Year in Review

liked You The Living - Sometime in the first five minutes, in an otherwise miserable scene of a fat biker woman moaning and crying to her lover on a park bench, a tuba starts to play an upbeat march or something and the woman breaks into a song about wanting a motorcycle. Like a motorcycle will make all of the difference in the world. A man emerges unexpectedly from behind a tree with no dramatic purpose. "Nobody understands me," she wails, to the camera. Roy Anderson is like 70 years old, and his earlier films aren't that good. I saw some of them at the MOMA before I lost my student ID. I remember a scene where a guy does the table cloth trick drawing such sustained giddy laughter that I was embarrassed for my fiance. Also, this morning, reading the comments ("I cried") on this youtube video of the most exuberant scene in the film while listening to the music from it made me cry a little; Frownland - I think this film does a good job of being extremely negative and satirical about the experience of 'artistic' / 'bohemian' New York at the end of the Bush years. I am glad somebody did that. It's also very encouraging and humorous; 1980 - 1995 Lou Reed - I've especially enjoyed the Blue Mask for it's sentimentality. Songs for Drella is interesting, is about Andy Warhol. "Sword of Damocles" might be my favorite Lou Reed song; Chances with Wolves - I used to look forward to reading end of the year lists. Things have changed so much. When I lost my last ipod I didn't even care. Anyways, I found this radio show through my friend at work, and I love it. It makes me feel connected to the city, it's history and music. It reminds me that there are millions of songs in the world; Zachary German's music video for Feist - There is something uncanny and sinister going on between the swimming fish photobooth effect and this song, and Zachary's voice-over and blue-lit shirtless torso seems to flatten it. bpoty Do It With Joy - This is not a 'masterpeice' or something. When I found out about it and got a copy I was really worried it would be terrible, but it's not that either. It's people who were in a similar situation I am in thirty years before I got into it. Gave me the same kind of satisfaction that Chances With Wolves gave me - made me feel connected to humanity. Seems like a victory for me, and for the film. I wonder if the filmmaker is mad that I illegally uploaded it, even though I am its main (only?) champion.didnotlike Antichrist - there is a sweet slow-mo penetration shot at the beginning, then a lot of uncomfortable violence at the end; Ian Svenonius on documentaries at Vice Magazine - just seemed really bad, "painting with the big brush" type stuff; N + 1 "hipster lecture" thing - DJ rupture, looking bookish and nervous, talking about hipsters in Lima Peru, making a point about cultural transference, takes a moment to flatter the crowd, which looks like it is probably 95% people who are over 25 and live in dorm rooms, saying, of the Lima hipsters, "of course they're not as cool as you guys"