The News: Cinemopera. Or Something.

(Photo: NY Times)

By S.T. VanAirsdale

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

--Anthony Tommasini spent another night at the opera recently -- both live and on screen, he writes in today's Times. And for all the obvious advantages, disadvantages and disparities between the Met's performances and what's revealed in its high-def broadcasts circulated to 600 theaters worldwide (including on New Year's Day at the Walter Reade Theater), the phenomenon compels important questions: "Will newcomers to the form who attend these screenings be inspired to go to the opera house and hear the real thing, that is, to hear wondrous operatic voices in a natural acoustic? After experiencing Hansel and Gretel so intimately that you could see Ms. Coote’s teeth coated with rich chocolate fudge cake, will seeing the same production from the Family Circle at the Met just make everything seem too flat and far away?" Moroever: Why would I watch this at the Walter Reade if I can see it live next door? Did I miss something?

--Be warned: Karina Longworth has had it up to her horn-rimmed specs with they who fall for Fox Searchlight's aggressive positioning of Juno as an upstart underdog.

--Two news roundups in 2008, and two Nathan Lee mentions: first for yesterday's showstopping Top 10; and this time for his Slate movie club meltdown: "I know I'm not the only one among us who loathes The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, aka My Left Eyelid, aka Awakenings for the smart set. ... I'd dis the thing myself, but I'd probably have to watch it again to do so properly, and we all have our limits -- mine came about two minutes into the interminable, pretentious, Brakhage-for-dummies POV shtick at the outset of Butterfly." The fallout among commenters at Hollywood Elsewhere is even more radioactive (and entertaining) than the explosion.

--As it did with props and artifacts from his previous film The Science of Sleep, Deitch Projects will host an interactive exhibition tied to director Michel Gondry's upcoming Be Kind Rewind. Swede! (Sorry.) [H/T: Vulture]

--Today's blast from the past, courtesy of Talking Moviezzz: The Park is Mine, a decidedly unclassic 1986 actioner featuring Tommy Lee Jones as a disgruntled Vietnam vet who takes over Central Park: "They send in a Green Beret, as well as a (I’m serious) Viet Cong soldier. I swear!! They fly in a Viet Cong soldier to get a Viet Nam vet!! It is that kind of film." Of course it's out of print -- tease!

Posted at January 3, 2008 12:08 PM