First published on Little White Lies (3rd February 2012) //
Originally conceived of as a mini-series in his native Sweden, Ingmar Bergman’s film (or more accurately the shovel with which he digs a grave for marriage) originally aired to universal acclaim in 1973. The theatrical version, and the one you’d probably find on DVD, is a cut that shaved off some 130 minutes, yet left intact all of its spiky trauma.
First published on The Huffington Post (24th January 2012) //
You might remember those books – they probably still make them (I just checked, they do) – called Choose Your Own Adventure where you read a bit, then there’s a little action, then you make the hero’s choice at some bifurcation of the story. I’m opening the first pages of Mel Bosworth‘s debut novel, Freight, and I see it is a little like that, but after my first diversion it seems it isn’t so much the story’s action you’re diverting, but your own mood and feeling. Is that possible?
First published on Spike Magazine (23rd January 2012) //
John Warner’s debut novel, about the rise and fall of an unnamed American comedian known only as “the funny man”, is a mulchy broth of satire, cultural commentary and La-Z-Boy philosophy that simmers away on lukewarm, only ever threatening to come to the boil, though not without ambition, before bubbling back into quiet soup, despite a satisfying crouton rising to the surface now and again.
First published in Carnival Magazine (Issue 1, January 2012) as ‘Icon, Koan. But Not Really’ //
First published on Spike Magazine (16th January 2012) //
Steve McQueen’s second feature is a visually arresting, thematically dense piece of cinema, that may, and probably will, prove to be an important film in years to come. That is, if enough people get to see it. Having been cursed with a NC-17 rating in the US and a limited release in the UK, it seems those it may have been intended for will be largely unaware of its arrival.
First published on Spike Magazine (21st December 2011) //
If Camus had been at all interested in the crime or noir genre, then you could imagine he might produce something vaguely comparable to James Sallis’ novel, Drive. Trotting in at a similar duration to Camus’ classic, The Fall, Sallis also plays with the unfolding napkin of time in this narrative, in what he might be hinting is the only time-signature we’ve come to understand, that of film; intercuts and reversals, flashbacks and action sequences. Cinematic, in a word, which seems understandable that it was made into “a major motion picture”, as my copy reminds (yes, I’m five years too late). But that word ‘cinematic’ wouldn’t really give enough of what is due when considering Sallis’ steady metronomic delivery. He is far less erratic than a camera-toting Hollywood director, or his subsequent intercut-loving editor.
First published on The Huffington Post (20th December 2011) //
First published in The Ranfurly Review (Issue 17, 1st December 2011) //
First published on The Huffington Post (15th December 2011) //
There haven’t been many coherent voices speaking out against the impending money-splash of the London Olympics next year. Most have been swept away by the shiny promised land of the new Westfield, or the dubious pledges buried in tonnes of polished glass and metal, said to be invested in our potentially athletic children’s futures. All of which is, for me, accompanied by the mental vision of a dreary Lord Coe giving a perpetual thumbs up, a sight that greets my every thought relating to the Games.
Continue reading “Iain Sinclair, ‘Ghost Milk: Calling Time on the Grand Project’”
First published on The Huffington Post (15th December 2011) //
Noah Cicero is a novelist, poet and short-story writer from Youngstown, Ohio. He has authored six novels, the first of which, his influential and widely-acclaimed small press namedrop The Human War (2003), has just been made into a feature-length film. Cicero’s work has been described as ‘angry’, ‘political’, ‘bleak’ and ‘absurdist,’ among other words. He is currently 31 years of age.
Internet Present 