Best Films of 2017-2023 (2019)

Best of 2019

1. Marriage Story (Netflix) - Wow.  What a great film.  Amazing acting.  A poignant story.  Two super memorable scenes for me.  I loved the director's ability to really give you the feeling of contrast between New York / LA, and posh lawyers / budget lawyers.  It's also a great movie for the more complicated family structures we increasingly see in our day.  
2. Parasite (98) - Another amazing film.  So memorable, and so tense.  This never happens to me but there were scenes in there where I had to step away as I couldn't bare to watch anymore due to the tension.  This movie was almost ruined by a fierce debate Val and I had afterwards, but then, I think that's part of its allure--it's moral ambiguity which forces the audience to debate who's right.  
3. Knives Out (21) - A very pleasant discovery when we watched it.  A fun and comical adventure, and a well-executed murder mystery.  
4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (18) - Good movie.  Strange plot.  It had some real moments with some all-star acting.  
5. Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (6) - My review / ranking of this film gets into some complexities with the whole reboot.  I loved the reboot generally.  Episode VII was a great film which held so much promise for the new trilogy, and Episode VIII, despite having some lame side stories, was a good movie in its own right, with some intriguing plot directions.  But then Episode IX pretty much made a mess of earlier story arcs and kind of ended in a cliche way.  I enjoyed this film when I watched it, but the less I think back on it the better.  
6. Frozen II (4) - I'm here for it.  
7. Toy Story 4 (3) - I think my least favorite of the bunch, but it was still good.  
8. Ford v Ferrari (27) - A decent airplane movie.  Some of the acting is a little hammy, but maybe they were trying to appeal to young kids so it's cool.  The title is very accurate.  
9. The Addams Family (30) - Fun enough.  
10. Ne Zha (175) - A big hit in China, apparently.  This was a fun superhero cartoon movie for our family to watch.
11. Aladdin (8) - I am conceptually against the whole live-action remake thing.  Super weak on Disney's part to just have close to zero creativity like that.  It's made worse by the fact that they generally try to stick so closely to the old movies.  Like, that would impress me if you had a YouTube short of replicating a classic scene from one of these old cartoon treasures, but when you dogmatically stick to that throughout the whole film it makes it kind of an emotionless experience.  I must state for the record that I only watched this film (and Lion King below) since they were free on a family Disney Cruise.  I liked the actors and the singing, but the enjoyment was only at the margins.  
12. The Lion King (2) - See #11 above.  

Movies I Didn't Much Care For

1. Avengers: Endgame (1) - *Grumpy rant forthcoming* - I can't even remember if this was the Avengers movie I watched, but I think it was this one.  Even from watching it on the plane I just could not enjoy this movie.  The CGI was so overkill that nothing felt real, and there are so many superheroes constantly on the verge of death or trying to prevent the galaxy from getting destroyed that the stakes feel so ridiculously grand as to be unimportant.

Movies I'm Eager to Watch (In Order)

1. Uncut Gems (91)
2. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (163)

Best Films of 2017-2023 (2018)

Best of 2018

1. Crazy Rich Asians (17) - Not an amazing movie, but my favorite of 2018 nonetheless.  It had heart, it had rom, it had com, and it had SINGAPORE!!!.  And it actually holds up pretty well on repeat viewings.  The game theory piece overlaid onto the story is a clever touch, and the face-off with the mother-in-law is a treat.  
2. Creed II (28) - Super loved "Creed", and, of course, the Rocky films.  Creed II picked up pretty well where Creed I left off.  
3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (29) - Saw this in the theaters only because my friend Blake invited me.  Didn't expect to enjoy it but I was instantly transported to what I loved about old comic books and graphic novels.  This movie dragged slightly towards the end, but it was solid.  
4. A Quiet Place (15) - Definitely a unique and suspenseful film.  
5. Black Panther (1) - This was a fun moment in cinema where there was kind of a new type of Marvel movie coming out, with homage to African and black culture.  And it had some good Oakland-type vibes at the beginning thanks to director Ryan Coogler's touches.  
6. Aquaman (13) - I expected this movie to suck but I actually found myself wrapped up in the character arc, and really rooting for him to slay his proverbial dragon.  Great training montage and fight scenes.
7. Isle of Dogs (89) - Fun and quirky.
8. They Shall Not Grow Old (151) - Good for the WWI history buffs.  
9. Incredibles 2 (3) - Fine.  Not as good as the first.  
10. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (8) - Good, I think.  Can't really remember which one this was.  
11. Solo: A Star Wars Story (10) - Passable.
12. Ready Player One (23) - Cool story, but the acting was a little bit geared towards adolescents, but then again there were some really scary scenes for kids, so I'm not quite sure if this film hit the right audience markers.  Also, the story felt to me like it was basically the same as "Avatar".  

