bits and pieces heard and read

The special Criterion release of Peckinpah's Straw Dogs will no longer be available officially come January 2004.

Sir Alan Bates succumbed to pancreatic cancer on December 28, 2003. I haven't seen too many of his films, but his will be the most memorable presence in a surreal film called The Shout that I had caught on late night cable TV back home.

William Shatner is all set to release a new album. For those who haven't heard The Transformed Man, this won't offer much cause for celebration, but cultists may rejoice. {trackback on /.}