02.26

The Docks of New York (Josef von Sternberg, 1928)

Sternberg more than lives up to his reputation stylistically, but I love how that's never enough.  He almost always has other awesome stuff going on too, in this case a really poignant story with a shockingly optimistic ending.  It makes me wonder how fantastic the studio system would've been without the Hayes Code.  Anyhow this is a beautiful movie.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Josef L. Mankiewicz, 1947)

The first half is friggin adorable but it rushes through the second to an unsatisfying conclusion.  It's probably not Mankiewicz's fault but that won't stop me from blaming Hollywood's greatest mediocrity.

02.25

Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, 1968)

For me this was all about the rhythm. It's probably the best-edited non-Bresson film I've seen. I don't feel like I got all of it, but if I had I feel like I'd have felt gypped. It's such an insanely chill movie, I was effortlessly floating through the scenes. I was expecting a really serious meditation, but it's actually goofy and kafkaesque, just open-ended instead of fatalistic. He's such an unlikeable but oddly sympathetic character, he reminded me so much of the characters from Girls. I dug the part where all those white-ass guys were doing that roundtable and complaining about how people from third-world countries were discriminated against regardless of skin color while a dark-skinned guy went around pouring coffee for all of them. I also love these two quotes:

"Everything comes too early or too late for me.  Perhaps there was a time when I could have understood all this.  Now I can't."

"My life is like a monstrous and flabby vegetable with huge leaves and no fruit."

Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars (Killarmy, 1997)

Damn, 4th Disciple was on his fucking grind.  It's both to the benefit and deficit of this album that all of its tracks are about the same thing.  Killa Sin is for the most part almost laughably better than his fellows, and the quality of the music skyrockets whenever he's on wax.  Dom Pachino might, however, be the most creative, and his verse on Blood for Blood is probably the best on the album content-wise.  The rest of them are kind of mediocre but the production ensures it's never boring.

Choice cuts: Burning Seasons, Fear, Love, and War, Swinging Swords

The Westerner (William Wyler, 1940)

It annoyed and baffled me the extent to which it presented Bean as a great man when all he did -- in the movie, I'm not talking about historical inaccuracy -- is lynch people and burn homesteaders' fields.  But Cary Cooper actually turns in a good performance and it's pretty to look at.

Top 100 hip-hop songs

I made this list pretty quickly for a topic on a film forum.  I kept it to just one song per album, which obviously doesn't mean much for someone like Lil B but I tried not to go crazy.  I'm kind of embarrassed by how modern it skews.

