Shorts, 6/30.

By David Hudson on 06/30/2009

A new issue of Cinema Scope has just gone up, featuring editor Mark Peranson's opener: "2009 was, far and away, the stupidest Cannes ever." He also interviews Corneliu Porumboiu ("Police, Adjective"), while Dennis Lim talks with João Pedro Rodrigues ("To Die Like a Man") and Scott Foundas with Marco Bellocchio ("Vincere").

Beyond Cannes, Michael Sicinski talks with Richard Dutcher about his "Post-Morman Cinema" and Max Goldberg with Lee Anne Schmitt about "California Company Town."

Also: Shelly Kraicer on the Jeonju International Film Festival, Olaf Möller's books roundup, Jonathan Rosenbaum's DVDs roundup, Jay Kuehner on "Humpday," Andrew Tracy on "The Limits of Control," Andrew Nayman on "Encirclement: Neo-Liberalism Ensnares Democracy" and, coming full circle, Mark Peranson on Mark Lewis's installation in Venice, "Backstory."

Vanity Fair bullet-points its cover story for the August issue, "The Last of Heath," written by Peter Biskind. Plus: Bruce Weber photographs Heath Ledger; and Kevin Sessums's 2000 piece, "We're Havin' a Heath Wave."

"Recently crowned Best Actress at Cannes for her performance in 'Antichrist,' Charlotte Gainsbourg will head to Australia in a month's time to shoot Julie Bertucelli's English-language film 'L'arbre du père' ('The Father's Tree')," reports Fabien Lemercier in Cineuropa.

"After the mixed reception, even from fans, for 'The Mother of Tears,' Italian schlock-maestro Dario Argento shows further indifference to his reputation by releasing his latest, 'Giallo,' under his own name," writes Leslie Felperin. "Ludicrous, craptastically made even by Argento's usual low-budget standards, and not even remotely scary or amusingly campy - unlike its predecessor, which at least has a so-bad-it's-great following - this serial-killer story plays like a work for hire that no one had much fun working on."

Also in Variety, Dave McNary reports that Amy Adams is in talks to star alongside Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in David O Russell's "The Fighter."

Michael Rubin is making his book "droidMAKER: George Lucas and the Digital Revolution" available as a free download. Via Andy Baio.

FilmInFocus's latest "Behind the Blog" interviewee: Michael Tully.

Today's review of "Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of 'Fitzcarraldo'": The Economist.

"For all its whimsy (some forced, some elegant, all winning), 'The Beaches of Agnès' will probably be most fondly remembered for its director's candid remembrances of [Agnès Varda's] late husband, that creator of timeless cinematic valentines Jacques Demy," writes Michael Koresky at indieWIRE. And for Marcy Dermansky, this is "a vibrant film, showcasing the talent of an artist still very much at the height of her creative powers." And Noel Murray talks with Varda at the AV Club.

At Hollywood Bitchslap, Peter Sobczynski talks with Jean-Jacques Beineix.

At Pixel Vision, Kimberly Chun talks with Kathryn Bigelow about "The Hurt Locker."

IndieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez lists the 135 new members of the Academy.

Dave McKean's new paintings inspired by silent films: "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" and "La Roue."

Ongoing: "The Action Movie" at Not Coming to a Theater Near You.

Wrapping today: "Ten Days' Wonder: The Claude Chabrol Blog-a-Thon." Today, in fact, may be the 'Thon's hoppingest day yet. Catherine Grant, for example, introduces her first video essay.

"Acclaimed German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch has died at the age of 68," reports Deutsche Welle. "The recipient of numerous awards and prizes, she left her mark as an innovator in the hybrid genre of 'Tanztheater,' or dance theater."

And here's the opening of Pedro Almodóvar's "Habla con Ella." For Richard Brody, "her most important cinematic activity is in a film that bears her name: Chantal Akerman's 'Un jour Pina a demandé...' ('One Day Pina Asked'), from 1983." At Cargo, Ekkehard Knörer's got "Kontakthof mit Damen und Herren ab 65" and UbuWeb has more. Related online listening: Julie Bloom (NYT) has clips from an interview conducted in December.

Online PDF. Jana Costas in ephemera: "Mystification and Secrecy in Contemporary Corporate Life: A Reflection on Lars von Trier's 'The Boss of It All.'"

Online listening tip #1. "Dark Night of the Soul," you'll remember is a collaboration between David Lynch, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse." Now, NPR's allowing us to listen to the entire album.

Online listening tip #2. For dGenerate Films, Kevin Lee talks with Chris Berry, Professor of Film and Television Studies in the Department of Media and Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London, "about various topics from his current work and areas of focus, to comparisons between contemporary Chinese cinema and the Fifth Generation filmmakers whom he helped to champion in the 1980s and 1990s, to which recent Chinese films that have excited him the most."

Online listening tip #3. Nick Dawson's Elvis Mitchell's guest on the Treatment tomorrow, talking about "Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel."

Online viewing tip #1. "I will be missed." Jeff Goldblum, reacting to reports of his own death on the Colbert Report.

Online viewing tip #2. Brandon Kim has a selection from British Sea Power's new soundtrack for Robert Flaherty's "Man of Aran."

Online viewing tip #3. The trailer for Michael Atkinson's novel, "Hemingway Deadlights." Related: Motoko Rich in the New York Times on the ever-changing editions of "A Moveable Feast."

Online viewing tip #4. From Phil Nugent: "There's a telling moment in the 'Frontline' documentary 'The Madoff Affair' when Michael Bienes, an accountant who worked for Madoff for years, starting when they both in their early 30s, until 1992, and who continued to invest with him, is asked if he didn't ever notice that the steady returns Madoff achieved were statistically impossible. Yes, he says, it did seem funny to him after a while, and he and his wife were both troubled by it, but then his wife came up with an explanation that made sense to both of them, and after that they both accepted Madoff's results without question. And what was that golden answer? 'God wanted us to have this' money. That's pretty much the American financial culture from Reagan to 2008 in a nutshell."

[Photo: "Police, Adjective," Coach14, 2009]

Tags: Agnès Varda, Cannes 2009, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Claude Chabrol, Corneliu Porumboiu, Danger Mouse, Dario Argento, David Lynch, Encirclement, Hal Ashby, Heath Ledger, Humpday, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Jim Jarmusch, João Pedro Rodrigues, Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Anne Schmitt, Marco Bellocchio, Pina Bausch, Richard Dutcher, Sparklehorse, Werner Herzog