I think it’s fair to at least ask if there’s such a thing as the Curse of Ryan Gosling. Excepting The Notebook and The Believer, every film Gosling has made has been very well chosen — i.e., hip, smart, serious, indie-level…but they’ve all turned out a bit precious and unsatisfying. Murder by Numbers, The United States of Leland, Stay, The Slaughter Rule…all smart-and-sensitive, all problem movies. Which is why I haven’t yet gone to see Gosling’s latest, Half Nelson, whcih I’ve heard is pretty good. I’m getting used to his type of film and I’m sorry but I’m starting to cool off.

Right at Your Door, an economically produced, realistically scrappy drama about what happens when a bunch of terrorist “dirty bombs” are exploded around Los Angeles, has allegedly been picked up for theatrical distribution by Lionsgate. You didn’t hear it from me.

David Poland is too much of a hard-ass in his critique of Kirby Dick‘s This Film Is Not Yet Rated, but he makes some good points here and there. One thing I felt absolutely should have been acknowledged in Dick’s film (but isn’t) is the fact that filmmakers routinely look for ways to push the envelope in terms of sexually kinky and/or aberrant behavior, or, in the Michael Bay/Robert Rodriguez realm, for new ways to depict ultra-violent, super-stylish action. They need to do this so moviegoers won’t be bored — we all know they do this — but no one in Dick’s film mentions this even in passing…even as a joke.

Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth, which I saw this afternoon, is about as succulent and brilliant as a “spinach documentary” — i.e., one that’s very good and nutritional to watch — can possibly be. It’s basically a documentary presentation of Al Gore’s global-warming slide show, which the former President candidate and vice-president has been presenting to audiences around the globe for the last few years. Everyone on the planet needs to see this film, even if they think they know everything there is to know about the harm being done to this planet. Gore’s teaching style is folksy, straight and quite personable….if only he had been this charming during the 2000 Presidential election. I’ll have more to say about this doc tomorrow morning (probably), but in the meantime go to this Gore-sponsored website to research the facts. Participant Productions, Lawrence Bender and Laurie David produced.

Here’s Roger Ebert saying more than a few flattering things about Jeff Lipsky’s Flannel Pajamas, which I am now committed to seeing at the Park City Racquet Club tomorrow evening (Thursday), no matter what.

The last Word item I tapped out was yesterday (1.24) around 1 pm. This feels like a losing battle, but I’m about to see The Darwin Awards at the 6 pm Eccles show…well, I might make it there…and poor Chris Penn, one of the costars, is dead at 43. And of course no one is going to voice the thought that first came to mind when they heard the news, including me. But we all know it’s unnatural for a 43 year-old body to expire without a contributing factor or two. Very sad news in more ways than one. Here’s to Nice Guy Eddie…sorry.