So in the middle of all of this Roman Polanski stuff, what should show up at my door yesterday afternoon but Paramount’s fine new double-disc DVD of “Chinatown”? You know, just to shore up the whole art-being-separate-from-the-artist argument, and also to hit the problem squarely on the nose by highlighting Noah Cross’ famous comment about people being capable of anything in giant type on the back of the box.

Via The House Next Door, here’s an interesting blog post from Brendon Bouzard about the ethical conflict between the impulse to defend a great director from persecution and the sense that people aren’t really confronting the reality of the situation. Which is fairly ugly, from any angle.

From the cheery elves at the Onion AV Club comes word that Rotten Tomatoes has assembled its Worst of the Worst list, collecting the hundred worst-reviewed films of the past decade.

The AV Club’s angle, because they’re all participatory with the comment threads and stuff, was to ask their readers to list how many of the Bottom 100 they’d seen. As of early this morning, the average number was “maybe a handful”.

Those people are the lucky ones. Me, well … I’m just sitting here, realizing how much of my life I’ve wasted in the indulgence of Uwe Boll.

The news broke yesterday that Roman Polanski had been arrested in Switzerland on that fugitive warrant, dating back to his flight from the U.S. before he could be sentenced in his 1976 statutory rape trial.

I don’t intend to defend Polanski — though I will happily argue for days on end that great art can live a life wholly separate from its creator, which is why I don’t see the point of rehashing Polanski’s personal life every time I write about “Rosemary’s Baby” or “Chinatown” — but after the disclosures of judicial misconduct in last year’s documentary “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired“, it seems obvious that nothing in this case is as clear as either side once believed.

But how do you handle something like this? The law is the law, and fugitives are supposed to be brought home to face justice, and it isn’t supposed to matter whether the fugitive is a multiple murderer, a tax cheat or a statutory rapist.

I mean, good luck finding a jury of the guy’s peers — or twelve people in the Los Angeles area who’ve never heard of him — but yes, it seems like this needs to be settled once and for all. I’m just not looking forward to the publicity, is all I’m saying.

Feel bad that you missed some stuff at TIFF? Don’t worry — most of the major titles are already arriving in commercial release. “The Informant!” and “Jennifer’s Body” were just the first salvo. Check it out:

“The Boys Are Back”: Scott Hicks follows his oddly passable “No Reservations” with another tale of unexpected single parenthood; this one finds a suddenly widowed Clive Owen trying to raise his sons in Australia. Susan liked it a little more than Adam.

“Bright Star”: Jane Campion recovers from the horror of “In the Cut” with this more respectable study of the doomed love between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. Special Presentations, TIFF ’09. Jason was wowed; Susan, less so.

“Dead Snow”: Nazi zombies! Hidden treasure! Horny college students! But really, all you need to take away from this is “Nazi zombies”. Andrew and Kieran both deem it good enough, which is pretty much how I felt about it too.

“Delta“: Kornel Mundruczo’s heavily symbolic, utterly pointless tale of forbidden love may not have been the worst film I saw at Cannes last year, but it was certainly one of the least. Please don’t give it any money.

“Fame”: The remake! Jazz hands for everybody! Not screened at press time!

“It Might Get Loud”: Just to change things up, here’s a film from last year’s TIFF — Davis Guggenheim’s electric-guitar documentary, featuring Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page. Rad was mildly rocked; Adam, less so.

“Pandorum“: I don’t ask for much in movies about big, creepy spaceships — just that they be a little smarter than “Event Horizon”, really — and Christian Alvart’s tale of an amnesiac astronaut (Ben Foster) who wakes up aboard a ship of horrors is really pretty decent, though the ending stumbles badly. My NOW review should be up later today. UPDATE: There it is!

“Surrogates”: Y’know, the trailer didn’t lead me to expect very much, but I’m kind of intrigued by the notion of a movie where Bruce Willis is all glossy and sleek. Does that make me weird?

“Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day“: This one’s even more for the fans than the previous feature, though I’ll admit I did find Bubbles’ subplot oddly compelling. If there’s a Food Mountain for people, I want to go to there.

“What’s Your Raashee?”: Ashutosh Gowariker’s romantic comedy was one of TIFF ’09’s last galas — and it was over three hours long, so no one was able to catch the press screening. And now it’s opening in Toronto with virtually no warning — and no additional screening opportunities. Which sucks for everyone, really.

Feeling like crap, mind you, but still alive.

I was holding off on today’s post because I figured my latest MSN DVD column would go up sometime this morning, but there’s been no movement on that, so instead I’ll throw out my latest MSN gallery — a look at Canadian movie comedies, tied to this Friday’s release of the second “Trailer Park Boys” movie.

And before anyone brings up “Porky’s”, the criteria demanded the films be set in Canada, so that one’s out.

“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” won the big-screen weekend, but as far as I’m concerned, the real news yesterday was the return of Dr. Horrible at the Emmys.

Sure, it was only a two-minute bit, but the marvelous chemistry between Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion is as strong as ever, and both actors have clearly refined their characters — I think I detected a little Ronald Colman spin on Fillion’s oblivious enthusiasm as the good Cap’n. And they shoot those in one take, you know. Impressive.

In other news, yes, I watched the frickin’ Emmys. But it was exactly what I needed after ten days of TIFFing. No subtitles and no subtleties, just a long line of shiny things and actors I mostly respect.

And Neil Patrick Harris, of course. Attention must be paid.

Well, that’s all she wrote for another year: TIFF wrapped up pleasantly and inoffensively yesterday afternoon with the announcement of its awards. The People’s Choice prize went to “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire”; the Canadian feature film prize went to Ruba Nadda’s “Cairo Time” and the Canadian first-feature prize went to “The Wild Hunt” — and hey, I’ve seen that one!

But now that it’s all over, we can get back to our real lives — spend time outside, see our families and friends, and shift back to our usual frivolous pursuits … like, oh, this week’s MSN Movies gallery, which uses Matt Damon’s unique look in “The Informant!” to goof on other classic examples of ridiculous facial hair.

Yep, that’s me: Talking to Jean-Marc Vallee about the common themes of defiance and identity in “C.R.A.Z.Y.” and “The Young Victoria” one minute, and mocking Nicolas Cage’s “Zandalee” goatee the next. Duality, c’est moi.