I had the exact opposite reaction, Neytiri. I was surprised at how well the film's surreal universe suggested the notion that the material world is itself a kind of Purgatory. This leaves the viewer no choice but to agree with either Freeman's or Spacey's character. Can destruction, it asks, be a moral act? Of course,…

Whedon's characters in AR are terribly flat, especially by his standard. The film is also hurt by the fact that half of it is a chase scene. The more interesting-in-concept characters, like the general and scientists, are written out before the chase starts, so all the audience has to watch are uninteresting…

I agree with you that this movie is fun, but I think City of Lost Children is just as much fun, if not more. They're both delightful films.

Yeah, this is the movie Gilliam would make if Gilliam had been a watchmaker in a former life.

A Very Long Engagement is the least Jeunetian of all Jeunet's films. It's basically a wonderfully made prestige romance. Don't let that dissuade you from watching it, though. No Jeunet film could ever be stuffy or boring.

The Product Is Entertainment.
Does one ask meaning of Buster Keaton? Should one?

Jeunet and the Coens are equals, on a purely technical standpoint. But where the Coens' films are thematically complex, diverse in tone, and rich in character and humor, Jeunet's are just spectacularly designed.

That was an entirely reasonable response, Steven. I disliked the R.E.M. article so strongly because I am an ardent fan of that band, and because the particular excerpt I paraphrased struck me as an insult to anyone who likes the band. I know that I tend to bloviate and generalize as much as anyone, but I suppose I…

You'll love this one, Sugartits.

Who wants to be as big as U2? Fucking hell, I'd hate myself.

Steve, my reaction to the REM piece is largely due to its condescending, presumptuous pretension. Saying that no one wants to listen to REM when they're drunk in a bar is a way of saying "I don't want to listen to REM when I'm drunk in a bar" and unfairly projecting that personal attribute onto the general population.…

Terminator was not only R, but hard-R. It was full of profanity, graphic violence, and even some boobs. Of course, these days you could show as much violence in a PG-13. And in the 70s, the boobs could've been in a PG. But those days of comfort with the human body are long gone.

I think The Running Man's the second-best non-Terminator Ahnuld movie.

JVS, that's pretty much Steve Hyden in a nutshell. Remember his pathetic attempt to drug & rape REM? Sad, sad stuff.

@ Capt. Oblivious:

Who's this Bach fellow I keep hearing so much about?

I unironically enjoy Kindergarten Cop.

It Doesn't Even Have to Be a First Album, Right?
Virtually anyone, it seems, can be nominated in this category if they haven't had a hit until recently. The Grammys are typically just industry nonsense but they could at least benefit from internal consistency.

Someone get this man a bottom, stat.

As I mentioned in the post above, this movie owes quite a lot to Alien. It's a thriller before it's an action movie, and like any great thriller, it takes its time building tension before it starts with the violent pay-off. Many modern action films and thrillers seem to have been made by people whose attention spans…