Best Films of 2017-2023 (2017)

Best of 2017

1. Blade Runner 2049 (37) - Awesome movie (that I didn't manage to watch until 2023).  Great sci-fi themes.  An appropriately complicated plot.  A great hero journey.  And gorgeous visuals.  
2. Dunkirk (12) - A very interesting Christopher Nolan film.  Feels quite different from all of his others, with "Oppenheimer" being somewhat of an exception.  The thing I most appreciated about this film was how it made me feel what (I at least believe) being in a war is really like.  The claustrophobia of being in a crowded ship, eating lousy food, the thud of bullets on the sand, the paranoia of waiting out the enemy in a hiding place, and the small but important actions in the background that help swing the fates.  
3. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (1) - See my 2019 review of Star Wars Episode IX.  This movie was super cool on its own, albeit with some flaws.  Not so cool in the context of the whole reboot trilogy.
4. Coco (13) - Great music, and a great introduction to Mexican / Latin culture.  
5. The Star (70) - A delightfully Christian Christmas movie that I didn't really discover until a few years later.  But my kids and I love it.  The bird (played by Keegan-Michael Key) doing his distraction dance is a riot.  
6. Darkest Hour (110) - One of those solid historical movies about an important war figure.  
7. Wonder Woman (3) - A good take on an old classic comic book that got me to like this character that I had never previously cared about in my comics adventures.  
8. Despicable Me 3 (8) - Funny.

Movies I'm Eager to Watch (In Order)

1. Get Out (15)
2. Split (23)

Best Music of 2022

*Playlist: Best New Music of 2022 (Apple) | Best New Music of 2022 (Spotify) *

Now that 2023 is officially over I think it's safe to put out my Best Of 2022 playlist.  

One note first on how I come up with my list and why I might make the choices I do: a lot of the "good" new music these days (and perhaps always) feels like it's more catered to the 14-24 year-old crowd, so if it just feels too teenage angsty, then it doesn't really work for me, and I exclude it from my list.  I want to try and reward artists that give me something deeper and more unique but that I can still somewhat groove to or chill to.  

And I know I said something similar last year, but I wasn't super impressed with the output of new records in 2022.  Quite a few solid records, but no mindblowers.  

Best Albums

1. The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention

• Thom Yorke as the frontman.  He is like the Novak Djokovic of rock.  New groups come on the scene and look poised to lead the new generation, but everything he does is just levels above the competition.  Not an amaaaazing album, but it's strong throughout, and it hits some beats and grooves and lyrics with a consistency that is superior to the other albums in 2022.  

2. Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights 

• I don't know really anything about the artist but he's got some hits on the record and I give him points for his unique style.  And this song, "Sunshine", is my absolute favorite track of the year.  

3. NNAMDÏ - Please Have a Seat

• Mostly ditto to #2 above.  I get some Masego (2020) vibes from this artist, though NNAMDI is a little more colorful / jumpy.  

4. Arcade Fire - WE

• An old reliable.  For as mainstream as they may have become, they've still managed to put out an awesome catalog of albums by now.  This one is maybe pretty low on my list of their stuff, but it has some good ones.  And I find myself listening to the whole album when I need some motivation to get through a long project on the computer or around the house, and it's perfect for that.  And I think it's cool that they included the song, "Lookout Kid" on the record.  It's kind of a sensitive love note to their son, and it gets close to being cheesy but it's actually not, and I'm glad they shared it with the world. One side note - I found myself watching a live video of their "Everything Now" concert (available on iTunes) and I was blown away by how cool the energy from their performance was.  Over the last several years I've found myself enjoying live performances / recordings much more than I used to.  I like listening for the subtleties of a master executing their craft.  

5. Taylor Swift - Midnights

• I checked out the new album one night while I was doing dishes, and I noticed I had gone on like a 5-track streak of pure enjoyment, culminating in the song, "Bejeweled".  This may be heresy but the experience of listening to this album closely approached jamming out to Robyn's "Honey" album.  (This is definitely inferior, but big props to Taylor Swift on her year of taking over the galaxy.)

6. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

• I like their 2017 album, "Capacity", much more, but this is actually a good album as I listened to it more.  It has a song or two that kind of bug me so it's hard to just hit "play" and spin the album the whole way through, but it is 20 songs deep, and it's a pleasant listen overall, so I can't fault it too much.  I'm not blown away with how the band has evolved.  I'm not sure what I was hoping for, but evolutions like Radiohead and Low are the perfect model to follow.  The "Certainty" song I chose for this playlist evokes what I might imagine a 2022 indie version of an old Neil Young / Linda Ronstadt duet might sound like.  

