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dustedmagazine · 2 months

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Listening Post: Kim Gordon

Kim Gordon has long been one of rock’s female icons, one of a tiny handful of women to get much play in Michael Azzerad’s underground-defining Our Band Could Be Your Life and a mainstay in the noise-rock monolith Sonic Youth. It’s hard to imagine that quintessential dude rock band without Gordon in front, dwarfed by her bass or spitting tranced out, pissed off verses over the storm of feedback.

Yet Gordon’s trajectory has been, if anything, even more fascinating since Sonic Youth’s demise in 2011. A visual artist first — she studied art at the Otis College of Art and Design before joining the band — she continues to paint and sculpt and create. She’s had solo art shows at established galleries in London and New York, most recently at the 303 Gallery in New York City. A veteran of indie films including Gus van Zant’s Last Days and Todd Haynes I’m Not There, she has also continued to act sporadically, appearing in the HBO series Girls and on an episode of Portlandia. Her memoir, Girl in a Band, came out in 2015.

But Gordon has remained surprisingly entrenched in indie music over the last decade. Many critics, including a few at Dusted, consider her Body Head, collaboration with Bill Nace the best of the post-Sonic Youth musical projects. The ensemble has now produced two EPs and three full-lengths. Gordon has also released two solo albums, which push her iconic voice into noisier, more hip hop influenced directions. We’re centering this listening post around The Collective, Gordon’s second and more recent solo effort, which comes out on Matador on March 8th, but we’ll likely also be talking about her other projects as well.

Intro by Jennifer Kelly

Jennifer Kelly: I missed No Home in 2019, so I was somewhat surprised by The Collective’s abrasive, beat-driven sound though I guess you could make connections to Sonic Youth’s Cypress Hill collaboration?

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The more I listen to it, though, the more it makes sense to me. I’ve always liked the way Gordon plays with gender stereotypes, and “I’m a Man” certainly follows that trajectory. What are you guys hearing in The Collective?

Jonathan Shaw: I have only listened through the entire record once, but I am also struck by its intensities. Sort of silly to be surprised by that, given so many of the places she has taken us in the past: noisy, dangerous, dark. But there's an undercurrent of violence to these sounds that couples onto the more confrontational invocations and dramatizations of sex. It's a strong set of gestures. I like the record quite a bit.

Bill Meyer: I'm one of those who hold Body/Head to be the best effort of the post-Sonic Youth projects, but I'll also say that it's very much a band that creates a context for Gordon to do something great, not a solo effort. I was not so taken with No Home, which I played halfway through once upon its release and did not return to until we agreed to have this discussion. I've played both albums through once now, and my first impression is that No Home feels scattered in a classic post-band-breakup project fashion — “let's do a bit of this and that and see what sticks.” The Collective feels much more cohesive sonically, in a purposeful, “I'm going to do THIS” kind of way.

Jonathan Shaw: RE Jennifer's comment about “I'm a Man”: Agreed. The sonics are very noise-adjacent, reminding me of what the Body has been up to lately, or deeper underground acts like 8 Hour Animal or Kontravoid's less dancy stuff. Those acts skew masculine (though the Body has taken pains recently to problematize the semiotics of those photos of them with lots of guns and big dogs...). Gordon's voice and lyrics make things so much more explicit without ever tipping over into the didactic. And somehow her energy is in tune with the abrasive textures of the music, but still activates an ironic distance from it. In the next song, “Trophies,” I love it when she asks, “Will you go bowling with me?” The sexed-up antics that follow are simultaneously compelling and sort of funny. Rarely has bowling felt so eroticized.

Jennifer Kelly: I got interested in the beats and did a YouTube dive on some of the other music that Justin Raisen has been involved with. He's in an interesting place, working for hip hop artists (Lil Yachty, Drake), pop stars (Charli XCX) and punk or at least punk adjacent artists (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Viagra Boys), but nothing I've found is as raw and walloping as these cuts.

“The Candy House” is apparently inspired by Jennifer Egan's The Candy House, which is about a technology that enables people to share memories... Gordon is pretty interested in phones and communications tech and how that's changing art and human interaction.

Andrew Forell: My immediate reaction to the beats was oh, The Bug and JK Flesh, in particular the MachineEPs by the former and Sewer Bait by the latter. Unsurprisingly, as Jonathan says, she sounds right at home within that kind of dirty noise but is never subsumed by it

Jennifer Kelly: I don't have a deep reference pool in electronics, but it reminded me of Shackleton and some of the first wave dub steppers. Also, a certain kind of late 1990s/early aughts underground hip hop like Cannibal Ox and Dalek.

Bryon Hayes: Yeah, I hear some Dalek in there, too. Also, the first Death Grips mixtape, Ex-Military.

It's funny, I saw the track title “I'm a Man,” and my mind immediately went to Bo Diddley for some reason, I should have known that Kim would flip the script, and do it in such a humorous way. I love how she sends up both the macho country-lovin’ bros and the sensitive metrosexual guys. It's brilliant!

This has me thinking about “Kool Thing”, and how Chuck D acts as the ‘hype man’ to Kim Gordon in that song. I'm pretty sure that was unusual for hip hop at the time. Kim's got a long history of messing with gender stereotypes.

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Bill Meyer: Gordon did a couple videos for this record, and she starred her daughter Coco in both of them. The one for “I'm A Man” teases out elements of gender fluidity, how that might be expressed through clothing, and different kinds of watching. I found the video for “Bye Bye” more interesting. All the merchandise that's listed in the video turns out to be a survival kit, one that I imagine that Gordon would know that she has to have to get by. The protagonist of the video doesn't know that, and their unspoken moment in a car before Coco runs again was poignant in a way that I don't associate with her work. And of messing with hip hop!

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Tim Clarke: “Bye Bye” feels like a companion to The Fall’s “Dr Buck’s Letter.”

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Bill Meyer: From The Unutterable? I'll have to a-b them.

Tim Clarke: That’s the one.

Jonathan Shaw: All of these comments make me think of the record’s title, and the repeated line in “The Candy House”: “I want to join the collective.” Which one? The phone on the record’s cover nods toward our various digital collectives — spaces for communication and expression, and spaces for commerce, all of which seem to be harder and harder to tell apart. A candy house, indeed. Why is it pink? Does she have a feminine collective in mind? A feminine collective unconscious? The various voices and lyric modes on the record suggest that's a possibility. For certain women, and for certain men working hard to understand women, Gordon has been a key member of that collective for decades.

Jennifer Kelly: The title is also the title of a painting from her last show in New York.

The holes are cell phone sized.

You can read about the show here, but here's a representative quote: “The iPhone promises freedom, and control over communication,” she says. “It’s an outlet of self-expression, and an escape and a distraction from the bigger picture of what’s going on in the world. It’s also useful for making paintings.”

Gordon is a woman, and a woman over 70 at that — by any measure an underrepresented perspective in popular culture. However, I’d caution against reading The Collective solely as a feminist statement. “I'm a Man,” for instance, is told from the perspective of an incel male, an act of storytelling and empathy not propaganda. My sense is that Gordon is pretty sick of being asked, “What's it like to be a girl in a band?” (per “Sacred Trickster”) and would like, maybe, to be considered as an artist.

It's partly a generational thing. I'm a little younger than she is, but we both grew up in the patriarchy and mostly encountered gender as an external restriction.

As an aside, one of my proudest moments was when Lucas Jensen interviewed me about what it was like to be a freelance music writer, anonymously, and Robert Christgau wrote an elaborate critique of the piece that absolutely assumed I was a guy. If you're not on a date or getting married or booking reproductive care, whose business is it what gender you are?

There, that's a can of worms, isn't it?

Jonathan Shaw: Feminine isn't feminist. I haven't listened nearly closely enough to the record to hazard an opinion about that. More important, it seems to me the masculine must be in the feminine unconsciousness, and the other way around, too. Precisely because femininity has been used as a political weapon, it needs imagining in artistic spaces. Guess I also think those terms more discursively than otherwise: there are male authors who have demonstrated enormous facility with representing femininity. James, Joyce, Kleist, and so on. Gordon has always spoken and sung in ways that transcend a second-wave sort of feminine essence. “Shaking Hell,” “PCH,” the way she sings “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”

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Jennifer Kelly: Sure, she has always been shape-shifter artistically.

The lyrics are super interesting, but almost obliterated by noise. I’m seeing a connection to our hyperconnected digital society where everything is said but it’s hard to listen and focus.

Bill Meyer: Concrete guy that I am, I’ve found myself wishing I had a lyric sheet even though her voice is typically the loudest instrument in the mix.

Andrew Forell: Yes, that sense of being subsumed in the white noise of (dis)information and opinion feels like the utopian ideal of democratizing access has become a cause and conduit of alienation in which the notion of authentic voices has been rendered moot. It feels integral to the album as a metaphor

Christian Carey: How much of the blurring of vocals (good lyrics — mind you) might involve Kim’s personal biography, I wonder? From her memoirs, we know how much she wished for a deflection of a number of things, most having to do with Thurston and the disbandment of SY.

Thurston was interviewed recently and said that he felt SY would regroup and be able to be professional about things. He remarked that it better be soon: SY at eighty wouldn’t be a good look!

Andrew Forell: And therein lies something essential about why that could never happen

Ian Mathers: I know I’m far in the minority here (and elsewhere) because I’ve just never found Sonic Youth that compelling, despite several attempts over the years to give them another chance. And for specifically finding Thurston Moore to be an annoying vocal presence (long before I knew anything about his personal life, for what it's worth). So, I’m in no hurry to see them reunite, although I do think it would be both funny and good if everyone except Moore got back together.

Having not kept up with Gordon much post-SY beyond reading and enjoying her book, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this record. After a couple of listens, I’m almost surprised how much I like it. Even though I’m lukewarm on SY’s music, she’s always been a commanding vocal presence and lyricist and that hasn’t changed here (I can echo all the praise for “I’m a Man,” and also “I was supposed to save you/but you got a job” is so bathetically funny) and I like the noisier, thornier backing she has here. I also think the parts where the record gets a bit more sparse (“Shelf Warmer”) or diffuse (“Psychic Orgasm”) still work. I've enjoyed seeing all the comparisons here, none of which I thought of myself and all of which makes sense to me. But the record that popped into my head as I listened was Dead Rider’s Chills on Glass. Similar beat focus, “thick”/distorted/noisy/smeared production, declamatory vocals. I like that record a lot, so it's not too surprising I'm digging this one.

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Jennifer Kelly: I loved Sonic Youth but have zero appetite for the kind of nostalgia trip, just the hits reunion tour that getting back together would entail.

Jonathan Shaw: Yeah, no thanks to that.

RE Christian's comment: Not sure I see deflection so much as the impossibility of integration. We are all many, many selves, always have been. Digital communications interfaces and social media have just lifted it to another level of experience. Gordon sez, “I don't miss my mind.” Not so much a question of missing it in the emotional/longing sense, more so acknowledging that phrases like “my mind” have always been meaningless. Now we partition experience and identity into all of these different places, and we sign those pieces of ourselves over, to Zuck and the algorithms. We know it. We do it anyways, because it's the candy house, full of sweets and pleasures that aren't so good for us, but are really hard to resist. “Come on, sweets, take my hand...”

Bill Meyer: I would not mind hearing all of those SY songs I like again, can’t lie, although I don’t think that I’d spend Love Earth Tour prices to hear them. But given the water that has passed under the bridge personally, and the length of time since anyone in the band has collaborated creatively (as opposed to managing the ongoing business of Sonic Youth, which seems to be going pretty well), a SY reunion could only be a professionally presented piece of entertainment made by people who have agreed to put aside their personal differences and pause their artistic advancement in order to make some coin. There may be good reasons to prioritize finances. Maybe Thurston and/or Kim wants to make sure that they don’t show up on Coco’s front door, demanding to move their record or art collection into her basement, in their dotage. And Lee’s a man in his late 60s with progeny who are of an age to likely have substantial student loan debt. But The Community is just the kind of thing they’d have to pause. It feels like the work of someone who is still curious, questioning, commenting. It's not just trying to do the right commercial thing.

Justin Cober-Lake: I’m finding this one to be a sort of statement album. I’d stop short of calling it a concept album, but there seems to be a thematic center. I think a key element of the album is the way that it looks for... if not signal and noise, at least a sense of order and comprehensibility in a chaotic world. Gordon isn’t even passing judgment on the world — phones are bad, phones are good, phones make art, etc. But there’s a sense that our world is increasingly brutal, and we hear that not just in the guitars, but in the beats, and the production. “BYE BYE” really introduces the concept. Gordon’s leaving (and we can imagine this is autobiographical), but she’s organizing everything she needs for a new life. “Cigarettes for Keller” is a heartbreaking line, but she moves on, everything that makes up a life neatly ordered next to each other, iBook and medications in the same line. It reminds me of a Hemingway character locking into the moment to find some semblance of control in the chaos.

Getting back to gender, there’s a funny line at the end: one of the last things she packs is a vibrator. I'm not sure if we're to read this as a joke, a comment on the necessity of sexuality in a life full of transitory moments, as a foreshadowing of the concepts we’ve discussed, or something else. The next item (if it’s something different) is a teaser, which could be a hair care product or something sexual (playing off — or with — the vibrator). Everything's called into question: the seriousness of the track, the gender/sexuality ideas, what really matters in life. Modern gadgets, life-sustaining medicines, and sex toys all get equal rank. That tension really adds force to the song.

Coming out of “BYE BYE,” it's easy to see a disordered world that sounds extremely noisy, but still has elements we can comprehend within the noise. I don’t want to read the album reductively and I don't think it's all about this idea, but it's something that, early on in my listening, I find to be a compelling aspect of it.

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#dusted magazine #listeningpost #kim gordon #the collective #jennifer kelly #jonathan shaw #bill meyer #andrew forell #bryon hayes #tim clarke #christian carey #ian mathers #justin cober-lake

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whileiamdying · 2 years

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Seven Black Performers Who Changed The World Of Burlesque

SARA COUGHLIN FEBRUARY 21, 2017, 10:30 AM

Josephine Baker

PHOTO: GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES.

At the height of their popularity in the early and mid-20th century, burlesque halls were overwhelmingly segregated spaces. Although women of color performed as shake dancers in nightclubs, they rarely shared the stage with white dancers. It was up to them to make a name for themselves in an industry in which their identities were easily obscured, exoticized, and even forgotten.

Here, we're celebrating some of the Black women who broke into the world of mainstream burlesque, and in turn forged pathways for future generations of Black performers and challenged standards of beauty.

Some of these women, Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker among them, enjoyed illustrious careers and maintain their fame today. Then there are others, like Lady Ernestine, who are known only for their stage names and little else. What all of these women have in common is the drive to prove their talent to a society that expected little of them. They changed what it meant to be a sex symbol, proudly owning their Blackness and their bodies in a way that the American public certainly didn't see every day.

Click through to get to know some of the most prominent Black burlesque performers.

Jean Idelle

A true trailblazer, Idelle was the first Black woman to perform alongside white women and is credited with breaking the color barrier in burlesque. She performed throughout the 1950s in the U.S. and Canada, often with her signature ostrich feather dance.

Although she retired in 1960, Idelle performed for the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2012, at the age of 82 — and naturally stole the show.

PHOTO: JET MAGAZINE.

Although she retired in 1960, Idelle performed for the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2012, at the age of 82 — and naturally stole the show.

Toni Elling

PHOTO: BRIAN CAHN/ZUMAPRESS

Born Rosita Sims, Elling began her burlesque career in 1960, when she was 32. Though she was considered a little old for a dancer-cum-stripper, Elling's sheer talent proved her doubters wrong. She took her act around the country and even overseas (as far as Japan).

Although Elling retired from performing in 1974, she has continued to work as a teacher and role model for younger generations of dancers. To this day, her overriding message is to keep burlesque artful — not overt.

Lady Ernestine

PHOTO: JET MAGAZINE.

Lady Ernestine, also known as The Exotic Queen, was a prominent performer in the '50s and '60s, but unfortunately, little else is known about her today.

Marie Bryant

PHOTO: WATFORD/MIRRORPIX/GETTY IMAGES.

Bryant made her debut as a jazz club dancer when she was 15 in 1934. Only a year later, she had made a reputation for herself as an actor, singer, and dancer — a total triple threat. Bryant's career took off in several directions at once, as she performed around the country, recorded songs, and even broke into the film industry.

Although Bryant appeared in front of the camera several times, she made history as one of the first Black people to work on the technical side of a film. It was behind the scenes of a Gene Kelly picture that she started working as a dance instructor and choreographer.

Bryant continued to work with high-profile students, including Cyd Charisse, Ava Gardner, and Lucille Ball, and even opened her own studio before her death in 1978.

Eartha Kitt

PHOTO: MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES.

Before Kitt was known for "Santa Baby" or for her role as Catwoman, she lived in poverty and faced discrimination for her mixed-race heritage. Kitt joined the Katherine Dunham Dance Company, the first ever African American modern dance company, when she was a teenager. She toured with the company as a featured singer and dancer until she was offered the chance to perform solo in European nightclubs.

She soon returned to the States and took Broadway by storm. Her performances stood out from the rest, thanks to her knowing sex appeal — one critic wrote that she "can make a song burst into flame."

Ada Overton

PHOTO: DONALDSON COLLECTION/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES.

Overton rose to fame in the early 1900s, making a name for herself as a gifted performer who made dances like the cakewalk and buck-and-wing her own. As a dancer, she was said to be as strong as she was graceful, flaunting her modern interpretations of indigenous African dances onstage for royalty and the white elite.

As Overton's career blossomed, she changed her first name to Aida, in honor of the Haitian spirit of fertility, and viewed her work as social activism for Black women and actresses. Overton performed until her death in 1914, at the age of 34. She's remembered as one of the first African American women to find success as a performer and she served as a role model for future generations of Black entertainers.

#Ada Overton #Eartha Kitt #Marie Bryant #Toni Elling #Lady Ernestine #Jean Idelle #Josephine Baker #Performers #Burlesque #Sara Coughlin #Refinery29

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sunwarmed-ash · 3 months

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🔥Sinful Sunday🔥

How's your summer? (re-edited)

So this one is old to me but might be new to y'all! I gave it a refluff!

(I had my IUD procedure this week and I'm just too tired. But here's a 9k story)

Fandom: The Office-US Ship: Ryan Howard/Jim Halpert Rating:🔞 Explicit 🔞 Tags: sex dreams, The Weight Loss: Part 2-Altered Canon, bottom Ryan, slut Ryan, top Jim, rough sex, choking, bisexual Ryan, bicurious Jim, public sex, blow jobs, club sex Preview:

