Beyoncé, Solange, etc.
Pazz & Jop results came out today, and I find myself more in agreement with the critical consensus than in most recent years. (I mainly stand by my ballot, submitted a month ago, but if I'd sent it in today the Ariana Grande album would be higher and Nelly Furtado's "Pipe Dreams," which I hadn't heard yet, would be on the singles list.) Such a great cover, too! It's just too bad that neither Beyoncé nor Solange quite managed to win the albums poll. David Bowie was great, fine, but I agree with Dan Weiss's remark that, "If this [i.e., Lemonade] couldn't score the first album win by a woman of color in the 43rd or 44th year of this poll, what could?" I wish my own published comments - on A Seat at the Table and "Formation" - were as pithy and dead-on.
Pazz & Jop results came out today, and I find myself more in agreement with the critical consensus than in most recent years. (I mainly stand by my ballot, submitted a month ago, but if I'd sent it in today the Ariana Grande album would be higher and Nelly Furtado's "Pipe Dreams," which I hadn't heard yet, would be on the singles list.) Such a great cover, too! It's just too bad that neither Beyoncé nor Solange quite managed to win the albums poll. David Bowie was great, fine, but I agree with Dan Weiss's remark that, "If this [i.e., Lemonade] couldn't score the first album win by a woman of color in the 43rd or 44th year of this poll, what could?" I wish my own published comments - on A Seat at the Table and "Formation" - were as pithy and dead-on.
La La Land, Isabelle Huppert, etc.
Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and, really, this year I can't quibble too much, at least in terms of what was reasonably presumed to be possible. I was hoping Scorsese would make it in for what is in my view his greatest film, but I also expected that Silence would be too rigorous/religious (religorous?) for Academy tastes. And Tom Hanks keeps being weirdly ignored for the work he's doing of late, which is so much better than his earlier, over-awarded work back in the 90s. But I'm really pleased to see Isabelle Huppert nominated (even if I prefer her less showy Things to Come performance), and La La Land is a perfectly worthy juggernaut as such things go.
If I were to create a ballot drawing only from Oscar-eligible films (so, no 2016 festival releases that didn't open commercially last year, e.g., A Quiet Passion, Life after Life, The Death of Louis XIV, Personal Shopper, and so on and so forth), it would look like this:
PICTURE
Silence
The Witch
Jackie
Weiner
La La Land
DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, Silence
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Pablo Lorraín, Jackie
Terence Davies, Sunset Song
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
ACTOR
Andrew Garfield, Silence
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Adam Driver, Paterson
Mark Rylance, The BFG
Tom Hanks, Sully
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Goldshifteh Farahani, Paterson
Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Imogen Poots, Green Room
Kate Dickie, The Witch
SUPPORTING ACTOR
John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane
John Travolta, In a Valley of Violence
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Tom Bennett, Love and Friendship
Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and, really, this year I can't quibble too much, at least in terms of what was reasonably presumed to be possible. I was hoping Scorsese would make it in for what is in my view his greatest film, but I also expected that Silence would be too rigorous/religious (religorous?) for Academy tastes. And Tom Hanks keeps being weirdly ignored for the work he's doing of late, which is so much better than his earlier, over-awarded work back in the 90s. But I'm really pleased to see Isabelle Huppert nominated (even if I prefer her less showy Things to Come performance), and La La Land is a perfectly worthy juggernaut as such things go.
If I were to create a ballot drawing only from Oscar-eligible films (so, no 2016 festival releases that didn't open commercially last year, e.g., A Quiet Passion, Life after Life, The Death of Louis XIV, Personal Shopper, and so on and so forth), it would look like this:
PICTURE
Silence
The Witch
Jackie
Weiner
La La Land
DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, Silence
Robert Eggers, The Witch
Pablo Lorraín, Jackie
Terence Davies, Sunset Song
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
ACTRESS
Isabelle Huppert, Things to Come
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Kate Beckinsale, Love and Friendship
Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
ACTOR
Andrew Garfield, Silence
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Adam Driver, Paterson
Mark Rylance, The BFG
Tom Hanks, Sully
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Goldshifteh Farahani, Paterson
Lily Gladstone, Certain Women
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Imogen Poots, Green Room
Kate Dickie, The Witch
SUPPORTING ACTOR
John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane
John Travolta, In a Valley of Violence
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Tom Bennett, Love and Friendship
Dignitas non moritur
This is without a doubt one of the best and most engrossing biographies I've ever read; it contributes to, and deepens, my appreciation of Kantorowicz, while painting him in several new (or much more nuanced) lights. It's also the rare biography of a writer/scholar/artist that is equally attentive to the subject's life and his work, suggesting perceptive connections between the two but not overdetermining or forcing those connections.
Attn. filmmakers/screenwriters: Kantorowicz's singular life-story would make an excellent movie or miniseries! Read the Introduction to Robert Lerner's book here.
This is without a doubt one of the best and most engrossing biographies I've ever read; it contributes to, and deepens, my appreciation of Kantorowicz, while painting him in several new (or much more nuanced) lights. It's also the rare biography of a writer/scholar/artist that is equally attentive to the subject's life and his work, suggesting perceptive connections between the two but not overdetermining or forcing those connections.
Attn. filmmakers/screenwriters: Kantorowicz's singular life-story would make an excellent movie or miniseries! Read the Introduction to Robert Lerner's book here.
I just had the following pop up as a notification from the Washington Post:
Nigerian military accidentally bombs camp for those fleeing Boko Haram, killing at least 50 people, including aid workers
Jesus! The word "accidentally" just makes it more horrible, and horrifying.
Do you ever pause to think, why do some of us get live our lives in relative safety and security and other people get "accidentally" killed by bombs dropped by the Nigerian military?
And our biggest worry is the inauguration of an asshole, while such "accidents" blip by across our digital radar screens...
Nigerian military accidentally bombs camp for those fleeing Boko Haram, killing at least 50 people, including aid workers
Jesus! The word "accidentally" just makes it more horrible, and horrifying.
Do you ever pause to think, why do some of us get live our lives in relative safety and security and other people get "accidentally" killed by bombs dropped by the Nigerian military?
And our biggest worry is the inauguration of an asshole, while such "accidents" blip by across our digital radar screens...
Singles: 2016
01. Beyoncé - "Formation"
02. A Tribe Called Quest - "We the People..."
03. Rihanna - "Love on the Brain"
04. Blood Orange - "Augustine"
05. Ariana Grande - "Into You"
06. Angel Olsen - "Shut Up Kiss Me"
07. Solange - "Cranes in the Sky"
08. Mitski - "Your Best American Girl"
.
09. Nelly Furtado - "Pipe Dreams"
10. Kanye West - "Famous"
01. Beyoncé - "Formation"
02. A Tribe Called Quest - "We the People..."
03. Rihanna - "Love on the Brain"
04. Blood Orange - "Augustine"
05. Ariana Grande - "Into You"
06. Angel Olsen - "Shut Up Kiss Me"
07. Solange - "Cranes in the Sky"
08. Mitski - "Your Best American Girl"
.
09. Nelly Furtado - "Pipe Dreams"
10. Kanye West - "Famous"
Teresa Nieman came up with a very promising idea for a column -- revisiting a film we once loved, and still claim/think we love, but haven't actually seen in ten or more years -- and authored its debut piece, this sharp reappraisal of The Matrix.
Cinema—if you can keep it...
As I note, I submitted this best-of with a few remarks to the Senses of Cinema poll before its deadline and thus before getting the opportunity to see Silence (to my tastes, Scorsese's greatest film), La La Land, and some others; the one here, posted below and on the side, is more accurate/up-to-date. In any case, though: what an exceptionally terrific year for movies!
As I note, I submitted this best-of with a few remarks to the Senses of Cinema poll before its deadline and thus before getting the opportunity to see Silence (to my tastes, Scorsese's greatest film), La La Land, and some others; the one here, posted below and on the side, is more accurate/up-to-date. In any case, though: what an exceptionally terrific year for movies!
