#Great Gatsby got ONE nomination

[thebroadwaybi]

The amount of shows that got absolutely SNUBBED this Tony season is insane

[slozhnos]

the great gatsby only got nominated for one tony and that’s just wrong

[sondheim-girly]

ok so my Tony’s thoughts:

-the outsiders deserved best sound design and lighting omg so happy

-so happy that Gatsby won the one thing it was nominated for

-unsurprised about cab winning best scenic design

-total sense that illinoise won best choreo, still a little shocked that I doubted it would win for a moment

-hells kitchen ate, I loved the medley they did

-my prediction for what merrily would perform was spot on, transition song into old friends. I CALLED IT

-so happy that Daniel Radcliffe won, and I had so much hope for Lindsay, cuz then we could have had all three winning

-WATER FOR ELEPHANTS WAS AMAZING OH MY GOD THEY TOTALLY SOLD THEIR SHOW WITH THAT

-I wasn’t expecting them to do anywhere, I was hoping it would be road don’t make you young into wild or something, but it worked.

-Illinoise SLAYED. That song has been stuck in my head since the performance, it was actually SO good. And Ben cook :D

-the outsiders should have won best score. I’m sorry but Suffs has a very mid score. There were like two songs that I really liked from it. But tbh I’m just glad that a play didn’t win this

-my friends were simping over Eddie redmayne, and the moment the performance started they were screaming changing their minds and it was so funny

-I was expecting cab to do wilkomen into the title song, so i was sad that they didn’t

-I was expecting merrily to win best direction, but I’m soooo happy for the outsiders

-so shocked that stereophonic got best play /j

-Suffs performance was incredibly underwhelming. Honestly I want to love Suffs so much, and I think if I saw it I would love it, but I just didn’t really like the song that they did.

-JONATHON GROFF DESERVED THAT TONY SO MUCH AND IM SO HAPPY FOR HIM

-still heartbroken that Lindsay didn’t win

-THE OUTSIDERS PERFORMANCE WAS SO INCREDIBLE!!!!! I WAS SO HAPPY WITH IT, AND THEN THEY STARTED DOING THE RUMBLE AND I WAS SCREAMING

-um yeah so THE RUMBLE!!!! It was INCREDIBLE and the fact that they did the rain on stage and everything????? Hello???? Was that not the best performance on the Tony’s of all time????

-SO GLAD THAT MERRILY WON BEST REVIVAL IT DESERVED IT IN EVERY SINGLE FUCKING WAY

-I was hoping that the outsiders would win best musical, but I fully wasn’t expecting it. BUT WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY ABOUT THIS???!!?!? I WAS SCREAMING AND JUMPING AROUND LIKE I WAS INSANE, WHICH I AM

-anyways other than best score and featured actress, this year went incredibly well for me, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be so great :)

-I probably forgot stuff and this is wildly out of order, I’m just going off of memory, so sorry about that

-gonna post photos of my Tony’s cupcakes tonight or tomorrow

[pealeii]

hello, you’re one of my only remaining theatre moots and the one who was keeping up with the Tony’s so please tell me your thoughts (is Hell’s Kitchen bad, I kind of hate The Outsiders it would’ve been better as a play, I’m pissed that Gutenberg and Gatsby didn’t get more nominations so yeah there’s my thoughts what are yours)

Okay i literally know nothing about hell’s kitchen, i haven’t listened to the outsiders but i want to and my sister says its good. i know i WISH gatsby got more nominations but i’m glad it won best costumes. same with gutenberg but i am SOO glad that merrily we roll along won best revival. i love that show and the revival cast is great (i’m glad that groff and radcliffe got tonys.) plus it’s kind of retribution for no sondheim shows winning best revival last year even tho there was twooooo. but anyway!! still checking out info cuz i missed the ceremony last night lolllll

[stanleyl]

In general, the role of Spider-Man has a certain influence. There are 3 actors who played SM, each had their own path. If I'm not mistaken, Toby couldn't achieve success for a long time and got the role of Peter (although Leo was initially offered the role, but he refused and then it went to Toby). An iconic role, he then had another good project - the film Brothers (Golden Globe nomination) and a minor role in The Great Gatsby. This is what I remember, so later Toby was only known for his role as SM. For this reason, I think Leo gave advice to Timothy - not to act in superhero films. There is Andrew - several projects before SM, I remember his film The Social Network, after the role of Peter Andrew had two major successful projects: Hacksaw Ridge (nominations - Oscar, Bafta, Golden Globe) and Tick, Tick... Boom (Award Golden Globe, Oscar nomination). He also had other projects received nominations and awards. This is what is known about their projects to the general public. Despite such a successful project as Tick Tick, Andrew was often asked about the role of SM in an interview in 2021. These actors will always be associated with the role of Peter Parker. For some, this is a terrible fate, but for the general public, actors will always be associated with a certain role (for some it is one role, for others several). Tom himself spoke about this and he has a normal attitude towards it. Of the three actors, at the moment the most successful is Andrew in terms of projects, but if you think about what path Tom will take, I think he will have the same path as Andrew. I think Tom is too talented, smart and charismatic to be associated with just Peter. I think Tom's career will be similar to RDJ in some aspects - both played a beloved superhero, both are essentially the face of Marvel, Robert played Chaplin in his youth, and now Tom will play Astaire. Literally 3 years ago, critics simply destroyed Robert, and now he has received a Golden Globe and will soon receive his Oscar. Andrew received his first Golden Globe nomination at 34 years old, Tom is only 27 years old - many actors spend years working towards something important and breakthrough.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[thatskepticalbitchcara]

Casually asking for you to answer all of them

How many books did you read this year? - 61, but will likely be 62 if i finish what i'm reading rn by tomorrow!

Did you reread anything? What? - yes!! the letters of virginia & vita, the great gatsby, orlando, gone girl, the waves, the collected poems of emily dickinson, and devotions!

What were your top five books of the year? - answered ❤️

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year? - bart d. ehrman if that counts 😂

What genre did you read the most of? - i don't really know how to answer!

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to? - tons and tons, my reading list has over 1000 books!

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate? - 4.2 and yes loll

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones? -- to read 50 books and some genres that are newer to me and i did both!

Did you get into any new genres? - non fiction.

What was your favorite new release of the year? - i didn't really read any new releases

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read? - everything i never told you by celeste ng!!

Any books that disappointed you? - jamaica inn by daphne du maurier

What were your least favorite books of the year? - valley of the dolls, daisy jones & the six

What books do you want to finish before the year is over? - how jesus became god by bart d. ehrman .. i have a day 😭

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them? - oh i'm sure but i don't feel like looking it up

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? - daisy jones & the six EASILY

Did any books surprise you with how good they were? - answered!

How many books did you buy? - only 3

Did you use your library? - answered!

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations? - answered

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama? - no ❤️

What’s the longest book you read? - poetry of rilke but it's long bc it's a bilingual edition.. not sure otherwise, goodreads only shows me that one!

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book? - i've read multiple books in one day/sitting

Did you DNF anything? Why? - answered!

What reading goals do you have for next year? - probably setting my goal to 50 again, hoping to beat it, and keep my non fiction streak going. oh, and read more plays.

[sitpwgs]

Okay this is part 2. I split it up to go eat and got distracted so I am replying now. But ya..I just write whatever comes to my mind basically and I don't want you to be skimming or anything, that's all. And it's totally fine if you have not much to say on some things too but I try to think of interesting things to say. And I know you probably haven't listened to Gatsby anyway and it's your choice so maybe you don't have a lot to say so then it just seems like rambling. you should definitely listen to The Outsiders though. I am obsessed with the song Great Expectations which is a good place to start if you aren't familiar with the book and don't wanna hear the whole thing but I love it all and recommend it lol so I hope you like it if you do. I can't remember what they performed on the Tony's. I am obsessed with the actor playing Ponyboy's voice..it's so good!

The Notebook songs really grew on me too! I love Carry you Home, If this is Love, My Days, Leave the Light On, Iron in the Fridge and I think the Act 1 finale. There's probably a few more I am forgetting. I do find it interesting when I listened to it, out of all the musicals, that I honestly wasn't thinking of how it would look on stage or anything or the sets so maybe you can let me know after you see it, and I'm sure the three actors thing makes more sense too. I can't believe it wasn't even nominated for best musical though.

