Yeah, that was my question too. One of my all-time favorites, and certainly often funny, but I've never thought of it primarily as a comedy.

Yeah, that was my question too. One of my all-time favorites, and certainly often funny, but I've never thought of it primarily as a comedy.

I'm not saying trailers should be banned. I'm suggesting that in cases where you 100% know that you're gonna see the film anyway, you do yourself a favor by avoiding the trailer if you can. In cases where you don't 100% know (which is the vast majority), as I said, sure, check out the trailer and see if it appeals.

I'm not saying trailers should be banned. I'm suggesting that in cases where you 100% know that you're gonna see the film anyway, you do yourself a favor by avoiding the trailer if you can. In cases where you don't 100% know (which is the vast majority), as I said, sure, check out the trailer and see if it appeals.

As a charter member of the Avoid Trailers Whenever Possible Club (who's already gone several rounds with Noel on this via Twitter), I want to emphasize that it's not so much about "surprise," in the sense of avoiding plot twists and whatnot. Even in the case of a trailer like the one for A Serious Man, which is artful…

As a charter member of the Avoid Trailers Whenever Possible Club (who's already gone several rounds with Noel on this via Twitter), I want to emphasize that it's not so much about "surprise," in the sense of avoiding plot twists and whatnot. Even in the case of a trailer like the one for A Serious Man, which is artful…

I really didn't want to gum up this piece with further arguments about Children of Men, plus I don't have any further arguments. I made my case. If you violently disagree with it, as most do, then I accept that. The idea here was to talk about an instance in which I think a long, complex single take *does* work, and…

(I don't understand the comment structure at all, as it seems impossible to reply directly for some reason. I see you're having the same problem.)

One correction to the above: Douglas talks with the guys at his club after he signs up with CRS, not before. So they have no bearing on his decision to do so. It's actually unclear (at least to me) what their function is—maybe just to make CRS seem more legitimate? Or to make it that much more galling when CRS calls…

You're really determined to peg me as someone who's deliberately affecting some sort of badass maverick stance, aren't you?

Why would he call the police? That's only going to make him look like an idiot, because they're gonna ask him if anything unusual has happened recently that might explain the appearance of this clown, and he's going to say Oh yeah I did sign up for this personally tailored game thing, and end of investigation.

(This is actually replying to your comment about the reviews above—for some reason there's no Reply button on that comment.)

I would argue that Night of the Living Dead supposedly takes place in a non-science-fiction world. What troubles people (and somebody pointed this out elsewhere in the comments) is that The Game doesn't tell you up front what its fantastic premise is, because of course it can't. But the lengthy sequence of Nicholas…

I stand by that statement. Metacritic has its average rating at 61, which is about as mildly favorable as it gets. The positive reviews are all in the B-B+ range, with the sole exception of soft touch Ebert, and the negative reviews are equally placid (no red at all). And there are most certainly are negative reviews:…

I did see that one, but I can't say it had much effect on me. Never been much of a Susanne Bier fan.

Thank you for peering into my soul.

Not in the U.S. it wasn't. I think there may be a foreign Blu-ray somewhere.

Yes, that was me. Interesting that it wound up being similar enough for you to recognize—I deliberately didn't go back and reread it, or any other piece I wrote on the film at the time.

I tend to forget HD-DVD ever existed, to be honest. It's like saying something came out on Betamax. Well, okay, sure.

Perhaps you guys should stop reading the column. Kind of a wacky idea, I know, but it just might work!