Few films in recent years have received as much lavish praise as Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. A compilation of critics’ top ten lists has it in the #1 spot with a 200-point lead over the next title. It has been repeatedly called a masterpiece and even, by more than a few writers, one of the greatest films ever made.
Can any movie possibly be worthy of all that hype? Can Roma live up to those expectations?
My answer: It doesn’t, until it does. And then it somehow surpasses them.
Our next Montauk Madness matchup is a battle across the decades, pitting a 70s powerhouse against an innovative indie band from the past decade. I give you Pink Floyd vs. Vampire Weekend!
My high school self would have had no problem with this choice, as I pretty much lived and breathed Pink Floyd in those years (not to mention that Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig was in pre-K).
For my final selection of favorite songs, I’m travelling back (once again) to high school.
It’s no surprise that so many of the songs I’ve featured over the past three weeks come from my adolescence. I’ll be curious to see if the same holds true for my readers’ lists (which I expect you to post in the comments!).
The Wall, Pink Floyd’s two-disc concept album, came within a month of not making this list. Released in November of 1979, this nonetheless feels like a very 70s album to me.
Of course, I personally didn’t discover it until the late 80s, along with the rest of Pink Floyd’s catalog. Along with Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon and Animals, this record became the soundtrack of my high school experience.
Pink Floyd is the quintessential 70s band but for me they will always represent the late 80s. That’s when I, along with my group of high school friends, obsessed over all of their albums the way teenage boys have for 40 years now.
Dark Side of the Moon is the band’s signature album, one that remained on the Billboard charts for a record 741 weeks. Its iconic cover art is familiar even to those who’ve never heard a note. And those who’ve heard it have likely fallen under its spell.
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