Top 10+ Music, Movies, and Visual Art of the Week (2025) - Music Diaries

Facetious

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Location: Somewhere you've never been

Intrigued to see where this goes. Some suggestions: Don Hertzfeldt's work (especially It's Such a Beautiful Day), Wes Anderson's animated films, pretty much everything from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli in general (will think of more anime recs too). Hoping the list can include animated series at some point too.

homelessking

Do you prefer the mono or stereo version of Meet The Residents? Also some insights on the overall meaning of the album?

TiggaTrigga

Recs:
Ratatouille
The Secret of NIMH
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (though it may not make complete sense if you haven't seen the show)
Shrek 2 (can't see you rating this higher than a 6 but who knows...)
Fantastic Planet
Watership Down

Also, what makes Wall-E worthy of a 7.0?

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

Facetious wrote:

Intrigued to see where this goes. Some suggestions: Don Hertzfeldt's work (especially It's Such a Beautiful Day), Wes Anderson's animated films, pretty much everything from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli in general (will think of more anime recs too). Hoping the list can include animated series at some point too.

Thank you for the reminder on Hertzfeldt. I added It's Such a Beautiful Day into the 7s though I may need to revisit it at some point to be sure as that is an estimated rating from seeing it years ago. Haven't seen the two Wes Anderson's so I added them to "need to see". Miyazaki is possibly the greatest animated film maker ever so his key works are a given. Not sure about watching whole series of shows, unless I decide out of no where that I want to spend a lot more time on this -- it will more than likely be a temporary hobby that I may return to from time to time as I cycle through rounds of film watching.
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AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

homelessking wrote:

Do you prefer the mono or stereo version of Meet The Residents? Also some insights on the overall meaning of the album?

Original Mono (Extended)

It's very Dada-ist, an unending barrage of nonsense and maniacal satire on "pop culture" and the like, fittingly masquerading as an early Beatles album. It can probably be viewed as something approaching a reverse of the Beatles music, making a mockery of "mainstream music" and it's expected institutional aims, becoming something quite bizarre, alienating, haunting, surreal.

It can almost be heard as an (indirect) bizarro world rendition of the "Pop Art" of "Revolver" even if it's cover mocks Meet The Beatles. By "indirect" I mean that it isn't directly referencing any of Revolver's music but could perhaps be heard as a bizarro world version of similar pop art aims.

Scaruffi: "Meet The Residents (1974) gave "devolution" a sound. Inspired by Dada, surrealism and Frank Zappa, the Residents assembled fragments and debris of junk culture (commercials, orchestral easy-listening, cartoon soundtracks, pop muzak, exotica, marching-band fanfares) and proceeded to sculpt a sonic montage that was deliberately amateurish but also provided a chilling documentary of the western civilization, albeit disguised as a grotesque parody of its consumerism."

Scaruffi: "The catalog of the gimmicks is practically infinite. All the pieces are experiments in tonal poems."

Maybe I'll say some more precise interesting points on it whenever I revisit it next and have it more closely in mind.
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TiggaTrigga

AfterHours wrote:

Not sure about watching whole series of shows, unless I decide out of no where that I want to spend a lot more time on this -- it will more than likely be a temporary hobby that I may return to from time to time as I cycle through rounds of film watching.

Well in case you do, here's a list of ones that are among the best (tried to mainly just include short shows since shows are more time-consuming than movies):
-Cowboy Bebop
-Neon Genesis Evangelion
-The Simpsons (Seasons 3-8 )
-Daria
-Courage the Cowardly Dog
-Avatar: The Last Airbender
-Over the Garden Wall (this is only 10 episodes)
-Batman: The Animated Series
-South Park (the "golden era" imo starts at Season 3; long show, its peak probably ends after season 10)
-Moral Orel
-Bojack Horseman
-Duckman
-Teen Titans (the 2003 original)
-Samurai Jack
-Futurama (seasons 1-3)
-Bob's Burgers (long show btw)

