Things you didn't know, or didn't want to know

[iainjclark]

The Coen brothers are to film Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. It's a novel I haven't read (although I plan to) but this strikes me a A Good Thing.

Val Kilmer is to be the voice of KITT in the new Knight Rider pilot movie, replacing Will Arnett who had to pull out. Val, Val, Val. Where is your career going? I want you to think seriously about this.

Thanks to white_hart asking and example22 telling, this incredibly nifty bit of freeware lets you rearrange the programs on your Windows taskbar. How anal awesome is that? Best gizmo ever. Now everything can be in the right order. Yes, there is a right order.

The American Film Institute is to honour the ten best films in ten genres: Animated, Fantasy, Gangster, Sci-Fi, Western, Sports, Mystery, Romantic Comedy, Courtroom Drama and Epic. Interesting set of genres for a start. You have to register (for free) on their website to see the fifty nominees in each genre, but I'm nice so here's the pdf. They won't release the results until a US TV special, presumably hosted by Jimmy Carr with a fake american accent.

"AFI defines “science fiction” as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation" they say, before including Independence Day in their nominations. There's a good mix of eras, though, and any list that includes The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, A Clockwork Orange, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has to be considered eclectic at the very least. It all means nothing, but it's interesting.

Comments

[abigail-n.livejournal.com]

Boy, the SF list is unimaginative. No Serenity, no Gattaca, no Primer, and those are just off the top of my head.

[iainjclark.livejournal.com]

I'm unclear how they came up with the nominations, especially given films like the aforementioned Independence Day! Seems generally quite populist, or at least mainstream in its selection. With only 50 nominations there are bound to be omissions, although I was pleasantly surprised by Eternal Sunshine and even Minority Report.