Shorts, 8/16.

Sean Nelson in The Stranger on The Hire: "These ads were originally produced for Internet download, but have since turned up on DVD, and now, on the big screen. And like all advertising, they constitute a crime against art - not because they aren't artfully made, but because they are."

Tagliner Stephen is a leeetle upset with Kevin Smith at the moment.

Shashi Tharoor: "Arnold Schwarzenegger has farther to go than he thinks. He may become governor of California, but he can't become God. That privilege is reserved for the Indian movie-star-turned-politician N. T. Rama Rao, who played so many mythological heroes in so many hit films that fans built a temple to him." Also in the New York Times: Elvis Mitchell on Johnny Guitar, Dave Kehr's chat with Hope Davis and Peter M. Nichols on that one last door of opportunity DVD opens for directors. In this particular case, Rob Marshall could nail the colors and add a song cut from the theatrical version of Chicago.

Movie City News has made a discovery it "salutes": The Los Angeles Times has taken Manohla Dargis's column out from behind the subscriber-only firewall. Topics this week: Terry Gilliam's Brazil (pretty far down on Manohla's list), film criticism ("almost by definition subjective"), foreign flicks (she makes a DVD wishlist that concludes, "And then I'd try to watch the collected Takashi Miike without throwing up"), news that Warren Beatty's Reds will probably be coming out on DVD next year, her favorite shots of all time ("The heartbreaking shot of the donkey surrounded by trees as if surrounded by an enormous leafy halo in Au hasard Balthazar is my current favorite - just thinking about it makes me happy") and a discussion of where people really see movies these days, in the theater or at home. So, you know, I'm glad, too, we can read her again. What is the LAT thinking, charging $4.95/month or $39.95/year for access to Calendarlive? MCN points to Mark Glaser's report in the Online Journalism Review.

Also via MCN: When the Oscar went to Danis Tanovic for No Man's Land in 2002, it meant a lot for the fledgling Bosnian film industry. And Catherine Seipp takes in the expanded TV-version of A Decade Under the Influence, the doc on films of the 70s premiering on IFC on August 20 (the DVD release, by the way, follows soon after The Kid Stays in the Picture, out any moment now) and DVD extra Go Inside: Animal House.

At the main site, we had big, hefty linkage to Bright Lights Film Journal yesterday, but it should be mentioned here as well that the August issue is out! While we're on journals, don't miss the Summer issue of Jump Cut, either.

In the Guardian:

Emma Brockes talks with Richard Attenborough, "Dickie to most, Lord A to some," on the occasion of the National Film Theatre's 80th birthday tribute. Lord A is also the subject of the second article from the September issue of Sight & Sound available online.

John Patterson's just wild about Rachel Weisz: "I think Weisz is overdue for some rapid-fire comedy (let's see how her role in the Ben Stiller/Jack Black comedy Envy pans out), and I think she and the Coen brothers might find they have things in common. Plus I think she should go heavy and play Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxembourg, but that's just my idle fantasy." Hm!

Suzie Mackenzie meets Charlotte Rampling. Don't just breeze over this one. This is not your run-of-the-mill press junket fodder and, especially if you admire Under the Sand, you'll be glad I made you think twice before clicking on.

Derek Malcolm on the "astonishing director," Miklos Jancso.

Andrew Osborn on the opening of an archive that will lead to an exhibition: "Before Ingmar Became Bergman."

Xan Brooks talks to Mike Hodges: "When his previous picture - 1999's Croupier - died a quick, lonely death at the box office, he assumed his career was over... Then something strange occurred. Croupier was rescued in the US, opening on 17 screens to rave reviews before expanding to a healthy 150 cinemas."

Molly Haskell on "feminist icon" Katharine Hepburn.

At CNET: Big raid on illegal DVD peddlers in Malaysia; and Disney knocks its own trailers off non-Disney Web sites.

Online viewing tip. It's a good thing this is the weekend, because this one's not exactly work-safe. At Punchbaby, a nice little ad for something called the Blue Planet Channel which... may never have existed in the first place?

Posted by dwhudson at August 16, 2003 10:14 AM