Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2023)

[AfterHours]

[homelessking]

Why do you think Exploded Drawing is better than Today's Active Lifestyles?

[AfterHours]

[AfterHours]

Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2021)

For an explanation of this log, read this: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...094#571094

For my criteria page, go here: http://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/vi...hp?t=15503

To visit my Main lists, go here:
Greatest Classical Music Works: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15098
Greatest Albums (Rock & Jazz): https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15276
Greatest Films: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15558
Greatest Paintings: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=15560
Greatest Works of Art: https://www.besteveralbums.com/phpBB2/v...hp?t=16117

Bold = Newly added
Bold + Italics = Was already listed but recently upgraded/downgraded

Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week(s): 8-2-2021 - 8-15-2021
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (1966)
Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992)
Red House Painters (Rollercoaster) - Red House Painters (1993)
Blow Out - Brian De Palma (1981)
Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (1968)
Spiderland - Slint (1991)
Being John Malkovich - Spike Jonze (1999)
Even the Sounds Shine - Myra Melford (1994)
Blade Runner - Ridley Scott (1982)
Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix (1967)
Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve (2017)
Suicide - Suicide (1977)
Fun House - The Stooges (1970)
The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)
Gremlins - Joe Dante (1984)
Witness - Peter Weir (1985)
For a Few Dollars More - Sergio Leone (1965)

Top 10+ Albums/Movies for the Week(s) - Rated 2.8/10 to 6.7/10
Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson (1989)
Enemy Mine - Wolfgang Petersen (1985)
Comanche Station - Budd Boetticher (1960)
Collateral - Michael Mann (2004)

(Note: Ratings updates in RED are not based on a revisit of the work DURING the listed week(s), but more a result of tweaks made in an overall sense, such as: a general change in the computation of the ratings scale itself, and/or comparisons to genre and/or the artist's career or alike careers. Such factors can have a sort of "domino effect" on the ratings in general, or that of a particular artist or type of artist, or that of a particular genre, etc)

FAMILIAR FILMS - RE-RATED:
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974) 7.9/10 to 8.0/10; 8.0/10 to 8.1/10
Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman (1973) 8.1/10 to 8.0/10
Blow Out - Brian De Palma (1981) 7.9/10 to 8.0/10
Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes] 8.1/10 to 8.0/10
Being John Malkovich - Spike Jonze (1999) 7.7/10 to 7.8/10
Blade Runner 2049 - Denis Villeneuve (2017) 6.9/10 to 7.0/10
For a Few Dollars More - Sergio Leone (1965) Not Rated to 6.9/10
Witness - Peter Weir (1985) Not Rated to 6.9/10
Gremlins - Joe Dante (1984) Not Rated to 6.8/10 ... Was great to revisit after so many years. This was, I believe, the first film I ever saw in theaters as a kid, and if I recall correctly that was more like 1986 in a second run theater (back when movies would stick around a while before video-only). Of course, back then, I missed all the subtext, and although I've seen it a couple times since, it's probably been 20 or so years and I had forgot just how much of a forerunner to Burton's Mars Attacks this is (fundamentally, a "small town" precursor). The movie is obviously very dumb from an intellectual or "sci-fi" stand point (I dunno Protagonists, how about arming yourselves with flash lights!?!?), but even this stupidity is probably part of its satire on the "oblivious negative effects, and oblivious consumerism and stupidity of Americans". And as a whole, this is an awesome send up and satire on those very ideologies and values: from its nod to Josef von Sternberg in the opening Chinatown sequence (itself a warning to the amoral destruction that's coming, just as von Sternberg did for cinema/Hollywood, just as the film will proceed to do to "It's a Wonderful Life"...), to its hilarious reconstruction of what is basically a wink wink nod to the set and world of aforementioned It's a Wonderful Life (at Christmas time of course! The ultimate consumer holiday!) and, of course, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (each of which the characters watch on TV in the movie, yet remain oblivious to the signs). To the wholesome all-American consumer cuteness of the original Gremlin; to the hilarious and absurd amoral metaphor to consumerism in how easily they procreate; to their disgusting "gluttony" in how they non-stop consume food, to how they kill and are killed in outrageous symbols of the war violence of America (using "lazy" American tools that "make life easier" to do so: Microwaves, the dad's idiotic inventions, as gruesome killing machines), while the Gremlins themselves become absurd symbols of the stupidity, irresponsibility and thoughtless violence of (especially war-time) American society (as psychotic cruel killing machines, to crazy bar hoppers in drunken revelry, to the insane gathering in the good 'ol fashioned movie theater all the while consuming like crazy, to the toy store finale...). Naturally the film is populated by stupid and hilarious send-up human characters too: from the lovely housewife that transforms into a bloodthirsty killer, to stupid police caricatures, to the evil head towns woman meeting the most awesome and hilarious death in the movie, to the stupid entrepreneur dad that is the symbol of "American advancement" (and trade with "foreign" -- far wiser -- "adversaries", in Chinatown), to the young protagonist that has to commit increasing (often gruesome) crimes to win while suffering basically no adverse psychological effects (such as: break into the school at night, discover the dead teacher, the gremlins' outrageous violence and outrageously violent deaths, blowing up the movie theater, not seeming to be hindered by the criminal implications and aftermath of his and his dad's mistakes despite death and destruction to the whole town ... everything is fine in the end when Gizmo is retrieved, totally fine with the news lying about what happened [another comment on Hollywood endings and America too]). I wonder if Producer Spielberg was in on the joke the film is drawing with his own ET (the ultimate blockbuster and consumer cinema product of the time, after Star Wars) with the cute and harmless and cuddly Mogwai referencing the friendly alien of ET,
before spawning the mockingly evil gremlins (or aliens, what they'd really be like to us) essentially destroying the Spielberg production as the plot of the movie itself (laying apocalyptic death and destruction to the film set and the cast, while referencing, mocking and laying waste to his blockbuster-Hollywood values). Wickedly hilarious.
Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson (1989) Not Rated to 6.6/10
Enemy Mine - Wolfgang Petersen (1985) Not Rated to 6.1/10
Collateral - Michael Mann (2004) Not Rated to 5.0/10

