More Usual Suspects Spoiler Talk
 

I'm obviously a less proficient student of The Usual Suspects than Coltrane is, but I think the brilliance of the plotline is this observation, coupled with the fact that Verbal is forced to change and redirect the narrative in response to things happening outside the room. Palmienteri's character keeps coming in and out of the room with dribs and drabs of outside information, which Soze then weaves into the story. As I said, Soze's name isn't even mentioned until halfway through the movie, at which point Verbal is forced to guess at how much Palmienteri has learned from the survivors of the boat fire, and scramble to explain (1) why the Soze thing is consistent with facts Palmienteri knows from other sources and (2) why he didn't tell the DA about Soze's involvement before getting immunity.

The entire movie is about how Verbal needs to keep spinning the story to get out of the interrogation room at all costs and back into the underworld. It's like "1001 Nights" where Scheherazade is trying to stay alive, but is herself one of the tales.

Worst Film Accent?
 

No, no, go with Scotch. I like watching various people's heads implode. Don't say it to BritAssoc though; that's unwarrantedly rude, and she's nice.

Where is she, anyway? Hmmmm.

Film Recommendation
 

Didn't mean to offend you Simpsons fans out there. It's just one of those shows I can't appreciate. I find it unfunny. I think I hate cartoons.

The Baylor Basketball Case
 

This is a very sad case, a missing person/suspected homicide of a basketball player from Baylor. The Smoking Gun has the affidavit the media have been reporting. You can find it here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/doc_o_day/doc_o_day.html


This is an excerpt from the site: Investigators probing the apparent murder of a Baylor University basketball player have implicated one of the athlete's teammates in his disappearance, according to the below search warrant affidavit. Police in Waco, Texas have fingered Carlton Dotson as a suspect in the disappearance of Patrick Dennehy, who has been missing nearly three weeks. According to informant information quoted in the affidavit, Dotson, a 21-year-old junior forward, killed his friend Dennehy, 21, after the pair argued while shooting guns near Baylor's campus. After Dennehy allegedly pointed a gun at him, Dotson "shot his roommate in the head with a 9mm pistol," according to the police informant, who told cops he learned of the killing from a cousin of Dotson's who said he had spoken with the basketball player about the incident.

Worst Film Accent?
 

What do you mean there is no evidence of the whole Redfoot deal? Didn't they kill like 6 people? Or are you saying that because there was no cop who ran into the office to interrupt the Verbal interview and confirm the killings that there was no evidence? Surely Verbal wouldn't throw a multiple homicide into his story hoping that Palmenteri(sp?) wouldn't know about it.

And presumably, Soze only came out of hiding to kill the one person who could identify his face. I guess that could be part of the story too, but if Verbal is indeed Soze, then he had to have known that the whole LA police force would know his face. This supports the Kobayashi as Soze theory.

Whatever. It was a cool movie with lots of possible explanations. I think I'll stick with yours (some true, some not) because it sounds the best of the many explanations I've heard and discussed.

TM

Worst Film Accent?
 

But I'd say it is really very clear the Tudors and Stuarts had plenty of scotch in them. At least most days.

Worst Film Accent?
 

It's been awhile since I've seen it, but doesn't the movie end with Kobayashi calling Verbal "Mr. Soze"???

Worst Film Accent?
 

That one Mary person seemed to have a huge stick up her ass. I don't think she drank much. Though, I guess that could help account for the hysterical pregnancies.

Worst Film Accent?
 

This sounds suspiciously like a Sean Connery pick up line.

Breast Implants and Stretch Marks
 

There is some discussion on the other Texas board about the incidence of attorneys with breast implants.

I used to work with an attorney whom I believe had implants. (based on the shape of her breasts and on the fact that she "grew" during the period of time I worked with her). She also had stretch marks on the sides of her breasts. I kind of assumed that the stretch marks were from the implants, although she might have had them before.

Are stretch marks a common side effect of having implants "installed?"

Worst Film Accent?
 

Give me a break. I *am* a feminist lit crit type, and while I loved the movie, it's primarily because it engendered (no pun intended) a huge crush on Aidan Quinn.

(S P O I L E R)

While it may have been vaguely liberating for Rosanna Arquette to leave her ugly dork husband (though I don't see how, because as I recall she had amnesia at the time so it wasn't even intentional), Madonna's hooking up with him only perpetuated the cool chick/loser guy ultimate antifeminist stereotype.

Film Recommendation
 

I'm not sure why any sort of humor is considered "dumb," particularly humor like Dumb and Dumber or the Simpsons.

I find Tim Allen and Ray Romano as unfunny as hell, but I think that's because I like more sarcastic or edgy humor. The Simpsons has more obscure and funnier references than 30 hours of Dennis Miller. Dumb and Dumber is a perfect laugh out loud flick - its every bit as smart in construction as anything Woody Allen has ever made.

I guess my point is, calling humor "dumb" because you don't get it is a bit heavy handed. Its more appropriate to say, as TH did, that "you just don't get it."

S(there are of course exceptions - some movies are just unfunny, like, say... Van Wilder)D

Worst Film Accent?
 

not to pick on pj, and I certainly wouldn't, but isn't there some sort of limitations for spoilers? If you haven't seen desperately seeking susan by this point in your life, the chances are pretty damn low that you ever will.

And if you haven't watched the monday episode of For Love or Money yet, you really need to fill up that TiVo with better things to watch on a tape-delayed basis.

Worst Film Accent?
 

I agree with "whatever". After overanalyzing the shit out of this, I still really don't know what happened...

Maybe I need to be high to think through this clearly...


Edited to add that I am an idiot when I smoke pot. A complete moron. I know a carpenter who smokes before he goes on the job, and it makes him that much more focused. He's brilliant and precise. Nothing can distract him and he's as meticulous as one can be. I've seen him work not high and it's not as good. Being high for him is a natural, enhancing state for him. Not me.

Worst Film Accent?
 

Could be. Don't remember, really.

But if that's true, what does it mean? Does it mean that the whole Keyzer Soze legend was made up? Or did he just make up the part where he came out of hiding to kill the guy who saw his face?

TM