Shorts, 6/30.

"'Power and freedom.' Coupled together, these two words are repeated three times in Vertigo." Chris Marker on Hitchcock's masterpiece - at 3quarksdaily, via wood s lot. Related: Richard Brody, briefly, in the New Yorker. And an online listening tip: more Hitchcock and Truffaut at If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger... Earlier: "Vertigo @ 50."

For the Financial Times, Tobias Gray talks with David Cronenberg about working with composer Howard Shore, librettist David Henry Hwang and Los Angeles Opera musical director Placido Domingo on The Fly: The Opera. Via Movie City News.

Girish notes that less than seven percent of André Bazin's writings are in print. Then:

I've been doing a Bazin immersion the last few weeks, and I'm amazed especially by two things. First, his writings are not about developing a "theory of cinema" in an abstract and "systematic" manner. Instead, he puts in motion a process of continual exchange between film criticism and film theory. He begins with the films themselves, and their details - formal, stylistic, thematic, etc. His theoretical reflections then arise from a scrutiny of these details. Second, it's striking to see how he did all his theory and criticism work in full public view. As Bert Cardullo points out, Bazin's writings were produced for a range of publications that were variously aligned: liberal (L'Écran Francais); socialist (France-Observateur); left-wing Catholic (Esprit and Radio-Cinéma-Télévision, now Télérama); non-religious and state-run (L'Education Nationale); and conservative (Le Parisien libéré). In addition, of course, he co-founded and wrote for Cahiers du Cinéma. It's staggering to be reminded of how much he accomplished before he contracted leukemia at 36 and died at 40 in 1958.

"For centuries Countess Elizabeth Báthory was one of Europe's most notorious figures." With two "rival films" on the way, Julie Delpy's The Countess and Juraj Jakubisko's Bathory, Tony Thorne offers a little background in the Telegraph.

"Swedish cinema longs to crawl out from under the shadow of Bergman, even as it cannot afford to forget him," writes Michael Koresky in a dispatch to indieWIRE.

Fests and events:

• Rob Nelson talks with John Koch, who owns and runs the Twin Cities video store Cinema Revolution - and who's directed a film Je Ne Sais Quoi, shot by award-winning cinematographer Greg Yolen and screening at the Ritz Theater through Thursday.

• Rencontres Internationales, "a space of discovery and reflection between new cinema and contemporary art," runs Tuesday through Sunday in Berlin.

• Yair Raveh has the lineup for the Jerusalem Film Festival (July 10 through 19): "The first festival under the newly appointed manager Ilan De Vries will include some highlights of the 2008 Cannes Festival, before they head on to Toronto." Should Thierry Frémaux and Olivier Père start collecting finder's fees?

"Little did we imagine how many of those shooting stars would become unguided missiles." James Wolcott surveys the wreckage left behind by the Vanity Fair cover girls of 2003. "As for the class of 2008 pictured in these pages, they inhabit a far more predatory media-parasite environment, a Grand Theft Auto of 'gotcha,' which so far they're handling with aplomb. Easy to track, hard to trap, they belong to the iGeneration, for whom texting and Twittering are as natural as popping orange Tic Tacs, inhabiting and trailing invisible clouds of information wherever they go in the digital eco-system, where online and off-line, real life and Second Life, overlap. Boundaries dissolve everywhere they turn their pretty heads." This year's young ladies are: Amanda Seyfried, Emma Roberts, Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart. And there's an accompanying gallery.

In the Guardian, screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce (24 Hour Party People, Millions) offers a few pointers: "This is not a description of how I write. It's more how I wish I'd written. A map of the rocks on which I perished."

Oliver Stone "is either the oddest person to chronicle the life of the current president or the most inspired," writes John Horn in a report on the making of W. "Whatever the verdict, the marriage of director and subject has left nearly as many people running for the sidelines as wanting to be a part of the director's undertaking."

Also in the Los Angeles Times, Kevin Thomas talks with Guido Santi and Tina Mascara about their documentary, Chris & Don: A Love Story.

"What fascinates me about Los Muertos is that it explores the connection between form and content by taking all of the tropes of 'transcendental cinema' and staining them, by narrative means, with dread and violence," writes Darren Hughes.

"I mentioned in my review of Myna Joseph's Man that the influence of the Dardenne Brothers is becoming increasingly apparent in American cinema," writes David Lowery at Hammer to Nail. "Moreso than that film, a perfect example of this trend is The Execution of Solomon Harris, a grueling eight minute short film whose intensity is almost entirely related to the way the camera attaches itself to its subject. This form of subjectivity is a trademark of the Dardennes; they maintain such a steadfast attachment to their characters that the events around them almost - almost - seem peripheral. It's a fascinating way to get inside a character's head without relying on anything more than a camera and that character."

Michael Guillén talks with Eran Kolirin about The Band's Visit for movieScope.

David Lean "was a relentless womaniser." Geoffrey Macnab tells a few stories in the Independent.

"In an industry first, Sony Pictures' hoped-for blockbuster Hancock... hits theaters on Wednesday and will be available - after its theater run but before release on DVD - over the Internet, directly to viewers' television sets," reports Tim Arango in the New York Times. "That is, if they own a Sony Bravia TV with a Web connection. The announcement is significant in what it means for the future of movie watching, and for the future of Sony itself."

"The mere thought of an analytical book about Steven Seagal movies could provoke laughter, and yet I'm here to tell you that [Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal is] an essential read for any action movie fan, and a must-read for anyone who has enjoyed Seagal's works," writes Adam Ross. "Vern knows Seagal movies are not Oscar-worthy, but he also bristles at the notion that they're all the same, or that Seagal is just another action star."

Online viewing tip #1. For those who speak German and/or Japanese. Blake Ethridge posts video of a Q&A with Koji Wakamatsu that took place at this year's Berlinale. The film at hand is Secrets Behind the Wall.

Online viewing tip #2. Tony Kaye on Stanley Kubrick. Thanks, Jerry! For the Wendy Carlos interview, too.

Online viewing tip #3. A "Summer Movie Extravaganza" at Bloggingheads.tv featuring Ross Douthat and Dana Stevens. Thanks, Ed!

Online viewing tip #4. The story behind Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.

Online viewing tip #5. Phil Morehart launches a series: "Every day in July (hopefully), Facets Features will spotlight a warped, wild, weird, odd, unusual, unique trailer to pique (or melt) your brain."

Online viewing tip. #6. Twitch has the trailer for Quantum of Solace.

Posted by dwhudson at June 30, 2008 12:44 PM