The News: That's One Way to Boost Redacted

Even Sarah Michelle Gellar can't sway an honest man to like Southland Tales (Photo: Samuel Goldwyn Films)

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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

--Meyer Gottlieb has enough mixed Southland Tales reviews on his hands without having to mind this weekend's competition. But that didn't stop the Samuel Goldwyn Films president from going all Johnnie Cochran on Jeff Reichert, the Magnolia Films marketing honcho whose moonlighting critical gig at Reverse Shot apparently compromises his perspective on Richard Kelly's spectacular widescreen abortion. "Mr. Reichert cannot be viewed as an independent critic, especially since his responsibilities include the overall release strategy and positioning of films that are in direct competition with Southland Tales for publicity, advertising, screens and box office," Gottlieb wrote in a letter published last night on indieWIRE. OK, fine. So what's Todd McCarthy's excuse?

--"(T)here's an unintended casualty in the Great Hollywood War of 2007: independent filmmaking," reports Anthony Kaufman in this week's Village Voice. Of course, as Kaufman lamented only months ago, there are too many films, so it should all even out, right? Or is one of us oversimplifying things?

--Among the week's releases that nobody will likely regret, smack or whine about: Monika, the early Bergman classic finally re-emerging at IFC Center with a pristine new print. And nobody puts its glories better than Manohla Dargis.

Posted at November 14, 2007 10:31 AM