Glad Tarantino’s not re-cutting it for China. But I’d love it if he re-cut it for American audiences. It felt like there was a good movie in there somewhere!

I thought in the original story it was that Jean became Phoenix due to the radiation she was exposed to in sacrificing herself to save the team (the exposure even had the same TAC TAC TAC as when the Fantastic Four first got exposed to Cosmic Rays.) So it was basically a secondary mutation (before they used that…

I assume the success of Terminator 2 having been marketed as T2 had something to do with it?

You’re right of course, but in the original poster’s defense, Stan himself would later claim he was inspired by MLK and Malcolm X and the civil rights movement. But he didn’t claim that til people started saying it MUCH later. Stan loved a good story, and well, it did make a better story.

If I remember right here at the A.V. Club and over at Pitchfork they didn’t give it great reviews, but I think other places did? It’s got so many great songs.

I think it’s better than the last two as well, but do wish the lush rock/pop sound of The Whole Love would make a comeback. I don’t know that Tweedy himself sees the point in making that type of record again, but I’d love it.

Definitely enough for this!  Ha.  And this discussion has made me want to go see “Dazed and Confused” again... it’s so good.

More movies star men because Hollywood has long (mistakenly) believed that male teenagers won’t go to movies starring women. More movies with male protagonists get greenlit and then more male actors than female get opportunities to be in expensive movies, and their agents can ask for more money for them over time.

Julie Delpy.

I adore “Dazed and Confused” but thought it was a flop when it first came out, no? A critic’s darling, but thought it bombed and then found life on cable and at Blockbuster (the theater I was saw it in was empty but those of us there loved it.) Anyway, you seem to know a lot about this, so maybe having Ethan Hawke…

He wasn’t Tom Cruise but Reality Bites was probably a big enough hit that Hawke being in Linklater’s movie probably helped get it financed and distributed? Maybe? I think he was on the cover of Rolling Stone back then.

Or he felt he deserved more from the start but was afraid to take on a very wealthy beloved star and be labelled as “difficult” in the industry while spending thousands on lawyer fees.

I still love the show but in the last few years he’s come off as an arrogant jerk. I’m with you there.

Double posted. Doh!

No one says to ignore the piece, but it is flawed. It goes deep into the main charge (which was good to see as that was a hit job and seemed it from the start) but not at all deep into the allegations by many women, some Democrats, who said Al liked to grab butts and boobs when taking pictures.

That was a fantastic read, Alex.  Looking forward to your next piece.

Attack of the Clones is awful. But the use of “all CGI” in a major studio film was indeed fresh, as in innovative (probably not the first, but one of the first to do it.) But YMMV as they say!

Eh, say what you want about the prequels, but he was trying to do something fresh with the new technology his company had developed. What he did certainly wasn’t great storytelling (happens when there’s no one to say no to you for decades), but it was still fresher than the JJ Abrams movie (which wasn’t trying to be…

Thanks for the heads up about the volume boost! I’ve been using the app for years and never knew (maybe it only came with the big redesign.) Totally makes it so I don’t need a Bluetooth speaker to boost the sound.

A bit off topic, but if you want to read Chris Claremont at his most disturbing track down the X-Men and Micronauts limited series. Claremont’s one of the Hall of Fame comic book writers but that series was MESSED UP.