As many people know, broken-footed gadabout Jay McInerney is currently upholding his title as Prince of Downtown Debauchery by blogging about wine for House and Garden. His columns follow a familiar routine. He goes to the Waverly Inn, sees some faces, drops some names, drinks some wine, and says some stupid stuff. This week he tells Meg Ryan ("whom at first I didn't recognize," maybe because her lips have taken her face hostage!) that Tom Hanks (sitting nearby) "would meet her at the top of the Empire State Building." Get it? But in recent weeks, another element has been thrown into the mix: Unnecessary mentions of his stinker of a movie adaptation of Bright Lights Big City.

So in this week's column, when McInerney runs into the big-faced Tom Hanks, we learn Hanks supposedly auditioned for the movie, or tried to, but didn't make the cut. (Hanks later that year filmed the Oscar-nominated Big).

Back on June 12th, McInerney runs into his old friend Michael J. Fox at Del Posto. Fox played Jamie Conway in the movie but the two hadn't seen each other in years. Perhaps, McInerney writes, "the movie probably hadn't been everything we hoped it would be."

Why all the mentions? As far as we can figger, the 20th anniversary of McInerney's celluloid masterpiece rolls around next year—and perhaps the hobbled boy-prince is trying to drum up support for a re-release? That way, it can be viewed by more than the 19 people who saw it back in '88. After-party to be held at the Waverly, clearly.

Another Night at the Waverly [HG]