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Magic moments

[Is this thing on? Sibilance. Sibilance.]

Oh, hi there. I used to write about film in this corner of the Internets, and I will again. Until such time, a few excerpts from other people writing about this business we call show that caught my eye.

• I call bullshit on Sharon Waxman. Hardly an original move, I know. I don't usually read the Wrap but clicked over from a Facebook link or something to her piece on the end of Miramax. Clicking onto "page 2" took me to a single sentence, garlanded with ads: I can’t imagine it will disappear.” [sic] Nice business model. Good luck with that.
• I really didn't like the Duplass brothers' film The Puffy Chair, but I gotta give Mark Duplass credit for the following neologism -- "If someone starts to douchinate, I think the other person is going to be pretty quick to call it" -- and the previously unsuspected amount of self-awareness it conveys.
• Seriously, what is UP with Manohla Dargis and Sandra Bullock? First, "Use your power for good, Sandy!" And again, in her Sundance piece: "The stars were still out in formation, as were the paparazzi, who gave chase to Sandra Bullock (or maybe it was Nicole Richie) one afternoon on the town’s main drag." What does that even MEAN? [Props, though, for name-checking four female directors and their films. Swings and roundabouts.]
• A.O. Scott's a better man than I for not riffing on the surname of Mel Gibson's character -- Craven -- in his review, and for this: "Mr. Huston and Mr. Winstone distinguish themselves by appearing to have declined the services of the film’s dialect coach, who incites a riot of Bay State braying from one end of the Mass Pike to the other. As someone who was born — or should I say bahn? — in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I appreciate the special music of New England speech as much as anyone, but honestly, guys, give it a rest. If I had a dollar for every dropped “r” in “Edge of Darkness,” I could finance a sequel."
• Speaking of that special music, allow me to recommend A SHORT HISTORY OF THE NORSE COLONIZATION OF GREENLAND FOR BOSTONIANS...
• ...and add my voice to the chorus pillorying Julianne Moore for her piss-poor Boston accent on 30 Rock. Which reminds me...
• The Kids Are All Right. Thanks to Focus for picking up Cholodenko's latest.
• The Kids Are Alright charts the not-so-hostile takeover of the genre with ten musicals made since the early sixties, a sweet lineup screening for the next month at BAM/PFA.

Werner Herzog reads Curious George

OK, so not really, but this clip is still pretty marvelous.

Overage

The semester begins tomorrow [I know, right?] and the cinetrix is nowhere near tanned, rested, and ready to teach, much less blog. I have watched a movie, though, about which more later, and I've also found joy in the following. YMMV.

• This magnificent photo illustration of A. O. Scott by nymag Vulture blogger Lane Brown, which accompanies an item about the NYT critic's defense of smoking -- and other vices -- in the movies.
• This primer on editing [particularly matches on action and graphic matches], drawn from trailers for 2009 releases, which I plan to show my students in a few weeks.
• The always lovely Max Goldberg articulates -- as I've never been able to -- what it is I distrust about lists. [The irony of noting this in bullet form is not lost on me.] A lengthy excerpt:
  "Lists can take many forms, but the kind we’re talking about infer an imperial purview, a cool coordination of marketing and taste, knowledge and power. Industry cycles come to seem “natural,” and if lesser known work attracts notice thanks to some critic’s invocation, well that’s great. But as criticism? Personally, I don’t trust my voice with these exercises. I find myself easily corrupted by a strongly worded missive—whether posed as the definitive last word or its riposte— and any idiosyncrasy I latch onto ends up feeling hammy. It’s obvious enough that I tend to overvalue the films that I’ve written about, mastery being the unspoken criteria of most lists. With mastery comes narcissism and isolation: borne out of the same concern for what others think that Mom warned against, the list goes on to consolidate the divide-and-conquer model of arts criticism."
• The equally astute Molly Young makes me feel less alone by describing a malady that's afflicted me of late:
  "I see most movies alone, so you’d think the vacuum of post-viewing conversation would incite compensatory stewing. But no. It’s a shame, because the only way to justify the price of a movie ticket is to see it as the price of at least four hours of entertainment: two for the movie and two for thinking about it. One resolution for the new year, maybe, is to try and work harder for my pleasures."
  The rest of the post is just as good: read it here.
• The Slate Movie Club is back! Joining Dana this year are Roger Ebert, Dan Kois, Wesley Morris, and Stephanie Zacharek.
• Finally, from Filmbrain's Twitter, a reminder to catch the not-on-DVD Charles Burnett film To Sleep with Anger, which is streaming on Netflix.

OK, back to lecture prep for me.

UPDATE: Oh, and I just watched "Accomplice," a new short by Hal Hartley. You should too.