kriofske mix

2011-06-12T22:27:00.000-04:00

Kriofske Mix has moved! Please update your browser and bookmark to http://kriofskemix.wordpress.com/

STILL NOT TELEVISED.

2011-05-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

Although I respected more than loved I'm New Here, his comeback effort from last year, it wasn't a bad way to go out on. He was one of the more influential, if underappreciated and clearly troubled musicians of his time. Still long overdue for a comprehensive compilation, his half-live (recorded in Boston!) 1976 opus It's Your World is a good place to start. R.I.P., Gil.

MAINE SPRING THAW

2011-04-14T17:40:00.002-04:00

Following an April Fool's Day snowstorm, we spent the weekend in Ogunguit, Maine as everything thawed out at a steady drip. Here's the wrap-around porch at 2 Village Square, a lovely inn recommended to us by these guys.

And here's our fantastic view from it.

We zoom in on The Front Porch, a restaurant/lounge/piano bar that we visited both nights of our trip, mostly for the cocktails.

The beach was vast as always, but as empty as I've ever seen it.

Dunes, wind and silence.

Not our inn, but the only westie I saw on the whole trip.

One afternoon, we browsed around nearby Kennebunkport.

A cute little town teeming with precocious little shops...

...like this unconventional travel goods store.

The most wishy-washy Store Hours ever.

On route back to Boston, we stopped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Portsmouth has a charming town center full of local businesses and few chains...

...some of which have lovely decorative touches such as this.

We ate lunch at RiRa, an Irish pub housed inside an ancient bank, its glorious dome still intact. It was our last stop before heading home to our very own breathing, barking westie.

UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES

2011-04-10T13:05:00.005-04:00

Few would disagree that Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul is one of the more original contemporary filmmakers, but you could give that same distinction to everyone from Pedro Almodovar to Kevin Smith. What makes Weerasethakul a real visionary is more complicated. His movies are challenging but not inaccessible or avant garde. He often eschews narrative logic for a purely evocative effect. He emphasizes the textures of one’s environment over whatever drama is playing out in the foreground. He’s a kindred spirit to Tsai Ming-Liang, only even slower and with less slapstick.

All of these elements are present in Weerasethakul’s fifth feature: a playful, poetic rumination on death and how life itself isn’t necessarily so linear. The titular character senses his own death is near, so he recounts his past lives (or vessels for his soul) as various other creatures for his sister-in-law and her son, who have come to take care of him. However, they’re soon joined by his wife (who suddenly appears after having been dead for twenty years) and their long lost son, who reappears in the guise of a “monkey ghost”, a hairy, simian-like creature with tiny glowing red eyes that could have stepped out of a B-grade ‘70s horror flick.

At this point, you either simply accept what’s happening in the film or you don’t. Still, Weerasethakul mixes fantasy and reality together so fluidly that one comes to view both as interchangeable while still recognizing the former’s otherworldliness. Meanwhile, the film’s sound design builds to a masterful crescendo as the characters leave Uncle Boonmee’s home and partake in a spiritual journey of sorts deep into the woods: an endless mass of crickets has the same pull as sculpted, low-hum ambient noise, and the wind rustling through an extended take of the serene countryside stands in for a significant rite of passage.

Of course, all of this could seem unbearably, artfully pretentious if Weerasethakul’s sense of humor wasn’t present throughout. In addition to the dead mother asking her long-lost monkey ghost son why he’s grown his hair so long and a bout of catfish-on-woman sex, there is the film’s final scene which I’m still trying to wrap my head around. It throws a wrench (albeit not a monkey one) into what we’ve already seen, yet it’s so whimsical and unexpected (and scored to such an engaging pop song) that I was delightfully (rather than irritatingly) perplexed.

THE BEST MUSIC OF THE '90s

2011-03-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

A warts-and-all view of Kriofske Mix HQ, circa 1995-96

My Top Fifty Albums of the ‘90s:

# 50-41
# 40-31
# 30-21
# 20-11
# 10-2
# 1

Additionally, here are 50 great songs from the decade (in alphabetical order) out of *hundreds* I could have picked that do not appear on the albums listed above:

Air, “You Make it Easy”
Alison Moyet, “It Won’t Be Long”
Belle and Sebastian, “Lazy Line Painter Jane”
Billy Bragg and Wilco, “California Stars”
Bjork, “Human Behaviour”
Black Box Recorder, “Child Psychology”
Chris Isaak, “Somebody’s Crying”
Cornershop, “Brimful of Asha”
Depeche Mode, “Enjoy the Silence”
Emm Gryner, “Summerlong”
Fiona Apple, “Criminal”
Frente!, “Accidentally Kelly Street”
Grant McLennan, “Put You Down”
Indigo Girls, “Peace Tonight”
INXS, “Not Enough Time”
Jason Falkner, “The Plan”
Jen Trynin, “Better Than Nothing”
The Judybats, “Ugly On the Outside”
Kirsty MacColl, “My Affair”
The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette, “Justified and Ancient”
Komeda, “It’s Alright, Baby”
Le Tigre, “Hot Topic”
The Lightning Seeds, “Sense”
Liz Phair, “Jealousy”
Luscious Jackson, “Take a Ride”
M People, “Excited”
Matthew Sweet, “I’ve Been Waiting”
The Mekons, “Millionaire”
Morcheeba, “Part of the Process”
Morrissey, “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get”
Pet Shop Boys, “Miserablism”
PJ Harvey, “Down by the Water”
P.M. Dawn, “Downtown Venus”
Pulp, “Common People”
Roxette, “Sleeping in My Car”
Rufus Wainwright, “April Fools”
Saint Etienne, “Nothing Can Stop Us”
Shakespeare’s Sister, “Stay”
Smashing Pumpkins, “1979”
Soho, “Nuthin' on My Mind”
Steve Wynn, “500 Girl Mornings”
The Sundays, “Here’s Where the Story Ends”
Super Furry Animals, “Ice Hockey Hair”
Supergrass, “Moving”
Suzanne Vega, “In Liverpool”
10,000 Maniacs, “Noah’s Dove”
Terence Trent D’Arby, “Penelope Please”
Tori Amos, “God”
Was (Not Was), “I Blew Up the United States”
White Town, “Your Woman”

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 1

2011-03-07T21:25:00.000-05:00

1. R.E.M. – AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE

In 2004, when I blogged my 100 all-time favorite albums, Automatic For the People was number one. I didn’t spent too much time deliberating—it was one of two records (the other was Abbey Road) that changed my life (or at least profoundly impacted my musical taste) when it came out during my senior year of high school in October 1992.

As I arranged this ‘90s list, I was initially determined not to have Automatic at the top. Over the past few years, I’ve grown a little wary of this album, partially because it takes me back to my 18-year-old self—a period I have some fond memories of but would never, ever want to re-live—but mostly due to having heard it too many damn times. Oddly enough, Automatic was one of those records that took a few spins for me to fully appreciate; once it clicked, I found more to love in its complexities and nuances on subsequent listens. However, after well over a decade, I knew the record too well, and its magic faded somewhat. I dutifully still played it at least annually (usually in autumn, for reasons I’ll get into later), but whether it’s still my all-time favorite album is up for debate.

I went through phases where Apartment Life would have been number one here. It’s another record I’ve called my all-time favorite, an album that for me fits any mood or occasion. I also considered placing If You’re Feeling Sinister at the top, because it continues to age so well and still sounds extraordinarily unique, as if it could have come from nowhere else. In the end, though, I knew in my heart that I’d be putting up a front or trying to appear hip or cool (or obscure) if I didn’t place Automatic above those other two entries. Simply put, every time I hear it, it still carries an emotional charge like very few other records I’ve heard.

Wrapping themes of mortality and loss into moody, not obviously radio friendly music, it scans as an intensely personal record, so how did it strike such a chord among the masses? Although it didn’t top the Billboard Album charts (sequestered at # 2 by Garth Brooks!) or include any huge radio hits (like “Stand” and “Losing My Religion” from the band’s previous two albums), Automatic sold four million copies in this country alone. Furthermore, it’s inarguably a classic of its era that has also transcended said era—nothing about it screams 1992 and, except for the political screed “Ignoreland”, none of the lyrics explicitly reference a particular time. (“Monty Got a Raw Deal” and “Man on the Moon” focus on deceased real-life celebrities, but view them philosophically rather than as biography, nearly awarding them mythical status).

Before Automatic, I admired R.E.M. at a distance, enjoying their radio hits but not rushing out to gobble up their back catalogue. Then, a week before the album came out, I heard its lead single “Drive” on the radio and took notice—something about that minor-key guitar arpeggio and the song’s fluid, dynamic shifts from urgent, stripped-down acoustic splendor to charged electricity and back again startled me. I bought the album days after its release, listened to it on shuffle a few times (as was my peculiar ritual at the time—I got my first CD player earlier that year, so the ability to shuffle tracks still held that novelty for me), liked some songs more than others (“Everybody Hurts”, in which vocalist Michael Stipe talks a friend out of committing suicide immediately stood out) and that was that.

A week or two later, sprawled out on my bed one Friday evening, I listened to the album (perhaps in order!) and when the Andy Kaufman tribute “Man on the Moon” came on, I suddenly felt the music’s pull—in particular, its outgoing, sing-along melody, cathedral-like expansiveness and tremendous warmth. Soon, other songs similarly resonated: “Sweetness Follows” applying a soothing balm to death’s pain, “Nightswimming” capturing the melancholy glow of a faint but significant reminiscence, “Try Not to Breathe” casting a light unto the darkness with its sway and verve, “Find the River” providing a lovely conclusion with wisdom and grace.

Automatic’s fixation on memory and loss and its pastoral, acoustic folk hues forever link it with autumn in my mind; of course, first hearing it during that season also factors in. I now occasionally skip over “Everybody Hurts”—I still love the song but its intensity is sometimes too much for me to bear. I’ve never felt suicidal (nor had a close friend who has), but the song just slays me for how emotionally naked it is. This urgency and willingness to go out on a limb and open yourself up to the rest of the world reaches its peak here, but you can feel it throughout the album. The fact that millions of other people felt it too lends Automatic a sense of awe rare for any album.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 10-2

2011-03-03T00:00:00.006-05:00

10. Morcheeba – WHO CAN YOU TRUST?
This trio was initially far hazier and mellower than most trip-hop collectives. Apart from a beatless orchestral interlude, everything here sounds the same, and for once that’s a good thing—this is a chill out album with hooks (languorous and sneaky as they may be), plus Skye Edwards’ smoky, sultry vocals register as vital signs, not as chilly detachments.

9. Sam Phillips – MARTINIS AND BIKINIS
The closest Phillips ever came to attracting more than a cultish audience was with this sharp, sly, album-length Beatles homage. From “I Need Love” to “Baby I Can’t Please You”, she was never so user-friendly or comfortably retro again. Thus, occasional left turns like the clanging “Black Sky” or the submerged, ominous cover of Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth” that she goes out on seem all the more startling.

8. Portishead – DUMMY

For all of its noir-drenched gloom, this landmark set remains accessible and oddly inviting because Geoff Barrows and Beth Gibbons paid as much mind to melody and song structure as they did to tension, texture and cannily-employed samples. They had a keen sense of humor as well (“Nobody loves me / it’s true / (pause) / not like you do”), even if steadily shattering laments like “Glory Box” and “Roads” left a more indelible impression.

7. Concrete Blonde – BLOODLETTING
Still one of rock’s most underrated vocalists, Johnette Napolitano makes up for a lack of technique with how her beguiling wail magisterially fills a space. Although the title track established her band as favorites in Goth circles, the album’s bulk is less theatrical and brooding. She supposedly wrote these songs in a rush after deciding not to break up her band, and their urgency comes through in undulating detail.

6. Saint Etienne – SO TOUGH
Using an up-to-the-minute cut-and-paste aesthetic, this trio curates a music geek’s joyride through decades of pop effluvia from a decidedly British viewpoint. In a series of wild juxtaposes, heavenly strings and wide-eyed innocence sit next to a swirling guitar loop sampled from a Rush song, and the soaring, sighing seven-minute impressionist epic “Avenue” never loses its footing even as it threatens to be forever whisked away by the wind.

5. The Magnetic Fields – 69 LOVE SONGS
Living up to its title, this sprawling triple album contains said number of songs sung by five vocalists in at least twenty-five genres. An extraordinary act of chutzpah for leader/composer Stephin Merritt or his successful bid to be a modern-day Cole Porter? Both, actually—the talent and dedication put into this massive, singular project is such that you almost believe every word, even when deliberately cloaked in irony and pastiche.

4. Everything But the Girl – AMPLIFIED HEART
On first listen, every note seems smooth, sophisticated, carefully chosen and executed, like aural wallpaper for a subdued cocktail party. Then, you notice the raw, messy emotions beneath the glassy veneer; the lyrics surge with longing, regret, disappointment, melancholy, resolve. Although one could interpret a sense of romantic breakdown and failure in the subject matter, after a series of tinny, overproduced EBTG releases, the remarkably stripped-down, elegant music carries with it the promise of rebirth.

3. Ivy – APARTMENT LIFE
Still the best used-CD store impulse purchase I’ve ever made (without having heard any of its contents), this album beautifully captures of ennui of city living near the fin de siècle. From the first crisply strummed chords of opener “The Best Thing” to the overlapping vocals fading into the ether on closer “Back in Our Town”, these songs shift between sun-soaked ecstasy, moody reflection and glistening calm, all punctuated by Dominique Durand’s French-accented croon. It’s a perfect soundtrack for almost any occasion.

2. Belle and Sebastian – IF YOU’RE FEELING SINISTER
This wasn’t the band’s first album, but it was the first one most people heard. To discover it is to stumble upon an anomaly in pop music, an alternate universe that has nearly nothing to do with rock star celebrity or artistic pretension. These literate, bittersweet songs begin quietly (barely audible at times), then gradually build, adding on piano, trumpets and strings until the chorus swells with Stuart Murdoch’s fey warble exuding a force you never guessed it had.

Check back in a few days for the number one album (and more)! What could it be, what could it be???

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 20-11

2011-03-01T00:00:00.009-05:00

20. XTC – NONSUCH
Slightly ahead of their time as usual, this splendidly overstuffed salvo appeared at the height of an alternative nation obsessed with edgy rock, predating the return of Britpop by a few years. That it went mostly unheard at the time nearly lends it a sense of awe now, whether it’s aiming for the pastoral (“Wrapped in Grey”) or the jugular (“The Ugly Underneath”).

19. Soul Coughing – RUBY VROOM
Forget Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins—this was alternative rock, in which “vocalist” M. Doughty talked/scatted/halfway sung over stand-up bass, live drums and a symphonic array of samples (anticipating The Avalanches by half a decade). More beat poetry than white-boy hip-hop (with “Bus to Beelzebub" a gleeful mixture of the two), it hasn’t dated at all.

18. Eric Matthews – IT’S HEAVY IN HERE
Since Matthews’ chamber pop seemed so entirely out of time in 1995, it’s no surprise that it has aged so well. The catchy opening “Fanfare” remains his best song and a strong entry point, but it leads to various tangents and hidden passageways: the lyrics give precious little clue as to what he’s singing about, but the delicate, stripped down arrangements conjure a secret, special place I never tire of returning to.

17. Steve Wynn – KEROSENE MAN
Former Dream Syndicate leader Wynn is perhaps my favorite unsung singer/songwriter. Although a bit slicker than subsequent efforts, his first solo album still serves as a good gateway into his back catalogue. Veering from jangle pop and twangy country rock to guitar grunge and even a little noir tango, it’s nonetheless a coherent sampler.

16. Tori Amos – LITTLE EARTHQUAKES
How did a record this intensely personal resonate with so many people? Amos not only updated Joni Mitchell’s confessional girl-and-a-piano style for a different age, she also made it her own—even the Kate Bush comparisons seem simplistic now. After all, the young Kate never came up anything like “Silent All These Years” or a “Me and a Gun”, just as the young Tori set an impossibly high standard she arguably hasn’t matched since.

15. Ani DiFranco – DILATE
On her most focused, complete studio album, DiFranco sings of a love affair’s dissolution and aftermath—not an original template to follow, but in her hands it never feels obvious or heavy-handed. Kicking off with possibly the most scathing “fuck you” ever recorded and concluding with quiet resignation and possible enlightenment, she works through personal demons while sustaining your attention every step of the way.

14. Saint Etienne – TIGER BAY
Only knowing the altered U.S. version, I vastly underrated this release until I finally heard the original U.K. edition with the correct sequencing. The most cinematic of St. Et albums, it's an ever-changing canvas of electronic symphony, hushed folk and flamenco disco, but get the version with this cover: you need to hear the seven minute whole of “Western Wind/Tankerville” in order for closer “The Boy Scouts of America” to make its wallop of an impact.

13. Pet Shop Boys – VERY
Ostensibly Neil Tennant’s larger-than-life coming-out party, this is an intriguing turning point for the Pets. Still carefully cloaked in irony and metaphor, these songs further expose the emotional, vulnerable core beneath the surface while maintaining a sense of renewal and ecstatic joy: who else could reveal the yearning and poignancy lurking within the glorious camp overtones of The Village People’s “Go West”?

12. Aimee Mann – I’M WITH STUPID
Wiping away some of its predecessor’s gloss, Mann’s second solo outing turns up the fuzz-tone guitars and tightens the melodies until they gleam like late-period Beatles (or, in the case of “Superball”, Josie and the Pussycats if they really rocked). Rarely has any artist channeled her misery into something so tart, therapeutic, caring and merciless—not for nothing is “You fucked it up” the first song's first line.

11. Blur – PARKLIFE
Unlike their more homogenous efforts, this one’s all over the place stylistically, chewing up, spitting out and recontextualizing British bands of yore without ever sounding derivative. Yet, it dexterously holds together, indulging in cheeky wordplay (the chorus of “Girls and Boys”) over a mutation of genres. Fortunately, they also balance their skepticism with at least some affection for their suburban middle class roots.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 30-21

2011-02-26T10:11:00.000-05:00

30. Original Cast Recording – HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
Avoiding the bloat and phoniness that has plagued many a rock musical, John Cameron Mitchell’s glam cabaret act drew from various recognizable influences but transformed them into something new: personal yet engaging, his songs (co-written with Stephen Trask) not only brim with a sassy wit and an earned poignancy, they also convincingly rock.

29. The Darling Buds – EROTICA
The final album from these feisty Brits had the misfortunate to come out around the same time as Madonna’s similarly-titled effort, thus dooming it to obscurity and cut-out bins across the land. Too bad--their sublime dream pop version of My Bloody Valentine wrapped layers of guitars and tart hooks around Andrea Lewis’ playful, knowing vocals.

28. Fiona Apple – WHEN THE PAWN…
Apple wears her neuroses on her sleeves but doesn’t always shy away from trying to figure them out. This can be intimidating for those looking for instant gratification from a pop song. The thing is, once you rationalize her methods with her obvious melodic talent and lyrical prowess, no matter how long it takes for a song to sink in, once it does, it’s unshakable.

27. Aimee Mann – WHATEVER
The girl with the braid from Til Tuesday surprised everyone with this solo debut: uncommonly mature, elegant and sharp, it didn’t receive a fraction of the radio airplay it deserved. Although the slick, bright production dates it more than Mann’s subsequent work, it’s also intriguingly devoid of the wry bitterness Mann would make her stock in trade.

26. Towa Tei – FUTURE LISTENING!
Formerly of Deee-Lite (whose WORLD CLIQUE just missed cracking this list), Tei promisingly kicked off a solo career with this playful set that could be summed up by the song title “Technova”: colliding electrobeats with Antonio Carlos Jobim and featuring a who’s-who of ‘90s bossa nova acolytes (including Bebel Gilberto), it’s breezy yet stimulating fun.

25. Seal – SEAL (1991)
His gradual descent into Adult Contemporary Hell makes this now 20-year-old debut all the more remarkable for its unadulterated weirdness: it’s almost as if he can’t decide whether to be a dancefloor belter, soulful crooner or enigmatic seeker, so he’s a little of all three, often on the same song.

24. Pizzicato Five – THE SOUND OF MUSIC BY
Japanese studiomeisters pillage a selection of decidedly American songs and rev it up past the postmodern mark until it resembles either a TV game show theme or a Burt Bachrach strung out on pixy stix. However, with elusive diva Maki Nomiya at their disposal, they spin ample gold out of so much sugar.

23. Jellyfish – BELLYBUTTON
Sounding like Squeeze and early Cheap Trick at possibly the least coolest time ever to do so, this admittedly silly-looking outfit made gushingly irresistible music that encompassed psych-pop, Brill Building craft, bubblegum, The Beatles and even a little bossa nova–and it remains more durable than you’d ever expect.

22. Saint Etienne - GOOD HUMOR
Varying from their usual cultivation of instrumentals, film snippets and other experimental detours, this very British trio hooks up with the producer of The Cardigans and affectionately gazes back to late '60s/early '70s AM radio heaven. Vocalist Sarah Cracknell also displays an ever deeper, more versatile tone that fully complements the songs' puppy dog warmth.

21. Ben Folds Five - WHATEVER AND EVER AMEN
Against charges of insincerity and excess cleverness, Folds initially had the talent and tunes to answer his distractors, plus the depth and finesse to prove them wrong. If a rant like "Song For the Dumped" remains a little crude (if riotously cathartic), somber, more pensive numbers like "Evaporated" and surprise hit ballad "Brick" still reveal the vulnerable soul behind the smart-ass.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 40-31

2011-02-24T00:00:00.002-05:00

40. Liz Phair – EXILE IN GUYVILLE
No longer crossing my fingers for a middle-aged masterpiece from this woman given her recent dubious exploits, I’m still thankful I’ll always have this brash, clever, bratty song cycle to return to: a raw, arresting, unapologetic blow-jobs-and-all account of a 26-year-old woman in a male-centric world.

