For this list, I'm being a little lazy. No explanations, no descriptions, just a list with links. Oh, and when I do a top songs list, I only have artists represented once. Did I think "Summertime Clothes" from Animal Collective was a better song than, say, #21 or #24 on my list? Yeah, but if I did repeats, it'd be all The xx, Animal Collective and Fuck Buttons and that would be boring. So, now that you know the rules...
1. The xx - Crystalised
2. Animal Collective - My Girls
3. Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar/Olympians/Flight of the Feathered Serpent (pick one, because I couldn't)
4. The Raveonettes - Last Dance
5. The Big Pink - Velvet
6. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
7. Neko Case - People Got a Lotta Nerve
8. The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Tenure Itch
9. Phoenix - 1901
10. Empire of the Sun - Walking On a Dream
11. Passion Pit - Little Secrets
12. Wild Light - California On My Mind
13. Discovery - Can You Discover?
14. Miike Snow - Animal (Treasure Fingers Remix)
15. Camera Obscura - French Navy
16. Au Revoir Simone - Knight of Wands
17. Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc.
18. Julian Plenti - Games For Days
19. Thunderheist - Sweet 16
20. Fever Ray - Seven
21. Japandroids - Heart Sweats
22. Jack Peñate - Pull My Heart Away
23. Röyksopp - The Girl and the Robot
24. Bat For Lashes - Daniel
25. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (Filmed in SF! Hey, that's my friend, Nako, at the 4:00 mark! Whoa!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Top 10 Movies of 2009
Let me start by saying that I was just not with it this year when it came to movies. I saw maybe 1/3 of what I did in '08. Like an idiot, I was on vacation during the Chicago International Film Festival, which can never happen again. There were so many movies I missed, I considered doing a Top 5, but when I looked at my final 10, it wasn't like there were any stinkers on there, so I stayed with the regular number. I vow to come back strong in '10, or as the Colbert Report is saying in their Winter Olympics pieces, '010 (oh-ten). I'll get back to that point in '010 where I basically see everything that Ebert and/or Phillips gives 3.5 or 4 stars to, most of the "Critics' Choice" picks in The Reader, and the occasional recommendation from people I trust. It will happen. First up on the '010 list is "Crazy Heart." I'll let you know how it goes on Facebook, or something. Now, without any more excuses, my Top 10 movies of 2009.
1. Inglorious Basterds
When you pay to see a movie in the theaters twice, and don't do it with any other films in a given year, that's gotta be number one, right? I saw it here in Chicago, loved every minute of it, and decided that my dad needed to see the movie on a visit home to California. You see, if I TELL my dad to go see the movie, he won't do it. If I tell him to have my mom put it on their Netflix queue, he won't do it. The only way he'll see it is when it happens to be on TNT or Spike TV in six years, with commercials, with edited content, and I wasn't about to let that happen, so I saw it twice, just so my dad could have the experience of seeing Tarantino's best film since "Pulp Fiction." Christoph Waltz made the movie. Tarantino's character was an SD officer fluent in German, English, French and Italian, so what did he do? He went and got a brilliant actor (Waltz) fluent in German, English and French. Apparently, he learned the Italian for the few scenes that it was needed in, but still a pretty good find, right?! He won Best Actor at Cannes, and he should also win it at the Oscars. Or, Best Supporting Actor, maybe? I don't know which category he's going to be in, but when you tell people on countless occasions that he's worth the price of admission alone? He needs to win. Oh, and they managed to get Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" in there too. Can't go wrong with that.
2. Julia
When you mention to people that this is one of the best movies of '09, they automatically think of that Julia Child movie, and who can blame them? This movie was at Facets for one week, as far as I know, and that was it. Tilda Swinton plays an out of control alcoholic whose behavior you might find to be both appalling and depressing, and, for a scene or two, rivals Nic Cage's character in "Leaving Las Vegas" in terms of self-destructiveness. Is that even a word? Did I just make up a word? Well, what I'm saying is that she's so fucking sad and gross in this movie that you may resort to making up words to describe her antics. I'm not going to ruin this movie for you by giving up the plot or telling you ahead of time where it goes or what to expect, but I will say that if you want to see an actor that seems to be making movies because they're good movies, and doesn't seem to have any regard or care for how much money they're going to make (because this movie sure as hell didn't make the kind of money it could or should have), see Tilda Swinton in "Julia."
