2013 Best of Lists, by Christopher Derrick – Sympathy For The Devil | @MDWorld

December 31, 2013 Chris Derrick 0 Comments

MUSIC

For music, this was a year that didn’t really grab me. Beyoncee’s last minute album drop was more powerful as a power of My Brand statement than anything else. The funny thing about the album is, Beyoncee gave iTunes exclusive rights to the album for a week, so Target is balking about carrying the physical CD.

Biggest coup for me was the release of the Led Zeppelin catalog on Spotify… saves me from having to the buy this pricey, but super-cool Japanese import special edition remasters of the whole catalog.

Disappointed by the much-anticipated releases by Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera, PRISM and LOTUS didn’t have the punch that I wanted these songbirds to have. Oh well, maybe next time; I’m still a big fan. Speaking of songbirds, KT Tunstall dropped a new album and it had one of my favorite songs of the year on it, “Crescent Moon”… check it out if you get the chance. It’s on Spotify, so it’ll cost you nothing but five minutes of your time. You won’t be disappointed.

What was more interesting was the 3-disc release of the recently discovered full score of John Milius’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Late composer Basil Poledouris crafted one of my all time favorite film scores.

MOVIES

I thought I’d have a lot to say about the movies this year… but I’m mistaken, outside of the requisite “For Your Consideration” films, what was really surprising? Only a few things, and mainly because commercial demands for films to “play internationally” limit the ability for the vast majority of filmmakers to make astonishing work at a substantial budget…

Of the few things that did make me sit up and take are (these aren’t in any particular order…):

THOR: THE DARK WORLD goes on this list. “Why?” You might ask. Simple, the Thor films are the actual buoy/foundation of the entire Marvel Studios long-game project. The reason why the non-Marvel studio Fantastic Four films failed to really spark the TNT of Jack Kirby’s cosmic imagination is that the screenwriters, producers and director kept the story of those two films grounded on Earth (I guess they didn’t really believe in the source material and/or understand what makes it work), which is where any FF story is weaker than the cosmic (even interdimensional) stories.

Kevin Feige let the creators behind THOR and its sequel tap channel all that was “oh wow!” about Kirby’s comic work for Marvel. Sure, there were a few narrative hiccups, but the overall multiverse is exactly what you want to see in Marvel film. Without the success of the first THOR, which set the stage for the mind-blowing events in THE AVENGERS, Marvel’s big plans would be on the level of DC’s GREEN LANTERN… promise for greatness sabotaged by poor execution.

Maybe the most poignant and powerful films of the year is 12 YEARS A SLAVE; I haven’t see a film this gripping years. Years. Artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen’s third feature is (to use an overused phrase) a tour de force in directing and acting. Chewitel Ejiofer, who I’ve been a fan of since Stephen Frear’s DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, gives a career-defining performance that is some nuance, some emotional and so explosive. I’d hate to see it not win a Best Picture Oscar, but I feel that the older, white male dominated Academy will nominate this film on GP, but they won’t actually see it, and thus it won’t even be in the running for Best Picture.

Next we have AMERICAN HUSTLE; David O. Russell’s serio-comic look at the players behind the infamous AbScam scandal of the late 1970s in which corruptible US Senators and Congressmen were willing to sell US citizenship to an FBI agent masquerading as a Arab sheik who intended to invest money in revitalizing Atlantic City.

In Russell’s adept hands the complex and character-driven script explores the vertiginous relationships between a con man his lover and the FBI agent who falls in love with the moll while trying to orchestrate the biggest bust of his career. Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence shine bright and bold; particularly Adams and Lawrence. It’s rare for female characters to get such depth in larger films and then knock it out of the park… not just one role, but two! Hats off to Russell for just doing that.

PRISONERS; okay, so there might be some narrative issues in the 3rd act, but this psychological thriller squeezed the air out of my lungs like no film since SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. It’s not as twisted as that (but then again it’s more so)… and Jake Gyllenhal and Hugh Jackman kickass. I thought Jackman hit his high point with last year’s LES MISERABLES, but this is the razor sharp, specific performance that he’s set for himself… anything less would be uncivilized (so now more Wolverine films until people from Marvel’s camp get a crack a writing the script). Gyllenhal, who I haven’t liked much of his work, amazed me with this and END OF WATCH from last year.

