And now I must see this. (Also, it's worth tracking down "Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life", a short he wrote and directed. Doesn't appear in it — but Richard E. Grant does, and it's one of the more inspired parodies of anything I've seen.)

That's a pretty good way of putting it right there.

Love this topic, and I will second Tim Curry and Fred Willard.

Right now, I'm hitting a wall on series that I was following. I picked up the second volume of the josei manga "Everybody's Getting Married" (Viz/Shojo Beat), but I'm finding myself bored by the premise already (two dating couples, each of which has one member who wants marriage and one who doesn't).

Disney had problems with this in the late 1990s. The teaser trailers and posters for "Mulan", "Tarzan", and "Dinosaur" (in the last case, it was actually the entire opening sequence of the film) set them up as serious, primarily dramatic films. Then as the release date approached, the longer trailers and ads…

"Dark Shadows" is more a near-miss for me, but it didn't deserve to flop as hard as it did. The trailer was probably one reason for that (along with opening one week after "The Avengers", audience fatigue with Burton-Depp collaborations, etc.) — on the other hand, I really suspect Warner Brothers didn't know how to…

Unfortunately I live in a region that doesn't get most arthouse films. I don't enjoy horror movies, I'm tired of superheroes, animated features ("Inside Out" notwithstanding; it was the last movie I saw in a theatre), sequels, reboots, and remakes…and there wasn't much non-horror counterprogramming to the blockbuster…

Well, besides the issues between Disney/Dreamworks described below, I think Disney beancounters knew they weren't going to get endless sequels and merchandising out of it the way they can out of all the other IPs they've created/acquired of late (save for the Muppets).

Hopefully by the time this movie comes out I'll be too distracted by "Doctor Who" Series 10 to think about seeing it in a theater out of train-wreck curiosity. Every time new promo material is set out, it just looks worse and worse.

(nodnod) That makes sense. Actually, compared to most Disney princes I think post-curse Beast was far more interesting-looking and appealing, and I think the unusual eyes are one reason. (Note also that he has heavier eyebrows and broader shoulders than most, which again sort of reflect his frame as the Beast).

It's my personal favorite of the Disney canon, just a few steps ahead of "Snow White". I last saw it in 2012, when there was a 3D reissue (though I saw it "flat"). On the one hand, I can't deny that the accusations of Stockholm/Lima syndrome aimed at the plot have some merit, and it's not as visually lush as later…

Yeah, the movie was made under some tight deadlines and I can see, now, where corners were cut in terms of the animation — especially compared to the increasingly lush look of their films later in the decade — but it sure doesn't look ugly and has aged quite well.

Great article. One could do a whole series on cinematic adaptations of Dahl's children's novels, really.

Apparently the Sixth Doctor audios are everything his TV tenure should have been; he's one of the most popular Doctors in the Big Finish line.

And that gag is even funnier now!

It's still something, especially given that Eight has one other main expanded universe continuity, the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels. The two continuities are completely incompatible with each other, and the TV series overwrote the books anyway, so acknowledging the audios carries some weight I think — i.e.…

Okay that really does sound like a great way for Capaldi's Doctor to go. Let's lay down the masterplan to make that happen people! There's been plenty of advance notice!

In fact, the Big Finish audios did gradually darken Eight once the revival show launched, since for a looooooong time it was only to be assumed that he had to have been the one who ended the Time War. He loses several companions to death, parts from another one on bad terms, etc. (Those are the people he names in…

Hear hear — I added a comment to the overview article specifically to note it!

You're right about the lack of ads — if I hadn't read that TV Guide feature, I'd have never known. (brrr) Thinking about how different my life would have been…like a fangirl version of "Turn Left"!