@avclub-df106893a4574bccb7bce1ff66e788b9:disqus I love that line and the way Shaw responds to it.  The movie's got a really sneaky sense of humor.  I love how Matthau gives the Japanese visitors a tour of their station, all the while assuming they don't speak English and calling them "you dummies" and whatnot, only to…

It's funny how quotable The Wire is given its often dour tone.  My favorite is when the Method Man character (Cheese?) gets ambushed by Omar and his crew at some shipment/warehouse facility, and he's narrating it to Prop Joe: "Bitches be pulling gats out their pussy.  Shit was unseemly."  Or something like that.

Really?

The grit and spareness found in alot of those great 70's crime/procedural movies is something that's sorely missed today.  The movies you mentioned are obviously great but I also love the original Pelham 123 and Getaway movies, Bullitt, the French Connection, Charley Varrick, Dirty Harry obviously … I could go on. …

Ah geez, that would really freak me out!

I think there's quite a bit of truth to what you say about your perception when you are in that near-sleep state.

Only if beef-flavored snacks are included.

What happens in November 2014?  Sorry, I must have missed something …

Yeah, fair enough.  For me, the feeling comes not so much from per-episode greatness but I just feel like all the episodes as they are strung together show a pretty nice progression of story and themes as a whole.  I went through and watched the whole thing again from the beginning this past fall and it was like my…

I'd be fine with "Mad Men, all of it."

The Godfather?  Pulp Fiction?  Alien?

Both of those stories you mentioned are really great.  Best New Horror, being the first story in the collection, is just a nice little jolt to get you going right off the bat.  I think the one that stayed with me the longest though was the one about the kid who built mazes in his basement.  There were just so many…

Joe Hill's 20th Century Ghosts, which had at least a couple of really great little stories that haunted me for a few days.  Arnold Rampersad's Jackie Robinson biography, which is really detailed and loaded with historical context.  The first two trades of Brubaker's Fatale, which was pretty excellent.  King's On…

They are all great.  I read them as a child, re-read them shortly after undergrad, and then re-read them again in my late 20s.  The fourth one, where Taran goes searching out the mystery of his lineage, was the one that I found the most melancholy when I was younger.  Also, I think it had less action and Taran's…

@avclub-c65a46c16b70bf886e62e791cd4a80b3:disqus  What's a good follow-up in the same genre to In Cold Blood?

@avclub-c65a46c16b70bf886e62e791cd4a80b3:disqus  What's a good follow-up in the same genre to In Cold Blood?

I hafta say, you're probably right.

I never watched much TV until about five years ago.  But before that, the only shows that I'd ever seen that attempted to build story/character in season-long arcs (or multiple episode arcs) were The OC and Nip/Tuck.  I think the first and last season of The OC are still good for what they are but are kinda…

Totally agree on Lost S3.  It was so frustrating that I actually quit watching the show at that point.  I felt like the writers were jerking the audience around too much and didn't know what they were doing.  It was so apparent.

If it's me giving out the awards, I give it to Ledger over Hoffman (who is no slouch himself).