day-after-trinity.jpgThere’s a fine piece in Jonathan Lapper’s Cinema Styles on The Day After Trinity, a 1980 documentary on the Manhattan Project. Jonathan writes

“What sets The Day After Trinity apart from most if not all documentaries on the nuclear age is the attitudes, the mannerisms and the odd behavior on display by all the participants, recording history by eyewitnesses before they die, setting itself up as a vital record to be studied not just cinematically but sociologically for the years ahead.”

Jonathan has composed a trailer that captures the tone of the doc; though it lasts but three minutes, you can catch the central tension within the scientists between shame at the horrors they wrought and the joy of scientific discovery.

It’s Sundance time again, when Park City Utah becomes overrun by the famous and near-famous, all bent on seeing and schmoozing and being-seen. In a preview at MSN Movies, Gregory Ellwood writes that

“Unlike the past two years, the 2008 edition promises to feature more audience-friendly, star-driven flicks than ever. Still, the socially conscious festival committee is no doubt concerned about the continuing influx of B- and C-level celebrities (i.e., Shannen Doherty) who descend upon Park City, Utah, and distract from all the “serious” filmmaking by crashing free gifting suites and underwhelming parties. But with television production at a standstill and few movies in production because of the Writers Guild of America strike, you can expect even more questionable attendees to make the trek out of sheer boredom (Jeremy Piven, welcome!).

I have only one comment: what’s wrong with Jeremy Piven? He positively rules on Entourage . . .

Finally, as you might not have noticed, it’s all over but the shoutin’ on the HD DVD vs Blu-ray front, with Blu-ray seeming to emerge triumphant. What’s that you say? You don’t care? You’re not alone . . . and Jim Emerson gives several reasons why. (Be sure to watch the hilarious video embedded in his post or at YouTube).

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