It was 5.

So we're still off-brand Italians, then.

Australia cares enough about Greek people to have stereotypes of us? Do tell.

I use The City and the Pillar for that!

If you can ever get around to the source material for Spring Awakening, it's a remarkable experience. The musical's fun, but the play is something else entirely.

The film of Cloud Atlas works quite well as an introduction to the book, though (I watched the film, and then went out and read the book. Then read everything else by Mitchell I could get my hands on). Given how much complexity had to be cut for the film, the book still feels like a constant discovery even knowing the…

I picked up Red Dragon a while ago on a whim, and the prose is actually really excellent. Harris has a kind of spare but beautiful writing style that elevates the plot in a similar way to what the show's doing.

HIs Romeo and Juliet is fantastic, and The Great Gatsby had some redeeming qualities.

We don't talk about that. We want the Captain Marvel movie to do well.

Jim Shooter, ladies and gentlemen.

They say it's very long-o

Correction: Julia McKenzie owns the role of the Witch, just like Imelda Staunton owns the role of the Baker's Wife (the London cast blows the original Broadway recording so out of the water it's not even fair).

That means a lot to me. I'll be picking up a trade of that, looks like (Brubaker/Fraction/Aja Iron Fist and Nextwave were my dual introduction to comics. They're both pretty hard to live up to).

I think it might be an extension of the premium-station dramedy satire. Think of Paulie G as the hero of one of those shows (like he's written himself). They'll make these big personal leaps at the climax of a season, seem like they're "improving," then inevitably backslide in a way that complicates how we view their…

See, I think that tiny bit of empathy he found is going to make his relationship with Valerie even more toxic. People who are honestly trying are far, far more dangerous than hacks.

I think it means she's a potentially good actress. If she could get out of her head and respond honestly like she did there, she could be excellent. But she won't.

I feel like I can see some of the trajectory for this season, and it already hurts.

I don't think I took a breath until she fumbled a line and proceeded to break character, apologize, and go back to the start of the sentence.

I can never tell what the second line of that song is.

I think she's got a young-actor thing going on where she's exactly as good as the material she's given. She can grow out of it.