@avclub-495197e3cba1ed3c94dbc07d1abed4b2:disqus : I like him more as an essayist, but my favorite fiction work (in part because of the laugh-out-loud punchline) is The Sinking of the Odradek Stadium.  There's also a lot to like about Cigarettes, which is witty and fleet.  Tlooth is pretty bonkers and has some of his…

It's J.R. for me, warts and all.  Few novels have ever swept me up so fully in pure language.

Whoa, is your username from Tlooth?  Had no idea we had other Mathews readers around these parts.

The Book of Job is one of the best things in all of literature.

While I agree completely, I'm not sure the bot you responded to will be swayed by your argument.

Yes, yes, yes.  I'm willing not to put too much weight on the Crusoe/Wallace essay because it's clear Franzen was working through some deep hurt there, but you're absolutely right about the rest.

Yeah, I felt about The Corrections how you felt about Freedom, and though I keep trying to give him a chance in his literature reviews and occasional essays, I find him more unpleasant and unreadable as I go.

I'd love for that to be the case, and that would be such a satisfying twist.  Unfortunately for the theory, he'd be in his late 70s, which I don't think Amon is.

Kinda hard for Korra to be his reincarnation if he's still alive…

Oddly the only think I disliked about the episode is the opening credits.  The original series shifted after the first episode for a distilled plot summary (say it with me: "but I believe Aang can save the world!") that also helped establish the tone (optimism) and Katara's central role.   The Tenzin credits are……

Agreed 100%.   I don't know if there's critical mass here to sustain them, but it's one of the few shows I own on DVD and frequently re-watch.

If you work with Guy Maddin, I’ll slit my wrists.

Have you seen Rosselini playing her mother in My Dad is 100 Years Old?  It's brief, but heartbreaking.

Hard for me to grade this one.  The Jena subplot was awful.  The Jack sublot was not very good, although it ended well (and I loved the couch commercials).

This is what I'll miss most when Soderbergh retires from directing: not his hit-or-miss record (more misses than hits, for that matter), but the semi-annual "Soderbergh directed this?" whenever a new project of his comes around.  There's really no one else in the business with such a consistent record of screwing with…

Have you ever heard that interview where Donahue went on Irish radio to discuss the comprehensive report on clergy child abuse that was released a couple of years ago?  The host was shocked - you can almost hear his jaw hitting the table - when Donahue started going off on child abuse victims as "gold diggers" trying…

Especially since, as much as I love the series, the third season mostly shortchanged Katara compared to the other characters.  She does get a bit of rounding in "The Southern Raiders" and "The Puppetmaster", but season 3 is dominated by Katara the insufferable (The Ember Island Players weren't wrong) and the less said…

It may not be… but I have to say, I'm glad I stuck with it.  It's grown on me quite a bit, and Mark Lilly is one of my favorite characters on television now.

Thanks for the run, Hayden!  It's been a lot of fun revisiting the show.

I finally got around to this movie late, feeling like I already knew it back and front before I ever saw it because of parodies, clips, photo stills, etc.   And yet none of that prepared me for how unbearably hot Marlon Brando is in this.  There have been more attractive actors over the years, but none of them scorch…