Thank you, MovieMaker! (And kiss my irradiated ass, Cancer!)

I'd like to thank all the little people who made it possible for me to appear on MovieMaker Magazine's list of The 50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers. It's a thrill just to be nominated, of course. But to actually be included among so many august colleagues is... Hey, wait: I guess this means I'll actually have to get off my lazy rump, quit bitching about health worries and multiple commitments, and start posting as much as I used to, huh? Damn. Do I get any slack cut because, since December, I've been receiving radiation treatments for prostate cancer? No? Well, then I guess it was a good thing that I had my final irradiation this morning. With a great honor comes great responsibility. And I promise: I really will have my Top Ten of 2009 posted before Oscar Night.

BTW: You can get a really great deal on subscribing to MovieMaker Magazine by clicking here. What's that? Is this promo some kind of quid pro quo? Gosh, how can you even think that? How low do you think I would stoop to curry favors or elicit sympathy? Incidentally, did I mention my cancer treatments...?

Remembering Truffaut

To mark the 50th anniversary of Francois Truffaut's The 400 Blows -- and the 25th anniversary of the great director's death -- the editors of MovieMaker Magazine asked me to write a tribute to The Man Who Loved Movies. But here's the catch: You can't read it on the Internet. You'll actually have to buy a copy of the magazine -- what a concept! -- and read it the old-fashioned way.

Going digital: MovieMaker

For a limited time only, you can check out -- for free -- a digital edition of MovieMaker Magazine's Winter 2009 issue. Which means that you can read a brief but entertaining Q&A with writer-director Rod Lurie by... well, by me. And you can read an extraordinary "lost" interview with the late, great John Cassavetes by... well, that one's by me, too. And you can also read lots of other articles by some other writers. I did say it's free, right?

John Cassavetes: The Lost Interview

I am not going to lie and say I am anything but ridiculously proud of this piece in the new issue of MovieMaker.

A final round of Oscar handicapping

MovieMaker writers -- including yours truly -- offer their picks.

Speaking of Ralph Fiennes...

I did an interview with Mr. Sky Stud last year for MovieMaker magazine (the world's greatest film magazine, edited by a goddess of uncommon discernment). The tagline on the cover takes on a whole new meaning now, doesn't it?

"The Jackass Generation"

In the new issue of MovieMaker, the greatest film magazine in the known universe, writer David Roos offers an interesting take on how YouTube and Jackass are greatly influencing contemporary movie comedies. And, mind you, I'm not plugging it just because I'm quoted in the piece, or because I have my own article in the same issue -- an interview with Black Snake Moan director Craig Brewer -- that you'll actually have to buy the magazine to read. (Look for it at fine bookstores everywhere.)