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Favorite Albums of 2022
20.) “Mercury” - The Range
19.) “Cool It Down” - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
18.) “Disrespectful” - Bad Boy Chiller Crew
17.) “Being Funny In A Foreign Language” - The 1975
16.) “Diaspora Problems” - Soul Glo
15.) “Un Verano Sin Ti” - Bad Bunny
14.) “Wet Leg” - Wet Leg
13.) “Saturno” - Rauw Alejandro
12.) “Heaven Come Crashing” - Rachika Nayar
11.) “Icons - EP” - Two Shell”
10.) “Ever Crashing” - SRSQ
9.) “Alpha Zulu” - Phoenix
8.) “The Loneliest Time” - Carly Rae Jepsen
7.) “MAHAL” - Toro Y Moi
6.) “Get Fucked” - The Chats
5.) “Once Twice Melody” - Beach House
4.) “RENAISSANCE” - Beyoncé
3.) “Florist” - Florist
2.) “Blue Rev” - Alvvays
1.) “Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You” - Big Thief
HONORABLE MENTION
*) “LABYRINTHITIS” - Destroyer
*) “MUNA” - MUNA
*) “Dawn FM” - The Weeknd
*) “Big Time” - Angel Olsen
*) “Topical Dancer” - Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul
*) “We Were Never Lost” - Causeway
*) “Animal Drowning” - Knifeplay
*) “Blending” - High Vis
*) “Black Girl Magic” - Honey Dijon
*) “Half Life” - CASTLEBEAT
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Favorite Albums of 2021
20.) “Mirror II” - The Goon Sax
19.) “star-crossed” - Kacey Musgraves
18.) “Show Me How You Disappear” - IAN SWEET
17.) “Cheap Dreams” - Small Black
16.) “Faceless” - Kontravoid
15.) “Lean Into Life” - Petey
14.) “Something For Thee Hotties” - Megan Thee Stallion
13.) “Crooked Machine” - Róisín Murphy
12.) “+/-” - Boys Noize
11.) “4 New Hit Songs - EP” - Doss
10.) “Shade” - Grouper
9.) “SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE” - ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH
8.) “Home Video” - Lucy Dacus
7.) “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” - Tyler, The Creator
6.) “An Overview On Phenomenal Nature” - Cassandra Jenkins
5.) “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” - The War On Drugs
4.) “Far In” - Helado Negro
3.) “Don’t Know What I Am” - Alien Boy
2.) “GLOW ON” - Turnstile
1.) “Infinite Granite” - Deafheaven
Honorable Mention
*) “Any Shape You Take” - Indigo De Souza
*) “KicK iii” - Arca
*) “Let Me Do One More” - illuminati hotties
*) “Fast Idol” - Black Marble
*) “All Day Gentle Hold !” - Porches
*) “Valentine” - Snail Mail
*) “The Asymptotical World EP” - Yves Tumor
*) “We Weren’t Here” - Film School
*) “CRAWLER” - IDOLS
*) “Bye Bye Baby” - Requin Chagrin
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Favorite Albums of 2020
20.) “Punisher”- Phoebe Bridgers
19.) “YHLQMDLG”- Bad Bunny
18.) “George Clanton and Nick Hexum”- George Clanton and Nick Hexum
17.) “songs”- Adrianne Lenker
16.) “Heaven To a Tortured Mind”- Yves Tumor
15.) “Eternal Atake”- Lil Uzi Vert
14.) “SUGAREGG”- Bully
13.) “Notes On A Conditional Form”- The 1975
12.) “how i’m feeling now”- Charli XCX
11.) “Good News”- Megan Thee Stallion
10.) “Pity Party”- Curtis Waters
9.) “Flower of Devotion”- Dehd
8.) “R.Y.C”- Mura Masa
7.) “Women in Music Pt. III”- HAIM
6.) “Saint Cloud”- Waxahatchee
5.) “KiCk i”- Arca
4.) “After Hours”- The Weeknd
3.) “What’s Your Pleasure?”- Jessie Ware
2.) “Róisín Machine”- Róisín Murphy
1.) “Warnings”- I Break Horses
Honorable Mention
*) “Seeking Thrills”- Georgia
*) “Set My Heart On Fire Immediately”- Perfume Genius
*) “Melee”- Dogleg
*) “græ”- Moses Sumney
*) “The Neon Skyline”- Andy Shauf
*) “RTJ4″- Run the Jewels
*) “DISCO”- Kylie Minogue
*) “Healing Is a Miracle”- Julianna Barwick
*) “SAWAYAMA”- Rina Sawayama
*) “Gathering Swans”- Choir Boy
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Favorite EP’s
