Adbusters Staff Picks - July/August 2008
Here are our picks from Adbusters Issue 78 (Media Democracy).
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
In McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic America, there is no civilization, no ecosystem, no sun. When it snows, the earth is blanketed with grey. A father and son travel down a desolate stretch of highway in search of some semblance of life. Between them, they carry a gun with two bullets should this new reality prove too much to bear.
Evil Paradises: Dreamworlds of NeoLiberalism
Editors Mike Davis and Daniel Bertrand Monk invited scholars, cultural critics and renowned writers of science fiction to meditate on a world in which neoliberal values reign supreme. The result is a dystopic vision of floating cities, towering gates and erected monuments dedicated to Mickey Mouse.
City of Men
In the crime-ridden favelas of Rio de Janeiro, City of Men follows two teenage boys as they find themselves on opposite side of a gang war. Unlike many movies about poverty, City of Men doesn’t sensationalize the surrounding violence, but unravels both the good and dark sides of a troubled paradise with humor and humanity.
Next American City
With more people in the world now living in cities than the countryside, Next American City explores the true meaning of urban culture. The magazine aims to uncover the phenomena that makes US cities grow. Its stories braid together complex external elements like politics and environment with the cultural heartbeat of populations.
Level Live Wires
In Level Live Wires, Odd Nosdam shapes his surreal audio style by reworking scraps of sounds from discarded vinyl, 8 track cassettes, synths, Dictaphones and long-forgotten samples with his own grab bag of stylized beats. The eclectic collage is a statement that turns the old into new and the abandoned into a revolutionary way of manipulating noise.
