Favorite Films 2006

Pan's Labyrinth
The Best of Youth
Cache
The New World
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
Inland Empire
The Queen
Climates
Colossal Youth
Borat
Fateless
Army of Shadows
L'Enfant
Syndromes and a Century
Grizzly Man
The Last King of Scotland

Favorite Albums 2006

First Tier
Burial - Burial (Album of the Year)
David Thomas Broughton - Complete Guide to Insufficiency/Anchovies EP
Numero Group - Complete Catalog 2006
Skream - Skream!
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Professor Murder - Rides the Subway EP
Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
Comets on Fire - Avatar
Various Productions - The World is Gone
Zombie Nation - Black Toys
Mission of Burma - Obliterati
Kode 9 & Space Ape - Memories of the Future
Trentemoller - The Last Resort
Scott Walker - The Drift
Nathan Fake - Drowning in a Sea of Love
OOIOO - Taiga
Herbert - Scale
Justice - Waters of Nazareth
Matmos - The Rose has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast
DJ Drama & Lil Wayne: Dedication 2
Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury

Second Tier
Schneider TM - Skoda Mluvit
The Knife - Silent Shout
Danielson - Ships
Ghostface - Fishscale
Wolf Eyes - Human Animal
The Drones - Gala Mill
Mastadon - Blood Mountain
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Junior Boys - So this is Goodbye
Girl Talk - Night Ripper
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
J Dilla - Donuts
Panacea - Ink is My Drink
PlanningtoRock - Have it All
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Brakes - Beatific Vision
Zero dB - Bongos, Beats and Basslines
Spankrock - YoYoYoYoYo

Top Ten

Just in case you were wondering:

10. Jackson - Smash
9. Quasimoto - TFAOLQ
8. Okkervil River - BSB
7.. Wolf Parade - AQM
6. The Drones - WLBTR&TBOYEWFB
5. Antony & The Johnsons - IABN
4. Broadcast - TB
3. Devendra Banhart - CC
2. Sleater-Kinney - TW
1. Deerhoof - TR4

It just keeps changing...

Kings and Queen

I just saw the best movie of the year--Desplechin's Kings and Queen. The film is comparable to the work of Almodovar, albeit with less signature mise-en-scene and more scope. Also, Desplechin is more empathetic of male love than Almodovar, a trait I find not as immediately agreeable, though its long term effects are starting to take hold in me. In fact, the "Queen" (wonderfully played by Devos) is hardly flawless, but her namesake suggests (and we sense) a tender, sublimating approach to the grief that surrounds her, even if it is ultimately her fault. Don't look for outright synedoche in Desplechin's characters--each is full, visceral, and irritatingly complex. The result is something more real than what you're used to, so don't be surprised if you are somewhat frustrated. It's not everyday that a director can give you what you came to escape, and it is exactly that sort of precision that separates cinema from stage drama.

My favorite scene is in the Museum with Ismael and Elias. It's the sort of one-sided revelation-giving that I wish I'd been blessed with as a child. I think Truffaut would have been happy to see this film--the Adult counter-factual to 400 Blows.

Christmas List

What I want for Christmas:

BookForum (Subscription)
Kings and Queen (DVD)
2046 (DVD)
Funny Ha Ha (DVD)
External Hard Drive
A new stomach
The Complete Faulkner
Made Gifts from my friends

It's Spooky.

So, I told myself I wasn't going to blog. I have, obviously, and I already feel guilty. You, the reader, will be privy to a lot of guilt here. Take that as a disclaimer. Take it as an invitation for near-sexual intimacy.

This blog will be a training ground for our writing, not a whirling apparatus for self-validation. My only prescription here is honesty. That goes for my posts and your responses. Of course, you won't be honest with me. (Nor will I to you.) Instead, we'll be honest with ourselves, and all will be the better.

A couple of notes: (1) When I use evaluative descriptions, I am simply explaining how I feel about something. In other words, let's work on dissolving that fact/value binary. We don't get or understand an artwork, we read into or engage. An understanding of this idea quickly does away with snobbery and hurt feelings, and opens up debate by clarifying the purposes we ascribe to art. (2) I love you.