@Lemur - I guess you're right. I mean, clearly the AV Club is a forum for people who love pop culture and never criticize anything. What was I thinking?

What about the Righteous Brothers karaoke percentage?

I think I've been turned off to method acting since I read the Val Kilmer essay in Chuck Kolsterman IV. The man said that if he were to take a role, he would understand that person better than they understood themselves. Meaning, if he played you, he would be you more than you are. For crap's sakes, give me a…

@Hoodwink - Or reprogrammed to be good. Johnny 5 was one nice robot. Be careful, you don't want the anti-robot defamation people on you.

@Stuff N Fluff — you hit the nail on the head. When Gladiator came out, I couldn't not discuss it, because all of my non-history major friends wanted to know what I thought about it and it's historical roots. I would have been happier just to drop it.

Jamie Fox may be decent. But Jamie Foxx blows.

@Norse - Indeed I do. Being a history dork is apparently more appealing than other kinds of dork-dom.

@Lemur - Gosh, my apologies for treating the comments section in good fun. I'll stop being a "pedantic twat" now that you've pointed out the error of my ways.

I think Stealth ruined Stealth.

@santos — like I said, I think the action sequences are quite entertaining. Just don't sell me a bill of goods before I walk into the theater. And I think everyone has a pet peeve when it comes to films. People with a high familiarity of a subject—I think—tend to get turned off when a film is said to be accurate to…

I think the media like to associate Heath Ledger's death to the Joker character because it adds more gravitas to the circumstances of his death, and it provided (and continues to provide) publicity for the film. I think in reality, Heath Ledger was already a psychologically suspect, prescription drug addict. His…

@The Quiet Boy - Gladiator is a movie I could pick apart all day, unfortunately. But don't get me wrong, I have no problem with suspension of belief in historical films—it was just all the hype leading up to Gladiator espousing that Ridley Scott had put a fully realized, real-life Roman Empire on film. It wouldn't…

I hate the praise that actors get for "going to a dark place," as if it's somehow a noble undertaking. If Christian Bale had said that during the filming of the Dark Knight that he bought some body armor and went out to fight crime, people would think he was off his rocker. But somehow, plumbing the depths of…

I've done the DVD that way, Stuff N Fluff, and I rather enjoyed it. Unfortunately, having a degree in History, I often get annoyed with big inaccuracies (which in turn annoys my wife and my friends when I point them out). So seeing Gladiator in the theater was not my cup of tea.

I don't mind taking the job seriously either, Werdsmiff. It's the inflated sense of difficulty/importance that gets to me. I'd rather reserve my respect for individuals who make a greater contribution to society. I'm certainly not saying that I don't appreciate the artistry of acting, but Foxx doesn't strike me as…

Gladiator would have been better served as a 30-minute action sequence with no explanation as to the plot. The movie annoyed me as soon as they had Marcus Aurelius weep over his son. Having a prominent Stoic play an important role in an emotional scene was a really dumb idea.

Give me a break
I'm tired of actors trying to convince the wider world that their job is so difficult. "Boo hoo, I have to sit in a trailer all day and then pretend that I'm crazy for a few minutes." The constant need for ego gratification really annoys the crap out of me.

It's also excellent to know that your enemies will stop attacking you while you look in your inventory for that must-have item. They're courteous that way.

It also makes me wonder if the "man with glasses" is something to do with the ZFT as well. It doesn't seem like that would be the most likely thing you would remember about someone unless the whole concept of a man with glasses had been drilled into your memory.

The man with glasses
Nick mentioned that a man with glasses (posing as his father's lawyer) was the one who "activated" him. I can't remember if Jones wore glasses—although I don't think so—any guesses as to who Nick was talking about?