Paul Scofield died.

Yesterday saw "Flotsam Jetsam", "We Went to Wonderland" and "Valse Sentimentale": for me, the final screenings of ND/NF. This morning, had to wait for the Con Ed man to read the meters: he came at 9:15, which meant it was too late to try to rush to see "XXY", so will have to catch it at a press screening near its theatrical opening in April. But after a concentrated viewing of this year's ND/NF, have come to some conclusions.

This year, one of the defining aesthetics seemed to be that of the home movie, either literally ("We Went to Wonderland") or figuratively ("Momma's Man" and "Moving Midway"). This year also saw a revival of the regional film... twenty years ago, this was a very active part of the independent film movement, Victor Nunez is certainly one example, and "Frozen River" and "Ballast" were this year's exemplars.

But this year really brought to the fore a problem that many people don't really have (or pretend not to have): what critical standards can be brought to bear on work when you know the people involved?

I just realized i haven't gotten the daily e.mail from IndieWire; checked and found that somehow my subscription was disabled. So i reactivated it... but realized i hadn't missed it in two weeks because i've been so busy going to the New Directors/New Films screenings.

The political scene is getting so bizarre... surely there must be a way to have another primary in Florida. But what do i know?