Links for the Day (March 31st, 2008)

1. "African American filmmakers who seek to be next in line": A feature by Greg Braxton forthe L.A. Times on the perceived effects of Tyler Perry's movies.

["In fact, Perry's popularity -- and the images he has presented, particularly Madea, the gun-toting, trash-talking grandmother portrayed by Perry wearing a dress and heavy makeup -- has ignited a debate among participants and observers of the black film scene. If Lee laid the groundwork for a diverse army of black creators, then Perry has had the opposite effect, according to several experienced and aspiring African American filmmakers who want to tell dramatic, personal stories with complexity, and without bawdy humor, broad characters or facile resolutions. They contend they are all dressed up with no place to show, all but shut out by studios who have embraced the Perry formula, as well as comedies such as "Who's Your Caddy?" or the youth-oriented frolics "You Got Served," "Stomp the Yard" and "How She Move.""]

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2. "Seeing Green": Sean Burns interviews David Gordon Green for Philadelphia Weekly, and finds he's something of a Seagalogist.

["”Dead serious. A friend and I just wrote this movie called One in the Chamber, which we want to use to start our own straight–to–DVD action franchise.” Though Green’s formidable art–cinema chops and close ties with Terence Malick give him the reputation of an aesthete, he’s got a not–so–secret love for cinematic junk food. In fact, when the mad genius Internet movie critic known only as Outlaw Vern self–published Seagalogy, a mind–blowingly comprehensive 327–page study of Steven Seagal’s films, David Gordon Green wrote the introduction. ”Huge fan,” he tells me. ”Okay, so I didn’t like Glimmer Man, and a couple of them aren’t my cup of tea, but I grew up watching B–Western serials with my dad, and it’s really the same kind of thing. You see the name, you know what you’re gonna get, you have a good time with it.” Yes, there’s even a One in the Chamber role he wrote with Seagal in mind. ”I might try to get him to be in it, just for the mythology of it. We’ll see what happens.”"]

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3. "Dith Pran, Killing Fields survivor, dead at 65": From The Baltimore Sun. More from The New York Times and a recent interview with Pran at The Star-Ledger.

["Word comes today that Dith has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 65. So he no longer walks among the living. It is sad that he is gone. But at least we are comforted by knowing that his death came not at the hands of the murderous Khmer Rouge but of nature's killing field."]

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4. "'I smoke weed all the damn time': Keith Richards": Fuck yeah, Keith! Your father's ashes approve.

["Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richards refuses to steer clear of drugs completely, admitting that he still smokes marijuana "all the damn time". The guitarist was addicted to heroin at the height of the legendary band's 1970s glory days. However, Richards confessed that his bad experiences with drugs haven't dissuaded him from upholding one last illegal vice. "I smoke my head off. I smoke weed all the damn time. There, you've got it. But that's my benign weed. That's all I take, that's all I do. But I do smoke and I've got some really good hash," The Sun quoted him, as saying."]

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5. "Over 100 Staffers Leave Newsweek": A Radar Online exclusive; among the writers leaving is senior film critic David Ansen.

["The staff of Newsweek will shrink dramatically, after 111 staffers on its news and business sides accepted a buyout last week. Among those leaving are some of the magazine's best-known, most-admired and longest-service critics, including David Gates, David Ansen and Cathleen McGuigan. Harold Shain, a former president of the magazine who moved over to sister publication Budget Travel at the beginning of this year, is also departing."]

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Quote of the Day: William Hutton

"The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation."

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): For my father: travel guru Rick Steves stands in front of the island abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, which he writes about in this CNN article.



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Clip of the Day: "The Worst Movie Scenes of All Time": Episode 1: On Deadly Ground

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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged.