HUSBANDS AND WIVES
Sydney Pollack and Woody Allen arguing in a grocery store about Pollack's ditzy new girlfriend. I guess it's more of a boutique store than a supermarket, but it's more memorable to me than MANHUNTER's scene.

I used to have A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW on laser disc, and, yes, it's insanely compelling. Somebody needs to get that out on DVD in the States pronto.

SPOILER

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A dLL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLaY mmMAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES J.D. A DULL BOY ALL WORK AND NO…

About half of it. I'm a big sucker for "The Diary of Horace Wimp." DISCOVERY was the first album I ever waited for: I loved the band, knew a new record was coming out, and saved up my money for it. It dropped at Nickelodeon in Marion, Indiana, and I was *there*.

ELO
ELDORADO and NEW WORLD RECORD are fantastic. FACE THE MUSIC is pretty close, as well as roughly half of TIME, OUT OF THE BLUE, and ON THE THIRD DAY. Wildly underrated.

Try growing up in Warsaw, Indiana circa 1980's, where pretty much any cultural urge had to be satisfied with a pilgrimage:

No INCEPTION!?
Are you folks mad? Pretty much anything by Nolan should land on a list like this, but with that city-folding trailer… wow.

SUGAR
So far, my favorite movie of the year. Really deserves more raves than it's getting, maybe because it came out so early in the year or maybe because people are staying away, thinking it's another "sports movie." These are the folks who made HALF-NELSON, which was pretty good, and they've definitely stripped…

The awful title pretty much talked me out of it, and then BL:POCNO sealed it. Still love AGUIRRE and NOSFERATU, though.

I would've loved to have seen Smith and Ferrer at least snag some acting nominations for that movie. Same for Rickman in DIE HARD.

Beta Band
I actually rather like that album cover. I even still have the record flat at home.

I think USA Films made them agree to that, just as they agreed to shoot it in color for the international prints and convert it to black and white for the domestic prints.

Alan Rickman
…as Hans Gruber.

Wow. That would be "Excellent LIST," not "miss."

Excellent miss, Theron's absence notwithstanding
Her performance in MONSTER was stunning.

…and it's from the 1990's! My bad.

Rohinton Mistry
SWIMMING LESSONS was one of the best collections I've read in years.

Do all difficult shots jar you, Mike?
I'm just curious. Do you watch DAYS OF HEAVEN and think, "Oh fuck — they must have waited FOREVER to get that light…"

Tarrantino and Gump
I remember an article where Tarrantino said something about how he said to Zemekis that he thought Gump and Pulp Fiction were basically the same movie. I still have no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean.