The Chutry Experiment

Doing a little procrastinating as I get ready for spring semester.  I only have two preps this semester (Intro to Film and Freshman composition), so I should be able to put together my syllabi fairly quickly.  I am doing some reading for a second article on online campaign videos (prezvids?) and some reading on documentary, so hopefully will have something substantial here later today.  But here’s a roundup of my morning coffee reads:

• Weepingsam at the Listening Ear has a roundup of the year’s first few blogathons.  I keep promising myself that I’ll participate in more blogathons and never seem to find the time, but the “opening credits” blogathons sounds especially interesting, particularly the discussion of Psycho and Saul Bass in general.
• Alessanrda Stanley explains why Letterman is so much cooler than Leno.   Letterman’s Top 10 and monologue helped to contextualize the demands of the WGA and provided a reminder of the importance of good television writing.  I flipped briefly over to Leno during commercials and the show was pretty much a train wreck.
•  A.J. Schnack lists his favorite non-fiction films of 2007, many of which I’m dying to see.  While I’m thinking about it, the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, where a number of these films played last year, is just a few months away.
• Karina has a pointer to the announcement that Netflix is finally releasing its set-top box that will allow viewers to play movies on TV directly from the internet.  The Hollywood Reporter article emphasizes that the box will sell for $800 and will be marketed primarily to households with high-def TVs.
•  ObamaGirl has a new video prominently featuring a Rocky theme just in time for the Iowa Caucuses.  Oddly, so does John Edwards.