Posted 11:53 AM by Blah blah

Hollyblog: Are movie bloggers part of weblogging's natural evolution, or just a sign that another cool Net thing has been co-opted? (Salon.com) Oh wow! The girl who's writing this movie blog mentioned, a record of the making of the film I Love Your Work, is one of our Bay Area bloggers: Helen Jane! She participated in Ernie's Blind Date Blog and was MY favorite from there. She's very cool. Helen Jane actually gets PAID to write this movie blog. She got the offer last year.

Another thing: this movie is being produced by Josh, head of an indie film company called Cyan Pictures (also a blog). Josh is a 23/24 year old wunderkind from Yale who also was a player in Blind Date Blog. Ah, I see how Helen Jane got the job!

The Pianist Wins Best Film & Best Director in Both Britain AND France!

The Pianist Wins at British Film Awards (AP)!

The Pianist, Roman Polanski's searing film about a young Polish musician's fight for survival during the Holocaust, won best film Sunday at the British Academy Film Awards. Polanski also took best director....

Polanski, the Paris-born Polish director, was a mighty presence at the ceremony even in his absence. The film's American star, Adrien Brody, accepted the best director prize on Polanski's behalf, saying he was "brilliant filmmaker ... (who) over time has had an enormous amount of loss in his life."

A child of the Holocaust, Polanski, 69, later suffered the murder of first wife Sharon Tate in 1969.

"I appreciate you, Roman," Brody said, "and you deserve this."

The Pianist also won seven Cesar awards in France, including best film and best director, on Saturday. [The film also won Best Actor for Adrien Brody.]

Didn't I tell you it was the best movie of 2002? *Blows knuckles* Next mountain to climb: The Oscars!

What makes the win for Roman Polanski even more laden with soap opera meaning is that Polanski is in exile from the United States. He fled to Paris in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13 year old girl, which is a felony. If he ever sets foot back in the U.S., any policeman could arrest him for sentencing in Los Angeles. Sad that a great director like him has had this Sword of Damocles hanging over his head for 25 years. The Pianist was my first Polanski film, and I adored it. I think people should view his work completely separate from his personal life. The victim, "Samantha Geimer...dropped a civil suit filed against Polanski in 1990. Geimer told the Times of London in 1997 that she believed the filmmaker should be pardoned."

Polanski Victim Speaks Out on His Behalf (AP)

So The Pianist incorporates not only Wladyslaw Spzilman's drama, but Polanski's personal struggle with his demons as well. Watch it or suffer the wrath of Raymond.
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ARRRGH! I am really fed up with Blogspot recently. I can't get my archives page to publish properly for the last two weeks, and sometimes it goes to a error page when I try to reach my archives. For two weeks I have no archives, and then I tried changing the setting from weekly to monthly. After setting MONTHLY archives, I finally got my WEEKLY archives back. Are any of you having the same problems? C'mon Evan, give us some news on what's going on, at least.