You mean Daoism? What I meant to say above was that the characters in the film come into contact with all these things but don't have the context to understand them properly, including Chinese traditions like Daoism. One of the characters references a chapter in Zhuangzi, "Wandering Free and Unfettered" and thinks it…

What makes the Tarantino reference in Unknown Pleasures look unaffectionate? Just cause a director has a radically different style doesn't mean he can't appreciate other works. That brief scene is maybe the most frentic in Jia's "glacial" oeuvre, framing the conversation between the two leads in a diner using a bunch…

The one about the pickpocket is called Xiao Wu (the guy's name). Platform is Jia's second film, about a song and dance troupe in the 80s shifting from Communism to private enterprise. It is awesome.

Ah, sorry. Anyway, China's comedians tend to be more like "vaudeville" comedians who are often involved in sketches and/or sing in addition to pulling MC duty for variety shows. There is kinda a stand-up tradition in  xiangsheng or "crosstalk" where two comedians basically do an Abbot and Costello routine, and that's…

Uhh… Kitano's from Japan, not China.

There are few greater challengers to the title of Lord Milque de Toast than Ryan O'Neal. However, Bogdanovich knew how to use the guy, and his overwhelming blandness if perfect for "What's Up, Doc?" But that's a film that makes even Barbra Streisand tolerable.

But Marcus isn't a geeky, slightly socially awkward guy, he's a handsome, uber-confident badass. It makes perfect sense for Lennier to be in this position, but Marcus's Virgin Romantic bullshit reeks of Marty Stu stew.

JMS obviously wanted Sinclair to be different from the Star Trek captain models, but Michael O'Hare didn't have the charisma nor JMS the writing skill to make it stick.

US, and Marcus liker, with some reservations. For all Jason Carter's faults and hair, he (or the character) does have a knack for bringing out the comedic best in the other actors. Maybe it's just that extra opportunity for levity, but that interplay between Marcus and other characters generally leaves them a lot more…

Rights for commentaries et al are negotiated separately from films/TV. Considering netflix has enough trouble maintaining their streaming library, I seriously doubt they would bother paying extra for rights anytime soon.

I'd also pick "The Coming of Shadows" as the A+. There's a bit of bland JMS Speechifying (TM) which every episode of B5 must have, but more than most any episode, it moves forward with actions and events rather than talk. And Londo's dream is a nigh perfect hook—striking and specific imagery that builds investment in…

Yeah, what makes that scene with Londo addressing to council so great is the sense that Londo isn't actually fully committed to this "pure ambition and cruelty" act. He's performing it, because he's representing Centauri as he thinks it wants to be seen. But there's definitely a sense of guilt being covered up by…

The Disney version made Doug somehow….smarmy. Like, he was no longer a nice but awkward guy who compensated with a crazy fantasy life, but more an average overconfident teen who just used his imagination to live out his power fantasies. Granted, that may be how most kids actually age, but god was it annoying as TV.

But if B5 were a novel, it would still face the criticism that its first 100 pages are a slopping, awkward bore. Exposition's a big part of a novel yes, but a good novel has to integrate in a way that keeps the reader's interest. That's generally either by heavy foreshadowing (the most frustrating route), the wit and…

But if B5 were a novel, it would still face the criticism that its first 100 pages are a slopping, awkward bore. Exposition's a big part of a novel yes, but a good novel has to integrate in a way that keeps the reader's interest. That's generally either by heavy foreshadowing (the most frustrating route), the wit and…

Re: Alien designs. B5 did itself no favors by having the Centauri be the very first thing to show up in the series (outside the Gathering).

Re: Alien designs. B5 did itself no favors by having the Centauri be the very first thing to show up in the series (outside the Gathering).

I've always been fond of Season 5's with the appropriately elegiac theme over the excellently edited nostalgia march building in intensity until the the name drops down. Too bad the episodes don't live up much.

I've always been fond of Season 5's with the appropriately elegiac theme over the excellently edited nostalgia march building in intensity until the the name drops down. Too bad the episodes don't live up much.

1) Birthday cakes are fucking delicious. Why would you not want more birthday cake?