"You gonna cum for me slut?" Ryan nods weakly, his head falling back and off the desk as he surrenders and lets Jim use his body. That was enough to send Jim over the edge, he snaps his hips roughly until he's filling Ryan’s ass with a groan. “M-More,” Ryan begs when he can finally get his mouth to make the words. Jim raises a sweat-drenched eyebrow. More? They had been fucking for well over an hour. Even he was starting to get sore. “You sure? Aren't you-” “Fuck me Jim, or I’ll find someone else. It’s not like there’s any shortage of people here.” And that statement has Jim’s head whipping up, catching eyes with Michael Scott, who A. Wasn't there a second ago... B. Was very much naked, and C. Was looking far too eager for his turn with Ryan... What in the- “Stop hogging Ryan, Jim!” The high-pitched whine of Kelly Kapoor's voice came from the same direction. Jim's mouth drys. When did she get- "Yeah, Jim.” Jim's eyes blow wide but refuse to look back in the direction of the indigent tone. He’d know it anywhere, and he’s already had the misfortune of seeing Michael naked, there was no WAY in Hell he was turning to see what Dwight- Jim jerks awake with a startled gasp, blinking away the remnants of the dream faster than his subconscious wanted, and realizing thankfully, (unfortunately?), it was just a dream. He may have still been at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, but he was clothed, and not fucking one temp/boss/ex-boss/fraud/receptionist Ryan Howard over his girlfriend’s desk. God, there was so much to unpack in that one thought it was enough to make him want to pass back out on his desk. A quiet chuckle to his right has him straightening up suddenly. It probably has something to do with the person it belongs to. “Day hasn’t even started yet and you’re already asleep at your desk?” Ryan tisks, “Not very professional Halpert.” He sets down a purple Support Local Arts mug on the reception counter, Pam’s mug, before turning on the overhead lights. Jim winces at the harshness of the fluorescent bulbs before glaring harshly at Ryan. “You do remember you’re not my boss anymore right? Makes your opinion kinda obsolete, Fire-d guy.” The nickname is lame, admittedly, but he knows how it gets under Ryan’s skin. Something dangerous flashes in Ryan’s eyes, his smile turns coy. “Ouch, not really a morning person, are ya Jim? I bet Pam likes it though, right?” Jim’s neck flushes pink and his dick twitches traitorously in his pants. He clenches his fist until his nails bite into his hand. It's 6:32 am. Jim has been here since 5. Ryan has been here exactly two minutes and he’s already exceeded Jim’s tolerance for bullshit. Jim lets his clenched hand fall against the desk with a slap before standing abruptly. Ryan sits in response. Jim’s eyebrows raise curiously. It was too early to try and unpack what that was, and he really needs to get his thoughts off his dream if he had a prayer of surviving work today. He swallows down the final dregs of his coffee just for an excuse to leave the room.

#sinful sunday #jim/ryan #the office #jim x ryan #jim halpert #ryan howard #the office us #ryan x jim #jim halpert x ryan howard #ryan howard x jim halpert #find me on ao3 #sunwarmed ash #buy me a coffee?#links in pinned #i post new stuff every sunday #reblogs are free ways to support me!

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skullsemi · 2 years

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Swabbies (1989)

One of the many un-released Disney animated featurette that never got completed. Swabbies (also called "Production 2532"), was going to be released in 1989.

Before the short The Prince and the Pauper (1990) was released, Disney was producing a Mickey, Donald and Goofy short called Swabbies, following the style of the live-action film Stripes (a classic Bill Murray/Harold Ramis comedy, by Columbia Pictures, 1981).

Swabbies was the second in what was supposed to be a number of half hour projects to get the classic Disney characters definitely back in the spotlight, the first one being Sport Goofy in Soccermania, released in 1987.

The Plot of Swabbies

The story found our heroes, Mickey, Donald and Goofy out of work, out of luck and in need of a job. They end up enlisting in the Navy and going to boot camp with Pete as their exasperated drill instructor and then meet their feminine counterparts, Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle who are all WAVEs (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). Once they put to sea, they encounter a submarine full of the Beagle Boys, who all spoke a Russian sounding gibberish (they were still in the Cold War in those days). Mickey and friends coming out on top in the end.

The entire film was storyboarded, recorded and even an animatic was created. Complete model sheets of all the characters were printed up and layout as well as some animation had begun before it came to an abrupt halt.

It was to be produced by Tad Stones and directed by Darrel Van Citters. Some more talent involved was Ed Gombert, Joe Ranft and Michael Giaimo on story, Kelly Asbury and Fred Cline in layout, Chris Buck, Toby Shelton and Ed Gombert on animation, model sheets by Chris Buck and Mike Gabriel.

References:

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Swabbies

https://web.archive.org/web/20111205112854/http://animationarchive.net/Deleted%20Movies/Swabbies/

See more of the original art on here.

I also traced the original model sheets and painted them to be easier to visualize, you can see it here.

