Whoa! Never seen that before (or any of the Die Hard movies for that matter). I guess an ambush in an elevator isn’t that novel of a situation in action movies.

I had so much fun with The Raid, which I’d never heard of before seeing mentions of it online. It was cool seeing a different fighting style, particularly when the fighting was combined with humor! The Raid 2 was a little too flashy and choreographed for my tastes though.

An homage from an episode of Community:

I just recently watched They Live for the first time and totally didn’t get that brawling scene. Maybe if I were a fan of pro wrestling?

Thanks for the link. I’ll have to take a look at the article and try to wrap my head around the origins of this crisis.

I considered taking Swan Song on vacation with me, maybe around last Christmas? I read the first chapter or two at home and decided it was too bleak for me. Like The Stand, which I’d taken on an earlier vacation, seemed light-hearted in comparison. I think I ended up reading Mira Grant’s Newsfeed trilogy, which proved…

Current read: The Novice by Taran Matharu.

I’ve been fascinated by these fish since I first read about them in, I think, a Banana Yoshimoto book. One of the characters likes to visit the aquarium and watch the sunfish as she found it very soothing.

It’s too bad your comment was never taken out of the grays. I have a friend who said she didn’t watch Interstellar mostly because of this article, and I was trying to convince her that while melodramatic, I don’t think the movie ever tries to pull a Fifth Element and claim love is what will save the universe.

Great to hear. I’m thankful that he created such a strong, female character in Wool. Can’t wait to see who’s cast as Juliet.

Yes, confirmed by my doctor, whom I saw for an annual checkup last Friday. My allergies are pretty mild, but she noticed my sniffling and said because of the hard winter in the Northeast, all the plants are releasing pollen at the same time.

This was at the top of my list of possible reads when I went on vacation two weeks ago. I ended up going with Donna Tartt’s <i>The Goldfinch</i> (my local library had paperback copies of both), mainly because it was longer, and I was afraid I’d finish <i>Leviathan Wakes</i> too quickly! I look forward to reading this…

Loved the trilogy as a teen and intend to read the “sequel” series someday (starts with Oath of Fealty).

Just finished The Bees by Laline Paull yesterday. It’d been highly recommended by various sources (including io9 I believe), but I thought it was kind of maudlin, like a Jonathan Livingstone Seagull except with bees.

I was wondering what that was. It's like post-apocalyptic opera. If nothing else, the artistic design is ravishing.

Villain reminds me of Bane. Though I guess the idea of a masked villain isn't original …

I finally read the Assassin's Apprentice after finding out it was a classic of fantasy. I liked it but I wonder if I wouldn't have liked it more if I'd discovered it as a kid or at least read it before reading all these books that are indebted to Hobb's work.

Just started The Magician's Land. I'd been putting off reading it because I thought the first two books in the trilogy were terrific; I guess I didn't want the experience with Lev Grossman's world to end just yet. I love that Quentin seems to finally be growing up.

Wow, that's so counterintuitive. I wonder what the implications might be for subways. Maybe those passengers who refuse to move from in front of a subway car's doors are just doing their part to prevent departing passengers from getting jammed.

According to some native speakers I've asked, the same word in Chinese (spoken Mandarin, and I assume written Chinese though I didn't ask for clarification) describes rats and mice. I find that awfully confusing, as I've had both rats and mice as pets, and they are completely different animals in my mind. I wonder too…