The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Film

Super 8, the film directed by JJ Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, has been marketed heavily for the  past year.  Now, the first critics have been allowed to screen it.  They were allowed to tweet their thoughts.  /Film has a good rundown of what everybody thought. [/Film]

At the Cannes Film Festival last week, director Lars Von Trier really stepped in it.  In a strange diatribe, he said that he “understood Hitler” and claimed he was a Nazi.  He was banned from Cannes, but Kirsten Dunst, who stars in his new film Melancholia, still managed to win best actress at the festival.  Von Trier has apologized a few times, with  varying success. [Guardian]

A trailer for my most anticipated film of 2011 was released this weekend, attached to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. To be honest, this trailer was my favorite part of the movie. [Film Junk]

Since about 2009, film industry watchers have been wondering when, or if, the emblematic film about the 2008  financial crisis will be made.  HBO has put together a star-studded cast to enact Ross Sorkin’s Too Big To Fail.  Could this be it?  One reviewer doesn’t seem to think so. [IFC.com]

James Cameron made 3-D into what it is today with his film  Avatar. It seems like he enjoys the format more than almost anyone, and he is  converting one of  his older films into 3-D.  Its the one about the ship that sinks with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet…I forget the name.  [The Movie Blog]