Interesting to hear your take. I always wondered about the significance of an American (or at least a westerner) helping to fight the monster, and then being eaten. I didn't know if it was to offset the scientist character we saw in the prologue, to serve Americans their just desserts by making this guy - well -…

I wish I agreed with you. This scene is one of my favorite scenes in any movie, ever, but boy it gets long and boring after that, with a lot of flabby family drama and a lot less of the monster we all remember.

I suspect I will get that reference upon viewing one of these documentaries and/or reading the above article, which means I will never get that reference.

I like Woodsy's movies, except for that nervous fella who's always in them.

Just because you didn't like it doesn't mean no one has a valid reason to like it. Or love it, deeply, in my case. I've read it three times over 15 years or so. It's funny, smart, sad, satirical, breath-takingly ambitious. It's also so readable, which immediately distinguishes it from the Pynchon books it's always…

Aside from a few passages dealing with his parents' death, Eggers' book may be the most overhyped piece of shit in literary history. It amounts to a triumph of marketing and book design over literary virtues.

Everyone deserves mocking, but I think using that "f-word" is a lot uglier than just mocking.

I understand not wanting to be offended or dismissed or hurt by art. At the same time, I hate this culture we're evolving into where people who say culturally insensitive things are exiled from the culture or their job and defined by the one stupid thing they said or did. It's really ugly IMO and really goes against…

That link didn't work, but in a few words, what else was it? It was well-written and smart, but other than race, did it really have recurring themes or perspectives? I mean, with Vertigo, or Epic, or most imprints, you can summarize their approach in a few words. You take race out of Milestone, I'm not sure you can…

>Well, I'm not really keen on people expressing, say, racism, or making rape jokes about a rape victim.

>Milestone was much broader than just "black."

That's true. I remember DC had a black imprint in the 90s - I think it was called Milestone. It actually was really solid, smart stories. But it didn't stick. I wonder if the economics are such that minority comics readers will read a white superhero, but white readers won't make the same leap. Would be a shame…

I'm not sympathetic to your notion that you can cajole consumers into supporting a comic because it reflects "diversity". That's just now comics readers decide to buy a title.

>it's wise to keep our non-PC predilections in check

Illusions, Michael!

People in the 80s were nostalgic for the 60s (Wonder Years). People in the 70s were nostalgic for the sixties (Happy Days). It's not "people your age", it's all people, all ages.

I feel like Tina Fey has a great absurdist voice that gets overlooked by people who want to turn her into a vehicle for their identity politics.

Is it? I think the goal of art is to capture something true. It's the goal of commerce to make something likable, and I try to judge things on how well they succeed as art, not commerce.

I know this is heresy to say this here, but Rob's Netflix show wasn't terrible. Wasn't great. But it really wasn't the shitshow you'd expect. It was a surprisingly honest and unflattering self-portrait.

I like that review, but I think of Kathleen Hanna as more of a conceptual artist. She's not trying to be a great songwriter. She's got a message and she's looking for a medium to express it. Sometimes that naivete pays off and you get something like "Deceptacon", which is so fuckin' raw and pure.