I think the Freeze storyline jumped the shark with the New Batman Adventures (the WB relaunch) when it was revealed he was just a head. That ridiculousness was slightly rectified by his appearance on Batman Beyond though…

Alan Moore reference?
Having now read The Killing Joke (which I hadn't when I first encountered this episode as a kid), I was wondering if the roller coaster climax here was meant to reference that. And if so, is the great Prosciutto on the posters we see a thinly veiled Moore caricature? Perhaps a nod to the setting…

I had honestly forgotten the Blind Assassin introduction until after the end, when I re-read it after the epilogue. While I'm sure some found it a little too expected, I really like the bookends and how they eloquently describe your point.

Nothing to add, just a thanks for the insight, since I too found myself wondering how the sci-fi stories fit in with the larger narrative. Interesting thoughts, all.

I would also like to register my unabashed love for this album. I listen to the whole thing all the way through and love all the swagger and bombast it carries. It may heresy, but I find this one much more enjoyable than (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

FOX Action Theater!

Actually, when the show first started, it aired both weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings. This got kind of confusing, because the Saturday morning shows didn't always align with the weekday ones. I remember, in particular, that the Cat and the Claw Part 1 aired on a Saturday (it may have been the first Saturday…

Atonement
I think one of the themes here would be reconciliation, or at least the desire for it, on the part of Iris. She failed to protect her sister, both from Richard and death itself (and thus neglected her father's charge to her as a girl), and tried to atone for it by destroying Richard's reputation afterwards.

I just re-watched last night and absolutely agree on the animation. This is probably the best episode covered yet in that regard. The fiery warehouse scenes which eliminate the blue from Batman's costume are stunning.

It's one of my favorites and I really want to re-read, so I too am hoping we get to do it!

No prob; also, just saw that one of today's additions to the new Familyre Christmas comp (which should be complete as of Christmas Eve) is another new Sufjan track, "Up On the Housetop."
http://familyrechristmas.ba…

I believe these are actually from the 6th disc and are several years old. The whole album from that year (2006? 2007?) is now up on Soundcloud, at least temporarily.
http://soundcloud.com/rawkb…

I would like
a new adaptation of the book that hews more closely to the source. There's a lot of interesting stuff that gets left out of the classic movie. Remaking it with the same script is moronic.

Titles
Man, after "The Dark Knight" I was really hoping for "The Caped Crusader" or something with "Detective" in the title as a nod to other bat nicknames. This new title is uninspired. Hopefully the movie won't be.

See you next year
While I am planning to read Watson's Apology, I'll be traveling during the week of the discussion so I'll be unable to take part. However, I look forward to reading everyone's insights after the fact and I'll rejoin the conversation in 2011…

I haven't outwardly loathed any of the books so far (the only two I've missed being "Ghost Story" and "Destroy, She Said"), but few of them have become favorites. I least enjoyed "Little, Big" (for its impenetrability) and I most liked "Wrestler's" and "And Then We Came to the End." I think I'm just predisposed to…

Misdirection
This isn't really related to the topic of Lila Mae, but something I remembered upon the mention of Ben Urich (the reporter) above:

Season 4 DVD set
Has anyone else bought Season 4 on DVD? I just re-watched that season opener and they edited out the part where Liz and Jack break the 4th wall to condescendingly introduce the Jay Leno show at the very end. Sure, it may not make too much sense out of context but it kind of annoyed me. Was wondering…

I would've called it "slight." Not just in length, but in depth as well. Sure, I can see parallels to Gatsby, Synechdoche NY and a little bit of Citizen Kane, but it's nowhere near as compelling or layered as any of those entertainments. It just kind of floats.

I think the point of his marriage was that she was a cipher that he was able to project his own desires (or dreams) of what he wanted a wife to be onto. At the same time, her enigmatic character was like a puzzle he couldn't figure out, and when they finally married he was stuck because there really wasn't much more…