I was an extra in Toxic Avenger IV, so I may have to track the documentary down.

I agree because I could watch Tom Cruise get graphically murdered all day long, but it's an appropriate choice in that it's based on a Japanese novel and the characters were originally Asian.

Yup, it was a celebratory riot. Very out-of-character for Japan, but Tigers fandom is intense. If you ever get the chance, go to a Hanshin Tigers/Yomiuri Giants game. It's like attending Mass at the Vatican.

It's real, but it's the kind of thing you'd usually see in a porn store or other place catering to horny dudes. It's kind of exaggerated as an example of "wacky Japan." That said, Tokyo is crammed with vending machines dispensing every conceivable product. I imagine U.S. cities would do the same thing except that…

"Kami" can even refer to non-Shinto gods and sacred entities, including the Judeo-Christian God. For instance, manga artist Osamu Tezuka is nicknamed Manga no Kami-sama, "God of Manga," in the sense of being the singular God of the manga industry. Like a lot of Japanese words, it does a lot of work.

A friend of mine had one imported and we all made excuses to poop at her place. It makes you feel like a chump for all the time you spent sitting on non-heated seats.

Often in the same day! My favorites are the squat toilets in city parks that don't have toilet paper; you're supposed to use the little packs of tissues that are handed out in the streets as promotional items. Oh, you didn't know that and now you're squatting on a cement floor with no way to wipe your ass? Sucks to…

Worth it for the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment.

Original Wicker Man is an amazing and criminally underseen film.

If Batman isn't carrying shark repellent, I have no time for him.

Raging Bull is a gorgeous movie with amazing performances and some of the best boxing scenes ever, but the actual plot is, "if you're a complete asshole and never even try to change, eventually people will get sick of your shit even if you're also a really good boxer."

Plus the Von Trapps were abroad on international tours all the time, so it was easy for them to just not come back.

A lot of the characters seem to choose sides at random. I never bought Spider-Man, who's always been neurotic about protecting his secret identity, suddenly getting a man-crush on Tony that inspires him to unmask in a huge televised press conference. Then later he switches sides with equally weak motivation.

The problem is that, unlike most comic-book superheroes, Peter Parker is a dynamic character: the driving force of his stories is that he's a young person thrust into adult adventures, forced to grow and learn along the way. But he can't develop so far that he ever actually grows up, so you get clumsy stories like…

I periodically dream better versions of movies that disappointed me. I once dreamed a "Godfather Part III" that opens with a lavish coming-of-age party for Michael's son. As his big gift from the family, he's receiving the deed to a house haunted by the "Ghostbusters" blowjob ghost. There's all this intrigue and…

I admire Ghostbusters in the abstract for pulling off the classic Abbott and Costello approach to comedy horror, where you make a more or less straight horror movie and cast comedy actors to make it absurd. As an actual viewing experience, it's okay, not my favorite. Bill Murray and Sigourney Weaver are the main…

I can't figure out why people like Match Point so much. It's a less interesting retread of the A plot in Crimes and Misdemeanors, which isn't even the best part of that movie.

As far as I know, Mike and Laura Allred were both raised Mormon.

In Blue Jasmine, Jasmine's husband cheats on her by flying to Paris with their teenage babysitter. I guess offering a trip to Paris is Woody's standard line with the high schoolers.

I was embarrassed for Woody Allen watching that scene. It was like the inevitable moment in an Aaron Sorkin show where a male character wins an argument Sorkin lost to Kristen Chenoweth ten years ago.