Thanksgiving, 1998

THE 2nd ANNUAL THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR

I'M THANKFUL THAT I've made it to a second annual list, surviving another year of The Hot Button without being beaten, shot at or litigated against (roughcut.com staff excepted, of course).

Titanic opened last December and I don't have to deal with an Oscar cycle after five months of the film floating at the top of the box office charts.

The asteroid cycle is over and we can move on to millennium doomsday scenarios of other kinds.

Audiences gave hope to smaller films by sticking with There's Something About Mary (even if they did pass on Out of Sight).

Peter Farrelly wrote a book about coming to L.A. called "The Comedy Writer" so well and so accurately that I don't ever have to do my own.

I'M THANKFUL TO DreamWorks for bringing the fun back to distribution by knee-capping Disney with the Antz "surprise" early release date.

Twentieth Century Fox for letting Mary and Ever After happen instead of trying to shove them down our throats.

Warner Bros. for delaying Sphere production, allowing Wag the Dog to get made.

Disney for not teaming up with Bill Gates to purchase and license the sun.

Paramount for co-financing Fox's Titanic, DreamWorks' Deep Impact and Saving Private Ryan and Miramax's Sliding Doors. Strange and strained bedfellows all.

INDIVIDUALS I'M THANKFUL TO AND FOR INCLUDE Drew Barrymore for her spirit.

Tom Hanks for his relaxed attitude about being one of the three biggest movie stars on the planet.

Harry Knowles for keeping it interesting.

John Travolta and Mike Nichols for cutting back on their deals in order to get Primary Colors made, an investment that won't be paying off.

Andre Braugher for five years as Frank Pembleton on "Homicide," perhaps the best hour-long television show ever created. (I guess Barry Levinson and co. should get thanks, too, but they are still there. Andre B. has left the auditorium.)

Bill Clinton, for giving me something to scream about other than movies.

George Steinbrenner for staying out of the way of my beloved Yankees.

Geri Halliwell for slowing the Spice Girls efforts for world domination.

Tony Kaye for destroying his own career for our amusement.

Steven Spielberg for not giving a s--t and making the movies he wants to make.

Terrence Malick for coming back, regardless of the outcome. The film business needs as many true artists as it can get.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joel Schumacher, Tom Cruise, Kate Winslet and Steven Seagal for giving us a year off. (Don't get all riled. I'm not comparing Mel and Steven. Mel has more talent in his little finger than Steven has in his entire belly. And that's saying something.)

Jerry Seinfeld for making the President's sex life seem normal by comparison.

PLUS, I THANK THE COSMOS FOR Titanic, Godzilla, Armageddon, The X-Files and the Oscars, the subjects that caused the most passion amongst my readers.

TNT, which keeps roughcut.com alive and operating. I love my work and the freedom to do it is a direct result of the company's eternally inexplicable commitment to this site.

The growing ranks of publicists who understand the value of the Internet.

Warner Bros. canceling Superman Lives when they knew they were in trouble and for not forcing another Batman movie into production.

Warner Bros. (again), this time in tandem with Tom Cruise for not forcing the issue on Eyes Wide Shut, giving a master a chance to make what may be his last film the way he wants to make it.

Danny DeVito and Jersey Pictures, still the most interesting and prolific production company in the business, especially in launching and supporting directors with fresh perspectives (Tarantino/Pulp Fiction, Sonnenfeld/Get Shorty, Soderbergh/Out of Sight and LaGravenese/Living Out Loud amongst them).

Adam Sandler and co. giving back some weight to not being ironic.

Jennifer Love Hewitt's breasts, Jennifer Lopez's butt and Monica Lewinsky's mouth and their gross overexposure, which are slowly turning them into media kryptonite.

DreamWorks' Terry Press, who is trying to equalize the media playing field (How dare she not give "Entertainment Tonight" the No. 1 spot at the Saving Private Ryan premiere! Tee-hee.)

AND ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I AM THANKFUL TO Entertainment Weekly for giving me the perspective on the entertainment journalism game that informs my work every single day.

The various people in my life who have put up with the insanity of doing a daily column. And to the ones who have not been able to put up with it, thanks for the memories.

Jen Nowitzky and Graham Verdon for their work editing this ever-expanding column this year. And Andy Jones, the roughcut.com editor-in-chief, for guilting me into doing the column for free for the first five months of its run. And the entire roughcut.com team for making the column look cool, building graphic panels at the last minute and putting up with my mishegas.

And of course, you, the readers, who keep me balanced and thinking every single day. We don't always agree, but you almost always bring intelligence and insight to my life and work. And when you don't, you always bring such colorful descriptions of my intelligence, weight and sex life that I must be thankful. You are more than the source of my employment. You are the straw that stirs The Hot Button drink. And I really appreciate that.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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E ME: What are you thankful for?