Yeah, in fairness it looked as though Hitler really did have some talent on the ice.

I loved this movie wholeheartedly, and never understood the hate that it got at the time (or now). I've always tried to pin down the sensibility, and you nailed it: It's like if Terry Gilliam did a remake of a Hope/Crosby road movie, starring Tom Hanks. The quirkiness quotient and visual style were spot on (for…

I always thought Franklin was from Charlie Brown's neighborhood. This was based partially on a rare TV interview Schulz did with Whoopi Goldberg on her talk show circa 1993. Schulz said that his reasoning for creating Franklin was simply, "There were black kids in my neighborhood growing up, so why wouldn't there be…

Yes, people in these comments keep getting that wrong for some reason. Blockheads, etc.

I worked at a boutique toy store in those days, and we sold the Bill the Cat plush, so of course I had to buy one. The removable ear tag had some information inside, but all I can remember is: "…And don't give one of these to Jeane Kirkpatrick as a gift…she doesn't think it's very funny."

I still think "The Sun Always Shines on TV" is a-ha's best song, or at least their best single. But Duran Duran had some great pop instincts — "Hungry Like the Wolf" still gets me (as long as it's the version with the more prominent female moans at the end).

I mean the character description is pretty much, "Insane woman who most people find very annoying, but is ultimately sympathetic", so…I would say she played the role about as well as could be expected.

The first time I saw the show I knew nothing other than it was about a family with a bunch of police officers. Watching the show, I found the characters to be pretty solidly conservative — a turnoff for me personally, but hey, whatever.

I always liked the line, "We're not athletes, we're baseball players!"

For most of my life I've thought that this album cover is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen, yet I have never listened to the album, and have never been a Stevie Nicks (solo) fan. It's like she never allowed herself to be "cute" again.

That is exactly what I took away from the books "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" (Boukreev's book). Maybe Boukreev's actions appear callous at a glance, but what he did was remarkable, full stop. There are several people who are alive because of him.

That was Sandy Pittman, wife of MTV founder Bob Pittman. IIRC, Krakauer's book related an anecdote that one of the guides witnessed a Sherpa carrying Sandy Pittman on his back, and he (the guide) was furious. (This was during the ascent, before the storm, etc.)

I'm heavily into this subject as well — it's one of my "go-to" film subjects, where I'll see the damn thing no matter what the reviews are (submarine movies are another one).

Buster: "And now, here's another song by They Might Be Giants. [aside] Who are these guys?!"

Damn, I never saw that one…but I did see a sketch they did called "Elvis and Costello".

Nice! I really loved that film at the time. I still think it's amazing to look at, but now I feel that the spiritual stuff detracts from it a bit (me being as much an atheist as Blatty is a Catholic).

Yeah, I remember first seeing them start to open up in the mid 70's — at least in the places I was living in those years (SoCal and Albuquerque). I want to say this particular one was in Puente Hills, CA, but I'm not sure because it was not in my neighborhood.

True story: I was working as a paperboy when this came out. The paper gave a bunch of us a "movie day" as a bonus, and my boss drove us to a multiplex and let us have our pick, and just waited there until we were all done.

What do you throw a drowning bass player?

Not really…see Ike1's post above. I liked The Quiet Earth (and literally haven't seen it since the original theatrical release), but it's more like the Twilight Zone episode "Where Is Everybody?"