AFI BITS: As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, I’m not the only person in this town covering AFI Dallas. And with more than 170 features and shorts, I can’t get to every one of them. So I thought I would pass along some of the good work being done on films I haven’t gotten to.
In The Dallas Morning News, Michael Granberry tells the full story of the locally produced Haze, which educates kids about the dangers of binge drinking. Hunter Hauk over at Quickdfw.com catches up with Doug Pray for an insightful interview about his new film, Art & Copy. If Pray’s name sounds familiar, maybe you saw his previous film, Surfwise, about a family of surfers who live together in a trailer on the constant search for that next big wave. Chris Kelly gets The Burning Plain writer and director Guillermo Arriaga talking about a critic who seems to have it out for him. For more on Arriaga, you can check out what this guy wrote. Getting a little more national, Karina Longworth, who writes about movies on the spoutblog, takes Gary Cogill to task for a compliment she felt was rather backhanded during his Q&A with The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow.

HELEN LEVITT AT THE AMON CARTER: Helen Levitt, famed for her photographs of city life, died over the weekend. She was 95.  Six of Levitt’s photographs are in the permanent collection of the Amon Carter Museum. The museum’s blog was nice enough to post a couple of those photos to remind us of her greatness.

GIVE HOMER A LICK: After 20 years on television, The Simpsons are getting their own postage stamps. No images have surfaced yet, but a preview is planned on the USPS Web site beginning April 9. Simpsons creator Matt Groening will draw the images himself.