Year-end lists are stupid and lazy. A reduction of art to sports. Luckily (or unluckily) for you, I feel kind of stupid and lazy at the moment, so here are some things I enjoyed in the past year.
MOVIES
At Eternity’s Gate
Zama
The Favourite
Shoplifters
The Area
Phantom Thread
Monrovia, Indiana
First Reformed
Sorry to Bother You
Loveless
Mr. Soul!
The Other Side of the Wind
Plays
The End of TV No Blue Memories
Books
Chicago—From Vision to Metropolis (Whet Moser)
The Nix (Nathan Hill)
Cherry (Nico Walker)
The White Album (Joan Didion)
Down and Out in Paris and London (George Orwell)
Eat Only When You’re Hungry (Lindsay Hunter)
Articles I Wrote
“Chicago’s Punk Rock Librarian”
“Ashley Cooper’s American Ego”
Art Shows
Ukiyo-e masterpieces at the Art Institute
The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation
Ignacio Iñarritu at SUNY/Purchase
Concerts
Health & Beauty performing Neil Young’s “On The Beach” at the Hideout, 3/17/18.
Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isidore at the Hideout, 5/29/18.
Minibeast at the Hideout, 8/8/18.