January 2012
5 posts
24 tags
100 Favorite Songs: 100-91
It’s been about two years since I last made a list of my 100 favorite songs. I’m due for an update. I’ll be posting 10 songs a day, each with an embedded YouTube video. As usual, I limited myself to one song per artist. More importantly, I tried to pick songs that are actually my current favorites. I sometimes try too hard to make lists of my “ALL-TIME FAVORITES,” and...
Jan 27th
2 notes
6 tags
Looking at the 2012 Oscar Nominations →
Kayleigh and I both offered our predictions and personal favorites for the 2012 Academy Awards. Question is, how did we do? We break it down in the post linked above, category by category. See Also: 2012 Oscar Nominations Predictions, 2011 Academy Award Nominations, 2010 Academy Award Nominations
Jan 25th
14 tags
Predictions for Best Picture Nominations →
This year the number of nominees is a mystery, anywhere between 5 and 10 depending on the number of pics that receive the minimum threshold of votes. Below, I’ve listed my predictions for the five locks and ranked the remaining possibilities, in anticipation of there being 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 finalists. Check out the link for Kayleigh’s predictions, along with both of our...
Jan 20th
14 tags
2012 Oscar Nominations Predictions (Update) →
Kayleigh and I offer our predictions for 17 Oscar categories, including all four of the acting races. Below is a summary of our semi-educated guesses. Click the link for all of our picks. Best Picture still to come! 1. Hugo (10) 2. The Artist (8.5) 3. The Descendants (5) 3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (5) 5. The Help (4.5) 5. Moneyball (4.5) 7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part...
Jan 20th
1 note
27 tags
2012 Oscar Nominations Predictions →
With basically no good new movies coming out in January, Kayleigh and I are left with no choice but to talk about last year’s titles for awards season! The major guilds (e.g. producers, actors, directors, writers, etc.) have already announced their nominees, so everybody’s getting a better idea of the names that will be announced on January 24. Here, we make our semi-educated guesses and...
Jan 12th
December 2011
7 posts
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2007
1. Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Listen: “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” 2. Dinosaur Jr.- Beyond Listen: “Crumble” 3. Bon Iver- For Emma, Forever Ago Listen: “Flume” 4. Kanye West- Graduation Listen: “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” 5. Various Artists, I’m Not There Listen: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” by Antony and the...
Dec 31st
2 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Movies of 2011
I often wonder if I’ve seen enough movies to make a top 10 list at the end of the year. Even though I saw nearly 60 new releases in 2011, probably more than most people, I feel that my habit of largely seeing critical favorites results in an incredibly predictable list. But this is an honest reflection of what I saw and liked this year, and that means something (I think). And indeed, the fact that...
Dec 30th
5 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2006
1. The Hold Steady- Boys and Girls in America Listen: “Stuck Between Stations” [Non-Album Live Version] 2. Ghostface Killah- Fishscale Listen: “Shakey Dog” 3. Tom Waits- Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards Listen: “Missing My Son” 4. Belle and Sebastian- The Life Pursuit Listen: “Another Sunny Day” 5. Sonic Youth- Rather Ripped ...
Dec 29th
11 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2005
1. The Hold Steady- Separation Sunday Listen: “Your Little Hoodrat Friend” 2. Kanye West- Late Registration Listen: “Diamonds From Sierra Leone (Remix feat. Jay-Z)” 3. The White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan Listen: “Blue Orchid” 4. Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have It So Much Better Listen: “Do You Want To” 5. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois ...
Dec 10th
11 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2004
1. Arcade Fire- Funeral Listen: “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” 2. Kanye West- The College Dropout Listen: “Never Let Me Down” 3. The Trash Can Sinatras- Weightlifting Listen: “Leave Me Alone” 4. Iron & Wine- Our Endless Numbered Days Listen: “Naked As We Come” 5. Sufjan Stevens- Seven Swans Listen: “Abraham” 6. Nick...
