With the Masters of American Comics exhibition opening at the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, David D'Arcy talks with Art Spiegelman about the deep historical relationship between comics and the movies. Also: Will Maus ever be a film?

One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern revisits the presidential campaign of 1972 and, through conversations with the likes of Gloria Steinem, Warren Beatty and Howard Zinn, examines the origins and ramifications of the "Prairie Populist's" landslide loss to Richard Nixon. Director Stephen Vittoria tells Francine Taylor about his journey from teenage campaign worker to documentary filmmaker.

You may have heard that David Lynch has been talking quite a bit about Transcendental Meditation lately and is looking to raise seven billion dollars to found seven Universities of World Peace. What is the world's greatest living director (according to a panel of Guardian critics) up to? John McMurtrie asks him.

Coverage of provocative film journals Rouge and Reverse Shot, and a large assortment of shorts, fests, events and awards, are just a part of what's running on our award-winning blog, GreenCine Daily.

Video-on-Demand: Charle Chaplin Festival (2003).

Have a Charlie Chaplin Festival, right on your computer screen, with this fine little collection of classic shorts starring and directed by Chaplin in 1917 for Mutual Studios. The Adventurer is an early, interesting gem that showcases a different side of Chaplin, here not the "little tramp" character he made famous but instead playing an escaped convict (nicknamed "The Eel") who mingles with society folks. A set piece in which Chaplin avoids the law using sliding doors is a particular hoot. In The Cure, Chaplin is a rich man trying to dry out in a fashionable spa, in often hilarious fashion. Meanwhile, Easy Street "ranks easily as one of the greatest comedy shorts ever made," wrote Alan Vanneman in Bright Lights Film Journal, "a unique blend of brilliant slapstick and sweet yet tongue in cheek utopian vision." The Immigrant has Chaplin and frequent co-star Edna Purviance as, yes, immigrants new to America, desperate for a meal while dealing with a bullying waiter. You can watch all of these classic silent shorts now or anytime you wish, via GreenCine's Video-on-Demand service.

And filmmakers: Consider submitting your own work, whether it's silent or a talkie, too!

GreenCine Staff Pick of the Week: Pieces of April (2003).

[We're re-running this timely pick from last year, as our reviews take a vacation this week:] What could be better for Thanksgiving than to watch another family more dysfunctional than yours or mine? What's surprising about Peter Hedges' directorial debut (he's been a standout scriptwriter) Pieces of April isn't the family dysfunction, though, but the thoughtful and realistic way every character is composed. Hedges never panders, showing considerable empathy for these people, who create the situations but rarely in a contrived way. The whole cast is fine, from the now-ubiquitous Oliver Platt as the put-upon dad, to the surprisingly good Katie Holmes [put Tom Cruise out of your mind - ed.] as the black sheep daughter trying to make amends with her first, and nearly disastrous, stab at cooking Thanksgiving dinner - but it's Oscar-nominee Patricia Clarkson who, as is her custom, steals the show as April's cancer-battling mother with a sick sense of humor. Also wonderful are the neighbors in April's New York apartment building, who range from hostile to saviors. There's the expected "importance of Thanksgiving" message here but the film isn't filled with stuffing. You will wonder, however, what the heck's in that faux turkey leg. Pieces of April may end a tad abruptly, but you're still left with a feeling of warmth and redemption that the film entirely earns. -- Craig Phillips

The highlights of this week's new DVD releases, laid out for you buffet-style, with plenty of trimmings:

Kings and Queen (2004).The latest from Arnaud Desplechin (of whom Sarasota Film Festival Director of Programming Tom Hall has written in indieWIRE, "There is not a more important filmmaker working today") is "a welter of narrative complication and piercing drama shot through with a rich vein of absurdist humor," wrote Manohla Dargis in the New York Times.

9 Songs (2004). What won't Michael Winterbottom try? Running out of genres, he's taken to inventing his own lately, most recently adapting Tristram Shandy (and quite successfully, too, by all accounts so far). That film is going to be anything but simple, but 9 Songs? Simplicity defined: Nine songs. And in between, a British man and an American woman go at it. Explicitly, no holds barred - but not exactly erotically, either. Simply. "Both structuralist and transgressive in the time-honored manner of avant-garde cinema, the film isn't ostentatiously postmod, but is instead focused, like a New Wave idyll, on the intimate hang time and private buzz of contemporary sex-love," wrote Michael Atkinson for a Village Voice cover package on the film.

King Kong (1933). "Whatever happened to Fay Wray / That delicate satin draped frame..." If it took Peter Jackson and his 200-plus million dollar remake to finally spur the first-ever release of this amazing classic on DVD - in a two-disc special edition, no less - so be it. "What can one say about King Kong?" begins Richard Schieb at the SF, Horror and Fantasy Review. "It is perhaps the greatest of all fantasy films, it is certainly the greatest monster movie ever made. It is a template upon which almost all giant monster movies from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) to Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954) and Jurassic Park (1993) base themselves to some extent or another." And more than 60 years on, it's still as stunning as ever. (Bonus disc.)

