This is a haunting and truly nightmarish film. It's a fascinating look at perceptions of justice after a extraordinarily brutal crime, the details of which I still shudder to think. The police incompetence on display here is shocking. After last years Aunt Diane, HBO continues to make some of the best non fiction films.
2.My Trip to Al-Qaeda
Based on his book The Looming Tower, Lawrence Wright's one man play about the middle east and the birth of radical Salafist Islam is pretty much required viewing/reading for anyone interested in geopolitics, violence, religion or the state of the world in general. These are some of the deepest, well articulated insights into world conflict I've come across in some time. Also check out Wright's new book on Scientology, Going Clear, that just came out- it's fascinating stuff.
3.Blackfish
A massive expose on Sea World and their hate-filled practices. The "trainers" interviewed here make excuses for their behavior throughout the film but are totally culpable - they were profiting from animal torture regardless of what they say now.
4.On Death Row
Werner Herzog does true crime. Enchanting explorations of the sociopathic mind. Not sure if this counts as a documentary as it aired on TV but it's worth mentioning since this is probably the best television ever made. His short film about texting and driving, From One Second To The Next is contemporary, surreal, powerful Herzog as well.
5.Dirty Wars
An important overview of Jeremy Scahill's recent work on the murderous US force JSOC, the Al-Awlaki killings and the CIA's activities in Mogadishu. The film is adequately made but Scahill is one of the most important journalists working today rendering this essential viewing.
6.The Act of Killing
Joshua Oppenheimer's follow up to 2003's The Globalization Tapes is a long look at retired executioners in Indonesia. It touches on nationalism, propaganda, genocide, and psychopathology while delivering tragically surreal recreations of violent acts with the perpetrators.
7.Valentine Road
Another excellent HBO doc, this time about a recent hate crime in California and the bigotry it revealed in the community. A angry Nazi afflicted teenager murders a flamboyant 14 year old and the town rallies to support the killer instead of the victim. Incredibly, one of his lawyers even tattoos "Save Brandon" on her arm... sickening.
8.Mea Maxima Culpa Silence in the House of God
A revelatory yet unsettling film about worlds largest pedophile cult. Unfortunately Alex Gibney followed this with a despicable hit piece on Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange that made me lose almost all respect for him.
9.The Crash Reel
What begins as a snowboard documentary evolves into an emotional look at life with Traumatic Brain Injury.
10.A Death in St. Augustine
It was another great year for Frontline. This hour long film about corrupt police covering up a murder by one of their own is the best of the bunch. The final scene is so demented and wrong it is hard to fathom. You can watch it online here.
It didn't see After Tiller or God Loves Uganda but I hear they are great.
Alberich - Machine Gun Nest Cassette Works Volume 0
Authentic modern industrial delivered with an intensity rarely captured in music. Two of the tracks already appeared on his Psychology of Love LP but they are two of the best tunes ever released on Hospital Productions. Absolutely essential. Play loud. "Album of the year" by a long shot.
An (other)worldly collection of instrumentals presented as a well conceptualized LP on one piece of vinyl. (There were too many unwarranted double LPs this year so it's nice to have a record to put on and not have to get up every ten minutes). There's a healthy variety of sound sources here; guitars, drums, rhodes, odd field recordings- the closest comparison I can come up with is later period Sun City Girls. For me, this is an essential companion to all the heavy recordings mentioned elsewhere in this piece. Comes with an amazing B&W newspaper poster.
Felix K - Flowers Of Destruction
Drum&Bass reinvented for 2013. A record full of properly psychedelic atmospherics and nasty dubbed out rhythms. Buy this 3x12" from his label Hidden Hawaii while you still can.
FFH - Make Them Understand
Raw savagery from FFH. Extreme noise mixed with poetic lyrics about bad things. If you like power electronics or angry musics of any sort find this and play it as loud as you can. They only made 114 copies but as of this writing there's a few for relatively cheap online.
Alexander Lewis - A Luminous Veil
Another amazing year for Blackest Ever Black. I didn't have enough money to buy everything they released though I did mange to acquire a few and this is my favorite of the bunch. There is a spontaneity to the arpeggiated synth blasts of noise that I find very listenable and each subsequent listen proves more rewarding. And, of course, the Cuts Hands stuff on BEB and Downwards is essential listening. The Gnod tape was great too.