Rapper's Delight (The Sugarhill Gang, 1979)
Planet Rock (Afrikaa Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force, 1982)
White Lines (Don't Do It) (Grandmaster Melle Mel, 1983)
You Can't Dance (LL Cool J, 1985)
9mm Goes Bang (Boogie Down Productions, 1986)
Raising Hell (Run-DMC, 1986)
Freaky Tales (Too Short, 1987)
Paid in Full (Eric B. and Rakim, 1987)
Push It (Salt-N-Pepa, 1987)
Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (Public Enemy, 1988)
Children's Story (Slick Rick, 1988)
Follow the Leader (Eric B. and Rakim, 1988)
Get Off the Bandwagon (EPMD, 1988)
I Am Woman (MC Lyte, 1988)
Raw (Remix) (Big Daddy Kane, 1988)
Straight Outta Compton (NWA, 1988)
Fight the Power (Public Enemy, 1989)
Get the Bozack (EPMD, 1989)
Road to the Riches (Kool G Rap and DJ Polo, 1989)
7th Seal (Freestyle Fellowship, 1991)
Black with NV (No Vision) (Black Sheep, 1991)
Live at the Barbecue (Main Source, 1991)
Givin' Up the Nappy Dugout (Ice Cube, 1991)
The Wacky World of Rapid Transit (Del tha Funkee Homosapien, 1991)
Don't Gimme No Bammer Weed (RBL, 1992)
Jus Lyke Compton (DJ Quik, 1992)
Passing Me By (The Pharcyde, 1992)
Soliloquy of Chaos (Gang Starr, 1992)
CREAM (Wu-Tang Clan, 1993)
Murder Was the Case (Snoop Doggy Dogg, 1993)
Call of the Wild (OutKast, 1994)
Diary of a Madman (Gravediggaz, 1994)
Fat Cats, Bigga Fish (The Coup, 1994)
Gimme the Loot (The Notorious BIG, 1994)
NY State of Mind (Nas, 1994)
Release Yo Delf (Method Man, 1994)
Shook Ones Pt. II (Mobb Deep, 1994)
Brooklyn Zoo (Old Dirty Bastard, 1995)
Glaciers of Ice (Raekwon, 1995)
Liquid Swords (GZA, 1995)
Mo Money Mo Murder (Homicide) (AZ, 1995)
Fish (Ghostface Killah, 1996)
Friend or Foe (Jay-Z, 1996)
Killing Me Softly with His Song (Fugees, 1996)
The Message (Nas, 1996)
Stem/Long Stem (DJ Shadow, 1996)
Impossible (Wu-Tang Clan, 1997)
Niggas Bleed (The Notorious BIG, 1997)
Above the Clouds (Gang Starr, 1998)
Capital Punishment (Big Pun, 1998)
NYC Everything (RZA, 1998)
Return of the 'G' (OutKast, 1998)
Ruff Ryders' Anthem (DMX, 1998)
Run (Cappadonna, 1998)
To Zion (Lauryn Hill, 1998)
Hey! (MF Doom, 1999)
Miss Fat Booty (Mos Def, 1999)
Nas Is Like (Nas, 1999)
Rape (Pharoahe Monch, 1999)
Xxplosive (Dr. Dre, 1999)
Animal in Man (dead prez, 2000)
Down for the Count (Reflection Eternal, 2000)
Malcolm (Ghostface Killah, 2000)
Get Dis Money (Slum Village, 2000)
Stan (Eminem, 2000)
5 Million Ways to Kill a CEO (The Coup, 2001)
Got Ur Self A... (Nas, 2001)
Honest Expression (Binary Star, 2001)
Takeover (Jay-Z, 2001)
No Doubt (Jean Grae, 2002)
Krazy World (King Geedorah, 2003)
Let Me Watch (Viktor Vaughn, 2003)
Figaro (Madvillain, 2004)
Jesus Walks (Kanye West, 2004)
Somebody's Gotta Do It (The Roots, 2004)
Anti-American Graffiti (J Dilla, 2006)
Deep Space (Lord Jamar, 2006)
Shakey Dog (Ghostface Killah, 2006)
We Got It for Cheap (Clipse, 2006)
Flashing Lights (Kanye West, 2007)
Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell (Das Racist, 2008)
Hard in da Paint (Waka Flocka Flame, 2008)
BOR (Birth of Rap) (Lil B, 2009)
Cream N Ya Panties (DJ Quik and Kurupt, 2009)
New Wu (Raekwon, 2009)
Outerspace Flow (SOD Money Gang, 2009)
Cocaine (Lil B, 2010)
Devil in a New Dress (Kanye West, 2010)
DOR (Death of Rap) (Lil B, 2010)
Purified Thoughts (Ghostface Killah, 2010)
The Movie (Gucci Mane, 2010)
Turn My Swag On (Soulja Boy, 2010)
212 (Azealia Banks, 2012)
Cleaning Out My Closet (Angel Haze, 2012)
m.A.A.d city (Kendrick Lamar, 2012)
Tropics (Lil B, 2012)
Blood on the Leaves (Kanye West, 2013)
Control (Big Sean, 2013)
I Am About My Green Tea (Deke Monopoly, 2013)
Lafcadio (Anonymoose and Young Cookie, 2013)

02.22

Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 2000)

It's cool when these kind of formulaic movies actually have some zen moments.

02.18

The General Returns from One Place to Another (Michael Robinson, 2010)

Oh yeah, that's more like it. Not sure if it was a lesser degree of irony that appealed to me, I just think I prefer this type of subject matter to TV remixes. And I'm a sucker for those swelling musical cues on random (whatever, you know what I mean) images. Wasn't too hot on how he messed around with the subtitles, if it has the point I think it has it's not my kind of point and if it's pointless it might be worse. But yeah I definitely enjoyed it.

02.17

Faust (FW Murnau, 1926)

Excerpted from a conversation on a film forum:

I think more Murnau is a good idea. He excels at making glorious monuments to small pathetic stories, but imo this kind of huge scale good versus evil thing isn't really his wheelhouse. The movie seems to exist just to have a cinematic version of the Faust legend; watching it doesn't feel more rewarding than reading its plot synopsis. The exception being that unfortunately short sequence of Faust and Mephisto flying over the world, that was awesome. Also God's an asshole. These are peoples' lives you're destroying with your stupid games you fuck! The story of Job never sat well with me for the same reason. I'm sure there are better candidates for bearing the fate of the world too, Faust is pretty darn gullible. Of course if I knew ahead of time the contract could be nullified at any time by the power of love I probably would've picked just anyone too.

