house of balloons

I might be opening up a can of worms here but Arcadia is so bloodless and bland compared to her other music, I'm surprised it's on the same album as wfwf, one of Lana's rawest songs both lyrically and sonically. I love that she's bringing back a larger instrumental range (cocc was monotonous af) but the lyrical content is so inconsistent in terms of quality that it could pass for that of a LDR generator. Like those unbearable comical car references are so out of place next to the brilliant 'all roads that lead...' lyric. Her telling us to listen to it like we did Video Games makes sense in this context because you can just tell she was trying to recreate its magic which, naturally, didn't work and only made her come off as faux deep. That lack of authenticity is what made Arcadia age so fast for me while Video Games is still impactful and still worth its initial value even after 10 years of its release. (the people who trash vg can go be not-like-other-girls somewhere else).

she was falling asleep

i was thinking maybe how it kicked down the front door and just dropped dead on the floor

is nobody gonna talk about how fast arcadia aged or are we just ignoring that

it's a grower

what is it about that song that has everyone in a chokehold

That's so pretty! I'm kinda disappointed in the color variants this era but oh well. That yellow one for the blue cover is horrendous, it reminds me of clorox.

...happy birthday mr president

i just got Weimar Noir and...THE POTENTIAL it could be Lady Gaga's Scheiße's niche sister

upper east side bondage

i love that one

she did recommend Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Estés

cause it's grimes' expandable clitoris

This was so hard to make considering the crazy amount of movies that I've watched but oh well: 1. The Sunset Limited: Two angry men, one room. (sounds like gay porn) One represents christian optimism and brotherhood while the other represents nihilism and despair. It starts off with the first guy trying to save the other one but a sudden dramatic switch in power (the climax of the movie) forces both the christian guy and the audience to see the flaws in both philosophies. It's brilliant in the most unsettling way. The play it was based on is a good read too. 2. Double Indemnity: Noir excellence. It's the movie that legitimized the genre in the eyes of mainstream cinema. 3. The Grand Budapest Hotel: The cinematography, the soundtracks, the perfect timing of the dialogue, Ed Norton. 4. The Virgin Suicides: Hauntingly beautiful (especially the book). The guys' sexualisation of the Lisbon girls' innocence and purity went too far that it became dehumanizing. Trip's tantrum after Lux loses her virginity to him (and thus her purity) still manages to piss me off. 5. Solaris: Many people found this movie to be slow, which is unfair considering it's a russian movie made in the 70s. Once you can contextualize it, the pacing will make sense. It's a fascinating meditation on consciousness in the context of outer space. Tarkovsky is an underrated director. 6. True Romance: This one was so fun to watch. It's such a perfect mixture of action, romance and comedy. Bonus point because It ends in a classic Tarantino way. Pretty solid performance from every actor involved too, but especially Brad Pitt. I feel like any Lana fan would enjoy it. 7. Departures: Everything about this movie is simply beautiful. The visuals, the use of humor to mask the characters' fears, the life-long grief from losing a loved one, etc. That scene where Daigo recalls a time with his dead father when he was 5/6 years old, but despite the vividness of the memory, his father's face is nothing but a blur. As someone who also lost a father at the same age (and can't remember what he looked like without the help of a picture), that scene made me cry like a baby. 8. Inglourious Basterds: Tarantino's magnum opus and he knows it. Morally gray characters have always been one of Tarantino's defining qualities as a director but I feel like that quality was especially highlighted in this movie. The actors' phenomenal performances (looking at you, Christopher Waltz) alongside the taut directing are enough to build a suspense that would put any high budget jumpscare-filled horror movie to shame. The historical inaccuracies can be bothersome at certain points but they were intentional so who cares. 9. Fallen Angels: My favorite Wong Kar Wai movie. It also has one of the best opening scenes I've ever seen. Fun Fact: Tarantino did an introduction for the movie where he talks about how it influenced his style. 10. Chinatown: I really hate Polanski's pedo ass but I have to separate the art from the artist for this one. It has a realistically unforgiving ending that will stick with you for a long time. I could write an essay on the ending but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who plans on watching it. 11. Shutter Island: My favorite Scorsese film and Leo's best performance to date. It could probably qualify as Neo Noir. 12. Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures: This movie was recommended to me by my russian class professor I only actually got to watching it because I'm a huge fan of russian literature and so russian cinema seemed promising. It did not disappoint. I got tired of American cinema's love of antagonizing the people of the soviet union and so this movie was a breath of fresh air, it's lighthearted representation of young adults living the good old soviet life with some surprisingly-still-relatable comedy to make the movie even better. 13. I'm Thinking of Ending Things: Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind's older alcoholic sister. 14. Django Unchained: Another Tarantino classic. Everyone praises Leo's, James' and Waltz' performances (as they should) but they seem to forget about Samuel Jackson. The way he kept switching between the fake dumb servant role and the mastermind behind Monsieur Candy is enough to warrant him every single oscar on this planet. 15. Hereditary: The acting. THE ACTING. 16. My Neighbor Totoro: I'm only putting it here because I have totoro tattooed on my wrist and I need to gaslight myself into thinking it was worth it. 17. Razzia: A franco-moroccan movie set in my hometown so you know it will be in my top 20 The movie follows several characters that are more connected to each other than one may think. One of my favorite characters is a cinema buff whose favorite movie is Casablanca, which makes him fall deeper in love with his city. But that romanticized image is soon shattered by the reality of several radical uprisings, classicism, etc. He learns in the final scene that the movie Casablanca was never even filmed in Casablanca. The way I'm about to cry. It also showcases the discrimination against the moroccan jewish community (finally), so bonus point. 18. À mon âge je me cache encore pour fumer: A franco-algerian movie set in a bathhouse It's set during the rise of radical islam in Algeria after its independence from french colonialism and how a sudden change in politics of a country that once was so liberated is affecting the women in it. It's so beautiful. The way the director simplified all of the events occurring in the country and represented them through each woman in the bathhouse is chef's kiss. 19. The Man From Earth: A brilliant think piece. It's not meant to be taken too seriously because you'll just end up with a lot of plot holes. 20. En Attendant Les Hirondelles: Another franco-algerian movie. It's divided into 3 parts but I only like one. what a long ass post holy fuck

nobody does

the Realiti demo is otherworldly i was never expecting Art Angels to grow on me because i thought it was too pop-ish for me (so pretentious i know) but somehow it did, it would be my favorite album of hers if Visions didn't have Skin on it

not the biggest charli fan but i can't get You For Me out of my head

indeed

wfwf slanderers have unresolved mommy issues

Arcadia I could understand but...wfwf? uninspiring? boring? wfwf's build up is career defining.

solar power woke up and chose to flop in every way possible

real women listen to wfwf

i'll gladly fill it up with the crack that made me see wfwf for the beauty and magnum-opussy that she is