year in review
Dec. 11th, 2021 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amoraobscuraI'm doing a 2021 Year in Review. Right here, right now. I don't care if the year isn't over.
I rarely post on this blog---and am not planning to do so at all ever again-- so I'm giving it a sendoff.
Books: My favorite first time reads were Crazy Like Us by Ethan Watters, In other words by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton, and Dagger Dagger, a dark fantasy/sci-fi indie comics anthology. I also adored Taiyo Matsumoto's Ping Pong and think Milk Fed is probably the most underrated new book. The book's kinda an iffy, funny mess but it says a lot of interesting things, and I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it.
Right now, I'm currently reading The Copenhagen Trilogy and am rereading Pride and Prejudice. I read Pride and Prejudice years ago and didn't like it but, honestly, it's a really, really good book.
Movies: In the Realm of the Senses is the best movie I watched this year. Yes, that In the Realm of the Senses--Oshima's almost infamous Franco-Japanese arthouse porno. It's good. It's well-made, well-acted, interesting, and occasionally pretty disturbing.
My favorite movies, though, were Indiscreet, Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, Funeral Parade of Roses, and La Piscine. Jane Campion's Bright Star is my most improved rewatch and Madchen in Uniform is the movie I'd most recommend to others. An old German film about girls at an oppressive boarding school, Madchen is one of the only good gay schoolgirl stories I've seen. There's far more to the film, of course, and much of the stuff with the teacher is inappropriate, but it's a good movie and one that would be great to teach in a film class.
Music and TV: I listen to a decent amount of music, but don't really keep track of it. I know I loved Aly and Aj's new album and think Tinashe's new album is pretty good. It's really grown on me; it's the kind of album I feel I have to be in a certain mood to listen to. I'm mostly happy that Tinashe has finally made a good album. I've been a fan of hers for a long time, but, outside of a few songs, none of her stuff was really good. Lately, I've mostly been in an almost nostalgic mood, finally checking out the back catalogue of bands I liked in middle school like Girls Aloud and the Sugababes. No, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed.
Oh, and Britney Spear's Blackout is great. I listened for the first time this year, and it's one of my favorite albums now.
I don't watch much TV. I hate most American TV on principle (I generally don't like procedurals, true crime or shows about real-world cops which is like 90% of what's on TV) and don't seem to get around to watching the few shows that look interesting. I also have little interest in most new anime except--except The Heike Story. I've watched most of the series and it's just so good. The pacing's sometimes a little off and I don't understand most of the story, but it's so gorgeous and sad and the most emotionally resonant anime I've seen since The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. When it's good, it's so good.
I rarely post on this blog---and am not planning to do so at all ever again-- so I'm giving it a sendoff.
Books: My favorite first time reads were Crazy Like Us by Ethan Watters, In other words by Jhumpa Lahiri, The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton, and Dagger Dagger, a dark fantasy/sci-fi indie comics anthology. I also adored Taiyo Matsumoto's Ping Pong and think Milk Fed is probably the most underrated new book. The book's kinda an iffy, funny mess but it says a lot of interesting things, and I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it.
Right now, I'm currently reading The Copenhagen Trilogy and am rereading Pride and Prejudice. I read Pride and Prejudice years ago and didn't like it but, honestly, it's a really, really good book.
Movies: In the Realm of the Senses is the best movie I watched this year. Yes, that In the Realm of the Senses--Oshima's almost infamous Franco-Japanese arthouse porno. It's good. It's well-made, well-acted, interesting, and occasionally pretty disturbing.
My favorite movies, though, were Indiscreet, Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey, Funeral Parade of Roses, and La Piscine. Jane Campion's Bright Star is my most improved rewatch and Madchen in Uniform is the movie I'd most recommend to others. An old German film about girls at an oppressive boarding school, Madchen is one of the only good gay schoolgirl stories I've seen. There's far more to the film, of course, and much of the stuff with the teacher is inappropriate, but it's a good movie and one that would be great to teach in a film class.
Music and TV: I listen to a decent amount of music, but don't really keep track of it. I know I loved Aly and Aj's new album and think Tinashe's new album is pretty good. It's really grown on me; it's the kind of album I feel I have to be in a certain mood to listen to. I'm mostly happy that Tinashe has finally made a good album. I've been a fan of hers for a long time, but, outside of a few songs, none of her stuff was really good. Lately, I've mostly been in an almost nostalgic mood, finally checking out the back catalogue of bands I liked in middle school like Girls Aloud and the Sugababes. No, I'm not embarrassed or ashamed.
Oh, and Britney Spear's Blackout is great. I listened for the first time this year, and it's one of my favorite albums now.
I don't watch much TV. I hate most American TV on principle (I generally don't like procedurals, true crime or shows about real-world cops which is like 90% of what's on TV) and don't seem to get around to watching the few shows that look interesting. I also have little interest in most new anime except--except The Heike Story. I've watched most of the series and it's just so good. The pacing's sometimes a little off and I don't understand most of the story, but it's so gorgeous and sad and the most emotionally resonant anime I've seen since The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. When it's good, it's so good.
