Over on Movie City News, LexG had a thought-provoking post under BYOB last Friday on which of the highly buzzed films of this excellent movie year will actually be remembered down the road. LexG posits that the best test of whether a film will stand the test of time among the film crowd is "whether it's directed by a world-class, etched-in-stone AUTEUR." Much interesting debate ensues in the comments: 1983 -- which do you remember more fondly? The Dresser or Vacation? Which is more revered, Fight Club or Green Mile? LexG argues that There Will Be Blood, Eastern Promises and Sweeney Todd are more likely to be remembered down the road than, say, Michael Clayton.

The discussion that follows is pretty interesting. Which are regarded to be the "best" years for movies (1939, 1975, 1983, 1997?) and which are the worst (the '80s in general?) Of course, it partly depends on what question you're really asking -- are the years and decades being evaluated by which films critics still regard as the best, or the ones they're most likely to pop into their DVD player again now?

I don't, as a general rule, rewatch movies a whole lot. Trying to stay on top of the current fare requires watching a lot of films as it is, especially staying on top of the indies, docs, and obscure foreigns; I just don't have time to rewatch films much. When I look back the movies that really made an impression at defining points of my own life, the ones that stand out are generally there for reasons of emotional attachment that may have nothing to do with how I would review the films critically.

ET, first and foremost, followed by Star Wars, Alien, The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Grease, Ghostbusters, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Dr. Strangelove, Terms of Endearment, Good Will Hunting -- these are some of the movies that I saw in theaters when they first came out to which I have a strong enough emotional attachment that I'll re-watch them. And course there's a plethora of older films that I had the pleasure of discovering for myself at various key points in my life, all of which, to one degree or another, influenced me growing into a film dork person who loves movies.

Which year (or decade) do you think had the best movies? And what are some of your personal faves?

It is hard enough being a nerdy kid searching for love. It is doubly hard to be that kid when you know love sucks and rarely works out. I remember being a teen conflicted by the desire for a date and the constant reminder that divorce is the best-case scenario for what that date will lead to. Now it seems Plum Pictures is making the story of my life, in the indie teen comedy Bart Got a Room. According to Variety, the film will star Steven Kaplan as a nerdy kid living with his parents (William H. Macy and Cheryl Hines) in a retirement community in Hollywood, Florida. At the moment in his life when he's seeking love, or at least a prom date, his parents are going through a divorce. Playing his best friend -- and let me guess also his eventual love interest -- is Alia Shawkat, who is best known as "Maeby" from the best television show ever, Arrested Development. The film is the feature debut of writer-director Brian Hecker and it will be produced by Grace is Gone's Celine Rattray, Galt Niederhoffer and Daniela Taplin Lundberg.

I have to point out -- because my mom reads Cinematical -- that my own parents divorced much, much earlier than my teen years, and I wasn't actually completely traumatized nor did the divorce ruin my ability to find love. So, Bart Got a Room will not parallel my life, though I do think I could relate to it anyway. And I'm sure I won't be alone there. The high school years are probably the most formative time in our lives regarding love and relationships, and certainly we look around us, to our parents, friends and relatives for guidance in how to figure it all out. Certainly a failing marriage in the home could have a negative impact on the experience, and I'm sure that's what Hecker is focusing on here. It kinda reminds me of Sixteen Candles, actually, in that it probably deals with a selfish lack of attention on the parents' part. Of course, with great talents like Macy and Hines at the reigns of Bart's family, we'll hopefully see more concentration on the parents in this than in that.

There aren't too many movies that necessitate sequels. Unless a movie is part of a pre-proposed series or is an adaptation of a series of books, it should probably be able to stand alone. But a lot of sequels come from movies that are perfect by themselves -- sometimes the sequels compliment nicely; sometimes they are easily ignored; occasionally they actually take away from the previously regarded original.

It isn't often that a movie screams out for a sequel, but I think I've come up with seven that at least whisper a request for one. Two actually have source sequels that they would be adapted from. One has a lot of history to mine material from. Three of them have been discussed at length at different points in time by makers of the original(s). The problem is that none of these sequels is likely to ever grace your DVD player let alone your local theater. For whatever reason, they simply have too much against them in the minds of studio execs. For now, though, we can dream.

1. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (sequel to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Even with the incredible cast and the surprisingly faithful-enough script, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was not the epic that I was hoping for. It also wasn't the blockbuster that Disney was hoping for. The filmmakers, Garth Jennings and Nick Goldsmith (aka Hammer and Tongs) and the necessary actors had signed on for the sequel, to be adapted from Adam's follow-up, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but it appears to be dead in the water. Despite my few reservations with the first film, I would love to see the sequel, as well as the rest of the series (they could end before The Salmon of Doubt, I guess). I remember being bored with some of the prehistoric Earth sequences in Restaurant, but I think they'd make for great cinema. In any event, I think Martin Freeman and Mos Def were a great duo in the original, and they alone should have been propelled to stardom following its release. Maybe they can appear in something else together.

If you grew up in the 80's then the chances are pretty good that you've seen a lot of John Hughes movies. Hughes' schedule was packed back then when he directed his teen masterpieces Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes still works as a writer, but hasn't directed a film since 1991 (Curly Sue).

Don't You Forget About Me, a new documentary by Matt Austin, interviews fans of the films and people who worked with the now somewhat reclusive director on those famous angst-filled flicks. Austin has interviews with Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Kelly LeBrock, and even Kevin Smith, whose love of Hughes is pretty well documented. Hughes hasn't given an interview since the 80's, but Austin is still trying to get one with him before finishing the film; it's still up in the air. Austin has compiled a tape to send to Hughes in an attempt to convince him to take part, and seems confident: "Right now, I'm very hopeful that we're going to get him. My genuine feeling is we'll get a call."

Maybe when it comes down to it, since I'm not a teen anymore, I don't get most teen movies lately. Don't You Forget About Me credits Hughes with creating some of the most realistic portrayals of how teens really behave. I don't know if that's true, but I do know he managed to make teen movies that had more to offer than sex with baked goods.

Remember when Anthony Michael Hall was the adorably dorky, scrawny little kid who wanted Samantha's panties? And the guy who wanted to kill himself with a flare gun because he failed shop? Well, the Anthony Michael Hall of the 21st century would kick that loser's ass! As we saw for the first time when he bullied poor Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands, Hall is now a freakishly large creature who also happens to star in USA's The Dead Zone, a show that's made him a star (at least among people who watch USA) once again.

The call of the silver screen remains strong, however, and Hall has started telling anyone who will listen about Life and Death in Las Vegas, a movie he wrote and is currently casting, with the goal of getting it in front of the camera by the end of the year. Apart from the fact that Hall is apparently trying to get Paris Hilton to play a role, the movie actually sounds sort of funny -- it's about "a bunch of people chasing an inheritance that they're all screwed out of by Wayne Newton." I mean, anything with Wayne Newton is comedy gold. Right?

• Doogal - A saccharine, cheap-looking CGI import from Britain about a lazy, cowardly, sugar-addicted pooch (with a mullet cut) who must find a way to save the world from an icy death is not the follow-up to Hoodwinked that Disney escapees Bob and Harvey Weinstein hoped for...or we asked for. At least they've got the swell Over The Hedge in theaters this week. Formerly titled The Magic Roundabout and re-dubbed (Doogal, that is. Not Over The Hedge.)

• Duma - With most arthouse films rated "R", it is always a pleasure when one comes along that culture mavens can take their kids to, and The Black Stallion director Carroll Ballard's latest nature trek -- a visually lovely adventure -- certainly does fit that bill. It is about a 12-year-old South African boy (Alexander Michaletos) who must return his pet cheetah to the wild, encountering and overcoming a number of obstacles along the way, the biggest one being our initial reluctance to accept its premise.
 

Seeing as Cinematical celebrated its very first birthday recently, I couldn't help but jump at the chance to incorporate the whole what-to-do into this week's Trailer Park. Normally, birthdays are a time for celebration. In Cinematical's case, we're celebrating the fact that, not only have we survived one whole year on the internet, but we've also managed to become the best source of movie anything one can find for, um, free. And I'm not just saying that because I write for them. Seriously, I'm not. What are you staring at? Don't you believe me?

However, birthdays also mean we're getting older. And getting older means we're that much closer to throwing in the towel. So, in order to hide the fact that we're so afraid of the future, we throw parties, sing songs, buy cards, bake cakes, light candles and make wishes. We create rules: In order for your birthday wish to come true, you must blow out all of the candles in one breath and not tell anyone else what you wished for. We want to feel like, no matter how old we are, we're still very capable of following our dreams. And that's a good thing.

In some way, shape or form, the following movies all have to do with birthdays. Whether we're on a quest for love, a journey to find ourselves or a mission to help someone else, these films proved life is about experience and not some crummy Hallmark card. Oh joy, Cinematical is getting older on this week's Trailer Park...