Regarding the Heimdall controversy, I find it somewhat disappointing that they didn't also cast a black actress to play Lady Sif, as she is the sister of Heimdall. Gina Torres instantly comes to mind. I would watch the shit out of a "Journey into Mystery" film starring Gina Torres and Idris Elba.

I think you're forgetting the most interesting and revolutionary futurist of all: the 17th century's Barnabus Bimblebottom, Lord Thistlesnatch. An Oxford trained natural philosopher, Lord Thistlesnatch predicted (among other things) cloud computing, inexorable quantum rot, the hypersemantics of dilly-dallying, and…

"It's not just a failure to communicate; it's a willing refusal to communicate."

Nurse!

All this talk about N-rays is okay, but what about Z-rays? They're two better than X!

You know, I almost wrote something about neuroaesthetics in that last response—it seems like the necessary next step for a scientific/critical merger, really. I'm torn between thinking that it's really on to something (that On the Origin of Stories book is pretty interesting) and thinking that it's complete bollocks…

I probably should not have said that you created the framework—I wasn't aiming at a personal argument, but rather trying to make a more philosophical point. Also, I think I more or less agree that film lends itself to formalism and that skilled filmmakers can produce effect in their audience regardless of the…

NBC's Belieb:

This response is a day late and a dollar short, but I must say one thing: you're using a highly formal mode of analysis, which is but one way of criticizing art. Arguably, it's a great way to do it, because it involves rules, and people like rules in their criticism. But my problem is this: that scene is successful in…

Personally, I think the next Star Trek television series should be a half-hour sitcom done in the style of The Office or Parks & Rec:

That makes complete sense, given the somewhat "Mad Maxian" roving gangs of thugs just waiting to beat up shopkeepers, journalists, or pretty much anyone doing something that an evil rich guy doesn't like. This interpretation is especially great because it opens up a large space for a Marxist critique (who doesn't love…

I can't tell if it's sad or awesome that this would be a completely fascinating avenue of discussion for an academic paper. But seriously, I think you could organize some sort of "punk vs. corporate ethos" argument, with a sprinkling of "disaffected Vietnam-era veterans" thrown in the mix. Airwolf seems to be about…

You don't seem to be getting a lot of agreement on your point here, and I think that's a little upsetting. I'm totally with you—origin stories are kind of played out. And in the case of the Marvel movies, well, Iron Man had yet to be made, so an origin makes sense. Hulk was a remake of a failure, so they were trying…

You raise an excellent point, and it was in fact this very episode (watched on G4 like three months ago—I even recorded it) that got me to think about the weird irony of a vigilante organization calling itself "The Foundation for Law and Government." There was a seriously political undertone to that show that went…

Thanks! I agree about the language; being dropped into a linguistic combat zone, so to speak, is very disorienting. It's mostly why I never cared to finish A Clockwork Orange. Lead us gently into that crazy speech, authors!

CBS Executive: "That's like 75 episodes of CSI per week! Not counting syndication! Sold!"

Jackpot! And if you liked that, you'll love my novel composed entirely of prologues. It features many thousands of adjectives, and as a bonus, I kill the main character at the end of every prologue! It's the Aeon Flux of thesaurus-based sci-crime noir.

Thanks! I wrote it after reading the list of suggested "do-nots," which while seemingly useful are also pretty restrictive, especially if you love describing hangovers, herb-gathering, and willowy people of any gender.

"My name is Hubert, and this is not a prologue," said the grizzled, hungover man squinting at the sun.

I'm inclined to agree that a Willow series would be awesome, especially since it features enough characters that engaging subplots and subsequent character development would actually be interesting. But honestly, and I realize that this franchise is pretty big for such a thing, I think a Conan the Barbarian series on…