You can definitely tell he didn't grow up in Gotham, if that's what you mean.

You can definitely tell he didn't grow up in Gotham, if that's what you mean.

I made a tradition of listening to all of Daydream Nation as I would drive with my family on summer vacation. It's great summer driving music.

I made a tradition of listening to all of Daydream Nation as I would drive with my family on summer vacation. It's great summer driving music.

That's how comic books (or soap operas, or any other serialized narrative that takes place over the course of decades) works. I don't see how our assurance that James Bond is never actually in danger (he's always going to be alive at the end of the movie) is really any "cheaper" than a character coming back from…

That's how comic books (or soap operas, or any other serialized narrative that takes place over the course of decades) works. I don't see how our assurance that James Bond is never actually in danger (he's always going to be alive at the end of the movie) is really any "cheaper" than a character coming back from…

Yeah, the whole art team is really firing on all cylinders. It's less flashy than, say Swamp Thing or The Flash, but it's crisp, clear, and innovative in its own way.

Yeah, the whole art team is really firing on all cylinders. It's less flashy than, say Swamp Thing or The Flash, but it's crisp, clear, and innovative in its own way.

Yeah, and isn't Sean Connery, like, old and stuff? What's with James Bond still being young, even though there are smartphones and whatnot? I don't understand how James Bond is still a thing in movies.

Yeah, and isn't Sean Connery, like, old and stuff? What's with James Bond still being young, even though there are smartphones and whatnot? I don't understand how James Bond is still a thing in movies.

It's okay, ABC didn't get into the reality show business to make friends, anyway.

It's okay, ABC didn't get into the reality show business to make friends, anyway.

Yeah, the rules of Baroque counterpoint limit melodic possibilities pretty significantly. This is a straight circle-of-fifths progression just railing on chord tones (though that escape tone seems to show up in a lot of these, too). Honestly, the list of pieces that feature this melodic fragment probably numbers in…

Yeah, the rules of Baroque counterpoint limit melodic possibilities pretty significantly. This is a straight circle-of-fifths progression just railing on chord tones (though that escape tone seems to show up in a lot of these, too). Honestly, the list of pieces that feature this melodic fragment probably numbers in…

Anyone think they'll get a new actor to play Dwight with his "old face," or just put a bunch of makeup on Clive Owen? (Given the amount of makeup they used in the first one, I guess this is a dumb question.)

I actually liked the Magnitude appearance because of how strained the set-up for the "Pop pop" had to be. They cut to the scene as Abed was clarifying what he said, just so Magnitude never had to say anything else. There's something endearing when writing shows its seams like that.

I couldn't get over how much this sounded like and episode of Law & Order. I don't mean writing-wise, I mean the actual audio quality. Were small-diaphragm mics part of that handheld feel of the show? There seemed to be an extra tininess to the sound tonight.

That really only constitutes a spoiler if the thing that interests you about Mad Men is that the shapes on screen appear and move in ways that you can't predict. That there's a fight in LAST WEEK'S episode is not a plot twist or the reveal of a whodunnit. I get that the plot of Mad Men can be fun and surprising at…

Oh, you guys are just bitter because they left out Tom Bombadil.

To me, this is a question that very much depends on the source material.  If the book is particularly plotty, keeping as much of it in makes sense, but if it's more about broad themes, then some flexibility seems more than warranted.  Then there are whole questions of what makes the original works great.  I tend to…