Two thousand weight? #8: Hella eyes

by Ryland Walker Knight

Ok, I lied. I do have some more things to say about my year with the movies. I said some of those things, rather haphazardly, in a contribution to Brian Darr's second annual I Only Have Two Eyes poll. That link will open the whole series of posts—starting with Brian's introduction and his own list, and continuing through the alphabetically arranged considerations of (former) fellow bay cinephiles I will most definitely miss seeing around town. One glaring, idiotic omission from my list: The San Francisco Silent Film Festival. I don't know how I could forget! (Well, I do: I rushed through composing my notes.) In any case, that weekend was a true highlight not just for the films I got to see but for where I got to see them (in that cathedral of cathedrals, The Castro) and who I got to see them with (including Brian, and our lovely czar Michael, and the cosmopolitan Shahn, and the flown-in Darren & Girish). Another forgotten treasure was the SFIFF screening of En la cuidad de Sylvia, which spawned three thoughtful letters between yours truly and our friends Jen Stewart and Kevin B. Lee. So, please go look around at some of these links. For all my two thousand weight dumpy dirt piles, there were beams of light cutting through the clouds to glint across my horizon.

Two thousand weight #7: More reminiscence, more lessons, more laughs. A big leap.

by Ryland Walker Knight

A bizarre year full of bizarre films and worse turns outside the cinematheque, my 2008 saw our flux drift down into waste for far too long, with far too much fear, before our fall season reminded that we may find flight possible (again) as we recycle another calendar set and cabinet. Events and actions have a history before they happen—and accountability is tricky.

Scoot on over to The House Next Door [click text above] to read my final words on my past year with films. Since I already skimmed the surface, sorta, with my Auteurs' poll (here), I tried to delve a little deeper and offer something a little more, hmn, investigative of my self in this companion piece since, when it comes down to it, as much as we argue for lasting worth in these arbitrary markers, our efforts are perhaps more akin to lock-box diary notes than sea scrolls. Let's push forward with a smile. Let's build homes. Let's love this muck. Let's find facts. Let's get big. Fuggit: let's lift-off.

Two thousand weight? #6: Quick Wendy and Lucy plug.

by Claire Twisselman

I think I want to call it the American film of the year. I think it's for me the way There Will Be Blood was for me last year. Like: how come more people won't see this thing? It's only 80 minutes long! It won't eat up your day like Che. Check here to see when it comes near you. And then see it, of course. People tell me to kick myself that I didn't see Ballast, but I don't think that one will kick me the way this one kicks me. It's a good thing. Heck, it's a great thing. We need to look at the margins more.

Two Thousand Weight? #5: Pure Joy

by Mikey

Track One: "Suffering Jukebox" - Silver Jews

Live it's a tie: 650 torchbearers Millbrae Bros bringing Seattle to its knees with the help of a whiskey-soaked devil VS. Earth melting the brains of a hundred-plus yuppies at the Bad Seeds concert.

Track Two: "Strange Overtones" - David Byrne and Brian Eno


After requesting "Baby on Board", Lindy being picked to harmonize and become an honorary member of the Dapper Dans.

Track Three: "Old Fools" - the Magnetic Fields


Seeing WALL*E at Pixar (yeah, that's me). It ain't no Ratatouille but that first half hour is the greatest of the year. Strike that, any year. Fuck the haters (see below). WALL*E is optimistic about the future in spite of the evils of mankind taunting it in the face. After seeing this work of art constructed on robots but conceived and shaped entirely by humans, this jaded little misanthropic atheist saw a glimmer of hope too.


Track Four: "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" - Randy Newman

Speaking of hope, remember this?


Track Five: "Nude With Boots" - Melvins

The greatest band in the history of music soldiers on.

Track Six: "The Rip" - Portishead

Overhearing Nellie McKay say she's never heard of Cat Power from the booth next to me at California Vegan in L.A.


Track Seven: "Borrowed Your Gun" - Spiritualized

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut is a movie about life and death and love and lust and art and commerce and children and parents and one's purpose or lack thereof on this planet and it made me laugh and cry and gasp and sigh and I couldn't get it out of my head for days. I woke up after dreaming about it with new revelations having come to light and I still don't know if I know what I know because it was all so fast and fleeting and full of wit and vigor and pith and vinegar. It's the most beautiful film about ugliness I have ever seen.