3. Food Inc.
OK, check this out. This is not at #3 because it was a well made film. It's a pretty standard documentary, actually. It's at #3 because of the subject. Holy crap. Yeah, we all know that McDonald's and Pizza Hut is awful food. Actually, it's not even right to use the word "food" when it comes to that stuff. But this goes so much further than a "Super Size Me," because it starts to get into how food is manufactured, where it comes from, and how the current system came to be. Why are cows fed corn when they've evolved to eat grass? Why the hell does corn need to be in what seems like everything? Who wants Type 2 Diabetes?! Anyone? What's up with high fructose corn syrup? When we eat more fruits and vegetables like the doc says to, is that even a good thing when the apples come from New Zealand? Let me put it to you this way. When the year began, I weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 215. I'm 185 now. I was always active and exercising every day, and I thought that would offset any garbage that I was eating. I was wrong. People have said to me that they don't want to see this movie or read up on the subject because they're afraid of what they might discover. One person said that they're a "food lover" and that seeing "Food Inc." would be a bad thing, but nothing could be further from the truth. Seeing this movie and learning more about the subject of what we eat and where it comes from can only strengthen and benefit your relationship with the food you eat. You'll eat better food that's better for you. Am I getting too preachy here? Oh, and just because it says "organic" on the label doesn't make it so, but that's another story.
4. Departures
It won Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars, which honored films from 2008, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until 2009, so it goes on my 2009 list. It takes a year for films to get here from Japan, I guess. What's up with touching dead people in Japan? Why are they so freaked out about it? The guy's just trying to earn a living, people! And if your wife is gonna be so dumb about stuff, then just let her walk.
5. Gran Torino
Walt Kowalski. Is that the perfect name for an old guy from Michigan who used to work for Ford and fought in Korea? What's not to like about an older guy taking a shy kid under his wing and teaching him to not be such a pussy? Walt throws down PBRs on his front porch all day, growls at the neighbors and anyone that messes with his lawn or property, has bad relationships with his own children, and appears so pissed off and angry that he's incapable of any compassion, especially when it comes to the Asian family next door to him, but guess what? He actually is a good guy. Of course he is. He's a damn good guy, actually. The kind of guy I'd like to have PBRs with. And if he could teach me to not be such a pussy, that would be cool too. He also has every tool you could ever need in his garage.
6. Milk
What an opening montage. Police raiding gay bars in the 50s and 60s? So depressing. Some of the bullshit that people have had to put up with over the years because of sexual orientation is something that can be hard to wrap your head around. It makes me think of all these ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage in the past few years. In California? Of all places? Really? Some say that if voters approve a ban of same-sex marriage, then it should simply not be allowed. The voters have spoken. What a bunch of bullshit. If you asked voters in Mississippi in 1964 to vote on integrating the schools, how would that have turned out? In my mind, this is exactly the same. A large number of people holding on to irrational fears and prejudices stemming partly from twisted interpretations of religious teachings, blah blah blah... Still a large number, yes. Obviously enough to pass a same-sex marriage ballot initiative in California, but that number isn't nearly as high as it would've been 30 years ago. It's only a matter of time before same-sex couples have all the rights that the "opposite marriage" people enjoy. Anyway, an important movie about an important figure. See it if you haven't already.
7. The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke! Dude, where ya been?! Was there ever a more perfect actor for a part than this? "Mickey, we want you to play an over-the-hill performer whose best days are behind him and who's a little shredded looking, physically. Can you do that?" Doye. I remember first reading about this film when Bill Simmons wrote about it. I couldn't wait to see it. Good night, too. My Morning Jacket @ The Chicago Theatre, then over to River East to see Randy "The Ram" Robinson fight nearly to his death in a hardcore match with ladders, barbed wire and a mothereffing staple gun?! You gotta be kidding me!
