Category: film
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The Art is the Artist: a Consideration of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan (contains spoilers!)
I just said it, but it bears repeating: this post contains spoilers, so please do not read ahead if you are sensitive to things like that. What is the relationship between the art and the artist? That is the central question of Black Swan, a trippy psychological thriller that pits Nina (Natalie Portman) against the […]
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Poets in their Youth
I did that “20 Books of Poetry” meme on Facebook and have enjoyed reading the lists generated by other people. Except that it sparked a good case of neurosis in me as practically no one shares affection for the books I chose. I think about 3 books I picked have ended up on other people’s […]
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When Kristen Bell Narrates, I Listen.
I wanted to comment on a few more aspects of Gossip Girl that I’ve really enjoyed. 1. Production ValueShot on location in NYC, GG is honestly such a gorgeously filmed show, you can’t help but want to move there–even me, who would rather have ebola than live in NYC. More than that, the show feels […]
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Godard/Truffaut
I was overjoyed yesterday when I saw in the Apr 7 issue of the New Yorker an extensive history/discussion of the impact of the friendship of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, two of the most important filmmakers of the last decade. Godard and Truffaut revolutionized French filmmaking and, I believe, had a big hand in […]
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30 Days of Night
Vampire flicks come and go; the mythology itself seems to fall in and out of fashion with abandon. As my colleague Aimée noted recently, “Vampire stories aren’t about seduction and surrender anymore; they’re about blood.” (I’m paraphrasing) And it’s true. For the Victorians, the urge of sexual surrender was so strong and so taboo that […]
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Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy
On Friday night I caught the opening performance of Stray Cat Theatre’s production of Fata Attraction: A Greek Tragedy. A spoof of the 1987 film of roughly the same name, the quick play (clocking in at just over an hour) tears through all the high points of the original—steamy elevator sex, the suicide attempt, the […]
Charles Jensen | Writer 