Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lists. Show all posts

01 January 2013

This is it. My 'Top Ten' for 2012.

Okay, y'all, this is it. The real real. The thing that, at least for the time being, has me mattering on a cosmic level. I hope you find something of value here. I'm not afraid of ties, when they're called for. If you're bothered by ties, well, that's your hierarchy and your problem.


01) CLOUD ATLAS (TYKWER/WACHOWSKI/WACHOWSKI)
       HOLY MOTORS (CARAX)



02) LINCOLN (SPIELBERG)
      ZERO DARK THIRTY (BIGELOW)

03) COSMOPOLIS (CRONENBERG)

04) FOOTNOTE (CEDAR)
      THE MASTER (ANDERSON)

05) BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (COSMATOS)

06) THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (GODDARD)

07) DJANGO UNCHAINED (TARANTINO)
      THE PAPERBOY (DANIELS)

08) TABU (GOMES)

09) CHRONICLE (TRANK)
      THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (CHBOSKY)

10) PROMETHEUS (SCOTT)


Honorable Mention: Bad 25, Barbara, Detention, Frankenweenie, Goon, Haywire, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, ParaNorman, Pina, The Tall Man, Ted, Wreck-It Ralph

30 December 2012

The Year in Film: 2012 Nominees!

So, here we are. Coming up on the end of another year. In keeping with my college traditions, I've decided to try and add a tad more showmanship to my year-end film proceedings, and as such, I'd like to offer the nominees for the film awards I am giving via my annual summation of film and such. Were these an actual event with proper catering and exquisite decor, I've no doubt it would be a smash hit with cineastes, gorehounds, freaks, eggheads, scientists, libertines, and anybody who enjoys getting a diverse group of people together and celebrating art. Feel free to comment as you see fit.

I'll be posting the winners on Tuesday, January 1st.



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Roger Deakins (Skyfall)
Andrew Dunn (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
Norm Li (Beyond The Black Rainbow)
Mihai Malamaire, Jr (The Master)
Rui Pocas (Tabu)
Dariusz Wolski (Prometheus)

BEST 3D:
Frankenweenie
Life of Pi
Monsters, Inc.
Prometheus
Step Up: Revolution

BEST EDITING:
Cloud Atlas
Haywire
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
Anna Karenina
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Generation P
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Prometheus

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Broadcast (Berberian Sound Studio)
Reinhold Heil/Johnny Klimek/Tom Tykwer (Cloud Atlas)
Howard Shore/Metric (Cosmopolis)
Sinoia Caves (Beyond The Black Rainbow)

BEST DIRECTOR:
Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
Leos Carax (Holy Motors)
Panos Cosmatos (Beyond The Black Rainbow)
David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis)
Lee Daniels (The Paperboy)

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Bad 25
Deceptive Practice
How to Survive a Plague
Leviathan
Pina 3D
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
Room 237
West of Memphis

SPECIAL AWARD for UNDERRATED GEM:
The Awakening
The Bay
Beyond The Black Rainbow
For a Good Time, Call...
Gone
Not Fade Away
The Paperboy
The Possession
The Tall Man

BEST FIRST FILM:
Beyond The Black Rainbow
Chronicle
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Steven Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis)
Lee Daniels/Pete Dexter (The Paperboy)
Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
Tom Tykwer/Andy Wachowski/Lana Wachowski (Cloud Atlas)

BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT:
Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)
Leos Carax (Holy Motors)
Joseph Cedar (Footnote)
Josh Fell (ParaNorman)
Drew Goddard/Joss Whedon (The Cabin in The Woods)
Max Landis (Chronicle)
Seth MacFarlane/Alec Sulkin/Wellesley Wild (Ted)
Athina Rachel Tsangari (Attenberg)

BEST FX:
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
John Carter of Mars
Life of Pi
Prometheus

BEST ACTOR:
Lior Ashkenazi (Footnote)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Dane DeHaan (Chronicle)
Michael Fassbender (Prometheus)
Denis Lavant (Holy Motors)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Jason Segel (Jeff Who Lives at Home)
Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTRESS:
Jessica Biel (The Tall Man)
Gina Carano (Haywire)
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Lola Creton (Goodbye First Love)
Greta Gerwig (Damsels in Distress)
Nina Hoss (Barbara)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of The Southern Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Tyler Abrizzi (ParaNorman)
Russell Crowe (The Man with the Iron Fists)
Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Scoot McNairy (Argo/Killing Them Softly)
Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
Bruce Willis (Moonrise Kingdom)
Ronald Zehrfeld (Barbara)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Maude Apatow (This is 40)
Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Cecile de France (Kid with a Bike)
Gina Gershon (Killer Joe)
Macy Gray (The Paperboy)
Salma Hayek (Savages)
Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)
Samantha Morton (Cosmopolis)

29 December 2012

The Worst Films of 2012.


