State and Main
God, what a great movie. And Hoffman and Rebecca Pidgeon are basically the cutest screen couple I've ever seen.

Ironing a shirt in his hanging cage while singing the Toreador song from "Carmen."

"I'd like to live in San Francisco, for the five years after I die."

Hopefully Patton would be hired to come in for a day and punch up the Declaration of Independence. That thing is a real snooze.

Scott, you know that you can still watch most of these movies today, right? And the French Riviera is only a plane ride away.

@wallflower: Haven't seen Patty Hearst, but I'll need to check it out. Paul Schrader, right?

@McNultys: Agreed. When I saw the first few episodes of that plotline, I was pretty underwhelmed, but "The Ocean Walker" blew me away.

I'll put in a vote for "Pier Pressure," too, although "The Ocean Walker" is a close second.

Passion of Joan of Arc
Probably the greatest female performance in the history of cinema. Not even sure who else might be in the running.

@Martian Judge: Agreed on Ellroy's inimitable tone and delivery. Reading this interview, I can really hear his voice in my head.

Why stop there?

Errol Morris
I'm very excited about his new movie, which reverses his long slide into politics and puts him back squarely where he belongs, into weirdness, eccentricity, and obsession. Or so I would assume, given that it's about a former Miss Wyoming who clones pit bulls and, uh, kidnapped and raped a male Mormon…

Where's Sean?
This random assortment of newswire writers is making me confused and irritable. Is O'Neal on vacation or what?

X-Files Classic
Hooray! I was worried that we'd have to wait an entire summer to get to Season 4. (How else am I supposed to know what happens in "Herrenvolk?")

@Alvy: True, although Purple Rose of Cairo has always been among Allen's stated favorites. (The others are usually Husbands and Wives, Match Point, and, uh, Hollywood Ending.)

@Lone: Agreed about that moment. The reactions of the stranded characters onscreen are my favorite part of the film—there's an entire movie within a movie that could easily have been made there. (Maybe it's time for some Purple Rose fanfic…)

@Lovecraft in Brooklyn: Yep, my DVD copy has a music-only track. I have mixed feelings about that DVD, because Coppola recut the movie and made some questionable changes, but it's definitely worth owning.

@:gottacook2: It is, indeed, amazing. The loop of the tramp singing, which comes from an old British television documentary, is only a few seconds long, but it repeats—and builds and builds—for more than an hour. It sounds like it should be unlistenable, and it certainly isn't for everyone, but I've been blown away by…

One From the Heart
Possibly the best set of pop songs ever specifically recorded as the soundtrack for a film. Waits and Crystal Gayle may have seemed like a strange combination, but the result is sophisticated, funny, and heartbreaking. (I'm a fan of the movie, too, although you don't need to have seen it to love…

How about Scott Glenn? Then, after he quits the series, Keitel can replace him.