Dec 10th
10 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2003
1. Jay-Z- The Black Album Listen: “December 4th” 2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever to Tell Listen: “Rich” 3. Radiohead- Hail to the Thief Listen: “There There” 4. The White Stripes- Elephant Listen: “The Hardest Button to Button” 5. Belle and Sebastian- Dear Catastrophe Waitress Listen: “I’m a Cuckoo” 6. Death Cab for...
Dec 6th
12 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2002
1. Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Listen: “Jesus, Etc.” 2. The Streets- Original Pirate Material Listen: “Stay Positive” 3. Eminem- The Eminem Show Listen: “White America” 4. The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Listen: “Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell” 5. Broken Social Scene- You Forgot It In People Listen: “KC...
Dec 3rd
13 notes
November 2011
4 posts
26 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2001
1. Bob Dylan- “Love and Theft” Listen: “Cry A While” 2. The Strokes- Is This It Listen: “Hard to Explain” 3. Jay-Z- The Blueprint Listen: “Renegade” 4. The White Stripes- White Blood Cells Listen: “Fell in Love with a Girl” 5. Daft Punk- Discovery Listen: “Something About Us” 6. System of a Down- Toxicity ...
Nov 28th
16 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 2000
1. Radiohead- Kid A Listen: “Idioteque” 2. Ryan Adams- Heartbreaker Listen: “Come Pick Me Up” 3. OutKast- Stankonia Listen: “B.O.B.” 4. The Avalanches- Since I Left You Listen: “Frontier Psychiatrist” 5. Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP Listen: “Kill You” 6. Ghostface Killah- Supreme Clientele Listen: “Apollo...
Nov 26th
11 notes
23 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1999
1. Tom Waits- Mule Variations Listen: “Big in Japan” 2. Wilco- Summerteeth Listen: “Can’t Stand It” 3. Eminem- The Slim Shady LP Listen: “Guilty Conscience” 4. Rage Against the Machine- The Battle of Los Angeles Listen: “Sleep Now in the Fire” 5. The White Stripes- The White Stripes Listen: “One More Cup of Coffee” ...
Nov 24th
12 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1998
1. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Listen: “Two-Headed Boy” 2. AIR- Moon Safari Listen: “Remember” 3. Black Star- Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star Listen: “Thieves in the Night” 4. Massive Attack- Mezzanine Listen: “Teardrop” 5. Lucinda Williams- Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Listen: “Metal...
Nov 3rd
17 notes
October 2011
11 posts
24 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1997
1. Radiohead- OK Computer Listen: “Let Down” 2. Spiritualized- Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space Listen: “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space” 3. Teenage Fanclub- Songs from Northern Britain Listen: “I Don’t Want Control of You” 4. Yo La Tengo- I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One Listen: “My Little Corner of the...
Oct 27th
20 notes
24 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1996
1. Weezer- Pinkerton Listen: “Tired of Sex” 2. Fugees- The Score Listen: “Ready or Not” 3. Jay-Z- Reasonable Doubt Listen: “Dead Presidents 2” 4. Beck- Odelay Listen: “Devil’s Haircut” 5. Belle and Sebastian- If You’re Feeling Sinister Listen: “Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying” 6. Rage Against the...
Oct 25th
23 notes
14 tags
Kids Can Kill Too →
“Oh yes, children often commit murders, and quite clever ones too,” explains Reggie Tasker, a writer with criminal insight in The Bad Seed. In horror films, kids are often the helpless victims of an evil villain, but there are also plenty of young boys and girls thirsty for blood. Whether the scares are frighteningly realistic or wildly supernatural, young murderers in the movies challenge us...
Oct 24th
12 tags
Robert Sheehan: No Longer an Irish “Misfit” →
With the subdued intensity of James Franco and the cocky swagger of a Euro-rock star, Robert Sheehan is bound for stardom. The young Irish lad is only 23 years old, but he has already demonstrated his tremendous range and addictive charisma.
