For example, in U-571, why, exactly, was it necessary to fictionalize the story so that it was the Americans that captured the Enigma machine, instead of the British? To an American, it's a good story. To a non-American, it's insulting, and yet another feather in the cap of arrogance worn by the US.

I know I'm going off on another tangent, but I really like movies, so I thought I'd comment on this one.

I think it's insulting, or at least embarrasing, to Americans that that plot point was changed. At least to those Americans who can pick out the countries involved on a map, which is not many, unfortunately. Not that the rest of the plot had much resemblance to what really happened.

There's been a lot of talk that Hollywood sucks. In my mind, this is sort of a microcosm of the whole ``the US sucks'' argument. Hollywood makes a lot of putrid, stultifying shit. But it also does manage to make some good stuff. Sure, there are a lot of good movies that are made in Britain or Spain or Italy or Australia or New Zealand. But they make crap movies, too.

I guess my point is that if you pick through the crud, there are a lot of fine examples still there. And that goes for US citizens as well as for Hollywood movies.