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.