Shorts, 1/4.

"Philippe Garrel's silent film Le R�v�lateur is a fractured and elliptical, but instinctive, elemental, and haunting rumination on the process of awakening, maturation, psychological trauma, and transformation of childhood memory," writes acquarello.

"Intimate Lighting dwells entirely within the quotidian," writes Steven Shaviro, "a time that is ordinary rather than extraordinary, overtly uneventful, and yet filled with the microscopic actions and passions and happenings that fill and consume our lives, often without our even noticing."

Chris Cagle considers Life of Emile Zola and adds, "I happen to think more work needs to be done on prestige films, to understand studios' specific interests in showing themselves for a community of makers as well as for a public of consumers."

Matthew Sorrento talks with John Waters about This Filthy World for Film Threat.

At IFC News, Aaron Hillis talks with Karen Moncrieff about The Dead Girl.

The AV Club's Scott Tobias talks with Edward Norton about The Painted Veil.

Rob Nelson talks with James Longley about Iraq in Fragments.

Also in the Voice, Jim Ridley on Claude Chabrol's Comedy of Power, Nathan Lee on Mike Judge's Idiocracy and Greg Tate watches New York say goodbye to James Brown.

"There were some good movies in 2006 - perhaps not as many as in other years - but the one that may linger longest is both modest to the point of ephemera and already a bit past its political moment," writes David Fellerath. "I speak of Old Joy, Kelly Reichardt's oddly titled naturalistic marvel that emerged from last January's Sundance as a critics' favorite, despite being buried in an out-of-competition program and despite lacking major stars and any dramatic event more stirring than the sight of one man massaging another's shoulders."

Also in the Independent Weekly: Zack Smith on Perfume. More from Eric Kohn at the Reeler and Cindy Fuchs in the Philadelphia City Paper.

Also in the PCP, Sam Adams meets Alfonso Cuar�n to talk about his latest, and then writes: "There's so much good in Children of Men it's a shame it doesn't fit together better.... It's clear that Cuar�n cares passionately about the movie's subjects, but it feels as if he's simply stocked his future world with present-day concerns without linking them up in any meaningful or, more importantly, thought-provoking way. It's as if the world has been attacked by a pack of raging metaphors."

Related: "[S]ome folks have already tagged Children of Men as 'a disaster movie for the NPR set,' but I prefer to think of it as Half Nelson, with tank battles," writes Sean Burns in the Philadelphia Weekly. Meanwhile, at Bright Lights After Dark, Alan Vanneman and C Jerry Kutner disagree on this one.

"[Eric] Schaeffer - like most independent filmmakers - depends on the kindness of strangers to continue his directing career, particularly because he has an unbroken string of box-office failures to his name." A profile by Angela Ashman.

Also in the LA Weekly, Steven Mikulan on Absolute Wilson; Tim Grierson meets the director and subject: "Like David Lynch or the recently deceased Robert Altman, [Robert] Wilson won't dissect his work and, quite frankly, I'm not convinced even he fully understands it - or that he wants to."

Rob Davis has a terrific, wide-ranging talk with Carlos Reygadas. The occasion, of course, is Battle in Heaven, but they wander onto other things as well.

Examining the list of documentary features eligible in the running for an Oscar, Charles Lyons finds "a shift toward gritty, guerrilla filmmaking, a willingness to tackle controversial subjects, no matter the obstacles."

Also in the New York Times:

• "I Love You, a bleak drama from the Croatian writer and director Dalibor Matanic, is an unusually perceptive scrutiny of absence and emptiness," writes Jeannette Catsoulis.

• "It could be argued that Apocalypto dehumanizes Native Americans, turning their ancestors into savage monsters, but I think it does the opposite," opines Craig Childs.

• Ginia Bellafante: "Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens... reminds us how profoundly American culture values branding, not only from software packagers and congressional candidates but also from artists high and low."

• Julie Bosman: "Tillie Olsen, whose short stories, books and essays lent a heartfelt voice to the struggles of women and working-class people, died on Monday in Oakland, Calif. She was 94." More from Mark Krupnick in the Guardian.

Scarlet Cheng profiles Zhang Yimou for the Los Angeles Times. Also: Jay A Fernandez previews a screenplay: "With echoes of Red Eye and the upcoming remake of The Hitcher, Curve's premise springs at least partially from an old Oprah show that always stuck in [writer Kimberly Lofstrom] Johnson's mind in which an expert advised women who are being threatened against allowing themselves to be taken to a 'second location.' So Johnson's heroine instead speeds off an embankment, and the rest of the script details her efforts to survive the terror of being trapped upside down in the car with her assailant on the loose."

Max Goldberg at SF360: "Although Tom Stern's smoldered cinematography unquestionably links the two films, it's quickly apparent that Letters from Iwo Jima is much more of a linear, traditional combat film than its predecessor, and, as has been noted by most critics, this is generally to the benefit of the new film."

"Prior to Fuck, Steve Anderson directed The Big Empty (2003), an existential shaggy dog story concerned with the cohabitation of ordinariness with exotic dreams," writes Ray Young at Flickhead. "In both films he seems intrigued by the subtle prods of fate which occasionally disrupt the everyday routine."

Recently at Slant: Nick Schager on Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story and Alpha Dog; Ed Gonzalez on Stomp the Yard and Happily N'Ever After; and Keith Uhlich on Merry-Go-Round.

"[W]hat on earth is Ewan McGregor doing in this drippy little movie about Beatrix Potter? wonders Harriet Lane in the Guardian. "I really must ask him, if he ever shows up." Naturally, he does. Related: The Economist on "the businesswoman and environmentalist who created Peter Rabbit."

Mike at Bad Lit on The Encyclopedia of Underground Movies: "As an 'encyclopedia,' Phil Hall's entertaining book falls way short. As an 'introduction' to the world of underground filmmaking, it's a fun read."

"When did books suddenly become more cinematic than cinema?" asks Nick Rombes.

What's with all the 3quels coming up next year, wonders Time's Richard Corliss.

Gabriel Snyder explains in Slate why filmmakers sometimes use pseudonyms, even if they're quite happy with the work they've done.

This year, I'd like to add an occasional feature to these "Shorts": non-film-related pointers, or at least not immediately related, though connections wouldn't be hard to draw. At any rate: Bruce Sterling, currently discussing the State of the World 2007, points to Ernest Lilley's interview with Cory Doctorow for the SFRevu.

Online debut tip. The International Journal of Zizek Studies, Vol One, Number One. Via wood s lot.

Online snickering tip. A cartoon from Peet Gelderblom.

Online viewing tip. Having overcome technical difficulties experienced in the fall, the great DVblog is back up.

Online viewing tips, round 1. Since it's not a year-in-review sort of list, it's best placed here, but Dan Hill's "Top 12 Appearances by Bands in Films" at City of Sound is terrifically enjoyable. Via Fimoculous.

Online viewing tips, round 2. "10 kick ass opening credit sequences" at laboratory 101, via Jason Kottke.

Online viewing tips, round 3. "The Best of SquiggleBooth."

Posted by dwhudson at January 4, 2007 5:07 PM