I find it pretty weird that this is one of the few shows that AVClub and Previously.tv are diametrically opposed on.

Hell, I could see them as Holmes and Watson in a [far superior] movie.

It's not really "nerds hate prequels"
It's "prequels are never good"
A nerd isn't going to actively avoid prequels on principle: just is very vocal when they're disappointed. Again.
With source material as broad as TBBT, a prequel won't have to be spectacular to measure up. On the other hand, Parsons is far and away the…

My real fear with this episode was that they'd set it up for the tragic Romeo/Juliet ending, where Kelly decides to deal with her grief and live happily ever after with Yorkie, only for Yorkie to have "switched herself off" thinking Kelly wasn't coming.

I think The Punisher was the most interesting aspect of DD season 2: the first 4 episodes were great. I'm not totally uninterested in a Punisher show. But on the other hand, I think they may have already covered the most interesting bits of the Punisher story. We'll see how it works.

To be fair - it's probably easier to make Luke Cage look like he's effortlessly picking up cars than Jessica Jones. The difference in their builds is going to make all of her feats of strength look significantly less realistic.

I kind of love Stephen Mangan, so I may give him additional leeway, but I do like the BBC4 version. Particularly the fact that it never makes obvious how much of the holistic stuff Dirk actually believes, and how much of it is just him being lazy/conning his clients. Stephen Mangan really sells "lazy weirdo who…

At least it wasn't remade in the late 90s/early 00s - then the theme tune would have been remixed with a heavy drum beat and a rap break, like… well every 90s remake of an older movie.

I saw - I don't think they're vital to the programme working as well as it does. Paul and Mary definitely are though - you couldn't replace all four presenters and change the channel and have it feel like the same thing. This will be worth nothing like the £25 million Channel 4 paid for it, if Love Productions can't…

It's pretty much only American shows that I've seen do the "coming up" and "before the break" trick. British shows tend to just break and resume.
Part of that is probably because the ad breaks are shorter and less frequent. An hour long programme on British commercial TV probably has more than 45 minutes of run time.

I think Channel 4 is probably the "least worst" alternative broadcasting option here. They have More4 and do produce some more worthwhile content. It's not all "ratings at any cost". And hey - if they cut out the "history of the teacake" sections to trim it down for commercial telly, it might even be a positive thing.…

I think the average Brit could just about deal with the loss of Mel and Sue. But securing Paul and Mary is absolutely vital.

Second for Previously.tv - they cover far too much reality TV but the articles are pretty good.
And they stick to 100% television.

I can't remember the plot of the movie enough to work out what bits you've seen and not. As far as I remember, most of the first magic show is explained (enough to meet Hollywood standards).

Nah - I agreed with the ones that the OP suggested (the ones I saw anyway) but I'm not sold on Godzilla or 22 Jump Street as significantly better than the rubbish we've had this summer.

For some reason I always seem to have a problem with the video clips on AVClub actually playing. But I like them - they're fun to listen to. And all of the movies they talk about get a written review on here in due course if that's what you want.

Well yes - it IS offensive to some people - I'm not denying that. Just saying it was a ridiculously mild way of putting it.

Yeah I did think that sentence was pretty weirdly worded. The anti-vax movement isn't really "offensive to some people" - it's bullshit fearmongering pushed by the sort of people who think that science is mostly based on hunches and that anything bad must have a cause in some "advanced field of science" they don't…

Even as a kid the ending of this film annoyed me. With the Roald Dahl ending, the film would be a pretty perfect adaptation. Dahl reportedly didn't like a single film adaptation of his work, but I think this one could have satisfied him if they hadn't copped out.

Being obsessed with the fact that you might get raped in prison could be though, depending on the type of prison. I've not actually seen the movie, but if it's entirely played as Ferrell being paranoid a known gay prisoner is going to rape him in spite of any evidence, then yeah, potentially.