I'd be curious to see a breakdown of how many SVU victims survived the attack that instigates the plot. I know it wasn't exactly uncommon, but there certainly was a strong tendency to have most of the crimes be murders. I wonder how much this reflects something in our "survivalist" attitude to life-or-death stakes…

Actually, on that specific point, I think medievals would be less shocked than one might expect (and I raise this because it was a question I got in my PhD oral exams). There are two competing rationales for outcomes. One is vaguely karmic (there's a better term for it that slips my mind), where one is rewarded or…

Well, I'm not saying shows like GoT should do that (though Rome, which is at least trying to be historical, has a little bit of responsibility to recognize cultural difference, I think). But I think it's important for audiences to be aware that some of their assumptions — especially about big things like violence and…

I would try to tie this comment in to the discussions of Game of Thrones and Spartacus above, but I haven't yet seen/read GoT, and while I saw S1 of Spartacus, I don't remember it well enough cite any specifics.

The problem with all those willpower-oriented terms ("way" is the only one in @avclub-13d7df3c17502af69aafccc758195f96:disqus 's list that doesn't have this issue) is that they convey something rather fundamentally different than "agency" does. One thing agency recognizes is that one's power to act is determined by…

Also: The Mouse and His Child. Available on YouTube, but such a weird, striking little film it deserves better treatment (especially, too, since Russell Hoban's reputation seems upticked a bit in the last few years).

Ah, Tasha mentions it below! The book/film I'm thinking of is "The Gift of Winter" (easily googleable) — you might see if this is what you're thinking of.

This sparked a slight recognition in me. I had an illustrated children's book that told a similar story, and I'm pretty sure I later found out it was actually a book version of an animated film (or maybe vice versa). The character designs were very distinctly 1970s, though, a bit reminiscent of the designs in Harry…

"I demand my pop culture website acknowledge that thinking about pop culture is a worthless waste of time!"

In many ways, George Sanders is forever primarily a VO actor in my mind because of being the voice of Shere Khan. I remember when I first saw "Rebecca." As soon as he came onscreen and spoke, I thought, "I know that voice… wait, that's Shere Khan!"

Well, they did that in "Dead Girl" and the ideological take-away was that teenage boys really just want a woman who can be a life-size sex toy that they can practice rapist fantasies on. So they boy is going to be the monster in either case…

The only caveat is that he reads the faux introduction to the book by the fictional psychiatrist in a really goofy-sounding accent — which if you expect the whole book to sound that way would be deeply off-putting. But it really just makes the transition into Humbert even more startling and satisfying.

@avclub-00aac26b51b1299deb39aefa7647eb5e:disqus Well, I'm not necessarily directing this argument only at you, but this has been something I've observed in discussions with other friends attacking 'indie quirk" not just as something they don't like but as a lazy and destructive device. In my experience, their…

I think a lot of strongly negative reactions to "indie quirk" are rooted in a kind of aesthetic confusion. That is, it seems to me that a lot of the contempt directed towards the movie is really contempt more accurately intended for the people who try to enact those quirks in real life. In other words, indie quirk is…

"…generally lately movies only inspire my passions if they do something I
feel like I haven't seen before."

The problem is that the more granular you try to get, the more granular you almost have to be for your subcategories to work. Say you're going to grade the "acting" in a film on a 10-point scale. Say there are a lot a fantastic supporting performances, but the lead is just distractingly horrible. What point value do…

@avclub-e1e9b94dafb06d285e00bd4c2d72b3e5:disqus Of course, if you're really so scrupulous about what you choose to watch, you could actually read the review and the user comments to see if they're saying "This is insanely awesome!" "I'm extremely picky about what movies and shows I give my time and money to" and "but…

"I would never eat a McDonald's hamburger!"
"You're such an elitist!" — a fair retort.

My family was listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack on cassette in our car all December long back in the 80s and early 90s, before it emerged into retail PA system ubiquity. I do worry a little bit that as excellent as it is, it's become a bit too oversaturated. Plus, I feel like it's robbing a little…

My family was listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack on cassette in our car all December long back in the 80s and early 90s, before it emerged into retail PA system ubiquity. I do worry a little bit that as excellent as it is, it's become a bit too oversaturated. Plus, I feel like it's robbing a little…