12.22

The Imitation Game (Morten Tyldum, 2014) (theatrical)

It wasn't as Oscar season dull as I'd anticipated but its ambitions far exceed its grasp.  There are about ten issues it seems to want to comment on but there isn't much it has to say about any of them, and it doesn't seem to know how to follow through on its arcs too well.  Benedict Cumberbatch is fine but I'd rather watch Sherlock for a similar performance and better writing.  That little kid does an amazing Benedict Cumberbatch impression though.

12.21

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014) (theatrical)

This has been an incredibly dull year for movies thus far, but this in addition to the best of the year is the best I've seen from PTA.

12.19

Day of Wrath (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1943)

Super fun, and seemed to always be going in unexpected directions until the predictable (some might say inevitable or fated or something but I still think it would've been stronger if they took a different route) ending.  Also watching this I realized I don't think Dreyer has a particularly good eye for composition.  But the whole slow action to build tension is bomb.

Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Big Boi, 2010)

Not that I'm surprised, but I guess Andre's the one who organizes great albums.  Big Boi's lyricism is solid, especially on the battle rap stuff, but the production still has that ugly, dated before its time quality that plagues some of OutKast's work.  More importantly it's not too satisfying an experience despite an absence of pinpointable weak spots.  Yelawolf goes in on his feature though.

Shahram (Shahram Shabpareh, 2013)

Absolutely banging.  Suffers a bit from best-of syndrome but it ebbs and flows remarkably well considering.  I'm eager to check out more from the Pharaway Sounds label.

Dark Magus (Miles Davis, 1974)

Damn, new favorite album up in hurr.  Critics are loose with their adjectives when it comes to jazz albums, generally much to my disappointment, but for once I found something that surpasses the most excessive verbiage.  I haven't heard anything that feels so much like a self-contained world.

Dogg Food (Tha Dogg Pound, 1995)

I think only Snoop Dogg was quite able to pull of the G-Funk sound, it's kind of yucky with most rappers.  Kurupt has some bomb stuff but he's as lazy as ever, Daz is solid.  Pretty long and redundant.

12.18

Science Fiction (Ornette Coleman, 1972)

This is kind of screwed coming out the gate cuz there's just no way it can live up to that cover.  I enjoyed all of it but it didn't seem like there was that much there and all I remember now are a couple tracks with a woman singing.  I'll certainly revisit it but I don't know if free jazz does much for me per se.  I want to listen to some of his more experimental stuff and see if that appeals to me more.

12.17

In a Silent Way (Miles Davis, 1969)

I don't know what the title refers to specifically, but it's a good evocation of the mood.  Much lower-key than the other fusion albums I've heard from him but it stuck with me just as long.  There's also something more substantial about it compared to the other pleasant albums I've heard from him.  The second half is particularly gorgeous.

12.16

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Peter Jackson, 2014) (theatrical)

More entertaining than part one, but a big step down from part two, and as a standalone movie it's downright inept.  I thought I must've forgotten a lot of what happened after Smaug's death but not really, they fight some orcs or something for three hours.

12.12

Week End (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) (rewatch)

This was one of the first Godards I saw and I was nervous it wouldn't hold up but au contraire, I liked it even more this time.  At least while high it provided pretty much everything I wanted as I got to want it.  Impressive, but weed or no weed this is one of those where everything works, and when Godard gets everything to work he turns all of us into freshmen film students.

12.10

Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye, 1973)

I bet I'd like What's Going on More now, I've really enjoyed what I've heard from Gaye; but then again everything subsequent hasn't been remotely in that preachy vein.  This is great at maintaining its ecstatic energy throughout, a good optomistic follow up to Here My Dear.

