Welcome once again to "McNeil's Movie Korner." McNeil has a recommendation: THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT starring Don Knotts. Here's McNeil: "Much better than I thought it would be. I was actually nervous when DK fell out of the capsule door with ONLY 5 SECONDS LEFT BEFORE LAUNCH!!!!" (The caps and four exclamation points are McNeil's.) I would ask McNeil if there is a monkey in the movie, because I feel sure there is, but McNeil has lately expressed the opinion that there are "too many monkeys" on the "blog" lately. So I doubt I would get a straight answer! PS Last night I was at the City Grocery Bar when I was approached by a graduate student who advanced her theory that McNeil is "made up." You may recall that in the past Phil Oppeheim and Dr. "M." briefly entertained similar suspicions (likewise, McNeil thought Dr. "M." was made up). To me, this represents a sloppy reading indeed of the "blog." May I point out a few obvious hints to the contrary? 1) McNeil takes pictures of things, such as the apple tree in his yard, his shirt, houses he visits, and a weird cloud. 2) McNeil has a daughter who reads Harry Potter. 3) McNeil has his short stories published in various magazines. 4) Phil once loaned McNeil a movie, and was required to mail it to North Carolina, where McNeil lives. 5) McNeil doesn't like the way I answer the telephone. 6) McNeil teaches at a college in the aforementioned state of North Carolina. 7) McNeil's wife is an expert on German art. 8) McNeil takes medicine. 9) McNeil has a foolproof system for winning at craps. 10) We disagree about the proper number of monkeys to put on a "blog." These are the facts of an actual person's life! I am not a good enough writer to make McNeil up. PPS There is something terribly wrong with the "blog's" search feature today (it refuses to admit I have ever referred to Richard Belzer, for example), so it took me forever to "post" this. Like, my coffee got cold. (The search feature doesn't admit I ever "blogged" about my coffee getting cold!) I know you will do me the favor of "clicking" on every single "link" to show me how much you care.