NEWLY ASSIMILATED FILMS - RATED:
Comanche Station - Budd Boetticher (1960) 6.3/10???? ... Have a feeling I am rating this prematurely, given it is my only experience (that I know of) with Boetticher's cinema, and given it's pretty high acclaim from Scaruffi and others more familiar with this director's works. There are several subtle points of interest about the film and it is often heralded for its efficiency. I am hesitant that these are purely pluses though. For instance, supposedly (per some analysis I've seen) the Comanches throwing spears are also phallic symbols (seriously?). Maybe this was the director's intent but it seems to be a rather silly and very miscellaneous attempt at metaphor/symbolism, as it is no more distinguished cinematically, how it is shot (etc) -- unless I'm missing something -- than any other Western featuring Comanche's spear-throwing (ex: if, say, Bunuel were making this point there would probably be a strikingly cinematic juxtaposition with some subversive action or erotic or phallic symbol to make it compelling and immersive; obviously a very different director and this is a rather extreme example to make a point at the other end of the spectrum for comparison). Of perhaps more interest that I may need to view more closely next time is the frequently jagged rocky terrain; there is apparently more visual symbology here than the danger of their predicament (perhaps sexual). The most interesting thing about the film is probably the general lack of extended action and the gradual unveiling of the psychology of the main characters, each starting of with no exposition related to past or their actual (home) environments, and this gets peeled away scene by scene to an unexpected and surprising ending that only furthers the vaguely alluded sexual tension and subtext between the leads. Seems inspired by The Searchers in both it's subtextual inclinations and some of the plot points, but given the director's earlier cinema that I'm told this references (and that I haven't seen) it may be the other way around.

TOP 50 WORKS OF ART OF THE YEAR (2021)
Sistine Chapel (Ceiling & The Last Judgment) - Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512; 1541)
Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom (2010)
Escalator Over The Hill - Carla Bley (1971)
Even the Sounds Shine - Myra Melford (1994)
Original Sin - Pandora's Box (1989)
Dreamtime Return - Steve Roach (1988)
Rock Bottom - Robert Wyatt (1974)
The Garden of Earthly Delights - Hieronymus Bosch (circa 1495-1505)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958)
Symphony No. 9 in C Major "The Great" - Franz Schubert (1826)
Neu! - Neu! (1971)
Spiderland - Slint (1991)
Improvisie - Paul Bley (1971)
Afternoon of a Georgia Faun - Marion Brown (1970)
The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails (1994)
The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci (1497)
Nostalghia - Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
Symphony No. 9 in D Major - Gustav Mahler (1910)
Stalker - Andrei Tarkovsky (1979)
Spirit of Eden - Talk Talk (1988)
Blue - Joni Mitchell (1971)
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824)
The Rite of Spring - Igor Stravinsky (1913)
Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major "Eroica" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804)
Let the Evil of His Own Lips Cover Him - Lingua Ignota (2017)
America - John Fahey (1971)
It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back - Public Enemy (1988)
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor - Ludwig van Beethoven (1808)
Lorca - Tim Buckley (1969)
Down Colorful Hill - Red House Painters (1992)
Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (1966)
Symphony No. 8 in B Minor "Unfinished" - Franz Schubert (1822)
Yerself Is Steam - Mercury Rev (1991)
Da Capo - Love (1966)
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)
Symphony No. 2 in D Major - Johannes Brahms (1877)
Symphonie Fantastique - Hector Berlioz (1830)
Symphony No. 8 in C minor "Stalingrad" - Dmitri Shostakovich (1943)
Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat Major - Franz Schubert (1828)
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1888)
Symphony No. 4 in F Minor - Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1878)
Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Radio Gnome Invisible Part 1: Flying Teapot - Gong (1973)
Perfect From Now On - Built To Spill (1997)
The Modern Dance - Pere Ubu (1978)
The Doors - The Doors (1966)
Dummy - Portishead (1994)
Strange Days - The Doors (1967)
Thelma - Joachim Trier (2017)
La Haine - Mathieu Kassovitz (1996)
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[homelessking]