Other LPs worth mentioning:
Nurse With Wound - Xerography
Nurse With Wound - Silver Bromide
Virile Games - Wounded Laurel
Vakula - You've Never Been To Konotop
Pharaohs - Replicant Moods
Factory Floor - Factory Floor
SINGLES Paula Temple - Colonized
My favorite track of the year. Exciting, engaging, relevant techno. Temple is taking the form and doing something new with it. The Perc remix is a bit boring but the other two songs are mind blowing. The live sets she uploads to Soundcloud were my soundtrack to driving around Los Angeles this year.
Joe Claussell - Project Residue Part 1: Eno (Melodic Dub)
We are two releases deep into Joe's new series and they are both outstanding. The Melodic dub of Eno is the most techno track I've heard him make in a long time and the second 12", Underground Battle in Babylon, is an epic 16 min piano soundscape. You can get both these stamped 12s dirt cheap direct from his label. Timeless music.
Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement - Refuges From Black Magic
This mix of rainforest recordings and dark ambient sounds was the perfect warm up to every set I DJed this year. It's also really great home listening. This was by far the best RSE release this year, the sound quality is much higher than the two Hospital LPs. The Bed of Nails 12" is nice but not quite as nuanced as this. It's probably the best thing Dominick Fernow made this year, though Prurient's near total conversion to dance music, Through the Window, was interesting as well. Also, When You Are Crawling by Vatican Shadow is the the best stuff from that alias since his classic debut on Bed of Nails.
Aquarian Foundation - Mystery Track from Silent Teaching EP
Great year for Brian Not Brian's Going Good label out of Brixton. All three releases thus far have been solid. The record pictured is by the Vancouver, Canada group Aquarian Foundation- the 12" on their own Mood Hut records is excellent too. The newest Going Good record is equally as strong- Anom Virus's lengthy EP is all acid squelching and lush pad work.
Gorgon Sound - 2x12"
Bristols' Young Echo collective put out a lot of strong material this year, my favorite was probably this: Kahn & Neek's grime influenced dub project Gorgon Sound. Four monstrous dubs that sound incredible on a proper sound system. The Dubkasm mixes are dope too. Along a similar line, the annual Kang Super Sound 7" on Sex Tag Amfibia is worth looking into as well.
Rrose - Waterfall (Birth)
Crazy tripped out techno with amazing tension. A very serious track on a proper system.
Also...
Jay Daniel - No Love Lost
Oake - Nihnin Ned Bargund
Objekt #3
Joey Anderson - Above The Cherry Moon and Sky's Blessings
Valentina - Wolves
Romanonthy - Ministry of Love (Andre Crom Rework)
Dusky - Nobody Else
White Material - Problems
Zsou vs The Velvet Season & the Hearts of Gold - Wild Honeyz
Since the mid 90's, South Korean master Kim Ki-Duk has been making incredible films that range from unfathomably weird to unutterably beautiful. From his classic phantasmic golf saga 3-Iron to his majesticmeditation on time Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring, they (mostly) all share a ruminant madness that defies categorization. As does his latest film Moebius. This low budget, dialog free, Buddhist penectomy-heavy familial gender study is uniquely transgressive and totally unprecedented in the history of cinema. Ki-Duk has really outdone himself here. On its most basic level it's about one kid's journey to inner-peace through the most dysfunctional family ever committed to celluloid. It is also a complex, involved portrait of sexuality and family. The film's take on pleasure & pain / love & violence / maternity & paternity is one that demands contemplation. Throughout, there's a thread of solemn religious overtones that somewhat perplexingly reshapes the thematic narrative.It's also very funny at times. For the most part I found it disturbingly fascinating but the audience I saw it with laughed a lot. The actor that plays the teenager, Young Ju Seo, deserves an Oscar for his work. The close up shots of the crazy mother are particularly amazing. The most similar film of his to this is probably 2000's The Isle as that also dealt with some of the more taboo subjects he tackles along with a few similar themes.If you're easily offended you may want to avoid this film as it contains gang rape, incest, murder, mutilation and severed penises.If you're familiar with Ki-Duk's work or into weird stuff, you will probably love this hardcore piece of poetic insanity. Highly recommended & essential artistry.
