This week, I was all over the site, beginning with a movie review of a offbeat new documentary about, at least in part, the collision between man and nature in the American south. It’s a movie built on so much abstraction that it was a challenge to write about.

It was also tough to write about the new New York Times documentary, though for different reasons. It’s a fairly straightforward work and picking out what does and doesn’t work with it was correspondingly straightforward. However, I have such an investment in trumpeting the continued valued of traditional mass media, that I needed to balance that against serving the needs of simply reviewing the work. My mid-review diatribe against the demonic moron Sam Zell is probably where that balance was shakiest, but it was a malicious pleasure to write. I used to love the Chicago Tribune.

On the album front, I wrote a review of the third album from Handsome Furs. I didn’t especially like it, which makes me feel a little bad given that I staked a claim on it ahead of another writer. Not that the Handsome Furs needed a good review or anything, but maybe the other writer would have actually enjoyed it and would have actually gotten some long-term pleasure out of the thing being in their iTunes. Mostly, I found the album dull.

I contributed to our ongoing Oeuvre feature, tracking through the films of François Truffaut. I think this was my fourth (and final) offering in the series. Sadly, it was also the first time I found the film to be wanting. Too bad it was also the first film I actually had to buy, having no other good way to get my hands and eyes on the relatively obscure release.

Finally, there was this week’s List Inconsequential, which should go a long way towards helping readers figure out the rough ages of various writers on staff. Me, I’m always happy to have an excuse to write about Michelle Pfeiffer.