1.) “And Other Things”- Routine
2.) “how will i rest in peace if i’m buried by a highway?//”- KennyHoopla
3.) “Checkin’ Up on Buds”- Petey
4.) “Last Year Was Weird, Vol. 2″- Tkay Maidza
5.) “I Must Be Living Twice”- Black Marble
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Favorite Songs of 2020
Listen Here!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/44RQQf9UaXmC0vrWF5icTl?si=TlzAOKdNRSKpUmCLtXUhkQ
20.) “Hide”- Washed Out
19.) “Si Veo a Tu Mamá”- Bad Bunny
18.) “Urgency (ft. Syd)”- Lil Uzi Vert
17.) “Pretty Please”- Dua Lipa
16.) “Stunnin’ (ft. Harm Franklin)”- Curtis Waters
15.) “Tokyo Love Hotel”- Rina Sawayama
14.) “Delete Forever”- Grimes
13.) “We Were Never Lost”- Causeway
12.) “Sorry Bro (I Love You)”- Dorian Electra
11.) “My High”- Disclosure & slowthai
10.) “Time”- Arca
9.) “Note To Self (ft. Empress Of)”- Jim-E Stack
8.) “We Got Together”- Róisín Murphy
7.) “Golden Age”- Black Marble
6.) “This Love Isn’t Crazy”- Carly Rae Jepsen
5.) “I Know The End”- Phoebe Bridgers
4.) “anthems”- Charli XCX
3.) “Say Something”- Kylie Minogue
2.) “Complainer”- Choir Boy
1.) “Lifetime”- Romy
Honorable Mention:
*) “Guys”- The 1975
*) “Last”- Tourist & The Range
*) “24 Hours”- Georgia
*) “Guilty Conscience”- 070 Shake
*) “Adore You”- Jessie Ware
*) “The Streets Where I Belong”- Annie
*) “TOY”- Chromatics
*) “DON’T TELL THE BOYS”- Petey
*) “And Other Things”- Routine
*) “Gospel For a New Century”- Yves Tumor
*) “Body”- Megan Thee Stallion
*) “Los Angeles”- HAIM
*) “Hit the Coast”- Future Islands
*) “The Flame”- AaRON
*) “DIET_”- Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats
Favorite Music Video
“Body”- Megan Thee Stallion
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AFI Thesis Mood Page
TONE & STYLE INSPIRATIONS:
CAMERA-MOVEMENT INSPIRATION:
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Favorite Films of 2019
10.) The Farewell
A movie that is just filled to the brim with pure joy that’s somehow seamlessly intertwined with existential melancholy throughout the duration of its runtime. Hearing the director say that she took so much inspiration from horror films in order to tell this heartwarming family story only solidified what a badass achievement it is. The Farewell makes me happy to be alive.
9.) The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse feels like it was beamed here from another planet--the kind of film I want to revisit again and again...but like, at 3am on a second wind of crazed insomnia. It’s deliriously funny and moody and creepy and achieves an infectious level of insanity that I could swim in for days. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are my favorite on-screen couple of 2019.
8.) Ma
Speaking of insanity...Ma (2019). This movie had already become a hilarious meme that I was sure the film itself would not live up to before I could see it...boy was I wrong! Ma was the most fun I had in a theater in 2019, consistently surpassing my (already low) expectations and always satiating my endless appetite for camp. I kind of can’t believe this movie exists, and look forward to the endless times I will beg someone to let me introduce them to it over a bottle of wine.
7.) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Per usual, I loved Quentin Tarantino’s new movie, and I loved how much heart and good will was flowing through this one after the searing politics of The Hateful Eight. That man just knows how to deliver a payoff, and he knows that he knows how to deliver a payoff. So keep ya think-pieces to yourself--I think it’s nearly impossible for him to soil his own oeuvre at this point.
6.) Portrait of a Lady On Fire
This felt like the lesbian response to Call Me By Your Name, and I mean that in the best way possible. Similarly to that movie, this film captures a sense of time, place, and feeling in such a way that it washes over you like the nostalgia of revisiting a journal about your first kiss. It broke my heart in a way that made me thankful I had a heart to be broken. I’d place it right alongside CMBYN and Linklater’s Before Trilogy in the pantheon of definitive love stories.
5.) Parasite
Parasite is a damn blast and everyone knows it. Bong Joon-ho has never been a man of small scale but by confining his story to a single house, he creates uninhibited cinematic fireworks. A timely allegory wrapped up in a film that is part comedy, part drama, part thriller, part Home Alone, and part horror film? Yes, please!
4.) Knife + Heart
I signed up for this movie for the throwback to campy Giallo horror films and was pleasantly surprised when I got not only that, but also a moving narrative about the maddening grief of heartbreak that seemed to exist within a utopian gay world where sex and queer-living were not only the norm, but an unapologetically fun norm. That was a long sentence...I don’t think there’s much more to say about Knife + Heart than that. ...Oh, it also has my favorite end credits of 2019!
3.) Midsommar
The breakup movie of the year, if not the decade (sorry, Marriage Story)--I think I had more conversations about this film than any other all year. Even when considering other folk horror films, Midsommar stands on its own as wholly original and unique, with an ending that’s nothing short of sublime. After Hereditary, my pal and I expected to leave the theatre feeling like shit, so I think it’s a testament to the movie’s magic that we instead walked out eager to find a bar where we could dance.
2.) Climax
No movie influenced my approach to filmmaking and my ideas about what I wanted to do with the format this year more so than Climax. Say what you will about Gaspar Noé’s provocative tendencies, but sometimes there’s something to be said for jumping off the subtlety-bandwagon and completely flooring the gas just because you can. Doing so has created his most accessible film to date, and I hadn’t been so thrilled by a viewing experience since Mad Max: Fury Road. There’s something beautifully tragic about seeing such a diverse and colorful cast of characters come together to make art that bangs as hard as the movie’s opening dance sequence, only to have them devolve and turn against each other when their party goes to hell. It’s easy to dismiss the film as “excessive,” but far from easy to match its ambition.
1.) The Beach Bum
A lot of filmmakers in 2019 seemed to discover a winning formula by allowing more joy to seep into their typically dark and/or sardonic subject matter (e.g. The Lighthouse, Midsommar, Climax, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, etc.). Harmony Korine has built his career on making films that are infinitely more fucked up than those of these other filmmakers and never apologizing in favor of holding up a middle finger. What’s fascinating about The Beach Bum is that Korine somehow manages to pivot so far into the territory of unbridled joy that it seemingly still warrants an apology. Many people hated the film, sometimes citing it as hedonistic, rude, “gross,” or all three. A few people walked out of my screening when I saw it. This is probably because The Beach Bum is as unafraid of all the raunchy, shocking, seedy aspects of the human condition as any of Korine’s previous films. But the thing that makes The Beach Bum different is that rather than use those aspects to actually shock people, here it feels that Korine is simply trying to employ them to celebrate life. To celebrate that we all have assholes and elbows and that life’s imperfect and THAT’S OKAY! Whether Matthew McConaughey’s “Moondog” is having raucous sex covered in cooking oil in a burger joint, or comforting a loved one as they pass away, the movie’s delightful score (like something out of a Disney film) never lets up--it’s like the film equivalent of one of my favorite quotes: “Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react to it.” And no matter the circumstances, Moondog always opts for the high road (on multiple levels). This movie comforts me to no end, and I frequently find myself repeating Moondog’s mantra: “This life gig’s a fuckin’ rodeo. I’m gonna suck the nectar out of it and fuck it raw-dog until the wheels come off.”
Lots of films in 2019 held a mirror to our society just to show us how ugly the reflection was. But The Beach Bum (and Moondog) gives us something to believe in.
