My Third Annual Holiday Wishlist

Dear Hollywood,

This year for Christmas, I want:

For Alfonso Cuaron's "Gravity" to find a release date quickly, and for a much shorter gap between this film and Cuaron's next one. I wasn't too convinced by that big screed that David Denby wrote a few months ago about Hollywood destroying the movies, but I heartily agree on at least one point, which is that some of our best directors are spending far too much time courting financiers and dealing with studio politics, and not enough time actually making their movies. A seven year gap between "Children of Men" and "Gravity" is just unacceptable.

For "Breaking Bad" to stick its landing. I never thought I'd be looking forward to a television show more than any upcoming film, but it's happened. The last eight episodes of "Breaking Bad" are scheduled to air over next summer, and I'm going to be glued to my television/and or computer screen for them. Other returning shows I'm anticipating include the first half of the "Storm of Swords" being adapted for "A Game of Thrones," and the penultimate season of "Mad Men." Oh, and of course the return of "Community" too.

For Hulu to fix the browsing functions in their Criterion section. The navigation is practically unusable since their last upgrade about three months ago, and since I use Hulu Plus primarily for the Criterions, I see no point in subscribing to their service again until it's fixed. This has thrown off my entire schedule of rotating between the various streaming and DVD-by-mail services too, so maybe it's time to try something else for a while. It's been a few years since I've used Greencine, or I could cash in some coupons and throw Blockbuster a bone.

For the continuing health of MoviePass and Netflix, a pair of movie-related services that I've heard lots of skepticism about, but could change the way we consume our media. Netflix will be taking the plunge with original content starting in February. MoviePass, the subscription movie theater plan, is only in the early stages of full-scale rollout, and still has to prove it can make money. I've held back from trying out MoviePass so far because the commitment is a little too big for my tastes - the subscription period is an entire year - but if it does well, we'll see.

For movie trailers to get more creative, following the lead of films like "Prometheus." Too many big movies are following the same formula of showing too much, and trailers have gone from being something enjoyable to something to avoid at all costs. "Prometheus" had a pretty spoiler-heavy trailer itself, but it also released a few shorts that were composed entirely of new footage created especially for the marketing campaign. You'd think that with so much more emphasis being placed on marketing campaigns we would see a little more creativity at work.

For a little more breathing room in our franchises. I'm pretty well resigned to the supremacy of the franchise in mainstream studio films at the moment, but I hate the latest trend of seeing talented directors bow out of repeat performances because the studios demand that new sequels be churned out so quickly. Last year we saw Rupert Wyatt leave the "Planet of the Apes" series and Matthew Vaughn quit "X-men" simply because they were unwilling to commit to making sequels by the dates that the studio had already staked out for them.

For more variety in iTunes and Amazon offerings. I've been renting more recent films online from the iTunes and Amazon pay-per-view services lately, especially when I can't find certain titles anywhere else, but I'm not happy about their selection. They're good about most of the limited releases, but there are far too few foreign language films, documentaries, and festival titles that I'd be happiest to give a revenue boost to. These are the films that could benefit the most from digital distribution, and I know the demand is there.

For HBO to figure out some way of going a la carte. Frankly, I'm tired of mooching off of friends when I want to watch "Game of Thrones" and I hope that HBO and the other premium channels can work out some way of offering their programming outside of the rigid, and probably doomed, tiered cable pricing system that has a stranglehold on it now. I'm planning to dive into "The Wire" next year, and I probably would have seen it a lot sooner if HBO's programming were more accessible. Turning HBO Go into a separate streaming service would be my vote right now.

For "Doctor Who" to have a smooth transition to the new Companion played by Jenna-Louise Coleman. I'm rooting for you kid!

For someone to stop the madness with this "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie before my mother starts asking embarrassing questions.

And for Peter Jackson to not screw up "The Hobbit."

Happy holidays!
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