Werckmeister Harmonies

Dir. Bela Tarr
2000

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Merry Christmas everyone.

Young Mr. Lincoln

Dir. John Ford
1939

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The opening image's composition leads our eyes to the store made of logs in the background, recalling the story of Lincoln's own mythic birth in a log cabin in the woods. We are immediately cued in to recognize both the reality of Lincoln and his legend. The final shot shows an almost comical iconic image of Lincoln, top-hat and all, but portrayed with dignity ready to face the looming storm.

Best Music List 2011

Hello All. Time to get back on the bandwagon. So, like I did earlier, I'll post my top music lists for 2011. It turns out that 2011 has been, like 2010 before it, a great year for music. I've found some amazing new artists and some of my favorite acts have released some great material. Don't know what it is, but I'm looking forward to 2012!

Top Albums of the Year:

1.     James Blake – James Blake

2.     Blanck Mass – Blanck Mass

3.     Bjork – Biophilia

4.     …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – Tao of the Dead

5.     The Antlers – Burst Apart

6.     Bon Iver – Bon Iver

7.     Cant – Dreams Come True

8.     Adventure – Lesser Known

9.     Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital

10.  Moonface – Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped

Honorable Mentions: Radiohead - King of Limbs, Panabrite - Frequency Bath II, Justice - Audio, Video Disco, Emika- Emika, This Will Destroy You - Tunnel Blanket, Tycho - Dive, Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place, The Field - Looping State of Mind, Wolf Gang - Suego Falls

Top Tracks of the Year

1.     The National – Exile Vilify

2.     Moonface – The Way You Wish You Could Live in the Storm

3.     Adventure - Rio

4.     James Blake – Unluck

5.     Rustie – Surph

6.     …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead – Summer of All Dead Souls

7.     The Strokes – Machu Pichu

8.     M83 – Midnight City

9.     The Antlers – Every Night My Teeth are Falling Out

10.  Bon Iver – Perth/Rest

And for fun, here's some of my favorite music videos from this year:

Wild Strawberries

Dir. Ingmar Bergman
1957

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We are left to ponder a life. Does the finality of that image haunt us or give us hope? Or is there a sort of hope in the knowledge that one cannot changed a life now lived? What emotion is on that face? Is it fear, pain, sorrow, satisfaction, happiness? I can't tell; but I think that when we feel it, we know.

Lonesome Dove

Dir. Simon Wincer
1989


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Yes, it's a television miniseries; but one with extremely cinematic roots and imagery. Wincer, no slouch in compositions nor in recognition of the tropes of the genre, frames the beginning and ending of the entire series with very similar shots. Both are from the Hat Creek Cattle Creek Company side of the little gully looking onto the "main drag," as it were, of Lonesome Dove itself. Yet our perspective has shifted completely. We have moved from left to right, as if reading in a book.

An entire journey has been undertaken; thousands of miles and many dead left in its wake. The ending shot is beautiful, yes, but notice that we can't see the iconic saloon. When Gus died, did the saloon burn at the same time? What was one, without the other? And we ask that question of Call as he turns back and walks across the bridge. What is he without his friend? Yes, there was a "hell of a vision" that drove them on the cattle drive, but what to make of the vision now that the one who had it sees no more?

Days of Heaven

Dir. Terrence Malick
1978

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The Thin Red Line

Dir. Terrence Malick
1998

I guess I'll go ahead and work through the rest of Malick's films in the lead-up to his latest, The Tree of Life.

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