Because apparently I can only do lists anymore!
I realized after putting together my 'best movies of the decade so far' list that I left out of consideration a couple of truly stellar scary flicks, which chastened me because I'm always the one saying that the intelligentsia should finally start recognizing and awarding those outside genres like sci-fi and horror. If applicable I will rectify this on the eve of 2020 - pending we're all still here, of course. ;) (I'm not a doomsday prepper, I just don't know what's wrong with this world anymore. Sigh) In the meantime, I'll put an asterisk next to the names of movies that should have been in the running for last year's list.
I think that the 2010s have been an incredible time for scary movies because they're finally being done right. We're past the slasher insanity of the 70s, the teen nonsense of the 80s, and the self-awareness of the 90s and 00s. Finally, filmmakers are making good on the truth that the only thing to fear is fear itself - it's what you don't know, what you can't see, that is the scariest, because the mind will fill in the blanks with whatever scares you the most. In this way, the 'scare' factor impacts a much larger portion of the audience than is possible with gushing blood and feral screaming (which, shocker, isn't scary!).
So, herewith, my list of movies to watch during the witching season that should leave you good and scared by the time Halloween night gets here. Enjoy...IF YOU DARE. No, just enjoy.
(in no particular order)
Paranormal Activity (2007) The first movie to dare to capitalize on the found-footage premise of Blair Witch Project almost a decade before, PA scared THE SHIT out of me. It is only one of three movies that have ever kept me awake at night after seeing it (the other two being Signs and Event Horizon). It's basically 100% 'things that go bump in the night' and that is really all I ask for. Of the sequels, only part three reaches the level of the first. Absolutely do not watch this alone with the lights out. You will die.
Insidious Chapter 2* (2013) While the first Insidious was great, the sequel blew my mind, for several reasons. First, I think the concept of The Further is awesome - a dead zone parallel to ours, all dark empty houses and bad memories and regret (the motionless people seen in the third Insidious were a great touch, for an otherwise subpar installment). Second, the integration of the events from the first movie, with the intruder, is phenomenal. If the screenwriter did not write the first movie with any inkling of a second in mind, he's a genius. Third, I thoroughly enjoy how Chapter 2 taps into the contemporary ghost hunting craze, as the characters investigate an abandoned hospital (classic!) and an essentially haunted house. Fourth, the backstory on the Old Woman is both creepy as hell and heartbreaking. If you twisted my arm, I'd have to say this is my favorite on the list.
What We Do in the Shadows (2014) If you've never seen Flight of the Conchords then you will be unprepared for the majesty that is Jemaine Clement. He and fellow kiwi Taika Waititi produced this comedic gem (Watiti, fun fact, is currently directing the third Thor - whaaa?!). The movie is a mockumentary about four vampires living in a huge, rundown house in modern-day New Zealand, and their struggles to stay relevant yet still undiscovered. It's so second-by-second hilarious that at one point I was laughing so hard I couldn't hear what else they were saying and I thought, oh well, there'll be something else ridiculous along in a moment. No worries! Of course this movie isn't scary and isn't meant to be, but it will make your Halloween for sure.
10.16.2016
12.31.2015
Best movies of the decade (so far).
I'm not even sure if luxuries like blogs will be afforded us in 2020 with the way this world is going, so I might as well get this in. Besides, there have been a lot of great movies in the last six years and it would be a bear to whittle out a top ten list after four more years. One interesting thing to note is how many of these movies feature the same actors. I don't know if that's good or bad.
Also, just to get this out of the way now, I make no apologies for including three (3) Christopher Nolan movies on this list. Let's begin.
1. Her (2013)
(Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, directed by Spike Jonze)
In the near future, Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) is a greeting card composer by day and sad divorcee by night. When a tech company unveils a new operating system featuring evolving artificial intelligence, he purchases one and becomes fast friends with "Samantha" (Johansson). They become inseparable as their relationship deepens amidst a futuristic backdrop where a romantic relationship with a computer can be deemed simply "cool," simply one more step for humankind, simply one more way to connect when human involvement is eternally complicated and disappointing. Theodore and Samantha fall in love in scenes featuring the most divine cinematography I think I've ever seen, through dialogue that is perfectly shaped by director/screenwriter Jonze, brought to life by Johannson's beautifully capable voice acting and a steady, measured performance by Phoenix that pays off incredibly when his world is finally rocked.
Samantha's psychological and emotional evolution is so incredibly fascinating to watch; when she reveals that she can have thousands of simultaneous conversations with other people and other OSes at the complexity she experiences with Theodore, you're forced to finally begin contemplating the larger world in which the OSes are likely far more intelligent than their creators anticipated. Her is an endlessly gorgeous, heartbreaking sci-fi love story unlike anything I've ever seen and I have no doubt that when this decade draws to a close it will still sit at my number one.
2. Sarah's Key (2010)
(Kristen Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner)
Sarah Starzynski (Mayance) and her parents are victims of the Vel d'Hiv roundup in 1942; when the police arrive at their apartment, Sarah locks her little brother Michel in a closet so that he may avoid detection. Unfortunately, Sarah and her mother are taken, and Sarah hangs on to the closet key and what becomes a singular resilience and obsession to return to the apartment in time enough to save her brother. Concurrently we have the storyline of modern-day Julia Dormond (Thomas), an American journalist living in Paris working on a story about the Vel d'Hiv roundup, during which she finds little Sarah's labor camp photograph.
