Exhumed ancient account, changed password and logged in just to upvote this.

Christ, I should've scrolled down. Well done

Britain occupied Ireland for hundreds of years but they're separate sovereign nations now, so Irish people generally think of themselves as Irish. Your confusion is forgivable, however. Britain still controls a part of Ireland, known as Northern Ireland. England, Scotland and Wales make up the island of 'Britain', and…

I think Keener's one of the best actors of her generation. She's always committed, she has a wide range, never overplays and she's funny as hell when she wants to be. She played a subtle blinder as Harper Lee in Capote, stole the show in Malkovich, blended right in to Apatow improv-land inThe 40 Year Old Virgin and…

I walked out of this movie. The review pretty much nails it - confused, humourless, dull with derivative animation - but it also boasts the worst Keitel performance I've ever seen. It's like he didn't do any second takes. The high Rotten Tomatoes rating is a result of an inherent flaw of that otherwise great site:…

I GIVE IT A YEAR - So so Brit romcom. I went for Rose Byrne, and she was in it, so I can't complain.

It was terrible. Coulda been something to do with that.

Barton Fink, A Serious Man and Burn Without Reading. The Dude doesn't have a great time either, overall, but it's surely not hell to watch and - as the fella says - he abides.

The Cruiser definitely cannot act. He's always got a neon sign flashing over his head that says "ACTING." However - and this is coming from someone who absolutely detests him - he is charismatic, and that goes a long way in the movies. Same with Gibson, shit-eating, antisemitic AM radio that he is: can't act for…

@riotnrrd - that's pretty interesting and pretty depressing. I am aware of the vast increase in marketing costs as a proportion of the overall budget in the last 35 years or so alright.

I'm not remotely surprised by this: movies are getting worse, I'm sure of it now. I thought I was just getting older, but it's true: budgets are spiralling thanks to labour intensive CGI, (someone very wise once said Hollywood was the only industry he'd ever heard of that was made MORE labour-intensive as a result of…

I second that, Banana. For me it's R+B's Strawberry Fields, with that structural inventiveness and superb use of a string section. The first time signature shift, after the orchestral intro, makes me a little weak at the knees every single time I hear it. I'm not much of an obscuritan - I rather squarely believe that…

One of the English papers printed a tweet from Simon Pegg referring to the show that said something along the lines of "I can't remember the last time I saw so much lens flare on a starship bridge…". And Scotty should know, obviously.

Empire: a surefire headfuck for a 10-year-old. Thanks, Irvin.
Like so many others here, it really did my head in - the revelations, the mutilation, the damned arthouse dream/fantasy sequence in the cave. What?!! Vader? Here?!! Shit!! His head's off!! Is that…Luke?!! What the crap?!!! I remember coming out of it, head…

Beck's musically gifted, even though he's a serious magpie - ask Gainsbourg fans. However, his lyrics are faintly cool-sounding but utterly logic-free, entirely consistent with that moron's cult he had the misfortune to be born into. Who knows, maybe he'll come around one of these days.

Don't Hate Her Because She's Pretty
January Jones is a fine actress who distinguishes herself on a show with an exceptional cast. It's obvious, and really weird, and a bit icky, that a lot of people can't get past her also happening to be a five-alarm priority blonde.

I've only read Vineland, but on that alone, I'd confidently state that Philip K Dick has both a better grasp on his trade and on politics. After working through Vineland's various literary sins (wacky names, murky, look-at-me prose) and in full awareness of the author's reputation, I was shocked to see the whole thing…

That man's a musical hero
I could go on at length about the influence T-Bone has had on me as a musician, but that could - no, definitely, totally would - get boring really quickly. Ask some ex-girlfriends. I would like to say though that there's rarely been a more deserving award recipient. If all he ever did was to…

Kick-Ass: ask a stupid question…
Keith, Scott and Tasha talked a lot about this movie as a some kind of "meta" thing, a commentary on superhero movies themselves. It didn't work on that level because there's a huge amount of irony and self-awareness woven into the genre already, which I think can be forgotten…

I understand your misgivings, but you should give the newest incarnation a chance. The, yes, quite young new lad is really very good, and the first episode is wonderfully written and joyfully executed.