I think this is a great point. I didn't mind the idea behind the Dowager's machinations, rather, it was Cora's turnaround that seemed very abrupt to me. I wasn't necessarily annoyed by any particular character, but more at the obvious 'let's go ahead and resolve this tension, shall we' that I got from the writing.

I think this is a great point. I didn't mind the idea behind the Dowager's machinations, rather, it was Cora's turnaround that seemed very abrupt to me. I wasn't necessarily annoyed by any particular character, but more at the obvious 'let's go ahead and resolve this tension, shall we' that I got from the writing.

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I find that being surrounded by cinephiles and film scholars skews my view of cinema against other opinions fairly often, especially when silent cinema is concerned.

Terrible? Charlie Chaplin pathos level? I think the former is a wild overstatement; if the gesture wasn't an effective acting choice, fine, but I can't imagine an argument for it being terrible. Perhaps melodramatic, but there have been many, many other maudlin moments in this series by far. I'm not saying you're not…

Point taken, and good read. :) 
I think mostly I had reservations about her being too much of a stick-in-the mud (I'm thinking of the ice cream scene in particular), but I'm willing to see what happens in the next few episodes.

This was an aspect of the show that I was quite unsure about. Elizabeth seemed mildly annoyed by both kids in every scene, while I liked the way that Philip seemed genuinely conflicted in his interactions with them. This seems like yet another  a subversion of gender roles, and it does seem consistent to both their…

There were a lot of things I liked about this pilot, but I really agree with this. Keri Russell did a great job with what she was given, but this whole sequence of events, combined with the opening 'seduction' and the rape took me out of the rest of the show. I appreciated the nuance of the complexity of her…

I always take an informal survey on the first day teaching a film studies class where I ask everyone to name their favorite 3 films. 'The Big Lebowski' is consistently on most of these lists, it always makes me smile.

haha, um..yes..yes it is..

There is a Stig, but it's kinda lame since he's not on it very often at all, and there's no silly relation to the original Stig (I was hoping they called him the Stig's American cousin or something, but nope.)

I couldn't even make it through the pilot. I tried, because I love Veronica Mars and Jean Ralphio and War Machine. I kept thinking it might get better, or that I should even try 3 episodes, my usual allowance for a new show, but I just couldn't. It was like being invited over a friend's house only to discover that…

As soon as I saw Boyd's new trigger man in a car with Ellen May, I instinctively turned the channel for a few seconds, took a deep breath, and then turned back.

As Raylan Givens says:
'You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. You run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.'

So much this. I really love music that sounds like that lovely beat in your head hours after you've left the club. This is also why I love Burial.

No..it's fine..it's just really dusty in here all of a sudden..

It reminded me of all the times I tried to watch early episodes of Fringe while eating dinner-and all the times I had to put my plate back in the kitchen until after Fringe was over.

Greetings, regular Parenthood folks-longtime lurker, first-time poster, etc

Animal Planet is showing episodes of 'Too Cute!' all evening, just in case anyone needs a little bit of adorable puppy/kitten consolation..

Animal Planet is showing episodes of 'Too Cute!' all evening, just in case anyone needs a little bit of adorable puppy/kitten consolation..