I had no idea that J.D. Salinger was still alive but apparently he's turning 90 on Thursday and has been living in total seclusion in New Hampshire for more then 40 years. Enjoy, via the New York Times.
America's Test Kitchen is by far the best show on television. Hopefully your PBS affiliate picks it up. This video's a collection of "funniest moments" noteworthy mostly for the glimpses of sexual chemistry between Christopher Kimball and Bridget Lancaster.
Highly recommended; Jane Campion's debut feature Sweetie.
Jonathan Rosenbaum writes:
Those lucky enough to have seen Jane Campion's eccentric and engaging shorts had reason to expect her first feature to be a breakthrough for the Australian cinema. But nothing prepared one for the freshness and weirdness of this 1989 black comedy about two sisters (Genevieve Lemon and Karen Colston) locked in a deadly struggle. Practically every shot is unorthodox, unexpected, and poetically right, and the swerves of the plot are simultaneously smooth, logical, and so bizarre you'll probably wind up pondering them days later. The mad behavior of both sisters may make you squirm, and there are plenty of other things in this picture--including the other characters--to make you feel unbalanced, but Campion does so many beautiful, funny, and surprising things with our disquiet that you're likely to come out of this movie seeing the world quite differently.
Watch the trailer here. This movie reminded me somewhat, in terms of its wonderfully strange tone, of Hal Hartley's underseen Trust.
Via Under Consideration; a review of the Best & Worst Logo Redesigns of 2008.
Some short handmade animation from paper artist Jen Stark. Via BOOOOOOOM!
My favorite films of 2008 (notably absent - the incredibly overrated and downright annoying Rachel Getting Married):
1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, dir. Cristian Mungiu
2. Paranoid Park, dir. Gus Van Sant
3. Happy-Go-Lucky, dir. Mike Leigh
4. Encounters at the End of the World, dir. Werner Herzog
5. Man on Wire, dir. James Marsh
6. A Christmas Tale, dir. Arnaud Desplechin
7. Milk, dir. Gus Van Sant
8. Wall-E, dir. Andrew Stanton
9. Step Brothers, dir. Adam McKay
10. Synechdoche, New York, dir. Charlie Kaufman
Near miss: Burn After Reading.
Films I haven't seen that might've counted: Che, Doubt, Frozen River, W., The Wrestler, My Winnipeg.
You've probably seen this already (nearing 2 million YouTube views). Still totally impressive.
Via Liam's always astute Pop Gunning, some legit hilarity as first seen (?) on The Tom Green Show.
