Whether he is discussing the holy terrorism of Andy Warhol, the changing language of cinema, or the neglected art of film journalism, Jonas Mekas' special "insanity"—his deep love for film art and artists—is constantly evident in this book. A collection of Mekas' Village Voice pieces over the past decade, Movie Journal provides a chronicle of the birth and infancy of the new genre he baptised as the New American Cinema.

Here are perceptive discussions of Markopoulos, Brakhage, Jack Smith, Antonioni, Anger, and Breer; lacerating comments on Hollywood film; exhortations to young film-makers, unabashedly ecstatic reviews. Unlike most film criticism, Movie Journal sees its subject not as a seperate, extracultural phenomenon, but as the lens of a kaleidoscopic new culture. Consistently rejecting the false for the true, the ugly for the beautiful, the trite for the meaningful, Mekas' passionately honest and human vision provides a unique and total trip through the sensual world of a new art.