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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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Hello! We're a small band of culture writers, editors, and artists based in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Emdashes, which spent its formative years as a New Yorker blog, is our collection of conversations—mostly civilized—about magazines, movies, design, punctuation, and other things that stir us.
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Dashes, some say, “are particularly useful in a sentence that is long and complex.” Emdashes—like an em dash itself—provides a thoughtful pause amid the hubbub.
Emdashes, founded in 2004, is written and drawn by Emily Gordon, Martin Schneider, Pollux, Jonathan Taylor, and Benjamin Chambers, as well as occasional guest contributors. All posts before October 2008 are by Emily Gordon.
The site was designed by House of Pretty with illustrations by Jesse R. Ewing.
Additional drawings are by Carolita Johnson and Pollux (author of our web comic, "The Wavy Rule"). The Emdashes pencil logo is by Jennifer Hadley, based on a 1943 Dorothy Gray ad.
Other writing by Emily Gordon
- Reviews: theater writing (for Time Out Chicago)
- Profile: Valerie Casey, Designers Accord founder, is spearheading the design of sustainability (for SXSW World)
- Feature: Rea Irvin: visionary art director, bon vivant, New Yorker founding father (for Print)
- Slide show: the Coney Island Mermaid Parade (for NYCgo.com)
- Feature: Muslim immigration iconography in the Netherlands, and an interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali (for Print)
- Review: King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman (for Newsday)
- Homage: Celebrating lindy-hop legend Frankie Manning (for NYCgo.com)
- Inquiry: Does a New Republic redesign mean a change of tune? (for Print)
- Interview: James Surowiecki on what's next for the wisdom of crowds (for Assignment Zero)
- Interviews: four up-and-coming designers under 30 (for Print)
- Profile: novelist and dance critic Laura Jacobs (for Newsday)
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