8. The Hurt Locker
There's been a lot of Oscar buzz with this film lately. Like, Best Picture buzz. Hey, if you like tension, this is all you. Have you ever heard in the past about how some soldiers in frontline combat situations just sort of consider themselves to already be dead and if they come out okay on the other end it's like some kind of bonus? That's definitely the way you'd need to approach the job of our protagonist, which just so happens to be the cheery pastime of dismantling improvised explosive devices in Iraq. This will give you a panic attack just watching it.
9. The Reader
What do you know? Another excellent movie based on a book that I never read! "No Country For Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Atonement," to name a few. Moral of the story? It can't hurt to read fiction once in a while. I vow to do more of this. Back to the film... One thing I thought of while watching "The Reader" was the situation that some of the German people were in when the Nazis were in power. I mean, what do you do? You can't speak out against them, right? And in some situations, they had to be the only ones offering employment, right? So you take a job, and because you're working for the Nazis, you're probably put in some situations that don't really jive with your beliefs and values, but again, you can't really speak out, so you try to keep from being killed by the Nazis for insubordination, which means that after the war some of the people that were screwed by the Nazis are gonna try to screw you. Not a very good few years for the Germans, huh?
10. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
A real life "This Is Spinal Tap" with tears.
1. Inglorious Basterds
When you pay to see a movie in the theaters twice, and don't do it with any other films in a given year, that's gotta be number one, right? I saw it here in Chicago, loved every minute of it, and decided that my dad needed to see the movie on a visit home to California. You see, if I TELL my dad to go see the movie, he won't do it. If I tell him to have my mom put it on their Netflix queue, he won't do it. The only way he'll see it is when it happens to be on TNT or Spike TV in six years, with commercials, with edited content, and I wasn't about to let that happen, so I saw it twice, just so my dad could have the experience of seeing Tarantino's best film since "Pulp Fiction." Christoph Waltz made the movie. Tarantino's character was an SD officer fluent in German, English, French and Italian, so what did he do? He went and got a brilliant actor (Waltz) fluent in German, English and French. Apparently, he learned the Italian for the few scenes that it was needed in, but still a pretty good find, right?! He won Best Actor at Cannes, and he should also win it at the Oscars. Or, Best Supporting Actor, maybe? I don't know which category he's going to be in, but when you tell people on countless occasions that he's worth the price of admission alone? He needs to win. Oh, and they managed to get Bowie's "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" in there too. Can't go wrong with that.
2. Julia
When you mention to people that this is one of the best movies of '09, they automatically think of that Julia Child movie, and who can blame them? This movie was at Facets for one week, as far as I know, and that was it. Tilda Swinton plays an out of control alcoholic whose behavior you might find to be both appalling and depressing, and, for a scene or two, rivals Nic Cage's character in "Leaving Las Vegas" in terms of self-destructiveness. Is that even a word? Did I just make up a word? Well, what I'm saying is that she's so fucking sad and gross in this movie that you may resort to making up words to describe her antics. I'm not going to ruin this movie for you by giving up the plot or telling you ahead of time where it goes or what to expect, but I will say that if you want to see an actor that seems to be making movies because they're good movies, and doesn't seem to have any regard or care for how much money they're going to make (because this movie sure as hell didn't make the kind of money it could or should have), see Tilda Swinton in "Julia."
3. Food Inc.
OK, check this out. This is not at #3 because it was a well made film. It's a pretty standard documentary, actually. It's at #3 because of the subject. Holy crap. Yeah, we all know that McDonald's and Pizza Hut is awful food. Actually, it's not even right to use the word "food" when it comes to that stuff. But this goes so much further than a "Super Size Me," because it starts to get into how food is manufactured, where it comes from, and how the current system came to be. Why are cows fed corn when they've evolved to eat grass? Why the hell does corn need to be in what seems like everything? Who wants Type 2 Diabetes?! Anyone? What's up with high fructose corn syrup? When we eat more fruits and vegetables like the doc says to, is that even a good thing when the apples come from New Zealand? Let me put it to you this way. When the year began, I weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 215. I'm 185 now. I was always active and exercising every day, and I thought that would offset any garbage that I was eating. I was wrong. People have said to me that they don't want to see this movie or read up on the subject because they're afraid of what they might discover. One person said that they're a "food lover" and that seeing "Food Inc." would be a bad thing, but nothing could be further from the truth. Seeing this movie and learning more about the subject of what we eat and where it comes from can only strengthen and benefit your relationship with the food you eat. You'll eat better food that's better for you. Am I getting too preachy here? Oh, and just because it says "organic" on the label doesn't make it so, but that's another story.
