in 2015 i attempted to keep a semipseudosoderberghian accounting of my media consumption & but though not insane enough to take on PEAK TV i was still anyway thoroughly exhausted w/ the effort by November - i saw a few more movies, read/attempted to read a few more books (most notably DARK HOURS & THERE IS NO EMERGENCY, Conchitina Cruz; REPASO, Mona Lisa P. Cajucom, edited by Adam David; & but also embarked on but to date failed to complete: IN TRANSIT, Brigid Brophy; TESTAMENT, Hal Duncan; NOT DARK YET, Berit Ellingsen; ANIMAL MONEY, Michael Cisco), but at that point the year's persistent ennui/anhedonia-perhaps-depression had peaked to the point of preventing me from getting 'stuck in' any particular book - so the list ends there (& yes i am owning up to this accounting concluding w/ M. Night Shyamalan):
i realize going over this list that i watched INTERSTELLAR a ridiculous number of times this year, but while i love it it's Hou Hsiao-Hsien's THE ASSASSIN that is hands down the very BEST movie i saw this year. i also really really loved THE SKELETON TWINS.
next: Some Really Deep Thoughts On Television: https://twitter.com/skinnybdink/status/679830846610608128
2015
1. Tomb(e), Hélène Cixous (tr. Laurent Milesi; 2014 Dec 24 - 2015 Jan 14)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968; 2015 Jan 17)
The Man in the High Castle (pilot, David Semel, 2015; 2015 Jan 19)
The One I Love (Charlie McDowell, 2014; 2015 Jan 20)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Scott, 1982; 2015 Jan 21)
Predestination (Spierig Brothers, 2014; 2015 Jan 21)
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014; 2015 Jan 21)
2. Monster & Madman, Steve Niles & Damien Worm (2015 Jan 21)
Two for the Road (Stanley Donen, 1967; 2015 Jan 22)
3. Passages, Ann Quin (2015 Jan 21 - 2015 Jan 22)
A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006; 2015 Jan 28)
12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995; 2015 Feb 3)
4. Notes on Conceptualisms, Vanessa Place/Robert Fitterman (2015 Feb 10 - 2015 Feb 11)
The Day of the Doctor (Nick Hurran, 2013; 2015 Feb 17)
Birdman (Alejandro González Iñarritu, 2014; 2015 Feb 18)
The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, 2009; 2015 Feb 18)
Honeymoon (Leigh Janiak, 2014; 2015 Feb 18)
5. Oh Pure And Radiant Heart, Lydia Millet (2014 Dec 24 - 2015 Feb 18)
The Time of the Doctor (Jamie Payne, 2013; 2015 Feb 19)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Robert Wise, 1979; 2015 Mar 1)
6. Manhattan Letters from Prehistory, Hélène Cixous (tr. Beverly Bie Brahic; 2015 Feb 18 - 2015 Mar 4)
Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997; 2015 Mar 4)
Dr. Who and the Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 (Gordon Flemyng, 1966; 2015 Mar 5)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014; 2015 Mar 5)
Hotel Chevalier (Wes Anderson, 2007; 2015 Mar 6)
Over the Garden Wall (1-5; 2015 Mar 7)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director's Edition (Robert Wise, 2001; 2015 Mar 9)
Enemy (Denis Villeneuve, 2013; 2015 Mar 10)
The Quatermass Xperiment (Val Guest, 1955; 2015 Mar 10)
The Thin Red Line (Terence Malick, 1998; 2015 Mar 11)
Escape from Tomorrow (Randy Moore, 2013; 2015 Mar 11)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Nicolas Roeg, 1976; 2015 Mar 12)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Mar 16)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Mar 16)
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, w/ Alexandra Stewart, 1983; 2015 Mar 17)
Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, w/ Florence Delay, 1983; 2015 Mar 17)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Mar 20)
Interstellar x2 (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Mar 21)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Mar 23)