It is hard for me to say more without giving spoilers, so you must see it for yourself. Mayance is fabulous, and tackles the complete range of emotions required of her with brilliance. The cinematography from the scenes in 1942 is breathtaking at times, and I think the director did an amazing job pacing and crafting scenes to have utmost emotional impact. It can be too easy to assume that any film dealing with the Holocaust must be by definition well-crafted and heart-rending, and having seen my fair share, I know this is not the case. Sarah's Key packs an indelible punch on its own merits, and is a film that, if you're lucky, will haunt you for a long time. (Seen at the 2011 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival)
3. Inception (2010)
(Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, directed by Christopher Nolan)
After being accused of murdering his wife (Cotillard), Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) flees to France where he continues to work with a team as an extractor, entering the dreams of unsuspecting sleepers to steal information and secrets as corporate espionage. He is offered the chance to go home, and see his children again, by Saito, a Japanese magnate who in return needs the opposite of extraction: he needs the son of a rival to decide to take his father's company in a different direction; he has to believe it is his own idea; he has to be incepted. And to plant an idea means the team has to go further down the rabbit hole than any of them have ever been.
While the plot is complex and nearly flawless, the cast is dynamic and the overall effect is that of breathlessness, what I love most about Inception is how the elegant statements on dreaming touch on the metaphysical aspects of life that we struggle with even when we're convinced we already have the answers. Life being a dream that feels as real as dreams do while we're sleeping; recurring dreams being akin to life events that keep repeating, for good and ill; what deja vu really is; that in order to wake up from this madness you have to die. All of these gems are casually dropped throughout the script and add another exciting layer to an already intense and mind-opening experience.
Also, just to get this out of the way now, I make no apologies for including three (3) Christopher Nolan movies on this list. Let's begin.
1. Her (2013)
(Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, directed by Spike Jonze)
In the near future, Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) is a greeting card composer by day and sad divorcee by night. When a tech company unveils a new operating system featuring evolving artificial intelligence, he purchases one and becomes fast friends with "Samantha" (Johansson). They become inseparable as their relationship deepens amidst a futuristic backdrop where a romantic relationship with a computer can be deemed simply "cool," simply one more step for humankind, simply one more way to connect when human involvement is eternally complicated and disappointing. Theodore and Samantha fall in love in scenes featuring the most divine cinematography I think I've ever seen, through dialogue that is perfectly shaped by director/screenwriter Jonze, brought to life by Johannson's beautifully capable voice acting and a steady, measured performance by Phoenix that pays off incredibly when his world is finally rocked.
Samantha's psychological and emotional evolution is so incredibly fascinating to watch; when she reveals that she can have thousands of simultaneous conversations with other people and other OSes at the complexity she experiences with Theodore, you're forced to finally begin contemplating the larger world in which the OSes are likely far more intelligent than their creators anticipated. Her is an endlessly gorgeous, heartbreaking sci-fi love story unlike anything I've ever seen and I have no doubt that when this decade draws to a close it will still sit at my number one.
2. Sarah's Key (2010)
(Kristen Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner)
Sarah Starzynski (Mayance) and her parents are victims of the Vel d'Hiv roundup in 1942; when the police arrive at their apartment, Sarah locks her little brother Michel in a closet so that he may avoid detection. Unfortunately, Sarah and her mother are taken, and Sarah hangs on to the closet key and what becomes a singular resilience and obsession to return to the apartment in time enough to save her brother. Concurrently we have the storyline of modern-day Julia Dormond (Thomas), an American journalist living in Paris working on a story about the Vel d'Hiv roundup, during which she finds little Sarah's labor camp photograph.
It is hard for me to say more without giving spoilers, so you must see it for yourself. Mayance is fabulous, and tackles the complete range of emotions required of her with brilliance. The cinematography from the scenes in 1942 is breathtaking at times, and I think the director did an amazing job pacing and crafting scenes to have utmost emotional impact. It can be too easy to assume that any film dealing with the Holocaust must be by definition well-crafted and heart-rending, and having seen my fair share, I know this is not the case. Sarah's Key packs an indelible punch on its own merits, and is a film that, if you're lucky, will haunt you for a long time. (Seen at the 2011 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival)
3. Inception (2010)
(Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, directed by Christopher Nolan)
After being accused of murdering his wife (Cotillard), Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) flees to France where he continues to work with a team as an extractor, entering the dreams of unsuspecting sleepers to steal information and secrets as corporate espionage. He is offered the chance to go home, and see his children again, by Saito, a Japanese magnate who in return needs the opposite of extraction: he needs the son of a rival to decide to take his father's company in a different direction; he has to believe it is his own idea; he has to be incepted. And to plant an idea means the team has to go further down the rabbit hole than any of them have ever been.
While the plot is complex and nearly flawless, the cast is dynamic and the overall effect is that of breathlessness, what I love most about Inception is how the elegant statements on dreaming touch on the metaphysical aspects of life that we struggle with even when we're convinced we already have the answers. Life being a dream that feels as real as dreams do while we're sleeping; recurring dreams being akin to life events that keep repeating, for good and ill; what deja vu really is; that in order to wake up from this madness you have to die. All of these gems are casually dropped throughout the script and add another exciting layer to an already intense and mind-opening experience.
12.12.2015
The year of music.
Every now and then a bunch of my favorite artists will come out with new albums all within the same calendar year, which is obviously awesome, so I've cobbled together a rundown of each from this richly musical 2015. Keeping my 'analysis' to one paragraph apiece is almost heartbreaking, but I must.
