Larry is a phone salesman; he�s the kind of responsible American man that is �able to support [his] wife to stay at home and raise [his] children.� He�s been dying to get his hands on the camouflage Lambourgini of his … Read More
“All in all, I’m a dumb bastard… If you’ve got to, you’ve got to.” Thus criminal Michel Poiccard opens in a voice-over in Jean-Luc Godard’s classic 1960 film À bout de soufflé (Breathless). Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) looks up from a … Read More
There was a time when the idea of a different spin on the dry humor of The Daily Show might have made sense. Around the time that Stewart and co. produced America: The Book, they were a twister (or some … Read More
Television is the opiate of the masses. Surfing channels these days, we see the screen jump from images of skinny models bickering, to bedraggled people on a desert island, to co-eds living together as they have been for the past … Read More
Humbert Humbert is far from a straightforward man, but he did have the decency to commit a straightforward crime. Lolita was a tender young twelve, her suitor perhaps three times that; whatever physical, metaphysical, sexual, magic or aesthetic power she may have wielded over H.H., she was a child and he was a man of immoral actions.
Who will want to watch porn when it ceases to serve our need for escapism? When it comes down to it, porn is essentially the stylized and idealized version of the sex act that can offer us some sort of reprieve from the monotony of our own bedroom activities. It is a relief from those moments when, caught in the missionary position for the umpteenth time, we look at our partner and see a drop of sweat on her brow, uneven breasts, a smallish penis, or that piece of spinach from dinner between his teeth.
I am not with the times when it comes to television. Schadenfreude TV upsets me; I can’t watch it. You know what I’m talking about: the semi-scripted reality shows, the “true life” documentaries, the TV that makes you want to … Read More
Every respectable ideology needs an encyclopedia. The editors of the Enlightenment Encyclopédie, when composing the organizational frontispiece to the work, situated religion but a few spokes away from superstitions and black magic, while the reader of the entry on “Cannibalism” interested in related themes would find himself advised to consult the “Eucharist” entry, were he to consult the book’s reference notes. The good Bolshevik editors of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, for example, were quick to minimize the entry on “Jews” in the face of the Soviet anti-Semitism of the early 1950s.
Some years back, while browsing The Adventures of Pete and Pete fan sites (I obviously had lots of friends in high school), I happened upon one that listed the AIM screennames of several actors who played big roles on the … Read More
Two dark autumns ago, the Arcade Fire made me believe, all over again, in the all-encompassing power of rock and roll. Those were depressingly political times, and the un-political nature of the record offered me an escape. “Funeral” was a triumphant album about loss and renewal, about picking up the pieces in a cold, wintry world; it made me feel that I wasn’t the only one who was strung out and sad and suddenly and pathetically sober.
John Cameron Mitchell’s new film Shortbus raises a lot of difficult questions. For example, if A is fellating B, B is fellating C, and C is fellating A, is A fellating C? Is A fellating himself? Because that is, as … Read More
Maidens yet unyoked shall shear their hair for you when they wed, and through ages long shall reap the great morning of your tears.” – Euripides Who would not sing for Britney? She knew herself to sing! If not to … Read More