Shorts, 5/5.

Antony Beevor, author of bestselling histories such as Berlin: The Downfall 1945 and Stalingrad, has another one coming out next week in the UK, The Mystery of Olga Chekhova. In the Guardian, he offers a fascinating preview, though he doesn't much address the question tucked under the title on the book cover, "Was Hitler's favourite actress a Russian spy?" For more on that, we'll have to buy the book, but there's still plenty here. The bulk of the piece addresses her illustrious family background and the misery of her marriage; things take off when she flees a revolution-ravaged Moscow for Berlin and bumps into producer Erich Pommer and director FW Murnau. If your interest is piqued and you want to look her up for more, you'll find more results for "Olga Tschechowa"; here's her IMDb entry.

Also in the Guardian: Judith Mackrell asks eight British ballet professionals how well they think Robert Altman captured their world in The Company; the score is not good, unfortunately.

Anthony Kaufman argues that for Tribeca, "the films are merely a means to an end." That's his blog; in a story for indieWIRE, Kaufman wonders if Cannes will grant one or more filmmakers a higher profile this year.

Also in iW, Eugene Hernandez rounds up a dozen or so views of "film community insiders" on the question of ethnic diversity in the industry. Meanwhile, on his blog (keeping up with these prolific iW people is going to be tricky!), he says he "couldn't be more excited" about the launch of Defamer, which is to LA what Gawker is to NYC. It's got a great tagline: "LA is the world's cultural capital. Defamer is the gossip rag it serves." Today: A FAQ on the strike that might be the unhappy Hollywood ending to the current negotiations between the Writers Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Stephen Holden catches Blind Flight at the festival and is naturally reminded of the images of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by US soldiers. The gist of his notebook entry, though, is that the features in competition lend Tribeca a seriousness he assumes it's seeking. Holden also reviews Superstar in a Housedress and Randy Kennedy tells the story behind So This is New York. Also in the New York Times and still Tribeca-related, Kenneth Chang reports on the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's efforts to help realize a film based on the life of Hedy Lamarr. That's one biopic that's long, long overdue.

Bryan Walsh pans Tsai Ming-liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn and praises Ann Hui's Goddess of Mercy in Time Asia.

Good heavens. J Hoberman: "As crass as it is visionary, Godzilla belongs with - and might well trump - the art films Hiroshima Mon Amour and Dr. Strangelove as a daring attempt to fashion a terrible poetry from the mind-melting horror of atomic warfare." (More from Dennis Harvey in the San Francisco Bay Guardian.) Hoberman then dumps on Envy but calls Craig Highberger's Superstar in a Housedress "a fabulously fond and entertaining tribute to the quick-witted Lower East Side kid," Jackie Curtis.

Also in the Voice, Dennis Lim on A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake and Super Size Me; David Ng on The Mudge Boy; Michael Atkinson on Oasis; Ed Halter's brief chat with Ray Harryhausen; and Elliot Stein's got a terrific piece previewing "Stranger on the Prowl: The Films of Joseph Losey," May 7 through 31 at the Walter Reade or just maybe on a DVD player near you.

As for Armond White, he's disappointed that neither Godsend nor Guy Maddin's career live up to their initial promise. Fellow New York Press critic Matt Zoller Seitz finds Coffee and Cigarettes "thin... Jarmusch fans won't care, though." True. Meanwhile, Alejandro Agresti's Valentin is "no less wonderful for being familiar."

Today's Morgan Spurlock interview is conducted by Scott Lamb for Salon. Sidebar: Weighing the nutritional value of lunchtime favorites.

"This article in Reuter's today, about all the chain retailers thrilled to be asked to spend thousands of dollars to replicate their stores for a mock up of JFK airport built in southern California on the chance that they'll get some face time in the movie, gave Cinecultist a fright."

Steve Gallagher points to Fortissimo's official description of Wong Kar-Wai's 2046.

Reading Doug Cummings's excellent entry on The Bride of Frankenstein, it strikes me that the problem with the Alien "Quadrilogy" is that the Creature becomes a Monster. The evolution began with Aliens and might have been pulled off in another sequel or two, but instead, it all went horribly awry. At any rate, Doug also points to one helluvan online viewing tip: The trailers and movie clips at Turner Classic Movies.

Posted by dwhudson at May 5, 2004 1:45 PM