The story brings up a lot issues about the intimacy of killers, and how they are even able to share their “deeds”… if at all. I was talking to my friend about this, and she remarked that it was sort of like entering into a BDSM relationship with your significant other… I guess, but the stakes are so much higher.

THE GRANDMASTER; Hong Kong art film genius Wong Kar-Wai released this film after his odd English-language effort MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS, which I found fascinating , but it didn’t connect with audiences… considering its impressive cast. THE GRANDMASTER is the story of Bruce Lee’s martial arts teacher – Ip Man – wrapped around and underscored by a potent, unconsummated love story underneath the martial arts duels and the transition from pre-Communist China through the turbulent 1950s.

Wong Kar-Wai never disappoints, it’s just a question of how high he flies. Pretty high with this one (as I mentioned before here). Favorite “gauntlet thrown to the ground” line is recent fight film history, Tony Leung tells Zhang Ziyi before their fight, “Since this is my [restaurant/banquet hall], if anything gets broken, I lose.”

And a three-way tie for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS and LONE SURVIVOR for these excellently crafted films with powerhouse performances and emotional pull that define the reason why we go to the movies in the first place. Each is different in its genre, style, script and bevy of exceptional acting talents and moments. They’re all worth seeing.

Perhaps the most intellectually AND emotionally engaging film of the year is Spike Jonze’s HER. An examination on loneliness and fear of emotional commitment in the digital age, HER poses a lot of questions about our increasing dependence on interfacing with a computer for socialization and how this can prevent us from being brave enough to venture into have a relationship with another person. Relationships scar us (by this I mean in the most neutral terms, they leave mark; might be bad, might be good), and society and Western cultural, with its behavioral freedom and crushing economic realities, promotes a selfishness that is at odds with sustained relationships.

In the film, Joaquin Phoenix demonstrates why he’s one of the most empathetic actors working, and Scarlett Johansson — as The Voice — should shatter all haters and naysayers who claim she isn’t a well-rounded actress (she does do a lot of Broadway, which the vast majority of the movie-consuming public doesn’t see, but she has chops). Jonze usually plays with us when collaborating with genius/nut Charlie Kaufman, but this script (written by Jonze solo) is moving, introspective and resonant. Visually it’s also restrained, on the surface, look deeper and you’ll see wonderful, brilliant touches.

TV

Well, “Breaking Bad” came to its startling and jarring conclusion, and creator/showrunner Vince Gilligan broke the mold (and established a new one) with this pitch black morality tale. Bryan Cranston gave new meaning to “career-defining performance”, evidenced by acting legend Anthony Hopkins reaching out to give dap!

“Game of Thrones”, which found new ways to shock us this season (and what’s to come is even more gut-punching) unleashed the Red Wedding episode, which nearly blew-up Twitter and Facebook feeds. After watching David Benioff and D.B. Weiss talk about their process on the show on “The Writers Room”, I’m still in awe at how successfully they are at adapting George R.R. Martin’s sprawling — and still unfinished — epic of swords and sorcery. The acting continues to amaze (as I already know the story), and so does the production. Peter Dinklage (as Tyrion Lanister) and Emilia Clarke (as Danerys Targaryan) are the stand-outs stars, but the rest of the primary cast is no slouch!

One wonders if epic fantasy has a place, after the LORD OF THE RINGS movies (which I didn’t quite like that much) as this genre of speculative fiction has failed to connect with larger audiences in the past (“Xena” and “Legend of the Seeker” come to mind, those were quality, if campy, shows) and the relentless and savage nature of the storytelling is probably what separates this from other attempts. The Rated-R nature of the show with its much-talked about titillating sex & nudity, horrific violence and shrewd court maneuvering that channels Machiavelli like nothing else on TV.

“Strike Back”, Cinemax’s military action show continues to be my favorite show (of this genre or nearly any other genre, and I’ve said so many times before); too bad there’s only one season left. This last season kept my heart-racing episode after episode. Hats off to everyone involved who stepped up their game after Frank Spotnitz left after the first Cinemax season.

“Banshee”, another Cinemax entry. A crime thriller that brings carnage and mayhem to a small town with Amish roots likes we haven’t seen since David Lynch and Mark Frost’s “Twin Peaks”. This show is definitely worth more than a look, because it keeps you guessing up until the credits roll in the season finale.

“The Americans” & “The Bridge”, two F/X new shows about clashing cultures; one is set in 1980 about a pair of KGB sleeper agents struggling with the American way of life during Reagan’s America, and the other, set in 2013, focuses on a Texas border cop with Asperger’s Syndrome (charmingly played by Diane Kruger) and her Juarez, Mexico counterpart (played by Demian Bichir). It sort of lost steam with two episodes to go, but there’s promise… hopefully.

From across the pond, I fell in love with Denmark’s “Borgen” a political tale that surpasses Netflix’s “House of Cards” (which is great, but not as nuanced as Borgen).

Although the startling series of the year is BBC America’s “Orphan Black”… relatively unknown actress Tatiana Maslany expertly portrays about seven “clones” each with their own character traits (like different walks! walks!) in a twisting, crazy story that barely touches upon the true conspiracy that is at the core of the show — that’s for next season. So catch up, now, goddamn it!

COMICS

Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples’ SAGA continues to charm, thrill and amaze; please let this run like 70 issues.

Matt Fraction’s stint on Marvel’s HAWKEYE deconstructs the comic narrative is unbelievably compelling ways; the production schedule is spotty, but it’s worth the wait when David Aja finds time to do the pencils.

SEX CRIMINALS, Fraction’s other book, is sexually frank, introspective and down-right fun… this is what you want from comic books (the non-superhero kind).

EAST OF WEST; this sci-fi Western is drenched in oddball lore, blood and the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. Writer Jonathan Hickman owes a great debt to Jim Starlin for how he conceived Thanos’ love affair with Death (and his quest to destroy the known universe as a result) close to 40 years ago as a means to shape a powerful story about the consequences of dangerous love.

DREAM THIEF by my friend Jai Nitz; this was an original take on revenge fantasies with more ‘more-to-come’ lore than I’ve seen in a debut miniseries in quite a while. Greg Smallwood’s art was neat, cool, exploitive and energetic (is that enough adjectives? It was damn good for the mood and tone of this book).

HARBINGER & THIEF OF THIEVES are deep into their second years, and they continue to deliver hard-hitting narratives each month. I was reading most of the Valiant reboots, but I only found myself hanging on to HARBINGER. I wanted to like SHADOWMAN and X-0 Manowar, but the scripting was 2nd rate and they couldn’t keep consistently great art teams on the book (Cary Nord was doing some work on X-0, but not enough… if Fiona Staples and Shawn Martinborough can do every issue of their books, there’s no excuse… unless you’re Travis Charest or somebody like that).

I was hoping to put THE SANDMAN: Overture on this list, but one issue came out (due to Neil Gaiman’s busy summer schedule)… so hopefully it will be on next year’s list.

BOOKS

It’s hard to keep track of current fiction, because there’s so much good shit coming out weekly.

Salman Rushdie’s memoir Joseph Anton, which details his time in hiding in the late 80s and early 90s as a result of the mad Ayatollah Khomeni’s fatwa (death edict); seems the old Islamic cleric took a offense to Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses and zealots throughout the Muslim world were tyring to kill Rushdie while he lived in the UK. The book chronicles the grave toll on him, his family and his work… all done in Rushdie’s magnificent and magical prose. This book came in late 2012, so perhap it doesn’t count. Nevertheless, it’s well worth reading… if only to consider how artistic expression can evoke such a level of outrage that assassination is called for.

With How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Mohsin Hamid wrote a comical, yet poignant tale about how Western-style capitalism is crushing East Asian culture as the rural (and urban) poor seek to emulate the unsustainable profligate consumer lifestyle of the US.

So that’s it for 2013. I’m not claiming these are “the best” entries by any stretch, but these all resonated with me for at least a couple weeks afterwards… which is kind of what an artist wants; if your work turns out to be disposable and disappears from the audience’s mind a couple hours after consumption is complete, then you might want to slit your wrists… or try harder next time!