You may end up finding these to be well-done:
-Invader ZIM
-Gravity Falls
-Spongebob Squarepants (Seasons 1-3)
-Ed, Edd'n Eddy (kinda dips off after Season 4)
-The Ren & Stimpy Show (seasons 1-2)
-The Fairly OddParents (seasons 1-4)
-Adventure Time (long show btw)
-Rick and Morty (seasons 1-2)
-Home Movies
-Beavis & Butthead

Though if you ever do animated shorts, I'd start with this: https://bit.ly/3wXAdjf

Hell, I'll even include episodes from shows I mentioned:
-Courage the Cowardly Dog: Last of the Starmakers, The Mask, Perfect, Remembrance of Courage Past, The Hunchback of Nowhere, King Ramses' Curse, The Tower of Dr. Zalost
-Cowboy Bebop: Ballad of Fallen Angels, Jupiter Jazz Pt. I & II, Mushroom Samba, Speak Like a Child, Hard Luck Woman (more impactful if you've watched the whole show), The Real Folk Blues Pt. I & II (more impactful if you've watched the whole show)
-Daria: Too Cute, The Misery Chick, Monster, Write Where It Hurts, The Lost Girls, Jake of Hearts, Groped by an Angel, Boxing Daria
-Neon Genesis Evangelion: (have to watch whole show to fully appreciate these) Hedgehog's Dilemma, At Least Be Human, The Beginning and the End
-Rick and Morty: Lawnmower Dog, Total Rickall
-Spongebob: Band Geeks, Chocolate With Nuts, Club Spongebob, The Campfire Episode, Frankendoodle, No Weenies Allowed, Nasty Patty, Naughty Nautical Neighbors, Graveyard Shift, Shanghaied
-Teen Titans: The Sum of His Parts, How Long Is Forever?, Transformation, Aftershock (more impactful if [...]), Haunted (more impactful if [...]), The End (more impactful if [...])
-The Fairly OddParents: Abracatasrophe!, Channel Chasers, The Grass Is Greener, The Boy Who Would Be Queen, The Switch Glitch
-The Simpsons (and this is just seasons 3-5): Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, When Flanders Failed, Dog of Death, Homer the Heretic, Lisa the Beauty Queen, Lisa's First Word, Marge vs. the Monorail, I Love Lisa, Last Exit to Springfield, Krusty Gets Kancelled, Cape Feare, Rosebud, The Last Temptation of Homer, Lisa vs. Mailbu Stacy, Deep Space Homer, Homer Loves Flanders, Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song

Facetious

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Location: Somewhere you've never been

Great list above, would add Satoshi Kon's Paranoia Agent, as well as Downtown, Monkey Dust, and Captain Star.

Also, something that occurred to me while looking at the Simpsons episode titles: what are your thoughts on Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song?

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

TiggaTrigga wrote:

Recs:
Ratatouille
The Secret of NIMH
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (though it may not make complete sense if you haven't seen the show)
Shrek 2 (can't see you rating this higher than a 6 but who knows...)
Fantastic Planet
Watership Down

Also, what makes Wall-E worthy of a 7.0?

Thanks, I've seen these: Ratatouille, Shrek 2 and Watership Down, and added to the "not yet rated" category below the main list. I haven't seen the others and added those to the "need to see" one.

