#9 Album: "The Photo Album" by Death Cab For Cutie (2001)
Why is it good?Despite being abused by the O.C. and unwittingly ushering in an era when the music populace unilaterally decided that "indie rock" is cool, even if 90% of that populace don't know a single "indie rock" song, it's still hard to deny that Death Cab For Cutie circa 2001-2003 was pretty damn neat. It was in this three-year window that the template was set: hipster band without a single hit or defining song gets enough hipster-cred that they become irresistible to Hollywood, so much so that an erstwhile-hipster turned major studio filmmaker features them in his/her TV series/movie, which automatically gives the major studio excuse to market said TV series/movie as "indie" or at the very least "cool", until this happens enough times that the said "hipster" band eventually has their "hipsterness" diluted. Or something like that.
But at a certain period, somewhere between their first reference in the O.C. and the first time actual audience members got the reference, listening to Death Cab For Cutie was a magical personal experience. "The Photo Album" was filled with these moments. From the bare opening guitar plucks in "Steadier Footing" that suggests the bittersweet alcohol after-taste of dawn to the premature solitude of early night in "Coney Island", the album is an absolute triumph in romaticizing loneliness (and in the case of the former, of loneliness in spite of being alone with someone), a gimmick that would grow old fast in the hands of subtlety-challenged emo bands later in the decade.
What memories (fake or real) does it inspire?
I rarely listen to Death Cab For Cutie these days, but I will always remember, and most importantly blame them, for making loneliness and heartbreak seem cinematic earlier in the decade. In fact, I'm not quite sure if I'm not supposed to completely hate Ben Gibbard now that he's landed Zooey Deschanel.
#9 Movie: "Endo" (2007)
Why is it good?
In almost two years since I praised "Endo" in this blog, I have yet to talk to a single person who works in the industry that actually liked the movie. Their arguments vary to a certain degree, but the common points of contention seem to be: (a) that it was sub-par from a technical standpoint (i.e. the lighting and audio sucked), and that (b) it seemed like a mainstream movie.
I found this weird for a number of reasons. I sort of agree with Point A (i did squint at some scenes and found the ambient sounds in one mall scene especially jarring), but I don't get why it should get in the way of appreciating the film. If anything, I think it's part of the movie's personality. Being bothered by Endo's audio/video quality is sort of like being bothered by Andrew Bujalski's movies for the same reasons - it tells me that you didn't get the movie in the first place. I'm not saying that Jade Castro intended the technical aspects of the film to border on amateurish, but not getting past the technical aspects means you failed to sink your teeth into the meat of the movie. The Andrew Bujalski parallel isn't even that accurate - Castro's pseudo-amateur approach is actually even more appropriate. While the two filmmakers both deal with themes of disillusionment and mediocrity, ONLY Castro works under a third-world context. So the aesthetics of "Endo" is actually very much married with its theme.
Point B, to me, is far weirder. If anyone can name me one mainstream Filipino movie that deals with romance and lower middle-class existence with as much honesty and complete disregard to predictable politics as "Endo" does, then I'll concede with my hands in my pockets.
Waiting...
Waiting...
Thought so.
And in the first place, even if it seemed like a maintsream movie (which it didn't, by the way), SO WHAT? You know what doesn't help the Filipino movie industry at all? This dogmatic notion that "indie films" are the only ones worth taking seriously and that if you're movie isn't "shocking" or "cutting edge" or "experimental" (whatever the hell that means anymore), then it isn't "indie". Brilliance is universal - it can exist in mainstream movies and quirky "alternative" movies alike. The "indie" film atmosphere in the country dictates that brilliance is a quality monopolized by "indie" films. What's worse is that their idea of brilliance doesn't go beyond style and aesthetic. A movie might be in serious lack of insight and depth, but it wouldn't matter. What matters is that it's "indie".
Not only is this approach egotistical, it's retarded. It is the single biggest reason why, despite our films' exposure in international film festivals, we're still WAAAAY behind other countries. We're boxing ourselves creatively. The Old "Indie" Order is telling us that ALL our films should ONLY be about the following: crime, homosexuality, prostitution, death, poverty, more crime, more prostitution, and more crime. There's nothing wrong with making movies about these things; we do need our movies to reflect our realities. But there is something COMPLETELY wrong with an industry that encourages ONLY movies about these things, because these aren't our only realities. How about the reality of a middle-class bank teller? Of a newly-grad struggling to find work? Of a rich kid finding meaning in his bland universe? Of a department store clerk who can't find permanent work and permanent love? If the American Independent Film movement of the 90s operated under our same limiting conditions, then people like Alexander Payne, Sofia Coppola, Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson, Andrew Bujalski, Kelly Reichardt, and Noah Baumbach would've quit a long time ago. That would be a shame because their movies, although not "shocking" nor "cutting edge", are just plain fucking brilliant.
Since when was it a bad thing to accurately chronicle what an ordinary, run-of-the-mill Filipino feels these days, sans politics? If these exclusivists have actual lives outside their textbooks and mutual admiration societies, then we would have an actual Filipino Cinema that reflects the lives of ALL KINDS of Filipinos, instead of a "Third World Cinema", as the international community so condescendingly refers to our childish industry.
"Endo" was the best Filipino film of 2007, one of the best Filipino films of the decade, and THE best Filipino film I saw the entire decade. FILM, people. The last time I checked, the definition of that word hasn't been curtailed yet.
(deep breathing)
(pause)
I'm okay now.
What memories (fake or real) does it inspire?
Oh let's see...a Cinemalaya entry that didn't work out...a pseudo-relationship that didn't work out...uhhhmmm...nothing really. The movie was just really good.
What does this list say so far?
That the nobility and inevitability of heartbreak were very trendy art themes this decade, which led to borderline-artsy Hollywood actresses falling madly in love with creators of mope-art, which probably means that their art was bullshit all along.
And also, we've officially over-abused the term "indie" this decade. We should retire it and might as well substitute it with gibberish. Something like "erkie". So from now on, some misguided teenager should say, "did you hear that band The Decemberists? They're sooooo erkie", or "sooooobrang favorite ko ang Juno, sooooobrang erkie niya, grabeh!"
album cover from amazon.com; movie poster from pep.ph
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