I'm sorry you didn't like the Spring Awakening production. Bad audiences can definitely ruin or distract a performance. I think maybe some people just laugh when they feel awkward or uncomfortable so that could be why. People feel that way about Cabaret as well I think and maybe people just aren't familiar with the musical. It might be a lot for people going in blind too. I laughed at Bitch of Living when I first watched and it has some funny parts but not near the end...that's awful. But I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it..that sucks. I do think some of the songs may be hard to sing but generally agree about not riffing on most of the songs.

My favorite vault songs are from Red. That could be because it felt like it had the most with the extras of Better Man and Babe and ATW 10. I definitely think it has the most variety and fits the album that way. It has three new favorite songs for me of all time too lol. Speak Now... I am happy with the collabs we got and I Can See You. The rest feel more like her older songs and classic Taylor to me too which I love, but can see why people were disappointed. This was the only vault I felt like I liked every song right away on a first listen. 1989 was one of the most cohesive vaults thats fun to listen to but not a lot of favorites for me..similar to how I feel about the 1989 album. Fearless songs fit the album and I was already familiar with three songs but I don't play them all the time even if I like them. There are still some songs from it that Taylor hasn't played as surprise songs yet, but I guess that's true for the regular album too. But she just played superstar the other day! I do agree about the mashups though..cuz she didn't play the bridge of this song, which is my favorite part! I do think it's cool sometimes, like when she played this love and ours which form a sentence. She also sang Never Grow Up and Robin which makes sense. I somehow guessed Labyrinth right yesterday but never could have guessed This is me Trying she mashed it up with. Ooh i'm not sure about a guitar mashup, but would love or die for The Lakes and Evermore on the piano! These songs work together in sound and meaning and mean the world to me..maybe add you're on your own kid too lol. For a guitar mashup, maybe like Teardrops and Cornelia Street which are the first two songs that came to my mind. Idk if it works but i'd love to have a debut song. What about you?

I listened to Gracie's album the other day and liked it well enough. The songs had to grow on me a bit and I think I prefer the second half a lot more. One of the songs, Tough Love, had the same topic or similar to the Bolter which stood out to me in a bad way at first but it's fine. I think a lot of her songs sound the same during the bridges and I don't feel the emotion from her when she sings, like she wants me to. I think I just liked her last album more maybe or sometimes I like her and sometimes I don't. I was also listening to musicals before so maybe I was too harsh or something. Cuz I also listened to Camila from 5th Harmony's album and didn't like it much either. I've heard a few songs from Charli so far and enjoy it. I will be listening to Clairo, Remi Wolf, Charli and Griff this week. I'm excited for Clairo knowing you liked it though cuz I remember not liking her last album that much. I hope you're having a good weekend!

you don't have to try to be interesting!! you are interesting! you could come into my askbox and tell me what you had for breakfast and i'd want to hear about it! we're friends! i care about what you have to say, you don't have to try hard to "impress" me or anything 🤍

i remember being impressed by their tonys performance! especially with the rumble aspect — they were very very smart in how they decided to use their time / their performance slot to showcase some very strong elements of the show! and i know we all know how i feel about suffs but even that aside, i do think that their performance was very weak/didn't do it many favors in convincing people to go see it.

with the notebook, the three actors really help with it because it's told in a non-linear storyline and it helps distinguish time periods! it's also fun because they sometimes play other characters :) (i won't say too much unless you want me to). ugh it is just so so beautiful. i can't wait to see how it's changed since chicago!

if you could revive any show, what would it be? i'm now thinking about just how GOOD the spring awakening revival was, and also how different and innovative and how many layers it added. i really like a lot of how michael arden approaches revivals/directing them (parade, spring awakening, once on this island).

my favorite vault songs overall are nothing new, better man and babe! so also from the red vault <3333 i think we've talked about who we'd love taylor to collab with before, but i'm wondering if you have any new thoughts on who you'd like her to collab with!! i would LOVE a debut song. i would just love a debut set, actually :( i am very sad still that there is no debut set. i will forever be a little bitter about it. oh well </3 i'm still surprised she hasn't done a YOYOK/a place in this world mashup.

gracie's album ... is still not really sticking with me unfortunately :( i do think it's a grower, but admittedly i haven't even listened to good riddance all that much. which is a bummer. i think that her ep's were so so good and unfortunately i just haven't really loved her albums :( i don't know why. i think i miss the way she used to enunciate too rather than singing in cursive or speak-singing in a very soft voice.

i hope you like the new clairo! i liked it a lot but i think i'm going to skip out on the tour :( i need to listen to the new griff too; i'm very behind! i've mostly been listening to emails i can't send since its anniversary just passed, and then shuffling between old music (like ingrid michaelson, sara bareilles, and honestly mostly musicals).

hope you're having a good weekend!! 🤍

[jadethirwall]

the great gatsby musical only got ONE tony nomination

[citylightsbooks]

5 Questions with Chet'la Sebree, Author of Field Study

Chet'la Sebree is the director of the Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts at Bucknell University and the author of Mistress, winner of the 2018 New Issues Poetry Prize and nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award. Her poetry has appeared in the Kenyon Review, Guernica, Pleiades, and elsewhere.

Chet'la will be in conversation with Dantiel W. Moniz, discussing her new book Field Study (published by FSG) in our City Lights LIVE! discussion series on June 5th!

******

Where are you writing to us from?

From my birth month of May.

From the left side of a rented duplex in central PA.

From the third floor in a patterned, blue-velvet armchair across from my teal-painted desk.

And, because I didn’t finish this all at once, from the first floor enjoying the afternoon sun.

What’s kept you sane during the pandemic?

I want to be the kind of person who says exercise. I certainly spent some time on my mat and pounding the pavement, but it has really been food, wine, and fellowship that have held me together. These have always been the things that kept me sane. In grad school, I loved having people over for potluck dinners. But this sort of fellowship surrounding food took on new meaning in the pandemic. It wasn’t just that I learned how to make gluten-free pasta from scratch or placed orders for specialty wine shipments, but it was the sturdy calendar of happy hours and dinner dates kept me going. I did everything from virtual wine tastings to learning how to make injera with poet Diana Khoi Nguyen with home-ground teff to have boozy brunches and movie nights with friends from high school and college.

Right before the pandemic, I transitioned into a new job as a tenure-track professor and director of a university literary arts center and was traveling for my first book, Mistress, which meant sometimes I was in two different cities in one week, while also teaching classes and hosting events. This meant that I spent little time with my friends. Moving around less meant that I could not only reconnect but deepen relationships. Nearly every week since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been meeting with prose writers Dantiel W. Moniz and María Isabel Álvarez—both of whom I’d met at a writing residency in 2017. Our first Zoom was an attempt to heal the wound of not seeing each other at a March 2020 conference. What started as a conversation, led to salons, led to work sessions, led to us planning for our own future residencies. We’ve cried; we’ve rooted each other on; we’ve held each other accountable. They kept me going through the last rounds of writing and editing Field Study, and I can’t wait to talk to Dantiel about it on June 5th!

What books are you reading right now? Which books do you return to?

Right now, I’m primarily reading emails and my students’ final portfolios, but I’m so excited for the pleasure reading this summer will bring. When I can sneak a moment, though, I am toggling between three books: Felicia Zamora’s newest collection I Always Carry My Bones; Nana Nkweti’s brand neew Walking on Cowrie Shells; and Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife. That last one is a reread; I first read the His Dark Materials series in high school. I often return to books I read in those pre-college years—fantasy and sci-fi novels like Ender’s Game but also Toni Morison’s The Bluest Eye, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. I like thinking about who I’ve become since first reading them.

The book I would say I return to the most, however, is probably Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, or maybe even just specific essays in it: “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism,” and “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.”

Which writers, artists, and others influence your work in general, and this book, specifically?

I’m such a sponge, which is part of what made writing Field Study so fun. The patchwork style of quotes interwoven with my own language gave me a space to name names of those that influenced me. It gave me the chance to be in conversation with literary legends and thinkers like Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Tressie McMillan Cottom, and Maya Angelou, while also calling on my brother, best friend, and cousin for insight.

I’m inspired by visual artists like Georgia O’Keefe, Nekisha Durrett, Alison Saar, Carrie Mae Weems, Stephanie J. Williams, and Deborah Willis, but I’m also inspired by theatre, films, dance, television. Who knows what Field Study would be if it weren’t for the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People that came out in April 2020. I am an early-to-bed person, but I finished watching the series at around 11:45pm, got out of bed, and worked on Field Study until 7am. Then, I slept for four hours, got up, and worked for the rest of the day. In watching that well-orchestrated chaos and intimacy, I was taken back to my early twenties, on which Field Study is loosely based. That’s how I work—something gets me in my guts, as poet E.G. Asher would say, and I find my way into the work. It could be a good show, Max Richter’s recomposed Vivaldi, or a nice food and wine paring that gets me going.

