Shorts, 2/16.

"Artist William E Jones has made films about a pornstar (Finished), the Southern Californian Latino fans of Morrissey (Is It Really So Strange?) and the unlikely documentary and/or narrative moments within sex films (v.o.), among other hypnotic and subtle works," writes Bruce Hainley, introducing his interview for the new issue of Bidoun. "Through vivid photography, film, and video, as well as considered and considerable prose (see his website: www.williamejones.com), Jones brings to attention modes of being and behaving almost on the brink of obsolescence."

In There Will Be Blood, we watch Daniel Plainview "for the myth-history of capitalism, the invisible force whose logic 'speaks' his every action, subverts or destroys his every companion, dominates his environment by draining it dry ([Paul Thomas] Anderson claims he was thinking of Dracula when writing the screenplay), destroys a community by turning it into a city, and eventually leaves his body a withered husk, to flake and die like a leaf in wintertime," writes traxus4420 at culturemonkey. "'I don't like to explain myself.' The film's trappings often resemble the Gothic, the genre of secret histories, but it's all appearance; there is nothing to explain."

"[R]eading Oil! in 2008, one is constantly aware of how clever Anderson has been in mining the screenplay from the dense, deep rock of [Upton] Sinclair's novel," writes Mark Lawson. At first glance, you may think you've seen a dozen such pieces comparing the novel with Blood, but this one is primarily a solid backgrounder on Sinclair.

Also in the Guardian: Ryan Gilbey meets Chloë Sevigny and Damon Wise interviews Michel Gondry.

Andrew Gumbel talks with Selma Blair for the Independent.

Girish passes along a query from Christian Keathley, who's "interested in the often uncanny ways in which one film's diegesis trespasses onto another's. Here's an example..." Go read it; it is uncanny.

For the Los Angeles Times, Richard Schickel reviews Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood, a "deeply researched, well-written book..., portraying the tidal wave of change breaking dramatically against the sea wall of Hollywood tradition."

In the New York Times:

• "Jodhaa Akbar, a historical romance directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, is filmmaking on the grand scale of Cecil B DeMille, with romance, stirring battles, a cast of thousands and enough elephants and gold to sink the Titanic," writes Rachel Saltz.

• Charles McGrath dares us to consider "a heretical thought" by asking, "Is PBS Still Necessary?"

• Anita Gates offers a list of memorable Oscar Night moments.

For Stop Smiling, Andrea Gronvall talks with Martin McDonagh about In Bruges.

What does the triumph of Blu-ray over HD DVD actually mean, if anything? Sean Axmaker looks into it.

Online downloading tip #1. Arthur Magazine, Issue 28, via John Coulthart.

Online downloading tip #2. Giles Deleuze's Cinema 1: The Movement-Image and Cinema 2: The Time-Image, via wood s lot.

Posted by dwhudson at February 16, 2008 4:22 PM