Like many others in America who recently found themselves on the losing side of the Bush-Kerry divide, I’ve spent some time contemplating the real and perceived cultural divisions in this country. Are we really a bunch of latte-sipping elitists who are out of touch with authentic Americans? And even if we are, why should our […]
David Fellerath
Bio: David Fellerath is INDY Week's culture and sports editor.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/dfellerath
Posted inNews
in JUNK
Still smarting from being on the wrong side of the moral values debate? Riled up because the mayor of San Francisco and all the gays who accepted his marriage licenses are getting blamed for Kerry’s loss? If you’re not in the mood for apologizing for the hereness of queerness, then UNC’s ScreenArts has got a […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Aging whines
What makes Sideways special? It’s gotten rave reviews, but what is it really? After all, the plot isn’t much–and it’s even a little off-putting: Two old college friends facing the burnt-out butts of their youth take a week-long road trip, during which they try to avoid thinking about their respective failures and get as much […]
Posted inFilm & Television
We’ll always have Paris
Red Lights, a new French thriller, begins with an ominous setup. A prosperous middle-aged couple is preparing to leave Paris for the summer camp their children are attending. It’s a trip that Antoine, the husband, is looking forward to. We meet him in his office, sending a last minute e-mail to Helene in which he […]
Posted inNews
in film and vision
Francesca’s Filmy Show, Chapel Hill artist Francesca Talenti‘s new show, will be on view at Raleigh’s Design Box for a month beginning this Friday, Nov. 5. Talenti, whose resume includes Snake Tales, a whimsical feature film shot in Texas while she was teaching at UT-Austin, will be showing more recent films like A Brief History […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Two English girls
Two fascinating period pieces about British women open in the next few weeks. One is set in the post-WWII convalescence of 1950s London, while the other is set in the post-Oliver Cromwell convalescence of 1660s London. One is a typically impressive showcase for Britain’s top actors, from one of their best-known film directors, Mike Leigh. […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Means of escape
We’ve had some good movies this year make it into the art houses, from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to Before Sunset to Maria Full of Grace. But one of the year’s best is playing for two nights only in Duke University’s Griffith Theater. I refer to Uzak (Distant), a film from the exceptionally […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Una aventura excelente
My favorite photograph of Ernesto “Che” Guevara de la Serna, the most photogenic political figure of the 20th century, is reprinted in Jon Lee Anderson’s definitive biography of a few years ago. It’s not the famous one by Albert Korda, but a picture taken in the Havana airport, shortly after the revolution of 1959, in […]
Posted inNews
in state secrets
Guantanamo Bay, the secretive, heavily fortified compound in Cuba where thousands of Global War on Terror detainees have been held without judicial review, is one of the many memory holes of the last three years. New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh has been writing that when the truth emerges, it will become a stain on America’s […]
Posted inFilm & Television
Coming of Age
What a difference 90 minutes makes. After I finished watching John Kerry dominate G.W. Bush in Thursday night’s debate, I had to scrap what I’d intended to write about Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry. Not my opinion of the film–it’s fascinating–but the context of my review has changed. I’d planned to write […]
