Movie: The Last Picture Show.

Over the past several months, Hubs and I have been working our way through the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest American movies. Aside from just a few movies that left us shaking our heads (yes, 2001: A Space Odyssey, I'm looking at you), we have enjoyed it quite a bit.

Last week, for our usual Friday pizza and movie night, we chose The Last Picture Show. In this drama, Sonny, Duane, and Jacy are three high-school seniors, class of 1952, chomping at the bit for more than their tiny, dying Texas town can offer. Their stories are engrossing and superbly told, and they feel like real people that my parents or grandparents might have known. It was interesting to see several famous actors at such early stages in their careers, too; Randy Quaid has small role as a particularly skeevy young man interested in Jacy. I also enjoyed seeing bits of some familiar old "picture shows" playing at the doomed local movie house.

I'd watched this movie many years ago and remembered liking it, but apparently I had seen an edited version on TV because I had no recollection at all of viewing any nudity. But, lo and behold, in addition to a lot of second-basing going on with the teenage characters, there was a skinny-dipping scene that had me hoping against hope that nobody at the pool's edge would uncross their legs. Personally, I coulda gone all day without that scene, but it certainly made its point about the embarrassing lengths some teens will travel to win acceptance from their peers!

Up next: The Apartment.