8D - New Student Edition
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Daily Arts: Best films and music of 2007
I
BEST FILMS
Originally ran on Jan. 31, 2008
"No Country for Old Men"
(Joel and Ethan Coen)
Have you ever seen a flawless
film? "No Country for Old Men," the
Coen brothers' new masterwork,
is nothing less. The film mixes an
ingenious cocktail of the finest ele-
ments of moviemaking - majestic
photography, dramatic tension,
peerless performance, symbol-
ism and a just plain unforgettable
story - into a single, momentous
work that stands tall and strong
over everything that came out last
year. Of all the great movies this
year, and there were many, it's the
Coen Brothers' opus, blistering and
merciless, that has stayed in our
hearts, minds and stomachs. This
was, without a doubt, 2007's best.
BLAKE GOBLE
"Superbad" (Greg Mottola)
Three high school friends try to
get beer for a party. That's it. But
that's all that's required for the film
to exceed even the best of the high
school hijinks genre, "Fast Times"
and "Dazed and Confused" includ-
ed. Facilitating its achievement is
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's
brilliant script, which alternates
between disgusting, hilarious and
actually, kind of sweet. And let's
not forget the passing of the catch-
phrase torch from Borat's "Very
nice!" to Fogel's "I am McLovin'!" In
the year of Apatow, there is no film
more representative of his creative
infiltration of Hollywood than this
instant classic.
PAUL TASSI
"Eastern Promises"
(David Cronenberg)
David Cronenberg has proven
himself to be an incredibly versatile
and nonconformist filmmaker over,
the years, and "Eastern Promises"
may well be his crowning achieve-
ment. A flawlessly acted and con-
structed thriller, it's both his most
accessible film and his most artistic.
At its center is Viggo Mortensen
(with whom he also worked on the
masterful "A History of Violence"),
turning in what is arguably the best
performance of the year. He'll be
brushed aside at ceremonies thanks
to a certain other, towering leading
man, but Viggo - thoughless showy
- is the far more nuanced and fasci-
nating of the two.
BRANDON CONRADIS
"There Will Be Blood"
(Paul Thomas Anderson)
More than a film cementing
Daniel Day-Lewis's iconic status,
though it does that with astonishing
force, "There Will Be Blood" shows
a keen maturity that has developed
"No Country for Old Men" garnered the award for Best Motio
last year's Oscars. Daily Arts thought it was pretty good; too.
in the work of Paul Thomas Ander-
son. After his feature debut, "Syd-
ney," Anderson wrote and directed
"Boogie Nights," "Magnolia" and
"Punch-Drunk Love," emotion-
driven filmsrangingfromdisparate-
but-somehow-connected tales to a
quirky character study starring a
maudlin, blue-suited Adam Sandler.
In "There Will Be Blood," Anderson
takes his most assured steps as an
auteur, crafting a haunting, sadistic
masterpiece of an oil man (Lewis)
and the legacy he burns for himself.
NOAHDEANSTAHL
"Before the Devil Knows You're
Dead" (Sidney Lumet)
Some people call this a Sidney
Lumet masterpiece, some call it just
horribly, fatalistically depressing.
Can't it be both? Lumet's story of a
jewelry-store robbery gone terribly
wrong features raw performanes
from Phillip Seymour Hoffman and
Ethan Hawke in service of a vicious
screenplay that spares no one. How-
ever you respond, you definitely
won't forget it.
PAUL TASSI
"Zodiac" (David Fincher)
A film based on a story without a
real ending is no easy feat. "Zodiac"
makes its lack of a conclusion irrel-
evant by putting the viewer in the
center of the mystery and arguing in
favor of a single outcome. Each time
the case is opened and closed, exam-
ined and re-examined, the film gets
more intricate and more engrossing.
Added bonus: a crime-solving Jake
Gyllenhaal.
ANNIE LEVENE
"The Wind that Shakes the
Barley" (KenLoach)
Ken Loach's Palme D'Or winner
was criminally under-seen follow-
ing its U.S. debut. It's unusual to call
a film about guerilla revolutionaries
somber and atmospheric, but Loach
is more interested in the mood of
the IRA resistance against the Brit-
ish than the horrific violence that
pervaded it (though that's here, too).
Intelligent and leisurely paced, the
film offers a truly singular peispec-
tive on an oft-revisited history.
BLAKE GOBLE
"Hot Fuzz" (Edgar Wright)
Just as "Shaun ofthe Dead" skew-
ered the zombie genre, "Hot Fuzz"
takes on the American action block-
buster: blown-up cars and shoot-
outs galore. In truth, with its hefty
running time and bizarre eccen-
tricities, the movie really shouldn't
work. It's a British action movie.
But the film has more wit and more
energy than any of the films it sends
up, and let's face it: High-pitched
squeals by grown men sound better
with a British accent.
SARAH SCHWARTZ
BEST MUSIC
Originally ran on Jan. 3,2008
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Over the course of 10 early Octo-
ber days, Radiohead managed to
generate a buzz the likes of which
most bands will never see. The
surprise announcement, the name-
your-own-price download and
the middle finger to the recording
industry are all things that only a
band of Radiohead's popularity and
stature could pull off. On In Rain-
bows, Radiohead has moved in one
of the few directions left for such
an inventive group: back toward
pop. This is by far the least-strange
album Radiohead has released in
years. Still, it's anything but shal-
low. As relatively straightforward
as In Rainbows is, it possesses an
intensity only a band that's reached
the edge of experimentation could
achieve.
MATTRONEY
Animal Collective -
Strawberry Jam
Most bands don't make it to seven
albums, let alone seven great and
distinctive LP's, but Animal Collec-
tive isn't most bands and its'career
arc is almost as reptilian as its
sound. After its last two stellar LP's,
a let-downwasseeminglyinevitable,
and with Panda Bear's Person Pitch
blowing minds with its AM psych
and setting the bar impossibly high,
how could Animal Collective outdo
itself? Let Avey Tare take the reins
for a while. This is his album and it's
his vocals that carry anthems like
"For Reverend Green," "Fireworks"
and "Peacebone." Strawberry Jam
has already gotten me wondering
where Animal Collective will go
next.:Collaborate withR. Kelly?
LLOYD CARGO
M.I.A. - Kala
Don't mistake M.I.A.'s pop sensi-
bilities for aesthetic vapidness. The
British-Sri Lankan artist kicked off
2007 with one of the year's most
musically diverse offerings with-
out compromising the bold political
message she delivered on her 2005
debut Arular. Kala takes listeners
from the disco streets of the Bolly-
wood scene ("Jimmy") to the world
of psychedelic '80s new-wave>pop
("20 Dollar") to the unmentionable
atrocities of third-world genocide
("Hussel") and then back to con-
temporary Top 25-friendly Lon-
don ("Come Around"). On "Paper
Planes," she samples a series of
disturbing gunshots, juxtaposed
by the cha-ching of a cash register,
overpowering an innocent chorus
of chanting children. M.IA.'s addic-
tive beats and powerful melodies
are entrenching her well-deserved
place in modern music.
SASHARESENDE
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are
You the Destroyer?
In 2005, Of Montreal's Kevin
Barnes gothimselfso depressed that
he sold the track "Wraith Pinned To
The Mist (And Other Games)" to
Outback Steakhouse.While the wis-
domofthatdecisionisdebatable,the
quality of Hissing Fauna, Are You
the Destroyer?, the other product
of his depression, is not. An honest-
to-God concept album, Fauna tells
the story of Barnes' descent with
striking clarity - at one point, he
begs his own serotonin for help. The
record's upbeat electropop belies its
thematic darkness, but reinforces
the chemical denial of the lyrics.
MATTRONEY
Sunset Rubdown- Random
Spirit Lover
Spencer Krug's taking risks.
"Should I try some tribal chanting?
Sure. How about a track about rid-
ingleopards?Definitely."Do they all
make sense? Maybe not. But some-
where in the swirling, galaxy-sized
mind of Sunset Rubdown's leading
man, everything does. The same
goes for the album. Every track
works its way to a riveting clima,
and the whole thing explores three
different movements of sound. It's
a well-tailored suit. Nothing is out
of place. Chaos interlocks with car-
nival sideshow riffs and falls into
melodic, charming running water
riffs. You'll hate it if you pick and
choose tracks. But if you listen to
it in whole, hold onto your head-
phones - you'll hear the leading
man in indie rock at his best.
MATTEMERY
Feist - The Reminder
Feist's vocal ability wildly mani-
fests all over The Reminder. From
stackedharmoniesresemblingsynth
woodpipesto agrowling, pissed-off-
preteen overdrive, she is willfully
whimsical. It's gorgeous. Lyrically,
she's quainter than Neko Case, more
nuanced than Nora Jones. Her hits,
"1234" and "I Feel It All" are solid
enough, but "The Path" is a single
acoustic guitar, a few concert horns
and a whole lot of crickets. It's a sin-
gular track, a standout on an record
full of outstanding tracks.
ANDREW SARGUS KLEIN
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Menomena - Friend and Foe
Born of joyously singable melo-
dies, plodding though danceable
basslinesandsearingguitars,Friend
and Foe comes about as close to clas-
sic indie rock as any album in 2007.
And, miraculously, it didn't suck.
For the long-since stagnant genre,
Menomena's sophomore effort was
like bonging a gallon of Red Bull. It
was downtrodden and melancholy,
but simultaneously frantic and
uncontrollable. It was the embodi-
ment of the angst and precision that
defined early indie-rock releases
without being too derivative. Friend
and Foe is a 1997 release that came
10 years later, equipped with the
technology and swagger of the new
millennium.
CHRIS GAERIG
SharonJones & The
Dap-Kings -100 Days,100 Nights
Although the mainstream has
taken its time to recognize the
dap-dippers and their queen Sha-
ron Jones - who,.at 51, sings big-
ger, struts sexier and has simply
got more it than the girl-child sing-
ers currently crowding her on the
charts - there couldn't have been a
better nudge toward the back cata-
logues than 100 Days, 100 Nights.
"100 Days, 100 Nights," is the sul-
triest goddamn-that-man song in
a long time, and when Ms. Jones
moans "Maybe I need, to slow it
down just a little" and the band
slumps accordingly into half-time,
it's near impossible for your heart
not to break. (And that's only the
title track.)
KIMBERLYCHOU
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