I'm not so certain it's Michael Madsen's roles that have marked him, so much as his life off-camera.

In Free Willy, I spent the whole movie waiting for his utterly harmless dad character to freak out, cut somebody's ear off, and pour gasoline all over them.

HA!

I can buy the dream-ending interpretation of MR, but it doesn't make the movie any better for me. It just makes the last 40 minutes of the film an even bigger waste of my time than I originally thought.

Also, The Final Countdown in which a modern US Navy aircraft carrier gets sent to Hawaii on Dec 6, 1941.

Oh, and I just remembered.... Not just any aircraft carrier, but the Nimitz, which is used for somewehat comic effect because in 1941, Chester Nimitz was still alive, and Charles Durning's character sort of scoffs at the idea of a carrier named after Nimitz.

Back to the Future 2 is great. Couldn't happen, according to its own internal logic, but lots of fun.

And don't forget about the miscounted Deloreans....

And don't forget about the miscounted Deloreans....

Is Aimee around? Just saying that usually gives her a headache...

And that was more of an issue in III anyway.

?In Free Willy, I spent the whole movie waiting for his utterly harmless dad character to freak out, cut somebody's ear off, and pour gasoline all over them.

This definitely would have made for a better movie.

where there's no evidence to suggest it

Well, that's where we differ. I thought there was evidence. I'm keeping that in the past tense -- I certainly don't remember enough about the movie to go through it.

I think the coda is crap moviemaking. I just don't think it's optimistic crap moviemaking.

Millennium was a bad movie based on a short story I really liked. Sadly, Varley worked on the movie and loved it, so I don't even have that recourse.

Back to the Future 2 is great. Couldn't happen, according to its own internal logic, but lots of fun

I knew I was growing up the first time when my brother and I watched the Back to the Future movies, which we loved dearly, and realized that it didn't work. It started with a "Heeey...." then snowballed into a full out hour long discussion of how much didn't work.

It started with a "Heeey...." then snowballed into a full out hour long discussion of how much didn't work.

Heh. Only an hour?

Sean and I and some friends had four hours. With flow charts.

We're dorks.

And that was more of an issue in III anyway.

Right, it's III that's back in the old west, and where the forgot a Delorean that might have provided extra parts and gas.

I certainly don't remember enough about the movie to go through it.

You don't want to watch again all the way through to try and pinpoint exactly what pointed to dream sequence for you?

...Also, there are the pressing questions of "Why can they foresee murder but not embezzlement or involuntary manslaughter or accidents?" and "How do 3 people handle all the crimes, or even just all the murders, in a major city? Much less a national expansion of the program? They'd be reporting a crime like every 11 seconds." and "If the crime being prevented is a crime of passion, why does the Time Out last for the rest of that person's life instead of 5 minutes and a valium prescription?"

I mean, okay, let's pretend that law enforcement has become way more important than civil rights, and that nobody raised a squawk about that or the illogical application of law enforcement. But, like, who designed this system, where a guy who has a brief murderous thought goes into Zombie Therapy, and someone like Ken Lay isn't even on the radar? If it's all the same with everyone, I'd far rather spend my energy preventing pervasive crimes like Love Canal and other massive crimes-of-neglect than chase down the odd nutball who snaps and murders his neighbor.