Tales of Hoffmann (1951). Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger turn the Archers' ballet-opera adaptation of Offenbach's opera about the German Romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann and his stories into a unique work of their own. "An unusual, magical, cinematically brilliant movie," notes the Edinburgh University Film Society. Again, Criterion packs its disc with irresistible features: Audio commentary by Martin Scorsese and music historian Bruce Eder; a video interview with George A. Romero; The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a short musical film directed by Powell and more.

Black Girl / Borum Sarret (1966 and 1963). Facets describes the intriguing disc: "Two films from 'the greatest of all African filmmakers' (Jonathan Rosenbaum, Film Comment). Black Girl (1966, 60 mins.), Ousmane Sembene's first feature-length film, is a major statement against the lingering culture of colonialism... Borom Sarret (1963, 20 mins.) follows a horse-cart driver in Dakar struggling through the day and witnessing the immense gulf between the poor and the bourgeoisie. 'The most seminal work of African cinema' (Ephraim Katz, The Film Encyclopedia). Both films in French with English subtitles."

Ross McElwee Collection (1980 - 2003). Six films from the renowned documentarian on five discs, and four of them have never before been released on DVD. Facets breaks 'em down: "Charleen (1980, 60 mins.) and Backyard (1984, 40 mins.) are early films that introduce McElwee's idiosyncratic blend of personal and universal elements. Sherman's March (1986, 155 mins.), the director's breakthrough film, retraces the route of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman while simultaneously offering a tour of McElwee's romantic history. Bright Leaves (2003, 107 mins.) is a tour-de-force look at addiction, family legacy, cultural myth and the movies. Time Indefinite (1993, 117 mins.) is an unofficial sequel to Sherman's March, in which the documentarian chronicles his wobbly marriage to Marilyn Levene. Finally, Six O'Clock News (1997, 103 mins.) features interviews with victims of natural disasters who have achieved an odd form of cultural cachet." Don't miss Sean Axmaker's fascinating and wide-ranging talk with McElwee, an interview conducted just this summer. (Note: Disc 5 is a bonus disc.)

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002). And so begins Park Chan-wook's "Revenge Trilogy." It was the centerpiece of the triptych, 2004's Oldboy, that hit these shores (and Cannes) first and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance that's still wowing audiences on the festival circuit. This first entry "accomplishes a miraculous feat by being harrowing and humane in equal measure," writes James Crawford in the Village Voice.

Oh yeah, and some costly end of the world alien invasion movie by some guy - that's also out today.

New Anime:

Samurai Champloo Volume 6 (2005). "This is from Shinichiro Watanabe, also responsible for the wildly popular Cowboy Bebop," notes ahogue. "Far as I can tell, you won't go wrong watching something with his name on it. It's just good fun, really."

As always, if you want to see a complete, more detailed list of all this week's new releases, do drop by our new releases page.

We'd like to congratulate the winners of some recent GreenCine trivia contests. We'd like to, but we can't, because we have to wait 'til after Thanksgiving to get more of those prizes in from the studios. So do check back here next week. Meanwhile, check the homepage today for our sci-fi doubleheader contest, as we're giving away both AVP: The Unrated Director's Edition (you scoff, but it is better) and X-Files Mythology: Super Soldiers. Ends Friday.

The member list of the week: For the graphic arts-inclined, scarabin's Movie Posters I Like.

In two weeks! GreenCine presents Mau Mau Sex Sex at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, introduced by director Ted Bonnitt and writer Eddie Muller. When GreenCine launched its Video-on-Demand service two years ago, our very first title was this wonderful, unconventional documentary on legendary exploitation film producers Dan Sonney and David F. Friedman. Unlike most bio-pics overwhelmed by clips, the film expertly intermingles their earlier work with candid footage of the gentlemen in their twilight years. Join us for the fifth anniversary of Mau Mau Sex Sex's release, followed by an extensive Q&A with the filmmakers. Wednesday, December 7, 7:30pm. $7/$5 GreenCine and YBCA Members, Students, Seniors.

Special Promotion:

As a GreenCine member, we already know you love to watch movies. Now, in addition to GreenCine, we urge you to give Ironweed, the new Progressive Film Club, a try! Subscribe now and get a special offer for GreenCine subscribers: your first month free (just pay $2.95 for shipping), and just $14.95 thereafter. To join, visit them online.

The idea is simple: sign up for the club and every month you'll get a DVD in the mail that contains an award-winning feature film, a short film, and free extras. You keep the DVD - no returns to deal with. These entertaining, artistic, funny, thought-provoking movies win big on the festival circuit, but often don't make it to the blockbuster-filled theaters and video stores in most parts of the country. Think of Ironweed as a film festival in a box, delivered directly to you so you can host screenings of your own. Ironweed also works with nonprofit organizations to offer its subscribers opportunities to take action on the issues presented in each month's films. Join today!