thevoid99's Life Top Ten List-November 2009 Nov 30 '09 (Updated Dec 30 '09)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line Void Gets Ready for 2010 While Seeing Some Cool Films & One that Will Leave Him Traumatized. Well, we're one month away from the end of another year but also another decade. It's nearly been 10 years since I've joined the site and it's surprising how much I've done since I discovered the site on an ordinary day in July 5, 2000. Since I'm aware that I will reach that 10th anniversary. I figured that it's not the time to dwell on what I should do on the day but what I should do for next year. For now, I'm just trying to finish up on a few things and make plans for other projects. Among them aside from monthly music profiles and reviewing various films. I decided to embark what is surely to be my most ambitious project to date that will probably last me a year or two. At the moment, I've been assembling a list of films I've seen in the past 10 years from 2000-2009 and so far in this list of the 100 best films of the decade. I have about 117 films that I've seen or have seen most of in various parts that are definitely what I feel should be on the list of the best films of the decade. At the same time, there's many more that I haven't seen so starting in January of 2010. I will start a long marathon of films from 2000-2009 that were all released in that period. Even as they're some films that have yet to be released that had premiered in film festivals for the past several months that will be shown in the next two years. Unlike film marathons of the past. I plan to take my time with each film so I wouldn't make it into something that would be grueling and feel forced. I want to see what film I feel deserves to be in a prestigious list and maybe if there are so many good films. I would probably create a list that's even bigger. It's a project I feel that it's worth doing and something that would hopefully garner lots of attention. I'm sure there's a lot of you who have read my works over the years probably have a very good idea on what is at the top of the list. I'm sure it probably wouldn't even be topped. Yet, for now, I will keep in mind that a certain particular film will be in a penalty box for the time being along with a personal few favorites. I think the reason why a lot of attempts to restart marathons have failed is a lack of enthusiasm. I tried to force myself but have been unable to. So, I put it off for a while and maybe during this marathon of the best films of the decade. I will probably watch films by certain directors that have interested me just to get things moving. Now that I've already decided on what to do next and pace myself this time around. I've decided that I will also continue writing music reviews which has been fun for me after not doing it for a few years. Yet, I'm very careful about what I write to my readers over what to get and I try to respect them. Lately, I've been bothered by the reviews of a certain writer who I feel, doesn't respect consumers or readers at all. I've chosen to block that individual and not read that person's reviews anymore. I feel like that person has no idea on what music is all about and is really the wrong person to turn to for someone that wants a review of a certain product. I try to be as honest as I can with my reviews and be fair to the record I review. While I'm glad that I'm #1 in Music for 2009, I feel like that is hardly an accomplishment. I'm more concerned with steering people into the right direction and give them something that is different. It's not an easy thing to do. Even with films where I can glance at a bad film from a mile away without having to see it. I just like to let people know that you're going to listen or hear something that is bad. I'm sure I'm getting a lot of flack for praising Antichrist and calling it a masterpiece. Well, I also stated that it's not a film for everyone. I don't recommend the film for someone that's into the mainstream. It's not a film for children. It's not a film for fans of certain mainstream genres. I praised it because I found it to be challenging and provocative. People might say I'm crazy. Well, yes. I am. I'm not crazy enough to walk into a film that I know will be very bad so you won't see me going into a theater watching Twilight: New Moon, Old Dogs, and most certainly, The Blind Side because I'm too smart for those kind of films. I'm also the worst kind of snob that is when it comes to film and music. Yet, I try to back up with what I needed to say whether I'm right or wrong and I often don't like to be right at times. Well, I think that's enough ranting for now. No, I'm not going to pull an Adam Lambert and have some dude simulate oral sex on my crotch. I would rather have someone do the real thing male or female. Let's get to the Life Top Ten List for November 2009: 1. Antichrist What the f*ck did I just see? Probably the most traumatic, haunting, and beautiful films I had ever seen in my lifetime. Of course, I went to see it for Lars von Trier and the controversy but man. I was unprepared for the shock factor that went on to the point that by the first half of the film. I was sitting at the fourth row in the front and then walked way near the back row. It was disgusting, it was obscene, it was confrontational and I think it is probably one of the best films I had ever seen. I'm not sure if I will see it again but you can bet that it will be in my list of the best films of the decade. 2. Them Crooked Vultures-S/T Rock music in 2009 for me, sucked *ss this year. Surrounded by such garbage as Crud, Nickelturd, 3 Dull Dudes, Daughtry, and all sorts of dull post-grunge bands with guys who wear expensive clothing with lame ballads. It seemed like nothing is going to shake things up until I heard about Them Crooked Vultures. A supergroup featuring Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl from Nirvana/Foo Fighters, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin with a lot of buzz surrounding them. Then I got the album and whoa... it's got everything I love about rock and hard rock times 11. It's got a lot of nice grooves, blazing riffs, killer fills, and all sorts of weird stuff that I love about rock and has even got me wanting to do air guitar, air bass, air drums, and even do an air clavinet solo. It just hella-rocks!!! 3. Fantastic Mr. Fox One of the most anticipated films of 2009 due to the fact that it's directed by Wes Anderson. I was amazed at how stunning the film was in its look and visual style. A stop-motion animation film with great animation and a faithful re-telling of the Roald Dahl book of the same name. It's definitely my favorite animated film of the year as I feel that Wes Anderson has made his best work since Rushmore and has raised my interests in what he will do next. At the same time, it's a film that shows about what animation films can do while reminding studios that there's no need for the 3D gimmick to get audiences in the theater. In fact, 3D sucks! 4. A Serious Man Being a fan of the Coen Brothers, I definitely wanted to see this despite my disappointing reaction towards their last film. What I surprised to see was a film that was definitely witty in its commentary on spirituality and existentialism. It was also because I was transported back in time to where the Coen Brothers grew up as kids while following the story of a man, wonderfully played by Michael Stuhlbarg, who is challenged by the things he is losing. It's a wonderful re-telling of the story of Job set in the late 1960s as times are changing with a message about the way people react towards life. 5. F*ck Buttons-Tarot Sport In what I believe is an incredible year for electronic music. The trend keeps on going with another superb release with the F*ck Buttons sophomore release. With help from Andrew Weatherhall, it's a record that is noisy but filled with brilliant sound collages that are exhilarating to hear. While it's an instrumental record, it's certainly one of the most esoteric and mesmerizing albums I've heard and certainly in the top 25 albums of 2009. 6. Survivor: Samoa I'm a fan of the show and there's characters you tend to hate and moments that keep you watching. This season has someone that has kept me watching and wanting to root for more than anyone. A guy named Russell who not only found the hidden immunity idol three times, two of which without clues. He's also probably the smartest guy of the whole game who is definitely trying to win as much as he can. I want him to win. He got rid of some people that weren't worthy to win while outsmarting everyone in the process. 7. Annie-Don't Stop/All Night EP A record I've heard about for months that was supposed to come out last year. I finally got a chance to download it and later, the EP as I think it's one of the best electro-pop albums this year. Even in the realm of pop music as it's definitely headed to a more electronic sound. Yet, the major difference is that Annie is armed with lots of spectacular songs and producers who were willing to help her shape them into something that is inventive and fun to hear. 8. Animal Collective-Fall Be Kind EP Animal Collective definitely had an incredible year with the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion as the big question was how to follow that up? Well, the question came in the form of a five-track EP that continues this upward trend of brilliance. While it's a more experimental record than Merriweather, it's certainly one that definitely pushes boundaries. Notably the song What Would I Want? Sky? that features a licensed sample of a song by the Grateful Dead for the first time ever. It's definitely a worthy companion piece to Merriweather. 9. Poker Face parodies I'm not really into Lady Gaga but I do think she's an interesting personality and lately, I've kind gotten into a couple of her songs. Paparazzi and Poker Face. The latter of which had been featured in a couple of hilarious parodies. The first comes from South Park where Eric Cartman sang the song in a version of Rock Band that got me laughing really hard. The other is a version from the Jonathan Ross show with special guest Christopher Walken who read the lyrics to the song in such a hilarious way. No wonder it's popular and I'm trying to find the mash-up of the original Lady Gaga song mixed with Cartman and Christopher Walken. It's that good. 10. Film Trailers Well, there's not much going on except for a few films coming for the remainder of the year like Michael Haneke's Palme D'or-award winning The White Ribbon and clips for the Jason Reitman film Up in the Air that looks very promising. Other films worth mentioning is the Romanian comedy Police, Adjective, the Francois Ozon film Ricky, and the upcoming drama Crazy Heart starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Robert Duvall. A couple of 2010 trailers have been released to some excitement for me, the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans looks promising while Noah Baumbach's Greenberg with Ben Stiller looks like a film that would be really good. Well, that is it for November. Coming in December will be reviews of some theatrical film releases like An Education, Broken Embraces, and some other releases depending on enthusiasm, location, and money. Avatar however, I'm not sure if I want to see since I was underwhelmed in what I saw. In the music front, some possible reviews of a few box sets along with some reviews of notable 2009 releases to finish things off along with a year in review of the music year that was 2009. Also coming for the month will be the year top ten list and maybe two big lists concerning 2010. There will definitely be a list of the Most Anticipated Films of 2010 and maybe a list of the Most Anticipated Albums of 2010. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off... (dancing to Poker Face) can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face... Life Top Ten List-October 2009 - Life Top Ten List-December 2009

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