Allow me for a moment, if you will, to wax rhapsodic about one of my favorite literary organizations, that being McSweeney’s. Every quarter McSweeney’s publishes their Quarterly Concerns, which is not only one of the coolest literary magazines imaginable, and the design of the magazine is often as amazing and fascinating as the works contained within it. McSweeney’s also publishes books from obscure and long forgotten authors, as well as works from widely read and respected modern authors, often times selling these works for ridiculously cheap prices (it is not uncommon that once a month a book be reduced to $.01) and often times donating much or all of the proceeds to various charities. McSweeney’s is an organization devoted to the advancement of art and literature and I am proud to give my money to such an esteemed organization.

Several years ago Nick Hornby (of High Fidelity fame) teamed up with several other writers to produce a new semi-monthly magazine from McSweeney’s entitled The Believer. It was filled with reviews and stories and original works and Amy Sedaris giving sex advice by proxy, everything one would want from a literary magazine. The Believer also accomplished two very important things, at least in my little corner of the world. The April ‘06 issue contained an interview with Paul Giamatti that was so fascinating and enjoyable I can safely call it the best interview I have ever had the pleasure of reading. The Etgar Keret interview in the same issue isn’t half bad either. But that was just the beginning, as later I would read their September ‘06 issue, simply referred to as the games issue. The issue was so captivating I have no qualms in naming it the best issue of any magazine I have ever read. Thus knocking off the July of ‘84 issue of Ranger Rick, a feat I previously deemed impossible. (more…)

It has been a frustrating week with the girlfriend, not because of any relationship strife, but because she was going out of town for the weekend. Now when this happens she typically likes to spend as much of her free time with me as she can, following me around, attempting to nestle into any open crevice on my body when I sit down, and unquestionably attempting to sabotage any of my efforts to sit down and write this column.

At this point I should also note that I have a cat named Kali. Kali and I are fast approaching our 11 year anniversary. In the past few weeks I have also worked an unusual amount of hours beyond my normal standard, resulting in my temporary absence from Kali’s daily routine. Those of you cat owners out there will know what I mean when I say she makes it perfectly clear that my recent behavior is totally unacceptable. (more…)

Certain films excel as midnight movies. 80’s comedies are typical staples, as is anything filmed in 3-D. I myself tend to lean towards cheesy action and kung fu movies, as well as the occasional splatter film. But recently more and more studios are taking an interesting approach to midnight films, as they are now releasing smaller “cult” films or productions they would have otherwise shelved in some warehouse, allowing them at least one moment of opening night glory in the belief that a limited release in multiple markets might create enough buzz to drive DVD sales of what otherwise would have been a direct to video product.

In the past two years Firecracker, Feast, Evil Aliens, and Dynamite Warrior all were theatrically released as midnight movies. Even the much maligned Fox film Idiocracy, which was quickly pulled after a dubious limited release, was touring the midnight circuit a mere month later. All this made me quite excited when I heard about Daft Punk’s Electroma. A film festival favorite for the past year, it is receiving a limited distribution as a midnight movie before getting a wide DVD release later this year. (more…)