1. "Now Playing: The Totally Unrelated Blog-a-Thon": S.T. VanAirsdale calls it—now running through November 1st. Here's his first contribution, on the inimitable Ms. Dionne Warwick.

["A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend at the Woodstock Film Festival about some story ideas. A couple of them had nothing to do with movies, but I was having difficulty placing them on a freelance basis. "Just publish them on The Reeler," he said. "What?" I replied. "If you need a break, maybe your readers need a break, too," he said. So is born the Totally Unrelated Blog-a-Thon, my first effort at running one of these things and (hopefully) a useful diversion for film bloggers and film blog readers who feel like mixing a little variety into their days."]

["BAMcinématek's five-film showcase—the latest incarnation of an annual series that premieres a selection of recent French films as yet without stateside distribution—offers an alternative to the brand-name auteur output and harmless, dorky comedies that routinely make the Atlantic crossing. Based on what's here, you may worry for the mental health of the Fifth Republic: Three of the features are practically case histories in abnormal psychology."]

["Terrific!"]

["The film seems long to me and I haven't even seen it yet."]

["The notion that celebrities could even confer the right to cash in on their personas post mortem was in dispute until 1984, when the California Legislature passed a bill that allowed stars to leave such rights in their wills. In May of this year, however, two federal courts interpreted the bill with regard to the Monroe estate in a way that excluded her and other celebrities who died before the Legislature's action."]

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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged.