Eeek, drowning in work so apologies for blogging silence. But at least I bring good tidings of films on the web! Richard Linklater’s cult fave Slacker and David Modigliani’s documentary Crawford are both streaming on Hulu in their entirity for your viewing pleasure at the moment. Kevin Smith’s introduction to Slacker on Hulu includes the following pap smear inspired-memory:

The day of my 21st birthday. Most folks elect to cut loose and enjoy the freedom that turning 21 affords. I, however — being a total loser — opted, instead, to take the 50-mile drive up the Jersey Turnpike with my friend Vincent Pereira so we could peep a film reviewed, quite favorably, by J. Hoberman in the Village Voice. It was unheard of in my neck of the woods to drive that far to see a movie (let alone a movie with zero movie stars in it), but the promise of a scene centered on a Madonna pap smear of questionable authenticity was bait enough to lure us from the Jersey ‘burbs into the wilds of Manhattan-after-dark.

I haven’t seen Crawford yet, but this is good timing in the run up to the election – George W. Bush moved to Crawford in 1999, just before he announced his candidacy for president, thereby thrusting the small Texan town into the spotlight. As Modigliani describes it: It’s about a town that goes from 15 minutes of fame to ground zero for 20,000 protesters, becoming a microcosm for national conflict in the process.

Regular blogging will resume tomorrow I promise – I saw so many amazing films at the Woodstock Film Festival last weekend that I still want to write about and I also have lots of thoughts about the video republic to unleash upon you. Oh yes.