Shorts, 3/27.

"Following the brilliant lead of Sachin, and inspired by the upcoming European football championship, I've embarked upon a Euro tourney of my own: dedicated to cinema." Pacze Moj launches a showdown to determine the European Champion.

Andy Horbal's Mirror/Stage is back. Time, too, for another round of occasional reminders on these ongoing goings on: Chris Cagle's "1947 Project" and Billy Stevenson's A Film Canon.

Rob Davis is watching Last Year at Marienbad over and over and over again.

Michael Guillén's attended John Beebe's recent seminar at the CG Jung Institute of San Francisco, where Guy Maddin's Heart of the World [more] and Jean Vigo's L'Atalante [more] were discussed.

For Twitch, Stefan talks with Kan Lume, writer-director of Dreams from the Third World. And Todd Brown's got a poster for Barbet Schroeder's adaptation of a story by Edogawa Rampo, Inju: The Beast in the Shadows.

"I haven't had occasion to ask director Richard Linklater whether an explicit agenda behind Slacker was to capture an Austin that was disappearing before his eyes, to get documentary proof of what he'd be telling newcomers that they missed," writes Spencer Parsons in FilmInFocus. "I doubt it, but I also think it's not for nothing that the film ends by throwing the camera off a cliff."

"Anthony Minghella was only 54 and might have had a quarter-century left to break new ground," writes David Edelstein. "His passing robs us of the movies he might have made and leaves behind a cautionary tale. It's not that he was forced to make crap. It's not that his movies were entirely mangled by big hairy paws. It's that an artist who could have set an example for gutsy personal filmmaking surrendered his autonomy - as so many others have done - in the name of someone (or shmomeone) else's ego."

Related: "Shekhar Kapur, the Indian-born helmer of movies such as Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age, will direct one of the last pieces of writing from the late Anthony Minghella, a segment of the urban ode "New York, I Love You." Steven Zeitchik has more in the Hollywood Reporter.

Acquarello: "A muted, yet provocative composition on the changing face of the labor movement - or more appropriately, its immobility - in Western Europe in the 1970s, Johan van der Keuken's Springtime: Three Portraits articulates the struggle of the working class under the protracted climate of an austere, stagnant global economy (stemming in part from the OPEC oil crisis) and industrial recession through first person testimonies and quotidian observations of society's increasingly fragile and economically vulnerable middle class."

"Quaint and slight, Hats Off revolves around Mimi Weddell, a 93-year-old model and actress (of stage and screen) whose boundless energy and indefatigable spirit are amazing... ly ho-hum," writes Nick Schager. More from Vadim Rizov in the Voice.

Also in in Slant, Ed Gonzalez: "Essentially a hit-or-miss affair, Backseat features a character who only communicates via text message, an expression of the filmmakers' frustration for the sublimation of human relations that feels amusing but also weird for a film that suggests Sideways filtered through a hipster scrim." More from Jim Ridley in the Voice.

"Hollywood is full of older masters who've been mentors to younger acolytes," writes Patrick Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times. "But [John] Hughes, 58, is the only one who's disappeared without a trace; he quit directing in 1991, moved back to Chicago in 1995 and has basically stayed out of sight ever since. 'He's our generation's JD Salinger,' says [Kevin] Smith, whose film Dogma shows its heroes, Jay and Silent Bob, on a pilgrimage to Shermer, Ill, a mythical town that only exists in Hughes' films. 'He touched a generation and then the dude checked out. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be doing what I do. Basically my stuff is just John Hughes films with four-letter words.'" Chris Barsanti comments.

"In the Electric Mist has not been a good experience for [Bertrand] Tavernier all round," reports Geoffrey Macnab. "A biggish-budget US film with a major star, adapted from a novel by his beloved crimewriter James Lee Burke, the movie is about a detective hunting a serial killer in America's deep south. For a French auteur who has always idolised US cinema, it has been a chastening experience.... Although he relished collaborating with actors such as John Goodman, Ned Beatty and Mary Steenburgen, he clearly disliked working with [Tommy Lee] Jones, though he will not be drawn any further."

Also in the Guardian:

• "Over the past 10 days, [On the Verge] has become notorious, not so much because of the material it contains but because of the reaction of police forces and local authorities to it. Made for less than £500, the film tells how a small but committed group of activists, smashEDO, are taking on the Brighton base of an international arms manufacturer and, in the process, their local constabulary." Steven Morris has more.

• "They have been dismissed as trite, sentimental and conservative, but Disney films may be more radical than they first appear," reports the Guardian. "A Cambridge academic this week hailed its cartoon stars as 'unsung heroes of the green lobby.'" Related: Seth Stevenson takes the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios and reports on his (and the kids') bafflement for Slate.

