In case folks are coming up blank on examples of great films adapted from short stories: Arthur C Clarke's "The Sentinel" => 2001; Philip K Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" => Blade Runner (if you think Total Recall is great, add "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"); and Memento is an adaptation of a…

One of the things that struck me about that performance, esp the Mudbone bit, was how much of it wasn't "funny" but was still captivating. Someone like Chris Rock can make a audience crack up with laughter, but the ability to take the energy way down and still have absolute control of the room is kinda amazing.

@avclub-83de02c3cfc3634de1279cbc17a8fbae:disqus Air on the inside of your eardrums would travel down the Eustachian tubes and escape from the mouth and nose. If you tried to stop the air from escaping your lungs (or gas from your intestines), you could maybe damage yourself. But you'd still be conscious for 15 seconds…

Guess we picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

The World at War! This played on the only (public) TV station when I was kid in rural Alaska and blew my mind. The British-German woman who tells the story of how "Hitler made me a murderer" is almost unwatchable, it's so powerful. I start tearing up remembering how her voice starts breaking in rage and grief.

Following on from this in some detail, the Japanese title is "Sono otoko, kyoubou ni tsuki." Sono is "that" but one of the two words for"that", implying that something is far from the speaker but close to the person being addressed. Otoko is "male/man." The title then drops the particle for a comma, which is…

Well, 'monogatari" has connotatons to the Japanese that don't translate. The Tale of Genji is Genji Monogatari, but nobody translates that Genji Story. If Japanese creators want to strip the traditional connotation away they just use the borrow word sutourii, like with the drama Tokyo Love Story (rabu sutourii). The…

Aw… I was hoping for Shall We Dance?. The hilarious Japanese original, not the remake with J-Lo.

Ignatiy is a big fan. http://www.avclub.com/artic… I really like both Soldier and Pitch Black, but I imagine the "self-contained scifi B-movie where killing machines with a heart of gold find emotional redemption"-genre may have limited appeal. If it's not your thing, I doubt it'll be worth revisiting.

Thanks for the reminder. I took a break and it looks like I've got some serious Netflixing to do in the next 24 hours.

I haven't gone back for a rewatch, but I think I've probably mellowed in my assessment of the last season. Now I mainly remember the perfection of "33" and the Pegasus storyline, and Gaeta's character arc, and I could go on and on. It seems to be the show I'll remember for its strengths.

Right?! I was waiting for a mention of "The Hut on Fowl's Legs" through the entire article. That song is badass.

Not really a concert film, but I would like to point people to the 1963 British recording of Little Richard performing Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On. http://www.youtube.com/watc…   I know punk hadn't been invented yet, but it *feels* like a great punk show.

@avclub-b4238f7793ec8c1a632f14f2a1766c68:disqus Oooh, I did a book report on Alas, Babylon in middle school in 1988 or so. Such a good read (and told me a lot about racism in the 1950s as well).

Elisha Hunt Rhodes must have a affecting anecdote…

Yeah, I'm a little taken aback by all the trauma people are talking about, but maybe it's because I read the book like mad and don't even recall the movie. All I remember is how vibrant that world and characters were. Even if it was often brutal and unfair it was never false, and was often suffused with joy. "Lots of…

@avclub-eee10e3b1f440f8e5dde6138c35e4a4b:disqus "David and I used to crow when we realized what Sarah could do. We used to call her Jimmy Stewart, because he was the greatest American-in-pain in the history of film." From the 2008 Paley reunion, though apparently Gellar didn't realize why people had been calling…

Henry Rollins doing spoken word doesn't really count as standup, but I really enjoy his account of working with Ben Folds and William Shatner. http://www.youtube.com/watc…

Something that is never really detailed in the movie is that the French had transitioned straight from (in their view) a humiliating withdrawal from French Indochina at the end of the First Indochina War straight into the Algerian War. There was a widespread belief among the French military that their main mistake in…

Not so much Alaska, but Hawaii is a useful comparison. Hawaii was an internationally recognized kingdom until Euro-American businessmen formed the Committee of Safety and carried out a coup against Queen Liliʻuokalani, setting up a provisional government to advocate for US annexation. The interesting bit is that the…