7. 'Comfort to the Hurt of the King' Catwoman: The New 52 #35 (Genevieve Valentine, Garry Brown, Lee Loughridge)
Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972; 2015 Mar 24)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968; 2015 Mar 26)
Silent Running (Douglas Trumbull, 1972; 2015 Mar 27)
Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003; 2015 Apr 22)
Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 Apr 23/24)
Winter Sleep (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2014; 2015 Apr 24)
8. Lucifer: The Morningstar Option (Mike Carey; 2015 Apr 24)
Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014; 2015 Apr 27)
Jupiter Ascending (Wachowski Brothers, 2015; 2015 Apr 30)
Interstellar (English audio descriptions; Christopher Nolan, 2014; 2015 May 4)
Dark Star (John Carpenter, 1974; 2015 May 11)
Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014; 2015 May 12)
9. La Medusa, Vanessa Place (2015 Mar 4 - 2015 May 14)
10. Weird Tales of a Bangalorean, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy (2015 May 15)
11. Kērotakis, Janice Lee (2015 May 15 - 2015 May 16)
12. Daughter, Janice Lee, photographs by Rochelle Ritchie Spencer (2015 May 17)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981; 2015 May 18)
13. Damnation, Janice Lee (2015 May 17 - 2015 May 19)
Spring (Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, 2014; 2015 Jun 4)
The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson, DP Reed Morano, 2014; 2015 Jun 4)
Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013; 2015 Jun 4)
14. The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell (2015 May 19 - 2015 Jun 7)
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner, 2014; 2015 Jun 11)
Derelict (Ridley Scott, re-edited by Job Willins 2015; 2015 Jun 16)
15. The Driver's Seat, Muriel Spark (2nd read; 2015 Jun 17)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999; 2015 Jun 18)
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015; 2015 Jun 26)
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015; 2015 Jun 27)
16. Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje (2015 Jun 28)
The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999; 2015 Jul 1)
The Virgin Suicides (Sofia Coppola, 1999; 2015 Jul 2)
Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003; 2015 Jul 3)
Lick the Star (Sofia Coppola, 1998; 2015 Jul 3)
Jupiter Ascending (Wachowskis, 2015)
17. Love Hotel, Jane Unrue (2015 Jul 16 - 2015 Jul 18)
Lucy (Luc Besson, 2014; 2015 Jul 22)
18. Sphinx, Anne Garréta (2015 Jul 19 - 2015 Jul 22)
Girl Most Likely (Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini, 2012; 2015 Jul 23)
Hateship Loveship (Liza Johnson, 2013; 2015 Jul 24)
19. A Book So Red, Rachel Levy (2015 Jul 23 - 2015 Jul 24)
20. Near to the Wild Heart, Clarice Lispector (2015 Jul 31 - 2015 Aug 3)
21. The Passion According to G.H., Clarice Lispector (2015 Aug 3 - 2015 Aug 11)
The Taking of Deborah Logan (Adam Robitel, 2014; 2015 Aug 17)
The Nightmare (Rodney Ascher, 2015; 2015 Aug 18)
It Follows (David Robert Mitchell, 2014; 2015 Aug 20)
22. The Box Man, Kobo Abe (2nd read; 2015 Aug 15 - 2015 Aug 20)
Fantastic Four (Josh Trank, 2015; 2015 Aug 21)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon, 2015; 2015 Aug 23)
The Skeleton Twins (Craig Johnson, DP Reed Morano, 2014; 2015 Aug 27)
Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor, 2013; 2015 Aug 30)
Diebuster (Kazuya Tsurumaki, 2004; 2015 Aug 31)
23. 10 Billion Days & 100 Billion Nights, Ryu Mitsuse (2015 Aug 11 - 2015 Aug 31)
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Shinji Aramaki, 2013; 2015 Sep 3)
Vampire (Shunji Iwai, 2011; 2015 Sep 9)
Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-ho, 2013; 2015 Sep 14)
24. Fremder, Russell Hoban (2nd read; 2015 Sep 3 - 2015 Sep 14)
Jurassic World (Colin Trevorrow, 2015; 2015 Sep 20)
Get Smart (Peter Segal, 2008; 2015 Sep 20)
25. The Final Programme, Michael Moorcock (2nd read; 2015 Sep 11 - 2015 Sep 23)
The Final Programme (Robert Fuest, 1973; 2015 Sep 24)
Tomorrowland (Brad Bird, 2015; 2015 Sep 27)
King Kong (Peter Jackson, 2005 Ext. Ed; 2015 Oct 1)
26. A Cure for Cancer, Michael Moorcock (2015 Sep 23 - 2015 Oct 1)
Terminator: Genisys (Alan Taylor, 2015; 2015 Oct 4)
27. The Bridegroom was a Dog, Yoko Tawada (2015 Oct 2 - 2015 Oct 4)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977; 2015 Oct 6)
War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005; 2015 Oct 7)
War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005; 2015 Oct 9)
28. Reconsolidation: Or, it's the ghosts who will answer you, Janice Lee (2015 Oct 10)
The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2015; 2015 Oct 19)
The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 2015; 2015 Oct 20)
Blade Runner: The Workprint (Ridley Scott, 1982; 2015 Oct 23)
Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015; 2015 Oct 24)
29. The English Assassin, Michael Moorcock (2015 Oct 1 - 2015 Nov 8)
The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, 2015; 2015 Nov 10)i realize going over this list that i watched INTERSTELLAR a ridiculous number of times this year, but while i love it it's Hou Hsiao-Hsien's THE ASSASSIN that is hands down the very BEST movie i saw this year. i also really really loved THE SKELETON TWINS.
next: Some Really Deep Thoughts On Television: https://twitter.com/skinnybdink/status/679830846610608128
PEAK TV just ab wore me out, man. lots of great new ones that i managed somehow not to fall for, or fell for but did not love, or loved but did not LOVE, or LOVED but briefly, the flame expiring all too soon as i found myself already cleansing the proverbial palate in prep for the Next Big Thing immediately after or even before The End; instead mostly only the ones i'd already formed relationships w/ in previous years really stuck: RECTIFY, most of all; DOCTOR WHO, of course - w/c while terrible in the first half i still contend as per one of the above tweets FINALLY made a proper case for an entry into someone's Best TV Shows 2015 List in the latter half; &, well. that's kinda about it. although, i still would like to make the case for underwatched things like BABYLON, HALT & CATCH FIRE, MANHATTAN, OTHER SPACE, TRANSPARENT, YOUNGER, some other things i'm sure i'm forgetting at the mo, & i may do so at some future point, but for now just assume you shld be watching these shows (when on/available to you) if you aren't already.
at the end of the year i do find myself w/ a few Single Best Episodes lingerloitering in my head - these singular eps weren't to my mind necessarily part of the very best shows of the year, but were good enough to rise above their respective shows/seasons to also distinguish themselves from the morass of PEAK TV in my head: 'Antipasto,' HANNIBAL; 'Cut Man,' DAREDEVIL (i'll just throw in here because i can: JESSICA JONES was a better show overall, but while its best eps 'AKA WWJD' & the one after that was almost a bottle ep in that crazy torture room that i'm too lazy to google right now were really strong eps, in context they don't really stand out as exemplary episodes the way the others i name here do, & certainly not the way 'Cut Man' stands out not just from the rest of DAREDEVIL, but from the rest of TV this year - i can no longer stomach DAREDEVIL because violence, but that episode (in brief not going into too much detail you'll already have heard ad nauseam from other critics) was masterfully constructed); 'A Town, A Gangster, A Festival,' DOCUMENTARY NOW - w/c i truly, sincerely feel shld be a new holiday tradition now that nobody seems to be watching IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE anymore.
