Welcome once again to McNeil's Movie Korner. McNeil sends in an unusually lengthy anecdote today, which we reprint here in its entirety: "Yesterday," writes McNeil, "I bought a pack of 100 blank Memorex DVDs for $22.00. Amazing. I tried burning The Trouble with Angels last night, but for some reason, 0 out of the 3 DVD players in my home would read it. I thought I made a mistake by buying the Memorex again. I had sworn off them when they had let me down once before, opting instead for Verbatim and Sony brands only." (This is the kind of "tip" you can only get at the "blog," folks! - ed.) McNeil continues: "But it was too good a deal to pass up, and so I talked myself into it. So this morning on the way out to the playground I burned Rashomon on one of the Memorex's (?) and it worked, so I don't know what was wrong with '...Angels.' Maybe it just doesn't like Hayley Mills. She's not in Rashomon is she? That would be funny if she were. Real funny. We had to leave the playground at 10:30, by the way, along with everyone else...it suddenly became way too hot for everybody, even though there is a giant tarp covering a large area of the playing surface, as if one were performing under the big top. I had hoped to leave there and go to the mall to buy some stuff to decorate [McNeil's daughter's] room for the big Harry Potter weekend, but we got inside and it just felt too good to go back out, so...we didn't. I guess I'll go out tomorrow and get her a poster and some snacks, fill a cooler full of drinks and put them all in her room. She has vowed to read all of the previous six HP novels before reading the new, 7th novel coming out tomorrow night at midnight. And she has vowed not to come out of her room all weekend except to use the bathroom or to come downstairs to put something frozen in the microwave." Here ends the transmission. It ventured a little off McNeil's movie beat, but we believe it is a fascinating peek into the life of McNeil the man.
