Hurricane Nomi

We knew nothing of Nomi Malone’s past, sordid or otherwise, when we signed the leggy, athletic, and disturbingly enthusiastic stripper—sorry, dancer!—for a residency at the Starfire Lounge. She mentioned something offhand about dancing in Vegas before she took the stage and shook her sweet ass for us. I don’t know if what she did was … Continue reading Hurricane Nomi →

Monica Vitti, the Face of Italian Cinema

Long ago, in a different lifetime, deep in the bowels of the college library, I poured over the pages of Sight & Sound, Film Quarterly, and other esteemed cinema journals, along with the collected reviews of Pauline Kael, among other prominent critics. Those afternoons and evenings, spent alone with only what felt like the entirety … Continue reading Monica Vitti, the Face of Italian Cinema →

The Neon Demon

I finally watched Nicholas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon (2016) and can’t quite shake its gorgeous aesthetic and haunting mood. Seeing as it’s set in the high-stakes Los Angeles fashion world, it comes as no surprise that nearly every single character is a vapid, raging, sociopathic narcissist. Elle Fanning plays the supernaturally beautiful teenage model … Continue reading The Neon Demon →