"The writer is in a god-like relation to what he creates," Martin Amis once mused in an interview. The question that logically follows is: what kind of god is Amis? Well, he is clearly not the god of Leibniz, who could only create the "best of all possible worlds." In fact, the case could easily be m

Catastrophe, Dark, Death, Dystopic, Funny, Ironic, Postmodern fiction, Self-reflection

If you want a part-time lover, listen to Stevie Wonder. If you want a private dancer, groove to Tina Turner. If you want "music without a whole lot of stylistic baggage," you better check out Autechre. As mischievous lads in Manchester, England, Sean Booth and Rob Brown bonded over a cheap synthe

Dark, Hi-tech, Intense, Machinistic, Melancholy

Sometimes an artist's greatest works arise out of a short whirlwind of creative activity, a kind of concentrated period of labor. For example, Faulkner produced his most acclaimed novels in the short span of eight years. Carol Reed is another prime example -- between 1947 and 1952, this director mad

Dark, Moody, Sublime, Tense

When artists come together in a spirit of union, they inevitably need a pulpit from which to expound their theories. For the Brits making films in the late '40s and early '50s, that pulpit was Sequence. Many filmmakers of the Free Cinema Movement and the British New Wave found the pages of this journ

Dark, Lyrical, Violent, Visceral, Young british/kitchen sink/free cinema