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sadrockandwaltzes · 3 months

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Film Class Rankings

Finally, after 4.5 months of my film class, it is over and the rankings are out! (Long list ahead)

First, my class's ranking:

Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Joseph Kosinski

Inception (2010), Christopher Nolan

Jurassic Park (1993), Steven Spielberg

Black Panther (2018), Ryan Coogler

Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg

The Killing (1956), Stanley Kubrick

The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed

Arrival (2016), Denis Villeneuve

Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock

High Noon (1952), Fred Zinnemann

All The President's Men (1976), Alan J. Pakula

Vertigo (1958), Alfred Hitchcock

Casablanca (1942), Michael Curtiz

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Stanley Kubrick

Maltese Falcon (1941), John Huston

Citizen Kane (1941), Orson Welles

I personally did not care for the majority of their placements... after some deliberation I decided to place the movies based on my own personal enjoyment of them rather than how good of films they were.

I sorted them into 3 categories:

Liked: Black Panther, 3rd Man, Arrival, Rear Window, All the President's Men

Eh: High Noon, Space Odyssey, Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, Top Gun, Vertigo, Jaws

No: Jurassic Park, inception, the killing, casablanca

And here was the final ranking:

Arrival (2016), Denis Villeneuve

All The President's Men (1976), Alan J. Pakula

Black Panther (2018), Ryan Coogler

Rear Window (1954), Alfred Hitchcock

The Third Man (1949), Carol Reed

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Stanley Kubrick

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) , Joseph Kosinski

High Noon (1952), Fred Zinnemann

Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg

Citizen Kane (1941), Orson Welles

Maltese Falcon (1941), John Huston

Vertigo (1958), Alfred Hitchcock

Inception (2010), Christopher Nolan

Casablanca (1942), Michael Curtiz

Jurassic Park (1993), Steven Spielberg

The Killing (1956), Stanley Kubrick

1-2 I was deciding between All the Prez and Arrival for the top spot, but even though I liked Prez's plot better, I think that Arrival was good in pretty much every category and had the best parts of Inception and Jurassic Park, with the cool shots of Vertigo. It's also the only one with a female mc? What's with that

3. Black panther's a good movie and has nice visuals, but I've already seen it before and it's the kind of movie I'd probably only want to watch once.

4. I liked the concept, and it was very colorful. Character wise it's not the greatest, but I still maintain that Rear Window with the characters of Saw would be the greatest thing ever... Also I liked Grace Kelly's outfits. She had some great (and a few less great) styles.

5. 3rd man. I think the score could've been better, but I liked the characters, plot, and setting. Also it's the only one on the list directed by a woman? How'd I not notice that. It's also one of the few with an interesting female main character so.. go figure.

6. Plot and character wise... I didn't really know what was going on at the end, and the other parts weren't super interesting. It was super beautiful though! I felt like I was watching an art piece or one of those no word heavy detailed picture books. Music not bad, and points for managing to look movie poster ready in the majority of scenes

7. Top gun was pretty good. I haven't seen the original, but it kind of made me think of those family spy movies or suicide squad, if they were members of the military and not utterly despised. I was wondering if Iceman had a thing for him, and then found out that people had been thinking similar things in the first movie too. So props for consistency. It's hard to make good sequels.

8. I don't care for Westerns, but I actually liked this alright. Also it's short. Space Odyssey was so long that everyone was snoozing at parts, but this one was just a drama about a guy and his lackluster relationships. Also ngl Gary Cooper in that movie kind of looked like the police chief from the Arcane series, so that made my day.

9. Not much for sharks or the ocean, but it wasn't bad. They got the obligatory team bonding and tragic backstories, random kids whose purpose is only to be cute/innocent and/or a martyr, the mysterious crazy old guy, and the good old state of Massachusetts. I probably like it more than I would Moby Dick if I ever got around to reading it. Would consider watching again.

10. Citizen Kane wasn't bad to look at, and plot was pretty straightforward. I guess it's sort of funny if not sad to hear all this guy's associates rag on him after death, but I thought it was interesting. The 2nd wife was my favorite character.

11. Best character was the secretary. Kind of sad how a lot of these movies are clearly written by people who don't like/understand women, but they still often end up being the best characters. Anyway the movie was pretty dull, but it really turned around in the last 20 or so minutes. Went from being 30 to 100. It also had one of the greatest movie endings I've seen, even outside of this class, that completely turned around my opinion of it.

12. I really wanted to like this movie. It had nice visuals, I liked his ex, and the plot seemed interesting. And then it turned scifi and weird, and then just went kind of gross and disturbing. And then it had this random goofy bit and the worst transition ever, to finally making sense and being interesting again. And then it had a terrible ending and I was not pleased. I give it points for a lot of things- great visual, interesting story, and it created some interesting special effects. The plot kept me guessing and I seriously had bo idea what was actually going on into the movie slapped me in the face with the answer.

13. I didn't like this movie. I like Elliot Page, but I didn't think the acting was that good (DiCaprio was ok, and Saito was fine). The plot was confusing, keeping track of characters was difficult, and I didn't really care about any of them (with the exception of Saito). I pretty much understood everything by the end (honestly, a lot of the dialogue I just couldn't hear because the teacher wouldn't put on subtitles, so that could be a factor). I also didn't know most of the characters' names throughout the movie so I had to give them nicknames.