I had never heard PJ's music before this record as I had always associated her with guitar heavy indie rock music. But a friend that works in the industry gave me a lovely 45RPM pressing of White Chalk when it was released in 2007. I find myself continually coming back to this unutterably exquisite exploration of pain. There are no guitars here, mostly piano and autoharp along with some restrained drumming by the Dirty Three's Jim White. Bass, banjo, zither, fiddle and organ all appear here and there as well. Producing legend Flood and long time Harvey collaborator John Parish made the record with her and they're skills are obviously indispensable. It has some of the most beautiful vocal arrangement work ever put to tape, her voice is astounding stop-you-in-your-tracks powerful. When the back-ups drop on Silence it chills me to the bone every time. It is a short, concise, powerful record capable of stirring up serious emotion to those paying attention. The subject matter seems to be the dissolution of family, specifically abuse, and certain acts are strikingly recounted throughout the album- indeed, some songs are near transgressive in their vividness. Truly haunting. The album echos of another time or another world, its baroque feel and tonal longing are unlike anything I have heard before or since. So, yeah, I highly recommend this LP if you like heavy duty music- and it gets better with each listen even after 5 years. I am usually hesitant to recommend this kind of highly personal, emotive music but I think this LP cuts across a lot of boundaries. Also, I do not suggest listening one song at a time online, just buy the LP and play it loud at home in the dark to hear it's full potential. It's cheap on discogs. Her follow up- the war torn Let England Shake is amazing too but slightly more normal sounding than her ethereal and singular masterwork White Chalk.
The second release on Tears of Joy Records is a record made by myself and Thomas Klepper, resident and co-founder of Los Angeles' long running (but now defunct) underground warehouse party space Music For Dancers. He also runs a cassette label called Association of Masks. We made the 12" in an edition of 252 copies with stamped sleeves and an insert. The tracks were written and recorded at Thomas' studio at his warehouse in the fashion district, downtown Los Angeles, earlier this year. Working without the assistance of a computer, we used various old synth and drum machines and mixed through a Tascam board to 1/4" tape which proved to be a rewarding way to track music. The A side is a deep bassline-led Chicago influenced tune suited for the early morning hours while the B side is an acid house workout featuring a demented vocal sample from the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps. You can buy a copy cheap at the Tears of Joy website or it will be in the shops early November.
I recently ripped some of my UKGarage vinyl for a friend so I figured I share one of the tracks here. I scored this at the mighty DnR Vinyl in East Croyden, UK. Check them out, they are without a doubt the finest Garage shop on earth. The track is by Genius (Capone, Shawn T & Trimmer) on Kronik Records from 1998.
I heard Paula Temple DJ an amazing live set at Berghain in Berlin this past Sunday morning. To hear proper techno of this caliber on that clubs system was mind blowing. Below is a downloadable recording of the 3rd and final hour (7 - 8am) of her set. Coincidentally, the mix starts with the Surgeon track I posted earlier this month. Also, definitely check out her critical and forward thinking Colonized 12" on R&S.
One of the better electronic music albums I have heard in some time is Surgeon's 2011 LP Breaking the Frame. Unlike the punishing intricacies of his earlier records that defined the "Birminghmam techno" sound he is known for, this release is experimental and psychedelic in nature. You can download one of the more mental tracks below.
Calvaire or The Ordeal is a largely overlooked 2004 Belgium art
house horror film by the underrated writer/director Fabrice Du Welz. The story
is classic: A city boy, in this case a singer, is lost in the
country and abducted by demented freaks- only this film is done so artfully
that at times it seems like Gaspar Noe is directing it. Alas, the cinematographer on both of Du Welz's films is the mighty Benoit Dedie. There is all sorts of
incredible camera work going on all over the place: long sweeping overheads, maniacal
circular shots, weird close-ups. Content-wise it's pretty heavy- bestiality, rape and death are all
explored in a hyper-stylized yet realistic way. This is definitely one of the
most unique and well constructed “horror” films out there. Highly
recommended.
Du Welz’s follow up is another must see. Vinyan is about a
couple searching deep in the Burmese jungle for their missing child they lost during the 2004 tsunami. The underlying mystery is whether their kid is alive or if he's already dead- and the
parents are merely grasping at straws as they grieve. But on the surface the film deals with kidnapping, the underage sex trade, and our culture of child
reverence. There are kids a plenty in this film and it's not a pretty picture. It is worth watching for the locations alone- most of it is
shot amongst ancient dilapidated structures deep in Laos. The epic
long take in the abandoned temple in the final third is one of the cooler shots
I can recall seeing. And the Lord-of-the-Flies-esque final scene of this film
will stay with you for a long time- I guarantee that.
These are the two films Fabrice Du Welz has made thus far- both 4
years apart- with Vinyan released wayback in 2008. Apparently there is something that he directed
that is in post production called Colt45. And Wiki says he is working on a film
titled For Your Entertainment with the excellent Brady Corbet, though that project may have been abandoned. His Twitter feed says he is writing Calvaire 2.
Anyway, find his movies, look out for his name and
watch his stuff on the big screen when it does come out.
