Rachel's is a so-called punk band that plays chamber music. Or is it a chamber music ensemble that plays in punk clubs? Either way, the band's music is fresh -- the rich harmonics of acoustic violas, cello, and piano, oddly combined with the bar chatter and dive ambiance of alternative venues, add up

Composed, Elegant, Punk, Quirky

Manny Farber, though still much-revered as a film critic, eschewed film in favor of painting. Farber began writing film reviews for The New Republic in 1942. He continued his film career through the 1970s, writing most notably for publications such as Film Comment. As his book "Negative Space" (1970)

Agitated, Dense, In-your-face, Quirky, Smart

The son of a Golden-Age Hollywood agent, Independent filmmaker Kenneth Anger has an insider's jaded perspective on the film industry and all that goes with it. His scandalous 1958 expose of celebrity private lives, "Hollywood Babylon" (which discusses, among other things, the genital sizes of various

Avant-garde film, Catastrophe, Death, Homoerotic, Kaleidoscopic, Queer literature, Quirky

"Witty, warm, colorful, and hearty," gushes the mother of fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi in the documentary "Unzipped," referring both to her son and to his fashion designs. Mizrahi's clothes are like lovely comedies, mixing both vibrant and soft shades of color with shapes and fabrics previously use

Couture, Eclectic, Glamour, Grand, Quirky, Sophisticated