Shorts, 5/1.

For six weeks, from May 5 through June 15, Film Forum will be presenting its B Noir series; even if you're nowhere near New York, Slant's guide is a great browse for future-viewing list-making.

Richard Armstrong presents a few excerpts from Irene Dobson's papers at Flickhead: "I think the following observations, written at various times between 1975 and 1987, capture something of her unique sensibility and presence as a moviegoer."

Michael Wilson in Artforum's Diary: "A soundtrack of birdsong faded out and, after a burst of dissonant song, [Yoko Ono] announced: "The vase has been broken into 450 pieces. Take one home and promise to think of Nam June [Paik]." She took out her knitting (I'm not making this up), and the crowd began to mass around her to claim their (signed) fragments before filtering out into the night."

"There is no question for me about the Electra complex," Isabella Rossellini tells the Guardian's Dan Halpern. "You know, exaggerated love of the father - I have it, or some version. I loved my mother, but I was my dad's girl."

Also in the Guardian, two lists: Pasolini's Salò tops a list of the ten most controversial movies of all time, a list that seems to come from Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life and is briefly surveyed here by Paul Lewis. And Jason Solomons picks the ten movies most likely to rake it in this summer in the UK.

Newsweek's list, geared to the US market, of course, not only goes to 15, it's also accompanied by another list of runners-up and quick chats with Tom Hanks, Al Gore, Anne Hathaway, Vince Vaughn and Paul Rudd.

Another newsweekly, another list. Among Time's 100 "People Who Shape Our World," besides all those "Scientists & Thinkers," "Leaders & Revolutionaries," "Heroes & Pioneers" (Angelina Jolie?) and "Builders & Titans" are "Artists & Entertainers" such as George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ang Lee, Jeff Skoll, Will Smith, Meryl Streeo, Reese Witherspoon - and Stephen Colbert.

"[T]here is no need to lament the death of the Western if you cultivate an intelligent exploration of issues arising from a life in the West in the hundred years or so since the Western genre discreetly closed its books," writes David Thomson, arguing in the Independent that the genre's DNA can currently be detected in movies that downplay their origins. Also: Thomson remembers Alida Valli.

Up-n-coming:

• Sean Penn's Into the Wild with Catherine Keener and Vince Vaughn.

• At Twitch, Todd launches a campaign: "There's enough lead time with Tokyo Zombie that if we start writing in now there's a fighting chance that we may be able to sway their decision on whether or not subtitles should be included, so let's get writing." Also, a trailer for Sprængfarlig Bombe, written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Tomas Villum Jensen.

• "Argento supposedly wanted to do Susperia with children. Drifting Classroom does it, and child endangerment is only the beginning of the mind jackhammer at work." Scott Green previews upcoming manga and anime titles at AICN.

• Grady Hendrix: "More details leaking out about the rumored Johnnie To/Ringo Lam/Tsui Hark 'jigsaw' project."

• Coudal Partners finds a teaser for Strangers With Candy.

• Cinematical's Martha Fischer finds one for Casino Royale (in French), but get this: Erik Davis points to the second trailer for Marie-Antoinette. The third link's in English and the American accents are quite a jolt, but let's see; they may be part of Sofia Coppola's overall take on the story.

At Hollywood Bitchslap, Abhishek Bandekar talks with Kunal Kapoor about Rang De Basanti.

For the Observer, Simon Garfield interviews Ian McKellen: "I'm an eccentric English actor, and there's a lot of us around."

For Wired News, Jason Silverman talks with Daniel Clowes about Art School Confidential. Via Wiley Wiggins.

"Many of Chen [Kaige]'s admirers will roll their eyes at this high-flying departure (Zhang [Yimou] was ridiculed in some quarters for the florid [House of Flying] Daggers), but I found The Promise pretty hard to resist," writes New York's David Edelstein.

More on United 93: Sudhir Muralidhar in the American Prospect and Jason Whyte at Hollywood Bitchslap; Gabriel Shanks, Chuck Tryon and Steve Erickson; Anthony Kaufman notes conservatives' support; and the Boston Herald's Stephen Schaefer on the film's prospects (as well as those of Oliver Stone's World Trade Center).

At Not Coming to a Theater Near You: Marlee Tyree on The Gospel According to St Matthew and Jenny Jediny on The Case of the Grinning Cat.

E-flux has info on a unique screening in Kabul tomorrow.

A couple of biz pieces in the New York Times: Laura M Holson hears Joe Roth's version of the "Rise and Fall" of Revolution Studios; and Sharon Waxman: Starbucks is "seeking movies and books to promote in the hope of duplicating the success it has had with music."

At Twitch, Todd asks producer, screenwriter and critic Bey Logan ("a name every fan of Hong Kong film should know) what he's doing at the Weinstein Company.

John Adair picks the highlights of the first volume of the Masters of Russian Animation collection.

Online listening tip. The Austin Film Festival talks with screenwriter John August.

Posted by dwhudson at May 1, 2006 12:11 PM