I also wrote to an erratic playlist that’s also representative of the diversity of conversations in Field Study. The music included everything from Foo Fighters and Paramore to Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill to Henryk Górecki and Sol Rising.

If you opened a bookstore, where would it be located, what would it be called, and what would your bestseller be?

My bookstore, URGE, would double as an integrative wellness center with a mind / body / spirit focus. We’re talking incenses and essential oils along with your book of the month picks. There’d be two locations: one on Whidbey Island, where I finished my first book Mistress, and laid the groundwork for Field Study; and the other in DC, which still calls to me even though I moved from the city seven years ago.

My bestsellers would be a tie between anything Audre Lorde (probably not surprising) and anything Bob’s Burgers-related, since my inner circle would know I got the name of the bookstore from the show’s Season 11’s Valentine’s episode: “Romancing the Beef.”

[teableeds]

If you had to nominate one of your deaths for the Darwin Awards, which would you pick?

I don't die stupidly, thank you very much.

But if I had to pick the most dramatic death, that would probably be when I drank methanol. If you remember, the twenties weren't a great time for me. Hunger, poverty, Prohibition, all of those things that you didn't exactly see in The Great Gatsby. I was trying to make some money, just enough to help feed the family I was living with at the time. I'd never distilled liquor before, but I thought I could manage.

I could not. That first batch contained methanol. Our driver wouldn't take anything from me unless I drank a shot of it first, to prove the quality. Looking back, I understand why he did that. But I would not recommend this particular death. First, I got drunk incredibly quickly. Then I went blind. About twelve hours of confusion and agony later, I passed out. The driver tried to hide my body in the woods, but he wasn't very good at grave-digging, thankfully, so I managed to crawl back out. 0/10.

[perlukafarinn]

Movies (I saw) of the 2010s, ranked

Because I had lots of better things to do but no inclination to do them.

As I went through all the new releases I watched this decade, a few things came to mind: 

I missed so much! Most recently, I still haven’t seen Parasite, The Lighthouse or The Irishman. I’ve also seen only one of Disney’s live action remakes, two out of four Star Wars films of the decade, and I’ve missed quite a few of Marvel and DC’s outings. My tendency to mostly watch older films came to bite me in the ass here. But c’est la vie, there’s only so many hours in the day! 

A huge part of my viewing history took place during film festivals, so festival movies are way over-represented here. I’m not mad about it.

There’s not too many outright bad movies on my list, because I tend to avoid movies that look bad or like I might not like them (shocker, I know). Even the ones in my bottom ten aren’t as dreadful as I was expecting. 

There’s no way I can rank all these films numerically! What about movies that I can tell are good but just aren’t for me? What about movies that are bad but enjoyable? How can you compare tired Oscar-bait with soulless blockbusters? It’s impossible!

Hence these categories. I’m doing a top 10 worst and best, and the categories go roughly from worse to better movies, but otherwise this isn’t based on quality so much as what clever category names I could come up with (or couldn’t, as the case may be). I’m also listing the movies within each category alphabetically because that’s even less ranking I need to do.

Buckle up, this is over 6000 words...

Oh, and if you don’t feel like reading the whole thing I still encourage you to reply with your own favorite movies of the decade! 

The Worst Exactly what it says on the tin. These movies aren’t just unenjoyable or disposable, they are actively unpleasant to watch. 

American Hustle (2013) Wait, this got how many Oscar nominations again??

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) This movie is so bloated and yet they couldn’t find any time to actually develop most of the main characters? I had such a bad time watching this one, I ended up skipping out on the last part of the trilogy. 

Hurricane Bianca (2016) This looked like it might be enjoyably bad but it wasn’t. I still love Bianca Del Rio, don’t get me wrong, but her humor is not the kind you build a whole movie around, yet alone two. And yet…

Hurricane Bianca: From Russia With Hate (2018) Yeah, I watched them both. I’m a simple woman: I see Katya in a trailer, I watch. I really shouldn’t have bothered, this one is even worse.

Iron Man 2 (2010) Superhero fatigue got me bad in the past few years but even before then I hated this movie. Literally nothing enjoyable here, I was aggressively bored while watching. The Lack (2014) This is a movie about women, written and directed by a man, called “The Lack”. You might think I’m being uncharitable to say this movie is entirely about penis envy but the writer/director himself confirmed this at the Q&A I was at. This is why Q&As are always a bad idea, people!

Left Behind (2014) This one tips into “enjoyably bad” at times but in the end, it’s still two hours of your life wasted on a movie meant to make its Evangelical viewers feel vindicated in their horrible beliefs. Morgenrøde (2014) I have a fairly high tolerance for slow movies but this movie is sloooowwww and literally nothing happens in it. This is the movie that taught me not to trust it when festival brochures use the word “contemplative”.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) Just dreadful. This is the worst kind of film in my books: the kind made to follow a trend, not to tell a story. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) It’s been eight years since the fourth PotC movie came out?? God, it’s been a long decade.

The Utterly Disposable I didn’t exactly have a bad time watching these but they left no impression on me. 

Alex Strangelove (2018)  Netflix has released so many unremarkable-looking teen movies this decade. This is one of the few I bothered to watch and it’s cute enough, I guess. 

Fyrir framan annað fólk (2016)  I am Icelandic but I don’t watch a whole lot of Icelandic movies and I feel kind of guilty about that. Not guilty enough to give a boring movie a pass, though.

Ghostbusters (2016)  This super did not need to exist and not even my love for Kate McKinnon makes it any less disposable. 

The Great Gatsby (2013)  At least it’s pretty.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) I remember this getting a few laughs out of me but that’s about it.

The Imitation Game (2014) I think I just… don’t like Beneditch Cumberbatch? Sorry. This movie is the perfect expression of the bland, middle-of-the-road biopic, with the added mishandling of the subject’s sexuality.

Isn’t It Romantic (2019)  I love a good satire but this ain’t it, chief. This movie isn’t doing anything that Crazy Ex-Girlfriend hasn’t done 100x better.

John Carter (2012)  If you’re gonna throw this much money into something, you could at least hire a charismatic lead actor. Then again, it seemed to work for Avatar. Magic Mike (2012)  I did like that this sexy stripper movie kept showing how unhappy the main character is doing what he does as if that wouldn’t totally ruin the fantasy.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016)  Watched this on an airplane, which is fitting. This feels like a quintessential airplane movie; it’s mildly entertaining but ultimately disposable enough that it has completely slipped your mind by the time you reach baggage claim.

Paul (2011)  Occasionally funny, I think? Barely remember it tbh.

Planetary (2015)     There’s some interesting points buried in here but the movie’s too busy trying to look important to actually get them across effectively. Also feels surprisingly padded for just 80 minutes. Valentine’s Day (2010) Taylor Swift was actually kind of funny in this, which was a pleasant surprise. Zero impact otherwise. 

“I Have No Memory of This Place” Movies I literally could not remember watching until I had read the entire synopsis, but for one reason or another was not comfortable calling “disposable”. 

Bobby Sands: 66 Days (2015), The Departure (2017),  Hell Is Empty: All the Devils Are Here (2016), Innsæi (2016), Last of the Elephant Men (2015), Late Summer (2016), Speed Sisters (2015), Una (2016), The War Show (2016) Lumping all of these together because they’re all festival movies I have hardly any memory of and that I may have in fact fallen asleep over.

Incendies (2010)  Chalk this up to me seeing it almost a decade ago. When I finally remembered it, I could vaguely recall finding it affective. Probably due for a rewatch.

Prisoners (2013), Rush (2013), Warrior (2011) Around 2012-2014 I was working my way through IMdB’s top 250 list and I saw so many forgettable movies about men committing various violent acts. Literally can’t remember a single thing about these movies.

I’m So Sick of Superheroes Dear God Make It Stop I’d probably like some of these more if not for superhero fatigue but that is the trade-off for total global dominance. A couple of superhero movies did escape this category and you’ll see them later on my list.

Thor (2011), Iron Man Three (2013), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Ant-Man (2015), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Lumping all of Marvel’s movies in this category together because I don’t really have a lot to say about Marvel anymore. Special mention to Winter Soldier for being the movie that soured on me the most and to Age of Ultron for in hindsight being the beginning of my superhero fatigue. 

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Boy, this trilogy ended on a sour note.  Man of Steel (2013)  Confused story structure aside, this movie is utterly grey and joyless. It’s also army propaganda! 