Honorable Mention:
*) Uncut Gems
*) Jojo Rabbit
*) 1917
*) The Nightingale
*) Toy Story 4
*) Waves
*) The Irishman
*) Little Women
*) Queen & Slim
*) Knives and Skin
*) Crawl
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Favorite Albums of 2019
20.) “Nothing Great About Britain”- slowthai
19.) “Outer Peace”- Toro y Moi
18.) “Remind Me Tomorrow”- Sharon Van Etten
17.) “Too Deep”- Kontravoid
16.) “Two Hands”- Big Thief
15.) “Jaime”- Brittany Howard
14.) “i, i”- Bon Iver
13.) “Young Enough”- Charly Bliss
12.) “Punk”- CHAI
11.) "Cuz I Love You”- Lizzo
10.) “Slayyyter”- Slayyyter
9.) “Norman Fucking Rockwell!”- Lana Del Rey
8.) “main pop girl 2019″- default genders
7.) “Quiet Signs”- Jessica Pratt
6.) “This Is How You Smile”- Helado Negro
5.) “All Mirrors”- Angel Olsen
4.) “MAGDALENE”- FKA twigs
3.) “Dedicated”- Carly Rae Jepsen
2.) “Keepsake”- Hatchie
1.) “U.F.O.F.”- Big Thief
Honorable Mention:
*) “Anger Management”- Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats
*) “Soft Landing”- Sandro Perri
*) “Spirit of the Stairs: B-Sides & Rarities”- Nothing
*) “1000 gecs”- 100 gecs
*) “House of Sugar”- (Sandy) Alex G
*) “IGOR”- Tyler, the Creator
*) “Patience”- Mannequin Pussy
*) “No Geography”- The Chemical Brothers
*) “Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs”- Blood Cultures
*) “Saves the World”- MUNA
*) “Jpeg”- Digitalism
***2019 was a musically solid end to the decade! Here’s to more great tunes and music memories with my peeps in the next one <3
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Favorite Songs of 2019
20.) “Nites Likes This”- Choir Boy
19.) “ZORA”- Jamila Woods
18.) “Chrysalis”- Empire of the Sun
17.) “Iris”- TR/ST
16.) “Never Really Over”- Katy Perry
15.) “Thinkin Bout You”- Ciara
14.) “Too Deep”- Kontravoid
13.) “Cold”- Rico Nasty & Kenny Beats
12.) “Curly Adventure”- CHAI
11.) “It’s Gonna Be Okay, Baby”- MUNA
10.) “mirrored heart”- FKA twigs
9.) “Tattoo”- Slayyyter
8.) “Open Desert”- Big Thief
7.) “Capacity”- Charly Bliss
6.) “secret garden .NUXX”- default genders
5.) “Aeroplane”- Jessica Pratt
4.) “Stay With Me”- Hatchie
3.) “Julien”- Carly Rae Jepsen
2.) “Cellophane”- FKA twigs
1.) “About Work the Dancefloor”- Georgia
Honorable Mention
*) “Drunk II”- Mannequin Pussy
*) “Now I’m In It”- HAIM
*) “Juice”- Lizzo
*) “True Blue (ft. Angel Olsen)”- Mark Ronson
*) “Time for Crime”- Orion
*) “Fading”- Toro Y Moi
*) “Tonight”- Angel Olsen
*) “money machine”- 100 gecs
*) “Time (You Got Me)”- Sandro Perri
*) “Hot Girl Summer (ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign)”- Megan Thee Stallion
*) “Fantasma Vaga”- Helado Negro
*) “Supernature (Instrumental CLIMAX Edit)”- Cerrone
*) “On the Wall”- Chromatics
*) “Heavy Water / I’d Rather Be Sleeping”- Nothing
Favorite Music Video
“Cellophane”- FKA twigs
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Favorite Films of 2018
10.) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
While the plot looks dull on paper, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is unexpectedly charming, a little heartbreaking, and totally endearing. Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant lift the film above and beyond with splendidly beguiling performances that remind us of the hope that’s always just around the corner from bitterness and scorn.
9.) First Reformed
First Reformed is the kind of film that keeps coming back to your mind both when you least expect it and when you need a reference to prove to your friends that the world is going to hell. It’s a masterclass in expertly crafted feel-bad cinema, but all the more noteworthy for being some of Paul Schrader’s most galvanizing work.
