Since when has any child understood the value of school? In many cases, they're biologically incapable of making the connection between what they're doing now and how it will contribute to their future selves. The educational system has to set vague outcomes because each student will arrive at different learning…

Next week: L sounds with Harry Shearer as Tom Brokaw.

I rate At Close Range as some of Walken's best work as a main character, but his minor character roles tend to stick with people. Pulp Fiction is an easy example, but Annie Hall springs to mind as well.

Sky Captain is like a really neat feature phone released a few years before the iPhone changed everything. It was ground-breaking and full of promise, but it just didn't have the tech that was right over the horizon. No matter how cool it was, it would inevitably suffer in comparison. Also, illustrators aren't…

I think it is pretty typical to leave a book or film written by (or adapted from) Cormac McCarthy a little perplexed—especially if you aren't familiar with his style of dialog or the themes he explores. Taken in context with his body of work, however, there are some indelible moments in The Counselor.

Channing, stop it.

Wikipedia confirms it was a '94 Celebrity Challenge episode. I think the guy was just a great natural athlete and had the right mix of agility, balance, and strength to tackle those challenges, so why not? Dean Cain was also on the show…I know too much about American Gladiator, apparently. It really was a nice…

Billy Wirth was the Lost Boy who competed, and he did damn good. However, I got the biggest kick watching John C. McGinley from Scrubs just blow through every event and gladiator on the show.

Timothy Olyphant for Roland Deschain, damnit. He has his gunslinger bonafides and is the perfect age to play him.

And now most of us can go back to not giving a single fuck about Henry Rollins. Huzzah!

Raw Power or narcissistic personality disorder? You decide.

Wait. They play KISS on the radio?

I'm getting pretty sick of the lack of progress on a Dark Tower movie or TV series starring Timothy Olyphant as Roland. The time is now, while he can still play older or younger. I get a nerd-boner thinking about Olyphant saying, "Thankee-sai," and just shooting the shit out of stuff.

Yeah, if the songs were good, it would have been done in a month. All those layers of bullshit are just lipstick on a pig.

Rob Harvilla at villagevoice.com wrote about Chinese Democracy:

Your dog has no nose. How does he smell?

I remember being shocked by how much Ramis changed physically in the 90s. He was always so thin and wiry in movies up until then. I later read that after years of indulging in drinking, tobacco, weed, and cocaine at various times, he gave up everything in the mid-80s. He joked that he gained 10 lbs for every vice he…

That alcoholic wood elf vibe is paying off.

Keith David, David Keith. David Keith, Keith David.

To each his own and all, but best show of 2013? Strongly disagree. I'll take the most throwaway episode of Justified over anything Enlightened had to offer. I found Amy's character to be too unlikeable to maintain interest, and the overall tone of the show was annoyingly ambiguous.