Scarlett, Javier, Penelope

A good friend reviews Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Vicky Cristina Barcelona is beautiful because Allen is now decidedly in control of this phase of his career, which blends the sharpness of his older dramas with a newly acquired expatriate hipness.

Capturing (and detaining) the American Teen

A good friend of mine wrote a long, ponderous, didactic think piece on the new documentary American Teen and its place in both fiction and non-fiction films about high school. You can read the article here or -- if you hate clicking through "pages" of an online story -- here. It's a tad term-paperish, but it's dense with ideas. Try to stick with it til the end.

Wherein I talk about the state of things, and what comes next

Blog was tottering toward an identity crisis before I went on my recent Adventure. I had moved out of my seven-movies-a-week phase, had barely a lick of anything to write about, was going to miss the Oscar season (the only aspect of reality on which I feel cognitively qualified to comment) and didn't have the time or wherewithal to steer Blog toward providing insight, amusement or self-satisfaction — the only goals I had for it when I started it three years ago, on the 32nd floor of a 'scraper at 52nd and Broadway. Blog was founded on the principle of No One Cares about the Personal Lives of Errant Websurfers; I commissioned myself to write solely about movies; if I was to talk about my personal life, it would be refracted through movies; in short, this Blog would not be about me; over these same three years I also developed a strange lust for semi-colons, even though Kurt Vonnegut said not to use them, that they are "transvestite hermaphrodites, standing for absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college."

I have been to college, and I regret going. I was too young, too stupid and could've benefited from some real-world experience before hitting the books. Also, Vonnegut is overrated.

Anyway, my point: Blog will continue, but it must evolve. Into what? Maybe something more personal, even though I've put dual restraints on myself by maintaining relative anonymity while still revealing Blog to people I know and love. Censorship on both fronts. Whatever. Blog will continue. Please, if you care to, leave something in the comments: a recommendation, a suggestion, an explanation of why you come here to read, or simply a "hi there how are ya."

Upcoming topics as I get back into the swing of things: a quick recap of the Adventure, thoughts on what it means to live 42 days without Internet and TV and news, an outsider's view of a missed Oscar season, belated reactions to the deaths of Heath Ledger and Roy Scheider, and thoughts on the movies I saw on the ship (which I never would've seen anywhere else).

Ethan Hawke: Love in the time of claptrap

A good friend of mine reviews Hawke's The Hottest State, unfortunately now out on DVD.

Terror's Advocate: A Fiend of the Court

An article from Telluride on Barbet Schroeder's tough new documentary.

I wanna be loved by you. Just you. (And nobody else but you.)

I've resisted the urge to do this before, but The Great Mofo Delurk provides a legitimate excuse (thanks to Middento for the alert). If you read this blog, please identify yourself in the comments. You don't have to give your real name. Just say hi. Say anything. Praise. Criticize. Suggest. Thank you. (My temporary hiatus continues, but feel free to sustain yourself with any of the sidebar delectables, including my award-winning Triple Crowners series.)

Big booms and back pain

A blurb and a PDF graphic that charts the "health" of aging action stars Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Harrison Ford and Sylvestor Stallone (all are returning to their signature franchises in the next year to try to defibrillate their careers).

Speaking of Nicolas Cage

A (Chareth?) cute story about being an extra on the set of National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Packaged with the story are profiles and clips of background actors and an amusing diary of the reporter's two days of thankless work.

Weary of considerations

I'm busy. Too busy for blog. Instead of reading this, you should read this and this. The first is a grand writing experiment, from both a humanistic and journalistic perspective. The second is one of the finest pieces of breaking-news journalism I've ever read. It is stunning and heart-stopping and fills me with pride to be working in the same building as the author and the people who helped him build this masterpiece.

A great little piece by a writer I admire