We just released an experimental techno record I made with Olivia Arthur called An Omen From No Man's Land under the name A Private Realm. You can buy it at Juno or in various Japanese shops. The vinyl is an edition of 164 with silk screened cover art depicting Vienna Actionist Gunter Brus performing ANA in 1964. There is also a DVD in an edition of 100 we did with Tim Hicks with accompanying visuals dealing with the subject matter at hand: Child Brides, Endless War and the Horrors of Psychedelia. You can get that at Tim's website and you can check out the first piece below.
Out of the thousands of performances I have seen over the years, it is one by Polish electronic musician Zbigniew Karkowski’s that has made the most impact.
The scene: Recombinant Media Labs Compound, Hunters Point, South San Francisco, circa 2003/2004. The Compound was a space located on a desolate abandoned Navy ship yard. The land lay in the shadow of Candlestick Park that had been deemed uninhabitable due to a high toxicity in the soil that the Navy had left. We were instructed not to drink the water when there. Inside the one unaccompanied dilapidated building on the site was a tiny studio/control room overlooking a bigger space equipped with a 16.8 surround sound system with a performance area in the middle of the room. The speakers were arranged in a circle, 8 above and 8 below. RML was run by a character named Naut Humon (pronounced "Not Human") who apparently re-christened himself after a particularly heavy LSD trip in the 70s. Humon had used the space for decades as a research lab for his industrial music project Rhythm & Noise. RML and its record label, Asphodel, was generally the hub of all things weird in experimental music in San Francisco at the time. Most of the artists that played at the Compound used software my friend Peter had designed for the space that enabled one to spatialize the sound, meaning to bounce sound from speaker to speaker around the room: horizontally, vertically and diagonally; a technique first developed by Karlheinz Stockhausen. While rare to find such a system to play on, especially in 2003, Karkowski would forgo it to take his own approach on this particular night.
Those that knew had packed the room to hear the Polish visionary and were standing in a circle surrounding him. Karkowski had existing on the fringes of extreme new music for some time. After studying composition, sonology and computer music at various institutions he settled in Tokyo in 1994. He had composed for orchestra, chamber and opera but was largely concerned with the raw energy and power unleashed by sound at high volumes. Karkowski always worked entirely experimentally and experientially. I was standing behind him. The way I remember it, the music was basically one huge electronic tone emanating from his computer that got louder and louder and louder as it went on until it totally engulfed every part of your brain and body. Think about the deepest bass you’ve heard at a dance club, concert or rocket launch and multiply it by 16 and have it coming at you from every angle non-stop. This was beyond music and into the realm of pure sound, pure vibrational energy, a shamanic force being conjured from deep within the void. He was using a very old, beat up Macintosh that had code cascading down the left side of the screen and a mysterious black box on the right side. I don’t know if he was running Supercollider or MaxMSP but it was some kind of code he had written himself. This was, without a doubt, purely electronic music. The computer screen kept blacking out - I’m not sure if that was because it was old or because he was maxing out the processing power, he had to continually, violently, slap it to get it function, trippy colors would shoot across the screen when he did. As the music got denser he kept smacking the Mac and yelling at the engineers “louder, louder!” It was earth-shatteringly loud already but he was getting authentically upset that they wouldn’t turn it up. Over the sound Peter would try to gesture to him that he would blow the speakers if he turned it up more but Karkowski wouldn’t listen. He continued to intensely stare straight into the screen or scream for more volume. The engineers refused and it got so intense at one point I thought a fight would break out. All of this while 100 or so people are shoved into this tiny room perched on a forgotten wasteland while the heaviest sound ever was blasting away. I have no idea how long this went on, not long. The energy in the room surpassed any hardcore rock or punk show, was more transcendental than any rave, more enlightening than any new music masterwork and ultimately more exciting – and beautiful -– than anything I had seen before or since. Eventually Karkowski got mad enough he slammed his computer shut, stopping the music, and stormed out of the building. All I could think was “wow”. I had never heard of the guy before but I came away from that performance with a new hero.
Zbigniew went on to collaborate with RML in the following years but he Compound closed shortly after that. RML now occasionally takes its show on the road doing a version of the old system, with more video incorporated, calledCinechamber. No recording ever will
reproduce a Karkowski live experience but he has some amazing releases
nonetheless. For extreme noise there is
the “ALBUM” release with Peter Rehberg under the name POP (Product Of Power). In
2005 he released a sweeping 40 minute epic titled One and Many. You
can buy that along with his new piece for cello and computer called nervecell_0 at Sub Rosa. He takes a subdued, heavy approach on the LP Choice Points for the Application of Force. There is also an amazing set of releases with Tetsuo
Furudate called World as Will, of which you can hear the piece Mix White below. It’s a Karkowski composition from World as Will 3 performed by
the Zeikratzer orchestra in Switzerland
in 2004. If you know of any music that sounds more apocalyptic than this please
let me know. Finally, if you want to dive
into the man’s mind here is an essay he wrote titled The Method Is Science the Aim Is Religion.
