What I'm reading right now is David Foster Wallace's Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity, this following the engrossing and persuasive paracinema musings of Joan Hawkins in Cutting Edge, as well as a quick and enjoyable devouring of the very brutal (+ funny) Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World, and plus a healthy selection of cheerful nihilism in The World of Charles Addams.
Everything read has been fab, with the minor quibble in Cutting Edge that it seemed as though a few threads were left hanging, but the main points--that the aesthetics and modes of reading art-house fare and slasher stuff are pretty similar, that they both are heavy on the affect (as well as being "body genres," by which she means that the movies manage to physically affect us), that they share many of the same roots, and that there is interest & value & innovation in both the high & the low, and that such classifications are, in many ways, means to domesticate "good taste"--is well taken, and Hawkins' enthusiasm is infectious. Will be checking out many of the movies as soon as possible (and ditto for all the cool stuff mentioned in Incredibly Strange Films). Eyes Without a Face is first.
Everything read has been fab, with the minor quibble in Cutting Edge that it seemed as though a few threads were left hanging, but the main points--that the aesthetics and modes of reading art-house fare and slasher stuff are pretty similar, that they both are heavy on the affect (as well as being "body genres," by which she means that the movies manage to physically affect us), that they share many of the same roots, and that there is interest & value & innovation in both the high & the low, and that such classifications are, in many ways, means to domesticate "good taste"--is well taken, and Hawkins' enthusiasm is infectious. Will be checking out many of the movies as soon as possible (and ditto for all the cool stuff mentioned in Incredibly Strange Films). Eyes Without a Face is first.
