Best Ever Albums

Re: Media Log 2026

Facetious — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 13:31:14 GMT

Author: Facetious

Posted: 03/11/2026 17:31

AfterHours wrote:

Did the film Requiem for a Dream vary much from the book? Was Aronofsky's montage/visual design based on the literary style of the book or was it more his own take on the source material? (by that I don't mean it's entirely unique in itself... cinematically, Trainspotting, Natural Born Killers, his own Pi, etc, are modern precursors... Scorsese like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, rapid-montage MTV music videos, and so on...)

It's a faithful adaptation overall (probably because the novelist himself co-wrote the screenplay with Aronofsky). Major difference is that in the novel you spend a lot of time in the characters' heads, plus other details such as economic circumstances, the failure of the institutions in dealing with them (for example, why Sara gets electroconvulsive therapy), etc make the plot and situations feel more fleshed out. The extra details also help the book to maintain a measured pace before all hell breaks loose. As you can guess from the above, the montage is Aronofsky's addition; the book doesn't try to match the overwhelmingly frenetic editing and pacing. However, the film also had plenty of stylistic precedents available, like you mentioned, at the time it was made (two decades after the novel), so it makes sense that it replaces the psychological depth of the book with MTV rapid-montage editing. It's a good choice, a model for how to take advantage of the tools available to filmmakers.

Re: Media Log 2026

AfterHours — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 17:13:14 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/31/2026 22:13

Did the film Requiem for a Dream vary much from the book? Was Aronofsky's montage/visual design based on the literary style of the book or was it more his own take on the source material? (by that I don't mean it's entirely unique in itself... cinematically, Trainspotting, Natural Born Killers, his own Pi, etc, are modern precursors... Scorsese like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, rapid-montage MTV music videos, and so on...)

Re: Media Log 2026

AfterHours — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 22:02:55 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/20/2026 03:02

Facetious wrote:

AfterHours wrote:

Great to see a 9/10 for 8 1/2!

(even if 8.5 seems more appropriate? 🤡 ... sorry, that's a bad one...)

Thoughts on the film?

And do you have a "Greatest Films" list sorted out these days? Would be curious to see your current selections if you have it organized or even half-way organized...

I did consider an 8.5 to be honest 🤣

Would have to think about the film more to be able to write in detail about it; this was my second viewing and I feel like I need more viewings to grasp everything. Love the way the film sinks deeper into delirium and fantasy as it goes on; the most amusing aspect is the constant self-reflection both through the critic's relentless critique (in a way, what could be a hilariously negative review of the film, within the film itself) and the protagonist's doubts about his film, teasing the viewer into questioning the artistic choices throughout and the ways in which art should be approached in the first place from the perspective of an artist and/or a critic. Will hopefully think of more to say.

Don't have a list yet. But if I end up revisiting most of the possible candidates for a Greatest Films list, I might have one by the end of the year.

Thanks - good take on 8 1/2

Would be interesting to see your list and how its turning out

La Dolce Vita should be next! Which one is his best and how in the hell does one make a decision between the two!? (took me multiple viewings spread across years between each and I'm still not sure I'm "right")

Re: Media Log 2026

Facetious — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 15:32:27 GMT

Author: Facetious

Posted: 01/19/2026 20:32

AfterHours wrote:

Re: Media Log 2026

AfterHours — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 10:40:59 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/17/2026 15:40

Great to see a 9/10 for 8 1/2!

(even if 8.5 seems more appropriate? 🤡 ... sorry, that's a bad one...)

Thoughts on the film?

And do you have a "Greatest Films" list sorted out these days? Would be curious to see your current selections if you have it organized or even half-way organized...

Re: Media Log 2026

Facetious — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:36:12 GMT

Author: Facetious

Posted: 01/14/2026 21:36

AfterHours wrote:

Johnnyo wrote:

Hi folks. I love joining in on threads but I'm at a lose to see what this one is about. Can you enlighten me?

Cheers

He is logging the music, film and literature he has recently consumed, with ratings (out of 10) for each.

Facetious is using his own criteria and scale of 10/10 with the following examples taken into account from the top for us to closely compare to.

Part of the profundity of reading his log is in the tension and cognitive dissonance realized between these extremes.

10/10
Wellington's Victory - Ludwig van Beethoven (1813) [Classical]

9.5/10
Bangerz - Miley Cyrus (2013) [Rock]
Glitter - Vondie Curtis-Hall (2001) [Film]

9/10
Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James (2011) [Literature]
Breathless - Kenny G (1992) [Jazz]

and so on down from 8.5/10, 8/10, etc...

(just kidding about those example selections, and the "profundity/cognitive dissonance" bit 😜 )

Thanks for explaining on my behalf, though I'm not sure how to feel about my the top secret Greatest Works of Art list being revealed this way

Re: Media Log 2026

AfterHours — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:14:21 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/13/2026 15:14

Johnnyo wrote:

Hi folks. I love joining in on threads but I'm at a lose to see what this one is about. Can you enlighten me?

Cheers

Re: Media Log 2026

Johnnyo — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:17:07 GMT

Author: Johnnyo

Posted: 01/13/2026 14:17

Hi folks. I love joining in on threads but I'm at a lose to see what this one is about. Can you enlighten me?

Cheers

Re: Media Log 2026

AfterHours — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 23:23:30 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 01/13/2026 04:23

Looking forward to this, keep going please ❗ ❗ ❗

Media Log 2026

Facetious — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 23:10:49 GMT

Author: Facetious

Posted: 01/13/2026 04:10

Music:
1. Spiderland - Slint (1991) [9/10]
2. Naked City - Naked City (1990) [8/10]

Film:
1. 8 1/2 - Federico Fellini (1963) [9/10]
2. The Turin Horse - Béla Tarr (2011) [7.5/10]
3. Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1925) [7.5/10]
4. Requiem for a Dream - Darren Aronofsky (2000) [7.5/10]
5. The Secret Agent - Kleber Mendonça Filho (2025) [7.5/10]
6. Marty Supreme - Josh Safdie (2025) [7.5/10]
7. No Other Choice - Park Chan-wook (2025) [7.5/10]
8. Yeast - Mary Bronstein (2008) [7+/10]
9. Sentimental Value - Joachim Trier (2025) [7+/10]
10. Bugonia - Yorgos Lanthimos (2025) [7+/10]
11. Arabian Nights - Pier Paolo Pasolini (1974) [7+/10]
12. What About Bob? - Frank Oz (1991) [7+/10]
13. Wuthering Heights - Luis Buñuel (1954) [7+/10]
14. Sinners - Ryan Coogler (2025) [7/10]
15. Wuthering Heights - William Wyler (1939) [7/10]

Literature:
1. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde (1895) [8.5/10]
2. Bartleby, the Scrivener - Herman Melville (1853) [8/10]
3. The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy, trans. Boris Dralyuk (1886) [8/10]
4. A Hero of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov, trans. Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov (1840) [8/10]
5. Lazarillo de Tormes, trans. W. S. Merwin (1554) [8-/10]
6. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (2005) [7.5/10]
7. Requiem for a Dream - Hubert Selby Jr (1978) [7.5/10]
8. Train Dreams - Denis Johnson (2011) [7.5/10]
9. The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett (1930) [7.5/10]
10. Xingu - Edith Wharton (1916) [7+/10]
11. Convenience Store Woman - Sayaka Murata, trans. Ginny Tapley Takemori (2016) [7+/10]
12. The Judge and His Hangman - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, trans. Joel Agee (1950) [7+/10]
13. The Ax - Donald E. Westlake (1997) [7+/10]