When word was out that the Coen’s follow-up to last years A Serious Man was going to be a remake of a classic western movie, many were excited to see what they could do with this under-appreciated genre. What was actually put on screens was ultimately dissapointing and this review is going to contain a lof of, ‘for a Coen brothers film, this is surprisingly ….’.
Here we have two decidedly different movies, with no real common thread other than that they happened to come in the mail at the same time. Normally these two movies would probably have almost nothing to do with each other but watching these two movies so close to each other highlighted some peculiar similarities that are definitely worth exploring.
I had originally planned on doing a proper 2010 review just like last year, but laziness and procrastination meant that while I had put the list together, nothing was done with it from here. Given that it is now August, it seems a bit pointless to go into all that much detail, but for posterity, here is my top ten from last year.
Twin Shadow – Forget
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
LCD Soundsystem – This is happening
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Hot Chip – One Night Stand
Morning Benders – Big Echo
Holy Fuck – Latin
Looking back at this list now, I probably would shift a few things around and possible add/subtract a couple of albums, but this is a good representation of where my music tastes where at the end of 2010.
In Which We Consider The Macabre Unpleasantness Of Roald Dahl – ALEX CARNEVALE»
An interesting article on some of the less pleasant aspects of Roald Dahl’s life. I had always heard some of the Anti-Semitic statements that he had made over the years, but this detailed article goes in to Dahl’s personal life and the circumstances surrounding the publication of his various works. The writer is fairly transparently against him, which does make for a rather entertaining read.
Another video from MK12, the prominent graphic design studio hit the internet recently and it is definitely worth a look. I am quite a big fan of their style, the graphic touches that were applied to the movie, Stranger Than Fiction were fantastic. This movie is a interesting take on the old school cinema ads encouraging everyone to go and buy candy before the start of the feature. The slow perversion of this seemingly wholesome advertisement gives a wonderfully unsettling feeling.
Kurt Vonnegut & Sarah Ockler Books Removed from Missouri High School Library
This is a rather sad story of the banning of some important works of fiction from a particular high school library. Vonnegut responded by offering free copies of his banned book to anyone at the school that wanted them. But still, it is rather depressing to think that books still get banned in schools.
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