2012 in Review!

So it wasn't the end of the world after all...

Favorite Films Released in 2012
10. Django Unchained (Tarantino)
9. Magic Mike (Soderbergh)
8. the Loneliest Planet (Loktev)
7. the Master (P.T. Anderson)
6. A Separation (Farhadi)
5. Moonrise Kingdom (W. Anderson)
4. the Kid With a Bike (Dardenne)
3. Holy Motors (Carax)
2. Looper (Johnson)
1. Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin)

HMs: Argo, Perfect Sense, Haywire

Favorite Films 1st Seen in 2012 (alphabetical)
Another Earth (Cahill) 2011
the Arbor (Barnard) 2011
the Brood (Cronenberg) 1979
A Face in the Crowd (Kazan) 1957
House (Obayashi) 1977
Paper Moon (Bogdanovich) 1973
Phenomena (Argento) 1985
Red Balloon/White Mane (Lamorisse) 1956/1953
Santa Sangre (Jodorowsky) 1989

5-Star Books Read in 2012 (alphabetical)
Birds of America - Moore
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation - Chang
the Devil All the Time - Pollock
the Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Alexie
Pulphead: Essays - Sullivan
Self-Help - Moore
Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays - Didion
Suddenly, A Knock on the Door: Stories - Keret
This Is How You Lose Her - Diaz

Best Singles
"I Love It" - Icona Pop
"Sulk" - TRUST
"Wild Desire/Bad Thing" - King Tuff
"We Found Love" - Rihanna
"Give Out" - Sharon Van Etten
"Slow Down" - the Team
"Baby's Wearing Blue Jeans" - Mac DeMarco
"Baby" - Ariel Pink
"You Know You Like It" - AlunaGeorge
"Girls" - Royal Headache
"Know Me" - Frankie Rose
"Millions" - Eternal Summers
"Feel So Close" - Calvin Harris
"Jumanji" - Azaelia Banks
"Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen

Favorite Albums
Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Ty Segall - Slaughterhouse
Grimes - Visions
the Babies - Our House on the Hill

Misc. Top 10
10. New car, new glasses, new hair/30 is pretty all right
9. Warehouse Cafe - Port Costa, CA 
8. Canadian trip w/my sis (even if Canadians don't know how to party)
7. 4th of July kiddie pool
6. Don Pepe's + Fresno Wedding ("Sex Family")
5. Year-round hiking club. Special shout out to Point Reyes
4. Oliver learning my name
3. New additions to Oakland, whether by relocation or birth
2. RETURN to LASSEN
1. Caribbean waterfalls & too much rum punch

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Art Garfunkel Memorial Reading List (July - December 2012)

1.) Too Loud a Solitude - Hrabal (7/1)
2.) Ice at the Bottom of the World - Richard (7/7)
3.) Monstress - Tenorio (7/16)
4.) Herzog on Herzog - Cronin (7/18)
5.) Bastard Out of Carolina - Allison (7/22)
6.) Pedro Paramo - Rulfo (7/23)
7.) Slouching Towards Bethlehem - Didion (7/25)
8.) Self Help - Moore (7/26)
9.) Translations - Friel (7/27)
10.) Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning - Nelson (8/1)
11.) Devil in the White City - Larson (8/10)
12.) Babel: Collected Stories (8/16)
13.) Hero With a Thousand Faces - Campbell (8/22)
14.) Kitchen Confidential - Bourdain (8/26)
15.) the Rings of Saturn - Sebald (9/2)
16.) What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank - Englander (9/6)
17.) Little Disturbances of Man - Paley (9/12)
18.) Suddenly, A Knock on the Door - Keret (9/16)
19.) Columbine - Cullen (9/22)
20.) Telegraph Avenue - Chabon (9/30)
21.) Stay Awake - Chaon (10/3)
22.) Pork - Freddi (10/8)
23.) A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - Wallace (10/15)
24.) the Collected Stories of Peter Taylor (10/23)
25.) This is How You Lose Her - Diaz (10/26)
26.) Conversation in the Cathedral - Vargas Llosa (11/7)
27.) Farming of Bones - Danticat (11/12)
28.) Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? - Moore (11/14)
29.) Our Band Could Be Your Life - Azerrad (11/23)
30.) Gimpel the Fool - Singer (11/28)
31.) the Map and the Territory - Houellebecq (12/3)
32.) Habibi - Thompson (12/5)
33.) Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation - Chang (12/13)
34.) Tell Me a Riddle - Olsen (12/17)
35.) the Lime Works - Bernhard (12/21)
36.) Room - Donoghue (12/24)
37.) Knockemstiff - Pollock (12/30)

Celluloid #162

In Theaters

Killing Them Softly (2012) Dominik - This is the follow-up to the beautiful and compelling the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Some amateur criminals stick up a card game, causing more professional mobster hitman to get involved. The setting seems to be Detroit or a similarly destitute place, and the place looks haunting. Annoyingly, Dominik decided to intersperse the violent plot with speeches from Obama in his pre-presidential days to make a clumsy political/economic  connection. Also, I found the music to be much too on the nose, creating an overall heavy-handed effect. 6/10

In Home

Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984) Firstenberg - Super ridiculous, but fun sequel where the breakdancers must work together to save the local community center. Also, Turbo tries to win over a girl, and Kelly sacrifices ballet opportunities in France to help out her friends. The best! 8/10

Dark Horse (2012) Solondz - A loser 30-something works and lives with his parents. His younger brother is significantly more handsome and successful, leaving Abe to be the "dark horse" in the family.  He starts an unlikely relationship with a woman that he meets at a wedding, and almost immediately proposes marriage to her. Things continue to get weirder and darker as the film progresses, all though I don't know why you would expect anything different from Solondz. 6/10

In Time (2011) Niccol - A Logan's Run-styled theme from a director that I know most fondly for my adolescent favorite Gattaca. You can tell that it's the same guy for the look of the film, the obsession with class differences in a future setting, and yet another pivotal nude ocean swim. In the future, time becomes our currency. They stop aging at 25, but only get to continue living if they earn more time by working, gambling, or stealing. Will Salas gets a century from a man trying to commit suicide. After leaving the ghetto, he gets involved with an heiress, and the two go on a Robin Hood-type spree. 7/10

Snowtown Murders (2012) Kurzel - A true story about a series of murders in Australia, unique because the killer was charismatic enough to get other people to help him. This film is really depressing, and takes more than a while to get going. Initially, we see three young boys getting taken advantage of by a neighborhood pedophile. The oldest boy is 16 and understandably wants some sort of revenge - an opportunity that becomes available through his mother's boyfriend, the killer. Just overall, this film doesn't add up to much of anything. 5/10

Celluloid #161

In Theaters

Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (2012) Condon - Well, I'm glad it's over. The first scene immediately reminded me how cringey this series has been, but that also there's a lot of unintentional humor. Renesmee looks like a creep for the first part of the movie. Apparently her existence is a problem in the world of vampires because they fear vampire babies ("immortal children") for their lack of self-control. However, Resnesmee is only half vampire and wasn't bit. Whatever. At least this movie features a battle scene that is really satisfying until it is totally undermined. ??/10

In Home

Being Elmo (2011) Marks - So unfortunate how Kevin Clash has been disgraced in the news lately, because this documentary paints him as a pretty nice guy. Clash started making puppets an putting on local shows when he was 10. By the time he was finishing up high school, he was working for a local television show, and then shortly after, started working on the Captain Kangaroo show. Clash became the first black puppeteer to work for Jim Henson, and until recently, still ran the puppet workshop for Sesame Street and touring around the world with his character, Elmo. 7/10

Body Double (1984) De Palma - An actor catches his wife cheating and gets fired from his job all in the same day. He finally thinks he catches a break when another actor offers to let him apartment-sit. In addition to free rent, there's an impromptu nightly striptease show courtesy of a neighbor woman that's visible through a telescope. One night, the actor sees the neighbor get into some trouble with an intruder, and he tries to follow her the next day to warn her. This all spirals into a bigger conspiracy involving the porn industry - typically good De Palma. 8/10

Bonsai (2012) Jimenez - Adaptation of a pretty great novella intertwining the course of a romantic relationship with the process of writing. The movie is not nearly as successful as the book, but for reasons I cannot pinpoint. 6/10

God Bless America (2012) Goldthwait - Dark satire about America's obsession with reality television. One man gets fed up with how stupid people have become. In particular, he's upset about how people cannot have real conversations or interactions, but can only relate through inane pop culture. To top it off, his own young daughter is turning into a spoiled monster. After contemplating suicide, he teams up with a similarly jaded teen and goes on a killing spree. 5/10

Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2012) Duplass - So yeah, Jeff is 30, a stoner, and lives with his mom. His older seemingly more successful brother is having his own problems with his marriage; namely being worried that his wife is cheating. Jeff keeps following these "signs" about a person named Kevin all ver town while trying to help his brother. Pretty enjoyable to watch, even if the plot sounds like a ridiculous mess. 7/10

the Lady (2012) Besson - So sad! A story is recent history that I had no knowledge about. Since the 1970s (probably earlier), Burma has been under military rule. Movements developed to pursue democracy, but early on one leader was executed and essentially turned into a martyr for that cause. The martyr's daughter is the focus of this biopic. Aung San Suu Kyi moves to England after her father's death. There she grows up, marries, and has children. When her mother has a stroke, she returns to Burma where professors convince her to pick up her father's legacy. Despite her election success, she undergoes 15 years of house arrest. An unusual film for Luc Besson's typically action-packed filmography. 7/10

Celluloid #160

In Theaters

Holy Motors (2012) Carax - I really cannot begin to explain what this film is about, but I loved it. A man goes on a series of "appointment" throughout the day, working as some sort of existential actor fulfilling emotional scenarios in others' lives. These appointments involve elaborate disguises and range from heartfelt to absurd. There's motion capture fucking, a song by Kylie Minogue, a naked dwarf who kidnaps Eva Mendes, murders, grief, etc. This film has plenty of ecstatic imagery to spare. 9/10

In Home

the Deep Blue Sea (2012) Davies - Hester is having an affair with Freddie. Her husband is just a little too rulesy and seems to be under his mother's thumb despite his advanced age. Freddie is not necessarily much of a prize given his mood swings and violent temper, but even so, they have extreme passion and lust for one another. Hester is unlucky to live in a time that won't grant her freedom. This is maybe the best that I've ever seen Rachel Weisz (not that she's a particular favorite of mine), but the non-linear structure of the film undercuts much of the weight that I assume is associated with certain emotional scenes. 6/10

Goodbye First Love (2012) Hansen-Love - Camille is 15 and in love with 19 year-old Sullivan. They have a lot of sex and possess the naivete monopolized by adolescents. Sullivan struggles to know what to do with himself in life and is planning a trip to South America with some friends. Camille is devastated even though the trip is only supposed to be for ten months. Her fears are confirmed when Sullivan fails to return for many years beyond that and the two lose touch. Camille tries to move on with her life and even falls for one of her professors, but when Sullivan reenters her life, the chemistry just cannot be denied. 7/10

Keyhole (2012) Maddin - Guy Maddin's version of a ghost story? Ulysses is a gangster who ends up in a haunted house version of his previous home. He vows to win back his wife. There are plenty of disturbing things going on in the rooms - the wife has her naked father chained to the bed, Ulysses' son Manners is trying to revive his drowned sweetheart, and other family dysfunction. Features typical Maddin style and obsession with silent film era-style. This film is also notable for featuring one of the "Kids in the Hall" raping a ghost. 8/10

Perfect Sense (2012) Mackenzie  An interesting little indie sci-fi where the apocalypse is experience as a series of epidemics attacking one of the five senses. It starts when people begin losing their sense of smell, but after a few months, everyone gets used to this way of life and copes well until another syndrome strikes, leaving people without their sense of taste. Amidst these calamities, Susan (an epidemiologist) and Michael (a chef) strike up a precarious romance. 8/10

Trishna (2012) Winterbottom - I've never read Tess of D'Urbervilles but apparently this is a modern version of that story set in India. Trishna is the oldest daughter in a poor family and is given an opportunity to make a lot of money when a tourist offers her a job in his father's hotel. The son, Jay, also finds Trishna very beautiful and the two fall in love despite their different classes. However, the power dynamics quickly take their toll and it's clear this romance is doomed early on.. 7/10

Tyrannosaur (2011) Considine - An old drunk is maybe at the lowest point of his downward spiral. He has killed his dog during a drunken fit and has gotten into a brawl with some local hoodlums when he seeks refuge in a charity store run by a middle-aged Christian woman. She responds to his obvious distress by praying for him. Joseph visits Hannah several more times, sometimes to harass her, but soon the two develop a friendship when it becomes clear the Hannah's seemingly easy life is actually full of a lot of darkness and struggle. 7/10

