The Tablecloth Trick

Like most people, I wanted to be a magician when I grew up. I recently attended a screening of the 2007 Swedish film You, The Living (Du levande) by director Roy Andersson, a funny/sad movie made up of 50 vignettes that portray everyday life as absurd, petty, and hilarious. In the following scene, a [...]

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Gael Goes Norteño

Back in 2006, I declared my love for Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal on our radio show. He was just starring in his first English role, and I was afraid he would be catapulted from indie brilliance into mainstream cheesiness, much in the way of Antonio Banderas. I’m thrilled that three years later, [...]

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Kurt on the Red Carpet

Attending the Oscar ceremony last night, I realized why the pre-show red-carpet rigmarole has become more and more a focus of the television coverage over the last decade or so: that’s the juiciest part of the quasi-official event, a reality-show The Day of the Locust without the apocalyptic ending.
First there’s the arrival by car through [...]

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