You're absolutely right that the evaluation of Phantom Menace at the time was more "meh" than anything else. I know this, because I was one of the HATED HATED HATED it crowd right from the start and I got to feel very alone as I argued with peers who seemed to think it was okay or even good. Even the overwhelming mass…

Not usually. The first place I remember seeing this trope was actually the 80s Cat People remake, where the equation was something like: have sex and turn into a panther (unless you're siblings), then in order to turn human again the panther has to kill someone. It's hard to be sure, though, because that movie didn't…

Interview is a precursor to Twilight only if Twilight was about the love-hate relationship between two hot vampire dudes and their creepy vampire love child.

My two cents: there are points where it really flies, but it always seems to get bogged down again. He has a good sense for how to throw a serious narrative curveball, but there aren't enough of them to justify the book's length. Also, some of them seem interesting when they happen, but don't end up going anywhere.

"Objectivism" is basically "sociopaths trying to justify why nothing is wrong with them."

I watched the first New Trilogy movie because I liked the old one and had a reasonable expectation that it would be entertaining, at least. But I hated Phantom Menace so much that I no longer had any prospect of being entertained by the other two.

Lethal sunlight was invented for the movies — it first shows up in Nosferatu.

My problem is why analyze this book to death

(I'm not saying the Twilight and Star Wars or HP are in the same league in quality)

It's a genre show, yes, but it transcends it and who says genre shows can't be great stuff?

I also agree about the X-Files. I love it and am pretty sure that Buffy wouldn't exist without it. But it does not have anything close to the detailed story or character continuity of Buffy. And one of the worst continuity offenders is Chris Carter himself. A lot of the "mythology" episodes (which he tended to write)…

Overall I like these two episodes. But there are three big things that bug me:

I hate all the Rincewind books. The great thing about Pratchett is that you can hate all the Rincewind books and still have a dozen classic novels to love.

Agreed. The premise and development on that one were great, but it completely fell apart on the resolution. One of those segments where they completely changed the story they were telling at the last minute for no good reason, and it also felt cluttered and random.

Anya's speech would have made more sense if it had seemed more directly related to earlier events — like Buffy trying to kill her at the beginning of the season, or lingering resentment over the "everybody sucks but me" speech in Get it Done. Buffy really does treat everyone horribly in GID.

They met ensouled Angel and evil Spike, so it could also be primacy. That's realistic human behavior, to think that the person you first met is the "real" person.

This episode is my pick for worst offender on the occasional Buffy problem of elements that work in general story terms, but don't come across very well in the details. The big kick-Buffy-out scene feels off, like nobody says quite what they'd really say or does quite what they'd really do, even though it makes sense…

The battery thing is a nontrivial drawback, especially if you're counting on your e-reader to keep you entertained on, say, a couple of five-hour plane rides plus time hanging around the airport.

feminist tv series wherein our superpowered hero gets a sub-menial job and shags a total loser