Sam Elliott is one of the bright lights in "The Big Lebowski" which is a movie with a whole lot of bright lights.

ita, I can totally understand your point about the movie hitting you in a particular way. I think I said last month that I didn't enjoy the movie as much as I thought I would. I think I wanted a hint at an origin story: how did the lead character come to this point?

Typo, he definitely fucked a lot of women multiple times - including that neighbor of his, but none seemed to have the same outlook on life like Chicago woman.

The question I had at the end of the movie is how we are to interpret his remark to his boss that he didn't remember the woman who said she was going to jump off a bridge. Did he really not remember or did he remember but was covering his coworker's butt? I'm not sure which is the more damning (or charitable) interpretation.

He played that so straight that I almost truly believed that it all just blurred together, that they really had fired so many people, had dealt with the emotional trauma of so many dozens or hundreds of people that one woman's angry threat didn't stand out amongst all the other anger and tears and despair. But I still can't quite believe that he'd forget, but can also believe that he already had a policy of Deny Deny Deny for those that did pull that card, because maybe a good percentage do and nothing has ever come of it til now.

But, definitely covering the newbies butt.

I watched that horrible Cage movie Ghostrider just for the Sam Elliott. And I will watch Roadhouse for the Sam scenes.

Ghostrider was a perfect dollar movie. Cheesy lines and hokey fights, but the traveling scene done to Riders of the Purple Sage was worth the price of admission and popcorn.

I watch Roadhouse just because. The movie is so ridiculous that it is sublime. I think I watch it once a year.

Asking me to buy that Matt Long would grow up into Nicholas Cage, and that Eva Mendes would be charmed by that progression, required more suspension of disbelief than a flaming skeleton driving a motorcycle up the side of a building.

I've seen The Hurt Locker and Sherlock Holmes so far this weekend. I still have tomorrow to see another and it's a choice between Up in the Air or The Book of Eli.

Any suggestions?

Are there still dollar movie theaters? None in our little hick town, and I'm wondering with DVD rentals, and internet rentals, and on-demand TV whether the dollar movie theater has survived in slightly less hicky places than here.

There are two up here, outside of Syracuse. And there was one in the next town over from us in PA, northeast of Philly.

There's this nasty nasty concrete block on the heights in Concord, NH that was nasty back when I was in HS and had constant projection failures and broken seats and potholes the size of refridgerators. So, 15 years ago they were constantly handing out complimentary tickets for all the ruined movie experiences. To this day, they are still open. They fired all the managers and anyone older than 18. No one knows how to fix the film. I don't understand why they just won't let the place die, but damn if they aren't cutting every possible corner to make sure it stays alive.