Shorts, 12/12.

Somehow, Matt Dentler managed to not only survive Harry Knowles's 7th Butt-Numb-A-Thon but also introduce one of the films and blog all the way, pix included. Highlights seem to have been "a beautiful print of Richard Brooks's 1966 western, The Professionals" and V for Vendetta, "scheduled to screen at the Berlin Film Festival in February." David Lowery was there, too, and would definitely agree.

Aaron Hillis capped off his weekend by taking in the "Best/Worst Films of 2005" panel: Glenn Kenny, Stephen Holden, Thelma Adams and Armond White, "whose illogical and occasionally hypocritical musings made this trek to the Upper West Side worth every stinky subway minute." Update: The Reeler turns in a full report: "And really, if you were dropping by for a steel-cage match, you had to know White would be your go-to guy. For whatever reason, the brittle, contrarian bitchiness that stifles his columns resurfaced Sunday as optimism - and you cannot say that it was there in the Press the whole time."

For the New Yorker, Caitlin Flanagan turns the making of Mary Poppins into a sweeping epic: the spectacular 1964 premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the devastated writer, PL Travers, the rise of the nanny in the US, the works.

Doug Ireland responds to David Leavitt's recent piece in Slate: "Many of the most interesting gay films are being made on a shoestring by young, unknown directors - and get their biggest audiences thanks to those gay film festivals. Leavitt should frequent such festivals a bit more before issuing idiotic generalities suggesting that gay filmmakers and scenarists can't rise above clichés."

David M Halbfinger: "A continent removed from the scrutiny of scarred New Yorkers, Oliver Stone's film about 9/11 rescue workers is deep into its second month of principal photography. And crew members working round the clock are dressing one of the most sensitive movie sets imaginable." Related, and via Movie City News, Desson Thompson in the Washington Post: "The sudden flurry of studio pictures on this topic comes in part from the time it takes to pull together major productions (about two to five years) but perhaps also from a general consensus in Hollywood that the nation's mourning period is over."

Also in the New York Times: Jessica Seigel on The Chronicles of Narnia: "One side dismisses the hidden Jesus figure as silly or trivial, while the other insists the lion is Jesus in a story meant to proselytize. They're both wrong." And Sharon Waxman tells the story of the Paramount-DreamWorks deal.

For Anthony Kaufman, The Power of Nightmares "is arguably the most important movie of the year."

Chuck Tryon sorts through his initial thoughts on Syriana.

Roger Ebert interviews Ang Lee for the Chicago Sun-Times. Via MCN.

At Koreanfilm.org, Tom Giammarco looks back at "Korea's first science fiction animation," Golden Iron Man (1968).

More King Kong:

• Ryan Stewart at Cinematical: "Peter Jackson shows himself to be at once a peerless conjurer of cinematic dreams and a born publicity man who knows how to oil the tracks before his show rolls into town."

• Slant's Jeremiah Kipp: "To attempt to fix something that isn't broken in the first place is a fool's errand. Jackson, who proved long before his astonishing Lord of the Rings that he is one of the master fantasists of contemporary cinema, is no fool; but his very love and nostalgia for this beast is what kills the movie."

• Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times: "A movie about the movies, and specifically an exploitation picture about exploitation pictures, Jackson's Kong is also a witty comment on the darkness at the heart of adventure stories, a bazillion-dollar spectacle that reserves the right to question the morality of spectacles, and, mostly, a tender love story about a melancholy girl and her tragically misunderstood monkey."

• Clive DL Wynne in the New York Times: "What is it about watching young women being ravished by oversized middle-aged gorillas that presses so many buttons...?"

• The Observer's Philip French reviews both Kong and Narnia. Also: Gaby Wood profiles Jack Black, as does Sammy Richman in the Independent.

A quick note for those in the San Francisco Bay Area: Aristide and the Endless Revolution's at the Roxie.

Online browsing tip. Film London's Match Point movie map. Via The Filter.

Online listening tips. Tune into DVD Talk Radio to listen to Joss Whedon talk about the Serenity DVD, Firefly and Buffy's future and to Leonard Matlin talking about the next round of "Walt Disney Treasures Collection" releases, Miyazaki and Song of the South.

Online viewing tip #1. Beddazled! presents the trailer for Queen of Blood, with Dennis Hopper.

Online viewing tip #2. The Colbert Report recommends Brokeback Mountain. Via Salon's "Video Dog."

Posted by dwhudson at December 12, 2005 7:08 AM