The News: Bibi Redux - Live From Brooklyn

By S.T. VanAirsdale

Some of today's movie news of note form around New York:

--You may be watching the clock in anticipation of a four-day weekend or maybe even praying silently for an early dismissal from the office (OK, who am I kidding; Reeler readership skews "freelance" to "unemployed"), but it's not like the world stops just because a few million turkeys got offed. No way -- when Bibi Andersson comes to town, for example, it's fucking news. And when Dan Callahan covers her recent BAM appearance for The House Next Door, it's news you can use: "Just turned 30, adrift in uncertainty, a fan, a guilty explorer of sexual pleasure. Andersson’s Alma is all these things and much more. She is also Bibi Andersson confronting her own limitations and being stripped bare of all her former happiness and optimism. Bergman offers her an actresses' triumph in return for this sacrifice."

--Ray Pride passes along a fantastic Weinstein Co. press release about the Bob Dylan primer "liner notes" available to uninitiated viewers of I'm Not There. "The articles selected for the notes will help audiences unlock some of the secrets in the film and enable them to enjoy it in a unique and special way," said TWC marketing boss Gary Faber. "Secrets in the film"? Yikes. When you're explaining a Todd Haynes film the way you might qualify something by M. Night Shyamalan, it might be time for Harvey to get his scissors.

--Nathaniel R. has some feedback at The Film Experience about Kim Peirce's new film Stop-Loss, from a test screening of which a reader sent in some notes. In a nutshell: Ryan Phillipe will not win that Witherspoon-equalizing Oscar, but it's a "major achievement."

--I should have mentioned this earlier, but while Spout Blog proprietress and Friend of The Reeler Karina Longworth is on vacation, a couple of other savvy, New York-based Reeler pals -- pinch-hitter extraordinaire Pamela Cohn and regular contributor Christopher Campbell -- are taking over. If your "boss" isn't letting go, you might as well pay them a visit.

Posted at November 21, 2007 12:02 PM