Unfortunately, in the Great Wheel of Karma that is Hollywood, this means we'll have to endure a third Harold and Kumar movie. The law of diminishing returns means that, after the pleasant and funny first movie and the awful and bad second movie, this third film will pulverize its viewers' eyeballs to liquid. As long as I get to see RoboCop before that happens, that'll be just fine.

Clearly this fact makes me some kind of butthole, but until last night at the Central Cinema, I'd never seen Raising Arizona all the way through.

How this was allowed to happen? I'm a humongous Coen Brothers fan, having seen Fargo—AKA the greatest American movie not about the mob ever made—at least 150 times. But at the time of Raising Arizona's release—1987—I required Great Movies to be awash in seriousness. (For me, this was the time of Hannah and Her Sisters (featuring full frames of e.e. cummings quotes), Room with a View (my first Merchant-Ivory swoonfest), and Blue Velvet (severed ears, sexy rape, and symbolism for beginners!).) During this phase, Raising Arizona was too goofy, with too many close-ups of ugly men hollering and chewing with their mouths open, for my taste.

But encountering it now—dear God that's a good, weird movie. Holly Hunter's subject line-engendering sob attack remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and all of the ugliness that sent me running back in the day turned out to be part of a strange and glorious whole, once I took the time to watch it through to the end.

Coen brothers, please accept my apology. Everyone else, Raising Arizona continues through tomorrow night at Central Cinema, where they bring food and booze right to your seat.

In any case, Tor's blog announced that a Doc Savage movie could be nearing production. Granted, there's always a Doc Savage movie nearing production, but I'm feeling hopeful now, especially since Arnold Schwarzenegger probably isn't going to play Doc anytime soon. (For those who don't know, Doc Savage is an old pulp crime-fighting character who was an inspiration for characters like Superman. More info here.) Also, if there's a new Doc Savage movie, maybe there'll be a reissue of those old out of print Doc Savage novels. I've got probably 50 or 60 of the suckers, and I really want all 96.

It's getting published.

One New York minute after word spread that fans of the Sex and the City movie were logging onto Amazon.com in hopes of purchasing Love Letters of Great Men — the fake book highlighted in the film — publisher Pan MacMillan announced that on Aug. 15, they're planning to release a book with the same title in the U.K., to include "all of the letters referenced in the film."

I find it especially annoying that the one thing in the entire goddamned movie that wasn't a product placement is now officially a product.

Netflix is closing Red Envelope Entertainment, its film purchasing and distribution arm, because "...the Red Envelope Entertainment unit competed with its main suppliers, Hollywood studios."

This is a big bummer, actually. Two of the movies that Red Envelope produced, Sherrybaby (a movie about an irresponsible mom on parole starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Danny Trejo) and Confessions of a Superhero (a documentary about the people who dress up like superheroes and stand around Hollywood Boulevard taking pictures with tourists for tips) were among my favorites of the last few years. They had a distinctly un-big-studio pacing and sensibility that I'll genuinely miss.

Red Envelope also distributed that Helvetica movie that everyone went nuts about a few months ago, as well as a ton of other documentaries and little indie dramas. I hope that the employees responsible for these movies find work at other studios that let them produce more movies like this.

It's about a bunch of middle-aged, polar-fleece hippies being all self-empowered and stupid. Ha ha!

SF Signal doesn't like it because it has Uhura on it and not McCoy. Of course, SF Signal is run by a bunch of nerds. As for myself, I'm hoping that the come-here-and-I'll-either-kick-your-ass-or-fuck-you look on Chris Pine's Kirk, in the lower right hand corner, is an early sign that there'll be a whole lot of sex with aliens and fistfights in the new movie, because Kirk is always the best, and frequently the only, reason to watch Star Trek.

Sue Jones-Davies, who starred as Judith Iscariot in Monty Python's Life of Brian—and famous for this NSFW nude comedy scene—was recently elected mayor of Aberystwyth, Wales (population: 12,000).

One of her first acts of office? Trying to repeal the town's 30-year-ban on Life of Brian.

Via the Guardian.

Now that everyone has seen The Dark Knight--now that it has broken the record for top-grossing box-office weekend in U.S. history--can we talk about how excellent Heath Ledger is and how limp and drawn out most of the rest of it is?