39. Cibo Matto – VIVA! LA WOMAN
If Yoko Ono had collaborated with the Beastie Boys, this sample-heavy concept album about food might have materialized. Goofy, surreal and occasionally menacing (all at once on “Birthday Cake”), it makes me nostalgic for a time when MTV would air something so deranged, even if it was only on 120 Minutes.

38. Ani DiFranco – LIVING IN CLIP
Since her many, many studio albums only sporadically nail down her onstage energy and presence, this double live album remains an essential overview, even more so for capturing the spontaneous, intimate, mesmeric vibe of being there like few other live albums.

37. Jill Sobule – JILL SOBULE
The original, way better “I Kissed a Girl” is only an entry point into an enchanting world of sketchy boyfriends, mysterious co-workers, daydreamers and other lovingly drawn winning losers - it's a shame her Major Record Label didn't help her much in becoming more than a novelty one-hit wonder.

36. Sam Phillips – CRUEL INVENTIONS
A more introspective and acidic Phillips emerges on her second secular album. Like ever-shifting puzzles, the songs simmer with both lyrical and musical intricacies, but they never obscure such olive branches as a gorgeous Van Dyke Parks string arrangement or a declaration like “If I told myself I believed in love and that’s enough, I’d be lying.”

35. Ivy – REALISTIC
On their full-length debut, this French female-fronted trio comes off less like the pop sophisticates they would evolve into and more like Mazzy Star at a slightly quicker tempo…which proves a brilliant idea once the actual songs emerge from the overall heavenly, atmospheric gauze, hitting their targets with gentle aplomb.

34. Suzanne Vega – NINE OBJECTS OF DESIRE
Many fans loathe her two ‘90s albums produced by now ex-husband Mitchell Froom, but I love how his elaborate, quirky settings occasionally scrape against her clean, unfussy vocals. Here, her lyrics seem particularly inventive as they craft unique metaphors out of such standard subjects as sexual attraction (of various shades) and maternal love.

33. Jen Trynin – GUN SHY TRIGGER HAPPY
Witter and wiser than most alt-rock chicks of her time, Boston-based Trynin deserves to be more than a footnote. Her second (and final) album crosses Chrissie Hynde (at her most self-assured) with Joni Mitchell (at her most confessional). It actually rocks while projecting vulnerability and subtlety, which perhaps is why it has aged so well.

32. Massive Attack – MEZZANINE
Their first two albums invented and perfected trip-hop, but their third proved far more prescient. Suffused with an encroaching dread verging on decay, it negated any feel-good optimism of its time, instead anticipating the darker days ahead. And yet, it’s all so seductive and alluring—not for nothing did “Teardrop” become a TV show theme song.

31. K.D. Lang – INGENUE
Never a genre conformist, Lang’s shift from country to torchy adult pop still radiates bravery in an environment where far too many artists allow themselves to be boxed into neat, identifiable packages; it also succinctly creates a special, singular space for her nuanced, dramatic voice.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '90s: # 50-41

2011-02-22T00:00:00.002-05:00

Here's a long-delayed follow-up to my oughties list. 14 years old when the '90s began, I cannot stress enough how important the decade was in cultivating my taste in music. You can read more about that here. For now, here's # 50-41:

50. Mary Lou Lord – GOT NO SHADOW
On this former Boston-area busker’s most endearing album, lush, polished arrangements and melodies cancel out her vocal limitations while preserving her charming naivete. It's a well sequenced set of songs (including a definitive cover of Freedy Johnston’s “The Lucky One”) that nails her amiable persona just as well as her on-the-street performances.

49. Jeff Buckley – GRACE
You may never need to hear his startling but overplayed rendition of “Hallelujah” again, but Buckley’s only real album still seems gloriously out of time: tender, torturous, melodramatic, beguiling—not even a kindred spirit like Rufus Wainwright has come close to topping it.

48. They Might Be Giants – FLOOD
John and John’s third LP transports me back to my 18-year-old Geek Self – despite the bargain-basement soundscapes and bad puns, I can’t deny its abundance of miniaturist triumphs, from the nagging, insistent “Particle Man” to perfectly quirky pop centerpiece “Birdhouse in Your Soul”.

47. Sleater-Kinney – DIG ME OUT
In which a female power trio build on the neat-in-theory concept of riot grrrl rock by displaying real musicianship and enveloping intricate twin guitar lines and vocal parts into hookier-than-fuck songs. During a decade largely absent from energetic, fun stuff of the Violent Femmes/B-52’s variety, this deftly filled a void.

46. Echobelly – ON
As I tire of revisiting certain old favorites, I’m increasingly drawn back to second stringers that never really made it, like these Brit-pop also-rans. Fronted by an enticing female Morrissey impersonator, their tart, crunching guitar rock could’ve been a crack, less fey imitation of The Smiths high on a sugar rush.

45. Tori Amos – BOYS FOR PELE
Initially baffled by this sprawling, double album length set of often angry, crazy songs liberally sprinkled with harpsichord, lyrical non-sequitors and cathartic wailing, it took years to decipher it as a ‘90s equivalent to Kate Bush’s THE DREAMING - it creates a similar mood, even if the landscape sounds a thousand miles away.

44. Beth Orton – TRAILER PARK
A shifting template of acoustic and electronic elements gives Orton’s debut tension and texture, but her voice compels and commands even as she threatens to drift away altogether. She never achieved such a stasis again, and I’m still perplexed and intrigued as to how she pulled it off.

43. The Negro Problem – JOYS AND CONCERNS
Always difficult to pin down, Stew bends and twists disparate genres to fit his unique worldview. A song about a network news anchor morphs into a psychedelic near-freakout, a playful ditty about an iconic toy ponders its homosexuality, and so on, but you never doubt Stew's sincerity toward his subjects.

42. Amy Rigby – DIARY OF A MOD HOUSEWIFE
If rock and roll is youthful by nature, then Rigby, in her late 30s when she cut this solo debut, never had a chance of becoming more than a cult artist. Fortunately, she effortlessly connects with anyone willing to listen, whether she’s wistful and sweet (“Beer and Kisses”) or swaggering and defiant (“20 Questions”).

41. XTC – APPLE VENUS (VOLUME ONE)
Speaking of encroaching middle age, this “mature”, mostly orchestral work from a veteran new wave combo brims with more life than all of the young bands heavily influenced by their earlier work, thanks to often scathing, occasionally poignant, always eloquent ruminations on aging gracefully and honestly.

(STILL A) WEIRDO

2011-02-18T09:34:00.002-05:00

As I enter a new age bracket (in some questionnaires, anyway), this neatly sums up what I'm feeling today.

ISLAND LIFE

2011-02-12T12:18:00.001-05:00

Vacation photos, part 2! Since St. John does not have an airport, we had to fly into St. Thomas. We didn't spend much time there - it felt a little too busy, full of junky gift shops and cabbies harassing you for a ride at every corner.

Sleepy, remote St. John was more our speed. Most nights, we left the resort to have dinner in funky Cruz Bay, the island's only town of sorts (Coral Bay, on the island's other end, is more of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it village, complete with goats blocking traffic on the highway).

Not the island's most picturesque spot, Cruz Bay nonetheless has its charms...

...such as this colorful residental space, organically tucked into a plaza full of restaurants and little shops.

I took this pic for the "N' Mo" and received an additional, one-of-a-kind sign (on the left) as a bonus.

Even shopping complex Mongoose Junction, the town's most blatant tourist destination, seems unique and constructed to blend in with the surrounding landscape.

One day, we rented a jeep so we could explore the rest of the island. It proved a challenge - not only do people drive on the left side of the road, the roads themselves are among the steepest and curviest I've seen.

Overlooking Maho Bay (yes, the sea appears this gorgeously blue everywhere there).

The Annaberg sugar ruins, which overlook this:

A few shots of lovely Leinster Bay, with views of the British Virgin Islands in the distance:

Another day, we took a ferry to Virgin Gorda, which is part of the British V.I. Our resort, Caneel Bay has a sister property there called Little Dix Bay. The trip took a little over an hour and offered some stunning views along the way, such as this majestic house on a rock...

...and this cool, old vessel.

After wading through customs and immigration, we boarded a taxi - note its awning, reminiscient of a 1970s lawn chair.

Our first stop was The Baths, which first required a ten-minute walk down to the sea...

...followed by another ten minutes wedging one's way through (often ridiculously narrow) caves.

Fortunately, the destination featured some spectacular views.

A high surf prevented us from doing much swimming or snorkling, but it was still worth the trip.

Afterwards, we cabbed over to Little Dix Bay for lunch. It's a beautiful property, as you can see in the pictures below, but Steve and I preferred Caneel Bay's more spacious layout.

My favorite part of the whole vacation? Sitting here at Little Dix Bay for about a half-hour, watching the waves and letting any remaining stress just dissolve away. This is why we went to the Virgin Islands.

ST. JOHN: CANEEL BAY

2011-02-07T00:00:00.008-05:00

After another soul-crushing New England winter, Steve and I decided it would be necessary to go someplace warm this year. We picked St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since more than half the island is a National Park, it's less developed and tourist-heavy than other Caribbean destinations such as St. Thomas - in other words, perfect for us.

We stayed at Caneel Bay resort, which this post will feature. Because St. John does not have an airport, we flew into St. Thomas and then took a ferry directly to the resort - this was our most welcoming first view.

Consisting of 170 acres and 7 beaches, Caneel Bay is a spacious, beautiful property nestled between the coast and St. John's mountainous landscape.

Here's a wide-lens view with the resort's open-air Equator restaurant on the left.

Our accomodations appeared unremarkable from the outside...

Inside, however, was surprisingly lovely - cozy and just the right size.

The property features some sugar mill ruins.

For a hefty price, I believe one can privately dine in them.

Caneel's vegetation often seemed more like something one would find in the desert than in the tropics.

However, there were plenty of trees laden with fruit...

And of course, palms everywhere.

In the background, if you squint hard enough, you can make out some of Caneel's most common animal residents.

Donkeys strolled the property with ease.

A few weren't shy, either. This one took an interest and kept inching towards me.

We also spotted the occasional iguana.

I think I preferred the donkeys.

We saw plenty of teeny tiny birds, plus mightier ones such as this pelican-like beauty.

I mentioned that Caneel has seven beaches - while we did not lounge at every single one, we spent one afternoon here at Scott Beach.

Snorkling in the clear blue Caribbean, we saw a stellar assortment of tropical fish, plus one massive turtle.

This lady had the right idea - although not oppressively hot, the temps reached the mid-80s every single day.

Sunset at the sugar mill ruins, gazing upon the St. Thomas horizon. Check back soon for more pictures from the rest of the island (and beyond).

PARADISE FOUND

2011-01-31T21:37:00.003-05:00

It feels absolutely surreal that I lounged on this Caribbean beach less than a week ago. More pictures to come...

THE BEST FILMS OF 2010

2011-01-20T00:00:00.004-05:00

1. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP
When I saw graffiti artist Bansky’s documentary early on in its theatrical run, I did not even question whether it was real or a hoax—I completely bought the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction account of transplanted French shopkeeper Thierry Guetta, who captured nearly an entire artistic movement with his video camera and then turned it on its head by becoming its most outlandish participant. At face value, the film exhilarates via its ingenuous construction and shrewd critique of street art’s inevitable commoditization. That it might all be made up is less a cheat and more a fascinating study of just what an audience will take at face value.

2. WINTER’S BONE
Debra Granik’s award winner and surprise hit could be a textbook example of everything good about independent film, yet it’s almost too good to set aside as a mere example. The story concerns a teenager (the superb Jennifer Lawrence) in the Missouri Ozarks searching for her father, who has disappeared after selling the family house as a jail bond, but Granik is more concerned with creating a vivid sense of place and unforgettable characters such as John Hawke’s weathered, strung-out uncle and Dale Dickey’s vicious yet oddly maternal force-of-nature. Stark but deeply affecting and authentic, the film expertly humanizes a world foreign to most of us.

3. JACK GOES BOATING
I’m baffled as to why most critics underrated or altogether dismissed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s warm, poignant directorial debut. His adaptation of Robert Glaudini’s play is an actor’s showcase for sure as all four principals shine (particularly John Ortiz). However, Hoffman also demonstrates a real talent for combining a feel for life’s daily rhythms with a wistful, poetic style that points towards magic realism without seeming false or strained. He’s made a lovely little film about genuine people falling in and out of love, and I hope he gets to direct another one.

4. MARWENCOL
A masterful illustration of art-as-therapy but also a haunting, riveting profile—after years of supervised rehabilitation following a violent attack on him by six men, Mark Hogencamp deals with his trauma on his own by constructing an ever-more elaborate facsimile of a World War II era Belgian village populated with dolls which he then photographs. Serious and profound rather than kitschy and flippant, he creates great art—as does director Jeff Malmberg, who carefully reveals one by one the hidden layers of Hogenkamp’s astonishing story without any exploitative slant.

5. THE SOCIAL NETWORK
For something so closely linked to a specific moment in time (in this case, the social media boom of the early-mid Oughts), “The Facebook Movie” recalls 1970s New Hollywood auteur cinema in its preference to character development over generic plot fixtures and by placing faith in an audience’s ability to keep up with its moral ambiguities and briskly paced dialogue (it’s nearly the Arrested Development of biographical dramas). Director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin bring out the best in each other, but Jesse Eisenberg’s Mark Zuckerberg is for the ages: frightfully intelligent and ruthlessly deceptive, but also seriously flawed and almost someone to root for.

6. I KILLED MY MOTHER
Frankly, I’m a little scared of Xavier Dolan. He wrote, directed, produced and starred in this film and did it all before he turned 20. Not only has he made a personal, poetic work with a clear vision, he’s also uncommonly assured and perceptive—he sees the good in his screen alter-ego Hubert yet he also knows how much of a self-absorbed little prick he can be. Plus, he has an equally endearing/annoying counterpart in his mother (Anne Dorval)—their letter-perfect verbal sparing matches should resonate with any mother and son.

7. DOGTOOTH
Speaking of clear, unique visions, Giorgos Lanthimos is fully committed to his equally strange and compelling one. In his first feature to get any attention outside Greece, he presents a cautionary tale so theoretically outrageous that it sounds absurd on paper: a man and woman raise their children in complete isolation to protect them from the outside world and instill this artificial world with their own rules and language. A relentlessly black comedy, DOGTOOTH imagines an extreme but (as it plays out) startlingly plausible scenario and sees it through to the bitter (if deliciously ironic) end.

8. BLACK SWAN
Recognizing that the ballet provides an especially intoxicating setting for a psychological horror film, Darren Aronofsky more or less remakes THE RED SHOES with the wizardly, deliberate artificiality of a young Brian De Palma. Thankfully, by reveling in the narrative’s camp tendencies he doesn’t take himself too seriously; nor does he lose control of a roller coaster ride that forever threatens to spin off its rails. After years of showy, not-quite-there work, Natalie Portman gamely proves her mettle—she’s the film’s center, but she also gleefully, confidently loses herself in the process.

9. FISH TANK
Tough teenage protagonist Mia (Katie Jarvis) uses her love of hip-hop dancing as a means of escape from her rough housing project home. Tension mounts as Mia and her young, immature mother’s charming boyfriend (Michael Fassbender) develop a mutual attraction. In her second feature, director Andrea Arnold redeems this not entirely original plot with strong performances and an inspired, dense visual composition (shot in an immediate, TV-like 1.33 aspect ratio), but her decidedly feminine point of view fully distinguishes the film from other British working class dramas.

10. I AM LOVE
An unapologetically old-fashioned melodrama centered on a wealthy Milanese family, it will not appease those seeking subtlety (or even logic), but for me, its skill, sheer chutzpah and a divine Tilda Swinton speaking fluent Italian obliterated such concerns. When did anyone last attempt something even remotely like this film’s operatic, furiously-edited finale where the thrilling, maddening score keeps building and building until the whole thing practically explodes? Ridiculously massive and moving, it may take itself more seriously than BLACK SWAN, but it goes for broke (not to mention baroque) without falling apart.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

BEST WORST MOVIE
You can’t piss on hospitality, and you can barely find any flaws in this entertaining, oddly affectionate documentary about a most preposterous low-budget film called TROLL 2.

BLUE VALENTINE
A brutal (if not altogether bleak) dissection of a souring relationship made palatable by strong performances and an honest (if blunt) viewpoint that’s refreshing by most relationship film standards—both indie and otherwise.

EVERYONE ELSE
An even more intense (and thrilling) dissection of a romantic couple, or, to quote Scot Colford, “That moment in a relationship when you see your partner deciding whether he/she would rather be a freak or a douchebag.”

THE GHOST WRITER
An expertly executed Roman Polanski thriller (not so common these days) that uses its eye-catching setting brilliantly and gets good, subtle work from Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan.

THE GOOD HEART
Brian Cox and Paul Dano inhabit an un-gentrified New York that tempers its ancient corridors and outdated misogyny with camaraderie and offbeat humor that won’t appeal to everyone, although it should have reached more viewers than it did.

INSIDE JOB
This is how to make a film about the 2008 financial crisis—it lays out the facts in a clear, concise manner, then, without any snark, offers real solutions that favor rational thinking over manipulated emotions.

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
A year in the life of everyone’s favorite bawdy female Jewish comedienne that gains momentum and purpose by exploring how much her ability to work and keep pushing herself is a life force.

MICMACS
Shame on Sony Pictures Classics for almost burying Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s latest, in which a quirky assembly of misfits become a surrogate family and a makeshift army in typically, crazily inventive Jeunet fashion.

MOTHER
Bong Joon-ho (THE HOST) returns with an astutely, intricately plotted mystery anchored by a mother of a performance (literally!) from Kim Hye-ja as someone who takes the notion of protecting her son to an awesome, almost terrifying extreme.

NIGHT CATCHES US
Tanya Hamilton’s truly independent, long-gestating project is personal cinema of the sort one rarely sees anymore—her evocation of a specific time and place (1976 Philadelphia) matches her skillfulness in expressing its cultural meaning and significance.

PATRIK, AGE 1.5
Maybe someday an American will make a gay-themed film as sharp and cliché-free as this affable Swedish adaptation of a stage play about a male couple whose adopted son is not what they were expecting.

PLEASE GIVE
In her most accomplished work to date, Nicole Holofcener proves herself Woody Allen’s real heir, insightfully weaving together a colorful set of New Yorkers either wracked with too much guilt or lacking an adequate dose of humility.

TEN EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCES...
(that won't receive Academy Award nominations):

Paprika Steen in APPLAUSE
Emma Stone in EASY A
Katie Jarvis in FISH TANK
Brian Cox in THE GOOD HEART
Anne Dorval in I KILLED MY MOTHER
John Ortiz in JACK GOES BOATING
Kim Hye-ja in MOTHER
Anthony Mackie in NIGHT CATCHES US
Ann Morgan Guilbert in PLEASE GIVE
Miles Teller in RABBIT HOLE

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
(Other films which also received at least four stars out of five)

APPLAUSE
CYRUS
GREENBERG
HIPSTERS
HOWL
INCEPTION
IT CAME FROM KUCHAR
THE KING’S SPEECH
LAST TRAIN HOME
LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL*
MY DOG TULIP
NEVER LET ME GO
PRODIGAL SONS
RABBIT HOLE
THE SECRET OF KELLS
SHUTTER ISLAND
SOUL KITCHEN
TINY FURNITURE
TRUE GRIT
WINNEBAGO MAN

*released on DVD in the U.S. as MANSON, MY NAME IS EVIL, regrettably.

100 FILMS: 2000-2010

2011-01-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

#55 - The Saddest Music in The World

This year's Chlotrudis poll is a survey of favorite films from the last decade or so (specifically, 2000-2010). Members were asked to submit a top 20 list, which was extended to 50, and then again to 70. I already counted down my favorite 50 films of the '00s about a year ago; here's my revised and expanded-to-100 list, with the inclusion of a few 2010 candidates.

I wouldn't put too much weight every single ranking, given how fluidly my opinions shift--a week after making this list, I saw BLACK SWAN a second time and would now place it slightly higher.

1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Beau Travail
4. There Will Be Blood
5. Y Tu Mama Tambien
6. Me and You and Everyone We Know
7. Duck Season
8. In the Mood For Love
9. Yi Yi
10. The Return
11. Cache
12. Before Sunset
13. Still Walking
14. C.R.A.Z.Y.
15. Far From Heaven
16. Waking Life
17. Lost in Translation
18. Spirited Away
19. 49 Up
20. Let The Right One In
21. Exit Through the Gift Shop
22. Winter's Bone
23. What Time is it There?
24. Gosford Park
25. American Splendor
26. Synecdoche, New York
27. Punch Drunk Love
28. Man on Wire
29. Ghost World
30. Donnie Darko
31. My Winnipeg
32. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
33. Jack Goes Boating
34. Talk To Her
35. Judy Berlin
36. Hedwig and The Angry Inch
37. Tarnation
38. Clean
39. Best in Show
40. Marwencol
41. 35 Shots of Rum
42. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
43. Half Nelson
44. The Social Network
45. Dogville
46. Raising Victor Vargas
47. The Triplets of Belleville
48. Our Song
49. Mysterious Skin
50. Morvern Callar
51. Away From Her
52. The Squid and The Whale
53. The Hurt Locker
54. Volver
55. The Saddest Music in The World
56. Children of Men
57. The Best of Youth
58. Grizzly Man
59. I Killed My Mother
60. A Serious Man
61. The Visitor
62. The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters
63. The Happiness of the Katikuris
64. Amelie
65. Not One Less
66. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
67. The Incredibles
68. Reprise
69. Shortbus
70. The Beaches of Agnes
71. Los Angeles Plays Itself
72. The Brand Upon The Brain!
73. Hunger
74. The Wind Will Carry Us
75. Double Dare
76. I'm Not There
77. The Gleaners and I
78. In The Loop
79. The Case of The Grinning Cat
80. The Host
81. Inland Empire
82. Goodbye Dragon Inn
83. The Flight of the Red Balloon
84. Elephant
85. 3-Iron
86. The Station Agent
87. Fantastic Mr. Fox
88. Revanche
89. Black Swan
90. Persepolis
91. Sideways
92. 25th Hour
93. Wonder Boys
94. Spellbound
95. Lilja 4 Ever
96. Dancer in the Dark
97. Tropical Malady
98. Day Night Day Night
99. Songs From the Second Floor
100. 2046

2010 BOOKLIST

2011-01-06T00:00:00.002-05:00

Usually I would rattle off a number of how many novels, memoirs, etc; I read over the past year, but as I examine my list, I'm seeing more than a few books falling into (or inbetween) multiple categories. Anyway, here's five that I really enjoyed:

Robert Altman: An Oral Biography - Mitchell Zuckoff (ed.)
Of course Altman's biography should be orally told--what better way to approach the effect of his films' deliberately messy, overlapping dialogue? With everyone from Julie Christie to Cher contributing, it's obviously entertaining but also resonant with echoes and contradictions, just like the omnipresent mirrors in The Long Goodbye.

