On Christmas Day, the Sundance Channel is running a marathon consisting of just one movie, The Princess Bride, hosted by Cary Elwes. Mr Elwes is also the author of a book released a couple of months ago, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, filled with anecdotes from the making of the movie, its initially tepid response, and its status as a cult phenomenon.
Mr Elwes sat for an interview with a local radio station back in October and talked about the book and the movie, and because of that, I'm probably not going to watch the marathon next week. It's not that Mr Elwes isn't an interesting storyteller, or that I'm not a huge fan of the movie - even if I have misgivings over its influence on the cape-and-sword genre generally - but too much 'inside baseball' can spoil a thing for me.
As long-time annual passholders to Disneyland, my wife frequently suggests taking a behind-the-scenes tour. My answer is always the same: have a wonderful time, and don't tell me anything about it afterword. I don't want to see how the sausage is made; I just want to recharge my inner seven year-old's sense of wonder.
So instead of watching the marathon, I'll pop in my well-worn DVD instead, and scale the Cliffs of Insanity, navigate the Fire Swamp, escape the Pit of Despair, and have fun storming The Castle once more.
Check your local listings for times et al.