Kelly Clarkson, Piece by Piece
Release date: March 3
Though her last album, Stronger, won her her second Best Pop Album Grammy award, I feel this is the, er, stronger album - more variety, more vivid production, even if she doesn't break any molds. It's shocking but her American Idol contract had her locked in for SEVEN albums, and with this release she is finally free. Seriously, OMG. Here's hoping with her next one she can really try something new. Side note: Piece by Piece was just nominated for Best Pop Album for 2016.
Best song: "Good Goes the Bye"
Her best album: Piece by Piece
Mumford and Sons, Wilder Mind
Release date: May 4
Their latest release is a sad study in the bullshit way nobody is ever happy with anything. If M&S had put out another acoustic album everyone would have allegedly been bored, but they did a 180 and went 'electric' and everybody was all omg, whaaat, I don't get it, who do they think they are, Coldplay, omgaaah... Objectively Wilder Mind is a perfectly solid rock album that is very charming and would have been the darling of worthless overpaid music critics everywhere had this been their debut. As with some of the best things, the more you spend time with this album, the more you understand it, and the more brilliant it becomes.
Best song: "Tompkins Square Park"
Their best album: Babel
Florence + and the Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Release date: June 1
See here.
Best song: "Long and Lost"
Their best album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Lana del Ray, Honeymoon
Release date: September 18
A gentle recap: Born to Die was a huge breath of fresh air; Paradise is stunningly beautiful and dark. We'll forgive her Ultraviolence since apparently Dan Auerbach knows hypnosis. Honeymoon is a true return to form - yes, she seems to be singing even slower, yes, somehow she's even more tortured - but that's why we listen. The first four songs come off a bit disappointing at first, because an entire album along their lines would sink like a stone, but everything picks up with "High By the Beach" and doesn't let up till we've floated past "Swan Song." LDR has a funny way of setting up a song's core melody, and then hitting the bridge and spinning a whole new soundscape; the effect is just subtle enough to make you lose yourself for a moment.
Best song: "Blackest Day"
Her best album: Born to Die
Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
Release date: October 23
Carrie can do no wrong, let's just get that out of the way. But her last album, Blown Away, was a bit underwhelming. She has new producers for Storyteller and it definitely shows - she's got some blues, some 80s, and - some R&B, which I think is fantastic. It shows in her inflections in the song "Heartbeat" and the structure of the chorus of "Clock Don't Stop." While rap-country may never take off (sad! just kidding), I'm a huge fan of musical acculteration and think there's so much potential in marrying country and R&B, and frankly it should be the direction of Kelly Clarkson's next album. Just sayin'. The only negative I have for this album is it's missing a really beautiful ballad in the vein of "Someday When I Stop Loving You" and "Wine After Whiskey." I was so looking forward to a new one.
Best song: "Clock Don't Stop"
Her best album: Play On
Ellie Goulding, Delirium
Release date: November 6
Ho-kay. Halcyon is my favorite album of the decade. She killed me and raised me from the dead with that one. I needed more of that. And...she went in a completely different direction and I KNOW, I just defended Mumford & Sons, but come on. Like 98 dance tracks, seriously. Beneficent critics have tried to point out 'ballads' - that's a joke, there ain't one damn slow song. Anyway, there are a couple of quality tracks but I'm so let down with this...plus, ok, she's in a relationship, fine, whatever, but of course that means she has lost the ability to write some real-ass lyrics. Amid the ridiculously overproduced beats scientifically designed to induce people to dance in da club, there's no way she could fit in a line like 'I think of dying all the time.' Tsk, tsk!!
Best song: "Army"
Her best album: Halcyon
Adele, 25
Release date: November 20
So there's this British singer who puts out some good songs, don't know if you've heard of her, but I'm sure one day she'll get her due. Anyway. I think 25 is legitimately better than 21 - 21 had some highest highs ("Hiding My Heart Away") but also several tracks I would regularly skip. The only track on 25 I find myself zoning out on is "River Lea." She's keeping up with the times by having fresh backing beats, and yes, her voice sounds stronger; let me give you a little tip. A person's voice doesn't fully mature until their early 30s. So...expect her voice to continue to get stronger. Be 'in the know' at your next party. Side note: I don't get the high praise for the Smeezingtons' production of the track "All I Ask." How hard is it to produce a vocal over a piano. Geez, people.
Best song: "Water Under the Bridge"
Her best album: 25
Well that was fun. Maybe next year my dudes can come out with new stuff? Ray LaMontagne, Kings of Leon, Gavin deGraw, Jonny Lang, Casey James? Etc. etc.? Please and thank you. :)
Kelly Clarkson, Piece by Piece
Release date: March 3
Though her last album, Stronger, won her her second Best Pop Album Grammy award, I feel this is the, er, stronger album - more variety, more vivid production, even if she doesn't break any molds. It's shocking but her American Idol contract had her locked in for SEVEN albums, and with this release she is finally free. Seriously, OMG. Here's hoping with her next one she can really try something new. Side note: Piece by Piece was just nominated for Best Pop Album for 2016.
Best song: "Good Goes the Bye"
Her best album: Piece by Piece
Mumford and Sons, Wilder Mind
Release date: May 4
Their latest release is a sad study in the bullshit way nobody is ever happy with anything. If M&S had put out another acoustic album everyone would have allegedly been bored, but they did a 180 and went 'electric' and everybody was all omg, whaaat, I don't get it, who do they think they are, Coldplay, omgaaah... Objectively Wilder Mind is a perfectly solid rock album that is very charming and would have been the darling of worthless overpaid music critics everywhere had this been their debut. As with some of the best things, the more you spend time with this album, the more you understand it, and the more brilliant it becomes.