Celluloid #159

In Theaters

This Must Be the Place (2012) Sorrentino - Sean Penn plays an aging rockstar who looks remarkably similar to Robert Smith, and has the strangest soft voice. Cheyenne is pretty bored with his cozy life in Ireland, but all that changes when his estranged father dies. He flies to New York for the funeral and discovers that his father spent the majority of his life searching for the Nazi responsible for torturing him in the concentration camps. Cheyenne decides to adopt this cause as his own, taking him all over the country. Also, David Byrne plays himself in the film. 7/10

In Home

Margaret (2011) Lonergan - Lisa is partially responsible for causing a bus accident that results in a woman getting run over and killed. Lisa's also a teenager so we see her at school, having sex, and fighting with her mother in that particular way that daughters and mothers do. In general she emotionally manipulates everyone around her. She also gets it in her head that the bus driver should be fired despite the fact that she initially lied to the police to cover up for him. Lisa is not a particularly likable person, but that's perhaps what makes this film so compelling for its long run time. Lisa is played by a pre-True Blood Anna Paquin. 8/10

Miss Bala (2011) Naranjo - A young woman named Laura is trying out for a beauty pageant gets sucked into the dangerous world of drugs and violence in Tijuana just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She tries to escape several time, but the drug guys always find her. Not wanting her family to be involved, she endures multiple indignities to protect them. This film makes Laura suffer so much - I guess to show the world how rough things are in Tijuana, but this shouldn't be news to anyone. 6/10

Monsieur Lazhar (2012) Falardeau - A teacher at a private Montreal middle school hangs herself in her classroom. The students take her death very hard and the administration hires an older Algerian immigrant to take her place, since they don't have a lot of options. Monsieur Lazhar's methods are much more strict and old-school compared to the other teachers. We also find out that he is grieving for his own family and struggling to be allowed to stay in the country. 7/10

Celluloid #158

In Theaters

Cloud Atlas (2012) Wachowskis & Tykwer - Adaptation of a beloved recent novel, but scraps many of the strengths of the book, namely the structure, to present a chaotic, jumbled film full of cheesiness, voiceovers, and heavy-handed messaging about how we are all connected. There are six distinct settings and sets of characters ranging from the 1800s to a post-apocalyptic time. I wouldn't say that I was ever bored for the nearly 3 hour run time, but probably best left in text form. 6/10

the Loneliest Planet (2012) Loktev - A couple is travelling around the Georgian Caucuses with a guide. Minimal plot, but incredible scenery - almost like watching something from National Geographic (and I'm guessing the title is a play on the Lonely Planet travel guide series). Not much happens until a group of men show up with guns and start speaking aggressively in a foreign language to the couple. Then something kinda small happens, but it changes the mood for the rest of the film, and undermines this seemingly ideal relationship. 8/10

the Sessions (2012) Lewin - This is the story of a man suffering from polio who has spent the vast majority of his life in an iron lung. In his later 30s, he gets a gig interviewing subjects to write an article about people with disabilities and their experiences with sex. This prompts Mark to start thinking about losing his own virginity. He gets in touch with a sex surrogate that provides him with his first sexual experiences, and maybe even falls for him. Crowd-pleasing, but a little too tidy-inspirational for my tastes. 7/10

In Home

Bernie (2012) Linklater - Bernie is a well-loved assistant funeral director in a small Eastern Texas town. He gets involved in a scandal when one widow develops a particularly close relationship with him. However, the widow soon becomes very toxic, jealous, and extremely possessive of Bernie, to the point that it's not surprising that he would feel smothered. Anyway, when she turns up missing, and Bernie is the primary suspect, the town refuses to believe that he had anything to do with it, or if he did, she most certainly deserved it - so deep is their affection for him. 7/10

Oslo, August 31st (2012) Trier - A man is finishing up a stint in rehab after struggling with drug addiction. His friends no longer know how to treat him, and he seems to struggle to find meaning in any human interaction. Trier is great with party scenes (see the "Deceptacon" sequence in his last film Reprise), but everyone should know this is a huge bummer of a movie...not that I have a problem with that. 7/10

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) Ramsay - Eva maybe always felt a little ambivalent about having a child, and Kevin fulfilled her biggest fears. Manipulative, even as an infant, Kevin cries constantly unless his father is around. He refuses to speak or potty-train long past appropriate ages. It's clear from the beginning of the film that Kevin has committed some Columbine-styled atrocity, and we are left to sort of the blame with Eva. 8/10