Pet Shop Boys: Dreamworld.

 

At last, a Pet Shop Boys concert film.

Subsequent Catching Up with Jason Shawhan

What all have I done since the last big update? Well...

A review of PASSENGERS.

A review of SING.

A review of LA-LA LAND.

A review of ROGUE ONE.

A review of EVOLUTION.

A review of AQUARIUS.

Excerpts from the Press Conference for BILLY LYNN'S LONG HALFTIME WALK.

A piece on the PET SHOP BOYS, as well as a review of their concert.

My write-up of the 2016 New York Film Festival.

Oh yeah, and the piece about BEYONCE, LEMONADE, and THE FORMATION TOUR.

And my ballot for the 2016 Indiewire Critics Poll.

Two things that make me feel better about life.

One from the animal kingdom, the other from the world of pop music.

Both of them give me an inkling of hope.

A gallimaufry of guesstimation.

So, in a grand shift from my usual literary trickle, I'm practically hosing the internet down with material this week, with reviews of Pascal Laugier's film Martyrs here and my takes on the new albums by Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode.

Enjoy.

The majesty of pop.

Tracklist for performance:

Suburbia
Love, etc.
Left to my own devices
Always on my mind
Paninaro
Go west
Opportunities (Let's make lots of money)
What have I done to to deserve this? (with Lady Gaga)
I'm with stupid
Being boring
It's a sin (with Brandon Flowers)
All over the world
West end girls

And now, a glorious pop music break before the madness.

Election Day here in the U.S. I'm ready to be past it, and I'm cautiously optimistic. Eight years of subterfuge and shenanigans will do that to you.

Regardless, here's my current fave-rave pop song. Written by the Pet Shop Boys and produced by Xenomania. Simply magic.

Your laws of motion and physics may take their leave.

New York is finally getting a Zaha Hadid building. Alas, it is only temporary, and double alas, it debuts after I will have returned from my annual northern excursion.

But this is simply not to be missed.

For those of you who don't know, Zaha Hadid is the best architect and building designer working today. I first encountered her work when she designed the sets for the Pet Shop Boys 1999 Nightlife tour, and I've been a fan ever since. I got to see her Guggenheim retrospective in 2006, and it was one of the most amazing design experiences I've ever had. Absolutes that we've taken for granted in the fields of construction and design simply do not apply, and I find her willingness to incorporate curves into the nonstop straight line aesthetic of the planet's artificial structures both inspiring and deliriously freaky.