Wall-E: Besides the predictable outcome of the ending (which is temporarily kind of moving and isn't especially terrible, it just could've been more powerful and meaningful if it avoided cliche), it rarely makes a mis-step. The animation/graphics are superb, a near-perfect balance of visual art between an evocative near-realism, superb animation and evocative dystopia (the city and space ship scenes) and beauty (the space scenes, color wheel, the art of its aesthetic in general). Even the multitude of action scenes over the last portion of the film, which could've become tiresome (and in so many films are mailed-in, needlessly contrived to turn a film into "an action packed blockbuster") are, in this case, pretty inventive in how their action takes place (all the different robots and their varied abilities/antics, and the funny follies and stupidity of the humans, especially when they fall out of their motorized seats and don't know what to do with their legs), with some moments of real suspense (between Wall-E and Eve) while maintaining an artistic interest due to its visual aesthetic. On the space ship is a pretty funny satire on humanity and the direction of our current society (hooked into their devices 24/7, moved around and catered to by machines at all times, fat, lazy and stupid). This is juxtaposed ironically with the interaction, care, awareness of their environment, and actions between Wall-E and Eve, who are far more "human" and interesting as characters. Above all, much of the film is essentially a "silent film" (with sound effects), that harks back (and is an homage) to Chaplin's masterpieces (which are perhaps the summit of cinematic humanity). Again it is intentionally ironic and metaphorical that a robot character, well into the future, has taken this place. Wall-E as a character is a robotized combo of E.T. and Charlie Chaplin. His expressions are filled with a sweet sincerity, a nuance and ingenuity, his actions in the folly, clumsiness, and "accidental winning genius" of his moves and decisions, all harking back to and worthy of the genius of Chaplin's Little Tramp.
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Last edited by AfterHours on 04/04/2022 20:58; edited 1 time in total

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

@ TiggaTrigga

Thanks for all those recs of TV series. I've seen a decent helping of several of those shows at one point in time or another. Sorry but it is a very low priority for me to go through those shows and try and rate/rank them, especially individual episodes -- except for probably Neon Genesis (to prep for End of Evangelion, both of which I've never seen: series or the movie). Otherwise, I just don't know if something like that will ever become important enough for to devote my time to beyond my favorite art forms that are already too time consuming in relation to regular life.

Why don't you and/or Facetious compile a rated/ranked list of those series? You've already seen all of them it appears... Think

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Last edited by AfterHours on 04/04/2022 21:03; edited 1 time in total

AfterHours

Gender: Male

Location: The Zone

IN PROGRESS

Working on this at the moment... Recommendations welcome of course... (several I've seen that I still need to add ... also several I still need to see)

Best Animated Films of All Time

7.5/10
<<<<<7.6>>>>>
Perfect Blue - Satoshi Kon (1997)
<<<<<7.5>>>>>
It's Such a Beautiful Day - Don Hertzfeldt (2012)
<<<<<7.3>>>>>
Spirited Away - Hayao Miyazaki (2001)
Waltz With Bashir - Ari Folman (2008)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Robert Zemeckis (1988)

7/10
<<<<<7.2>>>>>
Princess Mononoke - Hayao Miyazaki (1997)
<<<<<7.1>>>>>
<<<<<7.0>>>>>
WALL-E - Andrew Stanton (2008)
Inside Out - Pete Docter (2015)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Trey Parker (1999)
The Nightmare Before Christmas - Henry Selick (1993) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Grave of the Fireflies - Isao Takahata (1988)
Akira - Katsuhiro Otomo (1988)
<<<<<6.9>>>>>
Toy Story - John Lasseter (1995)
Waking Life - Richard Linklater (2001)
Alice - Jan Svankmajer (1988)
Bambi - David Hand (Walt Disney) (1942)
<<<<<6.8>>>>>
Fantasia - Walt Disney (1941) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Pinocchio - Ben Sharpsteen (Walt Disney) (1940)
Anomalisa - Charlie Kaufman (2015)

6.5/10
<<<<<6.7>>>>>
Toy Story 2 - John Lasseter (1999)
<<<<<6.6>>>>>
<<<<<6.5>>>>>
<<<<<6.4>>>>>
The Lion King - Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff (1994)
The Little Mermaid - Ron Clements and John Musker (1989)
A Scanner Darkly - Richard Linklater (2006)
<<<<<6.3>>>>>

6/10
<<<<<6.2>>>>>
Aladdin - Ron Clements and John Musker (1992)
<<<<<6.1>>>>>
Beauty and the Beast - Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (1991)
<<<<<6.0>>>>>
Up - Pete Docter (2009)
World of Tomorrow - Don Hertzfeldt (2015)
<<<<<5.9>>>>>
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit - Steve Box (2005) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
<<<<<5.8>>>>>
Alice in Wonderland - Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske (1951) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***

