PAIN AND GAIN had the Best Barbecue Scene.  Also one of my favorite movies of the year.

Alright, how has "Stay" not been HateSonged yet?  That might have been the aural nadir of the entire decade.

Agreed.  I saw THE DARK KNIGHT three times for Ledger's performance - it's pretty boring when he's not onscreen, even when I saw it stoned and at an Imax theater.  And I can't imagine sitting through a PIRATES movie without Depp.

The joke kind of just became, “What if Christians are right?”

Whenever I meet an Englishman of a certain age, I always say "SCUM, the potting shed" and see if they turn green.   Then I know they've seen it.

Scorsese's CAPE FEAR is pretty darn spiffy too, although I'd agree with those who say De Niro's Cady isn't nearly as scary as Mitchum's… the mitigating factor is that Scorsese's movie is made on very different stylistic terms and De Niro's larger-than-life portrayal is in keeping with Scorsese's approach, but there's…

Here's how it could get better - he pledges to watch it with you and brings the beer, chips and salsa.

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS still works largely because of the b and w photography, because the makeup looks a lot less fake than it would have in color - some of those fuckers looked like real manimals that filmmakers just pulled out of some circus freak show.  And there's a ruthless pre-Code sadism to the proceedings -…

Griffin Dunne, you look - about the same.

I'm looking forward to the book of interviews in that Faber series they have (or used to have?)  - "Mann on Mann."

PUBLIC ENEMIES improved radically on a second viewing at home - I actually think some of the digital photography, specifically the night-time car chases, looked considerably better on the small screen - they looked sort of shitty in the theatre, truth be told - and I appreciated the dramatic grace notes more.

Zodiac here.

And the young Jane Leeves playing a brunette lesbian.  Plus a couple o' Rank and File songs on the soundtrack.  And that creepy Mexican kid from Touch of Evil showing up as a judge.

Kathy Bates seemed to keep her head on straight as well.  You sure as hell don't do a nude hot tub scene with Jack Nicholson if you're in the habit of putting on airs.

Hmmm… her doggy-style scene with Nick Nolte is a… fond memory.

Yeah, I'm not a huge U-Turn defender, but given the choice of re-watching it or MIAMI VICE, I'd pick U-Turn hands down.

The Fugitive.

He's not that well known by the general public, but is he really underrated at this point?  Everyone who comes in contact with his work seems to agree he's one of the best actors out there - I've been a huge fan since TAKE SHELTER.

I suspect it's less about wanting to take credit for extra murders and more about manipulating investigators with falsehoods and possibly sending them down the garden path - another way to keep control even after you've been captured.

No, "Hot Dog" is cool because you can imagine some drunk, coked-up country music star breaking into the studio as LZ is recording and forcing them to perform it at gunpoint. You can't do that with "Carouselambra."