Best song: "Tompkins Square Park"
Their best album: Babel
Florence + and the Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Release date: June 1
See here.
Best song: "Long and Lost"
Their best album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
Lana del Ray, Honeymoon
Release date: September 18
A gentle recap: Born to Die was a huge breath of fresh air; Paradise is stunningly beautiful and dark. We'll forgive her Ultraviolence since apparently Dan Auerbach knows hypnosis. Honeymoon is a true return to form - yes, she seems to be singing even slower, yes, somehow she's even more tortured - but that's why we listen. The first four songs come off a bit disappointing at first, because an entire album along their lines would sink like a stone, but everything picks up with "High By the Beach" and doesn't let up till we've floated past "Swan Song." LDR has a funny way of setting up a song's core melody, and then hitting the bridge and spinning a whole new soundscape; the effect is just subtle enough to make you lose yourself for a moment.
Best song: "Blackest Day"
Her best album: Born to Die
Carrie Underwood, Storyteller
Release date: October 23
Carrie can do no wrong, let's just get that out of the way. But her last album, Blown Away, was a bit underwhelming. She has new producers for Storyteller and it definitely shows - she's got some blues, some 80s, and - some R&B, which I think is fantastic. It shows in her inflections in the song "Heartbeat" and the structure of the chorus of "Clock Don't Stop." While rap-country may never take off (sad! just kidding), I'm a huge fan of musical acculteration and think there's so much potential in marrying country and R&B, and frankly it should be the direction of Kelly Clarkson's next album. Just sayin'. The only negative I have for this album is it's missing a really beautiful ballad in the vein of "Someday When I Stop Loving You" and "Wine After Whiskey." I was so looking forward to a new one.
Best song: "Clock Don't Stop"
Her best album: Play On
Ellie Goulding, Delirium
Release date: November 6
Ho-kay. Halcyon is my favorite album of the decade. She killed me and raised me from the dead with that one. I needed more of that. And...she went in a completely different direction and I KNOW, I just defended Mumford & Sons, but come on. Like 98 dance tracks, seriously. Beneficent critics have tried to point out 'ballads' - that's a joke, there ain't one damn slow song. Anyway, there are a couple of quality tracks but I'm so let down with this...plus, ok, she's in a relationship, fine, whatever, but of course that means she has lost the ability to write some real-ass lyrics. Amid the ridiculously overproduced beats scientifically designed to induce people to dance in da club, there's no way she could fit in a line like 'I think of dying all the time.' Tsk, tsk!!
Best song: "Army"
Her best album: Halcyon
Adele, 25
Release date: November 20
So there's this British singer who puts out some good songs, don't know if you've heard of her, but I'm sure one day she'll get her due. Anyway. I think 25 is legitimately better than 21 - 21 had some highest highs ("Hiding My Heart Away") but also several tracks I would regularly skip. The only track on 25 I find myself zoning out on is "River Lea." She's keeping up with the times by having fresh backing beats, and yes, her voice sounds stronger; let me give you a little tip. A person's voice doesn't fully mature until their early 30s. So...expect her voice to continue to get stronger. Be 'in the know' at your next party. Side note: I don't get the high praise for the Smeezingtons' production of the track "All I Ask." How hard is it to produce a vocal over a piano. Geez, people.
Best song: "Water Under the Bridge"
Her best album: 25
Well that was fun. Maybe next year my dudes can come out with new stuff? Ray LaMontagne, Kings of Leon, Gavin deGraw, Jonny Lang, Casey James? Etc. etc.? Please and thank you. :)
10.21.2015
Waking up in the future.
Just about everyone has weighed in on the accuracy of Back to the Future 2. I know. But when all of pop culture waits 26 years for a single moment in time, it'd be kind of a waste to let it pass by. So here we go!
What the movie got right
- digital cameras (which no one seems to have noticed)
- weather predictions - this appears to be presented as weather control, which we (allegedly) don't have, but I do have a weather app that now tells me exactly when, for example, rain in my area will start and stop, down to the minute
- 80s nostalgia
- crazy clothes/hair - it doesn't look like what we're wearing, obviously, but I imagine someone from 1985 might balk at a girl with a half-shaved head or some idiot with his pants down around his ankles
- a car that costs $39,999.95
- thumbprinting
- flat-screen TVs
Neither here nor there
- the Cubs winning the World Series. Unfortunately as of this moment they have dropped three games in a row to the Mets in the NLCS (why? because Cubs suck) but they could still come back tonight, win four games straight, and go on to the WS. We'll blame it on the magic of Hollywood
- multi-channel TV. This is an option on some TVs but the majority of people still watch one thing at a time. But the other day I was nonchalantly scrolling through Netflix and it reminded me of this movie...I don't know, for some reason I feel like the two are similar
- the visors Marty's kids were wearing. They were alerted when the phone rang and as to who it was, so you have to wonder what else they were used for. Watching TV? Natch. Maybe listening to music? I would say cruising social media but they, uh, didn't have internet. Anyway, wearing the visors is pretty much like everyone staring down at their smartphones
What the movie got wrong
- hoverboards
- flying cars
- sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generators
- the enduring popularity of almanacs (hahahaha)
- power laces, powered clothing
- the abolition of lawyers
- fully automated gas stations (completely skipping the inevitable reality of self-service)
- in the day's newspaper, a town named Wilmington was preparing for 'Queen Diana's Visit.' Awwwwwww :(
- voice-activated everything
-and much, much more
My main gripe
Instead of taking Marty thirty years into the future to impersonate his son, just have him make a freaking time capsule with a note that says 'on Wednesday, 10/21/15, take son camping.' A plot that revolves around changing a future that hasn't even happened yet is...interesting, but not logical. As we learned from the Terminator, 'the future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.'
