Shorts, 4/1.

"Primer was the most exciting first feature by a US director at [Sundance] since Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko in 2001," writes Amy Taubin in her first "Art & Industry" column for Film Comment. "Heady is the word for the film, which doesn't yield its narrative in a single viewing. But even more compelling than the time-warped storyline is the way, visually, every shot has the surprise and intensity of a new idea." What follows is an interview with the filmmaker, Shane Carruth, 31, and evidently, very, very sharp.

Primer

Rouge updates: Yvette Biro's piece on Tsai Ming-liang now includes a discussion of Goodbye Dragon Inn; added to the Raúl Ruiz filmography: Palomita Blanca (a brief interview with Ruiz) and Responso (Adrian Martin). And there's a new book out: Raúl Ruiz: Images of Passage.

Greg Allen and Gawker look back on An Evening with Sofia Coppola.

Sharon Waxman, who wrote just yesterday in the New York Times on Paramount Pictures' plans to cut the "formulaic, B-grade thrillers" and get "back in the business of big, glitzy movies," today has a piece on what's going on at the opposite end of the scale: "A New York-based company is trying to take art-house movies to small cities around the country by relying on digital projection. The company, Emerging Pictures, has sent computer hard drives to theaters in five cities to coincide with the opening on April 1 of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC."

Scott Macaulay rounds up the latest on Charlie Kaufman's adaptation of Philip K Dick's A Scanner Darkly, currently with Richard Linklater attached to direct and incorporating Waking Life-style animation.

Sean Nelson may or may not have originally set out to review Hellboy, but he only gets around to the film itself in what's turned out to be a solid case: "Why Hollywood Can't Make Good Superhero Movies." As for Hellboy, you might turn to John Patterson's review in the LA Weekly

Plasticians discuss Shakuntala Santhiran's piece in Focus Asia on a potential revival of the Thai film industry.

Filmbrain is moderately interested in catching Shunji Iwai's Hana and Alice, but he was rattled to the bone by Im Sang-Soo's A Good Lawyer's Wife.

Two takes at Metaphilm on Being John Malkovich: Dan Hobart (related: Out of Focus and the Plasticians on MTV's I Want a Famous Face) and Tom C Smith (related: a history of philosophy).

And the Droogies go to... Kill Bill, Uma Thurman and it's a tie for Best Actor.

Dan Glaister reports in the Guardian on duelling Napoleans.

"I know they call The Ten Commandments The Sexodus ... But my ministry was making religious movies and getting more people to read the Bible than anyone else ever has." That's Cecil B. DeMille, quoted by way of Donald Curtis in Jon Mooallem's backgrounder in Salon on the traditional Easter favorite.

There's a nice bit in that one, too, comparing DeMille and Mel Gibson as believers and marketeers; Rashomon rounds up reactions to The Passion of the Christ outside the US (e.g., the West Bank); and points to Patriot Boy's clever letter to Wal-Mart congratulating execs for their decision to refuse to stock Robert Greenwald's Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War, even as they continue to carry Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will.

The Cinecultist: "Three days in and this challenge - to watch a Made For TV movie every day this week - is starting to get a little brutal."

Posted by dwhudson at April 1, 2004 7:02 AM