WORST FILM OF 2012 (in order of ascending craptitude)

10) Silent Hill: Revelation
09) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
08) Our Children
07) American Reunion
06) The Moth Diaries
05) Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out
04) The Lorax
03) The Expendables 2
02) Don't go in the Woods
01) Wrath of the Titans

25 July 2010

The Fifty Best Prince Songs of all time, Pt. III: 1-10.

So it took me two years to finally finish this endeavor. It gets harder and harder to write about these songs, the closer they get to my heart and hippocampus. It helps, though, seeing Purple Rain with an audience. It lets me get back into that purple part of my heart.

So, let's catch up. Part one, which covers #s 50-16, is here. Part two, which covers 11-15, is here.

10) COMPUTER BLUE (Unreleased Version) (1984)
So many different versions. I'm partial to the one that Prince turns into the funk version of "The End" (i.e. the 'hallway speech' version), but I've never heard a version of Computer Blue that isn't captivating.





09) ANNA STESIA (1988)


A remarkable dialogue of faith.







08) THE BALLAD OF DOROTHY PARKER (1987)


There will never be another song quite like this one. It is ground zero of a whole new kind of sound, and I am dazzled by it on a daily basis.





07) DIRTY MIND (1980)


Naughty, but not filthy. Funky, but in a way no one had experienced before. Synthy, but with much more on its mind than riding some sequencers in search of easy groceries.





06) REBIRTH OF THE FLESH – Camille (1986)


For some reason, this has always reminded me a little of "Earache My Eye." Party rock at its finest. I want a horn section with me at all times because of this track.





05) CHILI SAUCE – The Time (1984)


The funniest loverman seduction ever put on record. Why hasn't some enterprising individual made Morris Day their spokesperson? I mean, the possibilities are just limitless. And this song is such a singular vision of purple strings and straightman sass, it just makes me smile every time I hear it.





04) FOREVER IN MY LIFE (1987)


A studio error gives rise to one of the most enduring love songs ever written. If I ever get married (yes, I know, we've talked about it- I want a wedding, not a marriage), this song will play, mark my words.





03) WHEN DOVES CRY (1983)


If you want evidence as to why radio was millions of times better in the mid-80s than it is today, let's note that this was a massive hit (the biggest of Prince's career) that changed radio, clubs, MTV, and the movies. It is such a singular and masterful expression that I just trip out on its utter magnificence. Even today, nothing else sounds quite like it.





02) MOUNTAINS (1986)


With all the ongoing debate about what the Revolution did or didn't do, I always like to point to this masterpiece. Prince, Wendy, Lisa, Dr. Fink, Brown Mark, Bobby Z, Sheila E, Atlanta Bliss, Eric Leeds, and Miko Weaver. The Counterrevolution, but damn if I don't find something new in this track every time I hear it. Prince made magic when writing with Wendy & Lisa, and this song stands eternal as testament to it.





01) THE BEAUTIFUL ONES (1984)


Is it any wonder Susannah went with him? If someone had written this for you, wouldn't you follow them anywhere?









and then, the song we'll never hear, but that plays in the heart of every Prince fan...

One evening shortly after Susannah (Melvoin)'s departure, [recording engineer] Susan Rogers could tell something was very wrong when Prince came down to the basement studio. Looking disconsolate and barely speaking, he began constructing a song around a melancholy piano pattern. His spoken lyrics portrayed a fictional dialogue between himself and Wally Safford, a dancer in the band. Sounding sad and lost, Prince asks Wally to borrow $50 and some sunglasses so he can impress his lover, but then changes his mind and returns the items, telling Wally that since he is alone now, he has no one to spend the money on. Prince was accompanied only by piano throughout the verse, but guitar, bass, and drums enter as the song built into a chorus on which he sings the phrase, "o-ma-la-di-da."



Watching Prince construct the song, which he called "Wally," Rogers was stunned by the honest emotion and wistful resignation it conveyed. She saw the song both as a farewell to Susannah and a means of expelling the poison of a failed relationship.



"Do you know that malady means sickness, illness in French?" Prince asked Rogers, referring to the phrase he sings in the chorus. "It's almost like the word melody, isn't it?" Prince, who rarely exposed his inner feelings, even in his music, was groping for a metaphor that would convey his feelings of loss. Rogers felt it was a turning point in his songwriting.



But as the session continued, Prince started to distance himself from the creation. He added extraneous instruments that diminished the song's clarity. A percussion part cluttered the verse, detracting from the lyrics.



"Don't you think it was better before, Prince?" Rogers said. "Maybe we should stop." He ignored her, adding a synthesizer riff. Soon it became clear to her: He was intentionally destroying the song. After larding the piece with additional instruments, he finally spoke.



"Now put all 24 channels on record and erase it," he told Rogers.



"No, you can't do this!" Rogers said, dismayed by the prospect of losing the statement at the core of the song.



"If you don't, I will," Prince responded.



Rogers stood her ground, and Prince was forced to operate the soundboard himself as he destroyed his own music. "Wally," like his relationship with Susannah, Wendy, and Lisa, involved more emotional intensity than Prince was willing to accept. "I thought it was the greatest thing he had done," says Rogers. "I had waited years to hear a Prince song like this. I ached to hear him be this honest."



Yet, Prince's refusal to explore his feelings was not altogether surprising. Rogers had discussed the topic of depression with him before and found Prince contemptuous of the very notion. "He thought it was practically a sin to be depressed," she remembered. Many other associates have observed that Prince -- not only in his relationships, but even in his music -- is cryptic and unrevealing of his deepest feelings. "His music is very passionate, but he doesn't let himself open up emotionally," observed Marylou Badeaux. "And look at the way he's dealt with women in his life -- he's not able to get emotional, he just keeps it on the level of sex play."



Though Susannah had never formally been part of the Revolution, her personal and creative influence on Prince from 1983 to 1986 rivaled that of Wendy and Lisa. With her exit from the scene, the Revolution period ended irrevocably. The epitaph of this time would be "Wally," a song no one would hear.



from Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince by Alex Hahn.






So, to recap:

The Top 50 Prince songs of all time.

1 The Beautiful Ones
2 Mountains
3 When Doves Cry
4 Forever in my Life
5 Chili Sauce
6 Rebirth of The Flesh
7 Dirty Mind
8 The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
9 Anna Stesia
10 Computer Blue
11 The Grand Progression
12 Letitgo (Sherm Stick Edit)
13 The Dance Electric
14 The Question of U
15 If I was your Girlfriend
16 Love... Thy Will Be Done
17 Condition of the Heart
18 Bob George
19 Stand Back/Little Red Corvette
20 Dance with the Devil
21 Strange Relationship
22 Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden
23 Joy in Repetition
24 When You Were Mine
25 Others Here With Us
26 Train
27 17 Days
28 Uptown
29 Lovesexy
30 Lisa
31 Manic Monday/1999
32 Circle of Amour
33 All My Dreams
34 200 Balloons
35 Oliver's House
36 Starfish and Coffee
37 Let's Pretend We're Married
38 Sugar Walls
39 When 2 R in Love
40 For You
41 Slow Love
42 Take Me With U
43 There is Lonely
44 Eye Wanna Melt With U
45 Nothing Compares 2 U
46 Moonbeam Levels
47 Black Sweat
48 I Wanna Be Your Lover
49 If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)
50 Peach

31 December 2009

2009 at the Movies.

It's that time of year! The big ol' Year End pieces where I get to be all hierarchical in print and online. And guess what? You're soaking in it...

18 December 2009

The 101 Best Films of the Nineties.

101) ROCKULA (Luca BERCOVICI)



100) ORGAZMO (Trey PARKER)
“Dad, I don’t think I’m going to do hamster style anymore.”



099) BÉ-BÉ'S KIDS (Bruce GOWER)

"He's so cheap he wouldn't spend a lovely evening."



098) SHOWGIRLS (Paul VERHOEVEN)
"We take the cash, we cash the check, we show them what they wanna see."

"You know the best advice I ever got? You're up there on stage, hoping on a spot. If anyone gets in your way, step on 'em. That's about it. Thank you and goodnight, Elvis has left the building..."


097) XIA DAO GAO FEI/FULL CONTACT (Ringo LAM Ling-Tung)



096) SERIAL MOM (John WATERS)



095) BLEU/BLUE (Krzyszstof KIESLOWSKI)



094) KING OF THE HILL (Steven SODERBERGH)



093) DANCING OUTLAW (Jacob YOUNG)
"He's the devil in hisself. Uh, nothing satisfies him - he can't be happy. Nothing you do for him makes him happy."



092) EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (Tim BURTON)



091) RAVENOUS (Antonia BIRD)

"Breakfast... lunch... and reinforcements."



090) SUPER 8 1/2 (Bruce LaBRUCE)



089) TOTAL RECALL (Paul VERHOEVEN)



088) SPANKING THE MONKEY (David O. RUSSELL)



087) SCREAM (Wes CRAVEN)



086) DEAD OR ALIVE: HANZAISHA (MIIKE Takashi)



085) ROMY & MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION (David MIRKIN)



084) WILD AT HEART (David LYNCH)
"I can't find it. My mother's gonna kill me. It's got all my cards in it, and it was in my pocket, and now my pocket's gone. Gotta help me find it, my mother's gonna kill me. It's got all my cards in it, and it was in my pocket. It was in my pocket..."



083) PERFECT BLUE (KON Satoshi)
"This is Mima's last performance with Cham."



082) CHASING AMY (Kevin SMITH)



081) TESIS/THESIS (Alejandro AMENÁBAR)



080) GEORGIA (Ulu GROSBARD)



079) BASIC INSTINCT (Paul VERHOEVEN)

"You weren't making love to me... You weren't making love at all!"



078) BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars Von TRIER)



077) MAGNOLIA (Paul Thomas ANDERSON)
“I have a lot of love to give.”



076) FAST, CHEAP, AND OUT OF CONTROL (Errol MORRIS)



075) KURENAI NO BUTA/PORCO ROSSO (MIYAZAKI Hayao)



074) THE LIMEY (Steven SODERBERGH)



073) HARD TO DIE (Jim WYNORSKI)



072) BLUE (Derek JARMAN)



071) BABE (Chris NOONAN)



070) OFFICE KILLER (Cindy SHERMAN)



069) BAD LIEUTENANT (Abel FERRARA)



068) WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE (Wes CRAVEN)

"Just because it's a love story doesn't mean it can't have a decapitation or two."



067) THE STRAIGHT STORY (David LYNCH)



066) SOMBRE (Philippe GRANDRIEUX)



065) BODY SNATCHERS (Abel FERRARA)
"Where you gonna go? Where you gonna hide? Where you gonna run? Nowhere. Because there's no one like you left."



064) LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF/THE LOVERS ON THE BRIDGE (Léos CARAX)



063) GOODFELLAS (Martin SCORSESE)



062) LORD OF ILLUSIONS (Clive BARKER)

"I was born- to murder the world."



061) eXistenZ (David CRONENBERG)
"This is it, you see. This is the cage of your own making."



060) BEAU TRAVAIL (Claire DENIS)



059) SAFE MEN (John HAMBURG)



058) THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY (Anthony MINGHELLA)



057) BILLY MADISON (Tamra DAVIS)
"What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."



056) BLACK AND WHITE (James TOBACK)
"And in the dream, I was holding you..."



055) SHAKES THE CLOWN (Bobcat GOLDTHWAIT)
"Hey, this is my bathroom, not your bedroom, you big drunken mess."



054) A PERFECT WORLD (Clint EASTWOOD)



053) SUMMER OF SAM (Spike LEE)



052) POLA X (Léos CARAX)



051) ED WOOD (Tim BURTON)



050) DECONSTRUCTING HARRY (Woody ALLEN)

"I'm a guy who can't function well in life but can in art."



049) DUST DEVIL (Richard STANLEY)



048) THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (Jane CAMPION)



047) TOY STORY 2 (John LASSETER)



046) OUT OF SIGHT (Steven SODERBERGH)



045) FREEWAY (Matthew BRIGHT)
"You had your turn to speak! I think it's only fair to get my two cents in. But when a guy does that and hurts someone who never hurt them! Which makes him a criminal first and a sick guy second. It's like being crooked takes second place. And Bob, you're crooked, you've proved that to me tonight."

"This is a crucial question, Bob. Do you believe in the lord Jesus Christ and take him for your personal savior?"


044) THE IRON GIANT (Brad BIRD)
"Superman."



043) THAT THING YOU DO! Extended Version (Tom HANKS)
"I have wasted thousands and thousands of kisses on you - kisses that I thought were special because of your lips and your smile and all your color and life. I used to think that was the real you, when you smiled. But now I know you don't mean any of it. You just save it for all your songs. Shame on me for kissing you with my eyes closed so tight."

