THREE TIMES AND A BLOGROLL CALL

Shu Qi in Hou Hsiao-hsien's Three Times

It’s been a remarkably substance-free week here at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule, one of those periods of time when it feels like I’ve been doing something, but when I turn around and look back, I realize I’ve only been spinning my wheels and shining the light elsewhere. This week has definitely been one for trading in the creative impulse in exchange for the desire to direct readers to other places where they might find some interesting, challenging reading, the kind of satisfaction they’re not going to get here, not this week anyway. I wrung my hands a bit over all of this the last couple of days, but then I realized that seeking out good writing to pass along on any given subject can be illuminating and satisfying too. Maybe not so much as challenging myself and coming up with (hopefully) good stuff from my own heart and mind, but worthwhile nonetheless, not least because most of what I direct you to is almost always going to be better than what you’ll read here on any given day.

And one of the most exciting things about having existed in this blogosphere for going on two years now is those connections made between other like-minded cinephiles and fellow citizens for whom expressing themselves, about film, pop culture, sports, politics and life is an addiction, a lifestyle, a necessity. A click on any of the following links is guaranteed to take you down lots of wonderful philosophical, humorous, thought-provoking, maddening, delightful roads:

Pullquote (the Cinetrix)
Looker (Lawrence Levi)
Twitch
Joe Baltake, The Passionate Moviegoer
The Ongoing Cinematic Eductaion of Steven Carlson
I Find Your Lack Of Faith Disturbing (Josh Friedman)
Dave Kehr
Film Freak Central (Walter Chaw and Bill Chambers)
Nilblogette
IFC: The Captain’s Blog
The IFC Blog
Greenbriar Picture Shows (John McElwee)
Tim Lucas’ Video Watchblog
The Exploding Kinetoscope (Chris Stangl)
The Nick Schager Film Project
Culturespace (Michael S. Smith)
The Evening Class (Michael Guillen)
When Canses Were Classeled (Eric)
Self-Styled Siren (Campaspe)
If Charlie Parker Were a Gunslinger, There’d Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats (Tom Sutpen)
(mim-uh-zeen) & other loss leaders (Robert Hubbard)
Edward Copeland on Film
Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee (Peter Nellhaus)
Elusive Lucidity (Zach Campbell)
More Than Meets The Mogwai (Aaron W. Graham)
Quiet Bubble (Walter)
Cinephiliac (Aaron Hillis)
Like Anna Karina’s Sweater (Filmbrain)
Flickhead (Ray Young)
Jim Emerson's Scanners
Girish (Girish Shambu)
Cinematical
Notes from Underdog (Craig Phillips)
Cinebeats: Confessions of a Cinephile… (K. Lindbergs)
A Drinking Song (Mr. Middlebrow)
That Little Round-Headed Boy
Hell on Frisco Bay (Brian Darr)
Risky Biz (Anne Thompson)
and The House Next Door (Matt Zoller Seitz)

Who wouldn’t feel lucky to have made such acquaintances and, in some instances, friends? Is it any wonder why I’d feel like sharing with you what these people have to say?

And in that spirit, one last round of links, these connected to some current reviews for the new film by Hou Hsiao-hsien, revered director of Café Lumiere, The Puppetmaster, Flowers of Shanghai and Millennium Mambo, among many others, none of which have gotten much in the way of U.S. distribution. His new film, Three Times, starring Shu Qi (Millennium Mambo, The Transporter, So Close) and Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Happy Together and 2046), looks to be the exception which, hopefully, will pave the way for even more extensive distribution for Hou’s next film, and generate interest in a whole new group of uninitiated cinephiles and cinemagoers for whom Hou is still only a familiar name, a critic’s darling whose films, especially in theaters, are nearly impossible to see.

I have not yet seen Three Times myself, but plenty of good writers have. (It opens here in Los Angeles today, Friday, May 12, exclusively at the Laemmle Music Hall on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills-- a small venue, so plan ahead.) Here are some insightful reviews to check out that will hopefully convince you to go out of your way, avoid the Poseidon/Mission: Impossible 3 crowds, and find a seat in the Music Hall before Three Times disappears:

Scott Tobias (The Onion AV Club)
Scott Foundas (LA Weekly)
Nick Schager (Slant)
Acquarello
Stephanie Zacharek (Salon)
J. Hoberman (The Village Voice)
Manohla Dargis (The New York Times)
Dag Sodtholt (Senses of Cinema)

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Kiss the ones you love, see a wonderful movie, and say Happy Mother’s Day to everyone you know who deserves it!