***
It's not easy to accurately project the future. A creative, imaginative effort should be applauded - just not counted on. To me, the most accurate futuristic films are the ones in which the world looks dirty and unkempt - films like Judge Dredd, Robocop, and the bone-chilling Children of Men. In them, there are plenty of technological advances but humanity is raw and unpredictable, not presented as wearing all white and moving with creepy fluidity, as if advancing into the future means shedding what actually makes us human.
To create a logical depiction of the future, I would focus more on the shifts that we ourselves endure; culturally, economically, socially. (I would say politically but come on - any vision of the future MUST be totalitarian). I would make any fictional tech a part of the woodwork rather than front and center, on display. (The near-perfect movie Her gets this really right) Changes in how we relate to each other; how the norms of today can create the nightmares of tomorrow; whether advancing technology will draw us together or push us apart - that's what the future is really about. The future of us.
Happy Back to the Future day. :)
What the movie got right
- digital cameras (which no one seems to have noticed)
- weather predictions - this appears to be presented as weather control, which we (allegedly) don't have, but I do have a weather app that now tells me exactly when, for example, rain in my area will start and stop, down to the minute
- 80s nostalgia
- crazy clothes/hair - it doesn't look like what we're wearing, obviously, but I imagine someone from 1985 might balk at a girl with a half-shaved head or some idiot with his pants down around his ankles
- a car that costs $39,999.95
- thumbprinting
- flat-screen TVs
Neither here nor there
- the Cubs winning the World Series. Unfortunately as of this moment they have dropped three games in a row to the Mets in the NLCS (why? because Cubs suck) but they could still come back tonight, win four games straight, and go on to the WS. We'll blame it on the magic of Hollywood
- multi-channel TV. This is an option on some TVs but the majority of people still watch one thing at a time. But the other day I was nonchalantly scrolling through Netflix and it reminded me of this movie...I don't know, for some reason I feel like the two are similar
- the visors Marty's kids were wearing. They were alerted when the phone rang and as to who it was, so you have to wonder what else they were used for. Watching TV? Natch. Maybe listening to music? I would say cruising social media but they, uh, didn't have internet. Anyway, wearing the visors is pretty much like everyone staring down at their smartphones
What the movie got wrong
- hoverboards
- flying cars
- sleep-inducing alpha rhythm generators
- the enduring popularity of almanacs (hahahaha)
- power laces, powered clothing
- the abolition of lawyers
- fully automated gas stations (completely skipping the inevitable reality of self-service)
- in the day's newspaper, a town named Wilmington was preparing for 'Queen Diana's Visit.' Awwwwwww :(
- voice-activated everything
-and much, much more
My main gripe
Instead of taking Marty thirty years into the future to impersonate his son, just have him make a freaking time capsule with a note that says 'on Wednesday, 10/21/15, take son camping.' A plot that revolves around changing a future that hasn't even happened yet is...interesting, but not logical. As we learned from the Terminator, 'the future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.'
***
It's not easy to accurately project the future. A creative, imaginative effort should be applauded - just not counted on. To me, the most accurate futuristic films are the ones in which the world looks dirty and unkempt - films like Judge Dredd, Robocop, and the bone-chilling Children of Men. In them, there are plenty of technological advances but humanity is raw and unpredictable, not presented as wearing all white and moving with creepy fluidity, as if advancing into the future means shedding what actually makes us human.
To create a logical depiction of the future, I would focus more on the shifts that we ourselves endure; culturally, economically, socially. (I would say politically but come on - any vision of the future MUST be totalitarian). I would make any fictional tech a part of the woodwork rather than front and center, on display. (The near-perfect movie Her gets this really right) Changes in how we relate to each other; how the norms of today can create the nightmares of tomorrow; whether advancing technology will draw us together or push us apart - that's what the future is really about. The future of us.
Happy Back to the Future day. :)
10.17.2015
Snapshot.
What I'm watching: C-grade scary movies on Netflix
What I'm listening to: Honeymoon, Lana Del Ray
Mood: searching
Smells: oddly...nothing
Sounds: someone perpetually tinkering on their brokedown-ass car
Temperature: 53 degrees
Thoughts: so proud of myself. Two blog posts this year. Really doing it, I am.
7.25.2015
Review: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
It's safe to say that all three of Florence + the Machine's albums have been radically different from each other. The first, Lungs, contains three styles: torch songs, 'big' songs, and girl group pop songs. Weighted, there are more of the first two styles, and to me only 'Dog Days Are Over' and 'Between Two Lungs' fall into the third category, but taken as a whole it feels nicely balanced stylistically.
Their second album, Ceremonials, pointedly favors 'big' songs. This was cool with me because I had loved 'Cosmic Love' and 'Blinding' so much, and now I had even more in 'Seven Devils,' 'Heartlines,' 'No Light, No Light,' 'Spectrum' - wait, actually, the entire second half of the album. Which in hindsight, was not the best choice. (Dudes, it was nominated for Best Pop Album at the Grammy's and lost to Kelly Clarkson. Whom I love, BUT STILL) Ultimately the album felt bogged down in the heaviness, and this was pointed out a lot by fans who were hoping for an album that contained torch songs in the vein of 'Girl With One Eye' from Lungs. They could see what I couldn't because I'd gotten what I wanted. Ha.
