Other films playing in competition that year (In addition to the Soderbergh and Lee films, also saw Jarmusch's film, which I liked, and Imamura and Tornatore's films, both of which I thought were terrific):

Can't remember if I've told this story before, but in my senior year in high school, I was in symphonic band - I played trombone - and one day, our teacher presented us with the overture to the Barber of Seville. To his surprise, all of us had heard of it, and when he asked how, we all replied, "Bugs Bunny!" (well, I…

The Double, The Eternal Husband, or The Brothers Karamazov.

I re-read a couple of books I received for Christmas (Skink: No Surrender by Carl Hiaasen, Five Came Back by Mark Harris, and Watching Them Be by James Harvey) and a couple of books I hadn't read before; I Lost it at the Video Store by Tom Poston, and Videoland by Daniel Herbert. Poston's book is anecdotal, with…

People always bring up his voice, and his line readings, when talking about Rickman's performances, and he deserves all of that praise; I knew I was going to like his performance in Die Hard when, right after he delivers the line about Alexander, while looking over Takagi's models, then stops and sheepishly says,…

In both the books, Goodman talks about how uncomfortable he felt being caught between the truth of what Bowie was talking about, and the fact he couldn't really criticize his company on the air, and after finally watching that, I'm like, "You know what, you *should* be feeling uncomfortable."

My first words upon reading this were, "Holy shit". Like many, even though I knew he was battling fucking cancer, I thought he'd be here a while. And I used to know a woman who was a huge Bowie fan, and even snuck onto the set of Saturday Night Live when Tin Machine was the musical guest, touched his shoulders,…

Space Oddity
Aladdin Sane
Suffragette City
Young Americans (the album version)
Heroes (the album version)
Life on Mars
Modern Love (album version)
Blue Jean
Magic Dance
Julie
Little Wonder

Put Labyrinth on anywhere, anytime, and when "Magic Dance" comes along, I will always sing along. It's such an infectious song, and Bowie does a great job delivering it.

Signor Ravelli's first selection will be, "Somewhere My Love Lies Sleeping" with a male chorus.

I'd like to join a club and beat you over the head with it.

I don't dislike the episode, but compared to other Joss-penned episodes, it's definitely a little too on-the-nose. What sells that last scene between Angel and Buffy isn't the writing, but Gellar's acting.

Still about halfway through it. It's interesting so far, though not quite what I expected.

Most of my reading this year has been trying to read things I haven't read before. That's included a lot of Hemingway (For Whom the Bell Tolls, Green Hills of Africa, Islands in the Stream), some Thomas Hardy (The Return of the Native, Tess of the D'Urbevilles), Jane Austen (Northanger Abbey), and, of course, Moby Dick…

I read the biography of John le Carre by Adam Sisman, and it's a fascinating read that delves deep into le Carre's family history (though not as much into his work at MI-5 and MI-6, since he was reluctant to disclose that). I knew that, for example, A Perfect Spy was based on his father, but didn't know Naive and…

I just finished it earlier this year, myself. It can be a slog, but is ultimately worth it.

Other films of note in competition that year:

Yes.

I used to work at a store with three guys named Dave, and they worked with me every Sunday. You can probably imagine how happy I was when I got to introduce them to a friend of mine by saying, "These are the Daves I know."

All of that is true, but to me, it falls off the rails when it plays straight what The Player so effectively (and hilariously) skewered.