The House Next Door

1. Twister. Michael Clayton and Duplicity director (and Bourne screenwriter) Tony Gilroy gets the full New Yorker treatment. He seems to hate nearly everyone he's worked with!

["For the next 'Bourne,' Universal invited back Damon and Gilroy but looked for a new director. The studio offered the writer three million dollars if he wrote a script good enough to be filmed. Gilroy agreed, on the condition that the second 'Bourne' not be a repeat of the first. He asked himself what was wrong with 'The Bourne Identity,' and decided that Damon’s character had got off too easy; he was a murderer, if a reluctant one, and he had to suffer for his crimes. Gilroy’s new script took Bourne on a voyage to Russia to apologize to a girl whom he had orphaned. Years before, the C.I.A. had sent Bourne on a training mission. His target was a Russian politician, but his wife was in the room when Bourne arrived, and he killed them both. Afterward, he covered up the double murder as a murder-suicide. Bourne’s apology to the girl would have to be deep—a true repentance. This time, Bourne would earn the affection that the audience felt for him. As he was working to get his past back, he would give the girl her past back. 'I think that movie could have been "The Searchers" of action films,” Gilroy says.']

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2. Kent Jones' Resignation Marks Latest High-Profile Film Society Departure. Indiewire catches us up with the latest news from the much-embattled Film Society.

["En route to the airport for an international flight to Vienna where he will be presenting his recent documentary, 'Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows,' Kent Jones spoke briefly with indieWIRE. Not ready to detail his upcoming plans for pursuing more writing and filmmaking, Jones noted that he’d been with the organization for ten years and that it was time for him to move in another direction."]

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3. The Coming Evangelical Collapse. Christian Science Monitor has some interesting thoughts on what new data portends for the future of evangelical Christianity in the United States. The argument about the article's assumptions at Beliefnet (where I first saw it) is almost as good.

["Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the "Protestant" 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century."]

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4. Ageless Jane Fonda Seeks Beethoven Theme on Broadway. Our pal N.P. Thompson passes on this link to John Simon's review of her new play 33 Variations. Simon loved Fonda but heaps much savagery on the production itself.

["The wonderful voice remains unchanged, however, and her energy, too, is undiminished. The role of Katherine Brandt, a musicologist researching the origins of the 'Diabelli Variations,' while slowly dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease), is extremely demanding, both physically and mentally. For an actress of Fonda’s age to shoulder it on a Broadway schedule is remarkable. If only the same could be said of the play."]

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5. FREE Mini Ice Cream in a Restaurant. The economic crisis needn't be all bad! If you've only got money for the meal and not dessert and you're at an IHOP, you, too, can make free ice cream from just the items on the table. (Never say we're not looking out for you here at the House.)

["Go out to eat at any restaurant with the word 'waffle' or 'pancake' in their name, and/or serving bacon strips in the morning. Many diners, sit-down places at truck stops, and some fast food places. Home will work, too, if you have some of the mini half-n-half cups."]

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Quote of the Day:

"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats."
—Colonial American proverb.

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Poorly thought-out children's toys are always worth a laugh. (Via the Houston Chronicle.)



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Clip of the Day: "Finally tonight, a man in Kentucky says he's got a spoonful of Jesus." (h/t: Everyone)



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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 todd@vanderwerff.us.