Continuing my countdown of 2024 notable album releases by women…
The Ladies of 2024
#5 – Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft
At just 22 years old, Billie Eilish already has a slew of Grammys, two Oscars, and two best-selling albums. So what does one do as a follow-up to all that success?
Based on Eilish’s third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, the answer is whatever the hell she wants.
Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2023
#7. Barbie
All hail Greta Gerwig, queen of the coming-of-age film!
The writer-director’s first two movies explored young women finding their place in the world, in early 2000s Sacramento (Lady Bird) and Civil War-era Massachusetts (Little Women). Both are masterpieces, and both are on my list of the ten best films of the previous decade.
Now, with Barbie, Gerwig has tackled her favorite subject matter in a far different context: a big-budget blockbuster produced by a toy company. And somehow she still manages to deliver a touching look at a character discovering what it means to be a woman and a human being.
Continuing the countdown of my favorite 2022 movies…
Best Films of 2022
#4 – Kimi
Steven Soderbergh is a fascinating filmmaker. Since pioneering the 90s Independent Cinema movement with his 1989 debut Sex, Lies and Videotape, he has directed 34 movies in 34 years.
Among them are micro-budget experimental films featuring only non-professional actors and high-budget blockbusters starring the biggest movie stars in the world. He’s dabbled in coming-of-age films, true crime, sports dramas, martial arts action, historical drama, biopics, and thoughtful dramas about female escorts and male strippers.
I’ve been underwhelmed by the new songs Billie Eilish has released from her sophomore album Happier Than Ever (which was released a few days ago as you’re reading this post, but a week after I’m writing it).
Following my lukewarm reaction to her Grammy-sweeping smash When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, I figured maybe her 2017 debut EP Don’t Smile At Me was an exception and she just isn’t my cup of tea.
Has any solo artist achieved as much success at as young an age as Billie Eilish? She is the youngest artist ever to win the Album of the Year Grammy, and the youngest ever to win Record of the Year (which she has won twice, making her also the second-youngest behind only herself).
She is one of only eight people to sweep the Grammys top three awards (Album, Record, Song) in one ceremony, and by far the youngest to do that. She is one of only two to add Best New Artist to that tally, joining Christopher Cross, who was 30 when he did it.
Meet Me In Montauk 