That's quite a powerful statement you've made about Sontag. Got anything to back it up? Anyone you'd care to quote, or perhaps verifiable personal anecdotes? No??

That's what I thought.

I'll tell you what I know: Sontag traveled to Sarajevo when it was potentially lethal to do so, just to try and help those under siege. She wrote extraordinary examinations of our socio-cultural milieu. She was, by all accounts, an outstanding teacher.

I have no doubt she was also a difficult person. Extraordinary people usually are, though not always (Stanley Kubrick comes to mind - thanks to his brother-in-law and widow we now all know what a loving father, husband and friend he was). If Rieff has something he would like to spill, or "needs" to spill, it is up to him to spill it, or not. No one here has any business offering up dime-store psychoanalysis, or using his reticence as some kind of ersatz proof that he's simply refusing to write the latest Mommie Dearest.

And my God, why would he? One of the hard truths that never gets mentioned is that Christine Crawford was, in writing that book, being every bit as vicious as her mother could be, but in a different venue. If Rieff does have some lurid stories to tell, he may not want to tell them for fear of descending to Ms. Crawford's level. If so, good on him.

Which, I'll have you know, is the best zombie movie since "Return of the Living Dead" in 1985 (essentially a dark satire). All the stuff Andrew mentions about showing footage of real disasters/genocides/violence as if it were zombie-induced was first done by Braff, but he took it further by interspersing expertly faked "news" footage of zombies breaking through military cordons and chomping on camera crews. Outstanding stuff. And nothing - and I do mean NOTHING - in any of Romero's movies comes close to the opening ten minutes of Braff's remake. It's simply magnificent, not to mention genuinely horrifying.

And last but not least, will someone please politely explain to critics everywhere that "28 Days Later" IS NOT A ZOMBIE MOVIE! It's the story of a plague, pure and simple. GEEEZZZ...

No need for addresses and phone numbers. When Diana Ross's former PA took her down publicly all she needed to do was relate the woman's almost unbelievable pettiness and cruelty through the description of work-a-day examples. I'm still waiting for your's.

And fuck YOU for your codescending reference to my supposed use of "cliches." What I wrote was not a cliche but a truism, and no they're not the same damned thing. Stop hiding behind rueful rhetoric. Put up, or shut up. Literally.

...I can't criticize anyone else's obsessions.

@jayiijay

Thank you for your extensive and illuminating posts. I had no idea that Borgnine and Curtis said that, or that "Brokeback Mountain" had so many honors. It's sad, really, what happens to folks when they get very old. Both Curtis and Borgnine should know better - when they were young they would have made the right decision. Especially egregious is Borgnine's attitude considering his starring role in one of the greatest films ever made to NOT even be nominated for a an Oscar: "The Wild Bunch."

@DurianJoe,

No, you're not the only one. "Titanic" was a magnificent film marred by the ludicrous antics of its director after its release, and ESPECIALLY during the Oscars. And thank you for taking the piss out of that snobby anonymous bastard. What an insufferable twat. Oh, and congratulations on your produced script.

...was Stanley Kubrick's "Napoleon", which while a smash hit in Heaven is virtually unknown here. Except for the script.

...then I am ALL for the format. Current DVDs are a complete rip-off in this regard. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten halfway or more through a movie only to them simply stop playing. Unwatchable, I had to slip them into their little Netflix envelopes and fling them--er, mail them back and wait for a new copy - which as often as not was likewise unwatchable. Good riddance.

Some here may remember his turn as the upper-class twit in "A Room With a View." He did precisely the same thing with that character that Ms. Zacharek describes him doing with Daniel Plainview.

And I must strenuously disagree with his performance as Bill the Butcher. "Gangs of New York" was a huge failure that definitively knocks Scorcese out of the pantheon of great directors. The ONLY thing in that movie that is stunningly original, powerful and indeed frightening is Day-Lewis essay of Bill. With minimal make-up, with only his performance, Day-Lewis created one of the most genuinely frightening characters in the history of cinema. As I've read all the hype about Burton's version of "Sweeney Todd", I couldn't help but smile to myself. Todd is a piker compared to Bill the Butcher, but only because of the incandescent performance of Day-Lewis.

And what is the "Iron Triangle"? It's a region of gross law enforcement corruption encompassing Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. It has been an open secret for years that prosecutors and judges, cops and guards in that region are the most vilely corrupt in the entire nation. That's why that one fellow was so sure "[his] girls" would "take care of him." Those bastards can take down anyone for anything. It's a real cesspool that needs to get drained right quick, and I hope and pray that the Siegelman case does the job.