4. Departures
It won Best Foreign Language Film at the 2009 Oscars, which honored films from 2008, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until 2009, so it goes on my 2009 list. It takes a year for films to get here from Japan, I guess. What's up with touching dead people in Japan? Why are they so freaked out about it? The guy's just trying to earn a living, people! And if your wife is gonna be so dumb about stuff, then just let her walk.
5. Gran Torino
Walt Kowalski. Is that the perfect name for an old guy from Michigan who used to work for Ford and fought in Korea? What's not to like about an older guy taking a shy kid under his wing and teaching him to not be such a pussy? Walt throws down PBRs on his front porch all day, growls at the neighbors and anyone that messes with his lawn or property, has bad relationships with his own children, and appears so pissed off and angry that he's incapable of any compassion, especially when it comes to the Asian family next door to him, but guess what? He actually is a good guy. Of course he is. He's a damn good guy, actually. The kind of guy I'd like to have PBRs with. And if he could teach me to not be such a pussy, that would be cool too. He also has every tool you could ever need in his garage.
6. Milk
What an opening montage. Police raiding gay bars in the 50s and 60s? So depressing. Some of the bullshit that people have had to put up with over the years because of sexual orientation is something that can be hard to wrap your head around. It makes me think of all these ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage in the past few years. In California? Of all places? Really? Some say that if voters approve a ban of same-sex marriage, then it should simply not be allowed. The voters have spoken. What a bunch of bullshit. If you asked voters in Mississippi in 1964 to vote on integrating the schools, how would that have turned out? In my mind, this is exactly the same. A large number of people holding on to irrational fears and prejudices stemming partly from twisted interpretations of religious teachings, blah blah blah... Still a large number, yes. Obviously enough to pass a same-sex marriage ballot initiative in California, but that number isn't nearly as high as it would've been 30 years ago. It's only a matter of time before same-sex couples have all the rights that the "opposite marriage" people enjoy. Anyway, an important movie about an important figure. See it if you haven't already.
7. The Wrestler
Mickey Rourke! Dude, where ya been?! Was there ever a more perfect actor for a part than this? "Mickey, we want you to play an over-the-hill performer whose best days are behind him and who's a little shredded looking, physically. Can you do that?" Doye. I remember first reading about this film when Bill Simmons wrote about it. I couldn't wait to see it. Good night, too. My Morning Jacket @ The Chicago Theatre, then over to River East to see Randy "The Ram" Robinson fight nearly to his death in a hardcore match with ladders, barbed wire and a mothereffing staple gun?! You gotta be kidding me!
8. The Hurt Locker
There's been a lot of Oscar buzz with this film lately. Like, Best Picture buzz. Hey, if you like tension, this is all you. Have you ever heard in the past about how some soldiers in frontline combat situations just sort of consider themselves to already be dead and if they come out okay on the other end it's like some kind of bonus? That's definitely the way you'd need to approach the job of our protagonist, which just so happens to be the cheery pastime of dismantling improvised explosive devices in Iraq. This will give you a panic attack just watching it.
9. The Reader
What do you know? Another excellent movie based on a book that I never read! "No Country For Old Men," "There Will Be Blood," "Atonement," to name a few. Moral of the story? It can't hurt to read fiction once in a while. I vow to do more of this. Back to the film... One thing I thought of while watching "The Reader" was the situation that some of the German people were in when the Nazis were in power. I mean, what do you do? You can't speak out against them, right? And in some situations, they had to be the only ones offering employment, right? So you take a job, and because you're working for the Nazis, you're probably put in some situations that don't really jive with your beliefs and values, but again, you can't really speak out, so you try to keep from being killed by the Nazis for insubordination, which means that after the war some of the people that were screwed by the Nazis are gonna try to screw you. Not a very good few years for the Germans, huh?
10. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
A real life "This Is Spinal Tap" with tears.
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About Me
- Jason Thomas
- I play records at WXRT in Chicago. 93.1 on the FM dial. 93xrt.com as well.