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• Surfer Girl devotes two posts to the meme that there may be an “interactive There Will Be Blood milkshake drinking” game in the works. I think the Juno game meme was the final straw??????I think I have finally, fully slipped into a state in which the ironic walls have closed in so tight that I can no longer even tell when I’m being fucked with. Via Scanners.
• Maybe I’m Not There would have worked better if more of Todd Haynes’ collaborators actually cared about Bob Dylan. Says Stephen Malkmus, who recorded several Dylan songs that appear in the movie, “I was more into Creedence Clearwater Revival…Dylan was a punk-rock guy and his records are undeniably genius. But you don’t know what’s going to speak to you, and his music didn’t for me.”
• Chris Thilk approves of the poster for Fool’s Gold. I think. “[T]his poster is good at selling the movie based on the personalities (and breasts) of the two actors involved. Get them smiling at each other, turn them a shade of yellow that???s only slightly removed from the residents of Springfield, hint at a tropical location by putting water in the background and you???re finished.”
• Brit Withey of Denver Film Festival fame has surprising news from the Berlinale: “…you can no longer smoke anywhere. I???m fine with this in the United States and I knew it was coming in France???but Berlin? Christ…”

Under discussion:

Are We There Yet?  (2005)

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End  (2007)

Shrek the Third  (2007)

Transformers  (2007)

Are We Done Yet?  (2007)

Alvin and the Chipmunks  (2007)

Complaints about the Oscars include the following: the people who choose them are too old and out of touch; they don’t adequately honor comedy; they don’t give enough recognition to science fiction and fantasy movies; they fail to recognize that often the best animated film should also be nominated for best picture. Well, except for that last issue, the Kids Choice Awards, which announced their 2008 nominees today, should be then be a favorable alternative. Obviously they are chosen by people who are young and hip. They continue to acknowledge the worth of both comedy — Eddie Murphy received his eight and ninth nominations this year — and science fiction/fantasy (note to the Academy: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Transformers are more than just special effects and other technical achievements!). If only Shrek the Third, which received four nominations, was in the race for best movie in addition to best animated movie then the Kids Choice Awards would definitely be the most perfect kudos fest ever.

Beginning on March 3, kids get to vote online for the winners. I know Karina will be stuffing the ballots for her favorite, Alvin and the Chipmunks, while I’ll be busily trying to get Ice Cube that win he deserved two years ago for Are We There Yet? (he’s nominated this year for the sequel, Are We Done Yet?). By the way, speaking of the best actor category, kids need to stop recognizing Johnny Depp so much. Don’t they realize he can’t be cool with them and with the old codgers in the Academy?

Under discussion:

The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant  (1972)

God knows, I should have made a New Year???s Resolution that would have actually bettered my day-to-day quality of life, but instead, I made a New Year???s Resolution to become fully versed in the work of two filmmakers with whom my overall level of familiarity is, really, shameful: Pier Paulo Pasolini, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Because Fassbinder’s work is generally much easier to find on DVD, I’ve decided to start with him and move on to Pasolini after I’ve watched everything I can get my hands on. So as I watch his films, I???ll write about them here. I???ve made a conscious decision not to research the films before I watch them in order to offer my spontaneous impressions, so it???s probably best to look at each installment of this project as more of a close reading/viewing diary than a review, per se.

This week, I begin with The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant.

________

Petra Von Kant (Margit Carstensen) is a ???fashion designer??? who spends half the day in bed meticulously adjusting her face paint and having long conversations with guests while her live-in assistant Marlene (Irm Hermann) finishes her sketches. Petra is addict-thin and a bit mannish; in the film???s first act of three (all of which take place entirely in Petra’s stifling apartment), she hides her own thin hair under a wig that???s very late-Judy Garland. Marlene has Dietrich hair and a Deitrich air, but with the face of a Marion Davies or a Clara Bow. She???s obviously slumming??????she???s obviously inherently too good for housework??????and from the first scene, it???s obvious that she???s chosen to be here instead of somewhere better, because there???s something about the power balance between her and Petra that Marlene likes.

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