– Congratulations to Kim Ki-duk, whose semi-autobiographical film ARIRANG just won the top prize in the Un Certain Regarde section at Cannes (along with Andreas Dresen’s STOPPED ON A TRACK). It is funny how Kim has kind of lost his relevance to most people in Korea today — I think many of his most recent films have been glorified orientalism for Western audiences — but the 52-year-old filmmaker can still make a film with fire when the inspiration comes.

– A very interesting profile of Lionel Messi in the New York Times. I am not the biggest football/soccer fan in the world and certainly am no expert, but even I can be really impressed by Messi and his creative scoring.

“No one plays with as much joy as Messi does,” said Eduardo Galeano, the celebrated Uruguayan novelist. “He plays like a child enjoying the pasture, playing for the pleasure of playing, not the duty of winning.”

messi