The Big Read: Screening our little heads off

The first time I saw the Montecasino complex, rising out of the grass between highways, I was awed by the sheer audacity of what happens when the rich join the tasteless to build a venue for the undiscerning. In case you haven't seen it, the general idea is that the place resembles a quintessential Tuscan town, the sort where church bells ring, flocks of pigeons clatter into the sky, and lovers loll in white linen, looking out over piazzas full of old men remembering their youth.