Choice cuts: Let's Get It On, If I Should Die Tonight, Distant Lover

36 Seasons (Ghostface Killah, 2014)

Damn, Ghost's best album since Fishscale by far.  I like Pitchfork's negative review a lot since it highlights a lot of my issues with the direction of his post-2006 work, but I feel like this time that path finally arrived somewhere that fully jibes with me.  Yeah it's not as wild and imaginative as his work in the 90s but it's more visionary and concise.  As Pitchfork makes clear this treads quite similar ground narratively to 12 Reasons to Die, which is kind of Kagemusha to 36's Ran.  Ghostface talked about 12 Reasons as something he was doing for RZA, and the soul-based production and autumnul nostalgia of 36 Seasons certainly feels more Ghost.  The story isn't as simple as Pitchfork makes out, I found the characters to be economically fleshed out (shouts out to all the guests), the twists not novel but sensible, and the pacing perfect.  The storytelling could've been zestier, but having a story run smoothly through a whole album demands focus I don't think anyone saw Ghostface of all people mustering back in his wild years and gives me some hope that Supreme Clientele 2 may indeed be his best album.

Choice cuts: The Battlefield, Emergency Procedure, Blood in the Streets

12.09

A Better Tomorrow (Wu Tang Clan, 2014)

Not exactly disappointing, but it never coalesces into anything special either.  A lot of people are blaming RZA, which I get on a 8 vs. 1 level, but on a production vs. rapping level he's the only one doing anything different, which isn't all that surprising at this point.  I think if the whole thing had more of a symphonic feel along the lines of Ruckus in B Minor it could've been pretty great.  Also I'm definitely feeling Cappadonna's expanded role.

Choice cuts: Ruckus in B Minor, Keep Watch, Necklace

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014) (theatrical)

I remember exceptionally little of it but it seemed like pretty mediocre festival fare.

12.08

Sisters of the Gion (Mizoguch Kenji, 1936)

Playa playa.  Another fantastic Mizoguchi; not as aesthetically impressive as Osaka Elegy but the story and the dialectic are killer.

 The Ruler's Back (Slick Rick, 1991)

Good beats and fun at first, but gets redundant and kind of dull as it proceeds.  It was a rush job before he went off to jail and you can really hear it, he's mumbling through the whole thing and kind of buried in the mix.  Not a bad aesthetic, but not ideal for showing off one's storytelling chops.

Choice cuts: King, Tonto, It's a Boy

12.06

Here, My Dear (Marvin Gaye, 1978)

I picked this up because I thought I recognized it from the cover as one of Nas' favorite albums from an article I read a long time ago.  Nas is the homie, I haven't heard something so hypnotizing, sad, and darkly funny in a long time.  I can't believe people prefer What's Going On to this.  I mean I can but what nerds, this shit is on a whole other level.  I also like that there's what I can only interpret as an attempt to cash in on Mothership Connection's success dropped in the middle of such an intense confessional saga.  It's pretty godawful but feels entirely appropriate.  And poor Marvin, just when it seems like it's gonna end on a happy note he throws in a reprise of When Did You Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You.

Choice cuts: I Met a Little Girl, Is That Enough, Time to Get It Together

12.05

A Moment of Innocence (Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1996)

The ending had been so hyped I had no expectation of particularly enjoying it so maybe that's why it blew me away when it came.  I mean everything about this is absolutely brilliant but that last shot made my week.

12.04

Loaded (The Velvet Underground, 1970)

I love the idea of a musical sampler platter especially at the moment since that's something I'm kind of trying to do with my next mixtape.  The first three songs seemed like Specter, Dylan, and the Stones but I lost track of the inspirations (to use a generous term) after that.  Unfortunately not all the songs themselves are all that knocking but when it's on it's on.  Who Loves the Sun has become one of my favorite tracks ever.

Choice cuts: Who Loves the Sun, Lonesome Cowboy Bill, Train Round the Bend

12.03

Osaka Elegy (Mizoguchi Kenji, 1936)

Just banging.  It might be the exhaustion but I remember very little of it except the aesthetic, but I'm pretty sure it was ethically on point too.

12.02

White Light / White Heat (The Velvet Underground, 1968)

I wanna give it another shot, but at least the first time it was a fucking chore to get through.  It just doesn't seem like my kind of experimentation.  Maybe part of it's that White Light / White Heat is such an incredibly evocative title and nothing on the album is anything like what it evokes.

Choice cuts: The Gift, Lady Godiva's Operation, Here She Comes Now

12.01

Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal way oversells his character.  I've heard a lot of discussion trying to diagnose his character's particular mental disorder, to me it just seems like he and Gilroy had fun creating a weird character.  The execution of everything feels pretty amateur and it felt like it ended just as it was getting good.  But the second half is pretty fun.

11.30

Sketches of Spain (Miles Davis, 1960)

Gorgeous.  Maybe a bit overblown at times, but always impressive (and usually pretty catchy too).

Choice cuts: Concierto de Aranjuez, Will o' the Wisp, Solea

Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)

I don't know in what sense this could be considered a horror film, but it certainly evokes a lingering sense of dread.  Depressing too.  Nothing puts it over the top for me but it's nice to get a dose of Cronenberg's brand of nastiness.

11.28

My Name Is My Name (Pusha T, 2014)

Pusha's never been better.  Not quite a classic album, could use some better guests and a certain je ne sais quoi, but fire nonetheless.

Choice cuts: Suicide, Nosetlagia, Pain

11.27

A Love Supreme (John Coltrane, 1964)

Much cooler than Blue Train, and that drumming is off the chain, but I can't shake the sense that Coltrane just isn't gonna be where it's at for me and jazz.  Still look forward to listening to it more.

On the Corner (Miles Davis, 1972)

At first I was thinking this was gonna be some all-time shit, but it loses a bit of potency to redundancy as it progresses.  I think they should've at least switched the drums up a bit on the last track.  Still fucking bomb, stoked to listen to more from Davis.

11.26

Birdman (Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, 2014) (theatrical)

Damn, I didn't know Iñarritu had it in him.

11.23

Oxymoron (Schoolboy Q, 2014)

It's always weird for me hearing new albums by non-OGs, it's just a different universe from Paid in Full or something.  Hip-hop just isn't about the lyrics anymore.  So it took me a few listens to evaluate but I think it's a pretty stellar album at this point.  Schoolboy Q is a god with the flows, I've never heard someone push it this far in terms of variety.  Good variety in the beat selection too but more importantly he just milks those suckers for all they're worth.  Seems like this gets compared to Kendrick's album a lot but it's more similar to Gibbs': they both have basically the same story to tell (the same story most conceptish rap albums tell; I dig that both Q and Gibbs have the good grace to invite the formula's inventor on for a verse), but Oxymoron feels both more complete and concise.  Lots of great guest verses but Kurupt's takes the cake.

Choice cuts: Los Awesome, Hoover Street, Prescription/Oxymoron

The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground, 1969)

Just good chill shit.  The Murder Mystery interrupts the flow a bit; I like the idea of one experimental song but this isn't the one.

Choice cuts: What Goes On, Jesus, Beginning to See the Light

Curtis/Live! (Curtis Mayfield, 1971)

This might be the first live album I've heard.  There's something incredibly intimate about it, between the stripped-down take on the songs and Curtis' addresses to the audience.  Feels more like a show in a living room than a club.  None of the spine-chilling orchestration of the studio stuff but a lovely experience in its own right.

Choice cuts: Stare and Stare, The Makings of You, (Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go

Long Arm of the Law (Johnny Mak, 1984)

Elsewhere I called it A Hard Day's Night where actions actually have consequences but as it progresses it really becomes much more hellish than that.  Political firestorm in the backdrop with one of the best action finales I've seen.  Mak directs the fuck out of it.

11.19

Tijuana Moods (Charles Mingus, 1957)

Never less than great but when Mingus is soldering together mad flavors and shit it's never less than masterful.

Choice cuts: Ysabel's Table Dance, Tijuana Gift Shop, Los Mariachis (The Street Musicians)

11.17

La p... respectueuse (Charles Brabant and Marcello Pagliero, 1952) (theatrical)

There's no way in hell the setting passes for the American South, but as it is it adds to the film's claustrophobic, nightmarish elements.  Strange, intense little movie, some good stuff about race and coercion.

11.16

Maggot Brain (Funkadelic, 1971)

Way farther out of this world than Mothership Connection.  Also maybe the best rock album I've heard.

