Links for the Day (January 13th, 2009)

1. A hearty blogosphere welcome to the new indieWIRE.

["From iW editor Eugene Hernandez: We have spent over a year developing the new indieWIRE, but it's actually taken us twelve years to get here. We've not only re-designed iW, but completely re-imagined it."]

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2. "Everlasting Moments: Close, Closer": Martha Polk on Jan Troell's Everlasting Moments. From her sight What is This Light.

["I report with overwhelming gratitude that Everlasting Moments is a film about what it means to be a woman, what it means to produce images, and what it means to be a woman, wife, and mother who is pulled from her very heart center toward art, images, and a certain vision of the world. Let me quick tell you how it goes: Maria Larssen (Maria Heiskanan) won a Contessa camera in a lottery weeks before she was married to Sigge (Mikael Persbrandt). Years later when Sigge and the rest of the dockworkers go on strike, Maria tries to sell the camera to help support her four children. Shop owner Sebastian Pedersen (Jasper Christensen) "buys" it from her but lets her keep it, insisting she try it before she let such a prized possession go. And then we're off: Maria's relationship with the camera unfolds along side her relationships with Mr. Pedersen, her children, and her increasingly self-centered and terrifying husband. But of course, I wouldn't be here struggling through qualifying paragraphs if these bare narrative bones weren't wrapped in something special."]

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3. "French actor-director Claude Berri dies at 74": An Associated Press obit. His IMDb page is here.

["Claude Berri, a fixture for more than 50 years in contemporary French cinema as an actor, writer, director and producer, died Monday. He was 74. His agent, Dominique Segall, said Berri died of a "cerebral vascular" problem — language often used to describe a stroke — after being hospitalized early Sunday. Berri produced Roman Polanski's "Tess" in 1979 and directed "Jean de Florette" in 1986 and "Manon des Sources" ("Manon of the Spring"), both adapted from Marcel Pagnol's vision of the French countryside. Berri's short film "Le Poulet" (The Chicken) won an Oscar in 1965. He was in the midst of directing "Tresor" ("Treasure") — his 20th directing project — when he died, Segall said. "It will continue despite his departure," the agent added."]

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4. House contributor Lauren Wissot reviews The Living Theater production of The Connection for Theater Online.

["While the original production featured the likes of Martin Sheen and James Earl Jones, the only legend onstage this time around is director Judith Malina herself who portrays the pious Sister Salvation. But the cast does include members of the (2007 Obie-winning) ensemble of Ken Brown's The Brig, all of whom are surprisingly good considering The Connection is as dialogue-heavy as The Brig is physically demanding. In fact, they're almost too good, and by this I mean that they're nearly too polished, too professional - dare I say it? - too sane. Years ago when I was with the company there was always at least one loose cannon who couldn't be fully trusted not to do something completely wacky to upend a performance, lending a sense of risk to every show. At the time this lack of professionalism infuriated me, and yet this very element of danger, of anything-can-happen spontaneity, is a key ingredient to a play like The Connection - a necessary threat."]

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5. Anthony Kaufman tells us the 5 Reasons I’m Not Going to Sundance.

["My first Sundance was in 1998—I fondly remember meeting and then doing interviews with everyone from Darren Aronofsky to David Mamet, Julia Loktev to Liz Garbus, and many many others. (What ever happened to Max Makowski?) I think I’ve been to Sundance every year since (actually there may have been another one in there somewhere that I skipped.) Ten years on, I admit the sheen has worn thin and the thrill has dampened. Now all the festivals blur into a decade of freezing my ass off, endless, circuitous shuttle rides, and dozens of mediocre, forgettable movies along with a small percentage of gems. Or needles in a hackstack, if you prefer a different metaphor. Of course, I have some regrets about not going to Park City this year. But here are five reasons why I’m not feeling so bad."]

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Quote of the Day: Joseph Campbell

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Place to be on the Interwebz: Jim Emerson's blog, where he's dissecting The Dark Knight over a series of posts. Two so far (here and here); more to come.



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Clip of the Day: Wow... I... speechless.


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"Links for the Day": A selection of Links that will hopefully spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.