But you wrote above that her taste ran to anything featuring "a pile of dense dialogue with a static shot." I completely disagree, of course, but it would certainly be a consistent aesthetic if true.

Just because you disagree with Kael a lot doesn't make her Armond White. I've read and enjoyed just about everything she wrote, and even when I disagreed, which was fairly often, I could almost always see where she was coming from—including in her negative reviews of New Hope and Jedi. (She loved Empire, for the…

Kael didn't like Star Wars or Jedi, but she loved Empire. Seems like a defensible position to me, and not out of line with the philosophy mentioned in the article.

The version of "Campaign 2000" that sticks out in my memory is when they would do the intro, but then the whole segment would be nothing but Alan Kalter shout-singing "Who Let the Dogs Out?" (which was the hot summer "jam" at the time). That was the entirety of the political analysis, and yet it somehow seemed…

"Every single beat was predictable and cliche. Alcoholic step-dad? Check. Girl problems? Check. Unstable Mom? Check."

Argument over!

I have been glad to see Linklater and Wes Anderson, two of my faves, finally getting some Academy love, but I knew the downside would be that if there was ever any threat of either of them winning, the "overrated" backlash would kick in pretty quick—it always does. Whatever criticisms people may have of a film, even…

I believe Peter Sellers was the original choice for the Walston role, and indeed had already started shooting it before he suffered a heart attack and had to drop out. It's interesting to imagine an alternate-universe version of this film with Sellers and Marilyn Monroe—surely that would be at least some improvement,…

"Try Not to Breathe" is definitely something more than "perfectly pleasant." Like it or not, the lyrics are not pleasant at all. It's a tough call, but it might be my favorite R.E.M. song.

I think they did play "Stand" every once in a great while in their later tours. I don't know that they ever played Shiny Happy People live except on SNL when the album was released. But I'm with you, I like them both just fine.

Yeah, I mean even if you don't like the song or her part in it, "braying" is way off. O'Neal usually knows just the right turn of phrase, but he missed the mark badly on this one.

"Let Me In" is tremendous, as is "You." "King of Comedy" has always been my least favorite.

Man-Sized Wreath: Political commentary backed by Mills' funkiest bass line ever.

I don't think it's that terrible—it's breezy and harmless. But I agree that it would have been a bad move to place it earlier on the album or (shudder) release it as a single.

Wait, I wasn't finished….

Actually, I don't get the hate for Everybody Hurts either. I think it's beautiful. And how is it "pure schmaltz"? It's just a straightforward plea to someone who might be considering suicide. Nothing cheesy about it.

I love O'Neal's writing, but these drive-by attacks on R.E.M. songs are getting tiresome. I know the AVC has written a lot of good stuff on R.E.M. but there have been way more one-off potshots like this, always about the same three songs: Shiny Happy People, Everybody Hurts, and Radio Song. Can't we do a "Hear This"…

Agreed. The guitar lick and vocal harmonies are great. I mean, it's still probably one of R.E.M.'s worst songs, but when it pops up on the radio or when I'm replaying OOT every once in a while, I find myself enjoying it.

McCrea might get a bit overshadowed by the ensemble in this one and Sullivan's Travels. But try The More, the Merrier; he's an excellent romantic lead in that one, and very funny.

Her takedown of Top Gun was outstanding.