"Oh, there he goes off to his room to write that hit song 'Alone in my Principles.'"


042) ELECTION (Alexander PAYNE)



041) OUTER SPACE (Peter TSCHERKASSKY)



040) LE TEMPS RETROUVÉ/TIME REGAINED (Raoul RUIZ)



039) LA SINDROME DI STENDHAL/THE STENDHAL SYNDROME (Dario ARGENTO)



038) THE HOURS AND TIMES (Christopher MUNCH)



037) THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT Sundance Cut (Daniel MYRICK and Eduardo SANCHEZ)



036) CONFESSIONS OF A TRICKBABY (Matthew BRIGHT)

"These people really love to eat."



035) IN DREAMS (Neil JORDAN)



034) THREE KINGS (David O. RUSSELL)



033) CANDYMAN (Bernard ROSE)



032) VELVET GOLDMINE (Todd HAYNES)

"You live in terror of not being misunderstood."



031) JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO (John Patrick SHANLEY)



030) STARSHIP TROOPERS (Paul VERHOEVEN)



029) THE THIN RED LINE (Terrence MALICK)



028) KICKING AND SCREAMING (Noah BAUMBACH)
"You know, even though all 618 of us were wearing caps and gowns out there today, I couldn't help but think it was a coincidence that we were both wearing black."



027) ZERO EFFECT (Jake KASDAN)
"When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them."

"What doesn't kill you defines you."


026) SCHIZOPOLIS (Steven SODERBERGH)
"I know that if for an instant I could have you lie next to me, or on top of me, or sit on me, or stand over me and shake, then I would be the happiest man in my pants. I know all of this, and yet you do not know me. Change your life; accept my love. Or, at least let me pay you to accept it."

"A New Mexico woman was named Final Arbiter of Taste & Justice today, ending God's lengthy search for someone to straighten this country out. Eileen Harriet Palglace will have final say on every known subject, including who should be put to death, what clothes everyone should wear, what movies suck, and whether bald men who grow ponytails should still get laid."


025) FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (David O. RUSSELL)

“I had an experience. I resisted it at first, but then it evolved and it continues to evolve for me."


024) BABE: PIG IN THE CITY (George MILLER)



023) NAKED LUNCH (David CRONENBERG)



022) BARTON FINK (Joel COEN)



021) RÉGARDE LA MER/SEE THE SEA (François OZON)



020) TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (David LYNCH)

"When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy."



019) THE RAPTURE (Michael TOLKIN)



018) TROMEO AND JULIET (James GUNN and Lloyd KAUFMAN)

"When I was a kid, right, I stepped on a nail one time. It went right through the top of my foot. I thought nothing would ever hurt worse... I was wrong."

017) SÁTÁNTANGÓ (TARR Béla)



016) THE ADJUSTER (Atom EGOYAN)



015) THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (Sofia COPPOLA)

"We knew the girls were really women in disguise, that they understood love, and even death, and that our job was merely to create the noise that seemed to fascinate them."



014) WANDAFURU RAIFU/AFTER LIFE (KORE-EDA Hirokazu)



013) L'HUMANITÉ (Bruno DUMONT)



012) LOST HIGHWAY (David LYNCH)

“I like to remember things my own way; not necessarily the way they happened.”


011) GROUNDHOG DAY (Harold RAMIS)



010) [SAFE] (Todd HAYNES)



009) QUICK CHANGE (Howard FRANKLIN and Bill MURRAY)

"Flores! Flores para los muertos!"



008) WITTGENSTEIN (Derek JARMAN)



007) CLUELESS (Amy HECKERLING)

"I hear girls at NYU aren't at all particular."


006) EYES WIDE SHUT (Stanley KUBRICK)

"Because at the same time, you were dearer to me than ever, and at that moment, my love for you was both tender and sad."



005) THE ADDICTION (Abel FERRARA)



004) JACKIE BROWN (Quentin TARANTINO)

"Aw, the milk went bad while I was in jail."



003) ALIEN3 Workprint Version (David FINCHER)

"Why? Why are the innocent punished? Why the sacrifice? Why the pain? There aren't any promises. Nothing certain. Only that some get called, some get saved. She won't ever know the hardship and grief for those of us left behind. We commit these bodies to the void with a glad heart."



002) DOGME 2: IDIOTERNE/THE IDIOTS (Lars Von TRIER)



001) CRASH (David CRONENBERG)

"Describe it to me."