Light Is Waiting (Michael Robinson, 2007)

Like the Platonic form of experimental film.  But not in a good way per se.  Feels a bit checklisty.  Which I guess is an obnoxious way of saying it didn't really click with me.

02.15

Frozen (Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, 2013) - theatrical

Was this shot actually in the movie?  I don't remember it.  Anyhow, great for what it is.  Could've used a stronger villain and the second half suffered somewhat by contrast to the first, but marvelous overall.s

02.08

The Hunt for Red October (John McTiernan, 1990)

I knew I'd seen something else last week!  Minor, but very engaging and exactly what I was in the mood for.

02.09

Bobby Digital in Stereo (RZA, 1998)

This is a tough one to rap my wig around.  The heights are so high, and I can't point to any particular weak points, but it seems like an enormous waste of potential.  But I still keep popping it in the CD player!  It's long and tedious as hell so I haven't been giving the second half as much attention as I should.  Damn, the RZA has some incredible creative sex raps.  And this guy I hadn't heard of named Holocaust AKA Warcloud AKA Alcatraz AKA Robot Tank brings in an all-timer on the eponymous track.  NYC Everything (which I had been hearing as now I see everything) is basically the perfect song.

Choice cuts: BOBBY, NYC Everything, Domestic Violence

02.07

Strange Impersonation (Anthony Mann, 1946) - theatrical

Has such an air of going through the motions, capped off by the worst sort of ending.  I guess it's a testament to someone that it's not worse than unremarkable.

Desperate (Anthony Mann, 1947) - theatrical rewatch

Used to be my favorite Mann; it didn't quite click the same way this time but it's still a hell of an admirable film.  My favorite thing about it is how it has such an epic feel despite its meager running time, but the scene lit by the swinging lamp is worth the price of admission alone.

02.06

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter (Frank Tashlin, 1957) - theatrical

I was slightly worried during the opening credits that this would be one of those studio system comedies that mostly falls flat nowadays and while there were a couple of gags that really didn't do it for me overall I found it was spectacularly fun and funny.  It's rare to see such acerbic wit in a movie with such a sweet heart.

02.05

Apocalypse Now Redux (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979 / 2001) - rewatch

I wasn't feeling this so much this time, and I don't think it's just because it was the Redux.  That sequence with the French, which I remember being by far the best of the added material, seemed kind of obnoxious this time.  The bridge sequence is still magnificent though.  I was also high when I saw this, and I think that has a way of really dulling most movies.

02.02

The Shanghai Gesture (Josef von Sternberg, 1941) - theatrical rewatch

Apparently this was Scorsese's personal print, which is the only decent 35mm available.  It was a bit choppy at points, but other than that immaculate.  The movie itself is an old favorite of mine and certainly holds up.  I especially like the line about needing to put on a show to make Shanghai live up to its reputation for the tourists.  I'd forgotten how funny it is too.  And Jesus, Gene Tierney is beyond belief.  Ona Munson and Walter Huston perform their socks off.

01.31

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Kenneth Branagh, 2014) - theatrical

I don't think I've ever seen anything so terrible that was also so utterly unremarkable.

01.29

The Pillage (Cappadonna, 1998)

Hot damn, the best album I've heard in a long time.  Cappadonna's rhymes are usually simple, but they're almost incidental to the music.  His style is all about how he lands things and the kind of imagery and atmosphere he builds.   He's got the most unpredictable flow and rhyme pattern of probably anyone I've heard but it's really this nightmare world he builds and traps you in that pushes the boundaries of rap creatively.  Run especially is just incredible in that way.  True Master out-RZAs the RZA on this, but there aren't any weak spots beats-wise or lyrically.  Solomon Childs and Ghostface bring in some great guest verses too.  I've had the chorus for Milk the Cow stuck in my head for the last week.

Choice cuts: Slang Editorial, Run, Oh Donna

01.28

Cause for Alarm (Tay Garnett, 1951)

Pretty decent suburban noir.  It would've made a better half-hour radio program probably but it's a blast to watch the contrivances build up.  The mailman and the neighbor boy are both awesome.