When I was little, I had a recurring nightmare. I would float to the laundry room, a small tiled room next to the kitchen, and open the door. Or try to. I would push the door handle down, throw my body against the wood but it would not budge, only wobble a bit as if something else pushed back. Then wind or an unseen hand would seize and suspend me in the air.
What a wild coincidence, that Lewis and Tolkien were buddies at Oxford. Except, an acclaimed new graphic novel suggests, it was not coincidence at all
Like vinyl LPs, analog culture has invaded the margins of all things digital in order to treat us all to a bit of nostalgia. Thumbing through ‘Unwrap Joy,’ I was flooded by a surge of memories involving print catalogues of seasons past.
That tiny copper disc has become irrelevant, an annoyance, yet one with a rich history. Does it still have a point to make?
Politics behind the scenes remains a mystery to much of the public. I have always felt the inner workings of the political machine were shrouded in mystery. This summer, not only did I peek behind the curtain, but I became one of those cogs.
Roberto Bolaño is having a moment. Where better to start than "A Night in Chile," a slim, hypnotic, relentlessly compelling masterpiece.
The seasonal drill of watching endless horror films is so familiar to Halloween lovers that it is a good idea to remind ourselves that horror films once aspired to tingle our spines, not lash our senses. To experience that vintage sense of unease we must return to the classics. Perhaps no other film makes that case better than director Jack Clayton’s 1961 masterpiece, ‘The Innocents.’
In my day we said we were “going to go do something.” You felt like seeing a movie, you went to see a movie. People now talking about how they feel weird reading a book alone in a restaurant. Pfffft. I determined to show myself a real good time.
The new documentary ‘Taking Venice,’ directed by Amei Wallach, tells the story of that intrigue with original footage, recent interviews, some recreations, and a snappy jazz-funk soundtrack à la ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’
Truckloads of paintings and artworks attempt to depict or advocate political and historical events and eras.
The Romans constructed arches to commemorate military victories for the foundation and building of empire. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) rings a collective bell inside our national head every time we…