Slow Education

Red Road by Andrea Arnold. 2006 debut feature by the British filmmaker responsible for past curio, 2009’s Fishtank (both films won the Jury Prize at Cannes). It’s one of the more complex and well-executed voyeuristic thrillers I’ve seen. Arnold’s right up there with Kelly Reichardt and Lynne Ramsay as one of today’s pre-eminent female directors. Link.

Marc Maron at Great Scott. I’ve been a fan of Maron since around 2006, but this is the first time he’s performed in Boston. He did not disappoint. I recommend his three comedy records and WTF podcast to anyone who is a fan of painful admissions, embarrassing personal details and debilitating neuroses. Link.

Childrens Hospital. Wonderfully cast, short-form satire of medical dramas written and created by Rob Corddry. The first season (originally a series of five minute web shorts) was just rebroadcast on Adult Swim in a reconstituted form. It has a unique sensibility and is consistently funny. New episodes are airing every Sunday, culminating in a LIVE episode sometime in October. Link.

Wally Gropius by Tim Hensley. I’ve been excited about this book since I saw the first excerpt in Mome. On the surface it appears to be a satire of Richie Rich (and employs a supremely well-observed Dell/Harvey/Archie aesthetic), but it’s so strange and dense and hilarious that it really winds up being something much larger than the sum of its references. Link.

Death Comes To Town by The Kids In The Hall. As an admittedly weird teenager, the Kids in the Hall were very important to me. I would watch reruns on Comedy Central almost every day, and I’ve probably seen Brain Candy fifty times. That being said, when I heard they were doing a new mini-series on the CBC, I was a little skeptical. With the exception of a few reunion tours, they haven’t produced any new material in almost fifteen years, and comedy doesn’t often age well. But barring some puffiness and a handful of questionable production decisions, I thoroughly enjoyed Death Comes to Town. It’s a completely worthy addition to the KITH canon. Link.

Mister Lonely by Harmony Korine. I resisted seeing this movie for a while because the cover features Michael Jackson and Marilyn Monroe together in a rowboat, and it just seemed like an image that was incompatible with a good movie. Failure of imagination on my part. It’s ridiculous to be sure, but also manages to be poignant, consistently interesting and visually stunning. It owes a large stylistic debt to Werner Herzog, which makes his appearance in the film all the more enjoyable. Link.