From about halfway through season 3 onward, there were only two things that kept me watching: Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. Especially McDonnell—she acted circles around every other person on that show. 'Course, I guess it helped that hers was one of the only characters with an arc that was both interesting…

So true, @avclub-f14314bf4d4a1bd450664f089241fe86:disqus. Remember the tension in the first Matrix where Agent Smith corners Morpheus in the bathroom? That's a real "oh crap" moment because Morpheus is awesome yet also totally outmatched. There's nothing even approaching that in the sequels, though I guess Morpheus…

It's the same problem as the super-long, fancily choreographed lightsaber battles in the Star Wars prequels. As the fight scene drags on and on, the audience becomes fatigued by all the spectacle and forgets what the stakes are. It makes for a good first-time viewing, but once the novelty has worn off there's very…

Yeah, Noel's comparison to Battlestar Galactica is actually quite apt, in that the creators of each show squandered a great premise on pseudo-religious horseshit once they started believing their own hype. Can we call a moratorium on beard-stroking religious musings in sci-fi for a couple of years? Because it seems…

You really shouldn't go to sleep, seeing as how you're starring in a movie titled "A Firstie on CancerAIDS Street."

Same here. It was good practice for that scene in BB season 3 where he talks to the school assembly about the plane crash.

I remember Casper for one reason and one reason only: Christina Ricci. Young Harbinger had one hell of a crush on her after that movie.

The Hobbit. My mom read that to me when I was six or so, and the part where Thorin dies absolutely destroyed me. It was the first story I'd ever heard in which one of the main characters died, and it seemed so unfair. Interestingly, Thorin's little speech before his death about "going to the halls of my fathers" might…

Interesting …

Hook's name-calling battle had some weirdly adult insults too. It took me a decade to understand what Robin Williams' "nearsighted gynecologist" was all about.

Lisa needs braces?

Ooh, yeah, I forgot about The Fly. The final shot is Geena Davis, holding the shotgun and sobbing violently, a complete emotional wreck. My initial vote was for 1984, but MAN this movie just totally wrings you out.

MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

My favorite part about the Vikings link isn't the actual comic, but the "Lost" comics down in the newspost. I swear, that show just seems stupider and stupider the more time passes.

Come on, no 1984? "He loved Big Brother." The ultimate bad-guys-win final sentence.

Is that really a downer ending, though? I mean yeah, the bad guys win, but it does end on a note of hope, with Luke and Leia embracing as they watch their friends go to rescue Han Solo. For it to qualify for this list, Han would've been murdered in front of their eyes, Leia would be forever paralyzed by her grief,…

True, but you know the unhappy ending is coming for the entire movie (come on, how ELSE could it have ended?) so for me it lacks the gut-punch quality of the best downer endings.

Of course, no one is arguing Schumacher’s 'sexy' defining of Kilmer and
Kidman’s fire-starting chemistry—in that it was essentially two sticks
rubbing together"

I don't think it's unbalanced at all. It's meant to be a critique of both bombastic, jingoistic American exceptionalism on one hand, and of smug ivory-tower liberalism on the other. It doesn't make fun of celebrities for having a viewpoint, it makes fun of them because it's really grating when pampered millionaire…

Yeah, come on, the Matt Damon joke is funny simply because it's a silly gag, not because it somehow comments on Matt Damon as a person. They probably just chose him because his name sounded funny when delivered in that weird voice.