2016: 40 films, 20 albums
01. Silence (Scorsese)
02. The Witch (Eggers)
03. A Quiet Passion (Davies)
04. Sunset Song (Davies)
05. La La Land (Chazelle)
06. Weiner (Kriegman/Steinberg)
07. Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (Malick)
08. Life after Life (Zhang)
09. The Death of Louis XIV (Serra)
10. Personal Shopper (Assayas)
11. Paterson (Jarmusch)
12. Things to Come (Hansen-Løve)
13. Manchester by the Sea (Lonergan)
14. Knight of Cups (Malick)
15. Sieranevada (Puiu)
16. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Trachtenberg)
17. What’s in the Darkness (Wang)
18. The BFG (Spielberg)
19. Sully (Eastwood)
20. Never Eat Alone (Bohdanowicz)
21. Elle (Verhoeven)
22. Green Room (Saulnier)
23. Our Love Story (Lee)
24. Yourself and Yours (Hong)
25. Toni Erdmann (Ade)
26. Moonlight (Jenkins)
27. Under the Shadow (Anvari)
28. Lights above Water (Lachappelle/Lamoureux)
29. Maliglutit (Kunuk)
30. In a Valley of Violence (West)
31. Florence Foster Jenkins (Frears)
32. Creepy (Kurosawa)
33. The Invitation (Kusama)
34. Werewolf (McKenzie)
35. The Unknown Girl (Dardenne/Dardenne)
36. The Secret Life of Pets (Renaud/Cheney)
37. Kubo and the Two Strings (Knight)
38. A Copy of My Mind (Anwar)
39. Gimme Danger (Jarmusch)
40. The Priests (Jang)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
01. Solange – A Seat at the Table
02. Beyoncé – Lemonade
03. PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project
04. Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman
05. Kristin Kontrol - X-Communicate
06. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion Side B
07. Rihanna – Anti
08. Drive-by Truckers - American Band
09. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
10. Mitski - Puberty 2
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it from Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
12. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
13. Angel Olsen - My Woman
14. Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings
15. Sia – This Is Acting
16. Anohni – Hopelessness
17. Young Thug - Jeffery
18. The Avalanches – Wildflower
19. Britney Spears – Glory
20. The Paranoid Style - Rolling Disclosure
01. Silence (Scorsese)
02. The Witch (Eggers)
03. A Quiet Passion (Davies)
04. Sunset Song (Davies)
05. La La Land (Chazelle)
06. Weiner (Kriegman/Steinberg)
07. Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (Malick)
08. Life after Life (Zhang)
09. The Death of Louis XIV (Serra)
10. Personal Shopper (Assayas)
11. Paterson (Jarmusch)
12. Things to Come (Hansen-Løve)
13. Manchester by the Sea (Lonergan)
14. Knight of Cups (Malick)
15. Sieranevada (Puiu)
16. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Trachtenberg)
17. What’s in the Darkness (Wang)
18. The BFG (Spielberg)
19. Sully (Eastwood)
20. Never Eat Alone (Bohdanowicz)
21. Elle (Verhoeven)
22. Green Room (Saulnier)
23. Our Love Story (Lee)
24. Yourself and Yours (Hong)
25. Toni Erdmann (Ade)
26. Moonlight (Jenkins)
27. Under the Shadow (Anvari)
28. Lights above Water (Lachappelle/Lamoureux)
29. Maliglutit (Kunuk)
30. In a Valley of Violence (West)
31. Florence Foster Jenkins (Frears)
32. Creepy (Kurosawa)
33. The Invitation (Kusama)
34. Werewolf (McKenzie)
35. The Unknown Girl (Dardenne/Dardenne)
36. The Secret Life of Pets (Renaud/Cheney)
37. Kubo and the Two Strings (Knight)
38. A Copy of My Mind (Anwar)
39. Gimme Danger (Jarmusch)
40. The Priests (Jang)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
01. Solange – A Seat at the Table
02. Beyoncé – Lemonade
03. PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project
04. Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman
05. Kristin Kontrol - X-Communicate
06. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion Side B
07. Rihanna – Anti
08. Drive-by Truckers - American Band
09. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool
10. Mitski - Puberty 2
11. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got it from Here...Thank You 4 Your Service
12. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
13. Angel Olsen - My Woman
14. Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings
15. Sia – This Is Acting
16. Anohni – Hopelessness
17. Young Thug - Jeffery
18. The Avalanches – Wildflower
19. Britney Spears – Glory
20. The Paranoid Style - Rolling Disclosure
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