14. Visuals were eh, the music was fine when they weren't playing that BLASTED SONG, and I hated the love interest. She has the perfect man who she wants to break the heart of and hurt the war effort, just so she can get with her ex that she didn't even know all that well? More than that, she brought out the worst in him. Love ought to make people better, or happier, or something. Hers just made him act scummy. I also don't know if he really just left his friend/employee? To run off into the sunset with a nazi? Speaking of bad endings, what was that? I'm all for gay subtext but what exactly were they going for. Plus Louis was the most interesting character to watch, and again, he's a nazi. I just found it a little odd. (I also liked Victor but they barely gave him any screentime. Did him super dirty)

15. I don't like dinosaurs. I really don't like people stranded in the jungle and eaten by dinosaurs either. It's a personal taste I guess. Characters were eh.

16. I actually was having trouble watching. I was bored for most of it, the characters didn't really interest me (the wife, Sheryl? Did a little), and it wasn't that interesting visually. I feel like it's a more boring black and white Pulp Fiction, another movie I didn't care for. No likeable characters. Anywhere. But I do have to give it credit for having an outright gay character instead of thinly veiled like some of the others.

At the end we were supposed to give suggestions for other films to watch in the class (I had to come back later and do it cause I misunderstood the directions 😅), so here were these in no particular order.

Missing (2023), Nicholas D. Johnson + Will Merrick

Pleasantville (1998), Gary Ross

Clue (1985), Jonathan Lynn

Kill Bill (either one, I've only seen the 2nd) (2003-2004), Quentin Tarantino

Enchanted (2007), Kevin Lima

I figured it'd be a good addition for a film class since it's mostly shown through screens (camera, phone, etc). It's not the first to do this, but it's probably the best.

Movie's eh, but I like the color and black&white mixing, and its importance to the plot

it has 3 endings, and is based on a board game. It's also a cult classic, which I think makes it historic/relevant enough to discuss

We didn't watch a single martial arts movie, and this one is a mix of a few different genres. It's bright and flashy, it's well loved, and I'm pretty sure we skipped over 2000s movies anyway.

Cartoon and animation. Also it's a good movie.

Good job getting to the end😅 These were just my opinions of the movies, so sorry if any offended you. I like discussions though, so feel free to comment or disagree with any of these.

#movies #movie list #movie review

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thekilda · 1 year

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Just a few days left to vote in the Audio Verse Awards! We have so many wonderful people up for awards, and everyone involved in every production has worked so hard! Please consider voting if you haven’t already!

Image 1: The background is a blue-washed photo of the island of Hirta. Text reads ‘audio verse award finalists.’ At the centre of the image is the St Kilda logo. The left column of text reads ‘Best cover art of a new production, Scott McCartney. Best writing of a new production, Naomi Clarke. Best environment and action sound design of a new production, Michael Ireland, Tracy Barnett.’ The right column of text reads ‘Best composition and musical direction of a new production, Shane Rutherfoord-Jones. Best vocal direction of a new production, Michael Ireland. Best new audio play production.’

Image 2: The background is a blue-washed photo of the island of Hirta. Text reads ‘audio verse award finalists, best guest performer in a new production.’ At the centre of the image is the St Kilda logo, and surrounding it are circular, black and white cast headshots and names underneath. From top to bottom, left to right, they are: Kirsty Woolven, Marguerite Kenner, Sasha Sienna, Sally Walker-Taylor, Andrew Gorman.

Image 3: The background is a blue-washed photo of the island of Hirta. Text reads ‘audio verse award finalists, best performer in a new production.’ At the centre of the image is the St Kilda logo, and surrounding it are circular, black and white cast headshots and names underneath. From top to bottom, left to right, they are: Alan Burgon, Meabh de Brun, Ben Meredith, Shogo Miyakita, Sam Yeow, Alasdair Stuart, Michelle Kelly, Marie Anello, Danilo Battistini, Amina Koroma, Erika Sanderson, Rhys Lawton, Sarah Golding, Axandre Oge, and Dean J Smith. End ID.

#the secret of st kilda #tsosk #audio verse awards #podcasting #audio drama

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mylifeincinema · 3 months

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My Best of 2023: My Top 10 Films!

Finally! It’s time for My Top 10 Films of 2023! 2023 was another weird year for me in terms of film. As usual, I had a few I championed, but, yet again, a lot of the big guns didn't land the way I'd expected or hoped. As a quick reminder - My Top 10 Films isn’t necessarily a list of the ‘best’, or ‘my favorite’, but rather a mix of the two that takes both sides of the A&E into as equal consideration as humanly possible. Definitely keep that in mind, especially the fact that how re-watchable each film is weighs in significantly. So, in terms of all that, this list nails my 2023.

