In our morning reading: reviews of books by Norah Lange and Nicholas Rombes, an interview with Lacy M. Johnson, and more.
“If Anything, the Film Directs You”: Nicholas Rombes on Making “The Removals”
The Removals, the first film from writer-director Nicholas Rombes, simultaneously occupies a number of bold artistic territories. It’s a speculative work about an underground organization revisiting and re-enacting moments from history to change society to their own end; it’s a paranoid thriller about members of that organization growing disenchanted with it; and it’s about the troubles can come when you attempt to revisit the past. (In this film there are echoes of everything from Charlie Kaufman’s film Synecdoche, New York […]
Avant-Garde Realism (Redux)
Little did I know, 16 years ago when I wrote an article about the experimental uses of digital cinema, that one day I’d be putting theory to practice in my own film. The Removals—a lo-fi, sci-fi love story produced by the film production wing of Two Dollar Radio—conjures the genre of the paranoid thriller to explore the idea of replication and disruption in the digital age. What I had wondered in that original article at CTheory was this: how is […]
Nicholas Rombes’s Film “The Removals” Debuts Next Month
In 2014, Nicholas Rombes‘s novel of secret film history, The Absolution of Roberto Acestes Laing, was released by Two Dollar Radio. This year brings with it Rombes’s first film as writer and director, The Removals, also released through Two Dollar Radio’s cinematic arm. The film will have its premiere screening in Columbus, Ohio at the Wexner Center for the Arts on May 4th. The trailer promises plenty of ominous dialogue, mysterious buildings, and shadowy disappearances–all promising ingredients for a paranoid […]
Morning Bites: Kim Gordon Interviewed, New Elliott Holt Essay, Errol Morris Short Films, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Kim Gordon, a new essay from Elliott Holt, new short films from Errol Morris, notes on unreliable narrators and fictional films, and more.
Morning Bites: Helen DeWitt’s Library, Zines Get Literary, Revisiting Didion, “Man Alive” Reviewed, and More
In our Monday morning reading: Helen DeWitt discusses her library, Play It As It Lays is revisited, Robert Wyatt is interviewed, and more.
Weekend Bites: “Moby-Dick” Endures, Mecca Normal, Katherine Dunn on “Thrown,” Nicholas Rombes’s Research, and More
A look at the lasting relevance of Moby-Dick, interviews with Mecca Normal and Evan Osnos, notes on Thrown and GB84, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Bob Odenkirk’s Book, Tobi Vale on La Sera, Kim Zupan, A Nicholas Rombes Excerpt, and More
Bob Odenkirk is interviewed, an excerpt from Nicholas Rombes’s forthcoming novel, Kim Zupan’s novel reviewed, Meredith Graves on the unsettling subtext of an indie rock feud, and more.