The News: All-Positive Friday!

(Photo illustration: D. Fith)

By S.T. VanAirsdale

As per tradition, some of today's more upbeat movie news of note from around New York:

--As I mentioned last week in The Village Voice, New York cinema is not New York cinema without Harvey Weinstein raising some kind of hell. Perhaps we shared resolutions for his resurrection in 2008: With his Great Debaters doing reasonably well in theaters, Harvey coaxed an interim agreement from the WGA that exempts the Weinstein Company from the ongoing work stoppage. "We need to get people back to work," Harvey told The Times's Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes, adding eventually that "he felt an obligation to help break the logjam that has shut down much of the entertainment industry." First up: Rob Marshall's musical Nine! Now this is the saint we've been missing all this time. Welcome back, Harv.

--If Erik Childress's annual Blurb Whore Awards are a tad too obsessive-compulsive for you, try the milder, funnier version at Variety: Timothy Gray's "Critical Honor Roll for 2007" unsparingly resumes his own tradition with both unilaterally easy targets (e.g. Shawn Edwards, Pete Hammond) and a few unexpected notables like David Edelstein, Wesley Morris and Lou Lumenick.

--In a stirring message to fans and haters alike, In the Name of the King director Uwe Boll wants you to keep the faith about his little movie opening this weekend in New York. If I leave it at that, this is a positive news item. [H/T: Movie City Indie]

--Speaking of hacks, Jon Avnet wants you to know that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are fantastic together in his upcoming film Righteous Kill. If you don't believe him, just ask him: "When you say they're good, it's not like they're doing Shakespeare, they're playing New York City detectives; they are as New York as it gets. De Niro and Pacino the way you want to see them." The way you want to see them, that is, if you let someone borrow your Heat DVD, but still. I'm sold.

Posted at January 11, 2008 7:01 AM