Party Animals - Robert Hofler
A biography of Allan Carr, the larger-than-life caftan-enthusiast who found fame producing the film version of Grease and greater infamy for most of his following projects (including the Village People musical Can't Stop the Music). A frivolously fun must-read for aficionados of artistic folly, camp and 1970s/80s excess.

Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
Eggers' account of a Muslim family enduring Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath has all the richly-drawn characters and stop-at-a-dime plot twists of a great novel, even though it's a nonfiction work--perhaps the most damning and artful documentation of that disaster to date.

I Know I Am, But What Are You? - Samantha Bee
The Daily Show correspondent Bee's collection of scathingly funny essays presents a winning, bold but self-deprecating persona: she comes off like a friendly neighbor who seems perfectly normal at first glance until she relates to you the time she spent performing in a travelling live version of a Brazilian kids TV show. In other words, the closest female equivalent to David Sedaris I've yet read.

Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
One expected an ambitious, sprawling doorstop of a novel from Franzen, but never did I anticipate that it would surpass The Corrections. Once again, Franzen shows an innate knack for grabbing the reader's attention from the very first page and sustaining it; he also manages to somehow masterfully sum up the preceding decade's culture and attitude through a tale of one incredibly, touchingly flawed family.

My 2010 Booklist:

1. Eating the Dinosaur - Chuck Klosterman
2. Player Piano - Kurt Vonnegut
3. I Shudder - Paul Rudnick
4. Hitchcock/Truffaut - Francois Truffaut
5. But Beautiful: A Book About Jazz - Geoff Dyer
6. Robert Altman: An Oral Biography - Mitchell Zuckoff (ed.)
7. Worst Song on Played Ugliest Guitar (Achewood Vol. 2) - Chris Onstad
8. On Some Faraway Beach: The Life and Times of Brian Eno - David Sheppard
9. 1989: Bob Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About - Joshua Clover
10. Chicago - Alaa Al Aswamy
11. Radio On - Sarah Vowell*
12. Dusty in Memphis (33 1/3 series) - Warren Zanes
13. Ripped - Greg Kot
14. The Living End - Stanley Elkin
15. The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History - John Ortved
16. Last Words - George Carlin with Tony Hendra
17. Pure Drivel - Steve Martin*
18. Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates - Tom Robbins*
19. Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life - Steve Almond
20. Girls Like Us - Sheila Weller
21. Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem
22. Party Animals - Robert Hofler
23. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris*
24. Girlfriend In a Coma - Douglas Coupland
25. The Discomfort Zone - Jonathan Franzen
26. Court and Spark (33 1/3 series) - Sean Nelson
27. Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs - Cheryl Peck
28. Trout Fishing in America - Richard Brautigan
29. The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
30. Role Models - John Waters
31. Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
32. Collected Stories - Carson McCullers*
33. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran - Rob Sheffield
34. I Was Told There'd Be Cake - Sloane Crosley
35. The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano
36. I Know I Am, But What Are You? - Samantha Bee
37. A Year at the Movies - Kevin Murphy*
38. Harvard Square: An Illustrated History Since 1950 - Mo Lotkin
39. Let the Right One In - John Ajvide Lindqvist
40. Freedom - Jonathan Franzen
41. My Year of Flops - Nathan Rabin
42. White Noise - Don DeLillo
43. One Day - David Nicholls
44. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia - Jonathan Rosenbaum
45. Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo? - Jancee Dunn
46. Too Much Happiness - Alice Munro

* re-read

12 FROM 2010

2010-12-31T00:00:00.006-05:00

A dozen random pix from the past year:

Fowle's in Newburyport on a frigid Saturday in January.

Snake(s) at Millenium Park in West Roxbury. I saw one at first, then two, and frankly I'd rather not know if a third lurks somewhere in there.

Classy canisters in a kitchenette at the Mandarin Hotel Boston

Congress Street bridge across Fort Point Channel on a true blue Friday afternoon in August.

Old and new co-existing in Downtown Crossing.

An elaborate kite (you can barely make out the string on the mid-left) at Crane's Beach, Ipswich.

Autumn sunset approaching Scituate Harbor (and "Mildred").

A creative, welcoming archway at the Coastal Maine Botannical Garden.

A corridor teeming with a Green Wall (and single-use restrooms--no, really) at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.

Also at Longwood Gardens--photographers pray for natural light and shadows like these.

A mosaic of immense proportions on South Street in Philadelphia.

Maggie lounging under our living room's entertainment center--her new favorite spot.

THE BEST MUSIC OF 2010

2010-12-18T12:15:00.000-05:00

TOP TEN ALBUMS
(click on each link for individual posts)

1. Tracey Thorn – LOVE AND ITS OPPOSITE
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM
3. Hot Chip – ONE LIFE STAND
4. Laura Marling – I SPEAK BECAUSE I CAN
5. Janelle Monae – THE ARCHANDROID
6. Spoon – TRANSFERENCE
7. Belle and Sebastian – WRITE ABOUT LOVE
8. Joanna Newsom – HAVE ONE ON ME
9. V.V. Brown – TRAVELLING LIKE THE LIGHT
10. The Divine Comedy – BANG GOES THE KNIGHTHOOD

ALSO RECOMMENDED (with favorite tracks):

The Arcade Fire – THE SUBURBS
Still too ambitious for their own good, but at least they’re less pompous while retaining their singular grandeur. (“Modern Man”, “Ready to Start”, “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”)

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim – HERE LIES LOVE
An all-star concept double album about Imelda Marcos? Works better than it has any right to—credit the impressive cast rather than the material. (“Here Lies Love” with Florence and the Machine, “Walk Like a Woman” with Charmaine Clamor, “Why Don’t You Love Me” with Tori Amos and Cyndi Lauper)

Field Music – MEASURE
Another double album that would’ve made a tidy single one, but their accessible (if angular) smartypants pop is often a welcome respite from scores of Pitchfork-approved humorless indie rock. (“Effortlessly”, “Let’s Write a Book”, “Them That Do Nothing”)

Goldfrapp – HEAD FIRST
Hardly their most profound effort, this extended tribute to synthetic ‘80s gloss is no less fun than any ‘80s appropriation of ‘60s culture (and it has the year’s best album cover). (“Rocket”, “Alive”, “I Wanna Life”)

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – I LEARNED THE HARD WAY
They posit another loving tribute to a past era, but sincerity and a wealth of talent keep them from sounding like a tribute band—they continue to find new colors in their limited palette. (“The Game Gets Old”, “I Learned the Hard Way”)

LCD Soundsystem – THIS IS HAPPENING
Contains this year’s best clever non-sequitur lyric (“Eat it Michael Musto, you’re no Bruce Vilanch”), but with increasing alacrity, the standouts aim for more than laffs.
(“Home”, “All I Want”, “One Touch”)

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – THE BRUTALIST BRICKS
His most consistent album since HEARTS OF OAK: not so much an advance as a refinement, with wisdom now supplementing his ample passion.
(“Bottled in Cork”, “Ativan Eyes”, “One Polaroid a Day”)

Scissor Sisters – NIGHT WORK
Sleazy, a bit cheesy, and on occasion, gloriously vulgar—who else would juxtapose AD/DC with The Bee Gees?
(“Invisible Light”, “Night Life”, “Harder You Get”)

Sufjan Stevens – THE AGE OF ADZ
As one track puts it early on, it’s all a bit “Too Much”, but I have to admit this certifiably peculiar detour has grown on me, albeit at a more glacial pace than I’d prefer.
(“I Walked”, “Vesuvius”)

Vampire Weekend – CONTRA
As with their debut, can a person absolutely admire the music while finding it actively annoying at times? Chalk that up as a rationale for why it came this close to making my top ten.
(“Giving Up the Gun”, “White Sky”, “Taxi Cab”)

OTHER FAVORITE TRACKS:

Joan Armatrading, “This Charming Life”
Best Coast, “Boyfriend”
Broken Bells, “The Ghost Inside”
Cee-Lo Green, “Fuck You”
Four Tet, “Angel Echoes”
The Gaslight Anthem, “American Slang”
Gorillaz, “On Melancholy Beach”
Emm Gryner, “Stray Bullet”
Nellie McKay, “Caribbean Time”
Morcheeba, “Even Though”
The New Pornographers, “Crash Years”
Pernice Brothers, “The Great Depression”
Robyn, “Dancing on My Own”
Gil Scott-Heron, “New York is Killing Me”
Stars, “Fixed”
Sufjan Stevens, “Heirloom”
KT Tunstall, “(Still a) Weirdo”
Laura Veirs, “July Flame”

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 1

2010-12-17T00:00:00.003-05:00

I had exceptional difficulty picking a number one album this year, as I loved the top four almost equally. However, I can't have a four-way-tie on a top ten list, so after much deliberation...

1. Tracey Thorn - LOVE AND ITS OPPOSITE

Thorn recently married Ben Watt, her longtime partner in Everything But The Girl with whom she has three children, so it initially seems a little odd that her third solo effort contains songs about heartbreak, divorce and working up the courage to attend a “Singles Bar”. But EBTG’s best work always offered an unusually sobering, brutally honest perspective on romantic love and you believed every word regardless of whether or not Thorn and Watt lived it. Largely eschewing the dance music that defined 2007’s Out of the Woods and the later EBTG albums, this is mostly stripped-down chamber pop full of unexpected but earned epiphanies: the opening piano waltz “Oh, the Divorces!” blossoming into orchestral bliss on its bridge, the peppy, charming mother-to-daughter heart-to-heart of “Hormones”, the woozy cover of Lee Hazelwood’s “Come On Home to Me” (sung as a duet with Jens Lekman) that’s so perfect one would think Hazelwood composed it specifically for them, the ineffable sense of wintry dread piercing through the autumnal reflection of “Late in the Afternoon”. More than anything, Love and Its Opposite recalls and is often of a piece with EBTG's masterpiece, 1994’s Amplified Heart.

Favorite Tracks: Hormones, Oh, The Divorces!, Why Does the Wind? Come On Home to Me, Kentish Town

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 2

2010-12-16T00:00:00.002-05:00

2. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM

To give you a sense of Gainsbourg’s apparent fearlessness, she took on the challenging lead role in Lars von Trier’s Antichrist not long after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. The latter inspired this album’s title (the French acronym of an MRI scanner) and music. Similarly fearless, it’s a sonic playground, an ever-changing canvas for Gainsbourg’s reedy but magnetic vocals: the title track simulates its namesake's mechanical milieu, “Dandelion” coolly shuffles along like a rootsy Donovan song, “Time of the Assassins” beams in from an alternate-world '70s AM radio station, the dramatic-yet-barely-there “Vanities” feels almost unbearably poignant and “Le Chat du Café des Artistes” even apes her famous father Serge’s style and gets away with it. Beck co-wrote and produced nearly every track, and he proves an ideal collaborator; like Gainsbourg, he’s a polymath who does more than merely pay homage to his influences. I wouldn’t mind if the two reconvene for a sequel, but as with her unconventional acting career, I suspect Gainsbourg would rather try something new on her next album.

Favorite Tracks: Dandelion, Time of the Assassins, Heaven Can Wait, Trick Pony, Vanities

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 3

2010-12-15T00:00:00.001-05:00

3. Hot Chip - ONE LIFE STAND

Increasingly disappointed by some of the albums I anticipated most this year, I found ample pleasure in others that I had absolutely no expectations for, like the fourth full-length by this British male quintet. Although sporadically capable of a great single, much of their previous stuff scanned like the output of prankster, laptop-wielding geeks. Here, they beef up the instrumentation to symphonic levels but also court the heart rather than just the feet or the funny bone. You can still dance to most of it (the irresistible Tamla-groove-with-strings of “Hand Me Down Your Love”; the title track’s oddly cheery Depeche Mode-isms), but the lyrics (“I only want to be your one life stand”, “It’s a wild love that I have for my brothers”) and Alexis Taylor’s androgynous but ever more expressive vocals exude sincerity and deep emotion without feeling sappy. And practically every song here could be a single.

Favorite Tracks: Hand Me Down Your Love, One Life Stand, Take It In, I Feel Better, Brothers

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 4

2010-12-14T00:00:00.002-05:00

4. Laura Marling - I SPEAK BECAUSE I CAN

As a 20-year-old Brit singing potent, exceedingly dark folk music, Marling would seem a novelty if both her vocals and words did not bespeak such rare maturity and wisdom for any age. She expertly builds from a hushed stillness to menacing rage on “Hope in the Air”, but also steeps the musically jaunty “Darkness Descends” with just enough self-deprecation to temper her misery. A major advance on her recorded-at-the-age-of-17 debut Alas, I Cannot Swim, this ten-song set reminds me of nothing less seminal than The Songs of Leonard Cohen—one can intuit a sustained sense of awe in its austerity, especially on those occasions when the simple arrangements swell into something magisterial. As Robert Altman did with Cohen on McCabe & Ms. Miller, some likeminded young director should score a film to these songs.

Favorite Tracks: Hope in the Air, Rambling Man, Darkness Descends, Devil’s Spoke

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 5

2010-12-13T00:00:00.002-05:00

5. Janelle Monáe - THE ARCHANDROID

Monáe’s full-length debut reminds me of my favorite album of 2009 in its openness and endless possibilities and also ‘cause it’s nuts. Where to begin classifying a sci-fi conceptual piece in two suites that encompasses prime Stevie Wonder soul (“Oh, Maker”), disco boogie (“Locked Inside”), giddy ‘80s electropop (“Wondaland”), reverbed-to-the-max psychedelia (“Mushrooms and Roses”), hot swing-band jazz (“Come Alive (War of the Roses)”), haunted folk (“57821”) and Prince-like new wave (the Of Montreal-assisted “Make the Bus”)? And that’s not even mentioning the orchestral interludes, the Philip K. Dick tribute or the genre-defying singles (“Cold War” and “Tightrope”). Altogether it astonishes, it nearly overwhelms and it’s as precocious and promising a full-length debut as fellow delightful nutjob Nellie McKay’s Get Away From Me.

Favorite Tracks: Wondaland, Cold War, 57821, Tightrope

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 6

2010-12-10T00:00:00.001-05:00

6. Spoon - TRANSFERENCE

What's this band all about? You can't easily categorize them as anything more dynamic or telling than that catch-all variety "indie rock" and the moment they got on the radio (with their previous, overpraised effort Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga), I sensed some calculation in their minimal-but-not shtick. So, this proved a pleasant surprise, even if it further muddies my initial question. Although every song could have conceivably fit on any of their last four albums, you sense the band pulling back a bit, forgoing fanciful flourishes for the leanest, barest essentials (groove and melody-wise). Overall, it feels refreshingly off-the-cuff and yet hypnotic, whether they're going for nighttime driving music (the spy film worthy "The Mystery Zone") or enigmatic collages that just about leave you hanging, but still satiated ("Nobody Gets Me But You", "Who Makes Your Money").

Favorite Tracks: The Mystery Zone, Out Go the Lights, Nobody Gets Me But You

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 7

2010-12-09T00:00:00.003-05:00

7. Belle and Sebastian - WRITE ABOUT LOVE

After a considerable hiatus, Stuart Murdoch and company return with more of the same (not counting a guest vocal from Norah Jones, of all people) and for once, that's acceptable. Fifteen years after their debut and seven since splendidly reinventing themselves as groovy pop pastiche artists, they arguably have no new musical boundaries to conquer. All any fan could ask for is more good stuff, which this affable, durable collection delivers more often than not. However, look behind the shiny surfaces and first-contact pleasures and you'll find depth and even a few revelations such as the intensity underneath "I Didn't See it Coming" surfacing euphorically in the song's bridge or the title track's glove-like appropriation of a guest vocal from actress Carey Mulligan (of all people).

Favorite Tracks: I Didn't See it Coming, The Ghost of Rockschool, I Want the World to Stop

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 8

2010-12-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

8. Joanna Newsom - HAVE ONE ON ME

Yes, it’s an honest-to-god triple album: three discs, six songs/40 minutes per. Well, if her ambitious, impenetrable second album Ys suggested she had more to her than a squeaky seven-year-old girl’s voice in a woman’s frame, this gargantuan follow-up confirms it, but with a few twists. For one thing, although most songs still average six-eight minutes in length, they’re far easier to swallow with their simple chord progressions and even an occasional chorus. More significantly, her vocals sound deeper, less harsh and far more nuanced. Although I glean more pleasure from a single disc at a time than trying to consume the entire thing whole, this is an apotheosis for Newsom: abundantly rich, stimulating and far reaching even if it exists in its own inimitable plane.

Favorite Tracks: Good Intentions Paving Company, Go Long, Baby Birch

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 9

2010-12-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

9. V.V. Brown - TRAVELLING LIKE THE LIGHT

She was born of Jamaican and Puerto Rican parents and raised in England, and I only mention this as a means to decode her captivating polyglot vocal style, which scans less Joan Armatrading than you’d expect and more Neneh Cherry and Amy Winehouse than frankly you’d ever want. Fortunately, her music’s just as much of a mash-up, mixing and matching rockabilly, contemporary R&B, reggae and good ol' Britpop into a dazzling gestalt. If a touch too quirky to gain the radio airplay of someone like Rhianna, Brown nonetheless suggests a potentially bright pop future. At the very least, she’s a hell of a lot more fun than Katy Perry.

Favorite Tracks: Shark in the Water, Leave!, Bottles

BEST ALBUMS OF 2010: # 10

2010-12-06T00:00:00.002-05:00

10. The Divine Comedy - BANG GOES THE KNIGHTHOOD

I’ve spent the past year delving into Neil Hannon’s considerable back catalogue (Absent Friends or best-of A Secret History are good places to start); satisfyingly, this conveys no reduction of his erudite wit, clever hooks or particularly British insouciance. In fact, apart from a suitably dramatic ballad or two, it’s positively lighthearted: “Neapolitan Girl” and “Island Life” sway and sigh like an effervescent breeze, while “At the Indie Disco” celebrates rather than mocks its Morrissey devotees. Hannon even allows you to almost root for “The Complete Banker”, who laments apologetically but with sincerity, “So I caused a second great depression, what can I say? / I guess I got a bit carried away."

Favorite Tracks: At the Indie Disco, The Complete Banker, I Like

DISCO TURKEYS

2010-11-25T10:24:00.001-05:00

It's Turkey Day! Last year, Eagleman found his way into the Mix. This year, I present the lowest point in American pop culture. I admit it's a chore to sit through the whole thing... Sparkly costumes! Wooden choreography! No discernible vocal talent ('cept for Florence Henderson)! Still, make sure to stick around for Rerun.

COPLEY SQUARE SUNSET

2010-11-16T20:13:00.001-05:00

Sunsets are fleeting, providing only a brief envelope in which to capture them. Luckily, I had some time to kill walking between one station and another on my evening commute a few weeks ago.

WHITE PICKET KITTY CATS

2010-10-25T22:26:00.000-04:00

I hope to post a photo essay on the lovely, gorgeous Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in the near future. For now, a peek at my favorite part, located in the Children's Garden.

This white picket fence may seem unspectacular from afar, but look closer...

That's right: a feline fence.

These silent but watchful kitties guard this little shack 24/7. Adorable and just a tad spooky, I wouldn't mind having them encompass my home.

THE BEACH, AT LAST

2010-09-28T21:43:00.001-04:00

We drove up to Ipswich last weekend to see my friend Diane. It was one of those rare late September afternoons that felt more like late July. As a town resident, Diane has free access to Crane Beach--it was my second, and likely last time at a beach this year. Some highlights:

I'D RATHER BE DEAD (THAN WET MY BED)

2010-09-21T23:07:00.000-04:00

I first saw a clip from this in a new-ish documentary about Harry Nilsson that I hope to post a review of soon. It's like something out of SCTV or (as one commenter notes) Monty Python, but it's also achingly sincere--a thing of deranged beauty, if you will.

MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS

2010-08-30T23:07:00.000-04:00

When in Maine, we usually stay close to the coast: Portland, York Beach, Freeport. For a change, we visited the charming, sleepy town of Bethel, about 70 miles Northwest of Portland in the Western Maine mountains. Dotted with modest inns, restaurants and shops (and no recognizable chains), it has a fairly unassuming Main Street, except maybe at sunset.

We stayed at the Sudbury Inn; you can see our room here on the second floor's front corner. Apart from the complimentary breakfasts, we did not dine at the Inn's restaurant, although we frequented the subterranean Suds Pub more than once.

Most of Western Maine contains a refreshing lack of kitsch; I'm not sure this gigantic phone in Bryant Pond (about 10 miles down the road from Bethel) even qualifies as such since it's a memorial sculpture dedicated to Barbara and Elden Hathaway, owners of "the very last hand crank magneto telephone system" in the country.

Steve and I came to Maine not only to celebrate our anniversary, but to get out of the city and commune with nature. Our first stop was at the Sunday River covered bridge in nearby Newry.

Across the street, I spotted this curious, obviously hand-made warning. It's two, two signs in one!

