It was crappy writing that ruined that episode. The R.E.M. scenes were the only funny parts.

It's far from being one of R.E.M.'s best songs, and yet I love this song unironically and I don't give a damn who knows it. The harmonies, the electric piano, the John Paul Jones string arrangement—it's just a beautiful piece of work. And the live version on "Road Movie" is downright majestic.

Well see, I would have agreed with you except for the Margaret Cho crack which is exactly the kind of cheap shot you're supposedly railing against.

I've enjoyed his appearances on Portlandia and Jeselnik, and even though I like the song, I can understand people not liking it or especially the video. But his reasoning and explanation are just a bit weak. And nobody talks smack about BIll Berry in my town, dammit.

It's an anti-suicide song, full stop. The band has said so many times. This isn't your typical cryptic R.E.M. song.

I didn't realize drone strikes were the only issue in American politics. Thank you for boiling this down so nicely.

The U.S. hasn't made a declaration of war since Pearl Harbor.

"Hmm. Fabulous house, well-behaved kids, sisters-in-law dead, luxury sedan…. I hit the jackpot!"

Still better than Steinbrenner.

To me this is the best Halloween episode, and "Time and Punishment" may be my favorite 5-7 minute segment of The Simpsons ever — right up there with Bart's Squishee bender and Homer's space voyage.

Yeah, Pryor's twitch is what really sells that sketch for me. His samurai was pretty good, too.

A superhero movie for kids rather than 40-year-olds? The '80s were truly a dark time.

I don't know if Hopkins and Stamp belong in the same league with those other two, but I'll think on it and get back to you.

I haven't seen a single person here, including O'Neal, say they liked the movie in question a lot.

For my taste, Lane is right most of the time: Dazed & Confused and Rushmore were great, Phantom Menace was "Crap. Say it out loud: Crap"—and identifying what was both good and bad in films such as Saving Private Ryan, Heat, and The Dark Knight Rises. I don't understand why he draws so much hate around here.

He hates ALL those guys? So, I don't want to look this up, but what filmmakers under the age of 50 does he actually like?

I doubt Lane picks his own assignments, "low-hanging fruit" or not. And the New Yorker seldom bothers to review "the absolute worst American big-budget movies," so I don't really know what you're talking about here—but on those rare occasions when they do, I would certainly expect them to tell us exactly "how crappy…

I find it odd to see Lane and Denby lumped together like this. Their styles are completely different. I can always tell which one it is just a few sentences in without looking at the byline.

And why didn't he get a shout-out in "Tom Courtenay" by Yo La Tengo?

This "super" man is NOTHING OF THE KIND.