I'm not even sure he wants to eat it; he just wants to have it. But he's definitely a Tantalus figure. In this one, he even dies and goes to a heaven full of acorns...only to be resuscitated before he can grasp the Giant Holy Acorn of Acorns.

They've got a big plasma monitor at the grocery store (in the cereal aisle; Kellogg's tie-in) that shows several Skrat scenes from Ice Age 2 (or, as it's translated here, The Epoch of the Icyness 2 ) over and over, so it's good to know there's no reason for me to part with money to see the movie.

Bought the 3-disc MR. ARKADIN, and watched the third, comprehensive version - basically the one where some film scholars attempted to take the myriad versions of the film and put the various bits together in a way that, to the best of their ability to tell, was the way Welles wanted it.

It's still a mess, but at least it's a comprehensible mess now. Lots of nifty bits, but there are too many moments where the characters actions or inactions just provoke loud choruses of WTF? I have to agree with a number of critics who say that Welles gives probably the weakest performance in the film - he has some lovely moments, but he's often way too hammy, and the makeup is hella distracting (worst beard I've seen since Jeremiah Crichton).

If it's Netflixable, I'd say queuing the third disc is worthwhile. I'm glad I bought it, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a purchase to anyone but committed collector. I am curious to hear the commentary on the first version, and I'm also interested in the episodes of "The Adeventures of Harry Lime" radio show that they've included.

So, I was rhapsodizing about Lloyd Dobler again this morning, as one does, and I came across this Washington Post article from a while back. [link]

I gotta say I never got the Jake Ryan thing. He's always seemed rather platicine to me--more of a prize than a real character.

I decided recently it's the combination of the two that ruins all real-life people for women my age. The wierd guy who loves the Perfect Girl can be as awesome as Lloyd OR the too perfect to be real guy can be awesome enough to love Sam -- there's nobody in real life who can live up to that.

Martin Blank has ruined me. I'm still impressionable in my old age.

The not-getting the Jake Ryan thing may be a timing issue. I saw Say Anything at just the right age--right after the high school graduation-- but for some reason, didn't get to watch Sixteen Candles until I was in my mid-twenties, which I don't think holds up quite as well as Say Anything.

OMG, Cusack *and* a hitman? Who wouldn't dig that? He can move the glass out of the way AND beat the shit out of the ass who left it there...that's the man with everything. Jake Ryan: Rather like the blonde in American Graffiti, isn't he? I mean, both Lloyd and Jake represent unattainable ideals in their way, but we actually do get to know Lloyd, and Jake? Really not so much. Jake is perfect in the way that all crushes are, and he really is better off when he drops that shallow bitch, too. I really like JR, even if I'm a bit of a Lloyd partisan, but I think you'd have to be Very Stoned to think if you found a new Jake, you have the LOYL. Any crush guy is a Jake. Did that make ANY fricking sense?

I don't think I've seen 16 Candles all the way through. Say Anything and Some Kind Of Wonderful are about the only two teen movies of that era that I saw (and more than once) and liked. I did also see Ferris Beuller's Day Off, but the Ferrari trashing traumatised me.

That article made me want Lloyd Dobler/Martin Blank even more.

Lloyd Dobler is the Oz of the big screen.

I made this the official Scary Videogame Movie Weekend, and have to say that Silent Hill was surprisingly good and plot twisty for a movie inspired by a video game. There were a number of things that weren't explained, but the result was an air of mystery rather than the feeling that the writers only put together half a story. Having talented actors like Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, and Alice Krige in the works didn't hurt either.

Stay Alive was pretty pathetic though. The plot was nonsensical, I figured out which characters would survive by 15 minutes into the movie, and the effects were truly laughable. Jon Foster showing some skin in the mirror was the only possible justification for me to see this movie, and that was given away for free in the previews. (Note to the fellas: no comparable female flesh on display.)