First, here are some Honorable Mentions (in no real order), most of which spent at least a little time in the Top 10: Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest (which really deserves that 10 spot, but it's about as far from re-watchable as it gets); David Fincher's The Killer; Sofia Coppola's Priscilla; Kelly Fremon Craig's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.; and Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One. Any of these could easily claim that 10 spot on another day. As for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon? Sorry, y'all, but it barely cracked my Top 20. No matter how incredibly well-made it was, it was still a solid hour too long. And worst of all, it felt it!

Okay, without further ado, here they are…

My Top 10 Films of 2023!!

10. Danny & Michael Philippou's Talk to Me

Damn. This was fantastic. I’m still really pissed I missed it in cinemas. Such a super creepy, perfectly executed premise fueled by surprisingly good performances and genuinely terrifying moments, throughout. I especially love that it never heavily relies on jump-scares and just how brutal these spirits get. The desperation and hopelessness of the third act is just the cherry on top.

9. Greta Gerwig's Barbie

Hilarious. Bold. Heartwarming. And not at all subtle. Margot is perfection, which doesn’t always work in the film’s favor, but it knows and acknowledges that, and becomes more interesting by doing so. Gosling is hilarious and interesting and delivers one of the most absurdly audacious performances of the year. Gerwig’s vision, here, is dazzling not only in its use of practical effects, but also its brazen approach to the film’s message.

8. Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

Tom Cruise is out here doing the important work in a time when said important work is more essential than ever. This is a big-screen spectacle of an action film with exciting fights and chases and stunts that get more and more impressive, wild and outlandish throughout. As to be expected from the franchise, the cast all deliver rock-solid performances, and McQuarrie’s work behind the camera is every bit as good as Fallout, despite Fallout still probably being the better of the two films, overall. The plot, action, and editing here are all perfectly intense, working beautifully together to create a truly jaw-dropping piece of action cinema. Once again Cruise and friends prove decisively that popcorn flicks can be art, too, folks. Big, loud, crazy, fun art. So damn good.

7. James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3

Loved it. Every single moment is earned. The needle drops get better and better and build up to a joyous, cathartic, downright amazing moment at the end. James Gunn directs the hell out of his pitch-perfect script, allowing these characters to evolve in a manner as interesting as it is entertaining as it is organic. The Winter Soldier is still the best single film in the MCU, but this trilogy is its heart and soul. Finally… Cosmo is such a Good Dog.

6. Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

There’s good reason why Wes Anderson is one of my very favorite living directors. Asteroid City is a fine example of pretty much all of them. It’s visually stunning (How the f*ck did that production design not get nominated?!) , superbly acted, and written with as much quirky humor as it is raw emotion as it is perfectly balanced existentialism. I may still not quite be fully sold on the framing device, but all-in-all, this is a purely Andersonian oddity, and I loved every minute of it. Plus, I really want to be friends with that roadrunner.

5. Alexander Payne's The Holdovers

Genuinely hilarious and sneakily heartfelt. The tender moments play out so naturally that they pack an emotional wallop, then the brilliant Paul Giamatti or Da'Vine Joy Randolph lets out a perfectly delivered line that’ll absolutely floor you. And I just love the look of it, every single piece of this film looks and feels like it’s straight out of the ‘70s. So good. Probably my favorite Payne?

4. Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things

Despite being significantly overlong, Lanthimos' Poor Things is still just so damn good. I hate that Emma Stone’s odds are going down, as she delivers what will likely remain a favorite ‘til the end of the decade. Mark Ruffalo is also a blast, and is very much the upset I'm hoping for most come March 10. I honestly didn’t think he still had a performance like this in him. Dafoe is magnificently weird, and every time he graced the screen was a treat. Yorgos went off, here. This is probably his best work yet. It’s also one of the most visually interesting films of the year. I absolutely loved how this movie was shot. And it’s very easily better than the book. So, y’know, there’ that too.

3. Dos Santos, Powers & Thompson's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

A masterful amalgamation of animation styles, narrative ideas and next-level voice performances. As visually breathtaking as it is emotionally ambitious as it is structurally exciting and entertaining. This is the exact type of comic book movie that still has me excited for comic book movies.

2. Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Three More

I'm kinda cheating, here, as this is technically a collection four individually released short films, and not the originally planned anthology feature. But I don't care. These are all fantastic; masterclasses in adaptation, blocking, production design and acting, the lot of 'em. I want so badly for Wes Anderson to just adapt Dahl's entire bibliography. Head HERE for my full thoughts.

And The Best Film of 2023 is…

1. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

A truly staggering achievement. As ambitious and bold a biopic as we’ve gotten in a very long time. Nolan understands the mechanics of this man and his story in a way that's so philosophically nuanced, and directs scene-after-scene of characters discussing physics and politics in a that makes it edge-of-your-seat shit.

Thank you for reading!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

More of My Best of 2023...

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