Next Up, Elvis Mitchell & Andy Klein
Discuss the New Jonathan Rosenbaum

Slate invites its regular film critic, David Edelstein, to become A.O. Scott's pen pal as they discuss two new books, The Dream Life by J Hoberman and Down and Dirty Pictures, which take on '60s cinema and the rise of indie film, respectively. And, as usual with the Slate book club, they'll be appearing all week. Let's see if things get as hot as they did during the movie club's year in review, in which Hoberman himself took part (along with Mahnolia Dargis and Sarah Kerr).

And I'm not making it up about the new Jonathan Rosenbaum, at least not about the fact that one is coming. Look for the provocative Essential Cinema in April, and then spend until the summer solstice catching up with all the films his reviews will make you want to hunt down and watch for yourself. (And I do mean hunt down; Rosenbaum isn't afraid to tell you about that seven-hour Hungarian black comedy that somehow never made it to the local multiplex, and it sounds like it's a damn shame that it didn't.) If Elvis and Andy won't debate it in Slate, maybe I can get Cinetrix and Terry Teachout to do a little back-and-forth with me here, especially so we can argue about some of the 1,000 films in Rosenbaum's personal canon. (1941, I'll give him, but Ishtar?)

In the meantime, here's Rosebaum's top ten for 2003, which actually lists more than ten, some of which will undoubtedly set tongues wagging. (If nothing else, he actually makes me want to see Down With Love at some point...)