Film
Stockholm Syndrome
By Sarahjane BlumLike the unbroken snowscapes that set the stage for the entrancing Swedish film Let the Right One In, eternal does not equal unchanging for Eli, the forever pre-pubescent asexual vampire at the center of this harrowing film. Based on the novel of the same name, which in turn borrows its title from a breezy (for him) Morrissey song, Let the Right One In manages to weave a classically formal coming of age story into the iciest, yet most heartfelt, vampire film in some time.
Tanned, Rested, Tormented, and Repressed
By Tessa DeCarloEarlier this year, when a gaggle of historians voted George W. Bush the worst president in American history (and that was before the economic melt-down), surely one of the shades smiling on the other side of the veil belonged to Richard Nixon.
Hypnotized in Global Scenarios
By Lu ChenSlumdog Millionaire gave me the perfect experience of what Roland Barthes calls “cinematographic hypnosis.” The images lured, captured, and captivated me. In a crisp two hours I shared the characters’ thrills and tears with held breath, followed the gorgeous color, buoyant music, and breathtaking motion without my eyes leaving the screen.
Shine a Light
By Mary HanlonWhen I got wind that the scarcely seen Rolling Stones documentary Cocksucker Blues was screening at The Anthology Film Archives, I made sure to get a seat. Cocksucker Blues is the single Mick Jagger wrote to fulfill the band’s contractual obligations to Decca Records.
In Dire Straits
By Camila de OnísThe fiercely solitary protagonist of Kelly Reichardt’s new film, Wendy and Lucy, struggles to face an abysmal reality. The film follows a few dreary days excerpted from a long road trip across the country. The journey has already begun and it doesn’t end.
Apoorva Lakhia with David Wilentz
Bollywood is built on spectacle: epic scope, song & dance, chop-socky action, farce, romance, and overripe melodramatics all meld into a mind-boggling pastiche. But a recent trend towards realistic crime films (reflecting the volatile high-crime rate of Mumbai) has ushered in a new wave of Indian cinematic hysteria.
DVD Culture
Melville, Assayas and a Box of Classics
By David N. MeyerLe Deuxieme Souffle (1966), Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville, Criterion; 10 Years of Rialto Pictures, Criterion; Irma Vep (1996) Dir. Olivier Assayas, Zeitgeist Films