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) The only reason I watched this was because it was on IMdB’s top 250 list. Peter Dinklage was good in it, if I recall correctly.

Don’t Like This Nope.

12 Years a Slave (2013)  Very uncomfortable to sit through, which I get was the point, but I’m not sure it was the right choice. It honestly feels like misery porn.

Black Swan (2010) I’ve long made peace with the fact that Darren Aronofsky will just never click with me.

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) This movie is exhausting to watch because of the near constant country music playing. Loudly. 

Kate Plays Christine (2016)  This is a movie about a really interesting topic but instead of the real tragedy that actually happened it chooses to focus on an actress’s fictional struggle to connect with her role. I think the movie wanted us to think the struggle was real (heh) but for that they would’ve needed a better actress.  La La Land (2016)  I love classic musicals and I really wanted to like this movie but in the end I just couldn’t. As a movie it’s okay but it’s not a good musical and the whole white savior of jazz thing was……….. an odd choice.

Last Days in the Desert (2015)  I’m a sucker for good, thoughtful religious films. The idea of Jesus and the devil being played by the same actor was intriguing to me and I liked that the devil wasn’t evil so much as just tired. But ultimately, this movie felt a little too cold for me.

Magic Mike: XXL (2015)  I have no idea why every critic on the planet seems to love this movie. Strippers aggressively thrusting their crotch in your face is not sexy, it’s uncomfortable!

A Silent Voice (2016)  Melodramatic and not in the fun, over-the-top way.

Vonarstræti (2014) It’s good but it’s just not for me.

Wir Monster (2015) I saw this at a Q&A screening and decided I didn’t wanna stick around after the credits rolled. On my way out, I tripped and almost fell onto the actors as they were walking past me. That experience had a way bigger impact on me than the movie itself. Make of that what you will.

Guilty Pleasures/So Bad They’re Good An enjoyably bad movie is a better watch than a middlingly competent one.

#REALITYHIGH (2017)  Incredibly clichéd and tries way too hard to be “hip” or “lit” or whatever it is the kids were saying back in 2017. Don’t care, I’ve seen it four times. 

Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016) The first Bridget Jones is a highlight of the genre. The second one is just bad but the third tips over into enjoyably bad. I also loved having Renée Zellweger back on my screen!

A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish (2019) Recently watched this with my sister while baking and wrapping Christmas presents. It’s a terrible movie but we had fun (mostly by making fun of it).

Descendants (2015), Descendants 2 (2017), Descendants 3 (2019) I’m not apologizing for this even though I feel like I kind of should. 

The Kissing Booth (2018) This movie is like a 13-year-old’s first fanfic come to life so of course I’m gonna love it. Even if the love interest is incredibly unappealing.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (2011), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (2012) Who would’ve thought at the start of the decade that Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson would turn into indie darlings starring in one critically acclaimed film after the next? I love that for them.

Oscar Bait but I’m Not Biting Not sure the Oscars weren’t a mistake tbh.

The Artist (2011) I kind of enjoyed this but ultimately it’s watered-down Hollywood history made appealing to modern audiences and its aim is far higher than its reach.

Birdman (2014) It was a fun watch but it left no impression.

Darkest Hour (2017) Technically a good movie but such obvious Oscar bait I just couldn’t fully enjoy it.

The Help (2011) Let’s leave the white savior narrative behind in the 2010s, shall we?

The King’s Speech (2010) I love Colin Firth. I barely remember this movie.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)  Don’t love that the racist cop is the most fully fleshed-out character in this movie while the black characters are all unnamed extras.   

Whiplash (2014) It’s just drumming, J.K. Simmons, it’s not that serious. 

I Feel Like I Should Like This More This category is mostly three camps, as you’ll see. 

120 battements par minute (2017), 69 Minutes of 86 Days (2017),  Fire at Sea (2016),  I, Daniel Blake (2016) All important movies with a worthy message that I just couldn’t connect with on a personal level.

Adieu au langage (2014), Before We Vanish (2017), Bridesmaids (2011), Jagten (2012),  A Separation (2011), Timbuktu (2014), Transit (2018), Winter’s Bone (2010) Critically acclaimed, maybe it’s just me?

Her (2013) The rest is all movies I expected to like more than I did. I’m not sure what didn’t click with this one. It’s been a while since I saw it.

Get Out (2017) I wasn’t gonna watch it because I don’t really watch horror so when I finally caved, I knew pretty much everything about it. Watching a movie the first time  knowing everything that happens in it and after seeing it dissected for months on end by every critic on the planet does take a lot of the enjoyment away, as it turns out.

Gone Girl (2014) Really thought I’d love it. It’s good just didn’t click with me.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)  It’s pretty. Liam Neeson is always fun. 

Pacific Rim (2013)  Mako is great and I enjoy the chemistry between her and Raleigh but ultimately this one just kind of slipped out of my mind as soon as I’d seen it. 

Toni Erdmann (2016)  It’s too damn long!

The Tree of Life (2011)  I just watched this the other day so it’s very possible my opinion will change. I was expecting to love it but I… didn’t. It felt like this movie was trying too hard to be profound and important, at the cost of actually saying something, well, profound and important.

No Strong Feelings One Way or the Other I actually have nothing to say about any of these movies and most of them are good but they had to go somewhere.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Boyhood (2014), Brave (2012), Creed (2015), Django Unchained (2012), Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), Flavours of Youth (2018), Frozen (2013), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), Interstellar (2014), Intouchable (2011), The Jungle Book (2016), Monsters University (2013), Rogue One (2016), Schaste moe (2010), Shutter Island (2010), Three Identical Strangers (2018), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018), Undir trénu (2017), Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Middling Festival Fare I have nothing to say about these either but I couldn’t lump them in with the others. I mostly liked them more than the movies in the previous category and they took bigger risks. Some of them might even be great, just very much not my cup of tea.

3 Tage in Quiberon (2018), Acid Forest (2018), Amateurs in Space (2016), Barakah Meets Barakah (2015), Der Andständige (2014), Disappearance (2017), Dreams by the Sea (2017), En fremmed flytter ind (2017), Føniks (2018), The Girl Down Loch Aenzi (2016), God Exists, Her Name is Petrunija (2019), Gods of Molenbeek (2019), Jag är Ingrid (2015), Já, Olga Hepnarová (2016), Looking for Oum Kulthum (2017), Mister Universo (2016), Neruda (2016), The Raven and the Seagull (2018), Rester vertical (2016), Slow West (2015), Sugar Coated (2015), Summer Survivors (2018), Tickled (2016), Worldly Girl (2016)

Maybe Not the Best But a Lot of Fun Better than those guilty pleasures but generally pretty flawed. Austenland (2013) A very cute little romcom. Extra points for Jennifer Coolidge, the most underrated character actress of this century.

Baby Driver (2017) I feel like revisiting this one might not be as enjoyable for reasons that have nothing to do with the film’s quality but I had fun watching it in the theater. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) I was a fan of this franchise from the start so even though this movie is kind of dour and dark, it was still a blast to watch. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) Do I love every choice this movie made? No. But I saw this at a midnight screening, in full cosplay with my friends, in a theater packed with fans. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I, Tonya (2017)  For a movie that contains so much abuse and such a bummer ending, it’s surprisingly entertaining!

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)    Lego Batman is my favorite Batman.

Nothing Like a Dame (2018)  I just really love Maggie Smith.

On - drakon (2015) This movie feels like it was pitched as “Twilight but with dragons!”. It’s fun, though, and it’s got an interesting aesthetic and a proactive heroine who gets herself out of trouble with ingenuity and bravery.

Sing Street (2016) I love the soundtrack to this movie and the characters are incredibly endearing. The story is very simple in not a great way but it doesn’t need to be deep to be enjoyable.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) I like that they skip the origin story for once and keep the scope of it fairly limited. A very nice little slice-of-life teen movie combined with a superhero flick. Tom Holland is a good Spider-Man. Would’ve been better without Iron Man tbh. Star Trek Beyond (2016)  I feel like they got the characters right here, which was a problem for the first Star Trek of the rebooted trilogy. It’s a fairly inconsequential movie but it’s a blast.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) I’m not the biggest Star Wars fan so I don’t have a lot of opinions here. It’s fun! Not a lot more I want from Star Wars. Ultimately didn’t intrigue me enough to wanna see the rest of the trilogy.

Ten no Chasuke (2015) This movie is a little weird, a little goofy and a lot of fun. I like the guy who just constantly lives through different movie plots because the angel writing his life can’t think of anything original, that tickled me.