Now, with How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, F+TM have refocused again, this time favoring the girl group pop. If this was a conscious decision, it makes sense - moving away from the mistakes of the previous album but still mining the potential in a style not unprecedented for Flo. It also made it easier, I think, to introduce a much wider range of dynamics and expression with the several moodier, rock-influenced songs on the album. There are no highs higher than anything in their catalogue, but there are much lower lows and it is fantastic.
There is also a noticeable difference in the songwriting. The lyrics finally sound like they come directly from her experiences, instead of consisting mostly of literary enigmas which, while interesting, ultimately can prevent one from fully immersing in a song. 'Various Storms and Saints' is a great example of a track which might be tossed aside as initially uninteresting, except the words and the way she owns them turn it into a performance that gets more urgent and beautiful the longer she sings. Those words are raw, too: "I don't know how I don't just stand outside and scream."
Their second album, Ceremonials, pointedly favors 'big' songs. This was cool with me because I had loved 'Cosmic Love' and 'Blinding' so much, and now I had even more in 'Seven Devils,' 'Heartlines,' 'No Light, No Light,' 'Spectrum' - wait, actually, the entire second half of the album. Which in hindsight, was not the best choice. (Dudes, it was nominated for Best Pop Album at the Grammy's and lost to Kelly Clarkson. Whom I love, BUT STILL) Ultimately the album felt bogged down in the heaviness, and this was pointed out a lot by fans who were hoping for an album that contained torch songs in the vein of 'Girl With One Eye' from Lungs. They could see what I couldn't because I'd gotten what I wanted. Ha.
Now, with How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, F+TM have refocused again, this time favoring the girl group pop. If this was a conscious decision, it makes sense - moving away from the mistakes of the previous album but still mining the potential in a style not unprecedented for Flo. It also made it easier, I think, to introduce a much wider range of dynamics and expression with the several moodier, rock-influenced songs on the album. There are no highs higher than anything in their catalogue, but there are much lower lows and it is fantastic.
There is also a noticeable difference in the songwriting. The lyrics finally sound like they come directly from her experiences, instead of consisting mostly of literary enigmas which, while interesting, ultimately can prevent one from fully immersing in a song. 'Various Storms and Saints' is a great example of a track which might be tossed aside as initially uninteresting, except the words and the way she owns them turn it into a performance that gets more urgent and beautiful the longer she sings. Those words are raw, too: "I don't know how I don't just stand outside and scream."
12.03.2014
The stories we tell about ourselves.
In 2008, the television game show Jeopardy! hosted a Kids Week Reunion, bringing back contestants who were originally on the show when they were 10, 11, or 12 years old. If you have ever caught Kids Week, you know that every kid knows they're destined to be a brain surgeon, an embedded war journalist, concertmaster of a symphony, the first person to [enter achievement here], a Supreme Court justice, an astronaut, and/or President of the United States.
They have additional aspirations of curing cancer, solving world hunger, and ending political bipartisanship. They're so bright-eyed, and so smart, you root for them to achieve their dreams. Heck, aren't they already halfway there just by being tiny geniuses? So I made it a point to watch the Kids Week Reunion and see what kind of impact each now college-aged young adult had already made on the world.
For the last six years, every now and again, I've thought back to that week of shows, wondering just what happened to those kids, just what went 'wrong.' Now, don't misunderstand me - I didn't think that by 19 or 20 they all would be Steve Jobs-like gurus. But I did imagine exciting D.C. internships, a patent pending on an invention, national math and science awards, a published book...things of that nature.
There is extremely limited information online about that week, so I have to go on memory - and what I remember is that they had somehow morphed into average citizens whose contemporary goals looked nothing like their assured dreams of yesteryear; looked like the goals of the rest of us who never competed on Jeopardy! as a child. Although I can offer no particulars, the disappointing ordinariness of the contestants can be summed up with the fact that one of them was currently attending community college.
The show runners responded accordingly by creating categories and 'answers' that were mildly challenging at best; the contestants, in turn, still struggled. And I remember feeling sad for their lost dreams.
More importantly, though, I wondered how could this be? There would be nothing odd about three or four of the contestants having stumbled along the way to greatness; but the majority of them?
If they were too bright-eyed as kids, too confident of their future, it wasn't their fault. Maybe their parents and teachers, even the community, put too much emphasis on the budding intelligence of upper-elementary students; maybe on that side of the American Dream a successful future was too exciting, seemed too inevitable.
Maybe those kids were told stories about themselves too compelling to resist.
They have additional aspirations of curing cancer, solving world hunger, and ending political bipartisanship. They're so bright-eyed, and so smart, you root for them to achieve their dreams. Heck, aren't they already halfway there just by being tiny geniuses? So I made it a point to watch the Kids Week Reunion and see what kind of impact each now college-aged young adult had already made on the world.
For the last six years, every now and again, I've thought back to that week of shows, wondering just what happened to those kids, just what went 'wrong.' Now, don't misunderstand me - I didn't think that by 19 or 20 they all would be Steve Jobs-like gurus. But I did imagine exciting D.C. internships, a patent pending on an invention, national math and science awards, a published book...things of that nature.
There is extremely limited information online about that week, so I have to go on memory - and what I remember is that they had somehow morphed into average citizens whose contemporary goals looked nothing like their assured dreams of yesteryear; looked like the goals of the rest of us who never competed on Jeopardy! as a child. Although I can offer no particulars, the disappointing ordinariness of the contestants can be summed up with the fact that one of them was currently attending community college.
The show runners responded accordingly by creating categories and 'answers' that were mildly challenging at best; the contestants, in turn, still struggled. And I remember feeling sad for their lost dreams.
