Now Available for Purchase (via Lulu.com)!

My first book–THE COMMUNITY OF DESIRE: SELECTED CRITICAL WRITINGS (2001-2007)–is now available for order via Lulu at this url:

To Order (via Lulu.com) – $6.40 + s/h + tax

The description as it appears at Lulu.com:

In this selection of critical writings, JOHN DEMETRY offers an introspective of the post-9/11 era up to the beginning of the 2007 Presidential Primary campaign cycle. THE COMMUNITY OF DESIRE traces an awakening awareness of a divided culture–and of pop’s healing potential. The best pop art addresses the shared spiritual need that the divisive culture exploits. Some of the works reviewed in this highly personal collection connected with the mass audience. Most did not. Still, DEMETRY encourages readers to join him in keeping up with pop’s philosophical innovations and artistic advancements. /// COVER ART (PASTEL 3) by Joshua Demetry /// FOREWORD by Ben Kessler

Shout Outs: Testimonials

Shout Outs
Testimonials

John Demetry’s writing has been a constant source of inspiration in a period when most pop culture criticism has ceased to show any sign of real cultural engagement. His reviews are not just reviews but note-taking examples of intense, genuine looking and listening, proof of his intellectual capability and honest effort—essays worthy of the word. 

Now that the mainstream media has given up on knowledgeable criticism, the internet has opened up a vomit stream of opinion and lowered the level of cultural discourse, but Demetry’s learning, acuity and the scope of his interests—guided by taste, not hype—remind me that thinking and feeling are not over; that pop culture discourse may have a future.
—ARMOND WHITE


Small revolutions and great revelations—that is what you can expect when reading any of John Demetry’s pieces on our pop culture. In the years between 2001 and 2007, the world as we knew it changed radically. It got darker and darker. At the same time, pop culture lost more and more of its spiritual and political significance as it fell prey to an ever-growing hype machine. But there were a few voices like Demetry’s that resisted, that spoke truth to power and shone a light on a different path. Now it is our turn to explore it and find new hope.
—SASCHA WESTPHAL


I found John Demetry’s intellectual work on the net. It was quite a discovery! Here was a man whose film knowledge and critical approach matched my own thoughts, feelings and needs. I continued to follow his work and later wrote him when he stopped contributing to a certain website. It was better: his own blog Revolution to Revelation is a compendium of his vast knowledge, his admiration of films (my major link to him) and music. At these times, when film criticism has become a joke and cinephiles are scarce, Demetry is a drink of fresh water. Excitement. Hope.
—ROBERTO VILLAREAL

To Order The Community of Desire (via Lulu.com) – $6.40 + s/h + tax

Contents

The Community of Desire
Contents

From A.I. to American Ideal
Foreword by Ben Kessler

On Love and the Hipster Problem
Preface by John Demetry

2001
Where Dreams Are Born
A.I.—Artificial Intelligence

Loving Everyone
Intimacy

Inside Out
Mulholland Drive

Happy Trails
The Adventures of Felix

“M” for “Might-Have-Been”
Gosford Park

God in the Movie Image
Werckmeister Harmonies

Thanksgiving
Jurassic Park III

2002
The State We’re In
Storytelling

Believe
E.T.—The Extra-Terrestrial

Kubrick’s Olympian Wit
2001: A Space Odyssey

Once Is Not Enough
Lola

Compassion on the Dance Floor
Circuit

Snowflakes on the Moon
CQ

Can You See?
Minority Report

Visionary
Lawrence of Arabia

Highbrow/Lowbrow
The Professor’s Daughter

The Significance of Thandie Newton
The Truth About Charlie

Tale-Chasing
Femme Fatale

To See with Love
Catch Me If You Can

fait accompli
All or Nothing

Pinball Wizard
Tommy

2003
Horseplay
The Weight of Water

Slippin’ and Slidin’
Justified

Wake-Up Call
Phone Booth

The Myth of Pascal Greggory
Confusion of Genders

Metaphorical Metamorphosis
X2: X-Men United

The Slow Curve
The Lizzie McGuire Movie

Pop’s Operation: Freedom
“Flicker”

Awakening to New Dreams
Model Shop

A Sublime Gesture
Together

What Brown University Didn’t Teach Todd Haynes
Gigli

Saving Jean-Luc Godard
In Praise of Love

Shooting the Elephant
Elephant

Post-Rodney King Romance
Intolerable Cruelty

P.J. Hogan’s Thimbology
Peter Pan

Worst KKK Apologia Ever
Cold Mountain

2004
Racing Past Hegemony with BEAUTY
Torque
Toxic

Choose Dogma
The Passion of the Christ

The Least Gnostic Movie Ever Made
Son frere

Folk Truth Goes Pop
The Ladykillers

A New Ritual
You Are the Quarry

The Infinite Significance of the Kiss
The Terminal

No Borders
Hero

Vera Icon
Vera Drake

The Broken Hearts Club
Movies 2004

2005
Just Can’t Say Goodbye
Last Days
“Just Can’t Say Goodbye”

To BrotherLove
Three Dancing Slaves

What Would Vermeer Do?
Mysterious Skin

Breaking Bread with the Movie Club

The Sceptic to the Apostles
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2006
No Limitation
Mo Gik: The Promise

Chaos Theory vs. Chaos
Tamara
“Lightning Strikes Twice”

Let Us Now Praise Hot Men
London

Loop-the-Loop
Final Destination 3

War of the Word
Sorry

The Influence of Stars
Running Scared

Sand In My Hands
You Have Killed Me
Ask the Dust
She’s the Man
Eight Below

ZAM Zap Fascism
Scary Movie 4

Look Back In Ardor
How Green Was My Valley
Gentleman’s Agreement

Present Tensions
World Trade Center

Sticky Fingers
The Covenant

Br’er Gibson’s Boner
Apocalypto

2007
We’re All In This Together
High School Musical

Izzy or Isn’t He?
Jump In!

Rhetoric of Love
Amazing Grace

Your Arsenal
Annotated Selected Bibliography

To Order The Community of Desire (via Lulu.com) – $6.40 + s/h + tax

Coming Soon. . .

. . .The Community of Desire

To Order The Community of Desire (via Lulu.com) – $6.40 + s/h + tax