The movie would have been more interesting had it staged a genuine conflict between old- and new-school, print and online media. Instead, Rachel McAdams and Russell Crowe trade a few barbs, and then she follows him around with hero worship in her eyes, learning the trade from a "master." In short, the deck is stacked.…

I will maintain till my dying day that Jones kicks J.K. Rowling's bland little exposition-happy ass. Neil Gaiman professes to love her, and it's pretty clear why. She's dark, complex, perverse and has a real understanding of mythology. Her later books haven't been great, but there are some earlier ones I'd consider…

My mom was (and is) utterly pop-culture illiterate, but my dad liked '70s comedy. He took me to see Mel Brooks' High Anxiety and explained the Hitchcock references; when I was 10 we bonded over Animal House. I didn't understand the sexier jokes but I can't say it hurt me none. He also introduced me to golden age SNL,…

Waaay back in the '70s, my parents refused to buy a TV and didn't vote or discuss politics or current events, plus we lived in East Bumfuck, NY. But my dad did like MAD, having been a snarky '50s adolescent. I learned about Nixon, Spiro Agnew, the Kennedys, Deep Throat and pretty much every other touchstone of the era…

Hm. Here in the only city in Vermont we like our gays (The L-Word is #2), our enviro sanctimoniousness (Who Killed the Electric Car?, #4), our hipsters (Royal Tenenbaums, Arrested Development in top 10), and our douchebags (Californication, #3). Number one? The Fall.

We didn't have a TV, but even the Magic one-sheet scared me. I used to study movie posters a lot, riding the subways or passing theaters (including porno palaces, this being the '70s), and many of them left lasting scary impressions, like Alien ("In space, no one will hear you scream"), the Omen II, and Dawn of the…

Thanks to some traumatic childhood experiences in NYC (scuttling across my pillow at night, climbing the shower curtain, oh yeah), I still can't watch anything with roaches. No Creepshow, no Joe's Apartment. And in Vampire's Kiss Nic Cage really eats one. Aaagh. Crazy Method-acting bastard.

Yes, but the really important question: Is there a colon between Dragonball and Evolution?

Someone saw Chapter 27? Surely she was more influenced by the searing performance of "Imagine" by Jordis on "Rock Star: INXS."

If Britney had had a secret identity, it all would have gone so much better.

Some weeks reviewers don't have many choices. I'm currently vacillating between this lovely hunk of celluloid (are they still even celluloid?) and Dragonball Evolution.

A few years ago, the resort where I ski did an education campaign that increased helmet use substantially. That seems like a better route than legislation. I still don't wear one because, like everything to do with skiing, it's bound to be insanely expensive. Besides, in my experience, when catching your ski/skate…

I think there was exposition in TDK about how Harvey Dent refused bandages and sedation despite the risks. Don't know if their honoring his request is any more plausible, though…

How about that long, uncomfortable massacre of a family in their home in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith?

I'm pissed off about the pointlessness of the opera house premonition. It could have been redeemed somewhat if Helo and Sharon had both perished, leaving Caprica and Baltar to raise Hera. (The premonition clearly implied that they "get" her; that's why it's so ominous. It would be cool to have that happen, but with a…

Steel Magnolias set my notion of Julia Roberts' personality in stone. Gorgeous, fluffy-haired, rich Southern daddy's girl whom everyone dotes over, even though she's kind of shallow and annoying. I remember the reviews fawning over what a great "dying swan" she made. Then, a few years later, America practically went…

And before they try to score weed, they check out the 31 flavors of Baskin Robbins! What a time capsule.

The mistake, I think, is in believing that political subtext automatically makes a film good, or more of an art work, or whatever. I mean, Wild in the Streets was obviously responding to '60s culture, but that doesn't make it a classic (as opposed to a cult classic).

Yeah, the mix is kind of weirdly endearing. I think that's also why I enjoy a lot of bad Asian horror (as well as the stuff that actually works). Genre conventions are so firmly set in Hollywood that anything that craps all over them seems edgy.

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