More importantly, though, I wondered how could this be? There would be nothing odd about three or four of the contestants having stumbled along the way to greatness; but the majority of them?
If they were too bright-eyed as kids, too confident of their future, it wasn't their fault. Maybe their parents and teachers, even the community, put too much emphasis on the budding intelligence of upper-elementary students; maybe on that side of the American Dream a successful future was too exciting, seemed too inevitable.
Maybe those kids were told stories about themselves too compelling to resist.
7.30.2014
Snapshot.
What I'm reading: Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition
What I'm watching: Raising Hope
What I'm listening to: In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
Mood: content
Smells: somebody barbecuing at nearly midnight
Sounds: Jimmy Fallon's musical guest
Temperature: 68 degrees
Thoughts: honestly can't tell if this band is three women or three dudes.
What I'm watching: Raising Hope
What I'm listening to: In the Lonely Hour, Sam Smith
Mood: content
Smells: somebody barbecuing at nearly midnight
Sounds: Jimmy Fallon's musical guest
Temperature: 68 degrees
Thoughts: honestly can't tell if this band is three women or three dudes.
4.17.2014
Flowers for Algernon: Review
I read the short story version of
Flowers for Algernon in eighth grade English and it has always
stayed with me, so when I recently found out it was expanded into a
novel I read it right away. So, herewith my thoughts on it, and as
most people know how it all turns out there will be spoilers. :)
Charlie Gordon is a mentally
handicapped man in his early thirties who has a deep-seated longing
to learn to read and write, to be 'smart,' and through his classes at
the Center for Retarded Adults in Brooklyn, he meets the teacher
(Miss Kinnian) who will eventually nominate him for an experimental
surgery at Beekman University. Dr. Nemur and Professor Strauss have
succeeded (so far) in performing the surgery on a mouse named
Algernon, which greatly raised the little guy's intelligence, and
they feel ready to attempt the same on a mentally handicapped human
being.
Probably the best thing about the story
is that it is told through Charlie's own words, via progress reports
he keeps for Nemur and Strauss. Through his basic vocabulary,
misspellings, and complete lack of punctuation we are immediately
drawn into his mind and his world, and it's heartrending to read.
Like a child, he carries no natural suspicion of others, least of all
his 'friends' at the bakery where he works as a janitor; he's
superstitious, carrying a rabbit's foot and lucky penny; and he has
no real memory of the past.
The surgery, as we might expect, is a
success, and there's something really exciting in being able to
follow along as his writing, via the progress reports, reflects his
increasing IQ. We're right there with Charlie as he begins to really
understand the world around him, and this of course inevitably means
the good he formerly saw in people is exposed for what it is. For
example, he believed the men who work at the bakery were his friends
because they laughed at him, which in turn made him laugh and feel
good; in reality, he was always only their foil, their court jester,
and when Charlie realizes this, he is ashamed. (That was probably the
strongest impression I took away from the short story, that moment
when the veil fell away)
Eventually Charlie's intelligence far
outstrips that of Miss Kinnian, Professor Strauss and Dr. Nemur; most people, in fact, as his IQ reaches 185 and beyond. He
reads voraciously, teaches himself twenty languages, becomes an
expert on fringe mathematics – the world of thought is his oyster.
At the same time, Algernon (who had the surgery weeks before Charlie)
begins a slow decline.
12.31.2013
2013 music picks.
As in the past, I'm listing the songs that resonated the most with me this past year. And as with Uncle Stevie over at Entertainment Weekly, they're not all songs that came out this year - just songs I discovered this year. Because I can do that. :) Enjoy!
Note: these are listed in random order.
1. "Dead in the Water," Ellie Goulding, Halcyon
You may have heard Goulding's previous hit single, "Lights," from her debut of the same name, but fortunately her second album explores a much wider range of moods, making possible this absolutely gorgeous album closer. I am actually one day going to hang up the lyrics to the first verse and the chorus on my wall, because like the best songwriters Goulding hits on ageless truths of human experience - and she does so to unapologetically beautiful melodies. That's simply a combination I am too weak to refuse.
2. "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?" Hans Zimmer, Man of Steel
Some of you know how I feel about Hans Zimmer, dating all the way back to The Lion King. So I won't rehash here. But he's the best. Anyway, he got to score this summer's Superman reboot and did a fantastic job (of course). John William's original theme is one of the top pieces of movie music in history, but with the darker turn in comics these days (and every villain capable of causing an extinction-level event, apparently), this new theme fits a new day in our societal evolution. There's hope even amongst the most minor chords, though, and notice that the long tones evoke a sense of flying, of scaling new heights. I hope you got to hear this via a cinema sound system while you could.
3. "Birthday," Katy Perry, Prism
Someone, who shall remain nameless, noted that this song is a lot like "Teenage Dream" - but I say, who cares. It's a slice of "eighties Minneapolis funk" that is just too infectious not to like. Perry inhabits her own sphere of technicolored happy-rotica, and when compared to artists like Ellie Goulding it's evident how much Perry holds her own self back - but you have to admit that when she's good, she's really good, and I defy you not to at least think about getting up and boogeying when you hear this song.
4. "Rock 'N Roll," Avril Lavigne, Avril Lavigne
Don't forget how much we all loved Avril once upon a time! And don't say she's not relevant - the old guard are rarely ever contemporaneously relevant but that's not what the old guard are for. There's some reinvention in her fifth studio album, mostly thanks to her marriage to Chad Kroeger, and while I can't stand Nickleback, I do admit he's a pretty solid songwriter. His stamp is all over this song, and paired with Avril's delivery it really works. It helps her get back the old vivaciousness and audacity, and puts out an APB to not give up on her yet.