One of my favorite books is James Shelby Downard's The Carnivals of Life and Death, his memoir of growing up in the deep south at the turn of the century battling the KKK and Freemasons. He believes Masonic elites run the world through a series of ritualistic psychodramatic charades- a twisted form of sorcery obsessed with sex and death i.e. the skullduggery of the Cryptocracy. I highly recommend the book, its pretty much batshit crazy but entirely informative. One of these rituals was the Killing of the King a.ka. the assassination of John F Kennedy. Easily the most far out JFK conspiracy- it basically postulates that Kennedy had to die because of occult rituals put in to motion in ancient Scotland that also included the alchemy of the atomic bomb and mystical toponomy of the American southwest. He and Michael Hoffman mapped it all out in King Kill 33, a crazy masterpiece of unorthodox thinking. You can read the whole thing online, its fascinating stuff. Or if you prefer or a more tactile reading experience you can buy the research edition (pictured) from Hoffman's website Revisionist History. Hoffman also digs deep into the Cosmic Cryptogram ("The Revelation of the Method") in his classic book Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare. Recommended. Downard died in 1998 while writing the second half of his memoir.
Mind melting Spanish modular synth music from 1982. Every song on this LP is amazing but I ripped the one that really grabs you on first listen. Play loud.
I'd like to a take a moment and make sure the readers of
this website are familiar with comedian Doug Stanhope. Not only is Stanhope the funniest man alive but I seriously think he is our country's premier social critic. When I first heard Stanhope’s material I couldn’t believe what I was hearing- it was like finding a friend, or at least a voice of reason in an insanely
idiotic world. All his stand-up specials are indispensable but No Refunds is especially essential viewing. If you're anything like me this will be the best hour you spend all year. Deadbeat Hero, From Across The Street and Word Of Mouth are amazing too and you can buy them direct from Doug. There are a couple videos on Netflix or they're all available via Torrents (Doug encourages file sharing). Below is an audio clip (there is video too if you find the DVD) from his most recent release Before Turning The Gun on Himself where he rips apart "rehab" through the lens of the fraud that is Dr. Drew Pinsky. Enjoy.
Below are my ten favorite feature films of 2012. You can read about the documentaries here. I tweet about movies here: @FilmPsychedelic
1. Kill List
What starts out as a drama about two middle class British
thugs slowly unravels into one of the craziest mysteries in recent memory. I
recommend seeing this with as little prior information as possible. The intense realism is pitch-perfect,
the acting solid, and the soundtrack is amazing. While some of the other films
on this list are made by artists operating at the highest pinnacle of
film making, I put this at number one because it was great to watch this new talent, Ben Wheatley, emerge.
2. The Turin Horse
By filming the daily chores of a farmer and his daughter, Bela Tarr captures the soul crushing sorrow of the repetitive banality within the lives of human beings. This is a simple meditation on survival that ingrains itself deeper and deeper as it progresses. One of the heaviest films ever made and truly a masterpiece. And I'll never experience potatoes the same way again.
3. Amour
Devastating simplicity from the master Michael Haneke. The
process of dying has not been portrayed so nakedly and vividly since Bergman’s
Cries and Whispers. The cold aesthetic Haneke is known for is subtly applied
under the perfected formalism and masterful acting. Though filled with intensely
emotional scenes I thought this was still one of his darker films due to the
unbridled handling of the subject matter. Essential viewing.
4. Sleeping Beauty
In
this unsettling story about depravity and power the lovely Emily Browning plays
a college student that gets involved in a cultish business that caters to rich
perverts. She performs with a subtle curiosity that would drive conservative
minds mad- rarely do we see an intelligent and morally ambiguous feminine
character like this on screen. An incredibly impressive debut from Australian
novelist Julia Leigh, the film is refreshingly apathetic and totally beautiful with cinematic trace
echoes of masters Kubrick and Briellat. I think this was actually a 2011 release but I just saw it this year.
5. Oslo,
31, August
One of the most serious and somber looks at drug addiction
and recovery ever put to film. Taking place over one day – the day an addict
gets out of rehab and realizes he is irreparably damaged and that assimilating
with society is not going to be an option. I’ve had a
lot of heroin addicted friends over the years and most of them are dead now so
this film really hit home. Stark, minimal, powerful film making.
