DESIGN: 2023 In Music

Tracklisting:Disc 11. “Welcome to the DCC” • Nothing But Thieves • 3:18 • Dead Club City, Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited2. “Dummy” • Portugal. The Man • 2:25 • Chris Black Changed My Life, Atlantic Recording Corporation3. “Trouble Maker” • Rema • 2:36 • RAVAGE EP, Mavin Global Holdings Ltd / Jonzing World Entertainment4. “Light as a Feather” • ††† (Crosses) • 3:10 • Foodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete., under exclusive license to Warner Records Inc.5. “Not Strong Enough” • boygenius • 3:55 • the record, under exclusive…

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The 95th Oscars recap through tweets …

Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s because this is the first time since Moonlight that my favorite film of the year won Best Picture. Maybe it’s just the continued devolution of rhetoric and tribalistic community on for-profit social media sites. I don’t know. But this year was the first year that I’ve been scrolling through tweets to compile an Oscars recap where I wasn’t laughing. Because the jokes weren’t funny. They weren’t even mean. They were gatekeep-y. They were told with the premise that the teller knew what good cinema was…

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DESIGN: 2022 In Music

Tracklisting:Disc 11. “Main Titles” • Theodore Shapiro • 01:21 • Severance OST, Lakeshore Records / Endeavor Content2. “Wet Dream” • Wet Leg • 02:20 • Wet Leg, Domino Recording Co Ltd3. “SCRIPTVRE” • Kasabian • 03:49 • The Alchemist’s Euphoria, Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited4. “The Fall” • Zola Jesus • 04:04 • Arkhon, Sacred Bones Records5. “IKYK” • Ogi • 03:13 • Monologues EP, Artium Entertainment LLC6. “Made of Gold” (ft. Pa Salieu) • Ibeyi • 03:48 • Spell 31, XL Recordings Ltd7. “Sex Magik” • Bloc Party •…

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REVIEW: Nr. 10 [2021]

Kamaihi. The best way to watch Alex van Warmerdam‘s latest Nr. 10 is to go in blind. He practically titled it “number 10” to help with that fact—it being his tenth directorial effort taking the spotlight from anything specific that happens within. It’s also the reason why the first half of the runtime unfolds conventionally. If all you’re watching is an actor (Tom Dewispelaere‘s Günter) as his world comes undone due to his director (Hans Kesting‘s Karl) discovering he’s having an affair with his wife (Anniek Pheifer‘s Isabel), you become…

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REVIEW: Blood Relatives [2022]

What does that make me? As a vampire without American identification, you could say Francis (Noah Segan) is an illegal immigrant regardless of the fact he’s lived in the country longer than anyone else currently alive with a legitimate birth certificate. Why he chooses to drive through red states in his vintage Barracuda while confusing Alex Jones-loving, conspiracy-theorizing yokels with Yiddish is therefore a mystery. This is the solitary bachelor life he’s chosen, though. And perhaps that part of the country is simply better suited for a nomadic lifestyle demanding…

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Hey, have you seen …?

11/19/22 – I watched a movie today and did not (nor do I plan to) write a long-form review of it. I haven’t been able to say that since June 6th, 2006—the day I saw THE BREAK-UP and wrote my first review for the now defunct “spreeblog” at Buffalo Spree magazine, where I worked as a graphic designer at the time. Since then I’ve literally written a review of every film I saw regardless of whether it was new or old, a first-time watch or revisit, a feature or short. I did…

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REVIEW: White Noise [2022]

Family is the cradle of the world’s misinformation. I must commend Noah Baumbach for taking on Don DeLillo‘s White Noise because it is nothing like his other films. Where they are all in some way a projection of his life and that of those around him, this satirical tale of one family’s (in)ability to cope with their impending mortality is on an entirely different tonal level. Because while Baumbach’s worlds are obviously heightened realities delivered through an affected aesthetic lens, the dialogue and interactions coming from the Gladney family have…

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REVIEW: EO [2022]

May all your dreams come true. Since it’s an homage to Au hasard Balthazar, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find myself just as unenthused by Jerzy Skolimowski‘s EO as I was to Robert Bresson‘s cinematic touchstone. That’s not to say their comparisons and contrasts exist on a one-to-one basis, however. They’re actually very different films altogether. But for every improvement (letting the titular donkey be the lead character rather than merely a voyeur destined to return to his darling Marie) comes the realization that even less is being…

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REVIEW: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery [2022]

I gave you the truth. Even world-renowned private detectives like Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) get restless during lockdown. Just as Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out put some tongue-in-cheek gags a la Trumpism and the rise of fascism under the façade of politics, his sequel Glass Onion injects a bit of COVID pandemic fatigue in much the same way. Whereas that window dressing continued throughout the former via juxtaposing a Latina lead against her affluently entitled white employers, it ends here quite early so that the mystery itself can take center stage.…

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REVIEW: Au hasard Balthazar [1966]

The road cured him. I was told that Robert Bresson‘s Au hasard Balthazar was a heartbreaking story that could stir the emotions of even the most jaded audience member. By the end, I guess I proved them wrong since it left me cold for the duration. I get it, though. This metaphorical depiction of Christianity by way of the seven deadly sins is constructed in such a way to demand a reaction. Tragedy after tragedy occurs as men refuse to see the error of their stubbornness and villainy before ultimately…

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