Oct 21st
4 notes
10 tags
Unlimited Monthly Theater Passes: Good in Theory... →
Paying a subscription fee for an unlimited monthly pass to the movies sounds like a great idea at first. MoviePass promises to deliver the sort of satisfaction we had with Netflix for so many years. But quite frankly, the unlimited monthly pass just will not work.
Oct 13th
7 notes
9 tags
Nostalgia Goes Digital: Turning Back Time in the... →
Digital cinema and nostalgia go hand in hand in David Fincher films. The director has used these powerful tools to recreate the past, but nostalgia has historically refused to surrender in his work.
Oct 13th
12 notes
23 tags
Top 10 Movies of 1986
1. Blue Velvet (David Lynch) 2. Hannah and Her Sisters (Woody Allen) 3. The Fly (David Cronenberg) 4. Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Hayao Miyazaki) 5. Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch) 6. Aliens (James Cameron) 7. Platoon (Oliver Stone) 8. The Great Mouse Detective (Ron Clements, Burny Mattinson, David Michener and John Musker) 9. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (John Hughes) 10....
Oct 10th
8 notes
13 tags
Zombies at their Best →
With the tremendous success of The Walking Dead, zombies officially sank their teeth into pop culture. Like the AMC TV series, the best zombie movies have always balanced stomach-churning gore with insightful social commentary.
Oct 8th
14 tags
Paranoia Attack →
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” he probably didn’t realize that he’d written a potential tagline for every paranoia-driven movie to follow that speech. The fears of paranoid characters are constructed, either by themselves or others around them, but our best filmmakers allow us to see the world from these...
Oct 3rd
3 notes
8 tags
Subtitles Get Scary →
Remakes and sequels dominate the American horror movie market. If not blatantly derivative of their foreign counterpart, other movies of the genre emphasize gore and cheap shock over substance. But thank god for the filmmakers outside of the U.S. who consistently deliver psychological and philosophical horror films.
Oct 1st
33 notes
22 tags
Top 10 Movies of 1957
1. Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick) 2. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman) 3. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman) 4. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander MacKendrick) 5. Funny Face (Stanley Donen) 6. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet) 7. Throne of Blood (Akira Kurosawa) 8. Aparajito (Satyajit Ray) 9. Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini) 10. The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean) ...
Oct 1st
21 notes
September 2011
6 posts
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1995
1. Radiohead- The Bends Listen: “Fake Plastic Trees” 2. Pulp- Different Class Listen: “Common People” 3. Bjork- Post Listen: “Hyperballad” 4. PJ Harvey- To Bring You My Love Listen: “To Bring You My Love” 5. Raekwon- Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Listen: “Incarcerated Scarfaces” 6. Pavement- Wowee Zowee Listen:...
Sep 9th
12 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1994
1. Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain Listen: “Gold Soundz” 2. The Notorious B.I.G.- Ready to Die Listen: “Juicy” 3. Nas- Illmatic Listen: “The World Is Yours” 4. Portishead- Dummy Listen: “Glory Box” 5. Nirvana- MTV Unplugged in New York Listen: “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” 6. Guided by Voices- Bee Thousand ...
Sep 6th
15 notes
28 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1993
1. Nirvana- In Utero Listen: “Heart Shaped Box” 2. Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) Listen: “C.R.E.A.M.” 3. A Tribe Called Quest- Midnight Marauders Listen: “Award Tour” 4. Liz Phair- Exile in Guyville Listen: “Never Said” 5. The Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream Listen: “Disarm” 6. Snoop Dogg- Doggystyle ...
Sep 5th
11 notes
24 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1992
1. Pavement- Slanted & Enchanted Listen: “Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17” 2. Rage Against the Machine- Rage Against the Machine Listen: “Killing In the Name” 3. Dr. Dre- The Chronic Listen: “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)” 4. Beastie Boys- Check Your Head Listen: “So What’cha Want” 5. R.E.M.-...
Sep 4th
13 notes
7 tags
One Day (Lone Scherfig, 2011) →
The premise (or gimmick) is simple enough: one man, one woman, one day, 20 years. Before anybody saw it, One Day received attention as a potential Oscar contender, largely due to director Lone Scherfig and the acclaim for her 2009 film An Education. But One Day is, at best, a mediocre romance and possibly a genuine waste of life. Read further as Kayleigh and I both detail the extent of our...