8.) Vox Lux
Vox Lux is unlike any film I saw this year or any film I’ve ever seen for that matter. Nearly every aspect of the film--from the camerawork to the screenplay to the performances--swing for the fences just because they can, and it has an aggressively manic energy I can only compare to one of my all-time favorite films: Showgirls. While the question of if it has anything profound to say remains to be seen, I think it succeeds at capturing some rather ugly truths about American culture and entertainment, and honestly it’s just so relentlessly entertaining that profundity kinda falls by the wayside.
7.) Blockers
Hands down the best comedy of 2018--Blockers not only matches the laugh-factor of Judd Apatow & Co.’s best output, but it also goes a step further than most of those films by being delightfully feminist and forward-thinking. Forget Love, Simon--this was the LGBTQ-positive teen-film we needed in 2018!
6.) Roma
With Roma, Alfonso Cuaron utilizes many skills he’s developed making big loud movies in order to tell his most quietly moving story yet. Roma is emotionally devastating but creates a hero for the ages in the form of Cleo, as we watch her traverse the unpredictable tides of her life. Cuaron has always had a knack for stories that draw attention to how big our lives feels despite how very very small they are, and Roma feels like his thesis statement.
5.) The Favourite
The Favourite is just so diabolically fun and easily my favo(u)rite Yorgos Lanthimos film to date. Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz all turn in some career-best work as we watch them claw and clamber for false fulfillment. The pitch-black script might be more of a lesson in getting what one deserves, but boy is it thrilling to watch those three get it!
4.) Hereditary
Hereditary is completely entirely all the way fucked up, and I relished it for that. Toni Collette’s performance was without question and untouchably the best female performance in a film in all of 2018 (and of course severely snubbed for awards seeing as how it was in a horror film). The only thing that lingered with me more than much of the film’s disturbing and genuinely creepy imagery was its concept that the rancor and harmful tendencies of our relatives could be unavoidably “hereditary.” Now that’s scary!
3.) Minding the Gap
Minding the Gap is mind-blowing not just because it was shot by [what was essentially] a kid over the course of 12 years, but also because that kid (Bing Liu) manages to pull over a decade’s worth of raw documentary footage into such a cohesive and emotionally affecting story. A beautiful coming-of-age film and a heartbreaking rumination on the nature of abuse and its cycles.
2.) Suspiria
Apparently this is a hate-it-or-love-it kind of film, but at two and a half hours I somehow found Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria to be one of the most compulsively watchable movies of the year. The film entwines feminism, horror, and sexuality so efficiently that even its cuts and edits feel like they’re pulsating with sensuality. Its impressive in how deliberately rhythmic it feels. I also loved that you can either spend your time picking apart its philosophies and metaphors, or you can simply bask in how batshit crazy it is. Not to mention there’s a death in the first half that will go down in history as one of the most jaw-droppingly brutal and brilliantly edited scenes in horror history. More horror epics, please!
1.) Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
No film in 2018 moved me as much as the Mr. Rogers documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. By putting just as much focus on Fred Rogers’ intentions and goals as it does on the man himself, the film manages to be not just humorous, heartwarming, and cynicism-killing...but also flat-out important. I’ve heard my share of complaints that the film doesn’t touch more on Mr. Rogers’ doubts and faults in favor of canonizing him, but in a time when many of our beloved heroes are being outed as racists and sexual offenders, is that really what anyone needs at this point? By instead putting focus on pushing Fred Rogers’ message of love and acceptance onwards to generations that didn’t grow up with him, the film acts as a necessary tonic for these dark divided times. Mr. Rogers’ quote in the film of “You don’t ever have to do anything sensational for people to love you,” has repeated in my head since the day I first saw the movie. When I walked out of the theatre after seeing it for a second time, I actually overheard a group of adults of different gender and race who’d just walked out of the same screening. They were coworkers wearing matching badges and a lady leading the group said to them, “I just wanted to bring you all to see this so that I could tell you all that I love you and that I’m so thankful to work with you and have you in my life,” and then they all hugged each other. I mean come on, if this isn’t what people should make movies for, then what is?!
