• Some Came Running: “Shutter Island”
  Glenn Kenny positively reviews the Scorsese’s newest opus: “So all things being equal, even the most devoted of Scorsese fans couldn’t necessarily be blamed for expecting little beyond a very very grand piece of Guignol, with inimitable style and panache but maybe not so much resonance. So I am thoroughly happy to report that, to my eyes and ears at least, Shutter Island is, in the Godardian formulation, a vrai Scorsese film, in its way the most fully realized personal work of the Scorsese-DiCaprio collabs, a puzzle picture that, as it puts its plot pieces together, climbs to a crescendo that aims to reach that perfect note of empathetic despair we haven’t seen/heard in a Hollywood picture since Vertigo. I think it very nearly gets there.”
• Top 10 Stills of 2009
  Part one of two in which InContention looks at compelling stills from 2009 films.
• Best and Worst worst date movies
  “One Slate writer brought a prospective beau to see the morbidly erotic In the Realm of the Senses, which also involves genital mutilation and which happens to be one of her favorite movies. She never heard from him again. “Just as well, since anyone who can’t roll with Realm O’ isn’t my type anyway,”"
• Robert Smith – “Very Good Advice”
  Robert Smith has turned his attention to Almost Alice, a collection of songs inspired by Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. He’s joined by the likes of Owl City, Avril Lavigne, the All-American Rejects, and many other of your favorite artists. (The movie’s actual score was done by Danny Elfman, though Avril’s track will show up during the credits.) Take a listen to Smith’s “Very Good Advice” streaming here. It includes less tears than the original.
• When talking about your influences works against you.
  It’s fair. If you’re going to attack Tarantino, the first thing you typically do is cite him for plagiarism, which for me is missing the point — the locations and sequences he films are always slowed down to his distinctive pace. So why is Martin Scorsese celebrated for his cinephilia while Tarantino’s is held in evidence against him?.
• Avatar, the French New Wave and the morality of deep-focus (in 3-D)
  Jim Emerson wonders why James Cameron would use a shallow depth of field in Avatar, a technique that often uses blur to signal depth, in a film that already has depth through its use of 3D. He bolsters his position through references to Cahier critics’ defense of the freedom deep focus allows viewers, arguing that with so much to look at in Avatar, Cameron’s dictatorial shallow focus is inexcusable.
• Hollywood sign coverup part of campaign to purchase Cahuenga Peak
  A nonprofit group plans to cover the Hollywood sign with a banner urging “Save the Peak” this week, announcing its effort to purchase nearby Cahuenga Peak from private developers for $11.7 million.

You can now take a look at RowThree’s bookmarks at any time of your choosing simply by clicking the “delicious” button in the upper right of the page. It looks remarkably similar to this: