Speaking of local vidlinks, the Coolidge Corner Theatre has been ramping up their "Coolidge Internet Theatre" subsite in a major way. The "At the Coolidge" featurette recently brough ex-Gang of Four drummer Hugo Burnham down from the North Shore to talk about the upcoming Joe Strummer documentary, and there are some impressive short films over in the "Balagan" section. Is this the future of arthouse mini-programming? I'll let you know when I can get the Coolidge Internet Theatre on my iPod. For now, these guys are going boldly where few other rep cinemas dare.

You weren't able to get to Brandeis the other week to hear the great German filmmaker and the great Boston-based documentarian chew the fat? Here's the link to the streaming video. Herzog has some interesting things to say about "Grizzly Man" and being directed by the ghost of Timothy Treadwell. Of course, everything he has to say is interesting.

Emails, we get emails...

Bruce Freedman writes in to posit James Spader as John Henry, Michael Clarke Duncan
as Big Papi, Sam Rockwell as Jonathan Papelbon (that's two "Green Mile" stars for the price of one), Sinbad as Manny Ramirez (excellent choice), Nick Nolte as Curt Schilling (he'll never pass the urine test), and Jon "Master Thespian" Lovitz as Tom Werner.

He also suggests Clooney as Mike Lowell, as does reader Ralph D'Andrea, but I'm getting that one so often I'm not linking to the photos anymore. And I'm telling you -- Gable, not Clooney.

Some real obscurities round out the list to play Jacoby Ellsbury, which I guess makes sense for a rookie. Frank Odette writes in to suggest Eddie Cibrian (TV's "Invasion," "Dirty Sexy Money") be cast as the kid from Oregon, while Dan Friend goes way out on an arthouse limb to plump for actor Matthew Faber -- Dawn Weiner's brother in "Welcome to the Dollhouse." Well played, sir, well played.

Quick, because I have to run to a screening:

The 2007 Boston Jewish Film Festival kicked off in earnest last night at the MFA, takes a breather tonight, then starts up again Saturday at the Coolidge and the MFA. Runs for two weeks; the Globe's Leslie Brokaw breaks it down here.

Avant-garde filmmaker Abigail Child merrily reshaping other people's movies to psychosexual ends at the Harvard Film Archive tonight and tomorrow.

Johnnie To's Exiled at the Brattle. And what's weirder: that cult movie "Donnie Darko" is onstage at the ART or that Jerry Seinfeld made a bee cartoon?

(Sorry. Obscure Clifford Odets reference in the subject heading.)

Anyway, looks like Hollywood writers are going on strike, perhaps as soon as next Monday. The issue? Residuals from home-video, specifically the largesse from the DVD boom that many writers feel they aren't seeing. Currently they're making about a nickel on each DVD sale. They want to bump it up to a dime. The studios are saying uh-uh. New WGA leadership is young and combative. So, strike. The L.A. Times ShowTracker blog has a punch-by-punch account of last nights's Writer's Guild meeting, plus a pretty good overview.

What it means is that you'll start seeing Leno and Letterman's late-night monologues go south pretty immediately; Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert may be forced into making hand-shadow puppets too. TV and film producers have been hoarding for quite some time now, stocking up on scripts and shooting films ahead of schedule (which partially explains the recent production flurry in our fair city). If the strike goes on for months -- and it may, since no one seems willing to concede anything at the moment -- an article in the UK Independent opines that "movies will keep coming out, but they will undoubtedly get lousier as time goes on."

Okay, but how will we be able to tell?

Tomorrow Color of Film is hosting a special screening of "Amazing Grace," Michael Apted's film about William Wilberforce, the British politician who who became a leading abolitionist. The ticket is $25 and includes a catered meal. It's part of the group's dinner and a movie series. All relevant information is here.

Yesterday I posted some thoughts about who should play which team member in the movie and asked for additional suggestions. Hey, anyone can play.

Mark Simon of Somerville says "George Clooney is the modern-day Clark Gable, and is just as well suited for the role of Mike Lowell." Agreed, as long as it's the rumpled, weary Clooney of "Michael Clayton," not the studly Danny Ocean. I love Lowell precisely because he's been around the bases and the block. Mark also thinks John Hurt should play John Henry (not bad, but I still like the tree) and adds "It would be high comedy to pair him up with Horatio Sanz of SNL fame, as Sox front office fat guy Dr. Charles Steinberg." He sees Guy Torry or Don Cheadle for Coco Crisp, neither of which I'm entirely buying, but he's onto something with casting Donnie Wahlberg as Youk (subtract hair, add beard). "Neither are the most popular or best looking, but both are indispensable in giving some edge to their respective squads." And Benicio del Toro as Manny? Intriguing. Deranged, but intriguing.

Mark likes Brad Pitt as either Papelbon or Varitek, but reader Kris Evans prefers Jim Carrey as Pap ("just imagine him doing the Riverdance the first time and it's kind of like watching Jim Carrey") and Mark Wahlberg as Tek.

Inside the building, Jane Simon over in Design says the young Chazz Palminteri should play Jacoby Ellsberry (fine, but how do you get him in the Wayback Machine?), John Goodman should play Schilling (after an extensive training regimen, I'm hoping), and Matt Dillon gets to essay the part of Theo the boy wonder.

I'm also hearing from movie section editor Mark Feeney that Ben Kingsley's a much better Francona than Patrick Stewart (he's right, and not just because he's my boss) and posits "a crewcut Russell Crowe" as Varitek and old-timer Aldo Ray as Schilling. See how hard this is? Should I mention Mark suggested Queen Latifah in drag as Ortiz? I think I have to.

Perhaps you already caught Patrick Radden Keefe's worried observation on Slate last week that Ben Affleck might have lain on the grit a tad thick in "Gone Baby Gone." If not, here it is. His essay encapsulates the concern quite a few dismayed folks - some of whom have lived in Dorchester their whole lives - have about why the movies insist the city be turned into an overwrought freak show. "Fever Pitch" doesn't count. That was practically a documentary.

My favorite ad broadcast during the series? The company that pretty much came out and stated that if you use their sales website they'll give your kid a puppy.

OK, fantasy casting thoughts for the made-for-HBO movie of this series:

Mike Lowell: Clark Gable

Bobby Kielty: Carrot Top

Curt Schilling: Ray Winstone

Jacoby Ellsbury: Paul Rudd?

Dustin Pedroia: Giovanni Ribisi (although I also see a young, focused, not-insane Tom Cruise in there somewhere)

Manny Ramirez: Manny Ramirez

Josh Beckett: Vince Vaughn

Terry Francona: Patrick Stewart

Theo Epstein: Adrian Pasdar

John Henry: The tree from "The Wizard of Oz."

Any further thoughts, e-mail them my way and I'll post them.

"Saw IV" dominated the Halloween box office much as Terry's collection of boys and men dominated the Coors Field crew. Despite being reasonably lousy, the latest adventure of Jigsaw rolled up $32 million on a slowish weekend at the box office. That's very much on par with "Saw III" ($34 million last year) and "Saw II" ($31 million in 2005). (The original "Saw" made $18 mill in 2004.) So you can pretty much count the core constituency of this franchise down to the last hooky-playing middle schooler.

"Dan in Real Life" made $12 million playing at 1,900 theaters, about equal to what "The Family Stone" did in the same slot two years ago. I doubt it would have made that much without the presence of Steve Carell in the lead; smart marketing on this one, putting Carell front and center in the ads but with a sensitive, sideways, sick-puppy expression that made clear this was no "Evan Almighty." The second week numbers for "30 Days of Night" were anemic, dropping 58 percent from the opening weekend. Among limited releases, Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" did bang-up business at two theaters -- $37,000 per -- which bodes well for its expansion to other cities on November 9.

Further numbers from Box Office Mojo and Leonard Klady.