Honorable Mention
*) Paddington 2
*) Shoplifters
*) Eighth Grade
*) Mission Impossible: Fallout
*) They Shall Not Grow Old
*) First Man
*) A Star Is Born
*) Support the Girls
*) Annihilation
*) Black Panther
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Favorite Albums of 2018
20.) “Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten”- ionnalee
19.) “Safe in the Hands of Love”- Yves Tumor
18.) “Be the Cowboy”- Mitski
17.) “Slide”- George Clanton
16.) “Amends”- Them Are Us Too
15.) “O”- SSION
14.) “Invasion of Privacy”- Cardi B
13.) “Ephorize”- cupcakKe
12.) “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships”- The 1975
11.) “My Mind Makes Noises”- Pale Waves
10.) “Kiss Yr Frenemies”- illuminati hotties
9.) “Knock Knock”- DJ Koze
8.) “OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES”- SOPHIE
7.) “Dirty Computer”- Janelle Monae
6.) “I’m All Ears”- Let’s Eat Grandma
5.) “Lush”- Snail Mail
4.) “Snares Like a Haircut”- No Age
3.) “Honey”- Robyn
2.) “Golden Hour”- Kacey Musgraves
1.) “7″- Beach House
Honorable Mention
*) “Ordinary Corrupt Human Love”- Deafheaven
*) “Black Panther: The Album”- Kendrick Lamar/ Various Artists
*) “abysskiss”- Adrianne Lenker
*) “Come Over When You’re Sober, Pt. 2″- Lil Peep
*) “Little Dark Age”- MGMT
*) “Imaginary Music”- Chad Valley
*) “Freedom”- Amen Dunes
*) “DiCaprio 2″- JID
*) “Sugar & Spice- EP”- Hatchie
*) “boygenius- EP”- boygenius
Shouts out to all my music buddies for eternally listening, sharing, and enjoying with me. My music memories are best when they’re with you <3
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Favorite Songs of 2018
20.) “Party for One”- Carly Rae Jepsen
19.) “Sanctuary”- Ruby Haunt
18.) “When I’m With Him”- Empress Of
17.) “Baby I’m Bleeding”- JPEGMAFIA
16.) “Memento (ft. Barbelle)”- ionnalee
15.) “Nice For What”- Drake
14.) “WTP”- Teyana Taylor
13.) “Anna Wintour”- Azealia Banks
12.) “Girls Night Out”- Charlie XCX
11.) “Cartoons”- CupcakKe
10.) “About You”- G Flip
9.) “It’s Not Just Me”- Let’s Eat Grandma
8.) “Cruise Control”- No Age
7.) “Oh, What a World”- Kacey Musgraves
6.) “Immaterial”- SOPHIE
5.) “Heart To Break”- Kim Petras
4.) “Noises”- Pale Waves
3.) “Me and Michael”- MGMT
2.) “Woo”- Beach House
1.) “Honey”- Robyn
Honorable Mention
*) “You Lost Me There”- George Clanton
*) “thank u, next”- Ariana Grande
*) “Please Won’t Please”- Helado Negro
*) “Pynk”- Janelle Monae
*) “Dancing”- Kylie Minogue
*) “Pristine”- Snail Mail
*) “I Like It (ft. Bad Bunny & J Balvin)”- Cardi B
*) “Heaven Is My Thing Again (ft. MNDR, Jametatone, & Ian Isiah)”- SSION
*) “Life is Beautiful”- Lil Peep
*) “Grey Water”- Them Are Us Too
*) “In Another Life”- Sandro Perri
*) “Bitch I’m Nasty”- Rico Nasty
*) “The walker”- Christine and The Queens
Favorite Music Video
“This is America”- Childish Gambino
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Favorite Films of 2017
10.) Dunkirk
An ambitious and admirably different approach to the standard war story, Dunkirk does a stupendous job of plunging you into the visceral dread and noise of a battleground, and I found it resonated even more strongly emotionally upon a second viewing.