The region is full of signs I've never seen before, like this one at a Route 2 rest stop. Naturally, it entices me to peel those birches all the more.

After the covered bridge, we ventured over to Sunday River itself, a vast ski resort that attracts hikers and bikers during the summer months. We took the "chondola" up the hill...

...and this was the view at the top.

Encouraged by one of the resort's friendly staff, we took an impromptu hike up to Barker Mountain. On a Sunday morning, we had the trail practically all to ourselves...

...except for an assortment of butterflies. I swear this one actually posed for us.

The next day, we visited the White Mountains across the border in New Hampshire. On the way, we made a pit shop in teeny tiny Shelburne because this lovely old church caught our eye from the highway.

Next door to the church: I'm guessing Cobalt Blue Wine Bottle trees are indigenous only to Shelburne.

The White Mountains teemed with fog--spooky, but eerily beautiful. We took a "zipride" at another one of the local resorts. It was like riding downhill in a chondola, only you're tightly strapped into a single seat and your arms and legs flail about. No pictures because they wouldn't let you ride with a camera, but sadly the ride wasn't quite as exciting as it looked from the ground.

Eventually, the fog lifted, and we drove along the Kancamagus Highway, which runs east to west through the mountains.

We made a number of stops along the way, the most memorable being the Rocky Gorge Scenic Area where the water was as vivid and clear as the bold, blue skies.

I could have spent hours lazing about there.

Overall, there wasn't a heck of a lot to do in Bethel and the surrounding area; three nights was probably just the right amount of time. Fortunately, I didn't mind the languid pace. For once, it was nice not having any place particular to be. I leave you with a few scenic overlooks along the Kancamagus:

DOG DAYS

2010-08-14T11:37:00.002-04:00

Obviously, Five Things will not be a weekly feature; at this point, who knows if it will return at all. I don't care, I'm on vacation! In the meantime, enjoy this pic of Maggie my parents took during their whirlwind visit last week, and check back later in the month for some potentially ambitious stuff.

INTRODUCING FIVE THINGS

2010-07-27T21:18:00.003-04:00

I have grand ideas for many potential blog posts, but procrastinator that I am, I can't seem to finish (much less start) any of 'em. So, to get this blog active again, I am going to try to post about five things that interest me every week. Some will have a paragraph written about them (or more); others may be lucky to get one sentence. I will also include photographs and links because sometimes I fear I won't have five things to write fluently about. But it will give me something to aim for.

1. OVO (Cirque du Soleil)

Before this weekend, my vague impression of Cirque du Soleil was that of an arty, expensive Quebecois entertainment setting up shop in town once or twice a year with one inexplicably named production (Kooza? Zumanity?) after another. Having now seen one of these shows, I can confirm I wasn’t too far off the mark. The insect-themed OVO opens with a ginormous egg in center stage, which hatches to reveal the cast, all men and women clad in elaborate, eye-popping costumes that resemble grasshoppers, red ants, a spider, a fruit fly, a ladybug, and many others I did not quite recognize. Combining graceful ballet with impressive acrobatics and accompanied by a lovely, airy score (performed live by an orchestra, some of whom appeared on stage dressed as snails), the show was equally wistful and weird. I enjoyed it immensely.

2. RESTREPO

I’ve always struggled with war films (both fiction and docs)—it’s possibly my least favorite genre. But I loved THE HURT LOCKER and if this isn’t exactly its real-life equivalent, that’s fine because it attempts something else. Not to say war’s psychological effects aren’t explored (they make for some of the most intense, touching moments), but Sebastian Junger's and Tim Hetherington’s in-the-trenches-of-Afghanistan doc amazes primarily for its access in which it closely follows a platoon in combat for one year. Fortunately, the filmmakers know they’re making a film and not just a document—the narrative threads and personalities that emerge cohere and compel as well as any screenplay without feeling scripted at all.

3. Just a few (of many) things to love about the MAD MEN Season 4 premiere (spoilers ahoy!):

*Peggy’s more sophisticated (but still not overly swanky) new ‘do.
*Henry’s refreshingly no-nonsense mother (she astutely refers to Betty as a “silly woman”).
*Adorable new office underling Joey (Matt Long), whom I suspect will turn out to be more than a random addition.
*Kiernan Shipka (young brat Sally Draper) has made the opening credits at last.
*Don Draper getting slapped in the face (repeatedly) by a prostitute.

4. As I’m less than a hundred pages away from finishing The Satanic Verses (at last!), which one of these unread books on my shelf I should try next? The Portable Dorothy Parker, or Word Virus: The William S. Burroughs Reader? Leave a comment if you feel passionate about one or the other.

5. A most fetching portrait spotted at the British Brewing Company in Framingham this past weekend:

Maggie should appear so classy.

WHITE MATERIAL

2010-07-19T22:34:00.003-04:00

In her previous film 35 SHOTS OF RUM, Claire Denis focused on a father and daughter of African descent living in France; here, she shifts her attention to a French family who owns a coffee plantation in Africa. Whereas race and living as a minority in an adopted homeland provided only a subtext in the earlier film, it's at the dead center of this one. Maria (Isabelle Huppert), who entered this business (and continent) via marriage, manages the plantation. When the French military exits the region due to war among local tribes, she disregards their warnings to follow, determined to hold on to this life she's so invested in. Initially, her steadfastness appears admirable and brave, but as blatant hostility towards the family escalates, her actions merely seem stubborn and not without hubris (although Huppert lends her some much-needed empathy).

While Denis rarely makes the same film twice, WHITE MATERIAL feels like a different beast for the director. For all of its expected touches (another evocative Tindersticks score, the casting of Michael Subor in a small but pivotal role), it also throws in a few curveballs such as a cinematographer other than Denis regular Agnes Godard (Yves Cape, whose hand-held work is in stark contrast from Godard's poetic, gorgeous imagery) and a far more pronounced, straightforward narrative structure. I applaud Denis for leaving her comfort zone a little, and an unnerving scene where a child army slowly emerges from the dark woods is as mesmerizing as anything in her oeuvre--but I'd rather she kept the story more ambiguous, more mysterious. Apart from one shocking moment, we suspect what kind of finale the film is hurtling towards too far in advance.

6 MONTHS DOWN...

2010-06-30T21:45:00.001-04:00

Last year at this time, I had already seen my favorite film and heard my favorite album of the year. Here's where we stand for favorites in 2010 so far (in alphabetical order, of course).

FILMS:

Exit Through The Gift Shop
Fish Tank
Howl
I Am Love
I Killed My Mother
Marwencol
Micmacs
Mother
Please Give
Winter's Bone

ALBUMS:

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim (and many others), Here Lies Love
Field Music, Measure
Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM
Goldfrapp, Head First
LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, The Brutalist Bricks
Joanna Newsom, Have One On Me
Gil Scott-Heron, I'm New Here
Spoon, Transference
Tracey Thorn, Love and Its Opposite

A WALK THROUGH P-TOWN

2010-06-28T19:58:00.027-04:00

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Provincetown, an artist colony/gay-friendly tourist enclave on the tip of Cape Cod.

Although the insularity, attitude and marked-up prices on everything tend to grate after awhile, P-Town can be a fantastic, almost otherworldly spot for a weekend getaway, given the right accomodations (I've had a few less-than-ideal B&B experiences); thankfully, we stayed in a nice little rental this time out.

If the town has an identifiable landmark, it's undoubtedly the Provincetown Monument.

The library (a former church) also stands out among the more rustic Cape homes, although it seems to be in a perpetual state of restoration.

As usual, Steve and I came for the Provincetown International Film Festival (The Art House Cinema, pictured above, is one of its venues). In its 12th year, PIFF is still going strong--most screenings I attended were close to full. I saw many films and gave everything good-to-great ratings, except for a few shorts (I never learn with those festival shorts programs).

Although I skipped out on the awards ceremony, that night I did briefly spot honoree Tilda Swinton (tall, luminous, dressed in white) happily strolling down the main drag. I ran off to notify a few friends, but by the time we returned she and her male companion had disappeared into the night.

Geographically, P-Town is long and narrow. That main drag, the aptly-named Commercial Street spans from East to West with an overload of signage.

Sometimes, the signs line up in pleasant symmetry...

...and occasionally, one has a wide canvas all to itself. Still, the signs don't entirely distract from the gorgeous gardens that dot the front yards of both businesses and residences:

One evening, we checked out my favorite part of town, the sleepy West End. We dined at Sal's, an adorably rustic Italian restaurant.

As night fell, a few of the town's oddities surfaced through the coastal fog, such as this jolly, beguiling Buddha...

...and this welcoming (if stoic) statue, which looked like it was once a part of a ship's figurehead.

Look closely enough and you may catch something looking back at you.

On our final morning in town, we walked beyond the West End to an edge of the world, peering out at the mighty Atlantic. A sight of expansive marshland, the dunes, and a beach (though one can barely make it out from this distance) suggests a multitude of possibilities:

I leave you with a close-up of the library's cupola, illuminated by a peaceful P-Town sun.

IFF BOSTON 2010 RECAPS (PART TWO)

2010-06-13T13:01:00.000-04:00

MARWENCOL

A decade ago in Kingston, New York, Mark Hogencamp was brutally beaten up by five young men in a parking lot. He survived, but with severe physical and even worse brain damage. After a few years of hospitalization that left him mostly healed but still under a lot of psychological distress, his insurance ran out, forcing him to live on his own. Hogencamp’s pre-attack diaries reveal he was a talented sketch artist, but his now-shaky hand prevents him from being able to draw. As a form of self-therapy, he begins to construct dioramas around his trailer home and yard, using the older, larger G. I. Joe and Barbie dolls as models. With time, he constructs his own elaborate town, a Belgian village during World War II whose name gives this documentary its title. If it all sounds incredibly kitschy, it’s not—Hogencamp is completely serious about his creations. He gives the dolls the names of people from his life—the guys who beat him up are rendered as Nazi soldiers, and he utilizes them in oft-gruesome scenarios to work through his trauma. He also takes artful, arresting photographs of the scenes he’s created, and they’re good enough to eventually lead to his own New York City gallery show. Throughout, Hogencamp appears before us as sweet, sad and more than a little fragile, but details about his past gradually surface that considerably deepen and complicate how we see him (particularly the shocking reason why he was beaten up, revealed midway through and too important to give away here). Jeff Malmberg’s film beautifully, profoundly illustrates the process of art-as-therapy, but it’s just as much a riveting account of a fascinating subject.

HIPSTERS

Easily standing apart from their stern, humorless gray-clad comrades, the young titular characters in this wonderfully weird Russian musical (set in 1955) are the counterculture. They take their cues from the jazz-loving, swing-dancing, zoot-suited Americans of a decade before, but strewn through a kaleidoscopic cross-cultural blender, outfitted in wild, garish, clashing colors, speaking in a beat-derived lingo and meeting up to dance and drink the night away at their own chic Valhalla in downtown Moscow. Mels (Anton Shagin) enters the film as a gawky secret policeman but soon falls under the Hipsters’ allure, much to his fellow workers’ chagrin. Director Valery Todorovsky practically overstuffs the film with elaborate, briskly paced, wildly imaginative musical numbers. Some hit the mark more than others (early on, a slapstick paean to communal living sets a deliriously high standard to match), but HIPSTERS tempers its exaggeration and flash by fully acknowledging the consequences inherent in choosing one lifestyle over another. Still, it’s one of the least dour Russian films you’re ever likely to see, with an infectious, uplifting energy that extends all the way to the finale’s timeless celebration of camaraderie among outsiders.

STRANGE POWERS: STEPHIN MERRITT AND THE MAGNETIC FIELDS

An adequate documentary about an extraordinary subject, this decade-in-the-making labor of love profiles Stephin Merritt, cult musician and head of The Magnetic Fields (and many other side projects). As a songwriter, Merritt seems out-of-time, his lyrics and melodies recalling the arch, witty (and occasionally breathtaking) wordplay of Cole Porter and Noel Coward. As a musician, Merritt’s positively postmodern, veering from cello-laden chamber pop to toy-store electronic settings to an entire album called Distortion that excessively lives up to its title. However, instead of merely fawning over Merritt’s considerable talent, the film wisely spends more time examining his resolutely deadpan, often difficult personality and relationship with long-term collaborator and friend Claudia Gonson. As they bring out both the best and worst in each other, we get a comprehensive sense of how art and life feed off each other and the also the quandary of being well-known in a particular community but not famous outside of it. But great subjects do not necessarily make for great films, and while it contains no serious missteps, aesthetically, STRANGE POWERS feels a little flat, especially compared to a similar cult-artist profile like SCOTT WALKER: 30TH CENTURY MAN.

IFF BOSTON 2010 RECAPS (PART ONE)

2010-06-05T13:59:00.006-04:00

Thought I'd try to get these done before Provincetown, the next film festival I will attend. Here's the first three, with three more to (hopefully) follow.

I AM LOVE

From its opulent and deliberately anachronistic opening credits, this is an unapologetically old-fashioned melodrama, albeit one on crack cocaine with every feeling and stylistic choice ramped up to the nth degree. Centered on a wealthy Milan family, it’s initially difficult to get a handle on who’s who as we’re immediately thrust, with little exposition like an Altman film, into its milieu. The narrative comes into focus as the family’s dying patriarch gives the keys of his textile empire to son Tancredi and eldest grandson Edo, who would rather open a restaurant with his friend Antonio. In time, Emma, Tancredi’s Russian-born wife emerges as the key figure, and not just because she is played by Tilda Swinton (speaking fluent Italian, no less). Even as her character gradually succumbs to the film’s hyperactive emotional state, her magnetic (but not overpowering) presence and steady performance gives viewers something to hold on to. Director/Screenwriter Luca Guadagnino eventually throws in a shocking turn of events that some may have trouble taking seriously (although Guadagnino is deadly serious about it), but it sets the course for an operatic, furiously-edited finale where the thrilling, maddening score keeps building and building until the whole film reaches a heart-pounding orgasm of liberation and resolve. Ridiculously massive and moving, I AM LOVE will not appease those seeking subtlety (or even logic), but for me, its skill and sheer chutzpah ultimately transcended those concerns; I could not stop thinking about it for days.

THE EXTRA MAN

With AMERICAN SPLENDOR, Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman displayed a talent for successfully adapting literary material one wouldn’t expect to easily translate into film. Their attempt to do so with Jonathan Ames’ quirky novel doesn’t fare as well, although they get a sublime, career-capping comedic turn from Kevin Kline as an eccentric, preposterous escort of wealthy old ladies who is somewhat aware of those qualities within himself but doesn’t give a damn about what anyone thinks. In his harder-to-define role as the F. Scott Fitzgerald-loving young protégé, Paul Dano is adorably odd, making good use of his tentative vocal inflections. However, as voices go, a full-bearded John C. Reilly does a lot with very little in a riotous extended cameo. Although the film as a whole doesn’t amount to very much, the actors leave you rolling on the floor at the way they deliver their often bizarre and occasionally witty dialogue.

JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK

A year in the life of everyone’s favorite bawdy female Jewish comedienne and plastic surgery punchline, it sets out to prove she’s more than that. Blessed with a desirable arc that follows Rivers from a low point in her career to renewed fame and visibility following her winning “The Celebrity Apprentice”, the film mixes in clips from throughout her career (stretching back to early, electric appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show”) and threads in pieces of a recent stand-up performance at a small club. At 75, she’s as bitingly hilarious and risqué as ever, but we catch fleeting, telling glimpses of another persona—an insecure workaholic deathly afraid of becoming irrelevant, sensitive about subjecting herself to a Comedy Central roast and expressing frustration at her reputation as a brilliant comedienne but not a great actress. One may find it hard to muster up sympathy for such plaints given her continued success, but the film gains momentum and purpose by exploring how much her ability to work and keep pushing herself is a life force: you feel it’s as essential to her as breathing.

A STREETCAR NAMED DEVERAUX

2010-06-03T20:46:00.000-04:00

If not the most gifted or versatile Golden Girl, she had her moments, like this joyously absurd monologue that certainly stands out from the era's all-too-wacky/normal sitcom conventions. R.I.P., Rue.

DADDY LONGLEGS

2010-05-27T19:22:00.001-04:00

With their first two features, filmmakers/brothers Josh and Benny Safdie already demonstrate a knack for designating reasonably unsympathetic characters as their protagonists: THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED followed an unrepentant kleptomaniac, while DADDY LONGLEGS offers up Lenny (Ronald Bronstein), a divorced father of two who will probably never merit a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug.

Not that Lenny is an inherently bad guy. He obviously loves his two young sons and craves the limited periods of time he can spend with them (he and their mother have joint custody, although the kids seem to primarily live with her). Unfortunately, Lenny often acts like a child himself—he comes off like a zanier, less erudite version of Jason Robards’ character from A THOUSAND CLOWNS, seeking all of the simple pleasures he can obtain out of life without any of the responsibilities. So, while he does take the kids to the museum and the park, his poor judgment repeatedly threatens to overshadow his goodwill. Running late to pick up the kids at school is one thing, but taking them on a road trip with a hook-up he met in a bar (with her beau driving the car!) is on a whole other plane of inappropriateness.

Stitched together like a series of funny/sad vignettes, the film feels loose and casual—almost excessively so (ROBBED was a half-hour shorter and benefited from such brevity.) We see Lenny with his sometimes girlfriend, the improbably-named Leni (Eleonore Henricks, the klepto in ROBBED) and various other friends and neighbors; they all view him as an irascible soul that they’re willing to tolerate (up to a point). It’s the lanky, charismatic Bronstein (think a less-cartoony indie-film version of Cosmo Kramer) who lends Lenny a lot of his charm, but the Safdies should get some credit as well. They aren’t necessarily out to portray a monster or a saint, but a flawed, well-meaning individual who just doesn’t take the time to consider how his actions are going to play out.

That personality flaw comes to a head in the last ten minutes when Lenny’s rational thought processes deplete at an alarming speed. At this point, one fears the Safdies are this close from letting the film get away from them. Instead, they go out on an absurd but melancholy, almost lyrical note. A sense of defeat overcomes everything, as we fear for Lenny, knowing he probably won’t change or grow. But I also smiled at the wonderfully bonkers image the film goes out on. Like so much of DADDY LONGLEGS, you can’t possibly imagine where it will head next. Sometimes, that by-the-seat-of-the-pants quality can frustrate, but it’s also incredibly refreshing.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

2010-05-11T21:01:00.001-04:00

It’s rare for one film to fully track how an artistic movement evolves from inception to irrelevance, but that’s just what this ingenuously constructed, gleefully entertaining documentary does for graffiti-inspired guerrilla street art—as it’s all happening, no less.

We begin with secretive British artist Banksy, whose elaborate, provocative pranks (such as playfully defacing a portion of the Gaza Strip wall) elevate street art into something that attracts critical acclaim, mass media coverage and eventually, considerable moolah from collectors. Hiding his face in shadow and electronically altering his voice, he keeps his anonymity while addressing the camera. He relays the story of Thierry Guetta, a transplanted Frenchman who ostensibly runs an Los Angeles clothing boutique but seems to spend all of his time (circa the late ‘90s) filming everything and everyone he sees with a portable video camera.

Inspired by a relative who is himself an aspiring street artist, Guetta begins to track down all the L.A. street artists he can find (including a young Shepard Fairey long before his iconic Obama “Hope” print made him a household name). Under the pretense that he’s making a documentary, Guetta videotapes them as they create and (illegally) display their work on public and private property. In turn, he becomes their accomplice, soaking up valuable lessons. Before long, he befriends Banksy, who tentatively allows him to keep a record of his work. Guetta, however, never had any intentions of actually making a documentary. Feeling mounting pressure to do so from all the artists he’s followed (manipulated?), he proves to be a fabulously inept filmmaker. Banksy suggests that Guetta put the documentary aside and instead create some street art of his own—perhaps even put on a show. Meanwhile, Banksy decides to have a go at making his own documentary using Guetta's voluminous tapes of unmarked footage, and the finished product is the film you’ve been watching.

It doesn’t end there. In an astonishing final act, Guetta unexpectedly turns the whole movement on its head in what’s either a cunning display of his idiot-savant nature or just miraculously dumb luck. As for growing speculation that the film is just another Banksy hoax, well, Guetta is undeniably a character (with his stout stature and massive sideburns and ‘stache, he rather resembles one of the lesser-known Mario Bros.), but he seems so genuinely off that I don’t believe for a moment that he could be made up—even by someone as mischievously creative as Banksy, who proves himself a seriously adept filmmaker. Captivating from front to back, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP both revels in street art’s illicit thrills and astutely, hilariously critiques the commoditized monster it becomes.

RITES OF SPRING

2010-05-05T21:42:00.000-04:00

I always grouse about how Autumn colors in New England do not match up to memories of their Midwestern counterparts, but my adopted home has the advantage where Spring is concerned.

TWO PRISON FILMS

2010-04-20T21:34:00.000-04:00

I've been itching to write about these two films together because of the obvious hook it provides, but apart from that, they don't have much in common. Read to find out which one's superior: the Cannes Camera d'or winner or the Cannes Grand Prix winner.

One supposes that the ideal purpose of going to prison is rehabilitation. Malik (Tahar Rahim), the young Arabic protagonist of A PROPHET, Jacques Audiard's meditative, sometimes mesmerizing prison drama certainly betters himself during a six-year stint serving time for a crime never alluded to, although it would be a stretch to say he's rehabilitated to a morally good end. Early on during his sentence, he's immediately chosen as a pawn by fellow inmate Cesar (Niels Arustrup), an older Corsican crime boss. He offers Malik "protection" in exchange for a horrific favor but basically threatens him into it. Malik deals with the guilt of this deed and his subservience to Cesar while slowly ascending through the prison's hierarchy. He eventually gains power via some illicit side business at odds with Cesar's interests.

Tempering a no-nonsense, documentary-like style with occasional scenes of magic realism and lyrical uplift, Audiard's film remains engrossing and well-paced throughout its 150+ minute run. Rahim and Arustrup are both excellent as, respectively, a young petty thief often in way over his head and the wizened but volatile monster passive-aggressively molding his protégé. Unfortunately, for all of Audiard's assured direction, something key is missing at the end. We're left wondering what exactly Malik has taken away from his prison term, and whether he is worthy of his fate. I wanted to appreciate this ambiguity Audiard leaves us with, but I also wanted to know whether he thought prison had an altogether helpful or hurtful effect on Malik's life. Given a week to mull over this, I'm still not certain.

HUNGER depicts the fatal 1981 strike conducted in Belfast, Ireland by Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender, absolutely magnetic but plausible) and his fellow IRA inmates. For these men, the idea of prison as rehabilitation is completely irrelevant. Jailed primarily for political rather than criminal acts, neither they nor the audience are ever under any pretense that imprisonment will alter their beliefs. The English government sees them as pests one can control but not exterminate, so they respond via an extreme means of protest—first, by not washing (covering their cell walls with their own feces and simultaneously pouring chamber pots under their doors into the corridor, creating a surreal urine river of sorts) and then by not eating.

In his impressive first feature, director Steve McQueen (a visual artist, obviously not the long-dead iconic actor) goes to great lengths for his audience to really feel the shit and piss that dominates the film’s first half, but he does so with such unexpected, understated grace. Employing tight close-ups, precious little music or dialogue, lighting as the focal point and a subtle, nearly dreamlike pace (even the sudden dark-to-light contrasts never overwhelm or disengage), McQueen constructs an uncommonly personal biopic of Sands. Midway through, as a bridge between the film’s two acts of protest, he temporarily breaks the silence with a ten minute dialogue between Sands and a priest. This simple, beautiful sequence effectively outlines why the hunger strike must occur and why it will render Sands more than a mere martyr. Presented in a lengthy two-shot without an edit before separating the two men in a series of back-and-forth cuts, it provides all of the context and rationale any viewer will need. Since imprisonment offers no rewards in this case, we see and fully understand how only sacrificial protest can hope to bring about the greater good.

CHLOE

2010-04-01T20:59:00.002-04:00

Atom Egoyan's latest opens with Catherine (Julianne Moore), a gynecologist, describing an orgasm to her patient while practically draining all the life out of one (to her, it’s simply a “series of muscular contractions”). Soon after, her professor husband David (Liam Neeson) appears as an impossibly irresistible object of desire to his female students during one of his lectures. Both scenes felt exaggerated to a point that when the couple’s fidelity problems came to the fore as they tooled around their ostentatiously ultra-modern home, I was left wondering why I should care about them.

Thank goodness that Catherine meets Chloe (Amanda Seyfried), a high class prostitute half her age in a restaurant ladies’ room. Suspecting (with good reason) that David is cheating on her, Catherine hires Chloe to approach him in a café he frequents, flirt with him, and see what happens. When Chloe reports the results to Catherine, she is understandably hesitant to hear what has transpired between this girl and her husband, but voyeurism gradually gets the best of her. She probes Chloe for more details, and asks her to meet with David a second time. Soon, Catherine is living vicariously through Chloe, almost receiving an erotic charge by osmosis as she listens to her describe sexual acts with David with an intensity that eventually proves fatal for one of the two women.

Working for the first time with another person’s screenplay (SECRETARY scribe Erin Cressida Wilson), Egoyan directs far less cerebrally (and somewhat less elliptically) than usual, although his landscapes (in this case, Toronto’s posh Yorkville neighborhood) are as visually seductive as ever. It all threatens to turn into the lurid, sexual melodrama past works such as EXOTICA only slyly skirted around the edges of, but a neat, late twist elevates it considerably from your usual FATAL ATTRACTION-derived trash. Moore brings a visceral depth to Catherine, just barely keeping in control as the world crashes around her. Seyfried both serves as a worthy foil and a believable confidante, her expressive eyes (and lips!) providing a revealing counterpoint to her words. CHLOE is not great cinema like THE SWEET HEREAFTER (the impossibly high standard I’ve held Egoyan to ever since he made it), but at least he’s made a thoughtful erotic thriller and not another empty one—at times, it’s also good campy fun.

RECENT PIX

2010-03-31T22:33:00.000-04:00

Until I get back into writing on a regular basis (oh yes, that day is upon us), some photos from the past month, all of 'em taken with my iPhone. For a camera, it's not a bad phone, but I do look forward to breaking out the ol' Canon as Spring comes into focus.

I don't think I've ever seen Jamaica Pond this full; usually the water doesn't even come up to those trees.

On a parking garage roof, overlooking Commercial Street in Downtown Portland, ME at dusk.

Need a scarf?

US Route 1 North of Kittery, ME.

Maggie at 18 months, still as cute as the dickens.

OH, OSCAR

2010-03-14T21:39:00.003-04:00

Most ghetto acceptance speech... ever!

Here's the transcript of my blogging last week's Academy Awards, in an easily digestible one-post format. Sandra Bullock aside, history will remember this year's slate of winners as unusually daring (I can't remember the last time one of my own five favorite films of the year won Best Picture); however, these comments paint a more accurate picture of how innovative the telecast was, which is to say, not very...

8:40 PM: "Gabourey and I both have something in common - in our first movies, we were both born a poor black child". Ah, Steve Martin, you make up for the Neil Patrick Harris opener (talented guy, but enough already with the award show shtick), the weird "82" logo (looks like it comes from '72) and the inexplicable appearance of a shot from Turner and Hooch. Loved Alec Baldwin's "cultured" accent (during the Avatar animation and introducing "young Zac Efron") as well.

8:54 PM: The first award of the night, Best Supporting Actor, predictably goes to front-runner Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds. Well, it was a tremendous performance, and only Woody Harrelson probably deserved it as much.

That clip of The Lovely Bones actually makes me feel a little embarrassed for Stanley Tucci (who still wouldn't have won against Waltz if he had been nominated for his lovely work in Julie and Julia instead).

Gee, think these lengthy, multiple film clips for each of the nominees will last as the Midnight hour approaches?

9:05 PM: Pete Docter gives a sweet, humble acceptance speech for his sweet, ambitious Best Animated Film Up.

No performances for Best Song in a Motion Picture on stage this year! And no complaints from me... Jesus Christ, T-Bone Burnett's tall! Ex-wife Sam Phillips must have just come up to his waist.

9:23 PM: What a terrific, innovative year for Best Original Screenplay nominees - Up, The Messenger... and The Hurt Locker gets it. Love all the short, concise acceptance speeches; who will be the first to ramble on into the orchestra?

Ah, so that's why Matthew Broderick (first seen at the red carpet with the wife) is there: to pay tribute to John Hughes, look far more at ease than Molly Ringwald, and show us how much he's aged since Ferris Bueller's Day Off - though, apparently not as much as Andrew McCarthy or especially Judd Nelson, who is headed into Mickey Rourke territory.

9:42 PM: The night's first surprise: the gleefully deranged Logorama wins Best Animated Short. I like me some Wallace and Gromit, but the right short won.

Looks like Best Documentary Short winner Music By Prudence has the first rambling-into-the-orchestra speech of the night!

I've been avoiding seeing Avatar, but dear god I hope everyone in it looks as goofy as Ben Stiller. Quote for the night (as his tail gets tangled): "It's amazing how far technology has come."

9:49 PM: Precious gets Best Adapted Screenplay, which means Up In The Air will likely be entirely shut out. An overcome Geoffrey Fletcher's acceptance speech is the night's most moving moment thus far (and Steve Martin knows exactly how to transition the moment).

10:01 PM: Great to see Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman in the audience, but it would've been nice to hear from them (and less from Robin Williams, a random substitute for last year's Best Supporting Actor winner to present this year's Best Supporting Actress). Mo'Nique, Oscar Winner. Performance, not the politics--damn straight.

10:25 PM: Best part of the Paranormal Activity parody: Alec Baldwin falling out of bed.

Good horror montage, though not as horrifying as the amount of time Zac Efron's stylist spent making his hair look faux-messy.

10:31 PM: Come to think of it, flaws and all, it would be cool to see Inglorious Basterds win another award. Was that Father Time seated behind Tarantino?

10:42 PM: Gee, they must be running late, but of all categories not to show clips for - Best Cinematography??!!! They must have thought that The White Ribbon received enough screen time on the Golden Globes.

Demi Moore must have jumped at the chance to introduce the year o' the deceased because she aint gettin' on that stage any other way.

James Taylor alert! He sounds as alive as the souls being honored.

10:54 PM: Oh, it wouldn't be a true Oscar ceremony without a little interpretive dance (for the Best Score nominees). I was going to say they're trying to avoid cheese (although I would think Sherlock Holmes has nothing to do with West Side Story) but that weird The Hurt Locker sequence could've come from the mind of Corky St. Clair. The lilting, affecting score for Up wins, and deservedly so.

11:09 PM: The Cove wins Best Documentary Feature, so now we have Fisher Stevens, Oscar winner (and the evening's first explicit call to political action via a dolphin text)--but what's up with the swanky swing music leading up to Tyler Perry? Oh, he's so self-deprecating, but I'd rather see him shuffle on stage in drag.

That snuggie bit was worthy of vintage Late Night with David Letterman.

All the awards for The Hurt Locker are a promising sign that we won't have to see James Cameron on stage. Prove me right, Academy!

11:21 PM: "Hey Pedro: your film didn't make the cut this year. Wanna introduce Best Foreign Language Feature as a totally random pairing with Quentin Tarantino?" (although I don't doubt that Tarantino loves his work). Argentinians win and mangle their acceptance speech; Cameron (or is that Haneke?) looks a little peeved.

Oh god, the dialogue from Avatar sounds worse than I feared. And as I look at Kathy Bates, I can't help but think of her fabulous, frightening new character on The Office.

11:37 PM: After a series of exceptionally gushy introductions (Colin Farrell's for Jeremy Renner was the least gushiest and the most genuine), the Dude wins his Oscar, provides a shout-out to his family and, naturally, abides; it appears that he has also imbibed a little tonight, and why not? If this ceremony doesn't wrap itself up before Midnight, I may need another drink myself.

11:53 PM: When Meryl Streep can't even win an Oscar over Sandra Bullock, you know how much of a popularity contest this is. Bullock is extremely likable, and I look forward to the inevitable post-Oscar decline in her career.

11:58 PM: Kathryn Bigelow: "The secret to directing is collaborating." This is why she deserves the award.

12:04 AM: Sorry, Avatar. Well, not really--mark this down as the rare year where the most deserving and relevant film nominated (out of ten!) wins Best Picture.

Steve Martin: "The show is so long that Avatar now takes place in the past." And on that note, good night until next year, when a reactionary academy will probably award the latest Harry Potter film or something like Little Fockers.

2010-02-25T23:15:00.001-05:00

Classical and modern architecture butting heads, with Duane Reade worming its way in: typical New York.

BEST MOVIES OF THE '00s: RECAP

2010-02-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

In summary, my top 50 movies of the '00s:

# 50-41
# 40-31
# 30-21
# 20-11
# 10-1

And 50 more that I would have liked to fit into my top 50:

2046
25th HOUR
3-IRON
AMELIE
AWAY FROM HER
THE BEACHES OF AGNES
THE BEST OF YOUTH
THE BRAND UPON THE BRAIN!
THE CASE OF THE GRINNING CAT
CHILDREN OF MEN
DANCER IN THE DARK
DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT
DIG!
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
DOUBLE DARE
ELEPHANT
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON
THE GLEANERS AND I
GOODBYE DRAGON INN
GRIZZLY MAN
THE HOST
I'M NOT THERE
IN THE LOOP
THE INCREDIBLES
INLAND EMPIRE
LAWLESS HEART
LILYA 4 EVER
LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF
MOOLAADE
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
NOT ONE LESS
PERSEPOLIS
REPRISE
REQUIEM
REVANCHE
THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD
A SERIOUS MAN
SHORTBUS
SIDEWAYS
THE SLEEPY TIME GAL
SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR
SPELLBOUND
THE STATION AGENT
TROPICAL MALADY
THE VISITOR
VOLVER
THE WAYWARD CLOUD
THE WIND WILL CARRY US
WONDER BOYS

TOP FIFTY MOVIES OF THE '00s: # 10-1

2010-02-12T00:01:00.003-05:00

10. C.R.A.Z.Y.

Zac: "I want to be like everyone else."
Madame Chose: "Thank God, you never will."

9. YI YI

A three-hour familial tapestry and a meditation on mortality, urban alienation and human kindness that I'd call epic if it did not primarily focus on something so intimate and ordinary as the passage of time.

8. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

Wong Kar Wai's best film is a deceptively simple tale of a romance that’s never acted upon, told with such longing and restraint that it leaves me insatiably swooned and devastated every time I see it.

7. DUCK SEASON

This minimalist black-and-white gem, a Mexican film about four characters who spend a Sunday afternoon together reminds me why I value small-scale, little-seen independent films so much.

6. ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW

Richard: "I want to be swept off my feet, you know? I want my children to have magical powers. I am prepared for amazing things to happen. I can handle it."

5. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN

What's most remarkable about Alfonso Cuaron's funny, raunchy, pathos-laced road-trip movie is how both the camera and the narrator keep pulling away from the main three characters, giving the viewer thrilling glimpses of an expansive world: a film is not necessarily a vacuum.

4. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Daniel Plainview: "Aren't you a healer, and a vessel for the holy spirit? When are you coming over to make my son hear again? CAN'T YOU DO THAT?"

3. BEAU TRAVAIL

Honor, ritual, imbalance, jealousy, tension... and release.

2. MULHOLLAND DR.

Coco: "Honey, you're a good kid, but what you're telling me is a load of horse puckey, even though it comes from a good place. "

1. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

[Royal tells his children of his impending divorce]
Richie: "Is it because of us?"
Royal: "Well, of course, certain sacrifices had to be made as a result of having children. But heavens, no."

A few years ago, I wrote some notes on this film for the Brattle Theatre here.

TOP FIFTY MOVIES OF THE '00s: # 20-11

2010-02-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

20. 49 UP

This seventh installment of Michael Apted's monumental series (which profiles the same dozen people once every seven years) may be the first to explore in depth the long-term effects of having one's entire life on display.

19. SPIRITED AWAY

Hayao Miyazaki's masterpiece, a fable about a girl stuck in a surreal, Oz-type fantasy world, brims with wit, grace, and a delightful, all-ages appeal that never condescends to its audience.

18. GOSFORD PARK

Morris Weissman: "How do you manage to put up with these people?"
Ivor Novello: "Well, you forget, I make my living impersonating them."

17. LOST IN TRANSLATION

Bill Murray at his rumpled, melancholic best, Scarlet Johannson when she seemed like the slyest actress of her generation (before she settled for less), and Sofia Coppola suggesting how much richer a life could become just for having known someone, if only fleetingly.

16. WAKING LIFE

Boat Car Guy: "The idea is to remain in a state of constant departure while always arriving."

15. FAR FROM HEAVEN

Raymond: "Here is to being the only one."

14. STILL WALKING

Instead of shocking revelations or artificial resolutions, this fully-realized family portrait only finds beauty in its simplicity, and it's enough.

13. BEFORE SUNSET

Celine: "I was having this awful nightmare that I was 32. And then I woke up and I was 23. So relieved. And then I woke up for real, and I was 32."

12. THE RETURN

A slowly waking dream where the intense emotional journey's cumulative pull far outweighs any literal outcome.

11. CACHE

Michael Haneke's look (in every sense of the word) at a bourgeois couple being watched by an unknown assailant eventually reveals itself as an allegory about social responsibility and guilt--and perhaps this decade's finest, most original thriller.

TOP FIFTY MOVIES OF THE '00s: # 30-21

2010-02-10T00:01:00.002-05:00

30. MY WINNIPEG

Guy Maddin had an incredible run this decade, from the insane short THE HEART OF THE WORLD to this alluring "docu-fantasia" hybrid that critiques and celebrates his hometown like no one else could.

29. JUDY BERLIN

A low budget, black-and-white fable about a day in the life of a sleepy Long Island suburb--the type of little indie film that now seems lost to a cherished, almost mysterious, long-ago era.

28. DONNIE DARKO

Kitty Farmer: "Rose, I don't know if you realize what an opportunity this is for our daughters. This has been a dream of Samantha's and all of ours for a long time! I made her lead dancer! (pause) Sometimes, I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!"

27. GHOST WORLD

Seymour: "Well, I have to admit that things are really starting to look up for me since my life turned to shit."

26. MAN ON WIRE

Philippe Petit’s 1974 tightrope walk across the World Trade Center was an extraordinary stunt and a breathtaking work of art; James Marsh's documentation/reconstruction of it unavoidably comes across as a requiem that doesn't even need to mention 9/11 to get its point subtly across.

25. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

Barry: "I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine."

24. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

Constructed much like a warehouse full of one secret compartment after another, Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut is an absolutely terrifying comedy and one that requires multiple viewings--I'm looking forward to them.

23. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN

Oskar: "Are you really twelve?"
Eli: "Yes. It's just I've been twelve for a very long time."

22. WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?

Another auteur with a great decade of work, Tsai Ming-Liang's best film is a variation on what he does in every film, but with a magnificent structure full of symmetry and echoes between twin narratives and a beautiful payoff at the end.

21. AMERICAN SPLENDOR

"Real" Harvey Pekar: "If you think reading comics about your life seems strange, try watching a play about it. God only knows how I'll feel when I see this movie."

TOP FIFTY MOVIES OF THE '00s: # 40-31

2010-02-09T00:01:00.003-05:00

40. DOGVILLE

This played theaters at the same time as THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST: just imagine a world where millions lined up to see Lars von Trier's perceptive, droll study of self-awareness, cruelty and revenge instead of Mel Gibson's crucifixion porn.

39. BEST IN SHOW

Christy Cummings: "The heart and the soul, which was what my mom did, that was her role, she was there for the unconditional love and it worked for my family, you know... until mom committed suicide in '81."

38. HALF NELSON

With an unlikely protagonist (a good teacher who is also a drug addict), co-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden take the frustration of the age and transform it into a poetic, unflinching study of how we find redemption through the support of others.

37. THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU

Steve Zissou: "Are you finding what you were looking for... out here with me? I hope so."

36. 35 SHOTS OF RUM

Claire Denis closes out an impressive decade of films with what may be her most likable one, a gloss on Ozu's LATE SPRING that communicates less through words or a plot than it does via small gestures and a hypnotic, evocative style and sense of place.

35. CLEAN

Maggie Cheung's apparent swan song as an actress was this delicately executed study of drug addiction and recovery (directed by her ex-husband) that had the uncommon insight simply not to demean its lead for being a junkie.

34. TARNATION

An autobiographical psychological portrait, a cinematic hallucinogenic, the ultimate underground non-fiction film. I feared that it would spawn numerous lesser imitations; five years on, I still haven't seen anything else remotely like it.

33. TALK TO HER

I debated between including this and VOLVER, for both have strong, unique narratives. But while the latter film works because of a typically fabulous Almodovar female ensemble, this one holds a special place in the director's filmography as a poignant study of loyalty between two male friends.

32. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

Hansel's Mom: "To be free, one must give up a part of oneself. "

31. 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS

Two college-aged women attempt to secure an illegal abortion in Communist Romania in this painfully realistic (but at times darkly funny!) thriller that examines the contours of a friendship against a social backdrop it neither entirely condemns nor commends.

TOP FIFTY MOVIES OF THE '00s: # 50-41

2010-02-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

I began watching new films at an all-consuming pace at the turn of this decade (the years leading up to it were spent in grad school mostly trying to catch up on everything that came before). I estimate I've seen anywhere from 750-1000 movies that came out this decade, so you imagine how excruciating the process was of picking my fifty favorites.

All of what follows is essential viewing for anyone who claims they love movies - obviously, no one will feel the same as I do about every last one, but they're all worth a look. And, since I've written about most of these in my year-end top tens, I've either included very brief summations of or memorable quotes from each one.

50. MORVERN CALLAR

Lanna: "Where are we going?"
Morvern Callar: "Somewhere beautiful."

49. HAPPINESS OF THE KATIKURIS

I've already used these words to describe Takashi Miike's hard-to-describe film, and I'll use them again: a delightful cross between a slasher film and a musical episode of The Love Boat--with a few sequences in claymation.

48. THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS

Brian Kuh: "If anybody wants to see, there's a Donkey Kong kill screen coming up."

47. MYSTERIOUS SKIN

With a depth rarely seen in any of his other work, Gregg Araki adapts Scott Heim's novel about pedophilia and growing up gay in small town Kansas, and the film has more to say on either subject than any other I can think of.

46. OUR SONG

Rarely does a fictional film so effortlessly simulate the day-to-day rhythms of real life to the point where viewers feel as if they are eavesdropping in on the characters rather than watching performances.

45. THE HURT LOCKER

Staff Sergeant William James: "This box is full of stuff that almost killed me."

44. THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

This surreal slice of animation brims with intelligence, clever sight gags, and most importantly, a beaming heart (albeit one that's more than a little warped).

43. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

Sophie: "My Father said you had a weak handshake, which is a sign of indecision."
Walt: "His hands are so huge. I couldn't get a good grip."

42. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS

Terence McDonagh: "What are these iguanas doing on my coffee table?"

41. RAISING VICTOR VARGAS

Peter Sollett's unexpected gem about a Dominican-American family in lower Manhattan would make a superb double feature with OUR SONG (see # 46) for the way it creates drama without any artiface or calculation.

THE BEST FILMS OF 2009

2010-01-28T22:45:00.004-05:00

1. STILL WALKING
Hirokazu Kore-eda applies his usual nimble touch and graceful understatement to this deceptively straightforward tale of a family that reunites annually to commemorate the anniversary of its eldest son’s death. While paying tribute to Ozu’s timeless domestic dramas, it still retains a singular, contemporary feel. Set over the course of one day, it does not contain many shocking revelations or artificial culminations, and it doesn’t need to: Kore-eda and his cast find beauty in simplicity while crafting a fully-realized family portrait.

2. 35 SHOTS OF RUM
Having hit an enigmatic plateau with the inscrutable L’INTRUS, Claire Denis pulls back a little for this intimate tale of a single father, his adult daughter and their neighbors in a Parisian apartment building. Communicating less through words and glances and more with evocative stylistic choices such as the lengthy, hypnotic shots of commuter trains in motion or a mesmerizing Tindersticks score, Denis remains an unconventional storyteller, but this is her most likable, possibly most affecting effort.

3. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS
Some films defy all logic, and this one is at the head of that class: you’ve got veteran weirdo Werner Herzog directing a sequel-in-name-only to the Abel Ferrara cult flick, starring a bug-eyed Nicolas Cage as a coked-up cop. What could go wrong? Well, in this case, practically nothing—the end result is inspired lunacy, redolent of Herzog's classic 1970s films, and only he could have tempered such an unexpectedly great turn from Cage.

4. THE HURT LOCKER
This war film about an American bomb squad in Iraq is first and foremost a character study about the thrill and pull of having to do an ultra-risky job that infects a life to a degree that that's all there is. Daringly refusing to take a political stance, Kathryn Bigelow’s film is an exciting blend of realism and dramatic tension, courtesy of its fantastic, you-are-there cinematography and editing, but also due to Jeremy Renner’s searing, stirring lead performance.

5. REVANCHE
This Austrian thriller about an ex-con who attempts a bank robbery to pay off his debts and retire for good kicks off unassumingly, like hundreds of interchangeable thrillers. Then, something truly unexpected happens and REVANCHE splendidly comes to life. Director Gotz Spielman has crafted a film that’s Hitchockian in every positive sense of that term, but he’s also a true original in how he creates and sustains suspense while taking the genre into rarely visited moral and emotional territories.

6. FANTASTIC MR. FOX
I explained/dismissed THE DARJEELING LIMITED as a transitional work, but it turns out it was an aberration. This lovingly crafted, stop-animation Roald Dahl adaptation is more of a logical (if belated) follow-up to THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, recalling that film’s wild creativity and occasionally matching its poignancy while working with a pitch-perfect cast and a medium that plays to all of the director’s strengths. As usual with Wes Anderson, I anticipate additional great things to surface on subsequent viewings.

7. A SERIOUS MAN
In their darkest, most personal (and possibly most hilarious) film yet, those Coen Brothers look to their 1960s suburban Jewish Minnesota adolescence for inspiration in exploring the existence of God via a kind nebbish whose luck is worse than Job’s. Yiddish folk tales, record club scams, bad television reception, and the wackiest bar mitzvah ever depicted on screen all disquietingly lead towards nothing less than impending apocalypse in what is (seriously) the Coens’ mature masterpiece.

8. THE BEACHES OF AGNES
Nearing her 80th birthday, French New Wave icon Agnes Varda examines and reminisces over her lengthy career, and this luminous essay film proves she’s still a master of the form. Her affable, whimsical persona lithely guides us from one topic to the next; whether musing on everything from her Belgian childhood to her late husband Jacques Demy or constructing a beach in the middle of a city street, she always engages with her playfulness and insight.

9. IN THE LOOP
Political satire is an increasingly tricky business, especially as the models themselves approach new peaks of ridiculousness. Armando Ianucci’s film confronts this challenge head-on with brisk, witty dialogue and a labyrinthine plot that successfully splits the difference between utter satire and a frighteningly plausible situation. However, it all soars thanks to its exceptionally gifted ensemble, from Tom Hollander’s overconfident, underqualified politician to Peter Capaldi’s delightfully foul-mouthed communications director.

10. LAKE TAHOE
Fernando Eimbcke’s follow-up to DUCK SEASON may not ascend to its predecessor’s giddy, poetic heights, but then, few films do. Leaving the confines of an apartment building for the streets of a run-down coastal town (but still using long, static takes), Eimbcke follows a young man trying to get his crashed car fixed so he can leave town—only the film is about something else entirely. This eventual revelation, so simple yet unexpectedly profound, is marvelously executed, and it leaves a staggering imprint.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL
I hate heavy metal music, but I loved this documentary about a long-running, fairly obscure Canadian metal duo, for it rapidly transcends the obvious “Real Life Spinal Tap” tag with an unlikely compassion for its subjects.

THE CLASS
A refreshing alternative to every last faux-inspirational teacher film, Laurent Cantet’s study of a multiracial Parisian classroom gives us a winning but flawed instructor whom, like most of his profession, doesn’t know the answer to everything.

CORALINE
In a better-than-average year for big budget animation, Henry Selick finds a kindred spirit in Neil Gaiman and his darkly comic little fable, and apparently no pressure at all from any studio suit to soften or dumb down the material.

HERB AND DOROTHY
This fairly basic documentary about unconventional art collectors The Vogels gives viewers a unique, touching story and a neat crash course introduction to modern art—what’s not to love?

JULIA
Good to see Tilda Swinton hasn’t sacrificed any of her eccentricity following her Oscar win: she’s absolutely lacerating in this outrageous extended riff on John Cassavetes’ GLORIA, and arguably no one else could have pulled it off.

THE MESSENGER
First timer Oren Moverman takes on a difficult, sensitive subject few veteran directors would even touch, and guides Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson to career-best work (and gets more great work from Samantha Morton).

OF TIME AND THE CITY
Making a long-awaited return to his essay-film roots, Terence Davies expertly weds documentary footage, a carefully selected soundtrack and his own agreeably grumpy narration, and the whole is a monumental requiem for a vanishing city.

O’HORTON
Bent Hamer’s film tells a well-worn story about how retirement breeds complacency and regret over a half-lived life, but you probably haven’t seen it told this way before, with an odd but engaging blend of wistfulness and surreal, deadpan humor.

THE PLEASURE OF BEING ROBBED
With the “mumblecore” genre having gone as far as it can reasonably go, The Safdie Brothers invent what could possibly replace it, retaining the low budget, DIY aesthetic and irascible characters but infusing them with a real lyricism and depth that suggests a bright future indeed.

SOMERS TOWN
Shane Meadows collects Thomas Turgoose, his remarkable young lead actor from THIS IS ENGLAND and plops him into a noticeably different slice-of-life that could be a British take on mumblecore, only much more fun.

SUGAR
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden are more than up to the task of following the great HALF NELSON with a perceptive meditation on immigrating to America and what it means to follow a dream—even if it means not pursuing it.

THE WHITE RIBBON
Part mystery, part period piece (a rural German village on the eve of World War I), part creepy children film, Michael Haneke’s Cannes winner may be his most accessible work to date, but rest assured, his fixation on the worst aspects of human behavior has not diminished one bit.

ALSO RECOMMENDED:
Other films that received at least 4 stars out of 5

BEESWAX
COLD SOULS
THE COVE
LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET
AN EDUCATION
THE GARDEN
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS
THE MAID
MOON
THE NEW YEAR PARADE
POLICE, ADJECTIVE
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL "PUSH" BY SAPPHIRE
THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN
A SINGLE MAN
SITA SINGS THE BLUES
SUMMER HOURS
THEATER OF WAR
THREE MONKEYS
UP
UP IN THE AIR
VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

FAVORITE SEQUELS AND REMAKES

2010-01-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

This year, I'm late posting my ballots for the annual Chlotrudis film poll -- so late, in fact, that the results are already in. I don't know if they're just popular, obvious choices or whether few people voted this year, but my top films also topped the polls.

SEQUELS:

1. Before Sunset (dir: Richard Linklater, 2004)

2. 2046 (Wong Kar Wai, 2004)

3. The Wayward Cloud (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2005)

4. Superman II (Richard Lester, 1980)

5. Russian Dolls (Cedric Klapisch, 2005)

6. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (Joe Dante, 1990)

7. After the Thin Man (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936)

8. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Nimoy, 1986)

9. Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)

10. The Barbarian Invasions (Denys Arcand, 2003)

11. Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

12. Return to Oz (Walter Murch, 1985)

13. X2 - X-Men United (Bryan Singer, 2003)

14. Saraband (Ingmar Bergman, 2003)

15. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

For me, BEFORE SUNSET was an immediate choice for number one. Initially, it seemed like a terrible idea that Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke would craft a sequel to BEFORE SUNRISE (1995), a charming film about a young man and woman who meet on a train in Vienna and have one day to spend together. What makes BEFORE SUNSET such an unexpectedly successful sequel is in how it opens up this limited premise, allowing the two leads to meet up a decade later, only this time not by chance or coincidence. Linklater uses this reunion to say a lot about how time changes and weathers us. Transpiring in real time and long takes, this sequel reveals so much more to us than the first film; its lovely, daring conclusion is practically exhilarating in all of the possibilities it suggests, none less than an urge to see them reunite again.

However, for the most part, I hate sequels - many are uninspired attempts to build a franchise and it's pretty depressing how many of these dreary cash-ins are successful at doing so. One could submit up to 25 entries for this poll and I barely made it to 15. Most of my favorites are, predictably, independent and foreign films from the past decade that I loved, although SUPERMAN II instantly sprung to mind as the rare sequel that outclasses the original in almost every way. As for the anarchic GREMLINS 2, I haven't seen it in nearly twenty years, but I remember it gleefully tearing the original film apart, which is something more sequels should do.

In compiling this list, I completely forgot Michael Apted's "Up" series because I see the films as parts of a whole rather than sequels, but if they're eligible, then 49 UP should've had a place in the top five.

REMAKES:

1. Far From Heaven (dir: Todd Haynes, 2002)

2. Nosferatu (Werner Herzog, 1979)

3. Happiness of the Katikuris (Takashi Miike, 2001)

4. The Beat that My Heart Skipped (Jacques Audiard, 2005)

5. Floating Weeds (Yasujiro Ozu, 1959)

6. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)

7. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)

8. Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

9. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)

10. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978)

11. Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk, 1959)

12. Victor/Victoria (Blake Edwards, 1982)

13. The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, 2004)

14. Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical (Andy Fickman, 2005)

15. The Quiet American (Philip Noyce, 2002)

16. A Star is Born (George Cukor, 1954)

17. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)

18. Little Shop of Horrors (Frank Oz, 1986)

19. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

20. Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004)

21. An Ideal Husband (Oliver Parker, 1999)

22. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Frank Oz, 1988)

23. Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano, 2003)

24. Oceans 11 (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)

25. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Tim Burton, 2005)

Remakes are so much more fun than sequels because they give filmmakers an opportunity to provide a unique spin on an old story. While not by any means a straight ahead remake of ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS (Douglas Sirk, 1956), FAR FROM HEAVEN lovingly recreates the style of 1956 but takes the basic outline of the original story, and retells it in a way that could only be done long after that - making the Rock Hudson stand-in African American and one other major character gay. Instead of doing so with a nudge-wink "boy, weren't the 1950s wacky" glibness, Haynes is completely serious, making exactly the film Sirk would have if issues such as interracial romance and homosexuality (which, after all, were around in 1956) weren't taboo in Hollywood. FAR FROM HEAVEN is as revisionist as it is a tribute.

Other entries on this list are either vast improvements on the originals (THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, FLOATING WEEDS), terrific new versions of obscurities (THE HAPPINESS OF THE KATIKURIS, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS), wildly original takes on old films (Herzog's Klaus Kinski-starring NOSFERATU), films redone in different genres (REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS) and true oddities like Demme's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, not at all better than Frankenheimer's brilliant original, but a gutsy, modern day take that's far more effective than most lazy, unimaginative remakes of seminal films.

BEST MUSIC OF THE '00s: RECAP

2010-01-12T00:01:00.002-05:00

My top 50 albums:

# 50-41
# 40-31
# 30-21
# 20-11
# 10-1

Favorite compilations released this decade:

Puffy AmiYumi - AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY
Tompaulin - EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURT
Kirsty MacColl - FROM CROYDON TO CUBA: AN ANTHOLOGY
Serge Gainsbourg - INITIALS S.G.
Belle and Sebastian - PUSH BARMAN TO OPEN OLD WOUNDS
Saint Etienne - SMASH THE SYSTEM: SINGLES AND MORE
Teenage Fanclub - 4766 SECONDS: A SHORTCUT TO...

And finally, 50 great songs not on my top 50 albums:

Emm Gryner, "Almighty Love"
Suzanne Vega, "Anniversary"
The Shins, "Australia"
The Hidden Cameras, "Ban Marriage"
The Dandy Warhols, "Bohemian Like You"
Hot Chip, "Boy From School"
Sia, "Breathe Me"
Nikka Costa, "Can't Please Everybody"
Garlic, "Courgette"
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton, "Crowd Surf Off a Cliff"
Lykke Li, "Dance, Dance, Dance"
Ivy, "Edge of the Ocean"
Stars, "Elevator Love Letter"
Tamas Wells, "Even in the Crowds"
Andrew Bird, "Fake Palindromes"
Alphabeat, "Fascination"
Art Brut, "Formed a Band"
Camera Obscura, "French Navy"
Basement Jaxx feat. Lisa Kekaula, "Good Luck"
Jon Brion, "Here We Go"
PJ Harvey and Gordon Gano, "Hitting the Ground"
Neko Case, "Hold On, Hold On"
Mr. Airplane Man, "How Long"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Hysteric"
Junior Boys, "In the Morning"
Pet Shop Boys, "Integral"
The New Pornographers, "Letter From an Occupant"
A Girl Called Eddy, "The Long Goodbye"
LCD Soundsystem, "Losing My Edge"
Brazilian Girls, "Losing Myself"
Shivaree, "Mexican Boyfriend"
Herbert, "The Movers and The Shakers"
Delays, "Nearer Than Heaven"
Marit Bergman, "No Party"
The Ting Tings, "Shut Up and Let Me Go"
Rilo Kiley, "Silver Lining"
Bebel Gilberto, "Simplesmente"
Tompaulin, "Slender"
Sparks, "Suburban Homeboy"
Junior Senior, "Take My Time"
Scissor Sisters, "Take Your Mama"
Jem, "They"
Res, "They-Say Vision"
Moloko, "The Time is Now"
Amy Rigby, "The Trouble With Jeannie"
She & Him, "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?'
Robyn, "With Every Heartbeat"
Martha Wainwright, "You Cheated Me"
Sleater-Kinney, "You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun"
Pernice Brothers, "7:30"

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '00s: # 10-1

2010-01-10T13:15:00.005-05:00

10. Steve Wynn – HERE COME THE MIRACLES
By nature alone, double albums practically scream for attention as Major Artistic Statements, although the majority of them are overstuffed, quality-control lacking slogs. Wynn, formerly of 1980s Paisley Underground stalwarts The Dream Syndicate, turned out this effort a decade into his solo career, and explained its 81-minute length by saying he simply couldn’t leave off any of its 19 selections, and he was absolutely right—Miracles is solid in a way most of Wynn’s single albums aren’t as it ekes out one impressive variation after another of his acerbic, cathartic garage rock.

9. Nellie McKay – GET AWAY FROM ME
Another double album, only considerably more precocious—the two half-hour long sides could easily fit onto one disc, but the then 21-year-old McKay (whom a friend once astutely summed up as a “delightful nutcase”) insisted on two, and it proved a wise decision. Given her ADD-like tendency to incorporate everything from Blossom Dearie vocal jazz and Broadway-ready toe-tappers to unconventional takes on rap and Eurodisco, the two halves are far easier to digest. Together, they comprise this decade’s most remarkable, original debut, the arrival of a real (if somewhat polarizing) talent.

8. Stew – THE NAKED DUTCH PAINTER… AND OTHER SONGS
Years before he won a Tony award for Passing Strange, Stew ardently explored the wafer-thin veneer between art and life, writing songs about such outlandish characters as “girls who carry switchblades and are very well-read” but always memorably inserting himself into the narrative. Landing somewhere between a live album, an original cast recording and a lushly-produced studio set, this unusual hybrid of a second solo effort may structurally seem like a jumble of loose ends, but it plays out with the wit and precise detail of a short story collection, plus terrific melodies and a musical vocabulary to match.

7. Sam Phillips – DON’T DO ANYTHING
By now, it should be obvious that Phillips is my favorite artist of the decade—she released only three albums, and they all ended up in my top 50. Trading a tried-and-true sound for a strange new one was an admittedly gutsy move, but the long-term endurance of these new recordings (see # 15 and 26) confirmed it was a risk worth taking. With this record, she came full circle, wedding her recently honed out-of-time acoustic cabaret vibe to some of her sharpest hooks in well over a decade while also delving into a bold new terrain full of clanging percussion, distorted guitars and a startling, bare-bones immediacy.

6. Calexico – FEAST OF WIRE
This Tucson-based group (really a duo with a revolving supporting cast) never broke into the indie mainstream because their regionally-derived aesthetic encompasses too much to be easily boiled down into a descriptive soundbite. A few have tried, but “alternative rockers play mariachi music” only partially covers it. This fourth full-length is their furthest reaching effort, containing Morricone-inspired fanfares, hard-bop jazz, a sci-fi instrumental and even some Fleetwood Mac-like pop. I’m not entirely sure how it all coheres, but it does in a way that’s assured and unique—no one will ever accuse them of sounding like someone else.

5. The Go-Betweens – OCEANS APART
Robert Forster and Grant McLennan spent the ‘80s together crafting compelling, literate music that few people (apart from rock critics and music geeks) heard, the ‘90s apart pursuing solo careers, and the ‘00s first half reunited. Following two tentative efforts, they got it right here, reclaiming the full-bodied production of their classic period with passion and drive, but also wisdom that could only come with age. Although Forster’s personal narratives are at a marvelous peak, McLennan, who would sadly pass away the following year, delivers this key lyric: “What would you do if you turned around / And saw me beside you / Not in a dream, but in a song?”

4. Kings of Convenience – RIOT ON AN EMPTY STREET
Having forged an entirely distinct, fully realized sound on their previous record (see # 32), Erlend and Eirik sensibly chose to stick with it, not so much radically changing as refining their template—they slightly quicken the tempo (on the disarming “I’d Rather Dance With You”), adorn their acoustic guitars with minimal but effective string and horn accoutrement and even employ a pre-fame Feist to warble on two tracks. And yet, Riot is a great leap forward from its predecessor. Every song sounds like the aural equivalent of a pretty picture, but each one wavers between gleeful abandon and pensive hesitation to a degree where they both glow like an autumnal sun and cut like ice.

3. Kate Bush – AERIAL
I recently listened to this woman’s discography in chronological order and was left with a shocking revelation. Her twin ’80s masterpieces (The Dreaming and Hounds of Love) predictably held up well, but the album that affected me most deeply was this one, her only release this decade and her first in a dozen years. Full of touchstones that beam in like satellites from various points of Bush’s career, it refuses to commit to one particular style. Songs about the number Pi, doing the laundry and a tribute to her deceased mother (startling for its piano-and-voice sparseness) lead into an indecipherable, magnificent suite about art and flight over the cycle of one day, building from impressionistic calm to a rising intensity—confirming that in middle age, Bush is as eccentric and brilliant as ever.

2. Saint Etienne – TALES FROM TURNPIKE HOUSE*
This very British trio forged an entire career out of celebrating those mundane quirks about a person and their environment that often make a life transcendent and whole, with a thrift shop-inspired approach to appropriating musical styles they liked and made their own. On twelve songs spanning the single day in the life of a London apartment building, they found a concept perfectly suited for their sensibility. By working with pop British production team Xenomania and employing the Pet Sounds-ish harmonies of Tony and Anthony Rivers on nearly every track, they concocted their most fully realized work, from the euphoric, alternate-world number one hits like “Lightning Strikes Twice” and “A Good Thing” to the devastating one-two closing punch of “Teenage Winter" and “Goodnight”. (*Original UK edition)

1. The Avalanches – SINCE I LEFT YOU
I was going to list fifty things I love about this album, but that exercise would give it all away—the sense of discovery so necessary in order to fall in love with the work of six Australians constructing new music entirely out of an existing array of wildly disparate sounds. The art of sampling has enabled many a dubious talent, resulting in Franken-songs that hammer their borrowed hooks deep into the ground, yet here, never has such a monster moved around so gracefully. Suffused with layers, echoes and recurring motifs, this is an orchestrated work; “Frontier Psychiatrist”, for example, creates supple, silly, thrilling pop out of a dadaesque symphony of random snippets. But it all really works as an album, a whole that begs to be heard on headphones to feel its impact; it just doesn’t register well as background noise. Since I Left You is not necessarily better than anything else the ‘00s produced, but it's a summation of everything that came before, with advances in technology, a wealth of inspiration and the right kind of imagination making it possible.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '00s: # 20-11

2010-01-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

20. Imperial Teen – THE HAIR, THE TV, THE BABY AND THE BAND
Although rockers tend not to age too gracefully, this indie co-ed quartet does a lot to dispel this myth on their fourth album, especially on “Room With a View”, which urgently and poignantly expresses what a gas it is to become middle-aged. Elsewhere, their songcraft reaches a mature peak even as they keep their scrappiness in check.

19. Aimee Mann – BACHELOR NO. 2
Mann kicked off the decade with this third gem in a row (following her ‘90s albums Whatever and I’m With Stupid). Packed with more prickly tales of relationships (both personal and professional) gone sour, it also upped the ante musically, at times suggesting a precise confluence of The Beatles and Burt Bacharach—and she’s struggled a bit since to sustain such alchemy.

18. Regina Spektor – BEGIN TO HOPE
Frankly, last year’s FAR was a huge disappointment because it went too far into the mainstream, its multiple big-name producers rendering this oddball’s quirks merely cloying. However, on this previous record, she almost magically achieved a Zen-like stasis of accessibility and eccentricity, pushing herself into a more disciplined place while retaining her singular charms.