Good Movies I Don’t Have a Clever Title Here They’re good movies, Brent. 

Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground (2018)  An enjoyable, well-made documentary but considering its subject matter disappointingly conventional.

Black Panther (2018) This movie could have been much better had it not been under the constraints of the MCU. Still one of the best offerings of the genre this decade.

Boy Meets Girl (2014) We need more movies like this. Not just for representation (although that is important) but also because cinema needs a greater variety of stories than are currently being told. 

Brooklyn (2015) The scope of this movie is very small but the characterization is nuanced and every aspect of the film goes towards furthering that. 

Bugs (2016) The focus of this movie is split between its very interesting subject matter (the use of bugs as food around the world) and the chefs we’re following around who kind of seem like dicks and honestly drag the movie down a lot.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)  Steve Rogers is one of my favorite MCU characters, purely on the strength of this movie. In a world where no one seems to know how to adapt Superman to film, it’s nice they got this one right.

Cloud Atlas (2012) This movie has such lofty ambitions and I admire it for that, even if the execution is off at times. But the use of yellowface is..... bad. It’s very bad and the directors should have known better. 

Cold War (2018) I love the music in this, which is good because it is near constant.

Damsel (2018) I love a deconstructed western and I love Robert Pattinson. It’s a shame that the female character at the center of the story wasn’t better developed, considering how much screen time she got.

Damsels in Distress (2011) This movie is quirky and cutesie, which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (and usually isn’t mine) but I love it. Some solid acting goes a long way.

Der kommer en dag (2016) This movie is two hours of children suffering yet it comes across as so optimistic? I think it’s the space race stuff. Who doesn’t love the space race?

Frantz (2016) I am always down for stories that reckon with the effects of WWI. 

Future Baby (2016) There’s a scene in this movie where a surrogate mother gives birth and it is both very graphic and heart-wrenching. If the rest of the movie were more like that one scene, it’d be on my shortlist for the best of the decade.

Fyre (2019)  How was Fyre Festival a real thing that happened?

Girls Don’t Fly (2016) Girls don’t fly because the man training them to be pilots is a dick and treats them horribly. It’s a bummer but important to uncover. 

Hidden Figures (2016) Kevin Costner’s character needed to be written out - black stories that don’t involve “good” white people are both possible and necessary. But I adore all three main actresses and they do some amazing work.

Hjartasteinn (2016) The subject matter is cliché but it’s handled beautifully. 

The Lego Movie (2014) Everything is awesome! Everything is cool when you’re part of a team!

Journey to the Shore (2015) I honestly wasn’t sure how to feel for most of the run time of this movie but by the end it got me.

On Body and Soul (2017) This movie feels like a dream and I mean that in a good way.

The Salvation (2014) Have I mentioned that I love deconstructed westerns? Mads Mikkelsen is always on point, even with garbage material, but he’s got some good stuff to work with here.

Searching for Ingmar Bergman (2018) This movie made me more interested in its director, Margarethe von Trotta, than Bergman himself. Everyone should check out The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum!

The Shape of Water (2017) This movie is very much like a fairy-tale, which means it’s not particularly nuanced or complicated, but it is beautiful.

Still the Water (2014)  This movie starts with a cow being graphically slaughtered and yet the only word I can think of to describe it is “gentle”. But maybe skip the first five minutes if you’re sensitive to blood or animal death.

Studio 54 (2018) How were the 70s even real?

Sumarbörn (2017)    It’s a rare feat to get such good acting out of child actors.

Thor: Ragnarök (2017)    The best MCU movie. It’s a lot of fun without once losing its heart, which is a rare thing for Marvel (just google the words “bathos” and “mcu”, other people have covered this already). 

Warm Bodies (2013) The cutest rom-com of the decade features a zombie as its main lead. I’m not mad about it.

Wild Tales (2014) The dissonance between the realist shooting style and the cartoonish violence often results in some excellent dark humor. The rest of the time, it just feels kind of off. 

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Jordan Belfast is both a lot of fun and utterly despicable and the movie is not afraid to go as balls to the walls as it needs to.

The Young Karl Marx (2017) So like... Marx and Engel were into each other? At least a little, right?

Great Movies Also No Clever Title

Andið eðlilega (2018) Okay so I don’t watch a lot of Icelandic cinema but from what I have seen, I am incredibly encouraged by the direction it is heading. Call this exhibit A.

Ága (2018)  This movie is very slow and not a lot happens but that’s kind of why it works so well. It hooked me in and had me genuinely interested in every uneventful scene.

Brecht’s Threepenny Film (2018)  I walked away feeling like I’d understood maybe one third of this film but it left me with a feeling of exhilaration that’s hard to define and that few films manage.

Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010)  Adèle Blanc-Sec is like Tintin and Indiana Jones combined except way better. In a just world, she would be a much more popular character and the reported film trilogy would have actually happened.

En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron (2014)  This movie is delightfully weird and messed up. Nothing more to say here.

The Favourite (2018)  I was honestly expecting to be let down by this movie after all the overwhelming praise but as it turns out, it deserved all of the accolades and possibly more.

Gravity (2013)  This movie was kind of marketed as “realistic sci-fi” and while I can’t say it felt particularly real, the emotional arc sure as hell did.

Inception (2010) The complexity of this film was vastly over-hyped but it’s still the best work I’ve seen by Nolan (though to be fair, I still haven’t seen Dunkirk).  Kreuzweg (2014) The film is composed of just fourteen still shots, representing the Stations of the Cross. That could have come across as really gimmicky but it works because the shots are well staged and the material is just that good. Loveless (2017) This is the bleakest, most depressing movie I think I’ve ever seen.  The Martian (2015)  The best thing about this movie is the way it shows the world coming together just to save this one guy. International cooperation is the future!

Paradies: Liebe (2012)  This is a movie about sex tourism and it is as unpleasant to watch as that sounds. But it’s also incredible. 

Paradies: Hoffnung (2013)  The third in Seidl’s paradise trilogy (I missed the middle part, don’t remember why). Just as messed up as Liebe but mildly more palatable.

Une nouvelle amie (2014)  I saw this movie with my dad, which was kind of awkward, but that doesn’t take away from its beauty. We really do need more stories like this.

Tale of Tales (2015)  I am always here for a fairytale adaptation, particularly ones that stick close to the dark, gruesome, humorous tone of most traditional fairytales. 

Welcome to Norway (2016)  This movie is just really, really funny.

White God (2014) If you’re sensitive to animal abuse then this is not the film for you. The dogs in this movie actually won the Palm Dog Award and it was well deserved. They’re very good dogs! Tom of Finland (2017) How refreshing to see a movie about a historical gay person that isn’t all death and tragedy! It does have some of that, unavoidably, but it’s also a lot of fun and ultimately is a celebration of a very important sub-cultural figure.

Vinterbrødre (2017) I wasn’t expecting a movie set in a mining community to look this beautiful. 

Wonder Woman (2017) The best superhero movie of the decade, despite the slightly messy third act. It’s such an earnest, hopeful movie and unlike most films of the genre, it’s not afraid to take itself seriously or to come across as cheesy. Superheroes are cheesy! That’s one of the best things about them!

Amazing Animation I don’t like animation being singled out from live action as if it’s somehow less, but I wanted to highlight how many excellent animated films were made this decade. 

The Breadwinner (2017) I’ve seen this film’s production company, Cartoon Saloon, been called the Irish version of Disney but Disney has never made anything half this daring. Coco (2017)  The ending made me sob like a little kid. This movie doesn’t get enough credit for being one of only two Pixar films this decade to live up to their early work.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) The flight scenes in this movie gave me actual vertigo and I loved it.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)  The rare sequel that’s actually better than the original! For all the franchises that exist out there just to continue milking that cash cow, it’s nice to see something get continued because the filmmakers had more stories to tell.

Loving Vincent (2017)  This movie has been criticized for a weak plot, to which I say: it’s an animated movie made up of oil paintings! Do you really care about the plot? Sometimes the spectacle is all you need, especially when it’s something that touches you as deeply as Vincent van Gogh’s art does.

Moana (2016)  Moana’s scenes with her grandmother and Te Fiti are up there with some of the most emotionally evocative stuff to come out of Disney studios. It’s a pity the rest of the movie couldn’t quite live up to that.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)  Mostly, this movie just looks incredible. I am also an eternal sucker for Chris Pine, even if his voice sounds weird coming out of a teenager’s mouth.  

Song of the Sea (2014)  This is the most beautiful animated film I’ve ever seen outside of Studio Ghibli’s best, both the look and the feel of it. 

Tangled (2010) I know I sound like an old fogy but this movie would’ve been much better if it had been traditionally animated. Still pretty good!

Toy Story 3 (2010) It’s been nine years since the third Toy Story came out?? Christ, this decade.

Your Name (2016) I really should be watching more anime.

Zootopia (2016) Disney’s best work since Treasure Planet, which is an underrated masterpiece. It’s almost worth the resurgence in furries (jk furries, you’re okay).

This Is Why You Guys Should Be Watching Documentaries Because documentaries are a seriously underrated art form.

Ama-San (2016) This is the kind of cinema vérité filmmaking I live for.

Behind the Curve (2018) The existence of flat earthers remains baffling (well, maybe not that baffling when you look at the rest of our society) but this documentary is excellent.

Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)  This is a documentary about a cache of lost silent films that were found in the 70s and most of the movie is silent, with information being conveyed through text and images. It’s these kinds of choices that elevate a good documentary beyond just educational programming.

Exodus: Where I Come From Is Disappearing (2016)  Absolutely heart-wrenching. It’s difficult to watch but the issues it discusses shouldn’t be looked away from. 

Foodies (2014) There’s a foodie in this movie who rates his food on looks before he even tastes it and a chef whose signature dish is a dessert called “sex on the beach” which includes a very realistic-looking used condom. I wanted those two to meet but they never did and that is my one criticism of this film.

Free Solo (2018)  I developed a fear of heights after watching this movie.

The Great Green Wall (2019)  I had never heard of the great green wall before seeing this movie. It’s so surreal to get a window into a society where no one is arguing about climate change because they are already undeniably feeling the effects of it. And by strange, I mean incredibly sad and upsetting.

How to Let Go of the World: and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change (2016)  Speaking of climate change. This movie takes on climate grief and shows why you can’t stop at that, why you need to push past it and keep fighting. I’d argue The Great Green Wall actually does that same thing and better but it’s still a very necessary message.

Into the Inferno (2016)  Werner Herzog is just. The best. Especially his documentaries.

Kismet (2014) This movie examines how art affects people by way of one of the least respected art forms out there (soap operas). I just really love that premise and the execution is even better.

Merchants of Doubt (2014) Honestly fuck every single person making money by hastening our descent towards climate catastrophe. Good movie, though.

My Scientology Movie (2015)  This was the first Louis Theroux movie I saw and it’s a great one to start with. For all they’ve been treated like a joke, Scientologists are actually pretty scary.

The Other Side of Everything (2017)  The personal is the political in this film. What an incredible look at the ways our past shapes our present and future. 

Pervert Park (2014) This movie fucked me up.

The Prison in Twelve Landscapes (2016) The conceit of this film is looking at the US prison system indirectly by keeping the camera outside the actual prisons and off actual prisoners. It works incredibly well, just astounding documentary film making. 

Push (2019)  Just when you thought you couldn’t hate the rental market any more!

Safari (2016) Fuck trophy hunters.

The Silence of Others (2018)  I didn’t even know about the Spanish 1977 Amnesty Law until I saw this movie. Maybe that’s just my own ignorance but I feel it shows how necessary documentaries like these are. 

Tower (2016) I cried like a baby watching this movie. Using rotoscope animation to tell the story of the 1966 shootings a the University of Texas was I think an excellent choice and made for a unique documentary.

Visages villages (2017) Agnès Varda is possibly my favorite director and it hurts to leave this one off the “best” list (call it an unofficial #11). Still not sure I shouldn’t have swapped out one of the actual top ten for it. 

Welcome to Sodom (2018) The world is so fucked up. 

It Stayed With Me Movies that left me reeling and that I couldn’t get out of my head for days after watching (call all of them an unofficial joint #12).

The Act of Killing (2012) Speaking of fucked up! It is absolutely surreal seeing these mass murderers try to justify their actions to the interviewers. “I was just doing my job” is no excuse and trying to use it as one is actually reprehensible. 

Arrival (2016) I didn’t actually see it until this year and I felt it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype but it did! It’s reminiscent of Interstellar in that in this ‘hard’ science fiction story the ultimate solution is based on an emotional revelation but Arrival pulled it off much better. The Congress (2013)  This is basically two movies in one; one is fairly grounded sci-fi and the other is just a straight up acid trip in film form. In any case, Robin Wright is absolutely flawless.

Carol (2015) Cate Blanchett please date me. Grüße aus Fukushima (2016)  I’m always gonna be a sucker for a movie about women connecting and helping each other through trauma. 

High Life (2018) I saw this one knowing nothing about it and ngl it shocked me a bit. The way it incrementally got more and more fucked up made me feel a bit like a frog being slowly boiled alive.  November (2017) The atmosphere this movie creates is unreal. Maybe not the strongest characterization but it balances a feeling of magic and wonder with just utter bleakness and it left me reeling. Paterson (2016) I can’t even fully explain why I loved this movie so much or why it stuck me. Mostly, it’s just so damn cozy.  The Square (2017) I mean, that scene with the ape man was fucked up right?  Tangerine (2015) I don’t think filming on your iPhone is the future of cinema or anything but it does show how accessible filmmaking is slowly becoming. Also, that scene of Alexandra performing Toyland is one of the best musical moments in cinema this decade and that is not up for debate. Team Hurricane (2017) I’ve never seen a movie with an aesthetic like this before (it’s very vaporwave) but this film is about and was mostly shot by a group of actual teenage girls. It’s a little melodramatic in places but at the same time that feels very sincere and the girls all clearly have a lot of talent and a lot to say.  Varda par Agnes (2019) This movie probably wouldn’t have stuck with me so much if Agnès Varda hadn’t died earlier this year. She is a truly unparalleled figure in film history.

The Best According to me, anyway. But I’m right.

Cameraperson (2016) This is a different kind of documentary filmmaking. What it most reminds me of is Beaches of Agnès (no, I’m never done talking about Agnès Varda) but even that is not a perfect comparison. It’s deeply personal while also covering an insane variety of topics.  Embrace of the Serpent (2015) This movie feels like a dream and I mean that in the best way possible. At turns beautiful, brutal, and absolutely baffling. The Florida Project (2017) I’ve seen this movie criticized for glorifying poverty and I can’t discount that opinion. For my part, I thought this movie did an incredible job balancing the world as seen through the eyes of a carefree child enjoying her summer and the dangerous, precarious reality of living in poverty.  Inside Out (2015) When Pixar gets it right, they get it really right. The Love Witch (2016) I just really, really love witches. The best looking live action movie of the decade. The fact that writer/director/editor/producer Anna Biller hasn’t made another film since is an actual crime.  Melancholia (2011) No movie has ever hit me this hard in such a visceral way; I was miserable for days after seeing it. Lars von Trier is an asshole but he knows how to film depression.  Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Believe the hype, it is actually perfect. And I don’t even like action movies! Moonlight (2016) It’s rare to see a movie this deeply, devastatingly human. The final two shots of the film, paired together, are literally the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in a theater. Kona fer í stríð (2018) The best Icelandic movie that’s been made yet. Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir is a national treasure.  Shoplifters (2018) I mean, who’s expecting a movie called ‘Shoplifters’ to be so devastating? It’s such a painful film but it is also heartwarming and intimate.  Un couteau dans le coeur (2018) This movie is strange and funny and violent and gorgeous. I’ve never had such a good experience at a film festival as I did the two times I went to see this movie.

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Secret-Diary Recommends Some Music

I’m not exactly a ‘music person’, in that I don’t know a lot about the mechanics that underpin it: I couldn’t look at sheet music and tell you what the tune is or describe the change in chords in a classical piece. I’m not even 100% sure what the difference between a Ukulele and a Banjo is, aside from the fact that one is played by coquettish islanders while I get shit-faced on Pina Colladas in the background and the other is played by Louisiana bootleggers from the 1920s with comedy accents. All that being said, I know enough to know that the overwhelming preponderance of music produced today is total crap. Every time I’m foolish enough to tune a radio to a musical station, there’s a new barely-pubescent twatwipe peeping about their feelings in a tupperware voice that strongly suggests they don’t actually have any. Either that or its some nominally grown-ass man or woman singing something that they imagine is sassy and empowering but actually just makes them sound like Gary from World’s End- only less charming, because immature, quasi-literate manbabies are infinitely more annoying when they’re real. The point is, it’s a fucking wasteland out there. Trying to find a band (from now or the past) who you’d actually want to listen to can be a chore. That’s why, as your gracious patron and benefactor, I’ve decided to share the fruits of my musical explorations with you and hit you with some recommendations. I’ve tried to be as eclectic as possible, since I want everyone who reads this to find something they’ll like, no matter how radically divergent their individual tastes are. Some of the entries on this list are famous, some are obscure and some were famous but have been made obscure by the passage of time. I’ve tried to limit myself to people whose music you might not be fully aware of, even if you’ve heard of them to some extent, but I’m not plugged into what is and isn’t popular with peeps nowadays, so don’t read too much into my choices if they seem either too obvious or too bizarre. Here goes.

