From Todd McCarthy, at Variety (subs only): "A ranting, claustrophobic drama that trades in shopworn paranoid notions, William Friedkin's overwrought screen version of Tracy Letts' play assaults the viewer with aggressive thesping and over-the-top notions of shocking incident, all to intensely alienating effect. "

Yikes. Sounds like either all that opera directing's affecting Friedkin's style - or he's made another movie that'll only be appreciated later. As you wrote yourself in Film Soleil about To Live and Die in LA, "Something like the third or fourth underrated William Friedkin film..."

The problem here isn't Friedkin's direction but the decision to adapt for the screen a work that should have remained on the stage. Though I guess there are folks who like Polanski's version of Death and the Maiden, too.

Hm, I see. Well, I know they're not for everyone, but I myself actually do like these movies. Romuald Karmaker's Night Songs, for example, or the adaptation of Pinter's Betrayal. For that matter, Rope, too, to an extent...

In a way, I agree with Md'a. While I too like these kind of movies, something tells me I shouldn't. I was waiting for my car to be repaired and in the lobby of the Express Lube there was a Television for the customers with G4 playing. On the show the Model/Actress/Bimbo/Gamer was talking about the game, World of Warcraft being turned into a film.

A kid that was in the lobby said, "Why can't games just be games and movies be movies?"

Going further, I wondered why books can't be books, plays be plays? I propose a ban on any cinema that isn't original!

My neighbor is a fashion student who pays her way through school turning Men's White briefs (underwear) into Women's Tops. Okay, they look good if they're not used, but I don't want to wear my underwear anywhere else. Why can't tighty whiteys be tighty whiteys?

Why should cinema be a dumping ground for works created in other forms?

By the way, I spent a few bucks shy of $1000 on my car, maybe I'm a lil' fussy...

Once again, Jerry, you leave me chuckling and speechless.

I've seen Bug and let me tell you, it stomps "Death and the Maiden" into the ground. It isn't even a fair comparison. Even though the location is confined, nothing about "Bug" feels stage-bound. Throughout the film, Friedkin's camera is constantly finding new ways to look at the action. Even the space itself physically transforms over the course of the narrative.

Also, as both an examination and a satire of conspiracy-based political paranoia, this thing is unmatched. Major props to Tracy Letts. This is the best written film in years that could be termed a "thriller."

Todd McCarthy be damned. "Bug" is Friedkin's best film since "Sorcerer," which is my favorite of his. Give it a few years and "Bug" might ultimately even take its place.