Reads

I agree with Armond White that David Lean, the subject of a retrospective at Film Forum starting this Friday, is underrated. I disagree that it's because Michael Powell is more highly valued by critics (a typical White tactic, slamming one filmmaker while saluting another), and I don't think Lean's films with wife Ann Todd were all that terrific (they didn't bring out the best in one another). It's that the big films on his resume, from River Kwai on, overshadow the more modest ones and have become overly familiar, and the smaller accomplishments are finally getting more of their turn to shine.

A history of wishful New York destruction scenarios, timed for the real-life tragedy commemorated tomorrow.

What's "Filming in Brooklyn"? Just click. Muppets in Park Slope!

Rain Man on the West End with Josh Hartnett (no foolin'), and more screen-to-stage adaptations in London, including Lean's Brief Encounter. Can a Lawrence of Arabia musical be far off?

Baltimore and Philadelphia feud over Edgar Allan Poe's bodily remains and artistic legacy. I can say that the Poe House in Charm City is in a neighborhood that's kind of scary.

Obama didn't say it, but I'll say it: John McCain tapping Sarah Palin as his VP pick is like putting lipstick on a pig.