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Song of the Day #5,351: ‘This is the Lost Generation’ – The Lost Generation

I swear I never set out to have my top ten movies of the year cover a broad range of genres and styles but that has refreshingly been the case, especially in recent years.

This year’s list includes films by debut directors and legends. It includes dark comedies, tense thrillers, family dramas, and mind-bending sci-fi.

It also features something new for me: a healthy dose of horror. That includes today’s film, which as it happens is also a dark comedy, tense thriller, family drama and mind-banding sci-fi movie all in one. I guess that makes it the perfect way to kick things off.

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Song of the Day #5,350: ‘Raamam Raaghavam’ – Vijay Prakash, Chandana Bala Kalyan, Charu Hariharan

I’ve heard some critics say 2022 wasn’t a strong year for new movies, a claim I wholeheartedly reject. In fact, I had to cheat and include 11 titles on my “top ten” list in order to fit everything I wanted. More on that in the coming weeks.

I was also dead set on fitting today’s movie into that top ten, but eventually the math just wasn’t there. But I wanted to write a bit about it, so please indulge this bonus entry in my year-end list, which will officially kick off tomorrow.

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Song of the Day #5,349: ‘Après Moi’ – Regina Spektor

Here’s the second Random Weekend selection from Regina Spektor’s 2006 album Begin to Hope.

The last time she showed up, I remarked that the Random iTunes Fairy had a knack for picking the hits, as she surfaced ‘Fidelity,’ the only song from that album — or Spektor, period — to ever chart.

A little more than three years later, Spektor is back with a deep cut.

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Song of the Day #5,348: ‘Goodbye Cruel World’ – James Darren

Wrapping up my week of personal Oscar nominations, today I’ll focus on the Best Director category. Then, over the next two weeks, I’ll count down my personal top ten movies of 2022.

I find this category the trickiest to evaluate. Given the importance of the director, one could argue that my five favorite movies of the year must also be the best directed. That’s definitely one way to go, though not the one I chose.

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Song of the Day #5,347: ‘Stay High (Childish Gambino Version)’ – Childish Gambino

I’m sheepishly glad I haven’t watched Till at the time I’m writing this because I no doubt would have to find a way to fit Danielle Deadwyler into my five Best Actress nominations. And I had a brutal time compiling this list as it is.

I also have yet to see To Leslie, but I haven’t been lobbied by any A-list stars to vote for Andrea Riseborough either, so I don’t think she’d make my list.

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