The Maysles brothers’ Meet Marlon Brando (’65) gets more entertaining every time I see it. The man was so far ahead of his time, so properly and good-naturedly disdainful of the old p.r. hubba-hubba routine, such a hound, so clearly attracted to any woman of color, so quick to narrow his eyes as he absorbs the yakkety-yak. No embed code but well worth watching.

Jett and I missed last night’s 7 pm showing of the first two episodes of Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, which will debut next Monday. But we attended the party — a Peggy Siegal event at the Parker Meridien — and ran into Jackie star Edie Falco, director Paul Schrader, former Fox News entertainment reporter and standup comic Bill McCuddy, Richard Jenkins and an assortment of journo pals. Here’s the entire first episode, and Ken Tucker‘s review in the current EW. Here‘s Movieline‘s Stu Van Airsdale with his quotes and two cents.

Nurse Jackie star Edie Falco (l.) and friend at last night’s premiere party at Manhattan’s Parker Meridien.

Richard Jenkins, Roger Friedman

Alfred Hitchcock made a mystery guest appearance on What’s My Line? in 1954. At the end of his stint some very lascivious dialogue [here‘s an mp3] transpired between himself and host John Daly:

Daly: “With a great many other thousands of people I’ve enjoyed Rear Window and last night I was in Atlantic City and I met miss Grace Kelly, who is one of your stars.”

Hitchcock: “What did you do about it?”

Daly: “Well!….I had my wife and three children along and said it was very nice to meet her and said to Mrs. Daly she’s a very handsome gal.”

Hitchcock: “What a pity.”

That’s Hitchcock for you — decorously lewd to the last, always alluding to the libidinal, etc.

It appears that In Contention‘s Kris Tapley has credibly confirmed that the title of Clint Eastwood‘s forthcoming South African rugby-and-racism drama (formerly known as The Human Factor or Playing The Enemy) is Invictus — a Latin translation of invincible. The source is William Earnest Henley‘s 1875 poem “Invictus.”

I’ve been in the tank for “Invictus” since my teenage years because of the phrase “bloody but unbowed,” which Henley coined for the poem. Ditto “I am the master of my fate” (used ironically by Claude Rains‘ cynical gendarme in Casablanca) and “I am the captain of my soul.”

Former South African president Nelson Mandela spoke respectfully of this poem, which kept him going during his 27 years of apartheid imprisonment.

But Mandela aside, let’s be honest and concede that Henley’s poem, which voices an eternal and profound truth about toughness and tenacity in the face of great adversity, has often been embraced and touted by right-wingers.

Last year John McCain recited a portion of it to William Kristol. Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh quoted a piece of it right before his execution, for Chrissake.

And a portion of Henley’s poem was quoted verbatim by Robert Cummings in the final scene of Sam Wood‘s Kings Row (’42). Emedding the video has been disallowed so here‘s an mp3.

On top of which Cummings recites it to a bedridden Ronald Reagan, who no doubt took it to heart in his own private life (anyone of any fortitude who’s dealt with setbacks would) and look what he turned into — a popular and inspirational right-wing president who sewed the seeds of our current financial malaise in the early ’80s. The father of our misery, according to Paul Krugman.

And Eastwood is a rightie, of course — a fine fellow, a gentleman, a man of honor and respect and a jazzman par excellence, but nonetheless a man of conservative resolve who stood by McCain during last year’s campaign and confessed a certain affection last fall for the demagogue Sarah Palin.

Matt Damon, Clint Eastwood on set of what is now apparently being called Invictus.

I’ve had my own moments of “Invictus” resolve, deciding absolutely that the bastards won’t take me down, etc. I was at that point when things were going pretty badly in late ’79, when money was low and my girlfriend had dumped me. I was so depressed at one point that I slept for three or four days straight. But I’ve never succumbed to that kind of lethargy since, and one reason is that I know for a fact that when the going gets tough the tough get going. No one is more ardent in this belief than myself.

Nonetheless, Henley’s poem has been claimed by right-wing types — let’s not have any ambiguity about that.

I’m conveying a certain confusion with this post, I realize — voicing a spiritual affinity with Henley’s words while implying that the righties who’ve wrapped themselves in his poem are tainted and perverse and on top of this throwing in a lament about Reagan’s ruination of our economy etc.

I’m primarily saying that Henley seems to have been made into a right-wing patron saint by the deifying of his classic poem, and that’s fine as far as the core meaning of his words are concerned. But people should always be on the lookout for hidden right-wing agendas. The free-market righties are — certainly have been in recent years — a selfish and fiendishly belligerent bunch whose economic attitudes have let loose the wolves, given a massive green light to the worst ripoff artists in history and brought this country (indeed, the world) to its knees.

Page link, HuffPost riff: “President Obama answered by saying, in his best deadpan, that Conan O’Brien ‘will do an outstanding job’ and that he had discussed in the Oval Office ‘how to manage this transition between Leno and Conan.’ He did warn Conan, however, that there would be no bailout from Washington if he ‘screws this up.'”