17. Belle and Sebastian – DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS
After nearly falling apart at the turn of the decade, Stuart Murdoch finally realized that what held his band together were his brilliant songs and not a democracy of contributions from his mates. With some unexpected help from uber-80s producer Trevor Horn, he gave B & S a thrilling second life where they all stopped trying to recapture their unattainable past and instead, they simply decided to evolve.

16. Super Furry Animals – DARK DAYS/LIGHT YEARS
Very few groups make it to their ninth album, much less make it their best, but these guys have rarely played according to rules of convention, even though their polyglot music wouldn’t exist without drawing from hundreds of popular influences. Though eclectic almost to a fault, this is an hour of pure joy for anyone who listens to music because they love possibilities it can suggest and occasionally achieve.

15. Sam Phillips – A BOOT AND A SHOE
Much in the same vein as Fan Dance (see # 26), but a little more open to the world (as one song puts it), this former Christian singer’s sixth secular album is all understated, smoky cabaret bliss where the slightest, most intermittent and unexpected shift in tone possesses a gorgeous, rare, surging power.

14. Sufjan Stevens – SEVEN SWANS
Those who only know Stevens from his more theatrical, state-centric work (see # 33) may find this record’s unassuming, acoustic, hushed essence a shock to the system like a cold shower. In trying to decode this deceptively simple-sounding set of fascinating puzzle-songs about love and faith, I remain rapt in awe on every attempt.

13. Tori Amos – SCARLET’S WALK
Her last great album is an arresting stream-of-consciousness travelogue inspired by her tour across America in the weeks after 9/11. While surely not more essential than Little Earthquakes (as I may have once claimed), it’s still a stunning achievement—and perhaps Amos’ only record that pauses to consider a world beyond herself.

12. The Shins – CHUTES TOO NARROW
The Shins’ didn’t really need the generous plug Garden State gave them, for they already had lived up to such hype with a near perfect set of ten power pop songs that recalled everyone from Nilsson to the Nazz but also seemed to emanate from its own planet. Instead of living up to the notion of changing people’s lives, they then faced a weightier challenge: how in the world to top this album.

11. Alison Moyet – HOMETIME
Following an eight-year stalemate with her record label and, one presumes, a particularly painful end to a long-term relationship, this veteran diva came out of hibernation to make the album of her career. Soulful, warm and dynamic, Moyet sounded better than ever, and the music, heavy on guitars with subtle electronic and orchestral undercurrents, was her most inspired, simpatico setting since her days in Yaz.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '00s: # 30-21

2010-01-06T00:01:00.004-05:00

30. Stew – GUEST HOST
As quirky a debut one would expect from an African-American who led a band called The Negro Problem. Meant to showcase his acoustic songwriter side, it’s full of lovely pop songs, none lovelier than a critique of perpetual drug rehabilitation followed by an ode to consensual marital sodomy.

29. Rufus Wainwright – WANT ONE
Layered with references to Bolero and bad sitcoms, Wainwright's compositions are larger-than-life as usual, but this time out, he reveals a wise, wounded soul who keeps his excesses under control by letting the music and songwriting (more so than the voice) take center stage.

28. Black Box Recorder – THE FACTS OF LIFE
Only Sarah Nixey could sound so creepy, so knowing and yet so… wholesome on this album’s sexual-advice-for-budding-teens title track. Like the rest of the record, it’s a perfect distillation of BBR’s peculiar fusion of pristine easy listening sparkle and pitch black humor.

27. PJ Harvey – STORIES FROM THE CITY, STORIES FROM THE SEA
Some pooh-poohed Harvey for this shiny, happy ode to falling in love in New York City; as much as I’m entranced by spooky, angry PJ, she’s never been more appealing this way. From the blissful jangle of “A Place Called Home” to the primal stomp of “This is Love”, she’s never gathered together such a solid assortment of songs, either.

26. Sam Phillips – FAN DANCE
Initially, I was not sure what to make of this, her first record in five years. Often, the minimal songs seemed barely there, threatening to evaporate. But though Phillips left her signature retro-pop sound behind here, she also opened up a new world of hidden gestures and small pleasures—nine years later, it continues to grow on me.

25. Paul Brill – NEW PAGAN LOVE SONG
Brill began his solo career as another alt-country crooner, but gradually revealed the eclectic pop craftsman waiting in the wings. With this record, he began dabbling in electronics, but carefully folded them into his well-crafted songs with a suppleness that provided enrichment instead of mere decoration.

24. Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55
Coming in and out of focus like a hazy dream, Gainsbourg’s musical debut (as an adult, anyway) is a lovely thing to listen to in the middle of the night (or, as the title suggests, the break of dawn). She may not have a “good” voice (nor did her father), but she sure as hell knows how to use it, always adding texture and presence to a lush, if enigmatic whole.

23. Goldfrapp – SEVENTH TREE
Never content to make the same album twice, Alison Goldfrapp especially threw fans for a loop when she followed the glam-tastic SUPERNATURE with something completely different: an almost pastoral collection of chilled-out, slightly sinister psychedelic folk music. Fortunately, it turned out to be an even better fit.

22. Jens Lekman – NIGHT FALLS OVER KORTEDALA
This lovably mopey Swede established himself as the heir apparent to Morrissey and Stephin Merritt by writing songs about posing as a lesbian friend’s paramour and how he accidentally cut his finger off after his girlfriend snuck up behind him for a hug. He also went one better by constructing a handmade, comprehensive sonic palette that his forebears would have never come up with by themselves.

21. TV On the Radio – DEAR SCIENCE
Having created an uneasy, challenging, seemingly new sound out of many disparate parts, this much-hyped Brooklyn band turned heads when, on this release, they started using their powers for good instead of evil. Every track here may at first sound like the work of a different band, but by favoring beauty over dissonance, they strengthen their impact and confirm that smart music can be fun, too.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '00S: # 40-31

2010-01-05T00:01:00.008-05:00

40. The Weakerthans – RECONSTRUCTION SITE
“I hate Winnipeg” is the standout phrase here, although you get the sense that John K. Samson and his bandmates have a more complicated love-hate relationship with the frozen Manitoba city they call home, for the real key lyric is, “I know you might roll your eyes at this / but I’m so glad that you exist.”

39. Junior Senior – D-D-DON’T DON’T STOP THE BEAT
A now-defunct Danish duo of a fat gay man and a skinny straight one, singing/rapping/shouting out B-52’s inspired nonsense about dancing, partying, shaking and aspiring to be white trash, quoting Kool and the Gang one track and Billy Idol the next—of course they were just too weird and wacky (and too good) to last.

38. A. C. Newman – THE SLOW WONDER
His power-pop supergroup The New Pornographers put out four good-to-great albums this decade, but none of them cohere as well as this first solo effort, which sounds cozier and more economical while containing just as many hooks; much of it also wouldn’t be out of place on the soundtrack to a vintage Scooby Doo cartoon.

37. Mekons – OOOH! (OUT OF OUR HEADS)
This long-running/long-suffering British collective celebrated their 25th anniversary when they released this, their most vital recording in well over a decade. A 9/11 response record only in a cryptic sense, it aims to understand violence and fundamentalism with a heady but affecting mixture of fury, warmth and blasphemy.

36. Tompaulin – THE TOWN AND THE CITY
Hearing this obscure, mostly forgotten British indie band’s charming debut now hints at a grand wasted opportunity—between all of its wistful, witty character studies and vocalist Stacy McKenna’s gorgeous, siren-like call, it’s enough to hang your head and sigh that they should have been at least as big as Belle and Sebastian.

35. Metric - FANTASIES
Smoothing out all the rough edges has proven disastrous for many an indie band, but for Emily Haines and her cohorts, it suits them brilliantly, perhaps because Haines is as adept coming up with a catchy chorus as she is adding depth and nuance to her sleek, gleaming electro-rock.

34. Super Furry Animals – PHANTOM POWER
Revisiting all of this Welsh collective’s vast catalogue last summer, I was struck by how well this particular record has held up. It’s eclectic as ever, veering from the scathing indictment of “Liberty Belle” to the shimmering psychedelia of “The Piccolo Snare”, but these guys have a special knack for making everything sound like it belongs—which they will show to an even finer degree on a later record further up this list.

33. Sufjan Stevens – ILLINOIS
What I’ve always admired most about Sufjan is that he’s a little nuts—it takes longer to read some of his song titles than to actually listen to them! Good thing, then, that he’s also something of a genius. ILLINOIS exemplifies Steven’s original blend of folk, Charlie Brown music and symphonic experimentation as it meshes story songs and personal essays into a gestalt that no one else has replicated

32. Kings of Convenience – QUIET IS THE NEW LOUD
What initially struck me about this Norwegian duo was how adorably geeky they looked on the cover. Actually hearing them confirms that it’s no act or pose—they’re genuine through and through and what lends their dynamic acoustic balladry its power is that you believe every word they sing.

31. Belle and Sebastian – THE LIFE PURSUIT
By the time this record came out, Stuart Murdoch had little left to prove. So, with ample help from his band, he showed just how far he could go, switching from bubble-gum glam and blue-eyed soul to squishy funk and good ‘ol chamber pop, with incredible dexterity and a frightening consistency that one would never dare call twee.

TOP FIFTY ALBUMS OF THE '00s: # 50-41

2010-01-04T00:01:00.007-05:00

Here we go--my top fifty albums of the last decade (aughties, naughties, whatever you want to call it), counted down in multiples of ten. With music, I've noticed I need time to live with a recording to develop a strong assesment of it, which is why the proportion of post-2005 records is small (and keep in mind 2006 and 2007 were compartively naff years for new music). When I look back at this list in a few years, I'm sure almost everything will be changed around, but for now...

50. Florence + the Machine – LUNGS
I initially hesitated to include this here because I’ve had less than two months to absorb it, but this passionate, glittering set is the first debut album I’ve instantly adored in a long time, so it kicks off this list (and may place much higher on it in years to come).

49. Ivy – IN THE CLEAR
This languid trio will probably never top APARTMENT LIFE, but this comes awfully close, striking a perfect balance between gauzy, effervescent dream pop and sharp, perky songcraft.

48. Nellie McKay – OBLIGATORY VILLAGERS
A subversive, slightly scattered yet succinct political song cycle that came out at exactly the right time (Fall 2007) and flopped commercially. Even with a dramatically changed political climate, it remains ripe for rediscovery.

47. Roisin Murphy – OVERPOWERED
The straightest pop music this ex-Moloko vocalist has ever recorded is still delightfully, wickedly bent, from lyrics like, “I wanna get you out of your cave, man” to this album cover, which certainly influenced Lady Gaga.

46. St. Vincent – ACTOR
Speaking of bent female singer-songwriters, it was immediately apparent on her first album that Annie Clark had talent to spare, but on this follow-up, she shows a more keen sense of how to utilize it, cloaking her David Lynch-ian quirks with Disney-friendly melodies (if just barely).

45. Marit Bergman – BABY DRY YOUR EYE
Chances are you would've heard of this Swedish songstress by now if she had ever signed an American record deal. Her winning underdog persona had been in place from the start, but her second album provided the best showcase for it, practically overflowing with equally winning, disarming songs.

44. Sleater-Kinney – ONE BEAT
This has all of the raucous energy and musical dexterity of ALL HANDS ON THE BAD ONE (which I almost included in its place), but it gets the edge for adding new dimensions to their sound that easily snap into place, like the punk/Motown hybrid of “Step Aside” or the bluesy, Stones-inspired closer, “Sympathy”.

43. Death Cab for Cutie – TRANSATLANTICISM
Between his band’s consistent discography and his influential, one-off side project The Postal Service, Ben Gibbard has constructed a remarkable resume, and this record is its crown jewel. A song cycle about such universal themes as loneliness and distance, it nonetheless scans like a one-on-one conversation even as it employs a gigantic choir on the stirring title track.

42. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – HEARTS OF OAK
Passion is a reoccurring theme on this list, and Leo has enough of it to hold his own in a duet with Florence Welch (see #50), even though his music sounds nothing like hers. His energy is just as infectious, though—both when he laments the long lost second wave of ska (“Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?”) and shrugs off the hopelessness and complacency of his fellow left-wingers.

41. Gillian Welch – TIME (THE REVELATOR)
Her most minimal and pure statement, it studies the past in order to understand the present, and really says something about time and loss, not to mention celebrity, ethics, desire and other concerns, all with a total lack of pretense.

2009 BOOKLIST

2010-01-01T22:00:00.003-05:00

In 2009, I read 22 novels, 11 memoirs, 10 nonfiction books (ranging from a cookbook of sorts to a history of American radio post World War II), 5 books of essays and/or lists, 2 short story collections and 1 graphic novel.

My five favorite books that I read this year:

Pictures at a Revolution - Mark Harris

This account of the five films nominated for Best Picture at the 1967 Academy Awards is, at once, a simple, obvious idea and an ingenuous premise for all of the possible directions it suggests and explores. A rich, highly entertaining narrative that may replace Easy Riders, Raging Bulls as the definitive account of how New Hollywood broke down the studio system.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

A Dickensian doorstop of a book, it feels wrong to call it an epic because of its sheer length. More finely tuned than that, it conjures up (sorry, couldn't resist) an elaborate fictional history of two dueling magicians in early 19th century England. It's compulsively readable precisely because the two leads are so memorably drawn.

The Magic Kingdom - Stanley Elkin

Elkin's inimitably dense, loquacious style kept him from ever becoming a household name. After tackling the brilliant but difficult George Mills last year, this far more accessible work was a pleasant surprise; the reason why it was not a popular success probably has something to do with it being about a man who takes a group of terminally ill children to Disneyworld. Neither depressingly maudlin or pointedly satirical, it's somewhere in between--clearheaded, humane, and at times, even droll.

My Winnipeg - Guy Maddin

I was not aware that Maddin had published a screenplay for his latest film until I found a copy of it in Toronto. And given that the film is a strange docu-fantasy hybrid, it makes perfect sense that Maddin would heavily annotate it. Better than a DVD commentary track, and essential for Maddin fans, including everything from a brief anecdote about Isabella Rossellini's pet pig to an extended account of working with the aptly named Ann Savage.

American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld

Don't let the chick-lit friendly cover deter you: Sittenfeld's third novel is an imaginative, audacious, sobering look at a character explicitly based on Laura Bush that works as both a compelling, masterful novel and a fascinating alternate history.

The 2009 booklist (in order of when I finished each book):

1. Absurdistan - Gary Shteyngart

2. Joe College - Tom Perrotta
3. The Ferrari in the Bedroom - Jean Shepherd

4. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

5. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick M. Lencioni**

6. The Wordy Shipmates - Sarah Vowell

7. Pictures at a Revolution - Mark Harris

8. The Film Club - David Gilmour

9. I Like You - Amy Sedaris

10. The Pitchfork 500 - Eds. Scott Plagenhoef and Ryan Schreiber

11. Microserfs - Douglas Coupland

12. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

13. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

14. Morvern Callar - Alan Warner

15. Orange Roofs, Golden Arches - Philip Langdon

16. Then We Came to an End - Joshua Ferris

17. B is for Beer - Tom Robbins

18. Candy Freak - Steve Almond*

19. When I Grow Up - Juliana Hatfield

20. Faraway Places - Tom Spanbauer

21. Dance, Dance, Dance - Haruki Murakami

22. The Magic Kingdom - Stanley Elkin

23. Not Becoming My Mother - Ruth Reichl

24. Catherdral - Raymond Carver

25. Killing Yourself to Live - Chuck Klosterman*

26. Prep - Curtis Sittenfeld

27. Something in the Air - Marc Fisher

28. JPod - Douglas Coupland

29. The Great Rewind - Nathan Rabin

30. The White Album - Joan Didion

31. Kiss Me Like a Stranger - Gene Wilder

32. The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon - Tom Spanbauer*

33. Niagara Falls All Over Again - Elizabeth McCracken

34. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee*

35. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs - John Lydon

36. Old Friend From Far Away - Natalie Goldberg

37. Runaway - Alice Munro
38. Heavy Rotation - Ed. Peter Terzian

39. My Winnipeg - Guy Maddin

40. Wrack and Ruin - Don Lee

41. Inventory - The Onion A.V. Club

42. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates

43. Dusty! Queen of the Postmods - Annie J. Randall

44. Another Green World (33 1/3) - Geeta Dayal

45. Kicking the Pricks - Derek Jarman*
46. That Old Cape Magic - Richard Russo

47. Achewood: The Great Outdoor Fight - Chris Onstad

48. The Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem*

49. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld

50. You Better Not Cry - Augusten Burroughs

51. The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon

*re-read

**assigned reading for work!

Maybe 2010 will be the year I finally get around to The Satanic Verses, which I picked up a used copy of for $3 back in 2003; I'd also like to devote a few weeks (months?) to reading an actual Dickens novel (I've only read A Tale of Two Cities--assigned in 7th grade!). Stay tuned...

THE BEST MUSIC OF 2009

2009-12-20T22:40:00.002-05:00

At least three of my top ten albums this year exhibit a considerable Kate Bush influence—not a bad way to close out the decade. However, it concerns me that I ended up downloading every single one of my top five albums from Amazon or iTunes. I still love shopping for CDs in an actual, physical store, but don't be surprised if I’m (sigh) downloading all of the titles in my top ten a couple years from now.

TOP TEN ALBUMS:

10. Tegan and Sara – SAINTHOOD

Over a decade into their recording career with nary a misstep, the Quin twins continue their unique balancing act of crafting pop songs both universally catchy and stubbornly individualistic. If their sixth album leans more heavily towards the former (as their 2004 breakthrough SO JEALOUS did), it also aims for the intimate scope of THE CON (2007), but with a directness that befits the energetic, filler-free playlist. Tegan (or is it Sara?—still can’t tell ‘em apart) signs off with the lyric, “Mark my words, I might be something someday”, and they’ve set the bar admirably high.

Favorite tracks: “Hell”, “Alligator”, “The Cure”

9. Bat For Lashes – TWO SUNS

Her debut having entirely passed me by, Natasha Khan’s second album was a great discovery. In part, she’s a throwback to an era when a girl with mystical motivations and minor goth inclinations (think Johnette Napolitano and Kate Bush, of course, but also Tori Amos and PJ Harvey) could beguile an adoring audience. Fortunately, she has ample talent and, more importantly, presence. Some will inevitably write her off as a flake or a fool, but for the rest of us, this record, with its utilization of tribal rhythms, gospel choirs and cult legend Scott Walker is a thing of beauty.

Favorite tracks: “Pearl’s Dream”, “Moon and Moon”, “Sleep Alone”

8. Kings of Convenience – DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE

This Norwegian duo’s last album, RIOT ON AN EMPTY STREET (2004), was nearly perfect to begin with and has endeared itself to me like few other records. On this belated encore, they’re even quieter and more minimalist, only occasionally supplementing their acoustic guitars and delicate harmonies with a fleeting piano tinkle or a simpatico violin. Although this lacks some of its predecessor’s tension and ingenuity, it also shows that these guys haven’t forgotten how to effortlessly sustain and engage the listener in a cozy, autumnal mood.

Favorite tracks: “Boat Behind”, “My Ship Isn’t Pretty”, “Riot On an Empty Street”

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – IT’S BLITZ!

I always questioned Karen O’s entertaining but belabored Siouxsie Sioux shtick, and I’d pretty much written this trio off after their weirdly inert second album, 2006’s SHOW YOUR BONES. So, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that Karen and her cohorts would redeem themselves by going all the way and making their third album a very Siouxsie-like 80s synth-pop/new wave extravaganza. Looser, full of joy and best of all, more fun (dig the title’s very apt exclamation point), the YYY’s transcend their influences by fully embracing them—and writing songs as exuberant and affecting as “Hysteric”.

Favorite tracks: “Hysteric”, “Zero”, “Heads Will Roll”, “Little Shadow”

6. Vienna Teng – INLAND TERRITORY

Easily one of the most overlooked albums of the year, this female vocalist/pianist’s fourth effort is a sizable leap forward that is comparable to other fourth albums like FROM THE CHOIRGIRL HOTEL and THE DREAMING. No longer content to solely resign herself to piano ballads (though a few excellent ones surface here) Teng attempts to broaden her repertoire, and she manages to be more propulsive (the rocking, shimmering “White Light”), experimental (the odd time signatures of “Radio”), adventurous (the build up and flamenco break of “No Gringo”) and just plain eclectic (the delightful, hard-to-categorize, handclap-driven “Grandmother Song”) than one would have ever thought possible.

Favorite tracks: “Grandmother Song”, “White Light”, “In Another Life”, “No Gringo”

5. The Bird and The Bee – RAY GUNS ARE NOT JUST THE FUTURE

This duo’s second LP may not contain a track as blissfully perfect as “Again and Again” or cunningly astute as “Fucking Boyfriend” but as whole, it’s a more consistent effort than the debut. Although the best track is actually a leftover from an earlier EP (“Polite Dance Song”), there are no duds, either. Tributes to Japan (the country, not the band) and David Lee Roth sit next to putdowns of fucking boyfriends and sinister girlfriends and love songs touching in their simplicity and urgency. Erasing any notion of this arrangement as a fleeting project, Inara and Greg prove they were meant for each other.

Favorite tracks: “Polite Dance Song”, “Diamond Dave”, “My Love”, “Birthday”

4. Florence + The Machine – LUNGS

Five years ago, I deemed Nellie McKay’s GET AWAY FROM ME “the debut of the year, possibly the decade.” I still stand by that, but in a few years time I wouldn’t be surprised if I felt just as fondly about this debut from 23-year-old Florence Welch. Passion is a quality I always admire in a musician; on LUNGS, Flo exudes enough passion for about five albums, and is precocious enough to swerve between the primal (the punky stomp of “Kiss With a Fist”) and the ethereal (“Cosmic Love”, simultaneously thunderous and airy). This may be off-putting to some, but in the context of her soaring vocals and glittering, hooky songs, it has the power to nearly take one’s breath away.

