Darryl A. Armstrong

Consider The Top 25 about cultural conflict to have my vote.

That was such a fantastic moment - and not because I entirely understood it. I think it could be read a few ways. But it was an unexpected reaction.

Ooh. I like that.

Here's my reflection/review:

I completely forgot about this album when compiling my lists. Shoot.

So... The 25 Most Woke Films?

My Top 25 albums of 2016. My Top 50 songs of 2016.

That would be a consideration. But I suspect we here might put together a list that might serve as a mirror but also something of a counter balance to the cynical and dark energies. I am certainly interested right now in the intersection of art, faith and politics. That said, I'm not sure how much I want to advocate for this theme, but at the moment it would have my vote from the themes put forth. Lean into it, I say. Or to quote Churchill, “If you're going through hell, keep going.”

You know, that might actually turn out to be more prescient this year...

This is super-slick, Eva Green is amazing, and the over-arching storyline is something I am sympathetic toward, but it just feels like a disappointment on so many levels character-wise. Nothing particularly interesting done with characters like Dorian Gray or how Frankenstein's Monster is left to wander outside the main narrative.

I saw this over the the past weekend. It took some time to grow on me, but I found it rather charming. Well, until the end. Which felt like... I don't know. Maybe like they stitched together as many possible ways to end it and just strung them together without settling on one. Still processing it.

I didn't know this before, but Fritz Lang's wife at the time, Thea von Harbou, who wrote both the book on which it was based and the film's screenplay, wound up supporting the Nazi regime and actually made a few propaganda films for them, although she "claimed she only joined the Nazi Party to help Indian immigrants in Germany." Anyway, I got to see this last night with a full symphony orchestral accompaniment. A few thoughts: 1. Metropolis isn't just a science fiction film, it's steeped in fantasy and a proto magical realism. Not to mention a nod to Biblical epics. There's also brief nods to romantic comedy and horror. 2. I had forgotten how good the special effects and set design was. Some of this stuff is as good or better than what was made into the 50s and 60s. 3. The influences of this thing reach well into the present day. My friend and I ran through a list of close to two dozen just off the top of our heads. 4. Despite being a genre piece close to the turn of the last century, it feels completely relevant to the world today. In some ways maybe more immediately relevant today than it was then (such as downloading oneself into a robot). 5. Question: is the "mad scientist" character Rotwang supposed to be Jewish? If yes, is his robot a sci-fi version of a Golem?

In chronological order: You Can't Take it with You (Capra, 1938) Lawrence of Arabia (Lean, 1962) The Silence (Bergman, 1963) 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968) Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Herzog, 1972) Brazil (Gilliam, 1985) Henry Fool (Hartley, 1997) Punch-Drunk Love (P.T. Anderson, 2002) A Serious Man (Coen Bros., 2009) Moonrise Kingdom (W. Anderson, 2012)

I should be able to view this over the weekend (well, my weekend which is Sun. - Mon.). Looking forward to it!

So I wrote this piece on season 2: