Links and Habits

All right: here is a new scheme, unlikely to get very far, but worth trying - tossing up posts of links every day or so. Another attempt to trick myself into posting more often, and more interactively.

Here's one - Edward Copeland on "nails on chalkboard" actors and actresses. I name Renee Zellweger. (The post linked from The House Next Door's invaluable links for the day, which this post is in no way* imitating.)

From a couple days ago, The Little Round-headed Boy offers up a list of choices for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That's always a fun topic, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - trying to figure out what criteria they have for admission, and why anyone, including me, should pretend to care. I may have to come back to this. My short answer - that unless they put Kiss and Pere Ubu in, it is worthless, or at best completely arbitrary - may or may not suffice.

Dennis Cozzalio, meanwhile, runs through the responses to his last mid-term film quiz, in anticipation of a new one. And adds a word or two to the latest round of Death of Film hand-wringing - and links to Kristin Thompson's rather exhaustive debunking.

And the Bordwell blog, as usual, is full of stuff: Bordwell's post (from almost a week ago now) on the working of suspense and why spoilers don't spoil anything is particularly fascinating. Another subject I hope to come back to....

Finally - there are five million posts about politics I could link too: most related to the US Attorney Purge and the adventures of Alberto Gonzalez. Talking Points Memo has been on this the most, so I'll point there. And maybe to this comment by Ezra Klein about "Bush's Razor" - "Given a possible universe of explanations for a particular administration action, the most morally pessimistic and politically cynical will inevitably be proven correct." The happy days of Reagan's dilemma (is he an idiot or a villain?) seem to be gone: Bush's administration, consistently, manages to be both - hatching nefarious schemes that they botch....

* This sentence will make more sense if you replace the words "in no way" with the word "shamelessly".