By Sean P. Means

Tribune Columnist

The other day I walked into a conversation already in progress, in which my coworkers were debating the quality of a movie.

As sometimes happens -- and this is one of the few occupational hazards of being a movie critic -- my colleagues asked me what I thought of this movie, the 1985 kids' adventure "The Goonies."

"I've never seen it," I replied.

The conversation stopped dead. Everyone's eyes grew wide. Jaws dropped. You would have thought I had told them I was pregnant, or a cannibal, or a space alien.

"You've never seen 'The Goonies'?!?" One of them quickly sent a "tweet" on Twitter, to tell the world that I have never seen "The Goonies."

Within minutes, replies were floating across Twitter. "I don't believe @moviecricket can call himself a film critic if he has not seen 'The Goonies' ;)" said one "tweet."

The scandalous news spread around the Tribune newsroom.