I realize the forum heading is favorite books and movies, but I'm going to take a minute to tell y'all about a LEAST favorite. New Year's Eve husband and I rented a video called "Merlin." We're still debating the exact numerical rating, but both agree that it's one of the worst movies we've ever seen, and absolutely the worst we've seen in 2003.

Some of the lowlights:
1. The hero seemed like he took the part because he was bored one afternoon and happened to stumble upon the set. At the time of shooting, he still hadn't figured out what the script was about.
2. The bad guy alternated between evil sneering, and bug-eyed megalomaniac ranting. Plus, he had this really heavy and badly applied pancake and putty makeup, which I never figured out.
3. The good-guy side-kicks were an inscrutable old Chinese guy who knew karate, and a quiet noble native American who knew all the secret pathways. How do we spell "stereotypes?"
4. The heroine, who according to the story was the one REALLY supposed to defeat the bad guy, hung out in the background looking confused while the hero battled the bad guy in innumerable identical fight scenes. She displayed all the emotion and acting ability of someone who had just misplaced a paper towel.
5. The movie takes place in several time periods hundreds of years apart. In each time period, the bad guy mysteriously galvanizes a mob, played by the same zombified actors in the same costumes, who say "yes, Boss" and "Let's go get them!" every scene.
6. Husband and I watch a lot of sci-fi, and are very familiar with technological advances in special effects over the past 3 decades. Judging by the effects and camera work, we mutually decided that this movie was a low-budget number made around 1970. Wrong -- it was 1992.
7. And no review of this turkey would be complete without a description of The Most Boring Car Chase Ever Filmed -- five full minutes of clunky old cars driving around trees at 15mph. We both fell asleep.

Any other contenders?

You sound like a movie critic.

While reading Under The Tuscan Sun I also watched the movie. I must say it wasn't anything like the book. I didn't like the book or the movie. Major disappointments!