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Your eyes and ears for the 2006 festival

Brick: I Could Be Cuckoo

Filed under: On the Spot

But after having sat through the lengthy preview for Brick three or four times now in different theaters, I think there are actually two trailers with a minute difference. In one, a code word ("brick"? I don't know, the stars are all so absurdly young all I can do is smile auntily as they strike noir poses, though they're super-cute in their costumes) might, says the narrator, mean "milk and...something"; in the other version, he says "milk and vodka." The first, heard during a showing of teen-friendly (I guess) The Libertine; the second, during the slightly racier (I guess) Thank You for Smoking. If you see this preview, and you will, please note which phrase you hear and what you were there to see; I assume it's "vodka" in the film itself. Keep up with me now.

Just googled this and this Brick fan, anyway—who correctly identifies the code word as "tug"—quotes it as "milk and vodka." This kid, too. (That's about it in googleland.) But I swear I heard "...and something" as well. "Tug" isn't defined in the (gorgeous) movie site's glossary, unfortunately. Funny choice, if I'm right, which I think I am. I'm bound to see this preview half a dozen more times, so this is becoming important to me.

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Emdashes, founded December 2004 BY Emily Gordon, is a place where keen and dedicated readers of The New Yorker, past and present, can find related news and commentary: about people, subjects, and ideas within the magazine, and events and conversations outside its pages. Learn more about us and our contributors.

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