I'm right there with you, Miller. His flaws in his relationship with his sister and Iris and even Laura all seemed entirely believable and acceptable to me, but his "Nazis are good business, woo-hoo" attitude seemed a tad trite. Maybe I'm just too sensitive to Godwin's Law at this point.

I think it's definitely a clearer and more direct book, and a better introduction to Atwood (in addition to being her most famous book, which is often a good place to start with any author) but that does make it less interesting for debate/discussion.

I didn't even know there was a Facebook page. I guess whoever started it isn't maintaining it.

If you like short stories, "Impossible Things" is one of my favorite short-story anthologies of all times.

Narbonic is fun — I've been reading it for the first time over the past year or so — but Skin Horse is a particular favorite of mine. It's a really unique and enjoyable comic.

Alas, Walgreens is not a dollar store, and we had a concept going here.

If anyone else happens to see the One-Shot Kong toy in the wild, I'm really curious whether the shoulder-cock is a standard flaw or I just found a special one. It was the only Fight Club toy in that particular dollar store, so I have no basis for comparison, but I can't imagine it's a common mutation, unless it was…

I loved the book and really wanted to see the film, but it played Chicago for about a week. We didn't get awards screeners, and it isn't out on DVD or via Netflix Instant yet. So basically most of the staff didn't see it in time for this roundup, which I really think is a pity.

As with the music best-ofs, there's a straight points system involved. The fact that Scott Pilgrim was my #3 and also made Nathan's Top 10 was enough to bump it up despite Scotty T's ambivalence, much as my dislike of "Greenberg" didn't keep it off the list; there are no vetos, only positive votes.

For what it's worth, we were each asked to pick the three worst films we saw this year. "Legion" would have been #4 on my list.

We murdered him out of pique when he didn't like "Black Swan" as much as we did.

Phoenix does actually address that in the commentary; he claims he was trying to come across as uncomfortable and only showing very muted, confused reactions to whatever's going on, but that many people still interpreted his smiles as proof that he was just playing a character and couldn't maintain it.

I wasn't goading her, I was honestly curious and asking her what she thought. I know the Internet isn't big on this, but sometimes it's interesting to hear someone whose opinion is completely different from yours explain why they feel how they feel. Here, I feel like I largely gave my opinion in the official review,…

For more of me and Genevieve disagreeing, tune into tomorrow's A.V. Talk, where I ask her a lot of mildly incredulous questions about why she enjoyed everything I disliked about this film.

I've got it in hand and just started it, though I'm not sure whether we should run the review now (it's available on Amazon) or when it hits bookstores, which I'm told will be a few months from now.

Incidentally, I pretty much guessed what that reason must be based on her character, but the film doesn't explain it at all — why she chooses to suddenly dress that way for court when it isn't how she normally appears, what she's trying to prove. No one ever asks or brings it up, and she never mentions it, so it comes…

The Homestar Runner costumes always crack me up, but they weren't a good inclusion for this list, both because they aren't on TV and because the costumes tend to say more about the characters' body shapes than their actual self-images or choices.

Happened to me with Thomas Covenant. I didn't make it through "Lord Foul's Bane." I soldiered on past the rape, but another 50 or so pages of his whining and angsting did me in. I just had no interest in anything he was going through. Still haven't read those books.

Agreed, justpassingby. I've never found Superman nearly as interesting as Batman. I don't feel guilty about rooting for Superman, though. (When I can bring myself to care about whatever he's doing.)

Hm. I hadn't taken the ending into account, but I'd actually see it as the ultimate triumph of her letting people believe whatever they want about her, without correcting their misapprehensions, and using that to her advantage: She's writing as Fulton, and passing as him for the ignorant.