Hastily organized update

* Da Weekly. Only Rep this go-around, with the only powerhouse screenings being Ron Fricke's Baraka and a showing of The Passion of Joan of Arc accompanied by the Voices of Light score found on the Criterion disc. Next week has a review of the inert Italian period piece The Voyage Home, words on Red Scare movies (including Godard's 1970 British Sounds), and still more words on Ousmane Sembene's old school comedy The Money Order, which is almost the equal of Xala on the Sembene front.

* Hitchhiker's. First review out of the gates: Winter. Not so hot sounding; fearing geek recriminations; doubly fearing a culture where the source is less respected. At least she says nice things about Mos Def, a casting stunt that has always made me leery. Then again, so did the casting of Sam Rockwell and Zooey Deschanel, two non-Brits reciting some of the most British lines not written by Pythons, Wilde, or Wodehouse. Most disastrous sounding development? Sacharrine love between Arthur and Trillion. Truly wtf? of the highest order.

* Primer, and the deciphering thereof. It will happen. One viewing down, infinite more to come, perhaps with excessive note-taking. Even scanned the first commentary track (by Shane Carruth), which was mostly concerned with production, and by "mostly" I mean 95%. (Still helpful in a different respect and expanded my respect for Carruth. This has to be the first movie in five years that has made me want to run out and make a movie myself.) As for the second commentary track, featuring Carruth and a round table of participants -- far too chummy and not too illuminating. In fact, I'm listening to it as I type this.

* Stephen Chow. Amazing. Elaborations en route.