SIN-E-FILE (Hash)

-Was "away" for a while. Sometimes that is not a bad thing.

-Funny People should've been called "Slightly amusing 2-dimensionals".

-In the new book Action!: Interviews with directors from classic Hollywood to Contemporary Iran, regarding Manderlay, Lars Von Trier says:

"If I were to criticize this film, it is that it is too smart. Story-wise everything fits too well. It's superficial in that sense. I blame myself for doing things for the smartness of it, instead of for what I really feel. It's not the kind of director I want to be."

He may have touched on something I was having such a hard time articulating lately. Most modern filmmakers wouldn't beat themselves up for doing something for the "smartness of it". If anything, they would be proud of it. As a result, we have superficial "smartness". I would rather see failed sentiment. But for some odd reason, "smartness" is often knee-jerkingly championed. We need to demand more from our artists.

-Bujalski's Beeswax opens at Film Forum Friday. Let's hope he continues his careering away from "smartness".

-Peter Rinaldi