This is so good. Making a competent short film is a whole lot harder than it looks. This one nails it.
Video
Cages
The 1970s French version is good, but the American version of The Birdcage is such a great film. And I say that as someone who rarely enjoys farces.
That movie is just absolutely fun from end to end and never makes a false move. I was shocked by how much I liked it when I watched it soon after it came out. The casting choices were just perfect, and the chemistry between Nathan Lane and Robin Williams was unbeatable.
Recommended.
Muireann Bradley – Clay Pigeons
God what a great cover.
Bitter Water – The Kissing Disease
A very small artist I found. Good song. Sounds like a blend of early Nirvana and Wet Leg.
The New Eves – Red Brick
Love that Brighton accent! Good song. That’s the weirdo noisy stuff I’m all about.
Phoebe Bridgers – I Know the End
How did I not know this amazing song has an equally wonderful video? Phoebe is a truly great poet. But the video. Wow. The symbolism! The weirdness! It’s a mini-masterpiece. It couldn’t be more different than AI slop pap.
(Incidentally, the skeleton suit Phoebe is wearing has a male pelvis.)
Hatchie – Only One Laughing
Brand new, but has a definite 90s dream pop vibe; I like it a lot.
Katie Tupper – Tennessee Heat
Nice song. If I can find 21 new (to me) songs I quite like in the last three days, anyone who is saying there’s no good new music is a confirmed cracksmoker.
Cuspid – Nematode
I saw not a single nematode in the work, but I like the song and the video.
And Scene
Good illustration of the difference between beginners, intermediates and pros/experts. And it is vast.
In the film’s context, I prefer Anne’s and Heath’s version of the scene. It is integral to their already-revealed characters. Out of the context of the film, I think Nina’s and Logan’s (the non-Oscar pros) version is better as a disconnected scene.
Niet Nyet
Nope. That’s the elementary school reading of Nietzsche.
Now to what ol’ Friedrich was actually getting at. He was saying that all knowledge and progress is from a perspective, and furthermore was observing that with the loss of binding religion that had pervaded all culture, we’d need to create new horizons and values, of many different kinds, all instantiated by and for humans rather than handed down from some higher power or metaphysical authority.
In other words, we must become the god we killed; Nietzsche was not saying all hope of a shared future or futures was lost, but that now we were wholly in charge of creating any of that.
As I’ve said before, the philosopher Baby Queen understands Nietzsche better than most people who read him, including Nils Gilman.
Mazzy Star – Fade Into You (LIVE)
I love how bass-heavy this version is. That bassist has such a unique style and playing method, too. I think she holds it like that because she’s small, but it’s really good no matter. Mazzy Star is one of the few bands that I listened to in the 1990s that I enjoy the same amount today, and listen to fairly often still.
Renee Christine – Turtle Island
Lord, what a voice! Loved this.
Tchotchke – Playin’ Dumb
This is great. It really nails the Phil Spector-esque “wall of sound.” It even has the appropriate key change in the last 1/4 of the song. So much fun.
The Dollheads – Burger King is Hiring
I don’t like this song for itself much, but from a nostalgic perspective I do. It reminds me of Riot Grrrl and when feminism was actually good. That’s back when we were all attempting to have fun, before identitarian BS took over and before men were treated like default rapists 100% of the time.
The song has all of two chords and is very repetitive, but in its own way it’s still fun. Though I won’t listen to it again.