Yesterday was traumatic. No screenings, and was getting ready to go to the gym when there was news of a plane crashing into a building on York Avenue and 73rd Street; just kept watching the television. Larry had gone into Manhattan, and called him immediately; at that point, he was on the subway crossing the bridge.

On George Robinson's blog, he had a note about Danielle Huillet's death earlier this week, with links to other blogs that announced her death. In today's NY Times, Dave Kehr has an obit. One thing not noted is the importance that Straub-Huillet had in the development of the German cinema of the 1970s: not just the fact that their example (moving to Germany in 1963 and starting to make movies there), but the fact that they worked with Fassbinder's company early on. That was on "The Bridegroom, the Pimp and the Comedienne", which they directed and which was done with the Fassbinder troupe as actors. That was Fassbinder's first foray into film, and the economy and the speed of filming would provide Fassbinder with a model for his methodology.

Turns out that the plane was piloted by the Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle. Very sad.

Anyway, getting ready to go to see "Pan's Labyrinth"; hope that someone (Film Society of Lincoln Center? MoMA?) will show the latest (and last) Straub-Huillet movie, "Ces Recontres Avec Eux", which received a special prize at Venice. Actually, this year, Venice sounded like a pretty exciting festival, with awards going to Straub-Huillet, Jia Zhangke's "Still Life"... already, those sound more interesting than what we're seeing right now....