6. Benjamin Clementine - And I Have Been..

• This album should maybe be rated higher but I had the highest of expectations for his 3rd album after #'s 1 and 2 were so so so good.  It felt a little too Benjamin Clementiny for me.  And the clever poetry of previous albums was more lacking here.  

7. Cate Le Bon - Pompeii

• A nice rock & roll texture on this album.  She's Welsh.  Yep.  

8. Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

• Not nearly as groundbreaking as "DAMN.", which I've revisited a few times with great satisfaction over the past couple of year.  But he definitely hits some high points.  "Purple Hearts" is my favorite on the album.  As I was trying out the new album when it came out I turned this song on super high volume in my Toyota Sienna driving back from dropping my daughter off at Piano practice in Oakland.  As I was cruising the sunny urban streets I was really feeling myself jamming out hard to this tune.  

9. Tomberlin - i don't know who needs to hear this... - A great specimen of indie folk music with female vocals.  5 or 6 good / great songs on a record with 11 tracks.  

Other Good Albums

• Curse of Lone - People in Cars
• Alduous Harding - Warm Chris
• Kevin Morby - This Is a Photograph
• Florist - Florist
• Saya Gray - 19 Masters - Some great raw emotion and music in the album, but much of it is a little too adolescent for me.
• Nilufer Yanya - PAINLESS - London singer/guitarist
• Alex - G - God Save the Animals - I get some good Neutral Milk Hotel vibes from this guy.  
• Grace Ives - Janky Star - If I were still in college these would have been some great hits to download off Napster.  
• Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There
• Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork 
• Arctic Monkeys - The Car - I wanted to like this album a lot more after this incredible single:, "There'd Better Be A Mirrorball," had been teased, and from the sound they created on that single, and the look of the album artwork, but then after listening to the whole album a few times I couldn't get into it.  

Artists with Diacritics in their Names (with all respect to NNAMDÏ)

• Björk - Fossora
• Beyoncé - RENAISSANCE
• Röyksopp - Profound Mysteries - I hate to say it, but the album title might be referencing some of the tracks on the album.  I just can't muster up the energy to listen to the whole album.  

The Soundtrack to My Year - 2021

The songs that I had moments with throughout the course of 2021.

Playlist: 2021 - RPB

1. Waking - my brother and sister-in-law tipped me off to the manly passion of Future Islands, and this song really resonated with me. 
2. Lilacs - a song (and an album) that I happily went back to throughout the year. Pleasant sounds. 
3. This Is the Sound - I did a nostalgic playlist project for my sister (born in ‘76) with some of the songs I remembered playing on her tape and CD players from that era. It ended up taking me down a Juliana Hatfield exploration adventure where I discovered that her whole body of work is really great, and holds up well. What’s more she’s still putting out music and it’s still great!
4. Speed it up - in the last few years I resumed following basketball very closely with the resurgence of the Phoenix Suns. This song played during warmups at a Warriors vs Suns game and I loved the sound and felt a real respect for the NBA culture. 
5. Big Appetite - a band I’ve loved for several years. This song just feels like one of those really well put together productions where all the sounds just click really well. Had a good experience debuting this album on my headphones while driving out big van up the Donner Pass en route back to the Bay. 
6. Dime cómo quieres - I went through a Spanish music kick in 2021 (as I am prone to do now and then) and this song stood out as a clear winner. Both artists have a lot of good music individually, and they really bring their talents together nicely here. 
7. Two Of Us - like many others, I really enjoyed watching the “Get Back” Beatles documentary. I think all 4 of them end up as big winners by the end. But in the early goings I was most impressed with Paul for his responsibility but also his musical versatility and mastery. I loved how he was very careful to make sure there was no tackiness to any of their songs, like in the way he would have them rework a strumming pattern or some other timing aspect. 
8. Veg Out (Wasting Thyme) - I learned about Masego through a really cool Apple Music ad campaign. That led me to this song which I love for its chill factor, and since it corresponds to my attitude a lot. I want to veg out too, Masego!
9. Days like these - just a solid track from one of my favorite bands of the last couple of decades.  
10. Grains of Sand - I absolutely loved the Dune movie that came out in 2021. The feel, the cinematography, the story, the acting, and the music. When the credits rolled at the end I loved sitting there in awe and staring at the screen while this song kept the mood going.