If you've read the novel, I highly recommend the mini series of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, with Alex Guinness as Smiley.  It gives more of the characterization that you missed in the recent movie.  But it does assume that the viewers have read the book — it was huge bestselling sensation in its day, I understand,…

@Scrawler2:disqus : there may be a dearth of WWI movies, especially compared to WWII; but I think WWI movies' batting average is much higher, in that I've never seen a bad one.

re: alternate-history George Lucas.

@avclub-d542a3419c3ad57206a96bcc86155ebc:disqus , the wife and I were just talking about Australian florae and faunae last night, and how everything there seems to be venomous.  Hell, I bet the koalas have some kind of venom.  I remember reading that the fierce snake, the deadliest snake in the world, packs enough…

May I ask what the "special license" is that you got?  Is it different from an online "ordination" from the Universal Life Church?

I've never seen The Station Agent, but Malinger-Her loves it, and I love Peter Dinklidge on Game of Thrones — so I imagine I'll see it someday.

"It just reminds me of my favorite U.S. military recruitment commercial, where a soldier fights a dragon."

I love going to the symphony.  It was especially great when I was a student in Milwaukee, because the MSO lets students buy any still-open seat in the house for $12 starting an hour before showtime.  Each side of the upper-level at the Marcus Center tapers to a point almost right above the stage.  So the front-most…

Does the collision of the First and Third Worlds brings the Second World into existence?  I see this most clearly in the different standards of cleanliness, organization, lighting, refrigeration, etc. in small groceries, markets, and hotels run by families who have obviously come to the US from places much more…

@avclub-1df8797177fc3b52be6784aacca7358c:disqus , I read your comment in the voice of Alan Partridge and it was enough to actually bring a smile to my face on this grumpiest of mornings (i.e., the Monday after the beginning of Daylight Saving Time).

"The reenactors portraying Union prisoners were a bit too pudgy."

Did a marathon of Game of Thrones, Season 2.  I just finished the season last night, and I'm already feeling the depression set in because it's over until Season 3 comes to DVD.  But then, Mad Men is starting up in just a few weeks!

Holy shit, @avclub-43465afbef176647281f961fabbb8a94:disqus !  I see what you're saying, and now it's got me wondering really hard about all this.  I clearly need to have a couple of viewings of all three movies right quick!

The AV Club: where people make jokes about physics and bodily functions at the same time!

I was born and raised in Oklahoma, where the Bar-B-Q is like what you find in Texas.  I live in western WI now, so Famous Dave's is about all that's available.  I went there once, and it just made me miss the good stuff so bad that I have never been back.

@avclub-734ffb84cfa214922893511fae356b45:disqus , like I'm gonna be impressed by a hot sauce from a guy out of Boston.  It probably doubles as a latex-condom-safe lube, though.

Read your FAQ: it only has a shelf life of 12 months!

It's certified Kosher by OU (the University of Oklahoma?).

I watched the first one recently, introducing my wife to it, and she had to admit that she understood why he became such a huge star in the first place.

I was prepared to have it supplant The Sound of Music as my definition of a perfect musical (in both movies, the songs interrupt the dialogue naturally, and they further the plot) — until I realized that it probably wouldn't count, since the songs in The Blues Brothers weren't written originally for that film.  Bummer.