I remember reading his review of Spartan and skipping class to go catch the first showing. And I've probably watched Casablanca and Citizen Kane with his commentary on more than I have with them off.

Bummer. I thought Shane Black was working on this with an eye to direct. Guess they've moved on.

Yeah, that is odd, but I think the larger point — that Mike Yanagita is a total narrative non-sequitur that nobody but the Coens, working under the false true-story hook, could get away with — is well-made, though. For someone whose writing has been as ambitious and ambiguous as his, I just refuse to believe that he…

I kind of wish they would go back to doing their shows closer to Network TV length than using the full hours/half-hours. I think a lot of their shows have actually suffered by having to be 5 to 10 minutes longer than the average episode of The Sopranos.

In one of his books (maybe Bambi v. Godzilla), Mamet refers to Eisenstein as preemptively referencing The Untouchables.

Look at Allison Tolman's Surprise Top Five. This is not some sort of pop quiz. It's asking people to name 5 things they like that are similar to things they do.

Why would that mean anything? As long as there wasn't a gun to his head, you'd think that somebody who writes a show about a guy fairly implausibly moving up the ranks of Washington D.C. would be able to name a couple of funny movies about politics extemporaneously.

So his top 5 political comedies include a (very funny) promotional video, a documentary, a roast, and a movie he concedes isn't really a comedy? Okay.

I'll play dissenter here and say that while the Laura stuff is far from the most compelling stuff on the show, it's more interesting than people give it credit for. @avclub-7aee1b75b527e215f31e20a5c4e7a768:disqus writes "We’ve spent so little time with her that we don’t have a good sense of why this is happening,…

It pays to be the Danish Joshua Jackson.

It really was a jam packed episode compared to the more leisurely, cerebral pace of the show, but I thought there were a few real wonderful quiet setpices and moments, and they really benefited from the contrast.

Are you aware of basic human sexuality, or the fact that 99% of porn is bought by males

Even crueler was how, on broadcast, when the empire ended there was the usual "Stay tuned for scenes…" AND THEN THEY NEVER CAME.

Here because I just finished Song of… and was looking for a review (which apparently, they never did). That was one of the more revealing and insightful types of these books I've ever read.

I realize I'm six months late on this, but I read this and liked it.

That's really interesting. Thanks!

I think the whole thing with Malvo stealing the Desk Officer's glasses right from under him and the guy not noticing them on this guy (who moments ago, was not wearing glasses) was a bridge too far.

I was probably 9 or so when that episode aired, so seeing Fink at 18 is my record for longest time between hearing a joke and then getting it.

That's so funny — there's something about the way the actor (who, hey, is apparently deaf in real life) signs — so exaggerated, almost theatrical — that I just assumed it was a weird Coen-y flourish, that these two guys were taking the piss out of everyone by pretending one of them is death, and signing nonsense back…

HBO did that mini-series already. It was called Lucky Louie and you NEVER EVEN WATCHED IT