At the movies: The Raid - Redemption.

As I've often said, there's really no -sploitation like Indonesiansploitation. To put it another way, now I have more than just H. Tjut Djalil to recommend to people when they want to experience the liberating madness of Indonesia's cinematic id. I had a talk with icon and national treasure Jim Ridley after a press screening a couple of weeks back, and you can read it here. Please do so...

At the movies: Mirror, Mirror.

I'm not going to lie, it screwed up the world when Eiko Ishioka died. You have to go back to the glory days of Edith Head to find someone working at this level of sartorial awesomeness, and it saddens me to think that we may not ever see someone willing to do this much to advance the visual arts through fabric, passion, and imagination. You can still take some time to luxuriate in her last film work, with the visually ravishing Mirror, Mirror. Some have been hating on this film like it owed them money, which I don't understand at all. Beauty, goofiness, classic fairytale style, and the kind of eye-popping joy that the Tarsem/Ishioka team always produced.

At the movies: Silent House.

A mess of a film with a staggering lead performance, this is the kind of movie that I recommend to actors and people who dig on seeing just how weird some films can skew. If anything, the in-home experience with this film might prove even more rewarding. It's not a particularly good film, even, but Olsen is spectacular. Have a look see...

At the movies: Margaret.

So, after much hemming and hawing and protestations, Kenneth Lonergan's Margaret is finally making its way  to Nashville. It feels like a lifetime, which is somehow fitting, because the film encompasses many lifetimes. 

I got lucky enough to be able to write about the film for the Scene, and the end result was a behemoth (somewhere around 2,600 words). You can read the refocused piece here, and then, after you've seen the film, you should check out the appendix to the piece, or, in remix terminology, the Bonus Beats, which are here. This section is much more spoilery, so do keep that in mind.

At the movies: Salo.

You know what's an interesting challenge? Finding an image from Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, that doesn't trigger about a thousand different NetWatch alerts. 

So I wrote about the late, great Pier Paolo Pasolini's epic of defilement online at The Scene this week, and I hope you might find it an intriguing experience. I have only seen the film once, at a special double feature (with Seul Contre Tous/I Stand Alone) curated and hosted by Gaspar Noe at New York's IFC Center several years back. I share this tidbit not to namedrop, but rather to get at how the film can stay with you long after you see it.

So, Vanderbilt's International Lens series is showing the film, for free, on campus, which is gutsy and admirable. I do not welcome the eStorm of controversy and distraught underclassmen they may encounter, but I'd love to read the eMails after the fact. 

Dance Music Talk: Thoughts on Whitney Houston's Greatest Remixes.

So, I do sometimes write about dance music. It's a passion, and a style of music that I enjoy and study.

So here is a retrospective piece I did on the late, great Whitney Houston- a timeless diva, a fascinating individual, and the voice behind some really great records. Have a look- perhaps it will lead you to some new aural adventures.

At the movies: Pina 3D.

So, once again the forces of good have triumphed, and a weird, artsy 3D movie is getting a run at the megaplex. It's Cave of Forgotten Dreams all over again, except I find this film even more visually exciting. And the Oscar nomination doesn't hurt. If you're in to the visual possibilities of stereoscopic imagery, this is what you want to see...