@avclub-0d4efaa2c9d1041eb9b8b5319eec8531:disqus Sooooo…is that a yes on punishing interracial couples in 1930s Mississippi?

Put 'em back in the box, Todd!

@avclub-0d4efaa2c9d1041eb9b8b5319eec8531:disqus Finally? I don't recall ever saying otherwise. I don't know why this is so difficult for you to grasp: I'm not making excuses for what Manning did, because I don't think they need to be excused. To try another analogy, in 1930s Mississippi, would you say interracial…

Anyone listening to Jen Kirkman's new podcast? It's real bare bones, just her talking into a mic, but I love her perspective on things (her episode 2 treatise on small talk ought to be gospel).

I just wish someone would film John Mulaney's version of Lincoln because that sounds like a much better movie.

@avclub-0d4efaa2c9d1041eb9b8b5319eec8531:disqus If the chat logs are to be believed, then Manning certainly knew and accepted the consequences of the leak (though not the torturous solitary confinement and psychologically humiliation, these are not, as you say, beside the point). It only makes Manning all the more…

@avclub-0d4efaa2c9d1041eb9b8b5319eec8531:disqus You understand how indifferent I am to this argument right?

I'm not sure if it's precisely rape by fraud, but it's probably in a similar classification, though there's some legalese hair splitting about rape vs. lesser sexual molestation vs. illegal coercion charges that I don't really care to wade through. Here's the essence of the two worst of the charges: In one case he had…

Not only the leakers, but all the mainstream news outlets that publish them, if we're going to define treason/aiding the enemy as disseminating information that can be used for propaganda purposes. Especially when it comes to the diplomatic cables, which by all accounts is what really ticked them off. It's really some…

Because that's not how the Swedish justice system works, understandably people are confused about this and a lot of Assange supporters are cagily hiding behind him "wanting to be brought in for questioning." In Sweden, you aren't charged until you're arrested and about to go to trial, this means completing the…

Manning released a statement through family and lawyers that "he wants to be addressed as Brad or Bradley publicly until he got onto the next stage of his life." (paraphrasing) It seems pretty obvious to me that just as one should respect someone's desire to go by a new name/pronoun, one should also respect their…

So I suppose by your logic Daniel Ellsberg should have been executed for high treason? What he disclosed was far more highly classified than Manning. To this day no one, even state officials, can bother pointing out any tangible damage as a result of the leak, besides of course, their own reputations. But I think…

This really isn't something up for debate as Assange himself has basically agreed to the version of events as they've been described, but him and his sycophants want to make some claim that this is Sweden "redefining" rape. It's grotesque and he deserves to stand trial for his crimes.

I'm pretty hard on Modern Family, but that is the kind of joke they do extremely well.

I desperately want him to just type "Meh, pass."

Robert Mitchum was an amazing interview - incredibly intelligent, insightful, but never went out of his way to demonstrate it. His Dick Cavett is one of the best, and you can see Cavett feeling him out early on, worried about him not opening up, but you realize Mitchum's not shy or reticent, he just doesn't say one…

I'd definitely agree if we were talking about, say, Modern Family, which is basically the laziest, most cynical grab at hipness watered down for the masses. But Gervais has used the device properly in the past and shown himself willing to abandon it for other projects. It absolutely feels like a crutch when you watch…

Oh I think that was made clear with 2nd tier Extras, aka Life's Too Short.

Yeah this was pretty much my feeling. It's also a really bizarre choice to go with the mockumentary format again. The way Gervais (and before him Christopher Guest) used it was to reveal people's disingenuousness and vanity (contrasting the talking heads of how people presented themselves vs. candid moments of how…

No, I think Iannucci directed every episode of The Thick of It and Morris hasn't written for television in a long, long time. Besides Four Lions, Morris has been very low profile. I'd love to see him come back to television with a project of his own. You know the BBC loves the attention he gets.