Review: Things Just Get Away From You

Review: Things Just Get Away From You
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Things Just Get Away From You Walt Holcombe Fantagraphics Books Street: 06.15 In Things Just Get Away From You, Holcombe expresses his exotic stories in a simple and direct manner filling each panel with a visual style that is fluid and exaggerated. Like a dream, it equally draws from his time as an animator as

Review: The Story of Cruel & Unusual

Review: The Story of Cruel & Unusual
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The Story of Cruel & Unusual Colin Dayan Boston Review/MIT Press Street: 04.30 The story of the eighth amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and is taken from the English Bill of Rights. While seemingly straightforward in its lay representation (not excessive punishment in light of the crime), Colin Dayan in her concise, erudite and

Review: King-Cat Classix

Review: King-Cat Classix
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King-Cat Classix John Porcellino Drawn & Quarterly Street: 05.01 King-Cat Classix is John Porcellino’s memoirs as told in REAL-TIME (even though you are reading past recollections, he turns moments into instants). Caught somewhere between biography and journal (a la American Elf), King-Cat Classix is something like this with wirey panel drawings and an honesty you

Review: You’re Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson

Review: You’re Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson
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You’re Gonna Miss Me: A Film About Roky Erickson Keven McAlester Palm Pictures Street 07.10 At this point, Roky Erickson is almost as famous for his heroin and LSD binges as he is for his mid-60s work with the 13th Floor Elevators. When the Texas-based psychedelic band relocated to the west coast, Erickson didn’t adapt

Review: The War Tapes

Review: The War Tapes
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The War Tapes Deborah Scranton Docurama Films Street: 05.15 Presented by actual soldiers on the front line, The War Tapes does an excellent job bringing out some of the truly gruesome details of the Iraqi War. Showing actual footage of anything from soldiers being shot and killed by enemy fire, to car bombs, to Iraqi

Review: Violette

Review: Violette
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Violette Claude Chabrol Koch Lorber Street: 05.08 This re-release of the 1978 French film Violette Noziere leaves many questions unanswered. This is the story of you average rebellious teen girl, hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking and drinking and catching syphilis like all kids do when they’re young. What makes this story different is

Review: Missing Victor Pellerin

Review: Missing Victor Pellerin
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Missing Victor Pellerin Sophie Deraspe Atopia Street: 06.05 Missing Victor Pellerin tells the story of famous Quebecian artist, Victor Pellerin, who in January of 1990, burned all his paintings and disappeared. At first, I was turned off by it and couldn’t make it past the first 30 minutes due to aloof camera angles and a

Review: Heavy Petting

Review: Heavy Petting
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Heavy Petting Obie Benz and Joshua Waletzky New Video Group Street: 05.29 A documentary based around the culture of sexuality in the 50s and 60s? Sign me up! With conversations on these topics from the likes of Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, viewing this felt like sitting around telling somewhat shocking stories with your

Review: Gothic Vampires From Hell

Review: Gothic Vampires From Hell
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Gothic Vampires From Hell Fred Austin and Rob Walker Cleopatra Street: 05.15 Getting new material to review is sometimes like waiting to be kicked in the penis. You realize it has large potential for pain, but you also know you have to get through it one way or another. When this movie was placed into