I’ve written about it before, but it bears repeating: I love lists. Especially Year-End Wrap-Up lists, those handy annual rankings that wade through mass amounts of cultural sludge to emerge with the shining pennies of the year previous. Not only are they a good way to feel pretty cool about how “on the pulse” your fingers may unwittingly be; they’re also perfect for discovering those gems that may have snuck by you–during that month, say, of 900 midterms, or that time when “I was in India finding myself and honestly Namaste, but what happen to Miley??”
If you share my Year-End Wrap-up fervour, or if you’ve just been waiting for any bill that combines Dizzee Rascal and Chris Hadfield (and who hasn’t?) be sure to check out Packaged Goods: The Year’s Best, screening at the TIFF Bell Lightbox this Wednesday for one show ONLY, at 7pm.
Packaged Goods: The Year’s Best is composed of the best commercials, music videos, and short films of the past 12 months. Unencumbered by having to unite the selections in any thematic way, the curators are free to deliver what one Ms. Tina Turner might call, “simply the best.”
And may I say, the line-up is inspired. Take the music vids: they include the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Arcade Fire, Dizzee Rascal, Eric Wareheim, and that brill Mumford and Sons self-parody where all those comedians play folksy instruments and then make out and its v. funny, but also like a big turn-on? And those are just a few!
Then there are the commercials, which range from Chipotle’s dreamy ‘Scarecrow’ short, to Jean-Claude Van Damm for Volvo, to a variety of lesser-known international gems.
The grand finale features Chris Hadfield, and honestly, need I say more? At this point, I think we’d all follow that guy to the moon and back (and we basically have). His zero-gravity cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity caps off the night; the perfect way to celebrate the past year while looking forward to the future.
This year has been strange and wonderful. Let’s celebrate its very best with Packaged Goods.
More information (and full drool-worthy program) available here.