COURTNEY COX, I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE SO HOT ON THAT SHOW: A Hanukkah confession -- I can no longer sing "I Have A Little Dreidel" without drifting into the South Park version.

THEY DID NOT, IN FACT, EAT VINCENT SPANO FIRST: Four of the films of note this season -- Milk, Valkyrie, Frost/Nixon and Marley & Me -- share the fact that they are all based on real-life events, and in each film there's a question for film critics (and anyone commenting on the films) as to how much to reveal about the Act III of each -- how does Harvey Milk's tenure in office go? Does Tom Cruise kill Hitler? What happens when Frost interviews Nixon? And does anything surprising happen in a movie about an ill-behaved dog as he ages?

From what I've read, critics seem to have no real compunction about discussing the dénouements of the first three films, but at least some seem to be holding back on the fourth -- and I'm not sure why. Given how widely-read Grogan's book was, I'd have to imagine there's at least as much awareness of how that film ends among American moviegoers as there is of the success of Operation Valkyrie or the details of a thirty-one-year-old television interview. And in all these cases, to discuss whether the movie works as a whole requires discussion of their endings, doesn't it? For all these films, how much should we be able to discuss without posting major SPOILER warnings -- and, yes, everything's fair game in the Comments.

IF YOU TOUCH THAT GIRL, YOU'RE GOING TO THE SPECIAL HELL--THE ONE RESERVED FOR CHILD MOLESTERS AND PEOPLE WHO TALK AT THE THEATRE: I understand the impulse, but not the action, of the fellow in this story.

Of course, I also resent people that talk during the trailers.

THE WEASEL UNDER THE COCKTAIL CABINET ... HAS DIED:

TOBY

Died ... What has?


ROBERT

The playwright. Pinter.


TOBY

The playwright.


ROBERT

Pinter. College. Read maybe ... four of his.


TOBY

You did?


ROBERT

We did. Had to. You won't remember, of course. Always skipping class.


TOBY

Well, yes. Better things to do. You know. ...or maybe you didn't, at the time. Pinter, you say?


ROBERT

Yes.


TOBY

Died? Well. Do you remember...


ROBERT

Yes. Quite recently.


TOBY

Do you remember her? ...Susan?


ROBERT

Susan. Yes. Loved Pinter.


TOBY

In college?


ROBERT

Yes.


TOBY

No. Not really. Not at the time.


ROBERT

We read for hours.


TOBY

Read. And then?


ROBERT

And then? Oh, you know. I suppose...


TOBY

No. You didn't. Never did.


ROBERT

No. We didn't. She... I suppose she had...


TOBY

Better things to do. Yes.


ROBERT

...Yes.

IN MY DAY, TELEVISION WAS CALLED BOOKS!: So, what books have the holidays added to your infinite reading list? Me: Six Frigates, a history of the founding of the American Navy, the Forgotten Man, a history of the Great Depression, A Frozen Hell, a history of the Russo-Finnish War of 1939-40 and Thomas Freidman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded.

But first, I need to finish up the cheap set of John Carter of Mars books I picked up.

SANTA BABY: Eartha Kitt, 81, has died.

THE LAWSUIT IS TEARING THEM APART: Nikki Finke is reporting that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has issued a preliminary order finding in 20th Century Fox's favor and enjoining the distribution and release of Watchmen by Warner Brothers. This same judge previously nailed WB with an injunction they had to buy out before releasing Dukes of Hazzard, and given that the publicity blitz has already begun, WB will pay out. (A commenter at Finke indicates that this may be a power play by Fox to get the rights to the 60s Batman TV show for release on DVD.) Keep watching the docket.