9.) Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
I feel Three Billboards has lately fallen victim to the trend set with last year’s La La Land in which a movie with the best of intentions gets an unfair narrative attached to it by the PC Police of the online world who have nothing better to do. Although the film is not without its flaws, it could not be more timely with its themes of what happens when people respond to hot-button issues with ever surmounting anger. I still enjoy it upon repeated viewings. Also Frances McDormand’s powerhouse of a performance is undeniable.
8.) Raw
Anyone who knows me knows I have a high tolerance for horror film gore and gross-outs, so hats off to Raw for being one of the first films in…maybe ever..to actually make me queasy in a theatre (Although I’m sure the soggy turkey sandwich I snuck into the theatre didn’t help matters). The film works so well, however, because it grounds its shocks in the very real fear of our own unwanted desires and raw primal urges that rear their ugly heads with the onset of adolescence—all in the form of a badass feminist moral. It also ranks in the best cinematography onscreen all year.
7.) Beach Rats
Although much of Beach Rats’ power lies in the intoxicating breakthrough performance of lead Harris Dickinson, the majority is undoubtedly indebted to its female writer/director, Eliza Hittman. Hittman takes a fairly standard queer coming-of-age story, and with a quiet and erotically hypnotic approach to it, she exposes the devastating effects of toxic masculinity through images that speak volumes more than words could do.
6.) I, Tonya
Watching I, Tonya reminded me of an essay I wrote in college on the birth of media obsession with violence and shock-pieces in the 1990s. And while it’s thrilling to watch the absurdity of the true story unfold (with audiences laughing merrily along at domestic violence and child abuse), it was even more thrilling to arrive at I, Tonya’s conclusion—a sucker-punch satirical takedown of this destructive habit of American culture. Obviously no improvements have been made in 2018, but that’s part of the film’s power. Not to mention the power of its performances! (Shouts out to Margot Robbie in that courtroom scene, and Paul Walter Hauser in a horrendously overlooked best supporting performance of the year).
5.) mother!
Although Noah was far from Darren Aronofsky’s best film, many people didn’t hesitate to admire the impressive “origin of life” montage that occurs in its latter half. Well…Aronofsky’s take on the origin of humanity is nothing compared to the bitch-slap of an experience that is his take on humanity’s fiery self-destruction in mother!. Ya either love it or ya hate it, and I love it more and more with every viewing. Jennifer Lawrence gives a towering (albeit overlooked) performance that evolves from 0 to 100 and beyond with expert precision. I won’t be surprised at all if somewhere down the road I see this film on the Criterion Collection or being discussed in film classes as an initially reviled masterpiece in the same vein as The Shining, Antichrist, Vertigo, or Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
4.) Get Out
As someone who’s identified as a horror aficionado since childhood, I can attest to the fact that the horror genre’s most faithful audience has always mostly been African American. How lovely (and how late!) then it is to finally see a brilliant satirical horror that caters to them on so many levels. As if it wasn’t enough to see a black man finally have a role other than “Victim Cop #2” in a horror film, Jordan Peele proves his understanding of the genre by taking it a step further and giving us a horror hero who’s smart and doesn’t waste time getting. the fuck. OUT! And it all comes wrapped with a pretty bow as one of the funniest and most relentlessly entertaining films of the year.
3.) It
This one was unexpected for me, but as a sucker for horror films and coming-of-age stories, I was caught off guard by how well I thought It worked. Watching it brought about the same nostalgia of my favorite kid-flick blockbusters of yesteryear: The Goonies, E.T., Stand By Me—but meshed it seamlessly with a horror film. Bill Skarsgård stole the show (and the internet) as a new (...or remade) horror villain for the ages, and the movie delivered legit funhouse fright (as well as one of the best stone-cold openings to a horror flick in recent memory). But Skarsgård’s scene-stealing performance is damn near matched by the central kids in the movie—so likeable and well-cast are each of them that not once does the story lose sight of its real message: that the only thing scarier than a child-eating clown-demon who lives in the sewer…is the real world lying right outside our own childhood innocence. It yanked my heartstrings harder than Pennywise yanked that kid’s arm into the gutter.
2.) Call Me By Your Name
I’m not sure I’ve seen a film that captures the suspense/ thrill/ yearning/ excitement/ confusion/ devastation of a first love quite as well as Call Me By Your Name. Especially not a queer first love, that is. Watching this film, in all its gracefully lush imagery and nonchalantly relaxed pacing, feels like the equivalent of spending a day sun-bathing. So effective is its atmosphere that you not only feel you’re in Italy with the characters…you feel you’ve lost a love by the time you leave the theatre. I revisited my journal that documented my first queer love after watching it, and can’t speak highly enough of how accurate and impressive Timothée Chalamet’s performance is. The fact that he could articulate such feeling at an age when I could barely get a grasp on it blows my mind. It’s the male performance of the year. I’m sure I’ll revisit this film many times…probably when I’m in occasional stages of deleting Grindr off my phone and drinking bedroom wine =\ Whoo!
1.) Lady Bird
Greta Gerwig is fucking bae and I’m obnoxiously smug that I’ve been saying it before the rest of America caught on this year. I’m also just so happy that the rest of America finally caught on. If I thought she had her finger assuredly placed on the human experience with my favorite film of 2016, Mistress America, boy was I in for a treat when I saw Lady Bird! Lady Bird had healing powers for me. It took me back to my own high school days under the domineering roof of my parents’ house and shined light I didn’t know existed on my memories there. Gerwig has said she tries to write stories from a place of love, and it shows in spades in her directorial debut: a mosaic of human life in which every character is three-dimensional—all of them dealing and coping with very human problems in very human ways. One minute I was laughing, the next I was crying, and then 20 seconds later I was immediately laughing again (before crying some more). And the whole time I was hugging myself, feeling just so so thankful to be able to partake in this experience called life. If that’s not what we make films for, then what is?
Honorable Mention
*) Star Wars: The Last Jedi
*) The Big Sick
*) The Florida Project
*) Coco
*) A Ghost Story
*) The Lego Batman Movie
*) The Square
*) John Wick 2
*) All These Sleepless Nights
*) Wonder Woman
*) God’s Own Country
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Y’all wish y’all looked this good. #gurlfrandz #mischievous #gossipgirls 💛
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When you tryna party in the foreign country and get lots of material to post on social media to show everyone how fun and cRaZY your life is but then the food poisoning is like “pipe down lil bih” @linda.truffles (at Khao San Road)
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Finally backpacking over to SouthEast Asia again so I can touch up my roots on the cheap and sell @linda.truffles into the underground slave market. If any of my travel buddies find yourselves in Thailand, Malaysia, or Indonesia anytime soon HIT👏🏼ME👏🏼UP👏🏼 #backpacking #2018adventures #MyLifeIsSloppierThanThePics 👯♀️ (at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport)
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Favorite Albums of 2017
20.) “Black Ken”- Lil B
19.) “Flower Boy”- Tyler, the Creator
18.) “The Courtneys II”- The Courtneys
17.) “Okovi”- Zola Jesus
16.) “RTJ3″- Run the Jewels
15.) “ken”- Destroyer
14.) “american dream”- LCD Soundsystem
13.) “Everybody Works”- Jay Som
12.) “Capacity”- Big Thief
11.) “Big Fish Theory”- Vince Staples
10.) “Life Will See You Now”- Jens Lekman
9.) “Melodrama”- Lorde
8.) “Hug of Thunder”- Broken Social Scene
7.) “I Love You Like a Brother”- Alex Lahey
6.) “A Deeper Understanding”- The War on Drugs
5.) “Not Even Happiness”- Julie Byrne
4.) “DAMN.”- Kendrick Lamar
3.) “No Shape”- Perfume Genius
2.) “Arca”- Arca
1.) “Slowdive”- Slowdive
Honorable Mention
*) “Rocket”- (Sandy) Alex G
*) “I See You”- The xx
*) “Infinite Worlds”- Vagabon
*) “The Far Field”- Future Islands
*) “Ti Amo”- Phoenix
*) “Saturation II”- BROCKHAMPTON
*) “A Romanticism”- Moses Sumney
*) “Themes for Dying Earth”- Teen Daze
*) “Fin”- Syd
*) “Green Twins”- Nick Hakim
***Special Thanks to all those who helped create so many new memories to so much new music this year that will now be lodged in my nostalgia banks forever. I love you all. ~Will
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