I should amend: darkly funny aphid problem.

Ah, but here's da kickah: it is borderline rapey—all of this Twilight shit is borderline rapey and that's why…

I saw it as one of those concessions to cinema linearity and economy that inevitably happens when a novel is adapted to the screen. It didn't bother me. What did bother me was Jerry's tragic aphid problem becoming Charlie's funny aphid problem, and even that "worked" within the film: that is, had I not read the…

PKD himself had said that he was fond of putting stuff in his novels that simply cannot be explained, that make no sense—Ubik, another masterpiece* (I'd say Dick has about 12 or 15 novels that deserve that name), hinges on just such an impossibility. That we cannot make sense of it is precisely the point.

No? I seem to remeber it not being until the last episode—they may have slept together before that but it's not "official"…

SPOILER RE: JOSH & DONNA
SPOILER

I think Jeepers Creepers does lose a lot on repeat viewings. I'm revoltingly fond of Jesus Christ Superstar and so the first time I say it, the shock of seeing something I loved parodied so well was enough to kill me. On subsequent viewings, I have to agree with Penguin somewhat.

What I love about Jeepers Creepers is the one line where a gratuitous swear fucks up the rhyme—"get off of my back" would have rhymed with "cut me some slack" but they go with the funnier "get off of my ass." Genius!

And himself. Phil knew he was a speed freak and he knew he had been damaged by it. He probably knew it would eventually kill him, as it—and working way too hard on Timothy Archer, another masterpiece—eventually did.

Exactly—Vincent would have to have been inhuman not to be moved at hearing and seeing that his vision would move generations of people to come. But it was not enough when his demons came back at him. Indeed, part of me wonders if, during his darkest moments, such knowledge of a love that would come only after he had…

That's the way people think it ought to be but it's not strictly true (it may be true of Vincent, I don't know): many artists—successful or not—are insecure, thin-skinned and crave success. Also, many artists defiantly pretend they are not, even as every rejection burns another hole in their souls.

You know what's sad? Minority Report was not a very good film but it was a vast improvement over the story on which it was based, which reads like (poorly written) stereo instructions. If you think I take any joy in saying that, check out my user name.

Ooooh, you really shoulda SPOILER alerted that parenthetical about "Kennedy and Heidi." Great post, otherwise.

But Anthony never had the makings of a varsity athlete. Small hands.

Season Six Part I does have the worst episode of the series, imao: "Kaisha." Such a pity since "Cold Stones" was a freakin' masterpiece and would have been an ideal mid-season ender.

Junior is a silver tongued bastard in more ways than one.

My distinction is based on authorial intent—I really believe that that is the way the characters are written and that is the way that the author intends us to view them. Sure, Gatsby, Nick, Wolfsheim and even Owl Eyes have faults but, in the end, they are presented as good people. Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle and, yes, Tom…

Movement conservatives are crazy. True conservatives are just wrong about most things.

Good analysis of Tony's character, Farmer John. Tony had an IQ of 136, which is moderately brilliant, and he showed that brilliance through his strategic and tactical abilities and through his sense of humor. I always felt that Junior, too, was a brilliant man who suffered from being in a line of work that didn't…

Eligit, its nice to see someone buck the lazy conventional wisdom that The Sopranos sucked after, I dunno, "Funhouse." It's back half was a much different series than its front—much darker and much spookier—but it was easily just as good.