No, not a joke. If I go see Star Trek I don't expect realism. But if I go see "a reality movie THAT WAS REAL EVERYONE!!!" then I want, uh, plausibility. And having spent a lot of time camping (and seen some weird stuff) I can tell you what I'd do in that situation: burn the damn forest down. And maybe I'd be burned to…

Absolutely infuriating and NOT scary. Those idiots had no outdoor skills and as such deserved to die (just like the moron in Into The Wild - did that scare you too?). Every year in California a serious wildfire is started because people are lost in the woods and need rescuing. If I ever face "a serial killer hunting…

Ah the POG memories, working there as an intern during the summer of 1995…classic.

My favorite story is a friend was working at the Mann theater in Westwood showing Kids. A woman arrives with her 2 young children and proceeds to berate the manager for (a) not letting them in and (b) false advertising. Who knew an NC17 film called "Kids" was not in fact meant for young children?

No. It was because of the "I know I have aids but I won't mention it and have unprotected sex," the "gee, that chick is passed out so I'll rape her," and the classic line "if I ain't got fucking I ain't got nothing." The opening had jack shit to do with the movie freaking people out. It was no human centipede but "13…

The reviewer for New Orleans was Sonia Saraiya. If she had any experience with food it was eating at the occasional Chili's or Olive Garden. She had never seen Top Chef before reviewing it, and her reviews were basically "explain it like I am five years old." Also, beyond not knowing who James Beard was she had no…

I am not suggesting the judges don't make decisions overtly or subconsciously based on entertainment value but I am suggesting the producers really don't meddle (i.e. there is no communication to Tom saying "don't eject this guy in episode 3, we need him for episode 7." You will find Tom et al go nuts over and over…

I completely agree - I thought they were going to stop reviewing it because they clearly had no idea WTF they were doing. If not for the comments I'd have stopped reading. AV treats this show if it were the bachelor - a scripted reality show. Having met people who have been on it and others who considered trying out,…

SamECircle pretty much summed up why I'm angry. I've been reading the reviews of Top Chef here for the entire season and finally burst - in previous seasons the reviews and community were a nice community of big fans of food and the show. Somehow this year it's devolved into the a group of people who are watching and…

You are completely making it up AND wrong. First of all, did you not notice that Carlos made the semi-final episode? The man was born into poverty in Mexico and has a Michelin star. To win Top Chef you need to be a talented executive chef, not a line cook. They showcase a ton of great female chefs - very…

What is this, a celebration of ignorance? "Mr. Nobel" invented dynamite, made millions of dollars, and made it easier to kill people. That's a crappy legacy, so he left his fortune to a foundation to award for success in a variety of disciplines (science, literature, peace, etc - and econ is differently named because…

Correlation is not causality. There is no research establishing causation, only correlation. The fat people in the videos will get type 2 diabetes whether they drink diet coke or not.

Uh, hello McFly, last time I checked about the best thing you could do to NOT get diabetes is drink DIET coke. It's not REGULAR coke. Buying 2 liters of Diet Coke with SNAP money may waste taxpayer money but you won't get diabetes from it.

I'm hoping he reprises some of his short-lived Eastbound and Down character.

"It's kind of weird, how seriously he is taking this competition."

There is a lot of shitty mexican in LA. But also an insane amount of great. Choi is not wrong - I have had a lot of Al Pastor in LA that's amazing, better than anywhere in the world. Not a joke.

Your notion that Carlos is different is spot-on: that's because he is the only chef in the competition with his own Michelin star. If you don't know what that means, here's a hint: totally unsurprising he has made it this far into the competition. Carlos isn't classically trained but he's had the most prominent…

"Expect to see Robinson’s real-life piano-playing/smooth-talking talents on display" - uh, you know what else we will see? His REAL LIFE MUSIC TEACHING. A 5 second search would reveal the guy was (a) son of a music teacher and (b) and actual music teacher himself. So he is, in effect, playing himself.