6. Michael
The banality of evil is explored in this extremely disturbing
portrait of a pedophile keeping a passive child captive in his suburban home. Bleakly intellectual and clinically sad- this makes Todd Solondz’s pedo-flicks
look like Disney movies. I’d only recommend this for
those that enjoy challenging films about the darkest crevasses of human nature.
Everyone else may be permanently scarred.
7. Beyond the Hills
After five years, Christian Mungui returns with his follow
up to one of my favorite films: 4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days. Here he brings us deep
inside a Romanian Orthodox monastery for a full 2 1/2 hours. We live with a
priest and his nuns as they deal with an unstable homeless woman that has taken refuge with them. An ongoing quiet intensity pervades the film as her questioning of the
church is interpreted as a demonic possession. Things go downhill from there. Beautiful cinematography, locations,
acting, story-telling, everything… Mungui is establishing himself as a
filmmaker on the level of Bergman and Haneke- very serious subject matter dealt
with in an artful and insightful manner. He was present at the screening I
attended and the guy is obviously very smart and cool. I am looking forward to
seeing his work on the big screen as long as I am alive and he is making
films.
8. Rust and Bone
Jacques Audiard follows up A Prophet with with a nuanced and thought provoking
film about self worth, healing, pain and the catharsis of violence. Marion
Cotillard gives the best performance of the year as a whale “trainer” at
Marineland that gets her legs crushed in an accident. She meets a
poor amateur boxer that deals with her amputations in a pitiless and
straightforward manner and they embark on a relationship of self discovery
filled with sex and swimming. Love stories are usually pretty boring but this
one is extremely well done. The use of music in this film is amazing; the scene
where she is dancing to the cheesy Katy Perry song in her wheelchair that used
to play in her Marineland routine was surprisingly moving. The film has an
intense emotional core but at the same time has some unusual artistic
flourishes like that scene that push it into a magical place. Brilliant,
masterful storytelling.
9. The Hunt
As in his classic The Celebration, Thomas Vinterburg revisits themes of family-in-crisis and child sex abuse. Mads Mikkelsen stars as
a good hearted man falsely accused of molestation in a small Danish town. Child
reverence, coerced false confessions and misguided mass hysteria are very real problems
and this film deals with them perfectly. If you dig The Hunt also check out
Vinturburg’s underrated 2010 film Submarino.
10. The Master
The dark underbelly of Americana is explored in this subtle and complex film about dogmatic
organizations that manipulate broken people. It’s perfectly set during a time of massive
change after World War II when men were trying to find themselves and a new crop
of self help/empowerment movements were popping up. It’s also an accurate and
damning portrayal of the era when Dianetics was morphing into the criminal Church of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard began
wielding his powers over the dummies of the world. In fact, a lot of the
exercises he forces on Freddie are real life idiocies that the
COS inflicts on its Scienzombies. Many are
documented on the indispensable anti-COS website Operation Clambake. I
especially like the song Hubbard sings throughout the film called “Slow Boat to
China”,
a pop standard from the 40’s about the passing of time. It rings especially
powerful in the final scene when he is chastised by Hubbard’s wife for not
signing the famed “billion year contract". Good stuff.
A few more worth checking:
Killing Them Softly
A great modern gangster movie that is an obvious fuck you to the American government, especially Obama and his misguided "community" and "change" rhetoric. After Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James I think it's safe to say Andrew Dominick can do no wrong.
Compliance
A creepy film about societies conditioned subservience to authority. It’s almost unbelievable that people could be as stupid as the characters in this film but it is completely based on fact. A weirdo calls a fast food chain and pretends he is a cop investigating a thief and convinces the management to do perverted shit for him. For those that have already seen the film you can see the real footage here: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d03_1236269064 Writer/director Craig Zobel is one to watch.
Sound of My Voice
In this intriguing low budget film a new age therapy/time-travel
cult is investigated by two young journalists. It’s not a perfect movie but the
subject matter is handled well and held my interest the entire 90 minutes. The ending
leaves the story open to interpretation- which can sometimes be annoying- yet
here it adds to the mystery that incites conversations and theories
afterwards.
The Angel’s Share
Movies are often called “heartfelt” which is usually a
euphemism for “cheesy” but Ken Loach’s latest has an understated emotional current
that really works. The story revolves around a gang of ruffnecks in Glasgow that come up with
a plan to steal priceless whiskey in order to move beyond their dreary
lives. This is the lighter side of Loach - the raw intensity of his earlier UK
poverty films like Sweet Sixteen and Ladybird, Ladybird aren’t present here. And this is by far the funniest film on this list.
Detachment
Adrian Brody is amazing in this film about an apathetic
school teacher caught in a hellish teaching job. We follow his routine as he
deals with idiot bureaucrats and offensively unfit parents. This is a very cold
vision of America’s
education system. One of the main messages I took away is having a child should
be a privilege, not a right, and our child-obsessed culture has led to too many
morons having unwanted children.
Beyond the Black Rainbow
Another movie open to interpretation. My take: A
demented acid cult in the 1960’s slowly evolves into some sort of 1980's psychotropic
slave palace. Inside it, a man is trapped- totally engaged in mind melding warfare within this psychedelic dungeon. He battles his way into consensus reality and back in the physical world and then has to find his way out. You
can see the passion and craft that went into the sets and
costumes, this looks like an authentic straight-to-video feature from the 80's. I thought the film would
have been much stronger if it ended as the man emerges from the triangular
building- the “real life” ending killed the vibe. Still, a solid debut from
Panos Cosmatos.
Django Unchained
Another classic from Tarantino. Sam Jackson and Leo Dicaprio have their best roles ever as a slave keeper and servant. Engrossing, smart, funny, imaginative film making.
Also of note: Klown, Headhunters, Chronicle, The Tall Man, Holy Motors.
Below are the 10 best documentaries I saw this year. Most of
which were released theatrically or at least online in 2012. Best features
coming soon.
1. Marina Abramovic the Artist Is Present
Easily the most inspiring film I saw this year. It documents
the Serbian performance artist’s recent residency at MOMA where she sat in the
foyer of the museum, motionless, staring at whoever was in front of her for 8
hours a day, everyday, for 3 months. It also goes into her incredible history
of performance work that, upon serious consideration, really boggles the mind.
I saw the show in NY and it stuck with me for months. The film also plays as a
wonderful love story about two extreme artists growing apart. I can’t remember
the last time I actually shed a tear for any reason whatsoever but during the scene
when Ulay sits with Marina-
a salty drop of water rolled down my face.
2. The Imposter
This is one of the more incredible stories I can recall hearing about. I first read the long form article on con man Frederic Bourdin
in the New Yorker years ago. That piece makes him come across as a monster but
in this documentary he actually seems kind of sane- it’s the unfathomably
idiotic and possibly criminal white trash family that look
bad. If you’re not familiar with the story: Bourdin was a French man that
traveled around Europe pretending he was a kid to get into social programs for
youth- not because he was a pervert but because he was alone and had nowhere to
go. In order to stay in a boarding house he had to come up with an identity
and through a series of conniving manipulations, Frederic convinced the staff
he was a missing boy from Texas.
Then, after he flies out to San
Antonio, things get crazy. While some of the
re-enactments in the film are distracting, it is an otherwise engrossing and
well told tale. At the heart of the story is a mystery- what happened to the
missing boy? We may never know.
3. Bones Brigade: An Autobiography
A late entry for documentary of the year. Stacy Perelta’s film is a fascinating look at the personalities behind the boards that dominated 80’s skateboarding. These guys are truly legends- they created a vocabulary of tricks and moves that shaped a culture. Their dedication, innovation and love for the sport is intoxicating and inspiring. Rodney Mullen is the best on screen character of any movie this year. The man is an actual genius on the level of Glenn Gould. His analogy that ends the film comparing skateboarding to the unread literary classics is nothing short revelatory.
4. Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Pure inspiration. A film about what happens when a man
dedicates his life to a craft and the resulting human excellence. Essential
viewing for any artist or any one that eats food. If you like this movie also check out El Bulli: Cooking In Progress.
5. Give Up Tomorrow
A very fucked up story about corruption at the highest
levels of power in the Philippines.
I thought American cops and politicians were bad- but these people are truly the
scum of the earth. Two young sisters are found savagely gang raped and
murdered. It turns out the father is connected to organized crime and is about to
testify against a colleague- the murders may have been a warning to him. As usual, the crime family has the government paid off so they pick
a bunch of kids to blame for the murders in order to protect the
father. Some of the kids have mountain of proof that they didn’t do it and the one
the story focuses on, Paco, wasn’t even in the country at the time. Regardless,
they are given a death sentence. The story goes on from there- check it out.
