Music Video of the Day: The Darkness That You Fear by The Chemical Brothers (2021, dir by RUFFMERCY)


Any time that we have a new music video from The Chemical Brothers is a time to celebrate. From the video’s YouTube description, here’s what Tom Rowlands has to say about the song: “The Darkness That You Fear is a hopeful piece of music. When we found the combination of the different voices worked set to the flow of the music it made us feel optimistic, like it was something we wanted to share.”

And here’s what director Ruffmercy had to say about the song (also taken from the video’s YouTube description): ““When I first heard the song I immediately connected with the theme and the overall positive vibe. New government rules for relaxing lockdown had been announced and combined with the sun shining, it left me feeling positive about the forthcoming summer. It also triggered a strong sense of nostalgia that led to me going back to look for visual inspiration from the period in time when I first discovered The Chemical Brothers in the mid ’90’s. The video combines archive rave footage from the mid to late 90’s with hand painted Super 8 film textures and hand drawn animation. I love using colour to create chaos and evoke emotions and this was the perfect project to do that.”

What’s left to say other than: “Enjoy!”

Music Video of the Day: Easy Sleazy by Mick Jagger with Dave Grohl (2021, editing concept by Matt Clifford)


Are you sick of the lockdowns? Are you tired of hearing about the Coronavrius? Do you really want to just get back to living your life and doing what you want without having to worry all the time?

Well, Mick Jagger and Dave Grohl feel the same way! They’ve written a song about it and made a video. Let’s listen and take a look, shall we?

Hell yeah!

Now, there’s some people on twitter (yes, I know) who are convinced that Mick is being serious when he says that the vaccine is going to allow Bill Gates to enter a person’s blood stream. Myself, I think it’s pretty clear that Mick is being sarcastic. I would say that this song speaks for all of us who are equally sick of both the scolds and the conspiracy theorists. Mostly this song is just about wanting to get on with one’s life and for the pandemic to just become a bad memory. Who can’t relate to that?

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Artifacts by Karate, Guns & Tanning (2021, dir by Andrew Knives)


You run and you run and you run and where do you end up?  You just end up still running.  This video appeals to my existential side, which is probably why I like it so much.  The whole grainy retro feel, combined with the run through the universe makes this entire video feel like sort of existential daydream.  Keep running because who knows where you’ll eventually end up.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: You Get In My Way by Ali Barter (2021, dir by Bryce Padovan)


When I first saw this, I have to admit that I misread the title as being “You got in my way” and, since I suck at understanding lyrics, I assumed that this song was about a hit-and-run accident or something like that.  Like maybe Ali was explaining that it was unfortunate that she ran you over but she was driving home at four in the morning and she was a little distracted and then you just happened to step off the curb.  Seriously — what were you thinking!?

Actually, though, this is song is abut Ali singing about a boy who seems to be perfect but who still kind of cramps her style.  She’s got the stability of a relationship but sometimes, that stability gets in the way of her just doing what she wants to do.  Is she sacrificing her freedom?  It’s a legitimate question and one to which I think any former or current wild child can relate.

As for the video, I like it.  It’s simple but fun.

Enjoy and stay out the way!

Music Video of the Day: Nyx by Laurence-Anne (2021, dir by Joey Desjardins)


Hi, everyone!  I’m in charge of “music video of the day” for this week so let’s get things started with this trippy little video from Laurence-Anne.

Basically, you remember those big bulky computers that everyone used to have?  Well, judging from this video, it’s a pretty good thing that we got rid of the because they’ll cause you to sucked into a maze and then melt away.  Seriously, everyone …. melting is just not worth it.  While I personally don’t know anyone who has melted, I imagine that it would be a pretty difficult thing to come back from.  You melt and you can pretty much say goodbye to whatever future plans you may have had.

With that in mind, enjoy!

Here Are The 78th Annual Golden Globe Nominations!


I’m totally turned off by the self-importance of the Golden Globes and I resent every time that I have to write about them.

That said, despite the fact that no one is quite sure who actually votes for the damn things and stories of corruption in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association have been rampant for years, the Golden Globes have still emerged as one of the main Oscar precursors.  So, you kind of have to pay attention to them.  Bleh.

There really aren’t any huge shocks in the list of nominees below, with the exception of maybe Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor and James Corden’s Prom nomination.  I mean, if you’re that determined to nominate someone for The Prom, why would you go for James Corden as opposed to Meryl Streep?  That’s just odd.

Anyway, here are the nominations:

Best Motion Picture, Drama
“The Father”
“Mank”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
“Hamilton”
“Music”
“Palm Springs”
“The Prom”

Best Director, Motion Picture
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
David Fincher, “Mank”
Regina King, “One Night In Miami”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Kate Hudson, “Music”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “French Exit”
Rosamund Pike, “I Care a Lot”
Anya Taylor-Joy, “Emma”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Jodie Foster, “The Mauritanian”
Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”
Helena Zengel, “News of the World”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
Gary Oldman, “Mank”
Tahar Rahim, “The Mauritanian”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
James Corden, “The Prom”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Hamilton”
Dev Patel, “The Personal History of David Copperfield”
Andy Samberg, “Palm Springs”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Jared Leto, “The Little Things”
Billy Murray, “On the Rocks”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night In Miami”

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Jack Fincher, “Mank”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, “The Father”
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”

Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat, “The Midnight Sky”
Ludwig Göransson, “Tenet”
James Newton Howard, “News of the World”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “Mank”
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, “Soul”

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
“Fight For You,” Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Io Sì (Seen),” The Life Ahead”
“Speak Now,” One Night In Miami”
“Tigress & Tweed,” The United States Vs. Billie Holiday”

Best Motion Picture, Animated
“The Croods: A New Age”
“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“Soul”
“Wolfwalkers”

Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language
“Another Round”
“La Llorona”
“The Life Ahead”
“Minari”
“Two Of Us”

Best Television Series, Drama
“The Crown”
“Lovecraft Country”
“The Mandalorian”
“Ozark”
“Ratched”

Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy
“Emily in Paris”
“The Flight Attendant”
“The Great”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“Ted Lasso”

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture made for Television
“Normal People”
“The Queen’s Gambit”
“Small Axe”
“The Undoing”
“Unorthodox”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”
Emma Corrin, “The Crown”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Sarah Paulson, “Ratched”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Lily Collins, “Emily In Paris”
Kaley Cuoco, “The Flight Attendant”
Elle Fanning, “The Great”
Jane Levy, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”
Daisy Edgar Jones, “Normal People”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Nicole Kidman, “The Undoing”
Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role
Gillian Anderson, “The Crown”
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Cynthia Nixon, “Ratched”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Al Pacino, “Hunters”
Matthew Rhys, “Perry Mason”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
Nicholas Hoult, “The Great”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Bryan Cranston, “Your Honor”
Jeff Daniels, “The Comey Rule”
Hugh Grant, “The Undoing”
Ethan Hawke, “The Good Lord Bird”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much is True”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Supporting Role
John Boyega, “Small Axe”
Brendan Gleeson, “The Comey Rule”
Daniel Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Jim Parsons, “Hollywood”
Donald Sutherland, “The Undoing”

Lisa Marie’s 20 Favorite Songs of 2020


Every January, I list my favorite songs of the previous year and, every January, I include the same disclaimer.  My favorite songs are not necessarily the favorite songs of any of the other writers here at the Shattered Lens.  We are a large and diverse group of people and, as such, we all have our own individual tastes.

If you ever visited the TSL Bunker, you would be shocked by the different music coming out of each office.  You would hear everything from opera to death metal to the best of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.  And then, of course, you would reach my office and you would discover that my taste in music pretty much runs the gamut from EDM to More EDM.

Now, usually, I do try to listen to a variety of music.  You can go to my Song of the Day site — Lisa Marie’s Song of the Day — and see that I do occasionally listen to other types of music.  But, I have to be honest.  2020 was not a year that inspired me to really leave me comfort zone.  If anything, music provided me with some much needed consistency in an otherwise chaotic year.  2020 was a year that made me want to dance until it was all over and, for the most part, my favorite songs of the year reflect that fact.

Before I list my songs, I should make something else very clear.  These are my favorite songs of 2020.  I’m not saying that they’re necessarily the best songs of 2020.  I’ll leave that debate for others.  Instead, there are the songs that I found myself listening to over and over again.  These are the songs made me dance.  These are the songs that made me sing.  A few of these songs relaxed me when I needed to be relaxed.  These are songs that I liked.

You might like them.

Or you might not.

That’s the beautiful thing about art.  Everyone experiences it in their own individual way.  For instance, if you want to see an example of the different tastes of music that you’ll find here at TSL, be sure to check out Necromoonyeti’s top albums of 2020.  And also go to Days Without Incident and check out some of the songs that Leonard has posted.  To quote my friend Shirley Loh, “we all like different things.”

Here are my favorite songs of 2020:

20) No Sleep by Jessie Frye

19) Ghost In These Streets by Kate Vogel

18) Matches by Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys

17) You Do you by Dillon Francis and BabyJake

16) Into the Abyss by Zeds Dead x REZZ

15) Teacher by Chromatics

14) Stardew by Purity Ring

13) Everybody Here Hates You by Courtney Barnett

12) Swimming in the Stars by Britney Spears

11) Don’t Wanna by Haim

10) Preach by Saint Motel

 

9) Famous Monsters by Chromatics

8) Break my Heart by Dua Lipa

7) Feel Something by Armin van Buuren feat. Duncan Laurence

6) Dance Again by Selena Gomez

5) Phobos by Space 92

4) Pomegranate by deadmau5 & The Neptunes

3) Castles In The Sky by i_o

2) The Steps by Haim

1) A Good Song Never Dies by Saint Motel

Finally, allow me to offer up two honorable mentions to my favorite cinematic musical moments of the year.  From Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga:

And from What Did Jack Do?:

TSL Looks Back at 2020:

  1. Lisa Marie’s 16 Worst Films of 2020 (Lisa Marie Bowman)
  2. My Top 20 Albums of 2020 (Necromoonyeti)
  3. 25 Best, Worst, and Gems That I Saw In 2020 (Valerie Troutman)
  4. Top 10 Vintage Collections (Ryan C)
  5. Top 10 Contemporary Collections (Ryan C)
  6. Top 10 Original Graphic Novels (Ryan C)
  7. Top 10 Ongoing Series (Ryan C.)
  8. Top 10 Special Mentions (Ryan C.)
  9. Top Ten Single Issues (Ryan C)