Thrillist has a list of the 100 greatest film props, and the stories behind them, edited by Matt Patches and illustrated by Jason Hoffman. No costumes or vehicles allowed, just real, physical props—and pretty hard to argue with that number one. From the introduction:

They are sketched out, improvised, or placed in scenes by the fate of logic, existing to serve the performances or action around them. But while iconic movie props make us laugh, gasp, scream, and/or sit in absolute silence, they rarely start iconic; as a property master will tell you, the best on-screen objects go unnoticed, silently winning you over with truth.

I thought Brad Silberling did a pretty commendable job of remixing Daniel Handler’s first few books for his 2004 film adaptation—and I suspect Jim Carrey will be hard to beat in the Count Olaf role—but the trailer looks solid, so count me in as cautiously optimistic for this next month.

Here’s Handler answering one of a series of unfortunate questions for Boing Boing, this one on the necessity of good story:

There is a wave of American fiction, ascendant now, with charms to which I am immune, in which all strangeness, in story and language, has been seemingly purposefully scrubbed. Nobody—author, character, reader—seems to be having any trace of fun. There is an overemphasis on character-building at the expense of plot or even incident, such that we know everything about a person to whom nothing is happening. This is boring. It is also not like life.

Gary Hustwit (director of Helvetica and Objectified) is making the first feature-length documentary about the life and work of German industrial designer Dieter Rams. Equally important: part of the campaign total will be put towards preserving Rams’ design archive — a majority of which has never been seen by the public. The Kickstarter campaign has reached its goal, but there’s still 24 hours left to become a backer and contribute to this effort.

Dieter Rams at work at Braun in the 1970s, photographed by Abisag Tüllmann.