Karina on SpoutBlog

• Oh man … I totally forgot about the Val Lewton blogathon, and now I’m way too busy with Sundance prep to write something up. In any case, it starts today, to coincide with the TCM premiere of Val Lewton: The Man In the Shadows. I saw Kent Jones’ doc (narrated by Martin Scorsese) at Telluride, and it’s definitely a must-see for fans of films like Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie who want a taste of Lewton’s lesser-known works.
• Anyone could have guessed that last night’s Un-Golden Globes would be “weird”, but who could have guessed that it would have moved so many journalists to lapse into poetics? First Variety likened the experience to a dream; then, the NY Times topped their coverage with this photo of an unusually long-faced E! anchor, with a caption pointing up his supposed existential dilemma. Now, David Poland’s getting into the act, with this revelation: “I don???t really like ghosts as much as I enjoy the living.”
• A week or so ago, Jurgen Fauth mentioned that he’d bought an URL that he didn’t know what to do with. He’s since figured it out: IDrinkYourMilkshake.com has now become a web portal dedicated to aggregating discussions??????and inevitable video mashups, as above??????concerning There Will Be Blood. Act now, and you can even get an @idrinkyourmilkshake.com email address!
• Bob Westal ponders Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. “Could this film be the next Duck Soup combining the silliest comedy and the sharpest satire?”

BUTTERKNIFE promo: Baker and Ross

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It’s that time again. Above, you’ll find the second-to-last in our series of Butterknife promo shorts, made by the cast and crew of Joe Swanberg’s new web series. This installment is the work of Frank Ross, whose films Hohokam and Quietly on By screened as part of IFC’s New Talkies festival last summer. This clip stars Ross and fellow Butterknife co-star Tony Baker, who has also appeared in each of Ross’ films to date. Take a look, and check back next Monday for the last of our Butterknife promos, directed by none other than Mary Bronstein. Here’s a clue about that one that might entice you: it stars a puppet version of Joe Swanberg. And don’t forget: Butterknife premieres on January 28, right here.

Previous Butterknife shorts:

Barlow Jacobs
Michael Tully

Under discussion:

Pulp Fiction  (1994)

Beowulf  (2007)

Roger Avary, who won an Oscar for co-writing Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino, and who also collaborated on the script for Beowulf with Neil Gaiman, was booked on charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony drunken driving, after crashing into a telephone pole late last night in Ojai, CA. According to reports, a friend of Avary’s was fatally injured in the crash, while Avary’s wife was thrown from the car but survived. Avary himself was apparently not injured. More info here.

The tabloid sites are clouding this story with speculation pretty rapidly as the morning progresses, but I’m posting it here because I know several people who used to participate in the forums on Avary’s website, which was something of a destination in the early days of film-bloggery, so I figured it would be of interest.