"How far down do you have to scroll before you find a contemporary, non-fantasy character…"

Perhaps, but the clip in the trailer's giving me the worrisome feeling that they're playing the scene for comedy (which might be a necessary choice, I suppose, if Jackson realized they couldn't make come across as monstrous enough ).

Perhaps, but the clip in the trailer's giving me the worrisome feeling that they're playing the scene for comedy (which might be a necessary choice, I suppose, if Jackson realized they couldn't make come across as monstrous enough ).

So, I'm certainly geared up for this movie, but I'm rather dreading the "Riddles in the Dark" sequence. First, the dialogue in the book is practically screen-ready — and I had it practically memorized as a child — so to hear them monkeying with it is deeply irritating (and having Bilbo instead of Gollum propose the…

So, I'm certainly geared up for this movie, but I'm rather dreading the "Riddles in the Dark" sequence. First, the dialogue in the book is practically screen-ready — and I had it practically memorized as a child — so to hear them monkeying with it is deeply irritating (and having Bilbo instead of Gollum propose the…

Homicide ruined L&O for me for a few years. But I like to think I've come around to seeing that L&O is doing a different thing and does it well.

Homicide ruined L&O for me for a few years. But I like to think I've come around to seeing that L&O is doing a different thing and does it well.

I think the idea that one of L&Os weaknesses is that it doesn't put enough time into developing its villains is rather misguided. If you watch enough real crime shows, it becomes pretty clear that motives for murder are not really all that interesting. They tend to boil down to a basic quartet of greed, jealousy,…

I think the idea that one of L&Os weaknesses is that it doesn't put enough time into developing its villains is rather misguided. If you watch enough real crime shows, it becomes pretty clear that motives for murder are not really all that interesting. They tend to boil down to a basic quartet of greed, jealousy,…

I was watching the "Boys of Twilight" opening — starring Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth — and feeling very, very sad for the supporting players as they popped up, thinking, "How depressing to have this thing on your resume." And then they feature the hunky young deputy character, stranded in this sea of senior…

I was watching the "Boys of Twilight" opening — starring Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth — and feeling very, very sad for the supporting players as they popped up, thinking, "How depressing to have this thing on your resume." And then they feature the hunky young deputy character, stranded in this sea of senior…

I would maybe even go as high as a B-, but I wouldn't balk at seeing a "C" assigned. For me, the really bad X-Files episodes are the boring ones. That's the X-Files' worst crime (though this maybe comes also from my general prejudice against many of the mythology episodes). And Agua Mala may have a range of faults,…

I would maybe even go as high as a B-, but I wouldn't balk at seeing a "C" assigned. For me, the really bad X-Files episodes are the boring ones. That's the X-Files' worst crime (though this maybe comes also from my general prejudice against many of the mythology episodes). And Agua Mala may have a range of faults,…

I recognize that Agua Mala is a little lumpy and irregular in terms of plot and pacing, and I'll accept that it's monster doesn't really hold up to conceptual scrutiny (but how many of the monsters really do?). I can see squandered potential. But I just can't see what makes this episode so (allegedly) unwatchably…

I recognize that Agua Mala is a little lumpy and irregular in terms of plot and pacing, and I'll accept that it's monster doesn't really hold up to conceptual scrutiny (but how many of the monsters really do?). I can see squandered potential. But I just can't see what makes this episode so (allegedly) unwatchably…

The music thing is not just an allegation made by "somebody" in the comments — the use of a piece by tango-master Astor Piazzolla is fully credited in the end titles (though if I recall the making-of doc correctly — and I'm not sure about this — Piazzolla had been put in as a temp track that Gilliam wanted Paul…

The music thing is not just an allegation made by "somebody" in the comments — the use of a piece by tango-master Astor Piazzolla is fully credited in the end titles (though if I recall the making-of doc correctly — and I'm not sure about this — Piazzolla had been put in as a temp track that Gilliam wanted Paul…

AhhhOOOOOOOOOooooooooo… Race!

AhhhOOOOOOOOOooooooooo… Race!

I didn't want to push my point about podcasts and experimentation too far, because even though there are a number of examples of a kind of exuberant experimentation with the medium in early television, TV also very quickly fell into replicating existing formats (radio quiz shows, news broadcasts, cinema serials, etc.)…