5.5/10
<<<<<5.7>>>>>
<<<<<5.6>>>>>
<<<<<5.5>>>>>
Finding Nemo - Andrew Stanton (2003)
<<<<<5.4>>>>>
<<<<<5.3>>>>>
The Incredibles - Brad Bird (2004)

5/10
<<<<<5.2>>>>>
<<<<<5.1>>>>>
<<<<<5.0>>>>>
The Land Before Time - Don Bluth (1988) ***tentative rating/may need a revisit***
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - David Hand (Walt Disney) (1937)
<<<<<4.9>>>>>
<<<<<4.8>>>>>

4.5/10
Dumbo - Ben Sharpsteen (Walt Disney) (1941)

4/10

3.5/10
Cinderella - Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi (1950)

NEED TO SEE:
The Adventures of Prince Achmed - Lotte Reiniger (1926)
Fantastic Planet - René Laloux (1973)
Allegro Non Troppo - Bruno Bozzetto (1976)
The Secret of NIMH - Don Bluth (1982)
Angel's Egg - Mamoru Oshii (1985)
When the Wind Blows - Jimmy T. Murakami (1986)
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion - Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki (1997) [note: probably need to see the Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series first]
Millennium Actress - Satoshi Kon (2001)
Avalon - Mamoru Oshii (2001)
The Triplets of Belleville - Sylvain Chomet (2003)
Tokyo Godfathers - Satoshi Kon (2003)
Howl's Moving Castle - Hayao Miyazaki (2004)
Paprika - Satoshi Kon (2006)
Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (2007)
Sita Sings the Blues - Nina Paley (2008)
Fantastic Mr Fox - Wes Anderson (2009)
Mary and Max - Adam Elliot (2009)
How To Train Your Dragon - Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (2010)
Consuming Spirits - Chris Sullivan (2012)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Isao Takahata (2013)
Song of the Sea - Tomm Moore (2014)
Coco - Lee Unkrich (2017)
Isle Of Dogs - Wes Anderson (2018)

ALREADY SEEN - NOT YET RATED:
Peter Pan - Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske (1953)
Lady and the Tramp - Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske (1955)
Sleeping Beauty - Clyde Geronimi (1959)
101 Dalmatians - Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske and Wolfgang Reitherman (1961)
The Jungle Book - Wolfgang Reitherman (1967)
Yellow Submarine - George Dunning (1968)
Fritz the Cat - Ralph Bakshi (1972)
Watership Down - Martin Rosen and John Hubley (1978)
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind - Hayao Miyazaki (1984)
My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki (1988)
FernGully: The Last Rainforest - Bill Kroyer (1992)
Cool World - Ralph Bakshi (1992)
Pocahontas - Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg (1995)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - Mike Judge (1996)
James and the Giant Peach - Henry Selick (1996)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise (1996)
Hercules - Ron Clements and John Musker (1997)
Mulan - Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft (1998)
A Bug's Life - John Lasseter (1998)
Antz - Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson (1998)
The Iron Giant - Brad Bird (1999)
Rejected - Don Hertzfeldt (2000)
Chicken Run - Peter Lord and Nick Park (2000)
Monsters, Inc. - Pete Docter (2001)
Shrek - Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson (2001)
Ice Age - Chris Wedge (2002)
Shrek 2 - Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon (2004)
Cars - John Lasseter (2006)
Ratatouille - Brad Bird (2007)
Shrek The Third - Chris Miller (2007)
Caroline - Henry Selick (2009)
Toy Story 3 - Lee Unkrich (2010)
Frozen - Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (2013)
The Lego Movie - Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (2014)
Toy Story 4 - Josh Cooley (2019)

ANIMATED TV SERIES - POTENTIAL WATCHES???:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Facetious/TiggaTrigga: I would suggest keeping Paranoia Agent high on your list of priorities, given that it's directed by Satoshi Kon and holds up next to his perfect filmography, plus only consists of 13 short episodes. Other interesting anime series that are short include Serial Experiments Lain (13 episodes), Kaiba (12 episodes), FLCL (6 episodes, practically feature film length as a whole).
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Last edited by AfterHours on 04/08/2022 21:17; edited 26 times in total