Replying to both @avclub-a64f770db8dc668f93db5788517d1bc0:disqus and @avclub-ce7da3812ed2a993e2194cd75e94b18b:disqus

On the one hand, I agree that one should be careful about over-prioritizing the director, in the director does not necessarily make every decision (though he or she has final say over them, in film at least), nor is the director the fount of all skill that goes into making a film or episode of television.

What about doing something along the lines of Noel's "Very Special Episode" column, but focusing on a show's style? (This week, Fringe, next week, X-files, etc.) It wouldn't get in the way of the usual weekly reviews but would give the readers something a bit more. (And later weekly reviews could occasionally refer…

"I know that I'm not alone in feeling that it's time for online film and TV criticism to expand past analysis of plot and character "

With regards to his sometimes focus on innovation in the 40's and 50's, my understanding is that underlying some of Bordwell's work in recent years is his feeling that contemporary mainstream filmmakers are making less and less use of some of the stylistic options of cinema (particularly in regards to staging), and he…

Including that bit from Zot! was a nice choice. Kudos.

On the other hand, what if the blocking in a shot is such that characters start or end a series of movements at a position corresponding to the rule of thirds?

I don't think there's anything in that Bordwell article that actually mentions the rule of thirds. And the rule of thirds is not incompatible to the eye moving around the frame. That's like suggesting that we never notice the overall composition in a frame because we also focus in on several parts of the frame over…

Wil Yun Lee played Harada, the ninja leader, not Yashida. Yashida was played by Haruhiko Yamanouchi.

Just read through these comments, great discussion overall.. I'm sure no one will see this, but just a quick comment on this. This is something I can't quite articulate properly, but it's about how we view the characters in the film. Something to do with how to apply the idea of the three parts of a magic trick, the…

Hob's also willing to change in a way that Morpheus wasn't able to. His first and last stories are partly about that. He actually makes a good companion for Destruction, like in his dream at the end of "Sunday Mourning."

I think Lucien also comes from a DC anthology series, something that had only one or two issues.

Sandman Mystery Theatre is worth a read. Wesley Dodds and Diane Belmont was one of the great relationships in comics back in the day. The mysteries were so-so, but it was worth reading for Wes and Diane.

For me, the most moving thing in this volume is that line at the end of "Exiles." It's probably partly because of the experience of getting to those lines after having read the whole series monthly as it was coming out, a regular and meaningful element in my life coming to an end after six years. I still get hit with…

@avclub-749a8e6c231831ef7756db230b4359c8:disqus That had always been my interpretation as well.

But I think Death is okay with and accepting her role and her eventual fate. I don't think she thinks of death (lower case d) as horrific. She seems okay with things when we see her at the end of the universe in the Books of Magic limited series, the one Gaiman wrote.

Death even yells at him about this at one point.

And an English dictionary at that. I wonder how well translations of the series are able to do with the first letter thing for the Endless.

Never thought of this before, but that's what happens to stories too sometimes, in the long run.

This is my understanding of the Endless as well.