7.19.10 My Top Ten RIGHT NOW

1. MOVIE Despicable Me

This is one strange film, especially for kids.  I could quickly rip this apart as second rate Pixar (it borrows heavily from Monsters Inc.) but I found myself thoroughly entertained by Steve Carell’s adept villain with a heart portrayal, the adorable three moppets that change his life and more than anything, his yellow minions which I’m sure will be the lasting legacy of this film.  The whole thing strikes a weirdly zany tone, irreverent but intelligent.  I can’t imagine children really sinking their teeth into this one, but I did and happily… B+

2. MOVIE Monsters Inc.

With all this computer animation I couldn’t help myself from going back to this forgotten classic.  While not as loved as Toy Story or as profound as The Incredibles, this film has more heart than either of them by turning our world on its head, making the monsters lovable and the children the mysterious and dangerous creature from another world.  Rarely has a film about understanding differences been so elegantly told, with a light and humorous touch courtesy of the vocal agility of Billy Crystal (a revelation much like Robin Williams as the Genie).  And like all good things Pixar, I was indeed misting up by the end… A

3. OLD TV The X-Files – Pilot

I don’t think I realized how long ago this show started.  Everyone looked so young and the fashion sense, well, was senseless (seriously, Gillian Anderson was swamped in those shoulder padded lengthy suit coats).  But I was happy to remember that even at the beginning, this show was a well-honed piece about the unexplainable, every bit as dark and fascinating as I remember it.  Thank you Netflix for having all seasons ready for instant viewing so I can happily walk down memory lane, when shows and characters held up over lengthy runs… A

4. FOOD Fig & Olive

Restaurant Week has descended upon NYC yet again, making overpriced eateries nearly reasonable.  This oversized meatpacking district restaurant serves up delicious enough food.  For summer, the zucchini salad, lightly dressed in tart lemon, starts the meal nicely, but the better choice is definitely the steak tartare.  The entrees were a little less lustrous, a decent penne with black truffle oil or a well-seasoned fish fit the bill just fine.  But it was the pot de crème for dessert that really did the trick.  At the end of the night, this meal was all about the fantastic people I shared it with, which is the heart of any good dining experience… B-

5. SHORT Becoming

Click here to watch a sumptuous and elegiac film that gorgeously combines dance into the natural world.  Unlike so much filmed choreography, this was shot and directed to make use of the visual medium, playing with timing and editing to heighten the sensation as much as it relies on the fascinating visual.  A stunning piece… A-

6. PREVIEW Never Let Me Go

The preview for this film opens heralding that the book it is based on is one of the best of the century… my interest was piqued and I thought, I must run out and read this book immediately.  Well folks, I’ve actually already read the book, and it is fantastic.  And this dark, heavily British preview makes me think that the movie might just do some justice to the haunting prose of Kazuo Ishiguro.  I’m fairly assured I’ll be disappointed in the end, like most adaptations of great books, but the preview captured the haunting yet hopeful narrative style, so fingers crossed… A-

7. ALBUM New Ways to Butcher English Tenderhooks

This rocking album from ’08 is a fascinating combination of male and female vocals (although the male vocal isn’t all that far from a female’s).  The music flows from style to style seamlessly, never resting in any one genre, but pulling heavily from the short-lived Rockfords with a composition style more akin to Crowded House.  It’s an excellent listen, which makes me bemoan the fact that this band is no longer in existence.  They could have definitely gone somewhere… B+

8. SHORT Harvie Krumpet

Short and dark, this Australian stop motion flick narrated by Geoffrey Rush charts the sad life of a retarded migrant obsessed with the random facts he’s able to retain over the course of his existence.  The piece never really amounts to anything, just a series of vignettes, quirkily animated and described, only finding emotional resonance at the end when Harvie finally embraces what his sad life has to offer.  Was hoping for a lot more from this one… C

9. SONG “Levi Johnston’s Blues” by Ben Folds & Nick Hornby

This bass lined jam is straight out of the usual from Ben Folds, evolving into an odd piano rock flecked with strings.  There’s a lot of Elton John in there, but also bits and pieces that remind me of Sondre Lerche’s latest excellent album.  Which is all to say that I’m extremely excited for this wacky collaboration between the piano master and the fantastic wit of Hornby, one of my favorite modern authors… A-

10. ALBUM Symphonicities Sting

Taking a page from Peter Gabriel’s latest, the amazing orchestra filled covers album Scratch My Back, Sting takes his own music and backs up his solid vocal with overblown dramatic symphonic takes of his greatest hits.  Most of the time it sounds too similar to the original and thus unnecessary.  When he takes the orchestral sound to greater heights, it overpowers both him and the song, clearly heard on “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” and “The End of the Game.”  I know this guy has more to offer, this just isn’t it… C+