An egotistical young writer is raked over the coals in Alex Ross Perry's uncompromising and hilarious Valentine to writing and the New York literature scene. Jason Schwartzman plays Philip, an obnoxious novelist who is riddled with insecurities and totally, completely selfish.

After refusing to promote his second book on principle (he has been told the New York Times will publish a negative review), he accepts an offer from one of his literary heroes (Jonathan Pryce, perhaps basing his performance on Philip Roth) to escape the city for a country retreat and some uninterrupted navel-gazing.

So Philip leaves behind his long-suffering girlfriend (Elizabeth Moss) in typical Philip-style ("I hope this will be good for us," he explains, "... but especially for me") but he's just as miserable upstate, especially when his dwindling finances force him to take a job at a local college. A deadpan look at creative egotism (one reviewer described it as "a portrait of the artist as an insufferable jerk"), you will wince and laugh at Philip's profound awfulness. Great stuff.

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