Another micro genre along these lines that I love is average person (or especially jaded seen-it all guy) becomes witness to/unwitting cause of the apocalypse. Kiss Me Deadly being the best example, along with Rosemary's Baby.

Oh man, Slobs vs. Snobs. Fuck yeah, that's gotta be my favorite. Like, pretty much evey great comedy from the late 70s or early 80s had that, or at least an element of it. Or its sister trope, the cool, unruly heroes vs. the rigid authority figure(s).

Booker - Yeah, the Husband gets just as whiny as the Wife, but he's eventually willing to grow the fuck up and live with the compromises he makes, whereas she never gets to that point.

Yes, that second sentence should be "AN immediate…" Fuck me.

You know, Revolutionary Road isn't so bad if you look at it as a critique of those characters. When I saw it, I had and immediate, gut reaction that it was a shallow piece of shit that was with Kate Winslet's character all the way. But as it went on, her whining just got increasingly more absurd and childish, to the…

I agree with Morgendorffer about the Don-Sal thing. It was clearly from the first episode of the first season that Don and Sal genuinely like and respect each other. I like that the writers seem to be setting up a sort of "secret life" affinity between the two.

It should be noted that Howard Hawks didn't direct the '41 Maltese Falcon - that was John Huston.

Well, exactly, though. The fatalism isn't moralism, it's an ironic imitation of it. It satisfies the Code in the sense that the bad guys don't get away with it, but it subverts the Code with its sheer bleakness, and unpleasantness.

I think the "You're just a little bit taller" scene would be a good one. It sums up the movie's central theme (the Big Man, Small Man thing) with one line of dialogue.

I know I didn't explain my point very well just now, but I think you get the idea.

Funny how the Code, attempting as it was to keep films safe, actually helped make a lot of these old noirs darker. So, like, not only does an innocent man die, but everybody else gets fucked, too. I try not to overstate the importance of the Hays Code, beyond obvious things like "No Boobies" or "No Naughty Words," but…

Question: Why even bother talking about the Mad Men thing? From what I gather, it's a dumb little Facebook thing, it takes people probably 20 seconds to do, and it's not like anybody makes a huge deal out of it (I don't think). It's so innocuous (and inane) that it barely even registers. Might as well say "I hate…

I don't know, I always liked the part in Barry Lyndon where he just kind of stares blankly at something.

How the fuck does this woman have a job speaking to people? That's the worst part of this article for me.

Tom, whatever you were going for with that, I think it should be said that you are wrong. 300 is the best trailer of all time.

I'd like to put in a good word for Le Cercle Rouge, on the Melville front. It's fun to see that after the New Wave craze (with all those directors crowing about Melville's genius) died down, here was old Jean-Pierre, still doing his thing. And it's jut a fucking great film: The Killing by way of Jean-Paul Sartre, to…

Likewise, the NY Times article is full of great little details, especially the last paragraph (which got posted above, but here it is again, because it's fucking great):

It's not that there's not a place for "fanboys and girls", or that those words aren't descriptive. I just think there has to be a better way of describing that type of person, one that isn't phony and obnoxious as all fuck.

Fake Fucking Words, Man
Can we please put a stop to this whole fangirl/fanboy/fancat bullshit? It's fucking annoying, and it adds nothing to any point anyone might be trying to make.

Re Black Keys vs. White Stripes: