Selena Gomez just released a new album, Rare, that I played once in the background the day it came out. It’s receiving some of the best reviews of her career, and I owe it another listen.
In the meantime, here’s a track from Gomez’s 2015 album Revival, which I like very much.
Following this album, Gomez suffered from physical and mental health issues tied to lupus. She checked herself into rehab to treat her depression and anxiety attacks.
I didn’t have much to say about today’s random selection, the final track from Arcade Fire’s 2013 album Reflektor. But then I realized it was originally written for the Spike Jonze movie Her and shows up during that film’s end credits, so that gave me a bit of a hook.
Her is one of a handful of films from the last decade that I wish I had revisited before compiling my ‘Best Movies of the 2010s’ list. It’s not that I think it would have a fighting chance of making the list, but it’s a movie I feel I owe a reconsideration.
In 2011, Jon Favreau directed Cowboys & Aliens, a big, dumb, expensive studio movie that failed to connect with critics and audiences alike. That movie is not on this list.
Cowboys & Aliens is, however, indirectly responsible for my #6 film, 2014’s Chef. That’s because Favreau, tired of the creative constraints accompanying big-budget moviemaking, decided to go back to basics, writing and directing a cheap, personal movie instead. And that movie is a goddamn marvel.
Last year was so great it has landed two films on my top ten of the decade list. It’s tied with five other years with three titles overall in my top 20. As I mentioned in the Knives Out post, I believe 2019 will be looked back on as a landmark year for cinema the way 1999 is now. I wonder if there is something special about the final year of a decade or if it’s just a coincidence. Probably just a coincidence.
My favorite film of 2019 was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. I seem to share that opinion with many critics and audience members alike, based on the film’s performance in top ten lists, award shows, Rotten Tomatoes and the box office. Sometimes a movie works so well you just can’t deny it.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is one of two directorial debuts in my top ten. Peele displayed such an expert command of the medium right out of the gate. I imagine he picked up a lot of these instincts on the set of Key & Peele (where he was a writer but not a director), because that show often toed the same line of comedy and surreal horror.
Meet Me In Montauk 