Listmas 2022: Miscellany
My home Internet is down so not much snappy commentary, just unadulterated listopia
Artist of the year: Nick Cave (not that one)
MOVIES
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma, 2019)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)
Zola (Janicza Bravo, 2020)
Petite maman (Céline Sciamma)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodovar)
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn [Censored Version] (Radu Jude)
The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
And I also liked West Side Story (Stephen Spielberg), Cruella (Craig Gillespie), Dune (Denis Villeneuve), Titane (Julia Ducournau), Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen), Elvis (Baz Luhrmann), Undine (Christian Petzold), Encanto (Byron Howard & Jared Bush), Moonage Daydream (Brett Morgen), and last and least, Bullet Train (David Leitch).
Best performances: Anders Danielsen Lie in Worst Person, Vincent Lindon in Titane, Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza
Unnecessarily good performance beyond the call of duty: Viola Davis in The Woman King
TV (caveat: I don’t watch TV)
Best comedy: Reservation Dogs season 1
Best drama series: Stranger Things season 4
Best episodes:
Stranger Things: “Dear Billy” (the “Running Up That Hill” one)
Demon Slayer: “Hinokami”
Reservation Dogs: “Hunting”
The Sandman: “The Sound of Her Wings”
Only Murders in the Building: “Double Time”
Last Week Tonight: “Police Interrogations”
What We Do in the Shadows: “Go Flip Yourself”
Chainsaw Man: “Meowy’s Whereabouts”
Rick and Morty: “Mortyplicity”
Star Trek: “The Menagerie”
THE ONLY MUSIC VIDEOS I REMEMBER, EVEN THOUGH I WRITE A VIDEOS COLUMN
Ethel Cain: “American Teenager”
Goede Hoop Marimba Band: Vivaldi: “Gloria/Spring”
CONCERTS
Tune-Yards, The Bluebird, Bloomington, IN
Low Cut Connie, Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Bloomington, IN
Tori Amos, Palace Theater, Columbus, OH
ART & OTHER EXHIBITIONS
Nick Cave, Forothermore, MCA Chicago. What I said on Twitter: “The best, most fulfilling contemporary art exhibit I’ve ever seen… Among many other things, he doesn’t just say it’s vital to find moments of joy while acknowledging the persistence of racism/discrimination/all manner of injustice, he demonstrates a way to do it such that both tremendous suffering and fun are palpable in the physical objects.” (I also called him the good Nick Cave and only slightly got in trouble for that.)
Also:
Chinese galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum
Lots of things at the Detroit Institute of Arts but let’s just say the Rivera murals
The same old European paintings but with better lighting now, The Met
Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh
COOL BUILDINGS
Chicago flagship McDonald’s (greenwashing at its best)
Absolute World Towers, Mississauga, ON
All the Art Deco skyscrapers, Downtown Pittsburgh
Oh yeah, Fallingwater was good for what it was, even if it’s the opposite of my preferred aesthetic
SPORTS
(Excluding pro wrestling. Yes, long-time subscribers, you’re still getting your wrestling post when I catch up.)
Argentina vs. France, World Cup final, 12/18
New Zealand vs. England, Women's Rugby World Cup final, 11/12
Nadal vs. Medvedev, Australian Open final, 1/30
Pakistan vs. India, T20 Cricket World Cup, 10/23
Serena Williams vs. Ajla Tomljanovic, US Open, 9/2
Real Madrid vs. Man City, Champions League, 5/4
Australia vs. England, Women's Ashes Test, 1/27-1/30
Bills at Chiefs, NFL Divisional round, 1/23
Real Madrid vs. Chelsea, Champions League, 4/12
Alcaraz vs Sinner, US Open quarterfinal, 9/7
MAJOR LIFE/RELATIONSHIP GOALS ACHIEVED
At least two, but seeing the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in person was probably the more important one.
Back to substantive posts next week. (Well, Odds & Ends.)
Cave rules. He hails from my neck of the woods (mid-Misery!) but fortunately escaped.
We heard him speak a few months ago and he was amazing. Had not seen that piece so thanks for sharing!
Having seen the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, you now need to take a trip to Chicago, Ravenswood Cemetery and see Oscar Mayer's grave. The rather large Wienermobile marker is a sight to behold. Kidding aside, one of the more amazing cemeteries. The Marshall Field marker is a scale model of the Merchandise Mart. Several other more traditional famous burials but amazing sculptures as markers. They can be a tad touchy about letting folks in and pictures are a big no-go. But they like me, my family owns one of the largest unused sections. Those sell for a mint these days. In any case when/if you get to Chicago one day, something to add to a to-do list.