Genuine Warmth

Movies (DVD)
My Name Is Khan dir. Karan Johar
Easy A dir. Will Gluck
Peepli Live dir. Anusha Rizvi, Mahmood Farooqui

Movies (theater)
The Green Hornet dir. Michel Gondry
Black Swan dir. Darren Aronofsky
Casino Jack dir. George Hickenlooper
Little Fockers dir. Paul Weitz
Tangled dir. Nathan Greno, Byron Howard

Books
God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says by Michael Coogan

Historical Conflict

Movies (theater)

True Grit dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Movies (DVD)

Our Hospitality dir. John G. Blystone, Buster Keaton
Barry Munday dir. Chris D'Arienzo

Books

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell

Delightful Randomness

Movies (DVD)
Sherlock Jr. dir. Buster Keaton
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse dir. David Slade

Movies (theater)
Cast Me If You Can dir. Atsushi Ogata

Behind the Facade

Movies (theater)
The Passion of Joan of Arc dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer

Movies (DVD)
Jonah Hex dir. Jimmy Hayward
Invictus dir. Clint Eastwood

Books
Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden

Taking Flight

Movies (DVD)
Udaan dir. Vikramaditya Motwane
The Brave One dir. Neil Jordan
Antichrist dir. Lars von Trier

Movies (theater)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 dir. David Yates

Allegorical Criticisms

Movies (DVD)
Splice dir. Vincenzo Natali
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead dir. Jordan Galland
Lunopolis dir. Matthew Avant
Cypher dir. Vincenzo Natali
Casino Jack and the United States of Money dir. Alex Gibney

Movies (theater)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale dir. Jalmari Helander

Books
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris
Koko Be Good by Jen Wang

Fiercely Aspirational

Movies (DVD)
Filth and Wisdom dir. Madonna
8 The Mormon Proposition dir. Reed Cowan, Steven Greenstreet
O Fantasma dir. João Pedro Rodrigues

Movies (theater)
Skyline dir. Colin Strause, Greg Strause
Megamind dir. Tom McGrath

Small Pleasures

Movies (theater)
Due Date dir. Todd Phillips
Flaming Creatures dir. Jack Smith
Monsters dir. Gareth Edwards

Movies (DVD)
Destricted dir. various
MacGruber dir. Jorma Taccone

Longing for Adventure

Movies (DVD)
The Killer dir. John Woo
Chocolate dir. Prachya Pinkaew
The Girlfriend Experience dir. Steven Soderbergh
Max Payne dir. John Moore
Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam dir. Sanjay Chhel

Movies (theater)
Dracula dir. Tod Browning

Books
City of Spies by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, Pascal Dizin
Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich

Flailing at Fate

Movies (DVD)
Box No. 1313 dir. Aniruddha Bhattacharya
George A. Romero's Survival of the Dead dir. George A. Romero
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time dir. Mike Newell
Killers dir. Robert Luketic

Movies (theater)
Jackass 3D dir. Jeff Tremaine

Books
Kraken by China Miéville

Bloodless Fury

Movies (theater)
The Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole dir. Zack Snyder
Let Me In dir. Matt Reeves

Movies (DVD)
Ishqiya dir. Abhishek Chaubey
Jail dir. Madhur Bhandarkar
Bronson dir. Nicolas Winding Refn

Crudeness and Grace

Movies (DVD)
The Human Centipede (First Sequence) dir. Tom Six
Tapped dir. Stephanie Soechtig, Jason Lindsey
The Secret of Kells dir. Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
Sab Charitra Kalponik dir. Rituparno Ghosh

New Twist

Movies (DVD)
Pirate Radio dir. Richard Curtis
Sweet Movie dir. Dusan Makavejev
Kick-Ass dir. Matthew Vaughn

Movies (theater)
The Town dir. Ben Affleck

Books
Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
Tonoharu: Part One by Lars Martinson

Discomfort and Intensity

Movies (theater)
Never Let Me Go dir. Mark Romanek

Movies (DVD)
The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad dir. Nathan Juran
Blue dir. Anthony D'Souza
Boogie Woogie dir. Duncan Ward
Audition dir. Takashi Miike

New Spin

Movies (DVD)
The Ghost Writer dir. Roman Polanski
Repo Men dir. Miguel Sapochnik
Greenberg dir. Noah Baumbach
The NeverEnding Story dir. Wolfgang Petersen

Movies (theater)
Inception dir. Christopher Nolan
Machete dir. Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez

Books
Go, Mutants! by Larry Doyle

Moral Force

Movies (DVD)
Swept Away dir. Guy Ritchie
Cop Out dir. Kevin Smith
Big Bang Love, Juvenile A dir. Takashi Miike
Chintuji dir. Ranjit Kapoor

Movies (theater)
A Woman, A Gun and A Noodle Shop dir. Zhang Yimou

Books
Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens

Perfectly Preposterous

Movies (DVD)
The Cove dir. Louie Psihoyos
OSS 117: Lost in Rio dir. Michel Hazanavicius
Matrubhoomi dir. Manish Jha
Chance Pe Dance dir. Ken Ghosh

Movies (theater)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World dir. Edgar Wright
Going the Distance dir. Nanette Burstein

Relentlessly Personal

Movies (DVD)
Spring Fever dir. Lou Ye
Paa dir. R. Balki
Versus (Director's Cut) dir. Ryuhei Kitamura
The Japanese Wife dir. Aparna Sen
Hot Tub Time Machine dir. Steve Pink

Movies (theater)
Piranha 3D dir. Alexandre Aja

Complex Interpretation

Movies (DVD)
Kurbaan dir. Renzil D'Silva
This Sporting Life dir. Lindsay Anderson
Big Fan dir. Robert D. Siegel

Movies (theater)
Nanny McPhee Returns dir. Susanna White

Books
Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks

Deliberate Tackiness

Movies (theater)
Dinner for Schmucks dir. Jay Roach
The Other Guys dir. Adam McKay

Movies (DVD)
Gentlemen Broncos dir. Jared Hess
A Prophet dir. Jacques Audiard
Raspberry Reich dir. Bruce LaBruce
Ballets Russes dir. Daniel Geller, Dayna Goldfine
Taking Woodstock dir. Ang Lee

Books
Bodyworld by Dash Shaw
The Scott Pilgrim Series by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Semimetaphorical

Movies (DVD)
The Book of Eli dir. The Hughes Brothers
The Wayward Cloud dir. Tsai Ming-liang
Fuel dir. Josh Tickell
Ip Man dir. Wilson Yip
The Secret of the Grain dir. Abdellatif Kechiche
Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani dir. Rajkumar Santoshi

Cruel & Bloody

Movies (DVD)
Mystery Team dir. Dan Eckman
Taxidermia dir. György Pálfi
The Boys in the Band dir. William Friedkin
Aladin dir. Sujoy Ghosh

Movies (theater)
Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre dir. Júlíus Kemp
Agora dir. Alejandro Amenábar

Books
Ruined by Lynn Nottage

Random and Irreverent

Movies (DVD)
Tokyo Zombie dir. Sakichi Satô
Green Zone dir. Paul Greengrass
The September Issue dir. RJ Cutler
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee dir. Rebecca Miller
Twilight: New Moon dir. Chris Weitz

Movies (theater)
Robogeisha dir. Noboru Iguchi
The Kids are All Right dir. Lisa Cholodenko
Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives dir. Israel Luna

Books
I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright
How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel

Thrill Ride

Movies (DVD)
Jennifer's Body dir. Karyn Kusama
The Wolfman dir. Joe Johnston
Zift dir. Javor Gardev
Shutter Island dir. Martin Scorsese
Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year dir. Shimit Amin

Movies (theater)
Despicable Me dir. Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

Faking It

Movies (DVD)
Easy Virtue dir. Stephan Elliott
Couples Retreat dir. Peter Billingsley
When in Rome dir. Mark Steven Johnson
Loins of Punjab Presents dir. Manish Acharya

Movies (theater)
Winter's Bone dir. Debra Granik
Toy Story 3 dir. Lee Unkrich

Deceptively Simple

Movies (DVD)
Abouna dir. Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
London Dreams dir. Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Gulaal dir. Anurag Kashyap
The Hurt Locker dir. Kathryn Bigelow
The Song of Sparrows dir. Majid Majidi
Good Dick dir. Marianna Palka
The White Ribbon dir. Michael Haneke
Love Aaj Kal dir. Imtiaz Ali

Movies (theater)
The Secret in Their Eyes dir. Juan José Campanella

Lulling Rhythms

Movies (DVD)
Daybreakers dir. Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
The House of the Devil dir. Ti West
The Fourth Kind dir. Olatunde Osunsanmi
From Paris with Love dir. Pierre Morel

Movies (theater)
Undertow dir. Javier Fuentes-Leon
The Ship of Monsters dir. Rogelio A. González
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work dir. Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg
Knight and Day dir. James Mangold

Books
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

Philosophical Conundrums

Movies (DVD)
A Serious Man dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Inkheart dir. Iain Softley
Sita Sings the Blues dir. Nina Paley
Outlander dir. Howard McCain
New York dir. Kabir Khan
Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna dir. Prem R Soni
Whip It dir. Drew Barrymore

Books
The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, and Ninety-Nine Other Thought Experiments by Julian Baggini
Wilson by Daniel Clowes

