I had the peculiar experience of seeing Damien Chazelle's new film Babylon in the cinema yesterday. I can say, I'm glad I saw it on the big screen. I had some serious issues though. Here's my short, spoiler-free Letterbxd review. One thing I can say I LOVED about this film, though, was Greg Hurwitz's soundtrack. Fabulous.
Watch:
Speaking of insane budgets, we also watched Rian Johnson's new film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which is a bit overly concerned with showing off its budget and its preeminent accolades; however, ultimately, I dug this and appreciate not only the thought that went into its story but also the refusal to repeat the first.
Personally, I think not only was this one more interesting than the first - not that the first was uninteresting, but Johnson knew he had to crank it up another notch and did - but now that the elation of success has (hopefully) worn off, I'm hoping the next entry in the Knives Out canon will be a far superior film just by way of not having to devote so much time to figuring out cute little ways to name-drop so many major stars.
Read:
I'm beginning my reading for the year with a book I completely forgot Mr. Brown lent to me some time ago:
Not only is this a book about Talking Heads, but it's also written by Jonathan Lethem. I've read quite a few of Lethem's novels and one of his comic series (Omega the Unknown from the 00s), but it has been some time. I reread Motherless Brooklyn around the time the movie came out a few years ago, but Amnesia Moon and Gun, With Occasional Music, are both long overdue for engagement, not to mention all the books he's penned that I never got around to.
Playlist:
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST
Lustmord - Heresy
Greg Puciato - Child Soldier: Creator of God
Bill Doggett and His Combo - All His Hits
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
Justin Hurwitz - Babylon OST
Lustmord - Dark Matter
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
My final New Year's Pull from my final and now favored deck:
Carefully considering ideas will lead to the next big thing.
