In their tenth annual round-up, Filmmaker Magazine points to 25 New Faces of Independent Film, up-and-coming filmmakers poised to shape the next generation of independent film. These newcomers, I might add, are so resolutely new that I was only familiar with the work of one of them: Myna Joseph, the recent Columbia film school graduate who directed Man, a finely controlled short about two adolescent sisters' impatient rush into sex I was lucky enough to catch at this year's New Directors, New Films series.

We may not know them now, but Filmmaker has a fine track record of selecting future stars, including Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson) as well as Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas). Five directors from this year's list will also create short films for consideration by Spike Lee for his next film. [posted by Marcy]

Like any critic who dared to show themselves less than impressed with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight juggernaut, I caught a lot of abuse for my dismissive review. Being called a mouth-breathing mountain dweller and a hat-wearing Brooklynite is all in the game, as they say (I live in Astoria, Queens) -- but when my nerd cred was insulted, I knew it was time for the ultimate fanboy throwdown: The Dark Knight vs. my favorite film of 2005, George Lucas's much-maligned pop masterpiece Revenge of the Sith.

Read why Star Wars beats Batman in every respect -- and then I'll promise to return to your regularly scheduled coverage of art house films, including the lovely In Search for a Midnight Kiss, Johnny To's Mad Detective, and the much anticipated Fear(s) of the Dark. [posted by Jürgen]