I recently gave a listen to the bonus audio available for buyers of Filmspotting's iPhone app. I can't help it. I love me some Filmspotting, and extra audio is totally worth the $1.99 for the app. In the first of those extra recordings, Adam and Matty briefly discuss a very interesting question. Where are all the modern masterpieces? Now, obviously there are big, critically beloved films like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, but will they really be talked about in non-critical circles twenty or fifty years from now the way we talk about The Godfather or Casablanca today? Those films are a part of the cultural lexicon in a way that transcends even their quality. Not everyone adores The Godfather – I didn't care for it, really – but everyone seems to agree that it is a cornerstone film, with exemplary filmmaking and acting. Even people who have never seen it can tell you that Casablanca is a film for the ages. Why? What makes Casablanca or any other myriad "masterpieces" so enduring and culturally significant? And most importantly, where is our modern day Casablanca?

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Yesterday, we learned that Jeremy Renner, star of The Hurt Locker, would join Tom Cruise in Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible IV. The story was that Paramount, worried about the longevity and box office potential of Tom Cruise, had decided to give him a sidekick who could also take over the reins should Cruise exit the series. Now, Variety is reporting that Paramount is looking to name the film somethign other than Mission: Impossible IV, and possibly even do away with the "Mission: Impossible" name completely. I've heard a lot of stupid things coming from Hollywood in recent years, but if they go through with removing the "Mission: Impossible" name from the Mission: Impossible franchise they will have hit a new low.

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Lens flare. If you ask many photographers, lens flare is something to avoid. It can reduce contrast and colour saturation, and in many cases it is highly distracting. Not all lens flare is bad though, and photographers often incorporate flares into their pictures, either by force or by choice, and to great artistic effect. In the world of film – particularly films shot with anamorphic lenses – lens flares are practically unavoidable. With the camera moving around all the time, lens flares can be reduced, but there are almost always one or two instances that pop up. And I say let them pop up. In fact, I think filmmakers should incorporate lens flares as much as possible. As I see it, lens flares are the most effective tool for conveying reality and verisimilitude in a director's arsenal.

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