“There is a species of movie buff so invested in the cinematic illusion that they actually care when a clock in one shot that reads 3:15 is preceded by a shot in which the same clock reads 3:20. A subset of this subculture is made up of another time-obsessed group, anachronism spotters. “Far from Heaven,” they are quick to point out, may take place in 1958, but the Tupperware Julianne Moore uses in it wasn’t made until four years later…”
Tag: 01.04.04
Those Cursed Stars
Most publications top off movie reviews with a star rating. “Every reviewer I know hates the fiendish things, for the same reasons readers, editors, and publicists like them. Star ratings boil down critical analysis – the careful weighing of pro and con, the appreciation for the nuances of camerawork and performance, the baited hook of scorn – into a snap judgment that can be instantly grokked by a harried parent or slapped across a two-page ad spread. Gripe though critics may, unless we’re one of the dainty pashas at The New York Times or The New Yorker, the stars – or some system of dingbats like them – are a fact of the workplace, like spam or carpal tunnel.”
The Art Of Literary Personals
“Just over five years ago, the London Review of Books began running personal advertisements, in the hope they would provide a platform for like-minded people to find love, or sex, or at least a suitable reading group. One might have expected the advertisements to be more literary and erudite than the norm, but no one was quite prepared for the first ad… Today, the back page of this learned journal is a compulsive read, a bizarre and often hilarious competition in wit and intellect and flat-out perversity.”