Snow Country will always be at the top of my list.

I've always loved the blurb on the best albums list. Even when naming the album the 20th best of the decade, the writer couldn't help but sound a little bitter. That's so Pitchfork.

Definitely! I think Her, especially, would have given rise to a wonderful review.

It's always in the back of my mind somewhere, too. The worst was probably walking out of a late night showing of The Wind Rises, remembering what a champion he was of Miyazaki and of animation itself, and crying to my boyfriend about how much I wished Ebert had been able to see it.

I wish I didn't already have this username. Genuine Zebra Head would be wonderful.

This perfectly captured the frustration that just about every person with artistic endeavors goes through. There's so much doubt that goes along with declaring yourself something, but I think it's especially hard among people who work in the more "fine" visual arts. If someone plays an instrument or two, people pretty…

Ah, good comparison! A "because magic" situation would be my least favorite development, for sure. I think it's always a lot more interesting to examine the problems that people can cause for each other, and I think that the show could go in a really satisfying direction with this development.

Yes! It's very rare that I like a premiere episode as much as I love that episode, and even more rare that I use one to get friends into a show. But it's the first episode I show everyone. And hamboning is a gift that keeps on giving.

Hmm, could be! But that would make this episode much less satisfying, somehow. I think the revelation that his father isn't everything (or anything) that he'd hoped is going to cause a lot of growth for Finn, and I'm excited to see where it goes. That said, maybe he'll come across his mother someday, and I hope for…

Oh, no, it's definitely inspired, and a lot of it is very fun. I guess what I really miss about the language quirks is the consistency. In the first season or two of the show, they had a very specific-weird way of speaking, and they stuck to it. I liked that they had this strange, cool, evolved way of speaking. But…

Yes! I first started watching it in bed one night, because I couldn't sleep and it had just been added to netflix. The Power was intensely strange, and yet instantly character-based, and it hooked me immediately. It's still one of my favorite episodes. And Grilled Cheese Deluxe was my absolute favorite for the longest…

Always needs more Eileen! Those googly eyes…

Thank you! Like you said, Finn has been through so much, physically and emotionally, and he usually takes it with such aplomb. I wasn't quite in the camp that thought it was inevitable that Finn would lose his arm (I thought it was pretty likely, but the revelation that his past life was armless worked well, and I…

I was so excited for this episode that I couldn't even wait for the review to be posted. I guess it was like a comment dress rehearsal! :D

Ah, I can't really articulate what I've been finding off recently. Maybe it's gratuitous weirdness? Maybe it would be better described as randomness? I'm not sure. Especially in the lingo. We've come a long way from math and rhombus, and I guess I've been getting a little tired of the new made up words almost every…

I had written this somewhere else, so I'm just going to copy and paste.

Episode: B
Season: B

The conceit of having Skips' epic rise to immortality happen in the context of an 80's-movie high school is silly, obviously. But they own up to the silliness, and seeing such a familiar story (teen rebel wants to reform for girl) in such an unfamiliar backdrop (18th-19th-whateverteenth century) was a lot of fun for…

B. I really wasn't feeling all the guest stars, and things didn't really mesh, but I had fun in the B and C plots. Also, the Labyrinth jokes were great.