Fingertips: Downton Abbey; 9/11 film critics; Coen Brothers; Wuthering Heights; Will Beetlejuice return?; Free live music; U2… and more.

I don’t watch much television, but I’m making Downton Abbey, Season Two a priority as soon as it’s available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GA3Pjvog3M0

Go back and watch Season One if you missed it. *Especially* if you’re a fan of Robert Altman’s Gosford Park.

And speaking of things that you might find interesting, here are several more…

• Christianity Today just posted a link to an article I wrote after the attacks on America in 2001. (Strange that it’s dated as 9/1/2001. That’s definitely false.) Yeah, it’s an article about movies. But it’s about how those violence events would (or would not) change things in the arts, and how artists might respond to them. Strange, reading this a decade later. (Reading this, I find it hard to believe that for several years I wrote this amount of text for every week! Several evenings a week invested in those Film Forum columns…)
• What’s your favorite Coen Brothers movie? Vote today at artsandfaith.com. (Registration for the forum required.) At this writing, the top choice among the Arts & Faith community is quite a surprise.
• From Venice, a review of Andrea “Fish Tank” Arnold‘s new film of Wuthering Heights. Did we really need another movie of this story? Apparently so. This reviewer is very excited and gives it an “A.”
• Well, here’s a pleasant surprise in the ludicrous world of sequels: Beetlejuice 2. I say “Bring back Michael Keaton or the deal’s off.”
• Read this lineup and weep. Weep for joy if you can attend. Join me in weeping for heartbreak if you cannot. How can anything this wonderful be free?
• St. Vincent‘s new album Strange Mercy is streaming at NPR for a short time. It’s ferociously good.
• U2GQ: Larry Mullen Jr.’s face is more incredible every year.