Short shorts, 2/16.

The stream of reviews from the Berlinale will pick up again, but it's high time to check up on the world outside Potsdamer Platz. If only briefly. Before getting real, though, you might be interested in knowing how three different sets of critics are scoring the Competition offerings so far.

• Screen International is not only presenting a review or two a day, it's also asked nine critics, most of them European, plus one American and one Israeli, to score the films. A few of those critics seem to have disappeared or are opting for screenings in parallel sections. So the margin for error here is considerable. At any rate, the top three so far seem to be Sophie Scholl, The Hidden Blade and The Late Mitterand.

• The Berliner Zeitung is polling three of its own critics and three more locals. Paradise Now leads. (Hotel Rwanda's scoring well, too, but it's not competing.)

• Der Tagesspiegel is checking up with six of Germany's top critics. I consider this the most interesting of the three polls, so it's doubly interesting that, so far, Ghosts leads far and away.

Which brings me to a bit of festival coverage from elsewhere:

• Filmbrain and I may disagree about Ghosts, this morning's quick between-screening topic of conversation, but rarely have I met anyone who's not only got such an encyclopedic knowledge of cinema but also the depth, intelligence and taste to know how to apply it. If you ever get the chance to chat over a cup of coffee (or two) with Filmbrain, grab it and remind yourself to shut up now and then and listen. His Berlinale Diary: 1, 2 and 3.

• IndieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez sees the awards handed out for the short films.

• Jody K Biehl interviews Paul Rusesabagina for Spiegel Online.

• An Italian take on the festival from Cesare Balbo in L'espresso.

• A few quick notes from David Lowery.

Of course, the Berlinale's not the only festival underway; there's also the 28th Portland International Film Festival running through February 26. ME Russell offers a handy (and highly amusing) guide to audience etiquette: "Mr. Do and Mr. Don't go to PIFF."

Hollywood Bitchslap's Scott Weinberg is already interviewing directors with films screening at SXSW next month.

Village Voice film editor Dennis Lim looks back on Rotterdam. Also, more Germans: J Hoberman on Downfall and Edward Crouse on Schultze Gets the Blues.

George Fasel's been filing from the "Film Comment Selects" series.

Kamera's Elke de Wit reports from last month's fest in Trieste.

Doug Cummings on The House is Black.

Another Reverse Shot trio turns in its reviews for indieWIRE: Turtles Can Fly.

Terri Sutton and Rob Nelson look back to porn in the 70s for the City Pages. More from Laura Kipnis in Slate.

NP Thompson's short wintertime takes.

A rave for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black from Namrata Joshi in Outlook India.

Richard Corliss's fine piece in Time on Anna May Wong dates back to January, but I've only just caught sight of it now.

New at Koreanfilm.org: Perto Bertolin on Yu Ha's Once Upon a Time in High School: Spirit of Jeet Kune Do, Kyu Hyun Kim on Choi Dong-hun's caper film The Big Swindle, and via the site, Choi Heup for the Chosun Ilbo: "The death of a Japanese film collector could yield vital clues to the whereabouts of a surviving copy of director Na Un-gyu's classic 1926 film Arirang, believed lost in the Korean War."

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Max Goldberg recommends The Take.

Jason Kottke asks David Bernal about that VW/Gene Kelly commercial. Via Greg Allen.

January Magazine presents a special 75th anniversary tribute to Dashiell Hammett and his novel, The Maltese Falcon.

Joshua Adams in Flak on Arthur Miller.

The New York Post's Paul Tharp reports that Elvis Mitchell is now scouting for talent in NYC for Columbia. The cinetrix points to more, much more from Jake Brooks in the New York Observer.

By now, you'll have seen the New York Times's whopping Oscar package.

Oh, and the Baftas.

Online browsing tip. Egyptian movie posters. Via Bitter Cinema.

Posted by dwhudson at February 16, 2005 3:40 PM