A climax lasting hundreds of pages isn't really a climax if all that happens is Action, Action, Action… A climax is supposed to reveal things about the story and the characters.

I'm so sorry, but I am not digging this. I liked Old Man's War. I don't think Scalzi's cutting edge SF, but I'm not a hater. It's just that I'm halfway through this book and my suspension of disbelief keeps getting suspended. It pulls me out of the story. I can't believe people would react the way they do to the world…

Why doesn't Fake Ethan know everything about Real Ethan? Because he's not a clone of Ethan! There's no evidence of clones or aliens or science fiction even — this to me seems like contemporary fantasy in the vein of Kelly Link (whom you should try to read if you're not familiar with her). You (and other commenters)…

I appreciate the thought you've given this film—it's certainly give me a lot to chew on too. But I don't agree with your conclusions. I think the theme may be different than what Ethan states. I believe the theme is encoded in the closing song, in the lyric "Love can never be exactly how we want it to be."

After a second viewing, I understand why Ideal Sophie went off with Real Nathan: it's because she was so hurt when Ideal Nathan admitted his love for Real Sophie, and I guess it killed her buzz.You know, sometimes people just fall out of love, like that <snaps fingers="">.

Okay, so after a second viewing, I don't think there's any ambiguity: Real Nathan escaped with Fake Sophie. And I think that dopey song of love and longing over the credits is both the kicker — because "the one I love" is Real Sophie, unattainably far away, and perhaps a statement of the theme: "Love can never be…

I don't remember the blanket-stealing being a thing, but I'm going to re-watch tonight :) Maybe there was some ambiguity I didn't acknowledge first time around.

That's when it began to get dark and interesting—when Fake Sophie got real, so to speak :)

Nah. You guys are just getting exposed to contemporary fantasy. It doesn't have to have dragons and wizards, or be supernatural—it just has to not have a scientific (or "sciency") explanation. We get no explanation for this Freak Occurence and that's a good thing.

Totally my reading of Real Ethan too. But I felt certain it was Ideal Sophie he was with, because otherwise, that Chekhov's Bacon is just sitting there on the plate, unused.

Bacon. It's all about the bacon… (I'm pretending not to understand your Sam & Diane references)

I don't agree with the people who say the ending either made no sense or had no resonance. I felt sad as hell when the film ended, and having the Mamas and Papas (whom I generally loathe) sing "Dedicated to the One I Love" over the end credits just twisted the knife, because all kinds of pathos opened up that I'd…

I'd seen it years ago and rewatched on Sunday — i'd forgotten how "up" the ending was. I almost felt there should have been a reversal of the happy ending the studio tried to tack onto Brazil (and yes, I did notice the poster for it in the video store)—e.g. "Jack's just imagining all this; he's still at Parry's…

Just watched this the other night. Great movie. I'd forgotten the ending and it surprised me, given the way some of Gilliam's other movies went. (I don't want to spoil it for the unshriven).

Other prisoners are clearly in the wrong in their flashbacks. But what Black Cindy lacks is a counterbalance to that. Gloria is scamming food stamps but she's a battered woman, for example. Most of them have that kind of balance in their story, but Cindy doesn't. And yeah, that is refreshing.

I kept waiting for it to be used concretely. Maybe it's just there to add tension—adding the threat of secrets being uncovered by the staff. I don't know. Maybe they'll use it in S3? It did reveal something naively unsavory in Fischer though.

I agree with everything you said except as pertaining to Vee. She's pretty one-note monstrous. Which I'm okay with. Her apparent kindnesses are always shown as also benefiting her. Which makes them manipulative.

Your summary of Fig seems spot on to me. SPOILERS AHOY: She has a failed idealism that she seemingly hasn't even come to terms with yet, leavened for tragic effect by the closeted husband (which is a weird way to play it in such a LGBT friendly show)—but the reveal wasn't as big as it could have been—how could she not…

YES, this. I am willing to overlook the accent mismatch after being confronted with the wonderful, unexpected facial match. There's so much to it—how she sees herself, basically. Sold.

Yeah, I've been struggling with the accent too. <shrug>. That One Scene redeems the whole thing, however.