The Fifth Annual Oxford [Mississippi] Film Festival has announced its 2008 schedule. There are almost 90 films , many with strong Southern interest. Categories include documentary short and feature, narrative short and feature,oxford-logo-1.jpg Mississippi film, animated short and children’s film, as well workshops on such topics as children’s film making, financing and casting. Oxford is a lovely town in Northern Mississippi that’s home to Ole Miss University and William Faulkner’s estate Rowan Oak. The town is centered on a picture-postcard courthouse square, with the regionally-known Square Books providing literary and cultural oomph. If you’re in the neighborhood, you could do worse than spend a few days taking in some flicks in the other Oxford.

For the trivia- and factoid-lover in us all, Ben Schott compiles almanacs. His Schott’s Almanac is published annually in three different editions: one in America, one in Britain and one in Germany. Each has different content, tailored for the locale, and one for Germany is, of course, in German. Check out sample pages here (click on the little flags for the different editions).

Dennis Cozzalio at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule (is that the coolest name for a blog, or what?) has written this piece about the joys of Flash Gordon, by way of introducing a series of YouTube videos co-starring its screenwriter, Alonzo Semple, Jr. They are a hoot, as is Mr. Cozzalio’s round-a-bout way of getting to them in his piece.

Peet Gelderblom’s witty comic strip, Directorama, is up. This week, we see an existential crisis by a certain bespectacled director . . . you can get to the strip through Peet’s blog or at it’s host, The House Next Door.

Finally, Jim Emerson is back from his illness over at his blog, Scanners. Check out his entertaining round-table discussion about No Country for Old Men with Elvis Mitchell, Glenn Kenney and others. Glad you’re back, Jim.