I could definitely make a case for it, but I lean more toward Daniil Kharms' "The Old Woman" or Tolstoy's "Hadji Murat". Still, it'd be in my top five without doubt.

If it cheers you up a bit, I thought it was the best film of 2012 and I've been evangelizing it everywhere I can.

Oof. You win.

Cro-magnon?

Corrupt?

It's one of my favorite books, but I find it's a hard sell to casual readers. Which is too bad, because it's funny as fuck.

Did the angels tell you to say that?

It's partially tongue-in-cheek, partially not. We know for certain that perfume, furniture polish, and even antifreeze were used as alcohol substitutes in Soviet Russia.

Actual drink recipes from Erofeev's Moscow-Petushki:

Even better: they're planning to have the troika from Gogol's Dead Souls, because it's a symbol of the nation. In the book, the troika is driven by a con-artist who's just managed to swindle an entire town. I'm not making this up.

De Niro is pretty great in it, in part because he spends half the movie unable to speak. I know that sounds backhanded, but given how many bad career choices he's made in the last *mumblemumble* years, the decision to play such a physically-bound role was a good one, and he really, really delivers.

If it's the character-based work you're missing, there are plenty of episodes that help build up some of the relationships, so it might be worth sticking through it. Or not. There's always something to watch, so don't waste too much time if it isn't work for you.

And how did Before Midnight go from "This is a shoo-in for some writing awards" to a limp, also-ran slate of nominations. If it can't even beat Captain Phillips, there's no way for a dark horse run around the 12 Years a Slave juggernaut.

It depends on which part.

Heh, glad I wasn't the only one confused about that. I assume he knows his way around a 3D model, but that's all we've seen him do, and nothing related to his alleged experience in level design.

Russell Tovey is the best and his character is the best and I wish the show were following him instead.

Right, it's under the auspices of "inciting hatred" (article 282 of the criminal code) because of a set of pro-skinhead videos he made, most of which dealt with the ethnic riots in Buryulyovo, Moscow back in October. He's been convicted under this before, but never served more than three or so years. Even this time…

This is the point I wish I could flash in neon every time this subject comes up:

Ugh, no. Just no.

Of course this is the most expensive Olympics yet; that's because it's the most recent one