Shorts 6/26.

"How far South Korean movies about the North-South division have evolved since The Spy (1997) and Shiri (1999) may be seen in the fact that the story of Over the Border, with only a few details changed, would make sense in almost any national context where illegal immigration and acculturation are serious social issues," writes Kyu Hyun Kim at Koreanfilm.org. "The greatest strength of TV producer An Pan-seok's debut film is its almost anthropological approach to the everyday lives of North Koreans and Northerner exiles in South Korea."

AICN's Moriarty has seen Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and calls it "one of the best summer entertainments I've seen in a while, and it manages to improve on the first film in every way. It's smart, it's funny, it plays out on an epic scale while still putting character first, and it builds to a conclusion that will have audiences twisting in agony as they have to wait for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End next summer." Which will have Keith Richards in there, as Mack confirms at Twitch, provided, of course, "that he lives long enough to film his part in the film. And why not. I bet he's like Mr Burns in that episode of The Simpsons and when he visits the Mayo Clinic he finds out that he has every disease known to man but they're all in perfect balance and keeping him alive." Meanwhile, Jeffrey Wells is having none of it. Same goes for Robert Cashill, who'll be watching A Scanner Darkly on July 7 instead.

Graham Fuller, who once applied for a job at Vogue, has a long piece on The Devil Wears Prada and the gradual mellowing of Anna Wintour. Also in the Observer, Mark Kermode on The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Paul Harris on the M Night Shyamalan brouhaha (more at Film Fatale) and Sean O'Hagan's interview with Neil Young.

There's a personal component to Chuck Tryon's take on Jesus Camp.

That Little Round-Headed Boy files an early entry for Thursday's Lana Turner blog-a-thon.

GreenCine's Craig Phillips: "The long delayed American release of Jean-Pierre Melville's haunting and brilliant Army of Shadows, restored and looking as fresh as it must have in the Sixties, could not have come at a better time for me personally."

Mack at Twitch points to a Shenzhen Daily talk with Luc Besson.

Richard Schickel in Time: "Click mostly wastes Sandler (along with [Christopher] Walken and [Kate] Beckinsale), and the Dickens cheat - it was all (ha-ha) a dream - is not improving with the years."

The latest title from the Edition Filmmuseum: Why should I buy a bed when all that I want is sleep? A chamber film with Robert Lax. Earlier: "Kubelka and Vertov.

Offline listening tip. The only place in the US where you'll be able to see Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint series in its entirety is the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the only time is now through September 17. Greg Allen's discovered an audio tour "available to visitors via cell phone. So if you dial 408-794-2844... whaddya know, it works. Here's a little directory to the ten audio segments. To heighten the effect, immerse yourself in a vat of petroleum jelly while you listen."

Online listening tip. Benoit Jacquot on the Leonard Lopate Show.

Vince Keenan on Lady Vengeance: "This is pulp storytelling for the 21st century."

Posted by cphillips at June 26, 2006 1:56 PM