Warped Dream

Movies (DVD)
8X10 Tasveer dir. Nagesh Kukunoor
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans dir. Werner Herzog
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog dir. Joss Whedon
I Sell the Dead dir. Glenn McQuaid
Slacker Uprising dir. Michael Moore
Black Dynamite dir. Scott Sanders

Movies (theater)
Micmacs dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Grim Reality

Movies (DVD)
Hostel: Part II dir. Eli Roth
Surrogates dir. Jonathan Mostow
It's Complicated dir. Nancy Meyers
Quarantine dir. John Erick Dowdle

Movies (theater)
Georgy Girl dir. Silvio Narizzano

Drastic Measures

Movies (DVD)
D13-U dir. Patrick Alessandrin
I Love You, Beth Cooper dir. Chris Columbus
We Live in Public dir. Ondi Timoner
The Time Traveler's Wife dir. Robert Schwentke
Wake Up Sid dir. Ayan Mukherjee

Movies (theater)
Iron Man 2 dir. Jon Favreau

Books
Hold Still by Nina LaCour

Moral Dilemmas

Movies (theater)
Please Give dir. Nicole Holofcener

Movies (DVD)
1900 dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
The Last House on the Left dir. Dennis Iliadis

Books
The Rabbi's Cat by Joann Sfar

Fate of the World

Movies (DVD)
In the Loop dir. Armando Iannucci
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus dir. Terry Gilliam
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning dir. Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai
Coraline dir. Henry Selick
A Wednesday dir. Neeraj Pandey
The Men Who Stare at Goats dir. Grant Heslov
Sunday in the Park with George dir. Terry Hughes

Books
The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams

One Voice

Movies (DVD)
Explicit Ills dir. Mark Webber
Nine dir. Rob Marshall
Outrage dir. Kirby Dick

Books
Just Kids by Patti Smith

Incredible Disaster

Movies (theater)
Exit Through the Gift Shop dir. Banksy
How to Train your Dragon dir. Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Movies (DVD)
Roadside Romeo dir. Jugal Hansraj
Fantastic Mr. Fox dir. Wes Anderson
Princess and the Frog dir. Ron Clements, John Musker
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind dir. Hayao Miyazaki
What's your Rashee dir. Ashutosh Gowarikar
Moon dir. Duncan Jones

Perspective on Life

I was traveling in Buenos Aires for a few weeks; so, instead of weekly updates, here is what I remember seeing and reading since my last post.

Movies (DVD)
9 dir. Shane Acker
EuroTrip dir. Jeff Schaffer
World's Greatest Dad dir. Bobcat Goldthwait
Dev.D dir. Anurag Kashyap
2012 dir. Roland Emmerich
Kaminey dir. Vishal Bhardwaj

Movies (theater)
Turn it Loose dir. Alastair Siddons

Books
Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture by Apostolos Doxiadis
The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

Brief Euphoria

Movies (DVD)
Revolutionary Road dir. Sam Mendes
Paul Blart: Mall Cop dir. Steve Carr
Revanche dir. Götz Spielmann
Encounters at the End of the World dir. Werner Herzog
The Phantom dir. Simon Wincer
Disney's Robin Hood dir. Wolfgang Reitherman

Exchanged Hurt

Movies (DVD)
Baadassss! dir. Mario Van Peebles
The Soloist dir. Joe Wright
Where the Wild Things Are dir. Spike Jonze
Confessions Of a Police Captain dir. Damiano Damiani
Tropical Malady dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Humpday dir. Lynn Shelton
He's Just Not That into You dir. Ken Kwapis

Movies (theater)
Mother dir. Bong Joon-Ho

New Direction

Books
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou
Stuffed! by Glenn Eichler, Nick Bertozzi
Britten and Brülightly by Hannah Berry

Movies (DVD)
Street Kings dir. David Ayer
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire dir. Lee Daniels
Up in the Air dir. Jason Reitman
Zombieland dir. Ruben Fleischer
La Belle Personne dir. Christophe Honoré
Welcome to Sajjanpur dir. Shyam Benegal
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant dir. Paul Weitz

Movies (theater)
She's Out of my League dir. Jim Field Smith

History Lessons

Movies (theater)
Formosa Betrayed dir. Adam Kane
Alice in Wonderland 3D dir. Tim Burton

Movies (DVD)
Dead Snow dir. Tommy Wirkola
My Best Friend's Girl dir. Howard Deutch
Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! dir. Dibakar Banerjee

Nothing or Everything

Books
Low Moon by Jason
Ridiculous!: the theatrical life and times of Charles Ludlam by David Kaufman
The Best American Comics 2008 edited by Lynda Barry

Movies (DVD)
Hostel dir. Eli Roth
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts dir. Spike Lee
The Mutant Chronicles dir. Simon Hunter
Hunger dir. Steve McQueen

Movies (theater)
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightening Thief dir. Chris Columbus
Valentine's Day dir. Garry Marshall