best of 2008 (sort of)

My best films and albums of 2008 will come later as I don't think I'm done with all of the films I want to see that were released in the US during this calendar year and I'm going back through any albums that have a chance in hell of making it (sorry, Death Cab For Cutie you didn't make the cut seeing that you released a just above mediocre album.....so instead here are my top 10 films I have seen for the first time in 2008.

1. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson) Drainage.
2. Dance Party USA (Aaron Katz) One of the most honest and emotionally rewarding film about teenagers. I'm tired of having to defend this, but yes kids talk like this.
3. In the City of Sylvia (Jose Luis Guerin) The most cinematic film of the year.
4. Quiet City (Aaron Katz) The DIY Before Sunrise.
5. Made in USA (Jean-Luc Godard) Contains the two things Godard did not do enough of in his heyday 1. color 2. 2.35 Plus as a bonus has Jean-Pierre Leaud and Anna Karina in the leads.
6. Taking Off (Milos Forman)




I wish I would have gone seen this and Loves of a Blonde during the Forman retrospectives that played in Chicago and Columbus earlier this year.

7. Movie Movie - The Baxter's Beauties Segment (Stanley Donen)
8. Make Way For Tomorrow (Leo McCarey) Very similar to Tokyo Story- Older couple feel like a burden to their children. Came out 20 years before the Ozu film and the far superior one. I guess it pays to have the "Classic of World Cinema" reputation.
9. Sunflower (Zhang Yang)- The New York Times summed it up perfectly: "Douglas Sirk without the throw pillows"
10. Eureka (Shinji Aoyama) At 4 hours, I felt like I was on the trip with them.

Runners Up: Shadow of A Doubt (Alfred Hitchcock) and A Christmas Tale (Annaud Desplachin)

12/12-12/18

The top 5 films of the week will return periodically when there are a couple of different films to mention, instead of repeating the same 4 or 5 every week.

1. Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson) "What's the stick for?" "To hit you, in case you try something."
2. Role Models (David Wain)
3. Milk (Gus Van Sant)
4. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollet) 2nd run
5. Holiday Inn (Mark Sandrich) Artcraft 12/12-12-13.

Random notes on the new Kanye

Chuck Klosterman recently said about Chinese Democracy will be the last album conceived as an album opposed to just being a collection of songs. Now I respect Mr. Klosterman a lot, but he couldn't be more incorrect. Not only does Chinese Democracy sound like a bunch of songs hobbled together (and not an album), but the songs themselves sound like a bunch of ideas that have no flow or consistency within the same song. Which leads to what I'm really thinking about (it sure the hell isn't Guns N'Roses); 808's & Heartbreak. It was pointed out today that this record took about 14 weeks from conception to completion instead of the 14 years Axl wasted. This is an album that does flow from beginning to end and sounds like it was conceived as an album, meaning most of these songs would sound out of place on other Kanye West albums.

Public opinion seems to be mostly unfavorable, however critics seem to be a little kinder. Many have called it self-indulgent. That's redundant, what about Kanye West isn't self indulgent. There is way too much auto-tuner on the vocals. Now that all of the obvious comments have been stated, I can say that this is definitely the most ambitious album of his career. Yes, the auto tuner is in vogue in the hip hop world. My guess is that he wanted to sing more instead of rap and is self conscious about his vocals. It is however hard to believe that Kanye would be self conscious about anything. The lyrics seem to be less about bravado and more introspective, almost like his version of Here My Dear (the break-up part, not the contractual obligation part). Musically, he's taking his Daft Punk and Coldplay influences further and borrowing German prog rock, african tribal beats, and a Tears For Fears song along the way. Supposedly the idea for the album was conceived out of the Phil Collins albun, Face Value. This initially sounded ridiculous (who the hell tries to emulate Phil Collins), but after the idea was planted in my head, I hear In The Air Tonight's influence all over this record.

808's & Heartbreak is a brave move for one of the biggest artists in the world to make an album which does not fit the mold. Not that it is avant-garde or anything like that, it's still melodic and catchy, it just might not be as instantaniously evident. It will be interesting to see how the album fares commercially and if it really will end up being one of those failures picked up later down the road.

for the kids i work with

top 5 for 11/7-11/13

1. Role Models (David Wain)
2. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme)
3. Appaloosa (Ed Harris)
4. Zach and Miri (Kevin Smith)
5. Wall E (Andrew Stanton)

Canada vs. U.S.

Heather always says that she would like to see Alejandro Gonzalez-Innaratu or Fernando Meirelles do a rom-com or just something different. I'm starting to feel that way about Guy Maddin. For awhile, I was just happy someone was out there making the type of films he makes. Yeah, I'm over it. I haven't disliked any of his movies, but I pretty much know what it's going to be: in black and white, dreamlike, very Canadian and either silent or have narcissistic narration. It's getting predictable. On the other hand, there's Kevin Smith. Who also pretty much makes the same film over and over and has shown zero growth. But I have no beef with Kevin Smith. I know his movies are going to lewd and entertaining and I have no problem with that. Since Chasing Amy, I have even liked all of his films about the same and for the last few I have even known that going in they will end up being 3 and a half stars out of five. Yes, haters- even Jersey Girl. Hell, everyone even knows his movies are going to make around $30 million, that's how predictable his game is. Why am I fine with Kevin Smith doing what I am complaining about with Guy Maddin? Partially, it's because I know Guy Maddin is talented enough to make whatever the hell he wants, so I would like to see him challenge himself. Kevin Smith can probably only make Kevin Smith films. It's challenging enough for him to move his camera. Here's an idea they should work together and make a hockey film. Wait, they both already do that on their own.

Go see I Served The King of England.

top 5 10/24-10/30

1. Dancer In The Dark (Lars Von Trier) JCC. Tues.
2. I Served The King of England (Jiri Menzel)
3,4,5 Alphabetical Order:
Appaloosa (Ed Harris)
City of Ember (Gil Keenan)
Nick & Norah (Peter Sollet)