Or the last Audiophilia part of the year: #4. Audiophilia #3
As promised; here is a list of my favourite albums of 2010. I've added the links to the reviews I wrote for the IKRS 'Favourite Albums Of The Year-Countdown'.
12. Pulled Apart By Horses - Pulled Apart By Horses
13. Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
14. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
15. Salem - King Night
16. Warpaint - The Fool
17. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
18. Wild Nothing - Gemini
19. Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner
20. Glasser - Ring
Other albums I enjoyed this year (in a more or less particular order): Xiu Xiu - Dear God I Hate Myself, Toro Y Moi - Causers Of This, Zach Hill - Face Tat, Bathcrones - Psychorama, Surfer Blood - Astro Coast, Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns, Small Black - New Chain, Future Islands - In Evening Air, Women - Public Strain, Caribou - Swim, Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils, Holy Fuck - Latin, El Guincho - Pop Negro, Abe Vigoda - Sequins, Autre Ne Veut - Autre Ne Veut, Girl Talk - All Day, Blank Dogs - Land and Fixed, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today, Baths - Cerulean, Forest Swords - Dagger Paths, Tickley Feather - Tickley Feather, Jeans Wilder - Relics, How To Dress Well - Love Remains, Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II, Fool's Gold - Fool's Gold, Suuns - Zeroes QC, Liars - Sisterworld, Harlem - Hippies, Woods - At Echo Lake, Sun Airway - Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier, Cloud Nothings - Turning On, Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Logics Of Chance, Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be.
The end of 2010 is near, and this year has been incredibly awesome for me. However, I'm not looking forward to doing anything during the holidays, I just wish I could spend it hibernating and I want for this year to be OVER. It's been good, I have had a lot going on, but enough is enough and I'm keen on making a 'fresh start' in 2011. There are a lot of great things to look forward to, but also certain goals I want to achieve, so it could become a rather important year.
Anyhow, as a tradition during December; end-of-the-year-lists are popping up all over the internet. Rough Trade had its top 100 albums of 2010 ready about two months ago, while I can't even figure out my top 10. I'm working on it though, as from Tuesday we're doing a countdown on IKRS. So, my end of the year list concerning albums (or 'Audiophilia part 4') will be on here at the very end of the year somewhere.
My favourite films 2010 As I don't recall having seen that many GREAT films (not sure why though... is it the crisis? did I go to too many gigs to leave time to visit the cinema? were the films released this year just not my taste?), I only came up with a top 5.
01. Submarino The latest film by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, director of 'Festen' and part of the Dogme 95 collective, is darker than dark, hence incredibly depressing, but oh so mindblowing. Submarino is about two brothers experiencing a traumatic childhood. Thirty years later, the scars of their past are still visible and goes way beyond the label of 'dysfunctional family': one of the brothers is filled with anger and agression, has been to prison and is seen drinking continuously, while the other brother is a widow, a heroin addict and father of a young boy named Martin. Little Martin here is the only opportunity of breaking the cycle of abuse and damage, but no matter how hard his father tries, does Martin have any future when his father can't kick the drug habit? Vinterberg does another great job here of making you feel uncomfortable throughout the film, as its content is poignant, and you're never sure whether you want to continue watching or want to look away. When I saw this film in the cinema, I gazed across the room when it was over and saw a full grown man a few rows away from me wiping his eyes. I could relate to him entirely. Vinterberg is back, and how.
02. The American Dutch photographer-turned-director Anton Corbijn referred to his second feature film as 'a suspense thriller in the framework of a Western', and it truly was the most pleasant of surprises this year. From the trailer I would have considered this to be a typical Hollywood thriller, not very interesting in my eyes. But then I heard so many postiive things about it, I decided to give it a shot. And I'm glad I did because 'The American' was wonderful. The film is incredibly slow, but there's no moment without tension. There's barely any dialogue, yet that is exactly where its strength is, as Corbijn almost goes back to the basics of filmmaking as applied by people like Alfred Hitchcock: to let the film tell the story. George Clooney here does a great job of not speaking much, and this Jack character is one of the darkest he's ever played. To stay in the Hitchcock mood: he also slightly resesmbled Cary Grant. The tempo, beautifully shot images and close ups (being a photographer Corbijn clearly has an eye for visuals) make this film nothing like a Hollywood film, but not completely European arthouse either, it's somewhere in the middle, making its result incredibly effective.
03. The Social Network Almost a classic story of friendship, jealousy, betrayal and wanting to belong in a group; The Social Network tells (through two different lawsuits) the story of Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. He is a computer nerd at Harvard, who more or less steals the idea of starting an online social network from some of his fellow students, until the website goes beyond limits Zuckerberg could ever dream of. Despite Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook obviously existing in real life, and certain elements in the film might be based on true events too, there's no other way to approaching this story as fiction. But then again, brushing up events from real-life to add extra drama prove to create an excellent film. The portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg here is very interesting for two reasons; a. We are never really able to grasp what he's thinking or how he feels; we hardly come across any facial expression (I don't recall a single moment of seeing a smile on his face) or enthusiasm about what he's doing; he truly appears to be an excentric whizzkid, whose motives are mainly defined by actions. b. In the beginning of the film Mark's girlfriend breaks up with him, because, well, he's an asshole. He only has one true friend and he wants to be in a final club, probably to simply 'belong' and join in on the parties. Then at the end of the film he may be millions of dollars richer; he has lost the one true friend he had, his ex-girlfriend still doesn't care about him (we can see him sending her a friend request on facebook and frantically refreshing the page), he's still wearing ridiculous flipflops and his interns are snorting cocaine off each other's bodies at a big party, while he sits in the Facebook headquarters working on the site... Next to this characterisation of the almost tragic Zuckerberg; the strength of the film lies in the dialogues, which are incredibly fast, cunning and as sharp as a knife. A brilliant, well-written film, as long as you are able to keep in mind you are looking at fiction here.
04. A Single Man First thing to be said about this film is that from a visual perspective it is probably the best film I have ever seen. There is so much attention to detail, but then if you see who directed, it all makes sense: it is fashon designer Tom Ford's debut as a film director. The story depicts a day in the life of George Falconer, an English Literature professor in 1962, who has lost his partner Jim in a car accident. With the death of his one true love and the unbearable loneliness that has followed up on this, he decides he is going to commit suicide at the end of the day... Colin Firth delivers a delightful perfomance as the grief-stricken, world-weary and terribly lonely George. Oh, and Julianne Moore isn't too bad either.
05. J'ai tué ma mère Literally meaning 'I have killed my mother', this Canadian film is an intruiging portrait of a disturbed mother-son relationship, as well as the story of a confused and angry teenager. Hubert Minel, a homosexual sixteen year old wanting to move in with his boyfriend, despises his petty, old fashionedly dressed mother, and their 'conversations' involve hysterical yelling, screaming and wishing each other the worst. As this is mainly what the film consists of, it's not the most pleasant of things to watch, even though the fact that it's done so in French, makes it all the more passionate and intense. Xavier Dolan, who is responsible for directing, writing and playing the main character, has provided us with a visually stunning and enchanting debut, something quite remarkable for a twenty year old I should say.
Films I'm looking forward to see in 2011
Biutiful
True Grit
Black Swan
The King's Speech
Les Amours Imaginaires
Somewhere
127 Hours
Attenberg
La Nostra Vita
and I'm not sure whether the following films are going to be shown in the Netherlands; but I certainly hope so.
Howl
Jack Goes Boating
It's Kind Of A Funny Story
seems like 2011 is going to be a better year for films than this one!
Ok here is my album list of 2009. Don't know if I'm ever going to be bored enough to put up motivation, we'll see.
Please note that it's just my humble and tasteless opinion, so it's hardly of any value.
Top ten favourite albums of the year 01. Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth 02. The Antlers - Hospice 03. The XX - The XX 04. HEALTH - Get Color 05. Video Nasties - On All Fours 06. The Horrors - Primary Colours 07. Japandroids - Post-Nothing 08. Girls - Album 09. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest 10. Micachu - Jewellery
There was no space in the list for them, but I liked their albums this year as well: Fools Gold, Dananananannaykroyd, The Maccabees, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sunset Rubdown, Kings Of Convenience, Real Estate, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Mumford & Sons, Animal Collective, Patrick Wolf, Cold Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Atlas Sound, Wavves, Franz Ferdinand, The Big Pink, Slow Club, Woods, A Place To Bury Strangers, JJ.
Albums to look forward to in 2010 01. Foals - TBA 02. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor 03. The National - TBA 04. Wolf Parade - TBA 05. Mystery Jets - TBA 06. Arcade Fire - TBA 07. Crystal Castels - TBA 08. The Kills - TBA 09. Panda Bear - TBA 10. Xiu Xiu - Dear God I Hate Myself
And also the following, but I already had the chance to listen to them: Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring Beach House - Teen Dream Surfer Blood - Astrocoast Midlake - The Courage Of Others
and for the rest i'll just have to wait and see/hear :)
Ever since the Ten Commandments, people have loved lists. At every end of the year you'll see them appear - whether it's movies or music - critics, bloggers and other people on the web putting up their top tens of the year. Or top 5 if you're Rob Gordon. Or top 25s, or whatever...
I love lists aswell, and because the year is almost finished, it's about time I put up mine. I'll start with my favourite movies of the year. Please note: it's just a list of movies I've seen in the cinema this year, some of these were released in 2008in American cinemas and some of them haven't been released yet in Dutch cinemas. It's just that I've seen most of them in Dutch cinemas and a few in English cinemas, so it's a bit mixed when it comes to official years of release.
Keep in mind that I haven't had the chance to see the following movies: Das WeiBe Band, Doubt, Revolutionairy Road, Synecdoche New York, Bright Star, Let The Right One In, Antichrist, Whatever Works, Moon, Gran Tarino, The Limits Of Control, Ponyo At The Cliff At The Sea
01. Milk Sean Penn well deserved his Oscar for his portrayal of the late Harvey Milk, the gay rights activist turned politician. Set in the 60s, we witness a story of hope and a fight for equality for the homosexual citizens of San Francisco and the rest of the United States. While Harvey becomes a Messiah figure for the gay community and gains more and more success in his battle against inequality, and fights for a place in the City Hall, his private life is ruined by his ignorance towards his lover(s) due to his focus on politics and the cause he’s fighting for. Also, in the still conservative country and politics that is the USA in the sixties, not everyone appreciates this flamboyant man shaking hands with the mayor.... Milk is one of those movies where everything seems perfect: the acting, the story, the script, and just the way it looks. Amazing achievements by Gus van Sant, Dustin Lance Black and ofcourse Sean Penn. Also very good supporting roles with James Franco as the housewife, Dan Brolin as the arch nemesis, Emile Hirsch as the young Cleve Jones and Diego Luna as the unstable lover.
02. A Serious Man The latest Coen Brothers films is incredibly different from everything they’ve ever done. You’d expect a typical Coens crime-gone-wrong comedy, but no crime is involved whatsoever; no murder, no kidnapping, no idiotic criminals. Nonetheless, A Serious Man is an amazing movie, questioning the motives of religion, faith, misfortune, mortality, guilt and family, and tributing, while at the same time non-insultingly mocking, Judaism. Set in the late 60s, it tells the story of Jewish professor Larry Gopnik, ‘trying to be a serious man’ but instead finding his life falling apart: his wife suddenly wants a divorce so she can marry his best friend, he has problems at work, with a student trying to bribe him, and with possibly not getting a promotion, his son is high on weed during his bar mitzvah and his daughter is saving up money for a nosejob. While constantly claiming ‘But I didn’t do anything’, Larry tries to find out why he is being punished, by speaking to several rabbis. However, none of them seem to be able to provide him with helpful answers. ‘A Serious Man’ is still typical Coens, with the funny caricatures and dark humor, but not what you’d expect from them, it’s a whole new opened door for them and I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do next.
03. An Education The uncomforting coming of age of 16 year old Jenny (great acting by Carey Mulligan), an intellectual rebel from the 60s, looking for a way out of her ‘boring’ teenage school life. After she gets swept off her feet by the charming, much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), she finds herself at a crossroads in her life: is she going to choose for Oxford University to study and be bored, or will she decide to go to David’s ‘University of Life’, and have fun? How grown up she may think she is, her naivety makes her bound to end up being hurt. Nonetheless, this is what makes her stronger, as these things always do.
04. Up Up is one of those films that is build on the ‘Le Petit Prince’ motive: it’s actually for the kids, but adults can enjoy and learn from it too. Pixar has been doing very well with these kind of movies, and Up is the next chapter in their book of touching, animated stories. The story Up tells us, is the one of an old man, dreaming of going on a great adventure to Paradise Falls ever since he was a child. He and his wife never had the chance to go, and after she dies, the old man becomes a bitter and moody. One day he decides to go on the adventure after all, and he flies away with his house stuck to a gazillion balloons. Add a fat scoutsboy, some talking dogs , a rare bird and an evil villain, and you’ll get an abstract, extremely funny story that makes you feel warm inside.
05. Precious Some people seem to find all the bad things there are in the world coming their way. 'Precious' tells the shocking and heartbreaking story of an obese, illiterate 16-year old black girl trying to cope with the physical, mental and sexual abuse she faces in her household, and the fact that she’s pregnant for the second time... by her father. A light at the end of this dark tunnel seems to be the chance to learn how to read and write in an ‘alternative’ school. Great supporting roles by Lenny Kravitz as a male nurse and Mariah Carey (she looks like chimpanzee without make-up) as a social worker.
06. Gomorra Compared to the brutal reality of Gomorra, the Godfather seems a romantic fairytale. Set in Napoli, Italy we see several stories of its inhabitants, who – no matter how young or old, or from which social class – are all involved in the war that is corruption. Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, who has been under police protection ever since the release of his book.
