1.   Every kid should have an eccentric uncle who provides the sense of vast possibilities that daily life with parents often denies.

2.   He is Mark as reporter, even a somewhat eccentric uncle, telling a whale of a story and slipping in and out of various characters.

3.   His affectionate mockery, his reverence for feminine elegance and the humanity at the heart of his ostentatious perversity make him a sort of eccentric uncle to Pedro Almodovar.

4.   On a bare set, in a sweater, he turns the dour evangelist into a reporter and an eccentric uncle.

5.   Yet she recognizes a continued penchant for hushing up about everything from the eccentric uncle to the horse-rustling great-grandparent.