I'm so glad I wasn't imagining the 90 min. freeway scene. That's exactly when I checked out.

What about the play version w/Kirk Douglass? Anyone know what he thought of that?

Beat me to it, Penguin. 237 the obvious answer.

a little character named Zooey is a bit of a pointed reference against Hollywood too, maybe?

If you already intend to read the book, why even consider ruining it by watching the movie first?

Teo, it's a long limb to go on using a $10 word like bowdlerize and fail so spectacularly. I'm dying to know which genius put his/her foot in this one.

A much needed great laugh, RJ. I don't fee quite so alone. (And despite my being the exact person it ridicules, gotta give some props to the spot-on Onion clip.)

Woh-HOH, drdarkeny, sure didn't know that about OSCard. Only reason I read Ender's was a friend of mine and I did a "fave book of all time" swap and that was hers. I don't read much sci-fi, and had no idea he was up there in LRon territory. Filing that little nugget away…

Meh. He was better in Cinema Paradiso. ;-)

Oh my god, you totally had me flashing on the "Donald Kaufman" 3rd act of Adaptation. When Nic Cage spies with binoculars on MStreep from across a street… while she has a crucial argument in full view of the window… with her computer monitor at just the right angle so he could see it perfectly… with her precise…

I'm afraid it may already be too late for me to swallow a re-re-retro-boot.

I'd add Ender's Game as the best example of the "child with genius thrown into a man's world" concept. Though it seems doubtful we'll ever see a movie of it. May be just as well, considering the kind's of "Dune"s we got.

OK, I'm convinced. '79 was a pretty damn good year:

I hear the food's good too.

No doubt the SNL/Animal House/Spielberg pedigree looked great on paper…

Hee, sorry bout that M le Cardinale. I sensed we were on a similar chronology. No need to rush it!

Same here, and I've put my foot in it more times than I'd like. I recognized this "Wise is the one who ruined Ambersons" guy from previous baitings.

Goldsmith, the greatest composer in Hollywood history, never got his full due. Hermann's definitely up there, but not nearly as prolific. (Don't talk to me about Mr. "I'll just rearrange the 3 notes of the Star Wars theme and get the Superman theme".)

I think it's silly to debate what *part* of the Midwest a character is supposed to sound like they're from as opposed to the actor playing them, but are you perhaps confusing regional dialects with the "accent" one has when speaking a non-native language? Because aside from Americans all speaking English…

That's not a surprise, Rowan. MTV has always been ahead of the curve regarding the necessity of embracing diversity. First season of Real World had an out gay man in the cast long before it was considered "cute."