With 2017 in the rear-view mirror, The Charlatan is looking back on some of our favourite movies, books, albums, and more! Here are some of our favorite artistic moments from a year that had no shortage of highlights.
Corey Price: Jason Schreier – Blood, Sweat and Pixels
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels opens the curtain on the notoriously secretive video game industry, telling arguably the most compelling, honest, and intimate stories of game development ever told.
Schreier’s book catalogues in stark relief the industry’s technical difficulties, creative clashes, and studio bureaucracy to an impressive degree, while also celebrating the immense accomplishments, technical breakthroughs, and financial successes.
The book’s main draw, though, is the much-needed focus on the individuals behind the scenes.
These stories emphasize the incredible emotional, mental, and personal sacrifices of the industry professionals who work themselves ragged for these games. It is a “tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes” of game development.
This is more than a book about games for gamers. It is a book about people doing what they love, and the dramatic highs and lows of the process.
It’s emotional, tense, honest, compelling, and one of my best reads in 2017.
Madeline Lines: Twin Peaks revival
Before I knew 2017 by experiencing it, for years I had mentally referred to it as ‘“2017: The Year Twin Peaks Comes Back.’” As it turned out, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s return to the world of 90s TV series Twin Peaks was one of those special occasions in life that not only met my obsessively high expectations, but exceeded them. The new season resembled less of its former self and more of a Lynchian extravaganza TV special. Through the unpredictable and often unfinished plot lines, visuals, and characters, Lynch used the anticipatory power of the medium of television to great success. I had almost forgotten what it was like to anxiously await a TV episode each week. Highlights include Kyle MacLachlan’s enthusiastic commitment to many variations of Agent Dale Cooper, Michael Cera as Andy and Lucy’s freewheeling son, a certain scene with Ed, Norma, and Otis Redding, and finally the scene where Sarah Palmer iconically shows us how to ward off creepy men at bars.
Tyisha Murphy: Peaky Blinders on Netflix
Recently introduced to Netflix, but on the air since 2013, Peaky Blinders has proven to be quality binge-watching material. With all four seasons on the streaming service, at 13 episodes per season, it’s definitely worth checking out.
This gangster-epic takes its viewers through the gritty parts of the slums surrounding Britain after World War I by following the rise of the Shelby family, led by middle son Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), as they evolve from a small gang in Small Heath, Birmingham, to a full-fledged empire.
With its use of contemporary music and many recognizable faces on the show such as Tom Hardy, Aidan Gillen and Sam Neill, Peaky Blinders is setting the stage for what we expect from period dramas. It’s not about royals, or a cheesy romance. Instead, it’s a gritty story about family and how the war impacted the British working class. If you ever wondered what The Godfather would be like if it were set in England, look no further than Peaky Blinders.
Daniel Meecham: Daniel Caesar’s Ottawa Show
Soul singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar performed at the Algonquin Commons Theatre on Nov. 26, and he did not disappoint. Fans flocked the theatre as if Beethoven had come to town to conduct one of his symphonies. We adored listening to his music, the chill in the air as he voiced his lyrics: amazing. @Carleton, maybe invite him back for Frosh 2018? Forget first-years, I would push my way to the front to see him live again any day of the week.
Adham El Shazly: Rahim Alhaj – Letters From Iraq: Oud and String Quintet
In Letters from Iraq: Oud and String Quintet, composer and oudist Rahim Alhaj paints an intimate picture of life in Iraq after the U.S invasion through eight letters written by Iraqis as a statement, or rather, an outcry to the world, and translated into eight gripping programmatic compositions. The album tells stories of love and sorrow; hope and despair; reminiscence and oblivion; finding and loss. All these colours of emotion and life unfold, here musically, under the grey sky of war. Most intimate is the fourth letter entitled “The Last Time We Will Fly Birds,” which starts with a rather mourning timbre from the strings, and is followed by a solo for oud that narrates the beginning of the letter and ends with an elegy for a home that is now lost. Two youthful lovers meet, in virtuous concealment, on the roofs of their neighbouring homes; the young man flies his homing pigeons while she hangs the laundry; they use these as an excuse to meet. Another day comes, the house is bombed, the pigeons have no resting place; they wheel what remains of the house, homeless and longing. So much like the lovers.
Colin Mylrea: Charli XCX – Number 1 Angel, Pop 2
If there was any justice in the world, Charli XCX would have been at the top of the charts through all of 2017. This isn’t to say that she had a bad year. “Boys,” her effervescent end-of-summer anthem and its campy music video brought her back into the mainstream after years of being just “that girl who sang the chorus on ‘Fancy’” and “that girl who sang the theme song from The Fault in Our Stars.” Her two mixtapes, Number 1 Angel and Pop 2, show that she’s miles ahead of her peers. Teaming up with the Scottish producer SOPHIE and bringing along cult-favourites like Cupcakke and Carly Rae Jepsen, the two mixtapes are non-stop parties, contrasting Charli’s soft vocals against the harsh (but not unpleasant) production. It’s more experimental than her usual music and are an excellent sign of what is to come.
Elyse Robinson – Lady Bird
With an influx of films centred around youth in the developing stages of their lives, it is difficult to decipher how to avoid those that stick to tired tropes and writing that connects to its audience solely by regurgitating mainstream trends meant more towards marketing rather than resonance.
Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is a breath of fresh air in a decade where teenagers are often portrayed as narcissistic technology crazed zombies whose opinions are only ever communicated through abbreviations.
Set in Sacramento in the early 2000s, Lady Bird marvels at the mundane world of our trailblazing protagonist, played by Saoirse Ronan. Finishing her senior year at an all girls Catholic high school, pink haired and self named “Ladybird” explores what every young girl with a performative streak and desire for connection seeks, a sense of identity and the ability to be thousands of miles away from her mother. The film bounces back and forth between moments of snort inducing laughter and unexpected poignancy.
The best aspects of the film however lay within its quietest moments. Through its exceptional use of jump cuts and simplistic soundtrack that expresses the distinction between love and attention, Lady Bird is the honest piece of cinema needed to remind us of the importance of finding meaning within each other and our environment. If nothing else, this film will inspire you to take a long walk through your neighbourhood and call your mom.
Matt Yuyitung: St. Vincent – Masseduction
Masseduction is a perfect reminder of why Annie Clark aka St. Vincent is such a force in the world of contemporary music. There’s her creative spirit, which is boundless as always. There’s her constant reshaping and redefinition of herself as an artist. There’s her extraordinary songwriting ability, from the strutting electro-funk of “Los Ageless” to the heartbreaking “Happy Birthday, Johnny” to the ad jingle stylings of “Pills.” But most of all there is her refusal to compromise her artistic ambitions and her desire to keep exploring new territory. Masseducation is a worthy addition to Clarke’s already remarkable catalogue. Don’t let the bright pink butt on the cover of the record fool you—Clark is looking forward, not behind.
Meaghan Brackenbury – Loving Vincent
The animated world was given a true treat in 2017 with the release of Loving Vincent, a film about the mysterious circumstances surrounding Vincent Van Gogh’s death, and brought to life entirely by hand-crafted paintings in Van Gogh’s style.
The artistic process took six years and employed over 100 artists to paint each frame, yet the hard-work paid off in a most spectacular way once the movie hit theatres in September. Film fans were able to gorge themselves on a visual masterpiece as scenes and characters replicating some of the troubled artist’s most well-known pieces swirled across the screen. Vibrant colours dipped and danced around each other as one painting melded into the next seamlessly. This film was not only an obvious achievement in the world of artistic and animated creations, but left spectators to question the true nature of Vincent Van Gogh’s death. Was he really as mentally unstable as he seemed, or just sorely misunderstood?
Photo by Meagan Casalino
