For quite some time, things weren’t looking good for Harmony Korine, the 35-year-old writer of Kids and experimental director behind dogmatic and divisive films like Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy. But, rather triumphantly, he overcame a crippling drug addiction and was welcomed back into the spotlight with last year’s heartbreaking Mister Lonely, his first feature in eight years. He just released The Collected Fanzines (Drag City), a series of eight amateur publications that were produced over the past 15 years, which feature musings, ramblings and Matt Dillon’s old phone number. Here, the ultimate bad-boy of American cinema, unleashed.

When Clémence Poésy speaks in English, every sentence seems to end with a question mark. This quirk captures the essence of this French actor’s growing allure, both as a film star and a nascent fashion icon -- there’s a mystery to her, an ethereal charisma that has positioned Poésy to break out as a global star. “I’ve always cherished that thing, of being able to travel between two different cultures,” she says. “Melting into different universes in different countries makes it more interesting.” See full fashion gallery.

Coolness and considerable talent have won Holly Golightly the respect of fans worldwide, among them the White Stripes (who she has recorded with). Now, the rockabilly queen, who recently released her second album with the Brokeoffs, Dirt Don’t Hurt, reveals the little-known gems that keep her happy while tooling the back roads in her turbo diesel van.

She wasn’t yet old enough to drive a car when actress Bijou Phillips was emancipated from her parents (her father, the legendary John Phillips, was the leader of The Mamas & the Papas), modeled for Calvin Klein, developed an addiction to heroin and checked into rehab. Now, with the release of six new films in under a year, including this month’s Dark Streets, the cleaned-up, 28-year-old wild child has a few things she’d like to get off her chest. The top ten things she hates, after the jump.

Stymied for gift ideas this holiday season? Brand-strategist and blogger Josh Spear has come up with a list of stuff that doesn’t suck.

1. The Gilded Age - Everyone and their mother will be gifting iPods, iPhones and the latest Apple must-haves this holiday season. Why not go for the gold, with a customized 24k gold iPhone from Continental Mobiles? If bullion bling isn’t your style, choose from a variety of iPods in platinum, ruby and diamond. $2,000 – $10,000; continentalmobiles.com.

Two new photography books shine a light on our country’s unheralded superstars: its gritty folk from the other side of the tracks and its bubbling, super-styled youth subcultures.

Crack smokers, cashiers, rifle holders, a security guard, men and women with tattoos, scars and burns—these are the characters who make up Zoe Strauss’ first monograph, America, a gritty ode to life in pockets of the U.S.A. extending from Las Vegas to Philadelphia. When asked what she’s drawn to when choosing a subject to photograph, Strauss, a former professional babysitter who vaulted to art-world fame with an entry at the Whitney Biennial in 2006, says, “A real strength and pride is of great importance. I’ve never been able to articulate what that really means, even though I am absolutely certain of it when I am taking the photograph.” The often-ravaged faces of America may not make anyone’s hot list, but still have a glory of their own, making a visit via Strauss’ lens strangely exhilarating and utterly unforgettable.

When Art Basel was imported to Miami Beach from Switzerland in 2002, the annual visual arts fair raised the profile of Miami’s already thriving creative community. But now that Basel is booming, and has become a lucrative international feeding frenzy for collectors, some of the locals are feeling left behind. What’s next for them, and for Basel?

Oh, c‘mon, all ye faithful. It’s time to deck more than the halls. See full gallery. Photography: Danielle Levitt. Styling: Bryan Levandowski.

Wendy and Lucy is many things: buddy picture, social critique and road movie deconstruction all in one. It might also be the most subtly moving picture of the season. Michelle Williams stars as Wendy, an earnest gamine who, along with her dog Lucy, travels from Indiana to Alaska in search of lucrative work at a fish cannery. Things go awry, however, when her car breaks down in a small-town Oregon parking lot, signaling the first in a series of calamities that challenge both Wendy’s moral fiber and her pocketbook. She is arrested for shoplifting, her dog goes missing and her car proves beyond repair, leaving her stranded and almost penniless.

The Knux, Remind Me in 3 Days... (Interscope) - With 10 years of bling under their belts, brothers Krispy Kream and Al Millio fled their Katrina-ravaged Big Easy for a fresh milieu in the Hollywood Hills. And it shows: The lyrical drive of their debut album is now bedecked in club-crazed, West Coast extravagance. Tracks shimmy from remix-friendly singles like “Cappuccino” and “Powder Room” to intense guitar-jams in “Bang! Bang!” and “Daddy’s Little Girl.” Although the duo is routinely slammed for rehashing Outkast beats from back in the early noughties, Remind me in 3 Days... is an astute hybrid of fiery, clap-your-hands punk rap and garage hop. -- Eiseley Tauginas