Paul Constant, who I think agrees with me, writes in next week's Stranger Suggests:

The Dark Knight is not "the best movie ever," as many internet nerds have proclaimed. Nor is it even the best movie of the year. But it is truly a great movie, packed with excellent performances (Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart) and thrilling, non-CGI special effects. Plus, Batman! And 30 minutes of the thing were filmed with an IMAX-exclusive camera, which means that if you watch it on an IMAX screen (highly recommended--movie times here) you're in for some vertiginous eyegasms.

Here, briefly, are links to reviews of notable recent movies: WALL•E, The Wackness, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Monsieur Verdoux (damn, you missed it), Tell No One, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson, and Brick Lane (only at the Crest this week).

News:

indieWIRE has been sold to SnagFilms, an online documentary hub. More at GreenCine Daily.

After reading reviews of WALL•E (I thought no one did that anymore?), Barack Obama offers his own assessment.

Is the Weinstein Co. in trouble?

And Mara Manus is the new executive director of the rapidly expanding Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Opening this week (we like everything!):

Charles Mudede adores Alexandra ("Because the acting plays a very small role in Alexandra, the cinema is free to flourish").

Paul Constant reviews The Dark Knight ("Heath Ledger seems as though he's alternating roles in a dark love scene between Daffy Duck, Marlon Brando, and Hannibal Lecter. It's a riveting performance, and terrifying").

Jon Frosch writes about The Last Mistress ("If The Last Mistress hits harder than Catherine Breillat's previous, more sexually explicit work, it's in large part thanks to Asia Argento. The actress stalks, gnarls, gnashes, and vamps her way through the movie, yet it never seems like she's hamming it up; hers is one of the most vivid portrayals of lust that I've seen").

Lindy West actually likes Mamma Mia! ("Sparkling and earnest, hammy beyond all acceptable boundaries of ham, full of slow-motion leaping and young love—it's the movie equivalent of, well, ABBA. The cast rules: Meryl Streep is adorable; Pierce Brosnan sings (TERRIBLY) and stands on a cliff looking windswept in front of an Aegean sunset. Mamma Mia! entertained the shit out of me").

And Charles Mudede defends Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts ("You do not think of Philip Glass and see a human being, but, instead, you hear a type of sound, a tone, a tune, a movement that is beautiful, repetitive, and architectural. And so the first thing any film about Glass's music must do is reduce it to a human being").

For other limited run films and one-time events, including Last Year at Marienbad, Seattle Bike-In, and Planet of the Apes, see our movie times search. There's also a review of Space Chimps, if you must.

I'd call The Rundown a guilty pleasure, but there's nothing guilty about it. It's one of my favorite movies of the last ten years. The Rock is hired muscle sent into the jungle to pick up that douchebag Sean William Scott, who, in the casting move of the century, plays a douchebag. Christopher Walken gets all up in their respective faces.

Don't get me wrong; I was skeptical, too. And the movie shouldn't be as good as it is, but it all works, somehow. These disparate elements all came together into one of the most enjoyable action movies I think I've ever seen.

I was camping with friends a few weeks ago, and we were all drinking up a storm and somebody started talking about what movie we'd pick if we could only choose one movie to watch for the rest of our lives. I picked To Have and Have Not, but one of my friends paused, and said "I know this sounds stupid, but I think that I'd pick The Rundown, because I could watch it forever." And she was right. It is stupid, but it's also the perfect choice. I've seen this movie like seven times now, because it's perfect for everyone. It's funny and dumb and clever, too.

And its working title was Welcome to the Jungle, which is clearly a better title for the movie. The fact that The Rundown is titled The Rundown is the only flaw that can be found in this movie. Seriously. Go watch it.

...courtesy of The Incredible Shrinking Woman, the beloved Lily Tomlin comedy of 1981, which will be screened for free tonight in Cal Anderson Park, as part of Three Dollar Bill Cinema's Features from the Black Lagoon.

See you there. (I'll be the one sniffing Galaxy Glue.)

That said, Dr. Manhattan looks fucking awesome, and I will be there on opening weekend. Even if it was as bad as it could possibly be, it wouldn't ruin the comic book for me.

(Thanks to Slog Tipper Levi.)