Shorts, 5/28.

While actual lesbians continue to prowl the earth, the cultural, cinematic, and lifestyle acreage that could remotely be called "lesbian" has shrunk precipitously. It's time to return to the base, retrofit the foundation (as we say here in San Francisco earthquake country), and begin to imagine what a fresh, contemporary and dynamic "lesbian" identity might resemble, at least on screen.

Also in the Guardian Leo Benedictus checks up on former child stars; and even though he's losing his eyesight, Alex Gibbons still loves the movies anyway.

Rebecca Traister reports that Michael Moore interviewed Nicholas Berg for Fahrenheit 9/11 but that none of the 20 minutes of footage have wound up in the final cut. Also in Salon: "Does anyone really care about any of the upcoming summer blockbusters?" asks Charles Taylor. It's a purely rhetorical question, of course, since we all know the answer. The point is to trace the many ways it's come to this.

Two via Roger Avary: YouthQuake Magazine is now online with features on Paul Thomas Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, James Duval and more; and Elvis Mitchell's interview with Mark Romanek.

Via Alternet, disturbing questions raised by Jason Vest after viewing Iraq - On the Brink, a documentary on what Americans are actually doing over there that aired in Australia well over a month before CBS's 60 Minutes II story on Abu Ghraib.

Also in the Boston Phoenix: Chris Fujiwara previews the "Peter Lorre: A Sinister Centennial" series at the Harvard Film Archive.

IndieWIRE's Brian Brooks previews the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival (June 11 - 24).

Poor Seattle Maggie. She caught the wrong movie at SIFF.

Via drew, news that David Mackenzie will direct a biopic of Nico.

Matt Langdon watches Disney's WWII-era propaganda.

Via Tagline, Austin Bunn's cover story in Wired on Pixar, and specifically, of course, on The Incredibles.

Any Jonathan Rosenbaum review of a Jim Jarmusch film needs reading. Coffee and Cigarettes, he writes, "is certainly less ambitious than Dead Man or Ghost Dog, though it's by no means less personal."

Via Ain't It Cool News Karey Kirkpatrick's interview with Karey Kirkpatrick. Both are the same guy, naturally, the screenwriter behind the upcoming version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Maqbool: George Thomas raves.

Rediff.com runs a brief excerpt from Dinesh Raheja and Jitendra Kothari's book, Indian Cinema: The Bollywood Saga.

For Kung Fu Cinema, Jean Lukitsh reports on Zhang Yimou's "triumphant appearance" in Boston on Wednesday night as he accepted the first Coolidge Award for indie filmmakers.

I think the last time we linked to Moviehole, actually a nifty place to scan headlines, it was to Paul Fischer's interview with Snoop Dogg. That would have been around the time of the release of Starsky and Hutch. So, in keeping with tradition: In Moviehole, Paul Fischer talks to Snoop Dogg about Soul Plane.

Via Greg Gilpatrick, FactCheck.org, which does just that on the steady stream of political ads coming from both parties.

Dan Whitcomb for Reuters on Rance, the supposed Hollywood celeb blogger: "Could he really be, as some believe, Owen Wilson, Ben Affleck, Jim Carrey or even George Clooney?" Via Defamer, naturally.

So we're all in agreement, then. Aaron and the cinetrix, and in subsequent comments, Cynthia and Filmbrain: Gwyneth Paltrow has no business even thinking about Marlene Dietrich, much less attempting to portray her.

Posted by dwhudson at May 28, 2004 9:12 AM