still feel like a dick for it, and I felt like one even at the time (kids have consciences, I guess).

Then there's some like tonight: quiet, laid-back, just a few friends in a restaurant. Six people - enough to carry out and follow two conversations at once and have everyone involved, not too much to lose track of certain people deserving of your attention but too far to get it.

I'll remember my mid-thirties' anniversary because it was perfect: not overblown, over-hyped or out-of-proportion, no disrespect, no negativity, no one to mess it all up. Just good, old, middle-of-the-road, laid back fun.

Happy Birthday, Tim Burton

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that last week (August 25th) was Tim Burton's birthday; he turned 53.

His detractors will say he's over-rated, but so what? These five films are arguably some of the best films made in their respective release years, and other really good ones like Sleepy Hollow didn't even make the cut.

And say what you will about his remake of Planet Of The Apes (I liked it), and I'm sure most would agree his Alice In Wonderland sucked - but even his, uh, less than stellar films at least look amazing.

He's like a gateway to David Lynch for teenagers.

Here's his first well-known short, Vincent: