Sometimes I'm in a department store or a restaurant or in my car, tuned to an obscure radio station, and a song will come on that I don't know (or I've forgotten about) and it'll strikes a chord with me. I'll pull out my phone, turn on my Soundhound app, then I'll completely forget about them later. Today I went back through my history and assembled all these songs to see if they fit together somehow. I think they do.
Here's my first grab bag:
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Sunday, April 2, 2017
My Favorite Movies Of 2016
Usually by April I've gotten around to seeing the bulk of every critic's year-end lists. This year I felt most of the lauded films were overrated, and films from earlier in the year were overlooked. These are my favorites in order:
1. 20th Century Women (perfect script, stirring performances, especially by Annette Bening)
2. Captain Fantastic (totally relevant to today's issues, and Viggo deserved the Oscar)
3. Green Room (where was Patrick Stewart's supporting nom?)
4. Little Men (criminally overlooked coming-of-age tale told with depth and sensitivity)
5. Don't Breathe (ridiculously intense)
6. Other People (Molly Shannon deserved an Oscar nomination)
7. Moonlight (moving and brave film, but an almost silent protagonist seemed awkward)
8. The Witch (amazingly realistic acting and vivid locations)
9. Bone Tomahawk (terrifying western with florid dialogue and sublime work by Kurt Russell)
10. Sing Street (another great coming-of-age tale set in the punk 80s)
11. Dr. Strange (surprisingly profound and eye-dazzling Marvel film)
12. Arrival (despite a somewhat trite ending, this film is alive with unique ideas)
13. Zootopia/Moana (both feature spectacular imagination and almost psychedelic palettes)
14. Deadpool (another brilliant Marvel film, and a memorable turn by Ryan Reynolds)
15. Nice Guys (way funnier and smarter than I expected, though not much character arc)
16. Ouija (surprised again by some great scares despite board game premise)
17. Pete's Dragon (I know at least 3 grown men, myself included, who cried during this)
18. Girl On The Train (can't believe Emily Blunt didn't get a nom for this lurid thriller)
19. Eye In The Sky (relevant premise about the ethics behind drone strikes vs civilian casualty)
20. Hail Caesar! (hands-down the best art direction I saw all year)
21. 10 Cloverfield Lane (creepy flick, and John Goodman deserved a supporting nom)
22. Under The Shadow (weird tale about Iraq war bombing and hungry evil spirits)
23. Edge Of Seventeen (absurdist teen girl rebel flick with hilarious dialogue)
24. La La Land (good-looking movie, nice songs, didn't deserve all the noms)
UPDATE: Having just seen Paterson by Jim Jarmusch, I'd say it's a tie with Little Men for #3. Such an inspiring and gentle film, it casts a type of spell, and left me more creative and hopeful than I've been in a long time.
The most overrated films of the year, in my opinion, were Manchester By The Sea (where everything was emotionally-detached, rendered in forced Boston accents, and the lead character muttered his way toward an anticlimactic non-ending), and Kubo & Two Strings (where the animation was unusually dark, and all comedy was sapped from the dialogue by some of the worst voice-over work I've heard in an animated film).
1. 20th Century Women (perfect script, stirring performances, especially by Annette Bening)
2. Captain Fantastic (totally relevant to today's issues, and Viggo deserved the Oscar)
3. Green Room (where was Patrick Stewart's supporting nom?)
4. Little Men (criminally overlooked coming-of-age tale told with depth and sensitivity)
5. Don't Breathe (ridiculously intense)
6. Other People (Molly Shannon deserved an Oscar nomination)
7. Moonlight (moving and brave film, but an almost silent protagonist seemed awkward)
8. The Witch (amazingly realistic acting and vivid locations)
9. Bone Tomahawk (terrifying western with florid dialogue and sublime work by Kurt Russell)
10. Sing Street (another great coming-of-age tale set in the punk 80s)
11. Dr. Strange (surprisingly profound and eye-dazzling Marvel film)
12. Arrival (despite a somewhat trite ending, this film is alive with unique ideas)
13. Zootopia/Moana (both feature spectacular imagination and almost psychedelic palettes)
14. Deadpool (another brilliant Marvel film, and a memorable turn by Ryan Reynolds)
15. Nice Guys (way funnier and smarter than I expected, though not much character arc)
16. Ouija (surprised again by some great scares despite board game premise)
17. Pete's Dragon (I know at least 3 grown men, myself included, who cried during this)
18. Girl On The Train (can't believe Emily Blunt didn't get a nom for this lurid thriller)
19. Eye In The Sky (relevant premise about the ethics behind drone strikes vs civilian casualty)
20. Hail Caesar! (hands-down the best art direction I saw all year)
21. 10 Cloverfield Lane (creepy flick, and John Goodman deserved a supporting nom)
22. Under The Shadow (weird tale about Iraq war bombing and hungry evil spirits)
23. Edge Of Seventeen (absurdist teen girl rebel flick with hilarious dialogue)
24. La La Land (good-looking movie, nice songs, didn't deserve all the noms)
UPDATE: Having just seen Paterson by Jim Jarmusch, I'd say it's a tie with Little Men for #3. Such an inspiring and gentle film, it casts a type of spell, and left me more creative and hopeful than I've been in a long time.
The most overrated films of the year, in my opinion, were Manchester By The Sea (where everything was emotionally-detached, rendered in forced Boston accents, and the lead character muttered his way toward an anticlimactic non-ending), and Kubo & Two Strings (where the animation was unusually dark, and all comedy was sapped from the dialogue by some of the worst voice-over work I've heard in an animated film).
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