How was your weekend?

• From the "Shows I'm Not Watching" File: Rolling Stone reports "Henry Rollins is set to host a monthly Independent Film Channel show in which the hard-rocker-turned-actor will share his special brand of movie commentary. In the December 4th pilot episode, Rollins welcomes porn stars to chat with him about 1997's Boogie Nights." Way to go IFC. After Henry's insightful and witty commentary on all those VH1 talking-head shows, this is gonna be magical.
  
  
• Did everyone go see The Incredibles? The Pixar streak of brilliance continues. I would say it shows no sign of letting up, but then I saw the teaser for next year's Cars. Ouch. Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt and Larry the Cable Guy in a NASCAR quest? sigh.
  
  
• Fleshbot has an item about Virtual Hotties-- "the interactive sex simulator that gives the term 'first person shooter' a whole new meaning"--and their new celebrity feature. Holy shit. You have to check out this screen capture of "Britney Steers." It kinda looks like Brit Brit (only way more fetal alcohol syndromey)... but will someone tell me what's going on in this game? Looks kinda comp-li-cated.
  
  
• Did Mischa lose an arm?
  
  
• Best. Picture. Ever. (Well, maybe not ever... But great nonetheless...)
  
  
• An essay on Strawberry Milk.
  
  
• AZT break: Rosario Dawson has been cast in Chris Columbus' movie-musical version of Rent. The rest of the cast is going to be filled with (the now 30something) original Broadway actors. I think they are actively trying to make the worst movie ever.
  
  
• The award season is gearing up and more and more "for your consideration" ads are popping up in the trades. Normally DreamWorks is a paragon of class in this field, but I gotta question the wisdom of pulling this quote from Jeffery Wells (he of moviepoopshoot.com) for a Collateral ad. The blurb begins: "I love guy movies that are really smart and have awesome sounding gunshots, and at once feel familiar, fresh, and adventurous..." (It goes on in a similar vein.) Yes, this ad is asking you to consider the film for best sound and sound effects editing.... but is that lumpy quote from moviepoopshoot.com what you want selling the movie? Yeesh.
  
  
• As reported by the New York Times (and noted by the Cinetrix) the world now has Spark Notes. "What the Devil are Spark Notes?" you ask. Well, Dear Reader, should you be too busy/lazy to watch a movie for your film course or you need to some help navigating tricky plot points, Spark Notes are there to help. They're the cinematic Cliffs Notes! Check out this illuminating excerpt from the "motifs" section in the Spark Notes on Annie Hall: "Fundamentally, the film is a comedy and therefore intended to induce laughter; indeed, at its most basic level, it is simply a number of brief comic sketches pieced together." Makes it all so much clearer, doesn't it?