Yep.  The insanity of her even killed the scene I was supposed to enjoy most.  Too many flashbacks.

Very nice.

@avclub-68e2d80b9b9b5fb87b80f88eff74eece:disqus ALICE is one I'd rank pretty much right after THE DEPARTED.  Very solid.

I agree that GANGS is poor.  The casting of Leo and Cameron was a huge artistic mistake.  I've liked them both in other things, but in this one, I can't suspend the belief.

…I particularly liked the bit where he strikes a match and keeps talking nonchalantly, and you swear it's going to burn his finger because he holds it for so long, then he just casually lights his cigarette.  He's so laid back, fire can't even bother him.

Thanks for that!

…did you know who he was, at the time?

Yes yes and yes.

Actually, you're thinking of Richard.  Unfortunately, the answer is still "yes."  :(

The version from THE LAST WALTZ was amazing.  He finally got to sing it angry.

Frankly, that could be brilliant casting.

The "Know this: I will crawl through the broken glass of a Twisted Sister video to come back and rescue you" line pretty much guaranteed he was going to bite it.

I'd actually completely forgotten about the hawk.  I was expecting him to just miss the jump since there was such a big build up, so that moment still gave me a jolt, so to speak.

I liked the movie overall, but my problem is that it's an exercise, and there's a lot of detachment from the characters themselves.  They're just tropes, or nearly so, so I never really cared.  The guy who never had pot out of his hand really bugged me, and I have no idea how he survived his initial attack.  (His…

Sinatra or Mathis?  It's Presley.

BREATHING LESSONS is my favorite.  I stopped reading her work after getting annoyed with too many adulterous adventures in her stories.  Can't help but wonder how her husband feels about the recurring theme.

That's my favorite album of hers.

You sure you don't mean Blind Faith?

Lester Bangs had a funny observation of poking through people's record collections, occasionally finding a copy of WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT and checking the vinyl to find that any copy was pretty much pristine because it usually only got played once.

I bought MURMUR after reading the ROLLING STONE review and was blown away.  I taped the sides of the record onto cassette in the opposite order by accident, which ain't a bad way to hear it.  Anyway, I was a sophomore in high school and would play the tape during newspaper layout sessions and, being from a small town…