[Read the rest of Summer Movies I Want to See, 2013 Part 1 (897 more words)...]

(Photo by Christian Geisnæs via http://melancholiathemovie.com/#_download)

[Read the rest of Lars von Trier film spreadsheet (0 more words)...]

[Read the rest of You’re invited! Four events in and around Louisville (319 more words)...]

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Gregory Porter – Be Good (February 2012)

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Depeche Mode – Violator (March 1990)

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Tegan and Sara – Hearthrob (January 2013)

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Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city (October 2012)

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Father John Misty [J. Tillman of Fleet Foxes] – Fear Fun (May 2012)

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Tycho – Dive (November 2011)

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Cliff Martinez – Drive – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (September 2011)

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Daft Punk – Discovery (March 2001)

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Soundgarden – Superunknown (March 1994)

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Michael Jackson – Dangerous (November 1991)

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Michael Jackson – Bad (August 1987)

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Michael Jackson – Thriller (November 1982)

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Soundgarden – King Animal (November 2012)

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Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek aka Pale 3 – Cloud Atlas – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (November 2012)

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Rodrigo y Gabriela – 11:11 (September 2009)

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Michael Jackson – Invincible (October 2001)

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Led Zeppelin – Celebration Day (November 2012). However, I give the film version a 10.
[Read the rest of A few album ratings – Part 6 (134 more words)...]

[Read the rest of Are humans special? (360 more words)...]

It wasn’t until November, when Led Zeppelin offered their new concert film (Celebration Day) on Blu-ray, that I asked myself, “Is it finally time to stop buying DVDs?” So I began to dig into the history of home video formats, and decided it would be fun to build a timeline (presented here) of both music and film media over the past 135 years.

This timeline screenshot (in Excel) is a very crude draft of what I’m aiming for. The quest is purely for my own interest, but if anyone else has good data, infographics, books, and links to share on the topic, I’d love to hear from you.

I’m sure I’m biting off more than I can chew, but I’m also interested in what the timeline implies for issues about copyright and the changing face of information exchange and media consumption in general.

From the following list of older films I’ve seen this year, here are the highlights of the ones I’d never seen before:

• Somewhere (2010, Feat.)
• Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010, Feat.)
• Lonesome (1928, Feat.)
• Taking Chance (2009, TV Movie)
• Weekend (2011, Feat.)
• Magnolia (1999, Feat.)
• Drive (2011, Feat.)
• You Can Count on Me (2000, Feat.)
• Black Books (Started in 2000, I watched the complete TV series)
• Still Bill (2009, Docu.)
• The IT Crowd (Started in 2006, I watched the complete TV series)
• Nothing But the Truth (2008, Feat.)
• I Do (2006, Feat.)
• Melancholia (2011, Feat.)
• Demetri Martin. Person (2007, Docu.)
• The Hustler (1961, Feat.)
• The Boxer (1997, Feat.)
• Y Tu Mamá También (2001, Feat.)
• Project Nim (2011, Docu.)
• Warrior (2011, Feat.)
• Lolita (1997, Feat.)
• The Descendants (2011, Feat.)

(These are screenshots, so the purple items are just films that I’ve clicked on recently.)
[Read the rest of My IMDb films of 2012 (32 more words)...]

[Read the rest of Best Albums of 2012 (1,204 more words)...]

A few of these YouTube videos will not play on mobile platforms. I’ve attempted to make the same list on Spotify (also embedded below), although not all the songs are available there, either!

A “Best Albums” post (which requires a lot more thought) is forthcoming by the end of the month.

• 2CELLOS (Sulic & Hauser) – “Hurt”
• Bat for Lashes – “Laura”
• Bjӧrk – “Mutual Core”
• Bonnie Raitt – “Right Down the Line”
• Chilly Gonzales – “Train of Thought”
• David Guetta – “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces) [feat. Sia]“
• David’s Lyre – “Only Words” (Live)
• Diplo – “Express Yourself (ft. Nicky Da B)”
• Django Django – “Introduction” / “Hail Bop”
• Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen”
• Epic Rap Battles of History – “Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama”
• Fiona Apple – “Every Single Night”
• Florence + The Machine – “Spectrum”
• Gary Clark, Jr. – “Numb”
• Gotye – “Easy Way Out”
• Gregory Porter – “Be Good (Lion’s Song)”
• Hot Chip – “Night & Day”
• Jesca Hoop – “Born To”
• Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments”
• Kaci Battaglia feat Ludacris – “Body Shots”
• Kimbra – “Come Into My Head”
• Mr. Gnome – “House of Circles”
• Muse – “Madness”
• Neil Young with Crazy Horse – “Ramada Inn”
• No Doubt – “Push and Shove (ft. Busy Signal, Major Lazer)”
• P!nk – “Try”
• Paul McCartney – “My Valentine”
• PSY – “Gangnam Style”
• Pussy Riot – “Punk Prayer: Mother of God Drive Putin Away”
• Rodriguez – “Crucify Your Mind” (on Letterman)
• Rufus Wainwright – “Out of the Game”
• Scissor Sisters – “Let’s Have a Kiki”
• Sigur Rós – Fjögur píanó” (See the entire valtari mystery film experiment)
• Silversun Pickups – “The Pit”
• Solange – “Losing You”
• tUnE-yArDs – “My Country”
• Y.N.RichKids – “Hot Cheetos & Takis”

Embedded playlists after the jump… [Read the rest of Best Songs of 2012 (6 more words)...]

Synopsis from the official website:

Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another through the past, the present and the future.

Action, mystery and romance weave dramatically through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future.

A distillation of the book in the author’s own words:

Literally all of the main characters, except one, are reincarnations of the same soul in different bodies throughout the novel identified by a birthmark… that’s just a symbol really of the universality of human nature. The title itself “Cloud Atlas,” the cloud refers to the ever changing manifestations of the Atlas, which is the fixed human nature which is always thus and ever shall be. So the book’s theme is predacity, the way individuals prey on individuals, groups on groups, nations on nations, tribes on tribes. So I just take this theme and in a sense reincarnate that theme in another context.

[Read the rest of Cloud Atlas: The most epic film of 2012 (113 more words)...]