Critical Mass Film House

Turn up the dial, it's time for Fahrenheit 9/11: The Bush Legacy. Michael Moore is set to crank out a 2009 follow-up to the doc that rocked the White House.

Hopefully this time we'll be able to view his commentary a few steps farther from tyranny.

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Check out the teaser for the upcoming film Tôkyô! by three non-Japanese directors: Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind), Bong Joon Ho (The Host) & Leos Carax.

OK, the teaser tells us nothing, but I'm still strapping in for a good time.

(If anyone knows how to cheat & translate the page...)

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Do you remember when the world was fused as one? Hopefully not, but today you can experience that feeling as the globe becomes united by film for Pangea Day.

Broadcast in seven languages over as many continents (well, almost), movies provide a connection. Give -- watch -- be happy.

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Warner Bros. has put the locks on Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures.

The "specialty" divisions have presented great films such as Picturehouse's La Vie en Rose, Pan's Labyrinth and the upcoming Mongol, and WIP's The Painted Veil, A Very Long Engagement and Paradise Now.

Good riddance. Mindless schlock is where it's at.

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Turner Classic Movies (TCM) digs deep into the vault with their Lost and Found series, dedicated to presenting restorations of films which represent important stepping stones in cinematic history.

On April 27, the series recognizes Abel Gance, the French director who inspired generations of filmmakers. An innovator of unquestionable talent, his mechanics and editing techniques were revolutionary in the early 1900s and almost shocking when rediscovered in the 1950s.

The tribute begins with the 1968 documentary, Abel Gance: The Charm of Dynamite, directed by Kevin Brownlow, the film historian who would restore Gance's masterpiece, Napoléon, in 1981. By reviewing the impressive use of rapid cutting, split screens and multiple screens (why use one screen when you can use three, as displayed by his triptych predecessor to American CinemaScope), his drive for perfection was matched only by his inventive resourcefulness.

The documentary samples original clips of the silent films J'accuse and La Roue, which make Sunday's world premiere of the digital restorations of both films all the more striking.

When Gance was sent to the army, they did not know what to do with the playwright and ultimately gave him the assignment of documenting World War I on film. After numerous friends died on the war front, Gance boldly chose to emphasize the folly of war in the 1919 film, J'accuse (I Accuse). He prophetically used actual French and American soldiers to portray a March of the Dead, 80 percent of whom he claimed ultimately perished in the war.

Nearly 90 years later the film looks clear and beautiful – a testament not only to the work of the Parisian Lobster Film Studios and the Netherlands Filmmuseum for their digital restoration but also to Gance himself. Subtly utilizing tricks that may seem simple now, such as overlapping frames to create ghostly characters and dancing skeletons (preceding Jason and the Argonauts by 44 years), the techniques never distract from the story. Gance carefully unfolds the love triangle enveloped by war in three parts over as many hours and packs an anti-war punch in the process as families lose fathers and husbands and those who survive are dramatically changed by the process.

Gance's 1923 film, La Roue (The Wheel), was inspired by the lost love of his life, and the filming schedule was dependent on time not spent caring for his sick sweetheart. Set the DVR, because this film (also restored by Lobster Film Studios) clocks in at four hours, but like the former film the tragic love story is worth the time taken to appreciate it.

TCM presents an era in film history that should not be forgotten and a rare chance to witness the early steps in creative cinema that are anything but amateur.

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Because Americans hate subtitles, Paris, je t’aime has been reworked as New York, I Love You. Instead of the 20 arrondissements of the city of love (18 filmed), NYILY will dig into the five boroughs of the city o' big apple (divvied up 12 ways).

Instead of the Coen Bros., Walter Salles and Tom Tykwer, the new film will include shorts by Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman and Brett Ratner. Hmm.

NYILY directors:
Yvan Attal (My Wife Is an Actress), Allen Hughes (Dead Presidents), Shunji Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou), Wen Jiang (In the Heat of the Sun), Scarlett Johansson (debut), Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace), Mira Nair (The Namesake), Natalie Portman (debut), Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return), Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven) and Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)

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Known for roles that range from cruel candyman to nebbish accountant to mad scientist, few actors hold such a place of honor in the comic hall of fame than Gene Wilder. Surprisingly, the 74-year-old actor has only starred in 22 feature films, but his characters remain some of the most memorable.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) premieres the special program, "Role Model: Gene Wilder," on Tuesday. For the tribute, Alec Baldwin conducts an intimate conversation with his acting hero while wandering the grounds of the Waveny house in Wilder's home state of Connecticut, his home far away from Hollywood.

The two delve into Wilder's Hollywood history, which exploded when he joined Mel Brooks' merry band of spoofers. The tribute coincides with the 40th anniversary of Wilder's Oscar nominated collaboration with Brooks in The Producers. This relationship would spur two other comic classics, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, which would inspire a generation of quote-ready fans.

Wilder is a thoughtful and open interviewee, and as Baldwin slips in comparisons from his own career, his knowledge of behind-the-scenes Hollywood helps to create an easy dialogue. They discuss Wilder's break from stage to screen to directing, his inspirations, his manic balance between over the top characters and those who require a bit more confidence, and the relationships that occurred off screen. Baldwin gently discusses Wilder's famous marriage to the late comic actress Gilda Radner, which Wilder quietly reviews before gushing over his present 16 year marriage with wife Karen Boyer.

The Wilder mini-fest begins on TCM on Tuesday with "Role Model" followed by Wilder's films The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Start the Revolution without Me.

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