I am so, so glad this got an A.   That's all I have to say right now.

You joke (I think) but to me, Beverly Hills Buntz was damn good.  An odd spinoff idea, but a very well executed comedy-drama that didn't alter Norman Buntz's personality, just his circumstances (think Lou Grant, but the opposite - that is, Asner went comedy-to-drama for that one).

The Mitchum-starring films, though, could not be more different:  Farewell My Lovely was near-perfect, set when and where it should have been (postwar L.A.).  Mitchum is great as Marlowe, the entire cast is wonderful (and hey, noir writer Jim Thompson shows up in a cameo![no lines]).The mood is melancholy, the music…

My faves vary over the years.  My wife still likes to show the "Scottish Play" episode to her class whenever they're studying Shakespeare.

Yes, I read somewhere that they all took a good look at the first series and decided what worked and what didn't.  The way the English do (or did?) tv really lent itself to that kind of examination, as they could then present plans for what a next series would look like, and the powers that be could sign them up for…

That was brilliant - in fact I think that series' take on WW1 was possibly the best I've seen, and I'm not remotely kidding.

Oh, I think David Caruso was much more than an Irish-themed gangster on Hill Street Blues.  With that bowler hat?  He was a LEPRACHAUN-themed gangster, please.

Oh, I think in fact that Tarantino DID improve Rum Punch… especially the character of Jackie.  I just know that QT couldn't have come up with the plot on his own.  Which, even given QT's ego, he has never, never said he did, or implied he did:  he admires the holy hell out of Elmore Leonard and doesn't care who knows…

But if your car is your mother, you're okay.  Jerry Van Dyke's car never tried to kill him.

There's an audio book of Tishomingo Blues, read by Frank Muller.  ANYthing read by Frank Muller is great, if you don't know.  It's a great book - but I've actually never read it, only had Muller read it to me…

I call Stephen King the Milne of Maine.  His animals aren't as cute as Roo or anything, and they keep coming back, but…

Oh, I intend to check out Justified as soon as I can.  I've heard and read nothing but good things about it.

Can I change that to "as good as Higgins, and different"?  'cause I don't really wanna fight.

You should, Scrawler.  I haven't read that many westerns in my life.  There are a few great Louis L'amour books, and there's a guy named Greg Matthews who no one's ever heard of, he's written some good, giant ones.  And there's Snowblind Moon by John Byrne Cooke, and of course there's Lonesome Dove….

What I loved about Get Shorty (book and movie) was the… I was going to say "effortlessness" but that's not it — the confidence that Chili Palmer has navigating through the various situations.  Even when he walks onto a scene not in complete control, he very soon has the angle he needs, and gets out having gained the…

Well, Karen Cisco… yum.

But (and I do agree with you, Scrawler) the way Leonard put story and character over prose made the prose …poetic. 
And there's never a time when he's not in complete control - he gives you the information you need, and knows that that's all you need.

Many, many times, Leonard was asked about his "style".  He usually replied that insofar as he HAD a style, it was not to have one. (Yes, he put it better - surprised?)

As much as I loved the movie Out of Sight (and anyone who hasn't seen it is in for a treat, check it out as soon as you can) and as close to the book as it was, I prefer the book's ending slightly.

Um.  You're exactly right.  Leonard's economy of language has such a flow.  Try reading any of his books out loud to someone - they will ALWAYS know which character is speaking, and where they are.
I love James Ellroy, who's developed a (slightly) similar bare style, but with Ellroy it seems a little bit showy.  With…