Having just come off the Tribeca film festival, I should be perfectly attuned to an experimental short film anthology like Paris Je T'Aime, (Paris, I Love You) and some segments of it are definitely enjoyable, but the overall hit-miss ratio is too low to ignore. This, despite a juggernaut talent bench that includes the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alfonso Cuaron, Nick Nolte, Miranda Richardson, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Steve Buscemi, Gus Van Sant and Juliette Binoche. In fact, these are only a few of the notable performers and directors who contribute to the 18 shorts, only a few of which actually intersect with the others. My favorite of the lot is the one that the Times' Stephen Holden declared to be the worst: a snappy little love note to Parisian vampires titled Quartier de la Madeleine. Starring Olga Kurylenko as a classic vampire with opaque, milky eyes who is interrupted in the midst of her work by Elijah Wood, it's a beautifully photographed little love story with lots of blood that seems made of melted pink plastic.

Strangely enough, that's not the short directed by Craven (even though he makes a cameo in it -- how could he not?) Craven's entry is Pere-Lachaise, focusing on a visit to that famous cemetery -- where Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison are buried -- by a squabbling couple played by Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer. Just when Sewell's character has run out of things to say, the ghost of Wilde actually shows up to give him some advice. Like many of the films, however, it feels like a 30-minute short that was cut down to about one-third of that time in order to squeeze it into this crowded phone-booth of a feature format. If you don't pay careful attention, you might actually miss Wilde's appearance and wonder what happened to wrap up the segment. Still, the acting drags it over the finish line. The same can be said for Quartier des Enfants Rouges, starring Gyllenhaal as an American actress shooting a costume drama in Paris and possibly falling for her Parisian dope dealer.

Sometimes I wonder if these little tidbits and sneak peeks help or hinder a film's chances for success. With the nature of the Internet and lightening-fast communications, people often make snap judgments about a film and its relative merits, with only the minimalist of facts. It even happens to your humble Cinematical writers occasionally as well. So, to help facilitate your ability to make snap-judgments, the first pics from the upcoming Elijah Wood starrer The Oxford Murders have hit the web. Now, before you rabid Wood fans (you know who you are) click the link and rush over to the site, there's one caveat -- the site is in Spanish.

Don't get me wrong, I like Spanish. Its a great language. I just don't happen to read it well. If you don't either, all you'll be able to do is look at the pics and you will not get to enjoy any of the commentary on them provided at the site. However, the pics do pretty much speak for themselves and provide a few clues as to the nature of the film. As the film follows the story of students at a highly-regarded English school who investigate a murder, one would assume the pics would include students in various situations that follow that kind of story -- and you would assume correctly.

Among the pics are several featuring Wood looking concerned, discovering a clue and, of course, trying to escape the killer. There's also a pic of the requisite love-interest (played by Leonor Watling), the Sherlock Holmes-like professor who mentors Wood's character (played by John Hurt) and one or two behind-the-scenes photos where director Alex de la Iglesia works with Wood and his co-stars. So go, enjoy. And if any of you read Spanish, how about reporting back and telling us what the site says about the pics?

[via Dark Horizons]

Bobby is a Palm Sunday story, about a group of strangers congregating in a place where a Christ-figure is expected to pass through and bless those lucky enough to lay eyes on him. The Christ-figure is Robert Kennedy, former attorney general of the United States and presidential candidate until he was felled by assassin Sirhan Sirhan in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles during a primary stop. As the time of his arrival draws near, the gathered begin to whisper about miracles Bobby will perform if elected, but no one ever delves into specifics about the man. Instead, it's generally accepted that if you are one of the travelers who has made your way to the Ambassador on this night of nights, then you know what he stands for, and no instruction is necessary. In that regard, Bobby is 'Ben & Jerry's presents Grand Hotel'. It's aimed at only two conceivable audiences: over-50, true-believer, 'it ain't fair, John Sinclair' liberals and 80s-movie buffs who will thrill at seeing Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore reunited on screen.

I have to admit, the reunion scene is a doozy and sure to warm the heart cockles of those who are patiently awaiting a two-disc director's cut of Wisdom. Moore and Estevez play a fringe-showbiz couple, he a manager type, she an over-40 singer who is now reduced to playing hotels like the one that is hosting the Kennedy campaign stopover on the night in question. In their one legitimate scene together, Moore staggers from booze and juts her neck out at the pint-sized Estevez like a dominant hen, while he does that move where his small, round-as-nickels eyes seem to come together another inch or two when he's considering how he's going to get the bottle away from her. Other revelers wandering the hotel during the film include Sharon Stone as a hair-dresser in unkind period make-up, Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan as a draft dodger and his hot girlfriend, and Christian Slater as a kitchen manager who openly despises the illegal Mexican workers in his kitchen.

• Eddie Burns becomes the latest Hollywood actor lucky enough to travel back through time, but this dinosaur hunter soon finds out he's got a lot more to worry about then a broken flux capacitor in A Sound of Thunder.
• In an attempt to get as far away from Frodo as he can, Elijah Wood heads to London and, in the process, meets a bunch of Football (Soccer for you blokes from the States) fans who like to drink and kick tons of ass. Eh, I'm sure by the end of Green Street Hooligans, our Hobbit friend will learn something meaningful about the whole thing.
• Speaking of ass kicking, ever wonder what would happen if The Rock collided with a bunch of mutant beings hell bent on destroying civilization? No? Well, I'm guessing he makes it out alive in Doom; the latest video game adaptation to hit the big screen.
• Just when you thought we wouldn't include a little hip hop flava to the mix, watch 50 Cent as he attempts to prove Eminem had it easy in Get Rich or Dye Tryin'.
• After making millions off his scripts Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout and The Long Kiss Goodnight, writer Shane Black decided to disappear and party his ass off. Hmm, I've used the word ass a lot in this post. Anyway, he's back and making his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; featuring fellow partiers Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer. Damn, I'm surprised they managed to finish this one without someone ending up in rehab.