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MY TOP 50 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR

Honourable Mentions: Mayhem - Daemon Thornhill - The Dark Pool Tiny Moving Parts - breathe Thy Art Is Murder - Human Target Denzel Curry - ZUU black midi - Schlagenheim Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race Top 50: 50) Ariana Grande - thank u, next 49) Bring Me The Horizon - amo 48) Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence 47) Coldplay - Everyday Life 46) Clowns - Nature/Nurture 45) Tyler, The Creator - IGOR 44) Liturgy - H.A.Q.Q. 43) Mount Eerie - Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2 42) Post Malone - Hollywood's Bleeding 41) Taylor Swift - Lover 40) Swans - leaving meaning. 39) BROCKHAMPTON - Ginger 38) Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops 37) JPEGMAFIA - All My Heroes Are Cornballs 36) Sampa The Great - The Return 35) James Blake - Assume Form 34) Shadow Of Intent - Melancholy 33) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen 32) Press Club - Wasted Energy 31) Angel Olson - All Mirrors 30) Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride 29) Sun O)))

December Update

   Hi Friends,    I thought I'd update you on what's been going on, given that I haven't been posting nearly as much as I normally do or as much as I would like to be. The November and December period of the year is a particularly busy time for me (as I'm sure it is for almost anyone), so I've not had as much time to write about the movies I've seen, the records I've heard and the books I've read. But if you're curious, the movies I've been watching are: Doctor Sleep (2019) Climax (2019) Ivan's Childhood (1962) There Will Be Blood (2007) Goodfellas (1990) The Lobster (2015) Dead Alive (1992)    Not nearly as many as I normally get through, but there are a few rewatches to throw on top of those as well, notably American Beauty and Ex Machina . There will be reviews coming for both Doctor Sleep and Climax , but most likely they will come in the new year, because I am a busy busy man currently. I've also been listening to lots o

SHORT STORY: "Hush"

© Jonty Cornford 2019    Hush By Jonty Cornford The man could still remember the last thing he said to his daughter. When she was sleeping, head rested on his shoulder like it was now, he could still hear it. Sometimes he could hear it as if it were being spoken again.     His thumb brushed across the scar above her ear, visible beneath her short cut hair, as he watched the ash fall outside. It never really stopped, but right now it was falling heavier than usual. Sometimes it was lighter, and sometimes it reminded him of the first and only time he saw snow as a child. In that moment he was struck by the thought that it really wasn't that long ago. He was probably about his daughter's age. He thought about the fact that she had only ever seen ash, never snow.     The world had been mute for almost seven years now. Just as the man had started to be able to communicate meaningfully with his daughter, just as she had begun to realise the power of speech, the worl

My Top 30 Movies Of The Decade (2010-2019)

It's not often that you get to do a retrospective of a decade of cinema, and so there was no way I was going to pass up an opportunity at making a list of my favourites of the decade. There are so many great movies to choose from, and remember that this is my list of personal favourites, not an objective look at the most important or successful films of the decade. A lot of these come down to personal taste, and so a lot of great movies that just weren't for me ( Boyhood, Leviathan and The Wolf of Wall Street immediately come to mind) don't appear here.  Before I dive into my list and explain why these are my personal favourite movies of the decade, here are a few that just didn't make it, and could well have done on any other day. This is a list that changes constantly, so not only could these movies have easily made it onto my list, there are plenty of others that don't appear hear at all that also could have found their place on this list. So before you complai

MOVIE REVIEW: Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar (R18+) Director: Ari Aster Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter Duration: 147 minutes I really cannot understand how Midsommar got a wide release in theatres - it is the antithesis of what lucrative films are about in today's cinema landscape, and goes out of its way to make the audience feel as uncomfortable and disorientated as possible. It is was honestly a joy to see something as wild, bold and horrific as this on a multiplex screen. In a time when superhero films are causing people like Martin Scorsese expound their elitist views on cinema, contributing to a generally untrue feeling that cinema is dying or changing form at the very least, one can only point to Ari Aster as one of the directors working today that prove those people very wrong.  Coming off of last year's wonderful but flawed Hereditary , Midsommar is a completely different beast, but one that is a much more cohesive whole with a better sense of internal logic and structu

MOVIE REVIEW: High Life (2019)

High Life (MA15+) Director: Claire Denis Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin Duration: 113 minutes High Life comes from French filmmaker Clair Denis as her first English language film, and stars Robert Pattinson in yet another role that cements him as one of the most important actors of our generation. The film is almost impossible to describe effectively beyond the bare bones of its mechanics - the IMDb plot description simply reads "a father and his daughter struggle to survive in deep space where they live in isolation", and to be fair that is probably the most that you'd want to give away about High Life . It is not your typically Hollywood space adventure. It is slow, ethereal, surreal and at times frustrating. It is aggressively experimental and will no doubt leave casual viewers baffled, likely bored. By the time the plot begins to unravel in its meandering way with no regard for linear structure (perhaps something to do with black