My very favorite magazine, The Believer, has an annual issue on one of my very favorite topics: Movies. And this one is their best, yet, with Chuck Klosterman’s essay on what I always say is the single most popular theme in film: the journey, or road movie. It often seems to me that at least 20-30 percent of films have as their theme two or more people who don’t know each other or who know each other and don’t like each other having to accomplish something together, usually involving a trip of some kind. That includes everything from “The Wizard of Oz” to “Toy Story,” “The African Queen,” “Midnight Run,” “North by Northwest,” “From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” “Two for the Road,” “Easy Rider,” and even “College Road Trip.” Rolf Potts writes about the way that international marketing of movies affects their content, dialog, and humor. Two of the most fascinating directors, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, have a conversation. And the issue includes Part I of the provocatively titled “Pervert’s Guide to the Cinema,” which is not what you think — it is a kaleidoscopic illustrated lecture by Slovenian philosopher and psychoanalyst Slavoj Zizek, talking about films and what they mean. His passion for his theories and for the films he describes are so intense that he literally enters into them through meticulously re-created sets that place him in Norman Bates’ cellar, Neo’s chair opposite Morpheus, and the hotel bathroom from Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation.” This issue, the DVD included, is bracingly engaged and engaging and a real treat for any cinephile.
|
Previous Posts
A Wrinkle in Time: 50th Anniversary Interview with Madeleine L'Engle's Granddaughter
Madeleine L'Engle’s classic book A Wrinkle in Time celebrates its 50th anniversary this week with a sumptuous new edition. It includes photos and biographical information about L’Engle, an introduction by US Ambassador for Children’s Literature Katherine Paterson, discussion questions, pages o
posted 8:00:58am Feb. 13, 2012 |
read full post
»
Celebrate Abraham Lincoln's Birthday
Celebrate the birthday of our 16th President with some of the classic movies about his life. Ahead of us this are are the Steven Spielberg epic, based on Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field, which will be out in Decem
posted 8:00:32am Feb. 12, 2012 |
read full post
»
Tribute: Whitney Houston
Was there ever anyone more gifted than Whitney Houston? She had the face and voice of an angel. She had beauty, talent, and success including an unprecedented seven number one songs in a row and with Dolly Parton's song "I Will Always Love You" the biggest selling single by a female artist in hi
posted 9:22:32pm Feb. 11, 2012 |
read full post
»
Trailer: Darling Companion
Kevin Kline, Diane Keaton, and Richard Jenkins star in the upcoming "Darling Companion," about a lost dog, coming in April.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYYoaspzzlg[/youtube]
posted 3:52:01pm Feb. 11, 2012 |
read full post
»
Maps of Enchanted Places
The Awl has a wonderful illustrated story by Victoria Johnson featuring maps of the imaginary worlds of children's literature. The maps of The Phantom Tollbooth, The Princess Bride, Winnie the Pooh, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit, and more are as inviting as the stories that take place there. And
posted 8:00:36am Feb. 11, 2012 |
read full post
»
|
