Sydney Pollack, R.I.P.

Like Divine and Robert Altman, this is one of those celebrity deaths that make as sad as if I actually knew the person.

Sydney Pollack, both as an actor and as a director, was such a constant, avuncular presence during the course of my movie-going life that I really will miss him. He represented a level of class and professionalism in pop culture that's in desperately short supply.

"You were a tomato!!!!!!"