Although it remains really funny, I feel like Seinfeld became very dated very quickly over the past couple years. Right after it went off the air, there was a lot of talk about how it was the logical end-point of the traditional sitcom, and for a while it seemed like sitcoms were pretty much exhausted. But in the past…

Sky Captain
I so wanted to like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow more than I did. It had so many great moments like the opening scene, the miniature elephant in the scientist's lab, Angelina Jolie with an eye-patch, but it was ultimately not a very good move. It looks like the director dropped of the face of the…

Atonement
I thought Atonement got unfairly disparaged as middle-brow, Miramx-style awards bait in the tradition of the English Patient, but in fact had some interesting things to say about the limits of fiction, espcially for a movie that grossed $100 mill+. Although the "twist" at the end might seem cheap to some…

Uhhh…Enjoying your shrimp?

All the Sad Young Literary Men
I read Keith Gessen's novel last winter when when I was 26 thinking about leaving a history grad program in a small crappy city while in a long distance relationship. One of the book's three main characters is 26, thinking about leaving a history grad program in a small crappy city, and…

I don't know if it qualifies as a "message," but thought "Its a good life" does a really great job making childhood children creepy. We like kids at least partially because they are powerless and need our help to survive, but Anthony is the rampaging id of childhood given total power. Instead of an idyllic world of…

T o be entirely pedantic, Charlemagne probably shouldn't be considered a Holy Roman Emperor, he was emperor of the Frankish empire that latter medieval rulers claimed to derive authority from. After losing a lot of its prestige after the death of Charlemagne's son, Otto I resuscitated the title of emperor in late 10th…

Hemmingway, I read that WSJ review after you brought it up, and I thought it was terrible. It's the journal editorial board's paranoid fantasy of the afflicted, castrated, upper-middle-class American white male, besieged on all sides by ball-busting women and faceless liberal political correctness, imported to their…

Gary Shteyngart
How about the The Russian Debutante's Handbook? I loved it, and since I was the only one to have finished it in my friends' stillborn book club a few years back, I'm dying to talk about it. I thing it would resonate pretty strongly with the site's audience and its just a really solid read. I haven't…

Thematically related to Infinte Jest?
I haven't seen the movie, but from the write-up, it sounds like its at least somewhat similar to Infinite Jest. They both seem to show the effects of the induction of a mindless state of bliss through technology. It's interesting that both the movie and the novel came out the…

I feel dirty for noticing this
But did anybody else catch the poster on the porn producer's wall that said "Best Bukkake 2002?" I guess its strange to think of their being acceptable and unacceptable porn-themed backgrounds on a broadcast cartoon show, but I'd imagine that has to be one of the first times that…

I did this a couple years ago
I made it to the 2nd round of callbacks in Chicago back in 2006 or so. Its actually pretty fun, you take a 50 question test, with questions read by the announcer (Johnny something) and watch a video hosted by Alex Trebeck. You then play a couple of simulated rounds of Jeapoary againts the…

Ninth Configuration
I'm really excited to see this movie get mentioned on this site, since its one of those largely forgotten films that, while it isn't great, is interesting and cool enough to be rediscovered. I picked it up without knowing anything about it when I saw the DVD cover, a man in space suit standing on…

Long comment
This was a nice write up, and the seemingly inevitable numbing effect of watching these movies was interesting to watch. I've been thinking about why I find the recent (seemingly now passed) trend in horror movies (Saw, Hostel, the TCM remakes are the usual suspects) so distasteful after seeing TCM: The…

Don't know if its worth it
She is pretty dense and academic, but Elaine Scarry's "The Body in Pain" and "On Beauty and Being Just" are two of the most deeply moral books i've ever read. Her analysis of torture and the potential redemptive power of beauty are genuinely inspiring, even though its pretty tough to get…

Exploitation and being exploited
I think its possible to explain Josh's queasiness with this movie after viewing the bonus features, and a lot of commenters' vociferous frustration with that reaction, due to the effect knowing the creative process has on the viewing experience. As a lot of people have said, the move…

Saw the Movie…Potential Spoiler
I saw this at a sneak preview at Navy Pier on Sunday, and have been dying to see the av club's review, and its spot on. New York's and Salon's reviews (two of the more conspicuous negatives) completely miss the point, especially Edelstein. His critique over the film's darkness is…

I think Noel is right when he criticize the poor coverage of religion in films, tv etc. It seems that virtually all movies and tv shows take place in a world of bland agnosticism. The question of religious belief, or lack thereof, is rarely addressed and when it is, it's usually assigned to a one-note fundamentalist…

AfterMannix?

Old Nickelodeon Cartoon
I remember being absolutely terrified of the credits to the show Count Duckula when I was seven or so. I could watch the show as a kid, but I would always make sure to miss the opening. I was petrified when the name of the show appeared, seemingly written in blood, after a group of bats swarmed…