You don't think Talladega is taking digs at NASCAR culture, even if it's "only" good-natured one? It may have other satirical targets (American exceptionalism, etc.) but I'd be fascinated to hear a reading of that movie that doesn't involve it making fun of NASCAR.

A bit of irony, though, in that every Pixar production has very much been made by committee.

I can't judge; I had a LOT of Wall-E toys well before my daughter was ever on the scene.

I'd also argue that "what would Mater do in this situation" is not all that compelling in the conception, either.

Totally agreed.

What's the solution, then? Make five critics agree on a movie, somehow? Or don't let anyone who disagrees with the original review write anything? (I don't even strongly disagree with Mr. Dowd's original review; I was just less bothered by the stuff that bothered him and was more in the B+ range, personally.) How do…

True. That's hardly become the norm, though. That set of Batman movies in general is very much in the generic-love-interest mode, and only Returns breaks free from that (maybe Batman & Robin by making the character a true nonentity instead of a virtual one). But yeah, Batman Returns is like a top-three superhero movie…

I'm not sure either. I think maybe he or she (ha) is missing the italics that make Wonder Woman, the movie, an it rather than a she.

And barely once an actual romantic partner for Cap, come to that!

True, but I would love to see something (as set up by the recent DC movies) not at all predicated on the Clark/Superman secret identity.

This one and Batman Returns both come to mind.

From what little I've heard about this New Mutants X-Men spinoff, it sounds like it's going to be a small-scale horror-type piece? We'll see. That sounds cool to me.

Like a lot of these movies, that aspect is downplayed, but they do wind up together at the end of the movie in a way that seems like it's supposed to be romantic.

I like them both a lot.

By most accounts, Jenkins had a lot of input on the final script, despite the lack of credit. She certainly wasn't just handed a booklet and told, do this. (Which isn't to say there aren't some script/story hiccups throughout.)

I thought they were cute together, but the relationship doesn't have a ton of depth, so ultimately Portman doesn't have a lot to do. But she's a big part of the story I prefer in the first Thor (fish-out-of-water stuff vs. palace intrigue stuff). It's actually an instance where I wonder if MORE emphasis on the romance…

I love both of those movies, but yeah, both of those examples feel more like family relationships than real romance, even if they involve husbands and wives. It's more about responsibilities than the rush of love/lust.

I agree with you to some degree. I do often find myself thinking — sometimes to a rude degree — "this might be interesting but ultimately I don't care much about what [writer who doesn't spend a lot of time watching movies] thinks about this movie."

RE: objectivity: Maybe, but I think you'd find those old school critics pretty boring to read (and even then, I'm not sure; even the more austere critics are a little too self-amused to even feign objectivity; they're just certain they're right all the time) (I know the latter from experience).

I think like a lot of Snyder's ideas, there could have been something to that version of Pa Kent, but it gets kind of muddled and even sometimes contradictory. But I had the biggest problem with the endless smashy-smashy in the Superman/Zod fight. I get that Snyder wants to show what it would be like if two godlike…