Sep 2nd
23 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1991
1. My Bloody Valentine- Loveless Listen: “When You Sleep” 2. U2- Achtung Baby Listen: “Acrobat” 3. Teenage Fanclub- Bandwagonesque Listen: “The Concept” 4. Nirvana- Nevermind Listen: “In Bloom” 5. Primus- Sailing the Seas of Cheese Listen: “Jerry Was a Race Car Driver” 6. Pixies- Trompe le Monde Listen:...
Sep 1st
12 notes
August 2011
14 posts
24 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1990
1. Depeche Mode- Violator Listen: “Enjoy the Silence” 2. Ice Cube- AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted Listen: “Endangered Species (Tales from the Darkside)” 3. Neil Young- Ragged Glory Listen: “Country Home” 4. Public Enemy- Fear of a Black Planet Listen: “Fight the Power” 5. Pixies- Bossanova Listen: “Velouria” 6....
Aug 30th
10 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1989
1. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique Listen: “Shake Your Rump” 2. Pixies- Doolittle Listen: “Monkey Gone To Heaven” 3. De La Soul- 3 Feet High and Rising Listen: “Me Myself and I” 4. Bob Dylan- Oh Mercy Listen: “Everything Is Broken” 5. The Stone Roses- The Stone Roses Listen: “She Bangs The Drum” 6. Madonna- Like a...
Aug 26th
10 notes
29 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1988
1. Sonic Youth- Daydream Nation Listen: “Teen Age Riot” 2. Public Enemy- It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Listen: “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” 3. Pixies- Surfer Rosa Listen: “Gigantic” [Non-Album Live Version] 4. N.W.A- Straight Outta Compton Listen: “Fuck Tha Police” 5. Eric B. and Rakim- Follow the Leader Listen:...
Aug 24th
13 notes
26 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1987
1. U2- The Joshua Tree Listen: “Where the Streets Have No Name” 2. Prince- Sign ‘O’ the Times Listen: “If I Was Your Girlfriend” 3. Eric B. & Rakim- Paid in Full Listen: “Eric B. is President” 4. The Smiths- Strangeways, Here We Come Listen: “Girlfriend in a Coma” 5. The Replacements- Pleased to Meet Me Listen:...
Aug 18th
14 notes
6 tags
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rupert Wyatt,... →
Kayleigh Roberts and I review the box office-topping prequel. It has some things going for it – eye-catching special effects and good source material, for example. But as a revolutionary summer blockbuster experience, Apes doesn’t rise to the occasion (though it seems to think it does).
Aug 17th
24 tags
Top 10 Movies of 1992
1. Husbands and Wives (Woody Allen) 2. The Player (Robert Altman) 3. Malcolm X (Spike Lee) 4. Lessons of Darkness (Werner Herzog) 5. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara) 6. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood) 7. Dead Alive (Peter Jackson) 8. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino) 9. Shadows and Fog (Woody Allen) 10. Army of Darkness (Sam Raimi) Updated: December 29, 2011 See Also: Top...
Aug 16th
3 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1986
1. The Smiths- The Queen is Dead Listen: “Frankly, Mr. Shankly” 2. R.E.M.- Lifes Rich Pageant Listen: “Begin the Begin” 3. Run-D.M.C.- Raising Hell Listen: “Walk This Way” 4. Sonic Youth- EVOL Listen: “Shadow of a Doubt” 5. XTC- Skylarking Listen: “Dear God” 6. Metallica- Master of Puppets Listen: “Master of...
Aug 10th
14 notes
29 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1985
1. The Replacements- Tim Listen: “Left of the Dial” 2. Tom Waits- Rain Dogs Listen: “Hang Down Your Head” 3. The Jesus and Mary Chain- Psychocandy Listen: “Just Like Honey” 4. Husker Du- New Day Rising Listen: “Celebrated Summer” 5. Camper Van Beethoven- Telephone Free Landslide Victory Listen: “Take the Skinheads...
