Ellipses

My friend Dez writes a funny and moving post about the last ten years, a very eventful decade for him. . . . My friend Kraig starts a new weekly feature (Trailer Tuesday) by showcasing a truly goofy-looking movie about three people stuck on a ski lift. . . . A funny, crazy short animated film by Terry Gilliam from 1968, a year before his animation graced Monty Python’s Flying Circus. . . . David Hepworth offers the most eclectic year-end playlist that I’ve seen. And I’m always happy to hear of a new version of “That’s How I Got to Memphis.” Great song. . . . Norm Geras asks how we’ll treat robots when they exhibit all external signs of consciousness. It’s a good question. . . . Roger Ebert interviews Matthew Dessem—whose great site, The Criterion Contraption, has long been on my blogroll. Dessem: “My absolute favorite commentary track on any Criterion title so far is the one with NASA consultant Dr. Joe Allen and asteroid consultant Ivan Bekey (as well as the cinematographer, Joe Schwartzman) talking about Armageddon. It's basically two-and-a-half hours of these guys saying, over and over again, ‘We told Michael Bay that this scene was completely scientifically inaccurate, but he went ahead and did it anyway.’ ”