Eh. Ichi can be described as a "fucked up sex and violence" action film.

Not to mention that, since Fast 5, they fall more into the "Superhero" genre than the action genre, anyway. Breihan stated in the last column (I think) that he defines action movies by whether or not punches look like they hurt. So Vin Diesel repeatedly jumping out of vehicles at 200mph and not only surviving, but…

That's not true at all. The "ego-breaking" traditions in China are much more subtle and nuanced than that, and there is definitely an element of "believe in yourself" inherent in the Chinese Ch'an and Taoist traditions.

Right. I have no problem with any kind of explicit sex or violence if it's true to characters and serves the story. It really is a large reason why "prestige" TV has been so revolutionary. Creators can tell "real" "raw" stories in the ways they want and need to. However, like a lot of things, just people because can…

It's that tendency in "prestige" television to make everything as morally ambiguous as possible. As if "complexity" automatically equals "profundity." Glad Gaiman called them on their shit.

It was one of the first movies I remember leaving and thinking to myself "That was it?" It was one of the first times I was literally disappointed in a movie.

It's funny to me when people say The Matrix was just chock full of "Philosophy 101" ideas or whatever and mean it as a slight. First of all, it was a "blockbuster" action film. Give it some credit for even bothering to have some ideas.

I'm glad someone else said, because a lot of the comments so far have been about how the movie has "flaws" or whatever. I think The Matrix is about as perfect a movie as we can get, particularly one trying to juggle a somewhat convoluted plot and convoluted-for-a-popular-movie philosophy and themes.

Well, yeah. It was still made by George Lucas. I will grant that that scene (which was actually pretty cool until that point) and Padme's death were notable hiccups.

I just remember all the yelling. And then someone claiming that Spartans weren't "boy lovers" like those queers from Athens, when, in fact, the Spartans were known—even amongst the "boy lovers" of Athens—for their "hubris," or, predilection for homosexual anal sex. It was simultaneously the most homophobic and…

Yeah, I had read the graphic novel and liked it, but I didn't adore it or anything. Obviously the movie missed the point of the book, but the movie was ultimately pretty good for what it was. The thing with Snyder's movies is you either accept that there are going to be some repugnant morals or values being promoted…

Honestly, although I always get shit for this, I don't think the prequels are as shitty as their reputation. They're not great movies, and man do they all have their flaws, but in the end they're pretty entertaining. I find that non Star Wars fans tend to enjoy them.

While I disagree vehemently with your perspective on TFA, that last act of RotS is some of the best stuff done in the entire SW series.

You know, I watched AOTC not too long ago and there's actually this interesting detective story sort of at the heart of it. But then Lucas Lucases the shit out of the movie and it all gets lost amongst the shit dialogue, oppressive CGI, boring bad guys and stillborn love story.

Word. And I remember so many critics at the time were like, "This is a deep and profound meditation on the pains of childhood." And I came out of the theater like, "That was some straight pretentious bullshit." I mean, it was a more accurate, if admittedly less articulate, summary of the movie.

Yeah, I think Green Hornet is actually a decent flick with some interesting ideas. It subverts many of the tropes of the genre in fun ways, but then sort of bails on them during the last act, and not in an interesting way that felt "earned" or something.

For a couple of years I kept hearing how much better the series got and how fun they were. Then I watched, I don't know, Fast 5 and whatever the 6th one is called and felt totally underwhelmed. I liked them better when they were just small-time criminals trying to be family or whatever.

Actually my friends all come from different backgrounds and perspectives. Like, I'm radically liberal, but I have hyper-conservative friends. Some people genuinely want to know how that's possible and it's because when we disagree with each other we laugh derisively at each other, but then we continue on with other…

It's insulting because it disagrees with someone else's perspective.

I was labeled gifted at a very early age. All it did was put a bunch of unwanted pressure on me to "perform" and "achieve." I got burnt out by the time I was in high school and I just wanted to be left alone. Then, despite supposedly being of higher intelligence, I had to learn very simple and easy-to-grasp concepts…