1. The Orion Experience An ultra-camp synthesis of New Romantic music, bubble-gum pop and modern vocal stylings, The Orion Experience are unlike anything else you’ll have heard recently. They seem to borrow as much from the original Decadent tradition in art and literature as from later musical iterations, meaning that their lyrics are complex and sophisticated without being especially deep. They’re primarily concerned with building aesthetically-interesting and richly-evocative language-constructs rather than performing an emotion that no-one in the band is actually feeling. The deliberate artifice is deeply refreshing in a musical landscape of faked sincerity and forced emoting. I recommend starting with the songs The Cult of Dionysus and Sugar. If you like those, the rest of their stuff may also interest you.

2. Trace Adkins During an attempt to write a wild west/sci-fi fusion novel, I went on a musical odyssey, looking for apposite songs that would gel well with the world I was building (knowing a world’s soundtrack can help cement that world in your imagination- try it, if you’re a writer yourself). Anyway, I stumbled across Trace Adkins- a country singer with a palpable sense of humour about being a country singer and a knack for delivering a silly-but-well-turned phrase. Also, without getting technical, his tunes just flat-out rock. I have no idea how well known he in the Country and Western World, but since his existence came as news to me, I’m sticking him on this list. Start with the surprisingly sexy Honky Tonk Badonkadonk and graduate to Hot Momma and Whoop a Man’s Ass. You’ll know if it’s your sort of thing from the first minute of any of those songs.

3. Caravan Palace Have ye heard of a thing called Electric Swing? If you’re reading a blog post about music, you probably have, but just in case you haven’t, let me tell you it’s a fantastic genre. Imagine if The Great Gatsby owned a synth and took a fuckload of mind-squanching hallucinogens. Well, that’s Electric Swing. Few do it better than Caravan Palace, who also seem to borrow heavily from club music and other genres, adding these to their unique blend. For some pure Electric Swing, start with Susie. For something a little more modern, start with Lone Digger.

4. 11 Acorn Lane Speaking of Electric Swing, I can also recommend 11 Acorn Lane, whose lyrics can be a little more playful than those of Caravan Palace. They also have a somewhat more classic sound. Start with Let’s Face it I’m Cute for a great sample of their work.

5. The Fratellis Now, my UK readers have almost certainly heard of The Fratellis, since they actually got some traction on mainstream radio over here. I’m less sure about those of you reading along in America, so allow me to make an introduction. Their music is joyously and unapologetically grimy and proletarian, paring an unrivaled sense of fun and energy with a sly, low-key feeling of cynicism and detachment. The tunes and melodies evoke Rock, punk and New-Wave (think The Ramones by way of The Proclaimers) without wholly relying on any of them. Check out Chelsea Dagger or Henrietta to hear them at their most gleefully up-tempo-yet-jaded, or try Vince the Lovable Stoner for a more chill, tongue-in-cheek song.

5. Dionne Warwick You’ve probably heard of her in connection with There’s Always Something There to Remind Me, especially since it featured heavily in that one fantastic episode of Black Mirror. However, you might not have realised just how much she’s contributed to musical history: her soft-yet-powerful voice and classic Rock rhythms and tunes combine to create something archetypal yet unique. Leap right in with Do You Know the Way to San Jose and discover a fucking legend.

6. Rufus Rex Ever wanted to hear a freakishly talented man singing songs based on horror films and books (particularly the works of H.P. Lovecraft) in a style that evokes Goth music but defies genre on closer inspection? Then get your arse over to Rufus Rex and start plumbing the nightmarish depths of horror-music with the song World’s In Between.

7. Studio Killers Contemporary electronic music with surprisingly inventive and weird lyrics. That about sums up Studio Killers, really. Look, not everything on this list can be genre-transcendent or epoch-defining: some things are just very good examples of the type of music they belong to. If you haven’t heard of them, start with the song Eros and Apollo then check out Ode to the Bouncer, then compare and contrast: those two songs represent the two opposite edges of the musical spectrum they cover, so if you like either one, at least some of their songs will be for you. Also, treat yourself to the music videos on Youtube: they’re surreal and awsesome.

8. Fishbone A punky ska band from back in the day, Fishbone are on this list for one reason and one reason only: Party at Ground Zero. Party at Ground Zero is an upbeat, gloriously energetic song about nuclear war. It’s a total jam and you absolutely have to experience it for yourself.

9. Tomska Tomska... isn’t technically a professional musician. He’s a Youtube comedian, short-film maker and collaborative animator who became internet-famous for his ‘ASDF movies’. On the off-chance that you haven’t seen them, they’re short collections of animated skits and jokes rendered in a simple but immediately-compelling and recognisable style. Anyway, Tomska decided to create fast-paced, catchy songs about some of the recurring characters in his ASDF movies, and those songs turned out to be fucking amazing- being both laugh-out-loud funny and actually really musically ambitious and well put together. Check them out on his channel. I’m particularly fond of Mine Turtles, but you do you.

10. Paul Anka Big band and jazz musician Paul Anka once set out on a quest to create 1920s-sounding versions of famous rock ‘n’ roll songs and the results can only be described as ‘eargasmically epic’. His versions of Jump and Eye of the Tiger are, frankly, better than the originals.

Right, that’s everything I can thing of for now. I’m going to go make myself a big sandwich. By the time your read this, I’ll be settling down with two-slices of bread, some cheese and an unreasonably large amount of cranberry sauce. All the songs and bands in today’s entry are on Youtube, so go have a nosy. Until next time, peace out and fuck off!

[etremagazine]

TOP 5 FASHIONABLE FILMS EVER MADE

How many have you already seen?

Whether it's an insightful documentary into a designer's first collection at the helm of a major fashion house (Dior and I), a tounge-in-cheek mockery of the fashion industry (Zoolander 2) or a vintage classic with impeccable costumes (Breakfast at Tiffany's), these are the films every self-respecting fashion gal should add to their watchlist, stat.

1-  THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006) This isn't a fashion movie, this is the fashion movie. Thank Meryl Streep and her Oscar-nominated turn as Miranda Priestly, a thinly veiled caricature of Anna Wintour, for giving the movie its film-buff credibility. Added points? Andie (Anne Hathaway's) head-to-toe oh-so-2000s Chanel ensemble and a cameo by Gisele Bündchen as a bitchy magazine staffer.

2-  THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE (2009) The September Issue marked the first time the world-at-large got an inside look at the goings-on of a real-life fashion magazine. The film tracks the creation of American Vogue's 2007 September issue - the most important issue on a magazines calendar. The often tumultuous relationship between editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and former creative director Grace Coddington is the film's highlight.

3-  SEX AND THE CITY (2008) The Vivienne Westwood wedding dress, the bridal couture photo shoot, the fashion week appearance, the Manolo Blahnik's... Sex and the City's Hollywood spin-off may not be as good as the HBO series, but it certainly holds it's own in the fashion stakes; thank Patricia Field.

4-  THE GREAT GATSBY (2013) Catherine Martin rallied her many fashion industry contacts to pull off the husband Baz Luhrmann's behemoth adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. Brooks Brother supplied 1,200 suits, Miuccia Prada designed 40 dresses and Tiffany & Co. designed the diamond '20s-era headpieces worn by Carey Mulligan's Daisy. It all makes for one of the most stylish films to ever come out of Australia.

5-  TAXI DRIVER (1974) If Martin Scorcese's classic film about a vigilante New York taxi driver suffering from post traumatic stress disorder doesn't sound like like a 'fashion film', you haven't seen 14-year-old Jodie Foster's outfits.

[spideymybucky]

I don’t think this movie is up for an oscar. maybe other awards but this is Hs first main lead role, leonardo dicrapio- someone who’s been in the industry for decades and made ICONIC movies over the years only recently got his first oscar 😭

Not H but like someone else??? Also don’t compare Leo to others cause a lot of ppl make their first movies and get nominated, like the girl from ROME... Alfonso Cuarons movie, she was nominated and it wa ever first movie.