Hmmm insights on Miss Fortune? The part from min 9 to min 11 is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard

[AfterHours]

[TiggaTrigga]

Since you listened to Suicide recently, thoughts on the song Che? It sounds like a mourning for Che Guevara, but it also doesn't.

[AfterHours]

Revisiting Slint's masterpiece, Spiderland, several times in the last couple weeks, I was reminded of this amusing and prophetic review that I read when discovering the album for myself over 20 years ago:

Slint - Spiderland
This 1991 Melody Maker review could have been written today.

“Since about 1980, America has been host to an ever-increasing parasitic infestation of rock bands of ever-dwindling originality. It seems there is no one left on the continent with an aspiration to play guitar that hasn’t formed a band and released a record. And that record sounds a little bit like Dinosaur Jr.

Trust me on this; all but maybe three of those records are pure bullshit.

My primary association with rock music is that I am a fan of it, though listening to the aforementioned nearly killed that. In its best state, rock music invigorates me, changes my mood, triggers introspection or envelopes me with sheer sound. Spiderland does all those things, simultaneously and in turns, more than any records I can think of in five years.

Spiderland is, unfortunately, Slint’s swansong, the band having succumbed to the internal pressures which eventually punctuate all bands’ biographies. It’s an amazing record though, and no one still capable of being moved by rock music should miss it. In 10 years it will be a landmark and you’ll have to scramble to buy a copy then. Beat the rush.

Slint formed in 1986 as an outlet and pastime for four friends from Louisville, Kentucky. Their music was strange, wholly their own, sparse and tight. What immediately set them apart was their economy and precision. Slint was that rare band willing to play just one or two notes at a time and sometimes nothing at all. Their only other recording, 1989’s Tweez hints at their genius, but only a couple of the tracks have anything like the staying power of Spiderland.

Spiderland is a majestic album, sublime and strange, made more brilliant by its simplicity and quiet grace. Songs evolve and expand from simple statements that are inverted and truncated in a manner that seems spontaneous, but is so precise and emphatic that it must be intuitive or orchestrated or both.

Straining to find a band to compare them with, I can only think of two, and Slint doesn’t sound anything like either of them. Structurally and in tone, they recall Television circa Marquee Moon and Crazy Horse, whose simplicity they echo and whose style they most certainly do not.

To whom would Pere Ubu or Chrome have been compared in 1972? Forgive me, I am equally clueless.

Slint’s music has always been primarily instrumental, and Spiderland isn’t a radical departure, but the few vocals are among the most pungent of any album around. When I first heard Brian McMahan whisper the pathetic words to “Washer”, I was embarrased for him. When I listened to the song again, the content eluded me and I was staggered by the sophistication and subtle beauty of the phrasing. The third time, the story made me sad nearly to tears. Genius.

Spiderland is flawless. The dry, unembellished recording is so revealing it sometimes feels like eavesdropping. The crystalline guitar of Brian McMahan and the glassy, fluid guitar of David Pajo seem to hover in space directly past the listener’s nose. The incredibly precise-yet-instinctive drumming has the same range and wallop it would in your living room.

Only two other bands have meant as much to me as Slint in the past few years and only one of them, The Jesus Lizard, have made a record this good. We are in a time of midgets: dance music, three varieties of simple-minded hard rock genre crap, soulless-crooning, infantile slogan-studded rap and ball-less balladeering. My instincts tell me the dry spell will continue for a while - possibly until the bands Slint will inspire reach maturity. Until then, play this record and kick yourself if you never got to see them live. In ten years, you’ll lie like the cocksucker you are and say you did anyway.

Ten fucking stars.”

—Steve Albini.
_________________
Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

[homelessking]

Have you listened to these transcriptions? https://youtu.be/1kTOxGpBLu0 Make me wish TMR was better produced as I didn't realize there were counterpoints going on at 1:40 and 2:24 at all