The Western was largely subsumed into other genres. Especially science-fiction and other action genres. There's a lot of stories that take the basic Western tropes of the reluctant warrior, the lone wanderer, dangerous natives, and lawless frontiers and transplant them to space, or the "cowboy cop", the fantasy…

Not an allegory of the Old West—a Western. Jaded Civil War vet/reluctant warrior comes to a frontier town in the middle of the arid plains. Captured by natives, but earns their respect through prowess. Saves the feisty schoolmarm from the evil bandits. Later she gets captured by the bandits anyway. He leads the…

I agree. It makes sense that when you have a real human being (actor or stuntperson) reacting to actual physical stimuli, their reaction is going to be more authentic and visceral than someone playing against a green wall or a ball on a string and pretending there's something there.

Try and list all the most highly-regarded or hugely-successful films that weren't based on a book, short story or stage play. Hollywood's been in the adaptation business for a very long time.

Exactly! Somehow Genesis 1's account of man being created after the rest of the animals is in perfect agreement with Genesis 2's account of man being created before all the other animals.

Ovid's Metamorphoses?

See that recent Pew study? Most North American Catholics are thoroughly ignorant about their own religion, never mind anyone else's. But there are usually no consequences for being a cafeteria Catholic, like most North American Catholics are. Most conservative Catholics can support capital punishment, unjust wars and…

I don't really think people are stupider than in the past. I just think today the ignorant are led to believe their opinions are somehow as valid as the educated and informed. Even intelligent people are guilty of this.

I find US fundies and their ideological brethren elsewhere just say anyone who isn't in line with their particular version of Christianity aren't Real True Christians. I'm a severely lapsed Catholic, and I've had evangelicals tell me to my face that Catholicism isn't Christian. It would normally require a lot of…

Basically, when Millar is allowed to run wild as with his creator-owned properties (Wanted, Kick-Ass, Nemesis), he's an immature asshole. But on work-for-hire titles where an editor is on hand to crack the whip (Red Son, Ultimates, The Authority), they can get passable work out of him.

If they get Rachel McAdams to play Brooke, I'm so there.

How is this anything like Mulan?

But vampires not killing other vampires also isn't new. It was in the Vampire: the Masquerade RPG since the early 1990s.

Well, probably, but look at it as a metaphor. Is it inconceivable in the near future law enforcement could assemble profiles of "likely trouble-makers" based on their background, biometrics and social-media activity? And that some automated data-mining process could regularly flag criminal and terrorist threats? Maybe…

But it suffered from the exact same fatal flaw as Prometheus. Amazing production design, interesting world-building (I give Minority Report higher marks here), exploring a really thoughtful, interesting idea—and the whole thing is ruined by characters who are supposed to be intelligent professionals, but bumble around…

Three Stigmata is a commentary on the rise of personal spirituality and the decline of traditional, institutional religion. The drug use is a metaphor for this.

We're through the looking glass, people.

In addition to the influx of great women writers, you also had Michael Moorcock at the helm of New Worlds magazine, the New Wave, John Brunner, J.G. Ballard—but I guess British contributions to SF don't count. How about Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick? Were they just following the Asimov/Heinlein mould?

1) The authors cite the 2011 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics as the source for their crime statistics. I can't find that study on the UNODC site or elsewhere on the web—everyone has earlier versions of the study. The UNODC site only has a questionnaire for compiling data…

Yeah, but the Sankara Stones from Temple of Doom aren't really a thing either. They're based on lingam, which are sacred symbols in Hinduism, but not specific artifacts. ToD just made up a legend based on an important Hindu philosopher who actually existed, and who—according to legend—encountered the god Siva, but…