gore vidal has died at age 86. he was in gattacca.

GORE VIDAL was in GATTACCA, true, but, he was so much more as a writer and social critic.

For film fans, his resume is pretty bizarre stretching from his scripts for SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER to a Jerry Lewis adaptation of his play VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET to Penthouse's CALIGULA.

We've now lost two old vets from GATTACA in a about a month - Ernest Borgnine & Gore Vidal. I'd love to see it at the Marathon, not just a remembrence from those two, but because GATTACA remains one of the better SF films of the past two decades. (and, no, Dan K, the film wasn't trashed upon it's original release).

And, all schlock fans must see/subject themselves to the movie based on his book MYRA BRECKINRIDGE! Where else will you see RACQUEL WELCH turned into........... REX REED!????


http://www.pitt.edu/~kloman/gat1.jpg

when truman capote died vidal said "good career move"

vidal was in the army in ww2 and he was at a lecture entitled "know your enemy" or something and instructor was explaining how to distinguish chinese soldier from a japanese soldier. "one universal difference" the instructor said "is that the chinese soldier will have curled pubic hair and the japanese will have straight pubic hair". vidal then raised his hand and asked "what clever subterfuge should we employ in order to get them to reveal their pubic hairs?"