More great films from 1999
@ Claire Zulkey - I agree, that was one of the best seasons for movies, ever. In addition to the three great films that you named, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Fight Club, and Three Kings were out that same winter.

Rewatching the Karla Trilogy
I read the Karla trilogy years ago, and, after that, was a Le Carre fan for life.

Sufjan Stevens
A friend of mine got married last summer in a small chapel on his college campus in Williamstown, MA. It was late spring in the Berkshires, and everything was pretty, and the wedding ceremony included extensive personalized vows and the recitation of poetry. When the groom asked the best man for the…

I misread Steve's question the first time. It was, in fact, Building on Bond in last night's episode, but their regular coffee shop is Smooch. (That's a little odd, because Jonathan apparently lives on 6th Avenue in Park Slope . . . the show uses authentic locations but their proximity to each other doesn't always…

My favorite musical performance was when Buddy Rich and Animal had a drum battle. As with Steve Martin's banjo performance, it was both funny and highly accomplished musically.

Coffee Shop used in the show
Steve - It is "Building on Bond," on the corner of Pacific and Bond. That part of Brooklyn has a lot of great cafes, but that one is very cool.

Don't get me wrong, I love Superchunk, but there are more important stories.

Upscale Ramen
This was a very good profile, because it catches them acting all Superchunky - they're probably the least rock-star like band to ever go on an international tour. Momofuku was a good choice; its just the kind of place where cool 45 year old parents would go for lunch if they had the money and didn't…

Sadly, Her Isolation Was Predictable
I may have sold this novel short, but when I read that it was a racial allegory, the first two novels that came to mind were Invisible Man and Black Boy, and both of those novels have simiarly isolated protagonists who aren't comfortable in any of the social situations in which…

Kudos on the Bark reference
I don't know how many people outside of Brooklyn (or perhaps even greater NYC) get its ultra-specific regional references, but I love them. The show can get pretty bizarre at times, but those authentic bars, restaurants, and comic book stores (Bergen Street Comics!) ground it in reality,…

Greatest Audience Reaction Moment of All-Time
At the end of my first semester in law school, some friends and I went to a matinee screening of Kung Fu Hustle, to clear our heads for a few hours before getting back to work. Other than my friends, there were only two people in the theather, a couple of high school-aged…

For real
"Bored To Death" is very "new Brooklyn." I think you're right to say that there is a great show to me made of the ways in which the new Brooklyn rubs up against the old Brooklyn - the Carrol Gardens/Red Hook border, and the gray area where South Slope turns into Sunset Park, would be particularly rich…

Thirded? I was fascinated by that movie when I saw it in the theater, but didn't really love it until I saw it the second time, by which point I had read The Orchid Thief.

When that movie came out on DVD, my college roommate watched it about 50 times, so the thought of re-watching The Fifth Element sounds terrible to me. I can't seperate the movie itself from my massive anger at being subjected to it so many times. I don't think that even Chinatown or Casablanca could hold up to so…

I totally agree. The first time I watched The Big Lebowski, I only laughed at a couple of scenes - the Dude driving the car into the dumpster, Ulie's high-pitched laugh, and a few of the other physical moments. Basically, I made the mistake of taking the movie too seriously; I didn't realize that just about every…

phodreaw - The novel's opening lines are a great example. They sound like the opening lines of a more fantastical novel. Considering that beginning, some stretches are just very literal-minded by comparison.

Too historical? Not historical enough?
For my taste, this novel had to be either more or a straight historical novel or else more of a fantastical novel that happens to be nominally set in a real place and historical moment (like, for example, Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale, which is largely set in the same era, and in…

Also, Locanda Verde, on Greenwich Avenue at N. Morre Street, is one of the best bakeries in the city. Great patries, desserts, etc.

Ecco, on Chambers Street, is a very good Italian restaurant in Tribeca.

Also, one would hope, "penis beard."