I'm all in on "The Big Sleep". I absolutely love that book.

You think Elle Fanning can be feral enough for Carmen? Legit question, I don't remember seeing her in much.

Yeah, but Bogart was in his late 40s during "The Big Sleep", playing 38 (explicitly mentioned) in the movie, and in the novel he was 33. So it's not exactly unprecedented.

That was from the movie where they altered the dialogue to match Bogart, since he was 5'8. Marlowe is specifically described as being tall. "She came over near me and smiled with her mouth and she had little sharp predatory teeth, as white as fresh orange pith and as shiny as porcelain. They glistened between her thin…

Yeah, Marlowe has a quick, sardonic wit. He's anything but sad, more of a jester, getting his two bucks while watching all these idiots and assholes maneuver each other and try to maneuver him.

In terms of the age the character was SUPPOSED to be (mid to late 30s), Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be an easy choice. Marlowe needs to have that jaded, sardonic wit to be effective. Hell, JGL basically played Marlowe in Brick. I also kind of like Jeremy Renner for a not-as-pretty option.

"TAKE THE FUCKING ELEPHANT!!!"

Something I've wanted for a while (that'll never happen) is a sort of "History of Noir" anthology series on HBO that could adapt these novels faithfully. "The Big Sleep" is a great movie, but it also has to lean REALLY heavily on innuendo and vague suggestion due to the Hays code. Which was a thing that happened a LOT…

Age has always been pretty flexible with Marlowe. This version is supposed to be 38 years old: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XZm_…

"All I ever wanted was a Ballerina Barbie. In her pretty pink tutu. My birthday. And you know what they got me? MALIBU Barbie. That's not what I wanted! That's not who I WAS! I was a BALLERINA . . . graceful . . . delicate. They had to go."

True, though the X-Men series could've just been called "Wolverine and Some Other Mutants".
The less said about Mystery Men the better, though Tom Waits is always awesome.

Maybe. I just think Whedon is at his best when he can riff on genre elements rather than working within an extremely well-established universe and playing it straight.

Generally speaking, McCain makes sense once you realize that 90% of his politics are based on personal spite. Bush 2 was a dick during the 2000 primaries . . . McCain goes from "mostly generic Republican" to the Democrat's favorite "maverick" Republican for defying Bushism for most of 8 years. Obama beats him, McCain…

All I needed to see on Ben Tillman was "Democratic governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894". I could pretty much guess the rest.

Capitalism is great . . . it's just not the magic fix-everything-er that Republicans and Libertarians seem to think it is. You want a system that will create a bitchin' cell phone or affordable furniture, capitalism's got you covered. Providing health care and running prisons . . . not so much.

Holy shit. There have been literally dozens of comments about people related to Chicago without anybody chiming in about New York. I think there's some sort of prize involved.

"Every day I hear complaints about how people can't work. My tooth hurts, my back aches . . . I'M ONLY FOUR!!"

For me, it's always, "No, it's four pounds of veal!" "But daddy I want a choo-choo." "Well get a job and BUY a choo-choo." Scrooged is the greatest christmas story ever.

I remember a rumor that Jim was originally supposed to sub in for John in "Blues Brothers 2000". I knew some people who thought that Jim as "Jake Blues" would be a great idea. Now . . . as bad as Blues Brothers 2000 was, would it have been worse, or better, if Jim freakin' Belushi had taken over his brother's part?…

That's a whole variety of word salad, but I think I get your gist. And all I can say is that Joan Cusack had her chance to give it her all in Addams Family Values, and she fucking nailed it. My god, who would've thought the nebbish, awkward girl from every other part she played could be fucking fantastic as a busty…