5. "Wake Me Up," Avicii with Aloe Blacc, True
We all know this song. And we all like parodying Aloe Blacc's earnest delivery. And we all know this is a freaking awesome song. Too bad Mr. Blacc couldn't have been on the whole album - now that would have really been something.
6. "Young Girls," Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
I really like Bruno Mars; I think he's got a great voice and makes some great songs. I belatedly saw his performance of this song on SNL and was totally hooked - it's really not like anything else out there right now, for which so many other 'artists' should be ashamed. Just take familiar subject matter, put it to a near-perfect melody, enrich it with multi-layered harmony, back it with a tight beat, and sing your heart out. Is that really so hard???
7. "V.S.O.P.," K. Michelle, Rebellious Soul
I don't really listen to R&B...but I love this song. As a child of the 80s who did listen to a lot of early rap with her brother, I'm always sucker for a great beat, and besides having that this song is just infectious and spirited, with a very cool old-school vibe. However, I have no idea what the title means.
8. "What Makes You Beautiful," One Direction, Up All Night
DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.
9. "Not With Haste," Mumford and Sons, Babel
I had obviously memorized the entire album less than a week after it was released in 2012 - but did not realize that this particular song was part of the Brave soundtrack until I watched it again earlier this year. (On the soundtrack version the lads play backing band to singer Birdie) I love that movie, man. And I had no idea going in that it was about a mother-daughter relationship, so of course I went with my mom to see it, and she was all, "Wait, are you crying?" Anyway, this is a beautiful and wistful song on its own, gently Celtic and such, and is as good a movie-ender as anything Celine ever did.
Well, that's it! Happy New Year!
Note: these are listed in random order.
1. "Dead in the Water," Ellie Goulding, Halcyon
You may have heard Goulding's previous hit single, "Lights," from her debut of the same name, but fortunately her second album explores a much wider range of moods, making possible this absolutely gorgeous album closer. I am actually one day going to hang up the lyrics to the first verse and the chorus on my wall, because like the best songwriters Goulding hits on ageless truths of human experience - and she does so to unapologetically beautiful melodies. That's simply a combination I am too weak to refuse.
2. "What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World?" Hans Zimmer, Man of Steel
Some of you know how I feel about Hans Zimmer, dating all the way back to The Lion King. So I won't rehash here. But he's the best. Anyway, he got to score this summer's Superman reboot and did a fantastic job (of course). John William's original theme is one of the top pieces of movie music in history, but with the darker turn in comics these days (and every villain capable of causing an extinction-level event, apparently), this new theme fits a new day in our societal evolution. There's hope even amongst the most minor chords, though, and notice that the long tones evoke a sense of flying, of scaling new heights. I hope you got to hear this via a cinema sound system while you could.
3. "Birthday," Katy Perry, Prism
Someone, who shall remain nameless, noted that this song is a lot like "Teenage Dream" - but I say, who cares. It's a slice of "eighties Minneapolis funk" that is just too infectious not to like. Perry inhabits her own sphere of technicolored happy-rotica, and when compared to artists like Ellie Goulding it's evident how much Perry holds her own self back - but you have to admit that when she's good, she's really good, and I defy you not to at least think about getting up and boogeying when you hear this song.
4. "Rock 'N Roll," Avril Lavigne, Avril Lavigne
Don't forget how much we all loved Avril once upon a time! And don't say she's not relevant - the old guard are rarely ever contemporaneously relevant but that's not what the old guard are for. There's some reinvention in her fifth studio album, mostly thanks to her marriage to Chad Kroeger, and while I can't stand Nickleback, I do admit he's a pretty solid songwriter. His stamp is all over this song, and paired with Avril's delivery it really works. It helps her get back the old vivaciousness and audacity, and puts out an APB to not give up on her yet.
5. "Wake Me Up," Avicii with Aloe Blacc, True
We all know this song. And we all like parodying Aloe Blacc's earnest delivery. And we all know this is a freaking awesome song. Too bad Mr. Blacc couldn't have been on the whole album - now that would have really been something.
6. "Young Girls," Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
I really like Bruno Mars; I think he's got a great voice and makes some great songs. I belatedly saw his performance of this song on SNL and was totally hooked - it's really not like anything else out there right now, for which so many other 'artists' should be ashamed. Just take familiar subject matter, put it to a near-perfect melody, enrich it with multi-layered harmony, back it with a tight beat, and sing your heart out. Is that really so hard???
7. "V.S.O.P.," K. Michelle, Rebellious Soul
I don't really listen to R&B...but I love this song. As a child of the 80s who did listen to a lot of early rap with her brother, I'm always sucker for a great beat, and besides having that this song is just infectious and spirited, with a very cool old-school vibe. However, I have no idea what the title means.
8. "What Makes You Beautiful," One Direction, Up All Night
DON'T YOU JUDGE ME.
9. "Not With Haste," Mumford and Sons, Babel
I had obviously memorized the entire album less than a week after it was released in 2012 - but did not realize that this particular song was part of the Brave soundtrack until I watched it again earlier this year. (On the soundtrack version the lads play backing band to singer Birdie) I love that movie, man. And I had no idea going in that it was about a mother-daughter relationship, so of course I went with my mom to see it, and she was all, "Wait, are you crying?" Anyway, this is a beautiful and wistful song on its own, gently Celtic and such, and is as good a movie-ender as anything Celine ever did.
Well, that's it! Happy New Year!
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