Happened to Leo was so ducking unfair. He deserved an Oscar befor his first one. GREAT GATSBY?? AN OSCAR FOR LEO... like omg he needed an Oscar for titanic too. HE SHOULD HAVE 10 oscars by now.

[celinewrites]

Where Are They Now? 'Home Alone' Cast

By Celine Littlejohn 

Twenty five years ago, the first Home Alone film was released and we were introduced to the McCallisters. In both the original and its just as beautiful sequel, 1992′s Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, young Kevin McCallister is accidentally left home alone during the holidays--with some unwelcome visitors. His creative and mischievous ways to thwart the baddies and make it on his own have made Home Alone a Christmas classic for decades. 

Kevin McCallister

This clever kid completely stole all of our hearts with his wacky antics battling the baddies and making it on his own when he's accidentally left *gasp* home alone!

Macaulay Culkin

Since Home Alone, Macaulay acted in such films as 1994's Richie Rich. The 35-year-old still acts, making appearances on Robot Chicken, Saved!, and Will and Grace. He also plays in a Velvet Underground tribute band known as the Pizza Underground. Currently, he's dating All My Children actress Jordan Lane Price after being in an 8-year relationship with Mila Kunis. He recently revisited Home Alone in a very interesting way.

Harry

One half of the Wet/Sticky Bandits was Harry, who wants to do as much damage to Kevin as he's done to him and his partner, Marv. Uh-oh!

Joe Pesci

The Goodfellas alum (a role which won him an Oscar!) appeared in similar roles - Casino, My Cousin Vinny, and A Bronx's Tale. He had a cameo in 2006's The Good Shepherd which was directed by and starred Robert DeNiro.

Marv

Bumbling burglar Marv is Harry's partner-in-crime!

Daniel Stern

The former narrator of The Wonder Years has since appeared in Manhattan and Getting On. He's an artist, too, creating bronze sculptures and in 2009, he received the "Call To Service Award" from President Obama for being a founder of the Malibu Arts Commission and working with the troops.

Peter McCallister

Kevin's dad had a cool demeanor but that doesn't mean he wasn't just as worried about Kev as his wife was.

John Heard

Since Home Alone, Kevin's dad has appeared in everything from The Sopranos and Law & Order to NCIS: Los Angeles.

Kate McCallister

Kevin's mom just wants to make sure her son is safe and sound, especially after leaving him home alone - twice!

Catherine O'Hara

She received an Emmy nom for the 2010 TV movie, Temple Grandin, has a starring role on the series, Schitt's Creek, and has appeared in shows such as 30 Rock and Modern Family.

Uncle Frank

Ah, yes. Who could ever forget free-loading, cheapskate cantankerous Uncle Frank?

Gerry Bamman

For years, he played defense attorney Stan Gilum on Law and Order and has since made roles on The Good Wife and The Following.

Old Man Marley

Is Old Man Marley really as creepy as he seems?

Roberts Blossom

Roberts was in the original Great Gatsby and such classics as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Escape from Alcatraz. He made an appearance in the 1999 TV film Ballon Farm before passing away in 2011 at 87.

Buzz McCallister

Ah, yes. Buzz. Kevin's annoying big brother who called him a "trout sniffer," has a pet tarantula, and gives Kevin a hard time for everything. Ugh. Brothers…

Devin Ratray

Devin Ratray is still an actor, appearing in such movies and TV shows as RIPD, Supernatural, Louie, Elementary and The Good Wife. He also has a band called "Little Bill and the Beckleys". And he tried to woo former Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice in the film Courting Condi.

Fuller

Fun Fact: Kevin's adorable little bed-wetting cousin was really Macaulay's little brother in real life.

Kieran Culkin

Kieran has popped up in everything from Fargo to Scott Pilgrim vs. The World since his Home Alone days.

Pigeon Lady

There's something about that Pigeon Lady that doesn't seem so scary after all, tbh.

Brenda Fricker

This Irish actress can really act. She won a Supporting Actress Oscar in 1989 for her role in My Left Foot and and last appeared as Mrs. Smith in the 2013 TV series, Forgive Me before retiring from acting as of 2014.

E.F. Duncan

E.F. Duncan has got to be the nicest man. Ever. Maybe even (dare we say it) nicer than Santa?

Eddie Bracken

Active in the industry since the 1930s, Home Alone 2 would be one of Bracken's final roles. He voiced Sebastian in The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue in 1997 and ultimately passed away in 2002.

Concierge

The pompous and sly concierge at The Plaza Hotel is sure Kevin is up to no good.

Tim Curry

Dr. Frank-N-Furter from the '70s cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show has made notable appearances in It and Clue. Many millennials will recognize Curry as the voice of Nigel Thornberry in Nickelodeon's The Wild Thornberries. He also made theater appearances in Spamalot and A Christmas Carol. Unfortunately, Curry has been dealing with health issues resulting from a stroke he had a few years ago. In June, he received an Actors Fund of America Artistic Achievement Award.

Cedric (Bellman)

Bellman Cedric sure loves a good tip.

Rob Schneider

Comedian Rob Schneider is an SNL alum who has been in everything from Grown Ups to the Deuce Bigalow films. His latest movie is the western comedy, The Ridiculous 6, which premiered on Netflix earlier in December. Did we also mention his daughter is Ex's & Oh's singer, Elle King?

Desk Clerk

The desk clerk at The Plaza Hotel isn't Kevin's number one fan, to say the least.

Dana Ivey

From The Help to Boardwalk Empire, Tony-nominated Ivey is still active in the world of acting, getting inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2008.

[supercultshow]

Hello Supercult West! This is Supercult South Bad Movie Professor Cameron Coker (BS in “Peter O’Brian” with a minor in “Elevator Pitches”) and I’m reaching out to you from across the country to help hype The Intruder, aka Pembalasan Rambu!

I’ve cracked the code fellow Supercultists. I know what makes a good movie. It’s not the script of the actors or the director or even how much man ass is in the film, though all those things do help. It’s whether or not you can fit the film synopsis into a single sentence. Let’s try it now.

Avatar is a 2009 American sci-fi film based inspired by white guilt and the Titanic’s box office returns about a white guy in a wheelchair who goes to an alien planet full of blue tree people because humans want to mine the planet for space rocks, so the man pilots a non-wheelchair bound blue tree person so that he can be the best at PR, but then he goes native and has to fight his own kind to save his new blue girlfriend’s homeland! *GASP*

See? That was way too long. Like 50 words too long. Avatar? Shit movie. Would not see again. Totally not supercult worthy. Let’s try again, shall we?

This movie….

I mean seriously…

THIS MOVIE…

The Intruder is a 1986 Indonesian revenge film inspired by the first Rambo film, First Blood, about a man named Rambu, a lone vigilante who goes after the mob that killed his wife. The End. That’s the movie. Five stars. Best movie. Instant Supercult classic.

Did you know you can do the same thing for actors and their credentials?

Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor born in California in 1974 who got his start in TV series like Roseanne, and Growing Pains, got his cinematic debut on low budget horror films like Critters 3 before graduating to teenage heartthrob with Romeo + Juliet and Titanic, propelling him into leading man status for films like Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York, The Departed, Shutter Island, Inception, Django unchained, The Great Gatsby, and The Wolf of Wallstreet to name just a few of his diverse career of 55 acting credits for which he has earned a combined 100 award wins and over 200 nominations. *GASP*

Holy smokes…What a horrible actor. Can’t even keep it under 100 words? What is this amateur hour? Supercult Saint? I think not. Throw this guy to the curb.

Now for a real actor.

Peter O’Brian is a New Zealand window-cleaner who was mistaken for Sylvester Stallone in Jakarta and then starred in a total of 8 over the top Indonesian 1980s and 90s action films, including Supercult Classics The Stabilizer, American Hunter, and Rambu, before completely disappearing off the face of the Earth.

Look, resumes are supposed to be short and sweet. Elevator pitches? Short. And. Sweet. You gotta leave the interviewer wanting to know more. This Peter O’Brian guy? I have no flipping clue who he is. But damnit if I’m not dying to see every single one of those movies he starred in.

There’s not much to Rambu, Supercultists, but that’s how you know it’s worth watching.

Supercult West is proud to present, The Intruder!

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  The Intruder Hello Supercult West! This is Supercult South Bad Movie Professor Cameron Coker (BS in “Peter O’Brian” with a minor in “Elevator Pitches”) and I’m reaching out to you from across the country to help hype The Intruder, aka Pembalasan Rambu!