Come to think of it "creators using superheroes as mouthpieces for their politics" would make for an interesting io9 piece, from Ditko's The Question to Chaykin's American Flagg to Millar's Red Son.

"The idea that being a citizen of this country is somehow a bar to being a protector of the globe or an independent voice for freedom of all people is ridiculous."

It's a time-honored tradition of creators using superheroes as mouthpieces for their politics. Happens to Captain America all the time, like the cycles in which he becomes disillusioned until he discovers a less credulous, more sophisticated patriotism. Captain America was born political, as a Hitler-puncher during…

I am way late commenting but it took a whole month for the movie to come to my nothingburger town in the Southwest.

How about Raising Arizona, Wild At Heart, Adaptation, Kick-Ass?

My view:

What's with all of the 'wars of the gods' movies (Immortals, Thor, Clash of the Titans)? Look what 300 has wrought, and that didn't even feature any gods.

Let's engage in some SJ Gouldian speculation in historical contingency: is there a plausible alternate timeline in which Facebook's current niche is carved up between Friendster and MySpace? Or was Facebook's supremacy inevitable, the outcome of an inexorable march of progress? What if Facebook had never gone…

Crypto-homoeroticism (butch variety) + lots of spiky things (how many are on Conan?) + flaring red stuff (blood & fire)

Hear, hear. Except I don't believe it's necessary to physically engineer ourselves in order to become more of what we want to be (which could have unintended consequences which would derail the whole endeavor anyway); instead, we can change our institutions and physical environments.

Indeed there is:

I think the first one, which has the Rapture, was somewhat interesting (even if the execution is mediocre) as a premise for a science fiction mystery-thriller. Diminishing returns with the next two movies: in the second the highlight is a Jew's conversion to Christianity, and in the third the filmmakers' aspirations…

I've found a temporary 'cure' for Netflix Streaming Syndrome: an ancient PC that needs troubleshooting and upgrading or better yet, replacement. It's been an eternity - I mean, a whole week - without Netflix instant.

Not in general, but there were some comic/campy moments, usually involving De Niro or Pfeiffer.

Oglaf: The only successful recent attempt to blend high fantasy with humor.

Yeah, that is pretty whack.

That is going too far with April.

Point taken. Aside: John Cho is nearly 40 and too old for those roles.

The issue of racial casting is complex, because while in old Hollywood white actors tended to be given nonwhite roles (case in point: American Indians) there have been recent cases of nonwhites - especially blacks - being cast in roles in which the source material has white characters. Just to name a few: Will Smith…

It's part of the tendency of cable channels to become more generic over time, filling their programming with interchangeable junk 'reality' shows (Trucker Prison Tattoo Pawn Shop) and pseudoscience 'documentaries' (Hitler's Chupacabra Bible Code), the same canon of syndicated series from Seinfeld to Star Trek (not to…