Shorts, 2/7.

Issue 55 of the Danish Film Institute's Film "a must for von Trier fanatics," notes David Bordwell, "with lots on The Boss of It All. I also have an essay in it (pp. 16-19)." Do download the PDF.

For Slate, Jim Lewis pinpoints the moment Factory Girl "suddenly goes from being merely very bad to being truly revolting," the moment he realized "that I wasn't watching a film about Andy and Edie at all; I was watching an allegory of the Evil Fag, who battles with the Good Man for the soul of the Lost Girl." More from Eric Kohn in the New York Press.

Rob Nelson talks with Rory Kennedy about Ghosts of Abu Ghraib for the City Pages.

"It's strangely fitting that Woody Allen's Annie Hall, a thoroughly postmodern romantic comedy, would inspire an entire movie about a young man obsessed with Annie Hall," writes Matt Zoller Seitz in the New York Times. "Titled Burning Annie, the film is a soup-to-nuts homage that makes references not just to the original's story, characters and tone, but also to specific jokes and shots, including a straight-into-the-camera narration." More from Nathan Lee in the Voice.

Curt Holman:

In the first decade of the new millennia, fan films have grown exponentially in quantity and improved significantly in quality and ambition. When "real" filmmakers downplay original ideas for obsessive homages like Grindhouse and fans dare to stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood product, the distinctions between professional and amateur films grow increasingly blurry. Fan films tend to be scruffy works replete with inside jokes, but they're unquestionably labors of love, and they're available for free. So far.

Also in the new "Film Issue" of the New York Press: Eric Kohn on the evolution of Sundance, Kari Milchman on "The Art of the Trailer," Leonard Jacobs talks with Kirby Dick about This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Adario Strange riffs on Grindhouse, Joe Pompeo on Ennio Morricone and a batch of DVD recommendations.

At Koreanfilm.org, Adam Hartzell picks out the highs and lows of the omnibus human rights film If You Were Me 3.

Peter Smith: "Since we already did a career-spanning interview with [John] Waters in 2004, we decided to try something a little different this time, and convinced the legendary director to answer your questions. The results are below. Don't say Nerve.com never did anything for the people." Related: Natasha Theobald listens to A Date with John Waters for Hollywood Bitchslap and, at the AV Club, Scott Gordon switches Waters's iPod to "Shuffle."

Speaking of the AV Club, they do something similar - readers' questions - with Sarah Silverman. These questions, though, are all about love and sex.

The Talented Mr Ripley and Cold Mountain, notes Dennis Harvey in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, "were ambitious, accomplished, large-scale period pieces. Breaking and Entering is just, well, a yuppie relationship drama, really." More from Sean Burns in the Philadelphia Weekly.

At PopMatters, Farisa Khalid's "Guide to Indian Movie Stars - Part 1: Sex Goddesses."

"Fifteen geek movies to see before you die." As chosen by the Houston Chronicle's Dwight Silverman. Via Jeffrey M Anderson at Cinematical.

Online viewing tip. A Grindhouse preview at Yahoo! Movies. Via Brendon Connelly.

Posted by dwhudson at February 7, 2007 4:18 PM