That Mini car chase is really excellent. It's beautifully edited, and is one of the best uses of the twisty little passages of Old World streets in a chase I've seen.

One of the many reasons she's so crucial to that first movie is how minimal, yet perfectly clear, the building of her character is. Even though in her dialogue she never outright states, "I'm a vagabond free spirit trying to find excitement and meaning across the Continent", you get all that through just her actions…

In my head I always consider The Hiketeia as the official start of the Rucka run, even though technically it isn't. I certainly would recommend (and have, in the past) starting with it, or even just reading that if nothing else (though I would always urge readers to get at least up through Eyes of the Gorgon).

Ghost World is a tone piece; it's not a full, mature work like Clowes has gone on to accomplish. Though it's slight, it really does hit a very particular note particularly well - but that had better be a note that means something to you, otherwise there isn't much else to latch on to.

My recommendations, as a Wondy fan:

I love love love that matrix.

I also bemoan the lack of audio drama's presence even in the ever-expanding universe of podcasts. I think it's because the radio play had been more or less dead for too long by the time podcasts exploded, and the cultural demand for stories to listen to were instead fulfilled by audiobooks and things like Night Vale,…

THEY GOT DURANT, TOO

I've heard a theory that decades of intense Actor's Studio Method construction and maintenance of characters can lead to serious burn-out, De Niro being the prime example. That would help explain why, in his senior years, he'd be more inclined to take much lighter parts and have more comfort (sequels) and possible…

LET'S RAAAAW-*smartgun roars*

The Verheiden books (especially the book with the gorgeous Den Beauvais art) are, in my mind, better and more worthy continuations of the story than the latter two movies we got.

Wiseguy. chronologically between HSB and TXF, is a rarely-mentioned, nearly forgotten, yet crucial evolutionary step for long-form television. Each season had its own strongly defined arc, with a particular set of characters, themes, and each having a cumulative effect on the protagonists. Like later shows, it used…

The only thing I'm curious about: does the actress look as much like John Cusack's daughter in the rest of the movie as she does in the header pic above?!

The X-Files' failure to successfully craft a series-long mythology was a necessary step towards the "peak TV" we enjoy today. Carter & Co. didn't have the lessons of what not to do when crafting a long game, they were the lesson, and I hope that future generations that watch the show are forgiving and cognizant of…

I was telling everyone who would listen at the time that the two best characters on television were scientists named Walter.

The big thing that compromises s4 is that they weren't sure if they'd get another season. So they had to split the difference between moving plots forward and ending them outright, a nearly impossible task. The overall structure and mythology of the season ends up clunky and unsatisfying as a result, while…

They also both feature a Machine.

That's what was so special about this streak from 2 through 3: they nailed the alchemy of science-fiction ideas as contrasts and complications of character dynamics, and gave their themes major and minor time to breathe and intermingle.

Just seeing that cast picture above made me all gooey. Especially Walter's banana sundae.

But ultimately, we ended up loving them both.