Hell

I liked it, without being crazy about it. Maybe in the coming days I'll try again and see if the spark ignites, even though for now I have ears only for the new little gem from my beloved Katatonia, and there's also the quintuple album by Autechre that's really challenging me (and giving me multiple orgasms).

One of the best entertainment films I've ever seen, written and directed with a certain flair, yet never compromising on the fun factor. I showed it to two of my friends who aren't into Asian cinema (and generally don't care about movies), and they really enjoyed it too.

Never understood the appeal of this group.

Seen in the cinema a year ago, I remember it perfectly. Sleek, elegant, detached, and terrible. I’m amazed that it’s so underrated. But thinking back, the audience was mostly happy families, with noisy kids in tow (who I believe/hope have been traumatized), obviously all convinced they were going to see elves and fairies. A bit of a half-hearted review, you’ve done better.

Perhaps it's unnecessary to specify, but the most important thing is not to pass judgment immediately after seeing it. Like all of his films, it has such long digestion times that you hardly even notice... for example, in the case of Syndromes, I arrived at these conclusions after watching it three times over the course of a year. The same goes for Tropical Malady. I look forward to doing the same with Uncle Boonmee, Blissfully Yours, and the latest Cemetery of Splendour, if it ever happens... time will tell...

It's been almost three years (damn, already?) of listening, just to say that no one has dethroned it yet, and I doubt anyone ever will...

Uhm, excuse the off-topic question, but isn't it "unfair" to monopolize the homepage? It's also true that I don't come by here as often anymore and I'm not up to speed on how things are going around here...

I’ve thought countless times about writing down a few lines, but when you leave a piece of yourself in an album (or book, or film…), it’s impossible to rationalize. I love everything about A Fine Day To Exit: the production, the flow of the tracks and how they connect with each other, the frantic and visionary lyrics, far superior to any other Anathema album, the perpetually unstable and drunken mood that can be sensed... it’s also one of the most varied in their discography, mixing a bit of this and a bit of that without breaking the listening experience, quite the opposite; I find it very balanced. (Let’s think instead of the last Distant Satellites: a first part that practically adds nothing to their “new” heart-and-love direction, and then suddenly we find ourselves with a handful of more electronic tracks; wonderful, of course, but the transition is almost jarring.)
I must have listened to it hundreds of times, I know it better than my own pockets yet I’m still not tired of it. The funny thing is that if you take a solid group of Anathema fans and ask them which is the best album, there will never be a unanimous opinion (already experienced in one of those fan groups on Facebook): the nostalgic prefers Pentecost III, The Silent Enigma, or at most Eternity, the newcomer adores the sentimentalities of Weather Systems, a good portion still leans towards Judgement or Alternative 4, which I find overrated, and even A Natural Disaster has carved out its fair share of devoted fans... yet A Fine Day To Exit remains a gray area, a kind of hybrid snubbed by everyone, either for the definitive abandonment of the more oppressive sounds, or for the (wrong) comparisons to other more renowned bands in the rock scene. The fact remains that for me, it is their misunderstood masterpiece and deserves to be reevaluated.

Maybe my favorite of the AE, in fact, it remains the peak of their "second phase." Terroristic and caustic to inconceivable levels, slightly better than Confield, and with that one, they had already blown my mind...

I completely agree with the review. I hope to have a better impression with the second viewing; for now, I liked it without exaggerating... Phoenix is immense, great direction, fantastic music... screenplay: a work in progress, along with the Christmas feast/dinner. I understand the director's intentions were to disorient and flip the viewer, but for now, it hasn’t engaged me that much. Approach it with caution and the right mood. 2.5