Track Eight: "I'm A Tide" - Broken Strings

Buried treasures: Pennies from Heaven, Zola, A Tree With Roots, The Blue Angel, Bela Bartok, The War of the World by Niall Fergusson, Rio Bravo.

Track Nine: "More News From Nowhere" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds



Goodbye.

Two Thousand Weight? #4: So long!

Gonna go get my life on! It starts like this!

Two Thousand Weight? #3: Hip Hop Suggestion Sector.

by Leile One

I’m not going to lie to you. 2008 was as wack as any other years in recent memory as far as the normal Clear Channel rap records are concerned. Sure, sure, we had some mainstream gems like Lil Weezy’s rhyme wizardry extravaganza Tha Carter III, and some funny rad viral video shit like Hot Stylz “Lookin’ Boy” type of shit, which I obsessed over for a good couple of months (major props to all y’all who did some great homemade versions). But despite these beacons of glory in a mainstream sea of robot voices and puke-worthy style bitings, most of the good shit this year was heard far, far away from the FM dial. No big surprise. But I thought I’d take a minute to mention a few of my favorite records from this year that were probably too dope to even graze the MTV2 3am jackoff hour. In no particular order:

Siah and Yeshua DapoED: The Visualz Deluxe Edition CD
There was a time when I was the coolest kid on the block for owning the original issue of the Fondle ‘Em Records vinyl EP of this criminally over-slept-on classic from the 1996 era of supreme college radio late night classics. Now it’s everyone’s to grab, thanks to a definitive reissue from Traffic Entertainment that dropped in April of this year. The production is on some absolute classic jazz-digger gold nugget styles (think: everything that was coming out in the mid-90’s times ten), and the emcee duo of Siah and Yesh sound fresh as ever on some real live chemistry that will bring you right back to the times of listening to rhymes in an alley while ignoring your math homework. The eleven-minute opus “A Day Like No Other” alone is worth the price of admission to the magical circus, and if you enjoy twenty pages of liner notes along with flyer images explaining exactly what the fuck was going on for these dudes back then, they’ve included that, too.

Why?: Alopecia
This one’s already gotten a lot of love from Pitchfork and such, and many may argue that this isn’t even hip hop. But you’re wrong. Nothing is more hip hop than rhyming about how you “got sick and blew chunks” in the parking lot behind Whole Foods. As this record proves once and for all, hip hop can also sometimes be about doing wet coke in a Starbucks bathroom, with the door locked, hella ashamed of yourself. To put it simply, this is the most hardcore shit that came out this year. Alopecia makes all the other records sound like Disneyland, even when they’re on some murder shit. Why’s new shit is on some murder yourself shit, which can at times be the tastiest murder of all, if you‘re in the right mood.

C.R.A.C.: The Piece Talks
These guys are kinda hard to pin down. That’s why this record is so good. Sometimes these dudes are on some pop sensational magic loveliness vibe, like on “Buy Me Lunch”, Exhibit A. Later they may hit you with some real rugged stuff, like, “Don’t make me have to POP THEM BOYS!!” They are not afraid to threaten you. I think what I like about this record is that it’s so diverse. More specifically, it’s nonchalant. It’s like one of those classic albums where some dudes just hit the studio and were like, “Fuck it, let’s just have fun with this, even if it sounds really crazy and doesn‘t sell.” Like Digital Underground’s Body Hat Syndrome, or The Pharcyde’s first record. This is one of those bravery type of albums that remind you that 2008 was actually pretty cool. And, in retrospect, it was.

Two thousand weight? #2: Something approaching superlatives.

by Ryland Walker Knight

If you're curious, and I'm gonna guess you're curious, I offer something like a top ten list over at The Auteurs Notebook. I also offer something about some other "older" movies I saw and gasped about. I called it, "Wrangle yourself and laugh." I called it that because, well, because that's what I feel like I learned (a little) how to do again. It's a great thing. But it's tired in here, after a nap, and my family is funny, so I shouldn't be blogging. Let's light those candles, sister.

Two thousand weight? #1: Shipping costs are up.

by Ryland Walker Knight

[1. this thing / 2. stolen from Pinkerton]
It's official, or at least public now: I'm moving to New York City in two weeks. Barf it out. CFCF makes things easier: have a hear-see, you'll thank me. See you there.