Favorite tracks: “Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)”, “Dog Days are Over”, “Kiss With a Fist”, “Cosmic Love”

3. St. Vincent – ACTOR

“I think I love you, I think I’m maaaaaaaaddd,” sings the former Annie Clark on “Actor Out of Work”, and it nicely exposes the subversive nature of the deceptively normal-looking woman on the album cover. Tighter yet more expansive than her debut MARRY ME, it surely sounds like nothing else out there right now, barely cloaking its quirk with sweet sounds and melodies (“Black Rainbow” could be a Disney cartoon slowly being eaten up by a David Lynch production). She’s undeniably arty and challenging but shrewd enough to allow for such an unexpected epiphany as the sublime moment near the end of “Just the Same But Brand New” when the drums kick in and the song explodes into Technicolor.

Favorite tracks: “Actor Out of Work”, “Just the Same But Brand New”, “Laughing With a Mouth of Blood”, “Marrow”

2. Metric – FANTASIES

Emily Haines is something of a national treasure in Canada; on her band’s latest album, she makes a blatant attempt to become one south of the border as well. FANTASIES sands down the rough edges of Metric’s previous efforts, presenting ten sleek, gleaming electropop numbers designed to be heard on the radio next to standards by The Cars and performed in the sort of stadiums that Depeche Mode used to fill. Normally, I’d be aghast at such a notion, but here’s the thing—it suits Haines and Metric shockingly well. I don’t want to diminish LIVE IT OUT or Haines’ wonderfully melancholy solo record from a few years back, but this is her crowning achievement to date, and it works primarily because Haines is as adept at coming up with a catchy earworm of a chorus as she is fleshing out her compositions with depth and nuance.

Favorite tracks: “Help I’m Alive”, “Gold Guns Girls”, “Gimme Sympathy”, “Satellite Mind”

1. Super Furry Animals – DARK DAYS/LIGHT YEARS

It’s that kind of album—the kind that opens with a six-minute jam called “Crazy Naked Girls”, the kind where a member of Scots New Wave revivalists Franz Ferdinand shows up for a guest rap in German, the kind with a song title like “The Very Best of Neil Diamond” or lyrics such as “I wasn’t looking for a mountain / There was the mountain / It was a big fucking mountain.” In other words, it’s eclectic to a fault. This is not necessarily a bad thing, for it’s also the kind of album where one senses endless possibilities, from a simple love song barely able to hold back its optimism and euphoria (“Helium Hearts”) to an impressionistic eight-minute mood piece chugging along a flawless beat and floating on by with heavenly “sha la la’s” (“Cardiff in the Sun”). Robert Christgau once memorably described Led Zeppelin as “genius dumb”, and that somewhat contradictory term neatly sums up this Welsh collective’s ninth (and best) album.

Favorite tracks: “Inaugural Trams”, “Cardiff In the Sun”, “Helium Hearts”, “White Socks/Flip Flops”

ALSO RECOMMENDED (with favorite tracks):

Andrew Bird – NOBLE BEAST
(“Oh No”, “Fitz and Dizzyspells”)

Bebel Gilberto – ALL IN ONE
(“Sun is Shining”, “Chica Chica Boom Chic”)

Camera Obscura – MY MAUDLIN CAREER
(“French Navy”, “The Sweetest Thing”, “Honey in the Sun”)

Emm Gryner – GODDESS
(“Young as the Night”, “Die Evergreen”)

Jill Sobule – CALIFORNIA YEARS
(“San Francisco”, "Nothing to Prove", “Mexican Pharmacy”)

Junior Boys – BEGONE DULL CARE
(“Hazel”, “The Animator”)

Lily Allen – IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU
(“The Fear”, “Not Fair”, “22”)

Neko Case – MIDDLE CYCLONE
(“Middle Cyclone”, “I’m an Animal”)

Nellie McKay – NORMAL AS BLUEBERRY PIE: A TRIBUTE TO DORIS DAY
(“Wonderful Guy”, “Crazy Rhythm”)

Pet Shop Boys – YES
(“Love Etc.”, “King of Rome”, “The Way It Used to Be”)

Pink Martini – SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
(“Ohayoo Ohio”, “Splendor in the Grass”)

Yo La Tengo – POPULAR SONGS
(“Here to Fall”, “Avalon or Someone Very Similar”, “By Two’s”)

A DOZEN FROM 2009

2009-12-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

Twelve random 2009 photographs that I like:

Spring in Jamaica Plain - every year, the purples and pinks I see out here (as opposed to the Midwest) never cease to amaze.

Taken at the Brooklyn Botannical Garden in late May.

From a long summer weekend spent in Western Mass., a stunning view in back of the Edith Wharton Estate.

Later that weekend, The Bridge of Flowers (the one on the right) in Shelburne Falls.

At the DeCordova Sculpture Museum in Lincoln, MA, Labor Day weekend.

Another shot of a Toronto street (Queen, I believe) that did not make this post. I love how the CN Tower peeps out in the background.

More pumpkins than you could ever want at Russell Orchards in Ipswich, MA.

Down the road from Russell's, a dramatic sunset at the beach on the Crane Estate.

The harbor in Camden, ME on an October afternoon.

An exceptional year for fall foliage, as seen at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

Later that day, unexpected beauty in a parking lot in nearby Watertown.

Thanksgiving weekend, a mild Sunday afternoon at Millenium Park in Kriofske Mix home base West Roxbury: Maggie and Steve strolling off into the sunset of another year.

THE BEST FILMS OF 2000

2009-11-28T14:55:00.007-05:00

The year 2000, not the 2000’s – that will have to wait until at least January. Not nearly as tremendous a year as 2001, it’s also prone to turn-of-the-decade deliberation: most sources list two or three of these films as copyright 1999, but since they were released in the US the following year, they qualify here.

10. HIGH FIDELITY
Admittedly, I go back and forth on this film’s actual merit. Stephen Frears’ workmanlike adaptation of Nick Hornby’s first (and best) novel attempts to sell an inherently indie story (the hapless love life of a music geek/record store owner) to a wide audience, and the two sensibilities don’t always gel. But then, the music geek in me remembers so much to love about it: Jack Black’s breakthrough performance (playing to all of his very particular persona’s strengths), Todd Louiso’s underrated one (really, the antithesis of Black’s) and of course, John Cusack as a Lloyd Dobler-type who has hit his mid-thirties and naturally still hasn’t figured it all out.

9. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH
Period costume dramas tend to bore me to tears with their stilted pageantry, but this Edith Wharton adaptation from Terence Davies effortlessly draws me in because it draws so much blood. In his highly personal British film essays, Davies tends to favor a sort of unsentimental nostalgia: here, he revels in the lush detail of early 20th Century upper-crust New York, but he doesn’t lessen any of the real devastation Wharton’s heroine Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson, unconventionally cast but nearly revelatory) faces, and is shrewd enough not to obscure how much of it she brings upon herself—that’s not to say she doesn’t receive any help from a most exquisitely bitchy Laura Linney.

8. WONDER BOYS
Another indie novel (from Michael Chabon) getting the big studio treatment (helmed by director-for-hire Curtis Hanson)—but here, everything aligns beautifully. Michael Douglas gleefully (and rather successfully) plays against type as a schlubby, ratty bathrobe-adorned author forever trying to finish a massive novel while dealing with a garden variety of eccentrics (Robert Downey Jr., Tobey Maguire) and lovers (Frances McDormand, a pre-Cruise Katie Holmes). It’s incredibly shaggy and more than a little quirky, but also immensely likable, and one of the few instances where a tacked-on happy ending actually works better than the book’s unbearably depressing conclusion.

7. DANCER IN THE DARK
Speaking of unbearably depressing conclusions: I would rate this film much higher if I could ever stand to watch it again. Still, at a safe distance I can admire and applaud Lars von Trier’s weird, operatic combination of Dogme feel-bad melodrama and joyous, explosive Technicolor musical spectacle. Only a genius as demented as von Trier could pull this off, a true psychological slasher film—difficult to watch, but so compelling that you don’t dare to look away. But do not undervalue Bjork: her innovative songs (which almost magically fuse the orchestral with the electronic) and her unglamorous, egoless performance both give the film its soul.

6. NOT ONE LESS
Zhang Yimou made a name for himself with sumptuous, epic historical pieces that, at their best, retained the intimacy of a tight character study. Here, he forgoes the large canvas and focuses entirely on a smaller story that can be summed up as such: a young substitute teacher in rural China is instructed not to lose any of her students. When one boy leaves the village to find work in the city, she goes out looking for him. Even as it subtly points out critical differences between an evolving urban and rural China, it’s a simple, straightforward film. Fortunately, in that simplicity, the director finds much beauty—I haven’t seen it in nearly a decade now, but I can still recall how deeply moved I felt at the closing credits.

5. THE WIND WILL CARRY US
For much of the past decade, Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami has focused entirely on documentaries and minimalist digital video features that visually bear little resemblance to his best known work. So, call this entry a pinnacle of what came before. Abandoning the meta-narratives of past triumphs like CLOSE-UP, he presents a bare-bones premise—a journalist travels to an isolated Kurdish village to report on a rare burial ceremony for a dying elderly woman—and then repeatedly skirts it, focusing more on cultural differences and missed connections (never has any film wrung so much poetry from bad cell phone reception). Throughout, the mammoth, surrounding landscape plays such an essential role to the film’s almost beatific pondering of life and death that Kiarostami’s typically unresolved final scene makes for a most apt summation.

4. BEST IN SHOW
With each year, this looks more like Christopher Guest’s best show. His precise dismantling of dog shows and their trainers may not contain the unanticipated emotional heft of WAITING FOR GUFFMAN or the deadpanned brilliance of THIS IS SPINAL TAP, but it may be his funniest, sharpest effort, and certainly his darkest and most savage. Kudos to an especially inspired ensemble, from expertly drawn stock characters like Parker Posey’s yuppie from hell and Jennifer Coolidge’s golddigging poodle princess to only-in-Guest-land creations like Fred Willard’s sublimely clueless, tasteless commentator and Guest’s own drawlin’ fishin’ store proprietor/aspiring ventriloquist. As little as they may care to admit it, subsequent real competition-focused docs from SPELLBOUND to THE KING OF KONG owe a lot to this fake one.

3. JUDY BERLIN
Whatever happened to director Eric Mendelsohn? His debut feature seemed to come from out of nowhere. The type of indie film that now seems lost to a long-ago era, it’s a low budget, black-and-white fable about a day in the life of a sleepy Long Island suburb. The word fable seems most suitable due to the film’s dreamy pacing, sparse, poetic use of music and sound and gorgeous, otherworldly cinematography (the day centers on a solar eclipse); there’s also a trio of superb performances from Edie Falco, Barbara Barrie, and, in her last role, the incomparable Madeline Kahn. According to IMBd.com, Mendelsohn finally has a new film in post-production; let’s hope it’s as unique, charming and sincere as his first.

2. YI YI
Most Westerners (including this author) only know Taiwanese director Edward Yang via this three-hour familial tapestry and meditation on mortality, urban alienation and human kindness. While I would love to easily view Yang’s still-not-available-on-region-1-DVD back catalogue, YI YI seems so elaborately vast and complete that it almost compensates. Beginning with a birth and ending with a death, it marries the scope of Dickens with the pinpoint exactness of Carver. Nothing really earth-shattering occurs, but everything shifts and rearranges itself ever so slightly, creating the most profound cumulative effect as it considers something so ordinary as the passage of time and lives lived—possibly even more profound since Yang’s untimely death in 2007.

1. BEAU TRAVAIL
Although inspired by Herman Melville’s novel BILLY BUDD, this is the sort of subject matter you can imagine only working as a film, or perhaps director Claire Denis and her cinematographer Agnes Godard just managed to fully transform a literary work into cinematic art at a level without precedent. A stunningly shot and framed Rubik’s Cube of a movie, BEAU TRAVAIL (whose title translates as “Good Work”) is a peek into how a young recruit upsets the balance of power in a French Foreign Legion post in North Africa, but it’s just as much a rigorous paean to the kinesis of the male form. It constructs a purely visual language that would make it just as exciting to watch with the sound turned off—that is, if it weren’t for wiry, wound-up Denis Levant at the film’s center. Both his acute physical actions and monotone (but not apathetic) voiceover barely conceal a mounting intensity that is kept almost impossibly bottled-up until the film’s astonishing final scene, where it explodes in a most unexpected, ingenious and euphoric way.

My original top ten for this year:

1. BEAU TRAVAIL
2. THE WIND WILL CARRY US
3. JUDY BERLIN
4. YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
5. CHUCK AND BUCK
6. DANCER IN THE DARK
7. NOT ONE LESS
8. ALMOST FAMOUS
9. CHICKEN RUN
10. HIGH FIDELITY

Funny how # 1 and # 10 are still the same, eh? I must have seen YI YI days after making this list. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH would not play Boston until February 2001. Can't imagine how CHUCK AND BUCK and CHICKEN RUN made the cut over BEST IN SHOW and WONDER BOYS. I have fond memories of ALMOST FAMOUS as a fun, if somewhat flawed film. However, my memories of YOU CAN COUNT ON ME are vague at best—I seriously need to revisit it, because I remember feeling a little anger over Laura Linney losing the Oscar to Julia Roberts that year.

EAGLEMAN FOR TURKEY DAY

2009-11-26T11:08:00.001-05:00

Chances are you've already seen this classic, not-a-parody Chicago commercial - I've viewed it many times myself, and it never fails to crack me up - the shoddy production values, the even shakier acting, the sound effects! Happy Thanksgiving.

YEAR OF THE DOG

2009-11-14T10:45:00.002-05:00

Get ready for an overdose of cute. It was one year ago today that Steve brought a ten-week-old Maggie home.

Here she is the first night, lap-sized.

A week later: still a little disoriented by her new surroundings.

December: more comfortably at home

Early January: still small enough to fit in a bookcase.

Late January: getting a little scruffy, although the rest of her head has yet to catch up with her ears.

February: ears no longer so bunny-like.

March: post-spayed and temporarily funnel-headed.

May: still small enough to get a bath in the kitchen sink.

Summer: full grown and ready for action!

November 2009: the lady of the house, and a good girl.

THE BEST FILMS OF 2001

2009-11-10T22:36:00.005-05:00

Yes, the year is correct. As I begin compiling my end-of-the-decade lists (you’ve been warned), you may notice that on the sidebar, my yearly lists for film and music only go back to 2002, for that’s when I began blogging. Completist that I am, I feel the need to post my top ten films of this decade’s first two years (I haven’t decided whether to do music yet). First up, 2001.

More than a few critics deem 1939 the greatest year ever for movies (THE WIZARD OF OZ, GONE WITH THE WIND, etc;), while at least one has stumped for 1999, the year of AMERICAN BEAUTY, MAGNOLIA, BOYS DON’T CRY and many other notable efforts (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH was my # 1 at the time, although now I would say ELECTION without hesitation).

For me, 2001 is almost implausibly stellar. I feel as strongly about every title in my current top ten of that year (as opposed to my original list, which I’ll reveal at the end) as I do about most of my number one films of any other year this decade. I’m not sure how to account for this. Before I argue how these films were born out of a creatively stimulating environment that no longer exists, may I remind you that 2001 produced a lot of dreck as well, from Tim Burton’s pointless remake of PLANET OF THE APES to stiflingly disastrous indies such as NOVOCAINE. So, call it serendipitous that a single year produced such a bounty of cinematic riches—keep your fingers crossed that it will happen again soon. (As always, I go by U.S. release dates in determining what year a film belongs to).

10. AMELIE
Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s iconic baguette of a romantic comedy nearly defies logic. The cynic in me sees it as an overly precious slice of calculated whimsy and wishes it had an actress with more depth and presence than title star Audrey Tautou. And yet, every time I watch the film, I melt like our heroine literally does in one scene. The narration, the set design and especially the score are inventive and divine. In the end, I suppose the whole thing radiates enough pure, unfiltered joy to obliterate all of my cynicism.

9. OUR SONG
Easily the most obscure film on this list, this quiet gem from writer/director Jim McKay follows three teenage girls (one of them a young, robust Kerry Washington) over the course of one summer in Brooklyn. What impresses me most about this coming of age tale is its genuineness: rarely does a work of fiction so effortlessly simulate the day to day rhythms of real life to the point where viewers feel as if they are eavesdropping in on the characters rather than watching performances.

8. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
John Cameron Mitchell’s adaptation of his own theatrical piece about a sort-of transgender glam rocker boasts a unique searching-for-an-identity concept that transcends its Rocky Horror influence, terrific songs that, for once in a musical, genuinely rock, and an instantly winning, handmade, off-the-cuff feel. However, it’s Mitchell himself that gives the film its spark—his Hedwig is such an arresting and sincere persona that the character’s underdog status takes on an intense poignancy amidst all the fabulousness.

7. DONNIE DARKO
Perhaps the decade’s premier cult flick, and the one that seems to exist most defiantly in its own world—just try to describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it in twenty words or less. “Disturbed teenager discovers means of time travel while a giant rabbit forces him to do bad things” is the best I can come up with, and even that doesn’t begin to explain this perverse John Hughes tribute. Overly ambitious and a little obtuse, it’s nonetheless a true original, casting an eerie, unshakable spell like no film before or arguably since.

6. GOSFORD PARK
Robert Altman doing an upstairs/downstairs British period mystery? It seems as absurd as a 1970s update of Phillip Marlowe, or a live-action version of an outrageously silly comic strip/cartoon. Altman tried everything and left his discernible stamp on it (to varying degrees of success), but this was his best effort since NASHVILLE, with which it shared a massive, mostly great ensemble delineated by class, and a murder. But he just about glosses over the latter and focuses almost entirely on the subtleties inherent in the former, and it’s a rich, witty, revealing take on an awfully particular culture.

5. GHOST WORLD
Speaking of comic book adaptations: this starts off like the ultimate ‘90s Tarantino-inspired remnant of indie irony: two teenagers (a never-better Thora Birch and a young, astute Scarlett Johansson) live to mock and defile the mass-market suburban humdrum around them by celebrating that which “is so bad it’s gone past good back to bad again.” Fortunately, director Terry Zwigoff doesn’t let his heroines (or the audience) get off so easily. By adding an inspired third character (Steve Buscemi at his very best) to the story, he allows them to consider a depth of emotion outside the film’s ticky-tacky surface, and the end result absolutely nails the uncertainty and fear of becoming a grown up.

4. WAKING LIFE
Another director who is game for just about anything, Richard Linklater is at his best when he’s at his most personal; this seemingly free-form, literally floating (via rotoscope animation) dip into blather about dreams and ideas seems exceptionally personal, but feels like an inspired dialogue, as many contribute to its ideas and design (it employs over twenty animators on a scene-by-scene basis). In addition to looking like nothing else that preceded it, WAKING LIFE also had its own unique, peculiar rhythm—it was one of the few films released in the weeks after 9/11 that wholeheartedly encouraged its viewers to sit down and think about the world around and beyond them.

3. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
Some filmmakers arrive with a fully-formed vision (see # 7) that they can neither top nor sustain; others cultivate one gradually until it eventually blossoms at its fullest extent. Wong Kar Wai is the best director in the latter category I can think of. This film beautifully amalgamates all of his obsessions (American pop music, tactile sensuousness, romantic longing, the opportunity and folly of coincidence) into a stunning whole. A deceptively simple tale of a romance that’s never acted upon, it sounds like the stuff of a prime Douglas Sirk melodrama. Instead, it plays out with such nuance and restraint that it achieves an almost unbearable intimacy, leaving the viewer insatiably swooned and utterly devastated.

2. MULHOLLAND DR.
I wasn’t much of a Lynch-head before seeing this exquisite and weirdly emotional mindfuck of a feature, which was constructed from scraps of a rejected television series pilot. I still find it hard to explain why I get goose bumps just hearing the opening swing-band theme music as the image blurs and skitters across the screen. I can’t even fully decipher the narrative’s warped logic, although over several viewings I’ve come up with a few ambitious, probably insufficient theories. But oh, how easily Lynch seduces me—with Los Angeles as his medium, he fearlessly explores connections between dreams, reality and the movies, not to mention all of the wicked, sublime and terrifying possibilities that surface when they overlap.

1. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS
To explain my enduring love for Wes Anderson’s familial saga, I go back to the notion that with each viewing, I take away more from it. Visually, that’s not much of a challenge for anyone, for the director jam packs each intricate frame and dizzying montage with an insane attention-to-detail that bespeaks a lot of excitement and real affection for this universe he’s created. For some, it’s harder to locate that growing emotional charge on subsequent viewings or even one to begin with. While not denying that Anderson’s whimsy is an acquired taste, I will strongly champion the carefulness with which he develops his characters (okay, maybe 'cept for Dudley)—always in stock uniform, they may appear like comic strip denizens, but they’re also as unexpectedly complicated and enchantingly flawed as most people you know.

Just for fun, here was my original top ten:

1. WAKING LIFE
2. MEMENTO
3. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
4. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
5. GOSFORD PARK
6. GHOST WORLD
7. IN THE BEDROOM
8. MULHOLLAND DR.
9. OUR SONG
10. THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

I had seen DONNIE DARKO but was still processing it. As for AMELIE, I was grappling with the issues I mentioned above. I was easily impressed by the performances in IN THE BEDROOM at the time, though now I suspect that's all there is to the film. Repeated viewings of the Lynch and Anderson films, of course, escalated my opinions of them over the years. And what about MEMENTO, this year's (and possibly this decade's) greatest casualty? I've had little desire to return to it since 2002, and I fear it wouldn't stack up to these other films today. Perhaps before the decade is over, I'll view it again to make sure.

2009-11-09T23:19:00.001-05:00

I've changed the name back--it says much more about me (well, obviously) than Ambitious Slacker ever did. Expect more actual new posts soon.

RETURN TO TORONTO

2009-09-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

My reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival are up at Chlotrudis Mewsings. Below are some places I visited when I wasn't sitting in a dark theatre (or waiting in line to get into one).