Specials: Sundance review. Walter's "New World" rave. "Lost" money. DaVinci debut. X3 pic. New mom Jessica Poundstone. And Seahawks.

Monday specials:

SUNDANCE ME TO THE END OF MEDIOCRE FILMS
GreenCine coverage of the Sundance Film Festival is almost too expansive to comprehend. So many movies, so many reviews. From a review of Thank You for Smoking that calls it “I Heart Huckabees For Dummies,” to a review of the intriguingly titled A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, to a review of Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man … they’re all over it.

NEW WORLD‘S NEW RAVE
Adam Walter joins me and the rest who were swept away by Terrence Malick’s The New World:

Great, sweeping, lyrical shots of the natural world. A passionate but respectful infatuation between the camera’s eye and the lovely face of a young beauty we’ve never seen before. Ever-climbing, harmonious waves of symphonic delicacy. And a powerful, labyrinthine mood built of images that court the eye rather than assail it. These are just a few of the pleasures offered by The New World.

Something to realize, right from the start, about Terrence Malick’s new film is that he’s telling his story on an abstracted plane and by way of the mythological mode. If just hearing that gives you a headache, then maybe this isn’t the movie for you. Otherwise, you’re in for a real treat.

BEING LOST PAYS
You can stop feeling sorry for those stranded Lost folks. They’re all getting super-rich.

DA VINCI CODE WILL COME FROM A CANNES
The Da Vinci Code will kick off the Cannes Film Festival. And then we get to replay the whole “Is it fact or fiction?” hubbub. Great.

LET’S HOPE THIS WASN’T HER REACTION TO THE X3 SCRIPT


(from Ain’t It Cool)

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK (OF 150 PAGES OR LESS)? WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE RECIPE?
Finally, my dear friends Ben and Jessica Poundstone of Portland, Oregon, are new parents. Jessica is asking three simple questions to help make these exciting days even better. Take a minute and answer them. There are only three…

THEY DIDN’T BLOW IT
Oh, yeah, and… way to go, Seahawks. I won’t pretend I’ve had any hope… or even cared… about this team. But that’s what happens when your team has been such an embarrassment for so many years. You learn not to get your hopes up. While Seattle went nuts with joy yesterday, the best I could manage was, “Well, it’s a step in the right direction.” Seattle teams are famous for collapsing when it matters most. We’ll see what happens on Super Sunday.