6. There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane
A portrait of a family in deep, deep denial and totally blinded with grief. I found it
fascinating to watch these people that can’t come to grips with the fact that
their beloved Diane was not a good person. Aunt Diane was by most accounts not
very likable. She had major abandonment issues, was irritable and grumpy and
was secretly alcoholic. One day while driving her and her brothers kid’s home,
she drove the wrong way down a highway and into an oncoming car- killing
herself, the 5 kids with her and 3 men in the other car. The film thoroughly
dissects the events leading up to the incident and the resulting pain experienced
by loved ones. The sad sack husband comes off as particularly pathetic. My
theory is that it was suicide. Even if you are stoned and a little buzzed- you
don’t drive down the highway at full speed for mile after mile until you hit
someone. I think she was deeply disturbed and wanted to die so she took the kids out with her. A hard scenario to grasp but
people really are that evil. Great documentary.
7. Better This World
Two young American protesters are coerced, fooled and
entrapped by a piece of shit undercover fed. I got so angry watching this film
I almost snapped. An excellent example of just how scary, real, and twisted the
Patriot Act, “Homeland Security” and the resulting surveillance state has
become. Essential viewing for any
American.
8. Hot Coffee
Don’t let the name fool you, this is one of the headier,
more intellectual docs I have seen in a long time. Remember the case where the
grandmother sued McDonalds for the coffee being too hot after she spilled it on
herself? That’s the launching point for this discussion on tort reform (a law forbidding
companies to compensate people they fuck over, hurt or kill), forced
arbitration by corporations (clauses hidden in the fine print of contracts
saying you cant take the company to court if shit goes down), and most
importantly, the corporate takeover of the judicial branch of government.
Corporations truly run American and they don’t give a fuck about you. The woman who spilled the coffee, Stella Liebeck, is an American hero.
9. Marley
Any documentary on Bob is going to be awesome by default.
This one was done particularly well. Though 1992’s Time Will Tell had better and
longer interview footage (some re-used here), this film spent more time on his
last months alive when he was sick- a period usually glossed over in Marley
docs. The footage of the hills in Jamaica where he grew up, pre-Trenchtown,
was amazing. One can only imagine what Bob would have done were he still alive.
JAH!RASTAFARI.
10. Pink Ribbons, Inc.
A really interesting expose on breast cancer culture and the
scumbag companies that exploit and benefit from a painful and deadly
disease- and the fools that buy into it. It’s good to see what most consider a
sacred cow completely shot down.
A fantastic low fi pop tune from 1982. Recorded with no amps direct to a 4 track in a London kitchen. Originally confined to a self-released cassette but recently re-released by Captured Tracks.
Coil - The Restitution of Decayed Intelligence II
Blawan - His Daughters
Cut Hands - Krokodilo Theme
X Marks the Pedwalk - Solitude
Bronze Age - Modal Ingenuity
Regis - Blood Witness
Vatican Shadow - September Cell (The Punishment)
Iueke- Tape 1
Maggi Payne - Flights of Fancy
Joy Orbison & Boddika - Moist
Karenn - Lime Wash (Barrelled)
Bigod 20 - Body to Body (An Afternoon of Aggression)
Zsa Zsa Laboum - Something Scary (Instrumental)
Airplane Crashers - White Rabbit
Muslimgauze - Ensan Entehari
Cindytalk - Disintegrate...
The Turin Horse is one of the heavier films I have seen in a long while. It is deeply immersive, slowly showing us the lives of a dirt poor farmer and his daughter as they go about their chores over and over in a small farmhouse in a seemingly timeless era. Shot with very long takes and intensely choreographed camera movement, the film’s haunting black and white imagery is a wonder to behold. This intense minimalism from Hungarian master Bela Tarr and cinematographer Fred Kelemen is ideal for capturing the soul crushing sorrow of repetitive banality in the lives of human beings.
This film has one of the best soundtracks I have heard. A dark and introspective minor key phrase played by a string section is looped throughout almost the entire 2 ½ hour runtime, dramatically underpinning the non-action on screen.
I have read elsewhere that some interpret this film as one about the end of the world. While there is one scene that alludes to something nefarious happening the distance, it is most definitely about the apocalypse within. What I mostly took away was the overbearing weight of the mundane tasks one must ritualize in order to survive a meager existence. Indeed, I don’t think I’ve seen the bleakness of reality outlined this solemnly on film before. The shot of the woman in the dark near the end, as her face is finally fully revealed, will stay with me for a while. And eating a boiled potato will certainly never be the same.
The Turin Horse is an enduring masterpiece that shines a light on the sacred nothingness within us all.
4. On Death Row
5. Dirty Wars
An important overview of Jeremy Scahill's recent work on the murderous US force JSOC, the Al-Awlaki killings and the CIA's activities in Mogadishu. The film is adequately made but Scahill is one of the most important journalists working today rendering this essential viewing.
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