Aug 10th
14 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1984
1. The Replacements- Let It Be Listen: “Unsatisfied” 2. Bruce Springsteen- Born in the U.S.A. Listen: “No Surrender” 3. Minutemen- Double Nickels On the Dime Listen: “Viet Nam” 4. Prince- Purple Rain Listen: “Let’s Go Crazy” 5. Husker Du- Zen Arcade Listen: “Turn on the News” 6. R.E.M.- Reckoning Listen:...
Aug 8th
11 notes
20 tags
Rise of the Exposition: Top Five Prequels →
Just about everyone has declared 2011 to be the year of the sequel. With this weekend’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, prequels are also joining in on the franchise fun. The James Franco-starring movie has been doing fairly well at the box office so far, a bit surprising considering that target audience members for summer blockbusters have not likely seen the originally films. Memorable ...
Aug 6th
2 notes
30 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1983
1. R.E.M.- Murmur Listen: “Talk About the Passion” 2. Tom Waits- Swordfishtrombones Listen: “16 Shells from a Thirty-Ought Six” 3. Violent Femmes- Violent Femmes Listen: “Add It Up” 4. U2- War Listen: “Sunday Bloody Sunday” 5. The Police- Synchronicity Listen: “Wrapped Around Your Finger” 6. Minor Threat- Out of Step ...
Aug 5th
12 notes
25 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1982
1. Bruce Springsteen- Nebraska Listen: “Highway Patrolman” [Non-Album Live Version] 2. Richard & Linda Thompson- Shoot Out the Lights Listen: “Walking On a Wire” 3. Michael Jackson- Thriller Listen: “Beat It” 4. Roxy Music- Avalon Listen: “More Than This” 5. Mission of Burma- Vs. Listen: “That’s How I Escaped My...
Aug 4th
13 notes
4 tags
The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986) →
On the surface, the movie combines science fiction paranoia, gross-out body horror and even an unexpected romance for a genre-bending experience. But the film exploits its most extreme elements for a result that is both a profoundly moving tragedy and an incredibly thought-provoking study of the flesh.
Aug 2nd
8 tags
Optometry and dentistry: Thoughts on a Steve... →
The Aero Theatre in Santa Monica recently had a double feature celebrating the work of legendary comic Steve Martin. Relentlessly idiotic, The Jerk follows the rise and fall of a naïve fool who walks the earth after discovering he was adopted by his black parents. And in Little Shop of Horrors, Martin guest stars as an Elvis-inspired sadist of a dentist. Kayleigh and I both attended the double...
Aug 2nd
July 2011
23 posts
24 tags
Top 10 Albums of 1981
1. Elvis Costello- Trust Listen: “Clubland” 2. Brian Eno & David Byrne- My Life in the Bush of Ghosts Listen: “America is Waiting” 3. The Replacements- Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash Listen: “I Hate Music” 4. X- Wild Gift Listen: “Adult Books” 5. Black Flag- Damaged Listen: “Rise Above” [Non-Album Live...
Jul 27th
16 notes
25 tags
Top 10 Movies of 1953
1. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu) 2. Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller) 3. The Earrings of Madame De… (Max Ophuls) 4. Ugetsu (Kenji Mizoguchi) 5. M. Hulot’s Holiday (Jacques Tati) 6. Roman Holiday (William Wyler) 7. Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder) 8. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Howard Hawks) 9. Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske) 10. I...
Jul 26th
7 notes
24 tags
Top 10 Movies of 1962
1. An Autumn Afternoon (Yasujiro Ozu) 2. The Exterminating Angel (Luis Bunuel) 3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford) 4. Vivre sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard) 5. Sanjuro (Akira Kurosawa) 6. Jules and Jim (Francois Truffaut) 7. L’Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni) 8. Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean) 9. The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer) 10. To Kill a...
Jul 25th
8 notes