Asia

Tonight I was flipping through the channels and came across the movie "The Princess Bride." I love this movie ... it's a gem of a film.

The actor shown here is Wallace Shawn. He played the part of Vizzini, the crafty Sicilian.

My favorite line of the movie -- perhaps all movies -- is when Vizzini is matching wits with Westley for the princess. Vizzini thinks he's outwitted Westley into drinking the wine with the poison powder. Westley tells him he's guessed wrong.

"You only think I guessed wrong! That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

I can't watch that without laughing. It seems such an implausible thing to say in the middle of a movie like this. But that's what makes it so funny to me.

This movie is what I like to term "gentle." That doesn't mean no action or boring; it means the underlying message isn't offensive, and the characters display gentleness and humility.