Wholly original character then? I'm not recaling anyone by that name in the comics.

Don't you remember all those issues of Lois Lane's Boyfriend, Superman, where he competes for Lois Lane's attention with Richard White?

Must have missed those.

We just saw In Good Company in class, and it was really really great. I recommend it. I saw it for free, and I liked it enough that I would see it again, and actually pay money.

Also, I'm claiming Topher Grace. He needs hugs, and I'm going to be nice enough to volunteer to help him out.

Hec and I got back from seeing The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou just a little bit ago. I don't think I am capable of assessing Wes Anderson films with any kind of severe objectivity; they start out mildly pleasing and fade away leaving me teary and giddy for no reason that I can name, and this was no exception. I could see exactly why lots of people, Buffistas and non, didn't think much of it, but it didn't matter. It pushed all my buttons, hard, I want to watch it again and again, and I want to own it, like, immediately, and sit quietly like Nilly petting the DVD box.

Also, the audience was amazingly... random. Lots of talkers -- the guy who was chattering on his cell phone all through the Inconsiderate Cell Phone Guy PSA, and at the end said really loud, "Hey, I'm on my cell and the movie's starting, gottagobye!" and the filler-noise-makers behind us who went "Huh" and "heh" and "hoh" through the entire damn movie, and the girl next to me who stage-whispered to her boyfriend during Owen Wilson's first scene on board the Belafonte, "Whaddaya think? Do you think he got a nose job?" immediately following which, as if on cue, Wilson turned and displayed the wrecked-up side of his nose in all its craggy jagged bentitude, just the same as always.

Plus, when the HHGTTG promo came on and the words Don't Panic! popped up in large and friendly letters, Hec and I were the only people in the entire (nearly packed) theater who made happy noises. We were fairly certain we were the only people there who had read any of the books. How is that possible?

the HHGTTG promo came on and the words Don't Panic! popped up in large and friendly letters

Sounds like the moment when we saw the first preview for the X-Files movie (sigh, such a disappointment). But there was the dark screen, then Scully says, "Mulder?" Fortunately, several people gave audible, happy sighs and giggles and "yays".

We were fairly certain we were the only people there who had read any of the books. How is that possible?

Maybe no one else in the audience was willing to learn another language just to read books by some foreigner?

My favorite preview experience was when the Escape from L.A. trailer first showed Kurt Russel's face and my friend shouted "SNAKE PLISKEN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!!!"

Maybe no one else in the audience was willing to learn the language of those foreigners just to read some books?

I dunno. I grew up thinking HHGTTG was vast and obvious and ubiquitous, but I'm beginning to think possibly not so much. Last year when Hec and I became godparents to my friends' baby daughter, we cracked up during the baptism rehearsal when the priest explained that we'd all be getting little towels for baby-drying and we'd have to keep track of the towels, which sparked a whole lot of very childish Zmayhem snickering about knowing where our towels were and taking on the solemn godparently responsibility of making sure our godbaby grew up to be the kind of woman who always knows where her towel is.

Our godbaby's mom, who at least has the excuse of having grown up in Hungary, looked baffled and vaguely threatened and turned to her husband, who is a thoroughly home-grown California-born UC-educated boy and thus has no such excuse, for an explanation. He shrugged and whispered, "Honey, I think it's a drug thing."

He's a sweet guy and I love him, but t rolls eyes forever

It appears that Kevin Spacey watches Smallville.

Also, I saw an ad for Elektra that said that some showings of Elektra would have a preview for The Fantastic Four.

Well, there was that episode of South Park about the intelligent towel who just wanted to sit around getting stoned all the time....