Shorts, 1/5.

By David Hudson on 01/05/2009

BOMB has a new blog, featuring, for example, Lena Valencia's quick take on Carlos Reygadas's "Silent Light." Online from the new issue of the magazine itself: Haden Guest's interview with Lucrecia Martel.

"The book that I'm most looking forward to in 2009 is, without question, John Canemaker's dual-biography of Disney story artist Joe Grant and Pixar story artist Joe Ranft," writes Amid Amidi. "Two Guys Named Joe" is one of about a dozen books he previews at Cartoon Brew.

Mike Everleth talks with Jack Sargeant about "Naked Lens: Beat Cinema."

"Out of all the cinematic staples, the so-called 'magical negro' is the worst to define and discuss due to it being the mother of all loaded terms," writes John Lichman at the SpoutBlog. "So, we've taken it upon ourselves... to deconstruct the favorite crutch of Stephen King, the Wachowski Brothers and whoever else has a problem understanding just what makes the worst stereotype the worst stereotype."

"As in 'Tren de sombras,' José Luis Guerín ambiguously prefaces 'Innisfree' as a series of images and observations recorded from the site of a historical event, in this case, the filming of John Ford's 'The Quiet Man' around Cong village in the Irish countryside," writes Acquarello. "And like the film, Guerín alternates between modes of non-fiction - documentary and found footage- to explore the amorphous nature of image creation and representation, the impreciseness of translation, and the imprinting of historical (and geographical) memory."

Related: Michael Sooriyakumaran on "In the City of Sylvia": "Although reviewers - latching on to its themes of voyeurism and obsession (not to mention the streetcars) - have compared it to Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' (1958), the tone of Geurín's film is entirely different, droll and amusing where Hitchcock's film is anguished.... Geurín creates moments of fleeting, ephemeral beauty from things all around us, making us more alert to cinema and to the world we all live in."

"Charlie Chaplin's 'One AM,' shot and released before the US entry into the first world war, is a perfect piece of work - as formal, composed, simple and profound as Bach," writes Raymond De Felitta.

"In contrast to [Elia Kazan's 'A Streetcar Named Desire,' 'East of Eden' and 'On the Waterfront'], 'Wild River' is a revelation, both even-handed and even-headed, foregoing steroidal drama for the sake of taking in the full registers and rhythms of a way of life on the way of being literally drowned out of existence," writes Kevin Lee.

John Curran will direct Keira Knightley as Zelda Fitzgerald in "The Beautiful and the Damned," reports Michael Fleming in Variety.

John Colapinto doesn't just interview Spike Lee for the Observer Magazine; he talks with others about Lee, such as Stanley Crouch and Martin Scorsese. It's one long profile and it builds up to the morning after November's election, when "he would appear, via satellite, on Morning Joe, a political morning show, where he said that, with Obama's victory, his own masterpiece - 'Do the Right Thing' - was now irrelevant. 'That is history,' he said. 'This is a new America.'"

Also in the Observer, Kate Kellaway meets Viola Davis ("Doubt"), Jason Solomons puts Tom Hooper ("The Damed United") on the "hotlist" and Philip French sums up Boris Karloff.

New York Times columnist Roger Cohen's been moved by "Milk," but: "Was this really the same Sean Penn who'd just penned a fawning tribute to the grim Cuban president, Raúl Castro, a dictator presiding over a 50-year-old revolution that once dispatched gays to labor camps to correct their 'counterrevolutionary tendencies?'"

"'Dragnet Girl' is a stunningly beautiful Ozu silent," writes David Cairns, "rich b&w tones, crisp compositions, beautifully modelled lighting on faces, and a subtly soft-focus glaze over everything."

Larry Aydlette revisits "Bonnie and Clyde": "I was struck anew by Arthur Penn's framing, Dede Allen's whiplash editing, Dean Tavoularis's brilliant art design and how the story so effortlessly mixes humor and escapism and character study. Watching that early opening scene of Bonnie and Clyde stepping down the sidewalk of East Dallas reminded me of two dancers in a MGM musical, and the vibrant colors in the remastering brought to mind Vincente Minnelli's 'Some Came Running' as well."

"Wither the Doc Blog Cabal?" asks AJ Schnack.

Nitesh Rohit an essay by BD Garga on the documentary in India (parts 1 and 2).

Tim Walker has a fine interview with Danny Boyle for the Independent.

Here at IFC, Stephen Saito talks with John Walter about "Theater of War" - and about "where you can find Brecht as an impulse buy."

"[T]he release of 'Defiance' last week - a film starring Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber as real-life World War II Jewish partisans so tough they make the 'Munich' crew look like Cub Scouts - caps a recent sea change in the way Jews are depicted in the mass media," argues Lewis Beale in the Los Angeles Times. More on "Defiance" from David Denby in the New Yorker.

For Movie City News, Mark Wheaton profiles Tanaquil Le Clercq, the dancer who is the likely inspiration for the character of Daisy, played by Cate Blanchett, in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Meanwhile, "New Old Age" blogger Jane Gross has a series of other questions about the film.

"Diane Keaton's career needs to be taken into protective custody until its owner comes to her senses and stops buggin'," argues James Wolcott.

The Siren goes on the record with five "2009 Cinephile Resolutions."

"Integrating the Internet may be a matter of survival for Blu-ray, because the Internet is shaping up to be its biggest rival," report Matt Richtel and Brad Stone.

Also in the NYT: "Pat Hingle, a versatile character actor of stage and screen who became accustomed to winning critical praise in a career that spanned five decades, died on Saturday at his home in Carolina Beach, NC," reports Richard Severo. "He was 84." More from Robert Cashill and Scott Marks.

Tim Lucas remembers Edmund Purdom, "whose initial stardom in the stodgy 20th Century-Fox epics 'The Egyptian' and 'The Prodigal' gave way to a lengthy career in international co-productions and dubbing gigs." More from Ronald Bergan in the Guardian and Robert Cashill.

Online listening tip. "Vinyl Is Podcast #10." Dan Callahan, Ryland Walker Knight, Kevin B Lee and Keith Uhlich talk about how critics think.

Online viewing tip #1. At Shooting Down Pictures, Christianne Benedict (site) comments on "The World According to Garp," focusing on the character of Roberta Muldoon.

Online viewing tips, round 1. "Twee, acoustic, folksy music accompanies practically every second ad on TV at the moment," writes Mark at Creative Review. "We first noticed the trend back in mid 2007 - a list of sappy offenders compiled here - but when, we ask, will it end? Joining our discussion: Dan Stevens, a director at music PR and management company, Darling Department; Parv Thind, sound designer at Wave; and Peter Raeburn, founder and creative director of music production company, Soundtree."

Online viewing tips, round 2. The cinetrix has two good ones for you.

Online viewing tips, round 3. Yoann Lemoine's "Le Ballon." Also via Coudal Partners, around 6½ minutes from "Thom Andersen's "Los Angeles Plays Itself." The theme: Hollywood vs modernist architecture. Plus, the trailer for "Objectified," the new documentary from Gary Hustwit ("Helvetica").

[Covers: "BOMB Magazine," Winter 2009; "Observer Magazine," Sunday, January 4, 2009; Photo: "Bonnie and Clyde," Warner Brothers, 1967]

Tags: Darren Trumeter Jr, Episode 107, Hot Air Balloon Poop Rope, IFC, Sam Brown, The Whitest Kids U Know, Timmy Williams, Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger