If you're a convicted pedophile, is it really a good idea to make a movie where you drive around your neighborhood in a truck?

Curious that we see no imperative to adopt the same approach for other forms of art. Whenever an art collection comes on the market, no one says the prices should be kept within a range so that the average art lover can afford to buy a Picasso (on some sort of first-come-first-served basis, presumably). Or that a rare…

(I know you're not insisting you were right, but just to put the question absolutely to rest.)

I didn't catch anything about a UN meeting to share info, I don't think, but I did have difficulty hearing some of the dialog occasionally, so you could very well be right. Given that it's premised on viewing the aliens as a threat and breaking off contact with them, which most of the others aren't willing to do (and…

The short story is explicit that she starts to perceive the future during the period of communication with the aliens, as she is learning their language. When her daughter is conceived, she already knows pretty much the whole "Story of [Her] Life," and what it entails in pain and joy.

I think the actual line is something like "Oh, you know me. I'm much the same." The inference that her mother has alluded to her daughter all comes from Amy Adams's performance and from remembering the earlier scenes. (There's almost some Eisensteinian editing going on here, although of course the two events are not…

The one bit I believe was added (at least I don't remember it from the short story) that I thought was really cool was the detail that the Chinese had used mahjong to establish communication. Even if it created some problems, it was a nice way to show that there were multiple approaches possible.

The short story makes no reference to any threat either to humanity or the heptapods. They just show up, we learn to communicate with them (humans attempt to barter technology, but don't really receive anything useful) and they leave, for their own inscrutable reasons.

And he did try to foster cooperation between the landing site nations at the UN before the other countries rejected that option (it's implied, although not specifically stated American actions are at the root of this rejection).

"Aye" and "lad" are used outside of Scotland as well, though (I use them both myself). They're not like "Och!" or "cannae" or "wee bairn" or "ken" (vb.).

Well, I was looking specifically for accent, though clearly cultural inspiration would also tend to strengthen the association. I don't have access to the Riftwar novels right now, it's been at least two decades since I read them, and the only bits I could dig up online (e.g. "’Tis a wise thing to know what is wanted,…

No, the linked article doesn't mention it either.

Love the phrase "wide-ranging iconoclast"!

Hey! Esther Zuckerman has decreed that this was "casual racism," so obviously it's got everything to do with it.

Yup.

"Don't despair over this Caesar fellow. People once thought Sulla meant doom for the plebeian cause or even the Republic itself. My fellow conservatives seriously felt Marius was going to end Senate rule in Rome and that we would have to withdraw from society. Life shifts and changes. Your people had hope once, you…

I'm not really a fan of 101 Dalmatians or The Jungle Book, but the Silver Age had its share of problems as well (in fact, for my money the only fully successful film from that era is Lady and the Tramp). I think the important thing that marks the end of the Silver Age after Sleeping Beauty (apart from the massive…

This is deep in the Disney DNA, put there by Walt himself. One of the big reasons the first theatrical feature was Snow White was because it offered seven comic relief characters, and clearly one of the main things that attracted him to Pinocchio was the talking cricket (who gets a much bigger part in the film than in…

Nah, Rescuers Down Under is the most soulless of all the Disney theatrical features; one of those DTV sequels inexplicably promoted to headliner status. It's the Ghostbusters II of Disney movies. And god I hate that kid!

Not as bad as grown-up Thumper.