#38: Bottle Shock

France's position as the world's top wine producer was unchallenged until 1976, when the Montelena Winery put California wines permanently on the map. Director Randall Miller's film chronicles the heady early days of Napa Valley's rocket to success. Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, Eliza Dushku, Bill Pullman and Freddy Rodriguez star in this tale of dreamers who dared to challenge the establishment.

Though I wanted to love this film, all I can muster is appreciation that I read the book, and disappointment that the film didn't fully respect it. Just go read the book (Judgment of Paris): it's more educational and entertaining.

#37: The Order of Myths

Dating back to the 1700s, Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras celebration is the oldest in the country -- and it's still going strong today. With the annual event as its focus, this documentary explores the city, its mystical societies and race relations. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic revelers descend upon downtown Mobile each year to take part in a variety of colorful parades, balls and festivities. Margaret Brown's work was nominated for Best Documentary for the Independent Spirit Awards.

I've really never been to the south, other than some very short work trips. But I am interested in learning more about the details of life in these old Southern cities. The film's opening tells us that Mobile had the country's first Mardi Gras, 15 years before New Orleans was founded as a city.

It's a city with roots, and plenty of issues. Not more than a few minutes in, it's clear that drawing a picture of White Mobile and Black Mobile is one of the themes here. And the deep, deep family histories associated with the history of Mobile. "My people were on her people's ship," one of the Mardi Gras queens tells us, referring to the white Mardi Gras committee's queen, whose family brought the last slave ship into the U.S., in Mobile. It's more than a little uncomfortable watching the lead-up to the festivities, with no prior understanding of this culture. Two parallel systems in place, but not equal by any stretch. Men in hoods and masks, girls dressed up like dolls. Uneasy detente.

#36: Slumdog Milionaire

BRILLIANT.

#35: 2 Days in Paris (2007)

34: Kinamand

In this poignant Danish tale, hapless plumber Keld (Bjarne Henriksen) finds his world crumbling when his wife of 25 years (Charlotte Fich) walks out on him. The dejected Keld soon falls into a routine of eating at the neighborhood Chinese grill, where he befriends the owner -- who offers Keld a sizable sum to wed the restaurateur's sister (Vivian Wu) in a marriage of convenience. Will love bloom despite the language barrier and clash of cultures?

Sweet.

#33: Please Vote for Me

Though China's government is Communist, the third grade election for the prestigious position of Class Monitor at the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan is being decided by a democratic vote. In this enlightening documentary, filmmaker Weijun Chen captures all the action as the three candidates -- two boys and a girl -- go all out to win: performing in a talent show, debating each other and delivering speeches to their classmates.

WOW. This is a puppet show in so many ways, but it's still compelling. I don't believe children are pure as puppies, but they are highly suggestible -- and the combination of parental suggestion and pressure to excel, on the one hand, and what looks like sheer manipulation of elementary school cliques (by teachers, parents, filmmaker?), makes it difficult to tell what's really going on. What the kids say is certainly a reflection on their values -- the values of their parents. And it's interesting to listen in on that.

#32: Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)

In sports, winning is everything, and the pressure to succeed can drive some athletes to start taking banned substances. Filmmaker Chris Bell points the camera at his brothers and himself, all users of steroids. By exploring the reasons behind and effects of steroid use within his family, Bell calls into question the win-at-all-cost attitude so prevalent within American society.

Interesting, really really interesting. Surprising. Though I shouldn't be surprised. Demonize the drug, make lots of after-school specials about it, ban the use of enhancements in professional sports -- all to keep the game smaller (to some degree). You can get strong without steroids; you just can't be the strongest, the biggest.

The aesthetic doesn't appeal to me, nor does the need to be bigger/stronger/faster; but clearly it appeals to a lot of other people. It seems like the behavior -- getting that big -- is what society objects to (at least at some level), and yet it's the drug that we focus on, just the drug. We want the biggest/strongest/fastest, but we want to make it fair, or not about who has the most money (?) Or maybe most guys don't really want to see guys who look like that playing our sports -- seeing their physique moves the upper bar, making us all feel further away from "best". People who don't take the drug, don't have the pressure chamber at home, they feel like they've been cheated, that there's a way around the rules that they didn't have access to. But it seems like everyone's looking to get to the best in pro sports, everyone's trying to get as close to the line as they can without having it ruled as cheating. We want it, but we say we don't -- hey, it really is the all-American drug! Let's put out a million messages and images in advertisements and other entertainment media that communicate just how great it is to be big and cut and unrealistically perfect -- but then demonize the supplements, the steroids, or else pathologize the body dysmorphia, the anorexia and bulimia. The comment about ours being the only country where direct advertisement to the public is allowed is a solid hit. We live in a terribly screwed-up culture.