“Shia is a young Wall Street trader who’s engaged to be married to Gekko’s estranged daughter. Shia wants to be a major player, but his mentor unexpectedly kills himself, and Shia thinks a stock-shorting worldwide hedge fund manager is responsible. Shia seeks revenge on this villain, to be played by No Country For Old Men Supporting Actor Oscar-winner Javier Bardem. So Shia goes to Gordon saying, ‘I need your help’, and makes a Faustian deal with Gekko who in return wants Shia’s help getting back with the daughter. From then on, it’s ‘antagonism’ for everyone, my insider says.” — Nikki Finke’s summary of Wall Street 2. Creative title! They should stick with Stephen Schiff‘s Money Never Sleeps.

My favorite features in the just-arrived Woodstock Bluray package: (1) the buckskin-covered holding box (complete with evenly-cut fringe); (2) the circular iron-on patch; and (c) a hard-cardboard replica of a three-day ticket for the August 1969 event, which cost $24. No time to watch but it’s great so far.

From the sheet: Amazon-exclusive bonus disc with never-before-seen performance footage in hi-def from Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe and the Fish plus three bonus featurettes; 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition includes: (a) Lucite display with images from the festival; (b) 60-page commemorative LIFE Magazine reprint; (c) Iron-on Woodstock patch; (d) Woodstock fact sheet; (e) reproductions of festival memorabilia, including handwritten notes and a three-day ticket; (f) New retrospective: The Museum at Bethel Woods: The Story of the Sixties and Woodstock.

Plus Woodstock: Untold Stories: Over two hours of never-before-seen musical performances by Joan Baez, Paul Butterfield, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Mountain, Santana, Sha Na Na, the Who and Johnny Winter (exclusive to Blu-ray — customize your own Woodstock playlist); (h) Woodstock: From Festival to Feature: comprehensive featurette gallery chronicling the festival and the filming from start to finish, interwoven with interviews from Martin Scorsese, Grace Slick, director Michael Wadleigh, Woodstock Festival executive producer Michael Lang, and more; (i) Enhanced BD-Live bonus features.

Variety‘s Dave McNary reported today that Paul Haggis has written and will soon direct a thriller called The Next Three Days. It’s a remake of Fred Cavaye‘s Pour Elle, a December ’08 French release which costarred Diane Kruger and Vincent Lindon.

Lionsgate has acquired remake rights from Wild Bunch and Fidelite Films. Haggis and Michael Nozik will produce The Next Three Days through their production company Highway 61 Films, along with Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc of Fidelite Films. Shooting will start in August.

An IMDB synopsis of Pour Elle reads as follows: “Lisa (Kruger) and Julien (Lindon) are married and leading a happy uneventful life with their son Oscar (Lancelot Roch). But their life radically changes when the police comes to arrest Lisa on murder charges. She’s sentenced to 20 years in the slammer. Convinced of his wife’s innocence, Julien decides to act [but] how far will he be willing to go for her?”

Jonathan Spuij from the Netherlands reports that he “just read something incredible. Pathe cinemas has just opened up a text-number to where you can send a complaint during a film about anything that’s bothering you during the show, be it the wrong ratio, mice or someone using his mobile anything can be reported and they’ll come and fix it asap.

“An example of the site [HE note — no link was provided and I couldn’t find a site that explains the text-complaint option] even mentions that you can send a text too when there are ‘people on row 11 who just won’t shut up.’

“Do you happen to know if there’s an American cinema chain that has already has such a service? I read it and I still can’t believe this really exists. Oh and the best part — there’s no additional costs for the texts, just what your carrier charges you. Brilliant, huh?”

“Not necessarily that surprising, but industry polling for Michael Bay‘s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount, 6.24) is hinting that the highly anticipated sequel is already on a record-setting pace,” reports HitFix’s Gregory Ellwood. “Based on the data HitFix was provided, Revenge of the Fallen is on track to challenge The Dark Knight‘s 5-day record of $203 million last summer.

“The picture has mammoth interest with moviegoers of all ages and is so strong among younger males that it would easily have a massive opening if Paramount Pictures decided to open it tomorrow. Additionally, the overall numbers for men are off the charts with three-quarters of all respondents saying they are more than interested in seeing the movie.

“In terms of record setting openings, it’s worth noting Revenge of the Fallen debuts on a Wednesday while Dark Knight‘s record run began with a Friday (or Thursday night) debut. Comparably, the largest Wednesday 5-day gross on record is 2004’s Spider-Man 2‘s $152 million which Revenge of the Fallen should easily shatter.

“The first Transformers opened on Thursday, July 3, 2007 and took in $98.7 million over the 4-day Fourth of July holiday weekend.”

Last week Machine Project in Echo Park showed Daniel Martinco‘s “15-minute meticulously re-spliced creation in a never-ending loop that transforms a moment” from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan “into one of anguish (or snickering for the the audience) into a meditation, maybe even a mantra. This below clip “doesn’t begin to do justice to the size, sound and hypnotic power of the real thing.” — from an LA Weekly piece that appeared last Thursday.