• Clint Eastwood is no longer California's park commissioner, having objected to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans for a "six-lane toll road through the San Onofre state beach," as Ewen MacAskill reports.

For Flickhead, Steve Fiorilla reviews Eric Nuzum's The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula: "Trivia footnotes keep pace with the author's semi-wild ride through ubiquitous vampire lore."

David O Russell's politics-n-romance comedy Nailed has three new cast members. Joining Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Biel are James Marsden, Catherine Keener and Tracy Morgan. The Hollywood Reporter's Gregg Goldstein has more.

More casting news from Variety's Michael Fleming: "Director Oliver Stone has set James Cromwell to play George Herbert Walker Bush and Ellen Burstyn to play former first lady Barbara Bush in W, a drama about the formative years of their son, President George W Bush."

"It may be premature to raise hopes, but 2008 could shape up as one of the best years ever in the short and erratic history of movies from English Canada," writes Martin Knelman in the Toronto Star. Via Movie City News.

"Looks Awesome." Via Wiley Wiggins, Pitchfork previews Björk's 3D video for "Wanderlust."

IndieWIRE interviews A Four Letter Word director Casper Andreas.

Alright, alright, the Fanboys story. Eric Kohn probably has the best briefing.

For ST VanAirsdale, Song Sung Blue "is the best documentary I've seen in 2008."

In the Voice, Aaron Hillis finds Meet the Browns "surprisingly half-decent." More from Armond White in the New York Press.

"Spanish scriptwriter Rafael Azcona, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film Belle Epoque starring Penélope Cruz, died Monday at the age of 81, Spanish media reported," reports the AFP. "Born on October 24, 1926 in the northern city of Logrono, Azcona is credited with helping to revive cinema in Spain after the country's 1936 - 39 civil war. He worked with most major Spanish filmmakers over the past five decades and wrote nearly 100 screenplays which were known for their social criticism and dark humor."

"Sad to report this morning the sudden passing of fellow Cineaste associate Paul Arthur, whose articles on documentary filmmaking were without peer." Robert Cashill.

Biz roundup:

• "[N]ow is the time when independents have the real opportunity to win over audiences," argues Michelle Meek in the Independent. "As Hollywood falters, online movie sites are more open to independent and off-beat content. And eager audiences await. Why not grab the views when you can?" A guide to online distributors follows. Related: Cynthia Close, executive director of Documentary Educational Resources, writes an open letter to filmmakers seeking distribution.

• And: "With a call for shorts for Independent Exposure 2008 open through the end of the month, the Independent wanted to talk strictly shorts with Microcinema's founder, Patrick Kwiatkowski," writes Erin Trahan. "But when the inevitable question of the future of distribution came up, Kwiatkowski made it clear: He still believes in DVDs and he thinks indies should, too."

• For Slate's Michael Agger, Hulu "demonstrates how TV might thrive in the Web environment of comments, ratings, and the wisdom of the crowds."

• Cassidy Hartmann reports in the Philadelphia Weekly on a new local movie theater: "'There are hundreds of movies made every year that don't make it to the Ritz, but are better than straight to video,' says [Zafer] Ülkücü, who programs the Backseat Film Festival and will be the head programmer of the new theater. 'In New York there are four or five theaters that can show those movies, and in Philly there's not.'"

• Michael Cieply in the New York Times: "If the Paramount and DreamWorks sides don't soon resolve their rocky relationship, one that has played out messily in the public eye over matters of proper credit and respect, they may have to figure things out project by project, reliving any breakup a hundred times over." Nikki Finke comments.

Online moment of loveliness. From Tom Sutpen at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger..., "Cary Grant waits for rain."

Online scrolling tip. Film Droid's collection scary sci-fi movie posters, via Coudal Partners. Also, VHS cover art.

Online fiddling around tip. Brainiac Joshua Glenn invites you to a round of Name That Film.

Online viewing tips #1 and #2. The BBC interviews Ingmar Bergman. Thanks, Jerry - and for Fellini Says..., too!

Online viewing tip #3. From Rex Sorgatz, an "Immense recommendation: Bush's War on Frontline has consumed 4.5 hours of my life the last couple nights, but it's an astounding piece of journalism."

Online viewing tip #4. From Mark Frauenfelder at Boing Boing: "Eric Spiegelman says: 'John Ford produced a pro-Vietnam [war] documentary on behalf of the US Government right before he died. The film was never released in the US, and very few people have seen it. I just put it online.'" Thanks, Hannah!

Online viewing tip #5. Karina Longworth posts the trailer for Glory at Sea.

Online viewing tips, round 1. "Leonard Matlin's 15 Greatest New York Scenes in Movie History" at fishbowlNY.

Online viewing tips, round 2. Kevin Lee posts three video essays on Claude Chabrol's La femme infidele.

Posted by dwhudson at March 27, 2008 10:17 AM