I still think the only successful Roth adaptation is the first one - Goodbye, Columbus (1969), adapted from the novella in Roth's first book (1959). Part of the problem is weird casting choices in the more recent adaptations, such as those in The Human Stain and Elegy (the latter adapted from The Dying Animal); in…

The adaptation of Portnoy's Complaint was another Roth movie that was given to a first-time director - the producer/screenwriter Ernest Lehman, possibly best known for writing North by Northwest - and it was so badly botched that he never directed again. (He did the adaptation, too.)

Berle was well known for appearing in drag on his various TV series, including his 1960s show broadcast in color.

Exner, not Exter.

A Bridge Too Far came out 3 years later, 1977, and he was part of a much larger cast. In QB VII he played one of the two main roles in a three-night, widely seen miniseries. In those days (at least up through Shogun and The Thorn Birds in the early 1980s), miniseries were often a big deal, very widely seen.

Someday I'd like to see again Hopkins' performance in the first thing I saw him in: the six-hour 1974 TV miniseries QB VII, based on the Leon Uris novel. Hopkins became well-known in America as a result, and for good reason. (The title refers to a British courtroom where a libel case is heard, involving his and Ben…

The whole LP is golden: My Son the Nut by Allan Sherman with full orchestra accompaniment. My favorite track is probably "One Hippopotami" (to the tune of "What Kind of Fool Am I"), with the genius line "And when Ben Casey meets Kildare, that's called a pair o'docs!" Quite a paradox indeed, and probably my favorite…

An earlier NBC series already did a Trump-themed episode way back in the fall of 1968: the Star Trek episode "And the Children Shall Lead" (long known as one of the worst-written of the series).

I must respectfully object to any suggestion that The Wrath of Khan is in any way a sequel to The Motion Picture. Rather, it's a sequel to the 1967 episode "Space Seed" and quite intentionally has no continuity with TMP (despite a few reused effects shots). Nor did the original theatrical release of Khan even use "II"…

Good one! Every classic rock station I've come across in different cities for the past 30 years seems to play every track from Dark Side of the Moon except that one; when they play the preceding track, they just stop after the final lyric (even though it should flow directly into "Great Gig").

How about "One Step Up"? To me it's the last great Springsteen song, no disrespect intended to those who like the later stuff (I mean, my favorite Bruce/E Street Band track is probably "Kitty's Back").

Goosebumps? Many records from around 1967-68 do it for me - not sad/cathartic like some of the others mentioned here, but soulful records with impassioned vocals and interesting arrangements. A few that come to mind are Laura Nyro's "Luckie" (the first track on the Eli and the 13th Confession album) and Jay & the…

One reason I enjoy the internet radio station Great Big Radio is that they'll occasionally play "That Thing You Do" among the genuine oldies. (They list it as by the Wonders, not the Oneders.)

It's "Have you a valediction, boyo?"

You'd voluntarily watch Star Trek Nemesis just to see Hardy?

I've only ever seen her in Enchanted and she was perfect for that role. Sings well, too.

I would say Laura Linney, if I could bring myself to watch Congo.

Goldsmith's The Motion Picture score was nominated, but lost out to the score for A Little Romance. I have never been able to understand that.

Yes, I agree. All hail Eidelman. I can replay the first six notes (cellos and basses?) in my head any time, and I enjoy how the rest of the opening grows out of those six notes. Good composin' there.

I would have liked "Trials and Tribble-ations" but for the fact that the music was so blah. The bar fight was not much fun, for example, without the original 1967 music.