Now On Deck: Reeler Pinch Hitters

Around this time last year, I decided I need a little bit a of a break. But I couldn't bear the thought of walking away and leaving The Reeler unattended with the lights out for an entire week. So I recruited some friends, colleagues, filmmakers, critics and generally smart and interesting people to step in and take over. The five days of comment that followed -- comprising filmmakers Bill Plympton and Joe Swanberg, Museum of the Moving Image curator David Schwartz, Cinekink founder Lisa Vandever, Art Fag City blogger Paddy Johnson, AV Club critic Noel Murray and this site's eventual Ranter Emeritus, Lewis Beale, among many others -- became one of the most popular weeks we've ever had on the site.

So here we go again with the Reeler Pinch Hitters. Look for sustained standing-in of only the highest caliber through Aug. 20, when I shall return to my station bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for a whole new fall movie season. Now, as my elementary-school principal used to tell me between slaps, "Be nice to the substitutes and do whatever they say." I will catch you around. -- S.T. VanAirsdale

Posted at August 2, 2007 12:54 AM