Choice cuts: Maggot Brain, Can You Get to That, Back in Our Minds

The Birth of Magellan: Cadenza I (Hollis Frampton, 1977)

Frampton always stokes me up at the beginning of his movies, then falls into loops that loose my interest quickly, then ends so as to pique my curiosity just enough to watch another of his films at some point.

11.15

Scorpio Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1964)

Holds up, but I still think I prefer Lucifer.

11.14

Pick a Bigger Weapon (The Coup, 2006)

Boots Riley is obviously an incredibly creative and clever MC, as seen when he shits all over Black Thought and Talib Kweli on My Favorite Mutiny.  But boy that production really makes me reluctant to listen to any of their albums more than once.  It's mostly the terrible drums I think.  I think Boots also gets kind of stuck in ruts partway through albums: he still has new stuff to talk about but somehow it gets decreasingly interesting.

Choice cuts: Bullets and Love (Introduction), My Favorite Mutiny, Ass-Breath Killers

Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)

It's certainly got Burton's hand all over it.  Fine I guess.  It's wild to me that people think Nicholson is better than Ledger.

11.13

Soul '69 (Aretha Franklin, 1969)

Haha, soul in the late 60s is a lot different than in the early 70s.  I dunno, every song's the same and not that good.

Choice cuts: The Tracks of My Tears, So Long, Elusive Butterfly

Big Hitt Rising (Hittman, 2008)

It's a shame this short project is all we've gotten from him since Hittmanic Verses, but it's not bad at all.  His perspective is more mature and way darker than his earlier work but that flow/lyric combination is still out of this world.  What he's lost in rawness and energy he makes up for with that fresh take on his old subject matter.  Heavens Hell is one of his best tracks.

Choice cuts: Scope, Who Got That (Ack 2), Heavens Hell (Righteous Path)

11.12

Bitches Brew (Miles Davis, 1970)

Super intense experience, definitely the best jazz album I've heard.

Choice cuts: Pharaoh's Dance, Bitches Brew, Sanctuary

Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar Wai, 1990)

Haha, Wong has a knack for making likeable actors into fucking creeps.  The beginning and opening credits are so perfect it's a bit unfair to the rest of the movie, but it never slows down.  I loved Andy Lau's storyline and wanted it to end after he became a sailor, but I was okay with the way it reintegrated into the main plot.  I knew Tony Leung was in it and was bummed when he kept not appearing, so I adore the ending.

11.10

Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014) (theatrical)

I think a lot of Nolan's strength is in advertising: he teases the perfect amount and fulfills that promise as much as he can.  And he's got ambition and a great sense of scope.  I don't know though, I can't believe some of that stuff stayed in.  I can see why some physicists would eat it up but it just seems beyond farfetched.  Inception and the Batman movies toed the line between exciting and ridiculous pretty well, while this falls largely on the latter side.  One of Hans' best scores for sure though, and I'm glad I got to see it on 35mm.

11.09

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (Charles Mingus, 1964)

Mostly lower key and less unified than what I'm used to for him, but some gorgeous stuff.

Choice cuts: II BS, Theme for Lester Young, Freedom

11.05

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1982) (rewatch)

This was not a wise rewatch.  I get what Lucas and Spielberg are going for, and in some ways they're definitely successful, but they tried too literal a route or something.  There's also no point at which you could freeze frame and have a particularly interesting shot.  I bet it would work better in a theater.

11.04

Dragon Gate Inn (Hu King, 1967)

When Hsiao catches the arrow in his cup and kills the guy who shot it by hitting it back with his hand I knew the shit was on.  Pretty much pure badassery, especially the dinner scene.  Another weird ending, I would never have guessed who'd have landed the killing blow.  Five good guys against one bad guy hypes the villain but it doesn't say much for the heroes.

11.03

Hard Boiled (John Woo, 1992)

Hardly the action movie to end all action movies, in fact I found the hospital finale a bit anticlimactic, but a very well put together movie nonetheless.  I haven't seen Tony Leung in anything in ages, what a talent.

Act a Fool (King Tee, 1988)

One of the coolest album covers ever.  The music's solid, I enjoyed the abundance of samples and presence of skits.

Choice cuts: KO Rock Stuff, Flirt, Guitar Playin'