My first exposure to this was in California back in the early 80's, when a local station re-ran them. Also, my father bought videodiscs (precursor to laser discs) of "Wossamatta U" and another one with "Goof Gas" on one side and the one where they get mistaken for two of the Three Musketeers on the other (it doesn't…

Exhibit B:

Ridinghoods Anonymous!

Ah, well, I prefer this to Shaun of the Dead (even though I liked that one a lot), probably because I've seen most of the movies Hot Fuzz is sending up, and therefore got most of the jokes, whereas I haven't seen a lot of zombie movies (which really aren't my thing, except for this, the original Night of the Living…

I'm still waiting for the opportunity to be able to use that line in real life.

Very well said. I would also add Jack Walsh (as well as the character he played in Brazil, another great De Niro comic performance, even if that's not strictly a comedy) differs from what he played in Analyze This, Meet the Parents, their shitty sequels, and so forth in that De Niro in those is being exploited for his…

Interesting that you say that, since Williams was up for Grodin's role at one point. This wouldn't have been anywhere near as good without Grodin, though.

That version of Hamlet is better than it sounds; if nothing else, Bill Murray is amazing as Polonious. Titus was pretty good for the first half, but like everything else Julie Taymor has ever made (except for "Frida"), it became overblown and silly. "O" wasn't bad, but Josh Hartnett is the last actor of that age group…

Nine years ago, I got together in D.C. with a bunch of other "West Wing" fans, and among the things we did was visit some of the real locations they had used, including the bar where Zoey encounters some frat boys, and, of course, the National Cathedral, which was the highlight of the visit. There was this lovely…

Okay, I can see why you'd pick Take This Waltz as an alternative, even though it has its own problems (though I do like it, flaws and all), but Friends With Kids? Really? I spent the entire movie thinking, "How are these people friends? What do they have in common (aside from being one-note caricatures)? What do they…

Ah yes, you want room 12A, just along the corridor.

As I mentioned above, just finished reading Bad Monkey, which I didn't love, but I liked. Currently reading Not Hollywood, a survey of "independent" movies of the last 20 years or so, which isn't that insightful so far, but painless. After that, while waiting for a couple of books I have on hold (Wolf of Wall Street,…

I agree with that. Romance & Cigarettes, Not Fade Away or even The Last Castle are more deserving of mention.

Well, it's the biggest thing in my life. I guess.

I also much prefer the TV version, and of the few teleplays I've seen that were later turned into movies - 12 Angry Men, No Time for Sergeants, Bang the Drum Slowly were the other ones - it's the only one where I think that's true, and as you say, it all comes down to the lead performance (I liked Betsy Blair and…

I am Superman, and I know what's happening.

His performance on "The T.A.M.I. Show" may be the single greatest concert performance (recorded; wasn't even born when it was done) I've ever seen. I had seen the clip they use in "The Commitments", and heard about it thanks to that Police song, but nothing prepared me just for how brilliant it was. The singing and…

True story; where I used to work, there was a time on Sundays where I worked with three guys who were all named Dave, so I would introduce them to people as "the Daves I know." Unfortunately, only a few people got it, but the ones that did were my friends, so that was cool.

I also liked her in Kicking and Screaming (the Noah Baumbach film, not the Will Ferrell soccer comedy), and, if you want to see her playing against type, Personal Velocity. Still, like KiP, the first performance I think of when it comes to her is Dazed and Confused ("Wipe that face off your head, bitch!").

Marsh also directed the middle installment of the Red Riding Trilogy. That and his documentaries are all terrific films, so I'm really looking forward to this.