Erik: The film isn't about gazing at or hating other people, or being voyeuristic. It's about seeing our own flaws, insecurities and vulnerabilities, and understanding that everyone is equally culpable and forgivable. The fact is there are lots of people just like the characters in the movie, and we all know or have…

Erik: Yeah, social satire and comedies of manners are nasty business. They're not supposed to be warm, fuzzy and humane. They're meant to expose the nasty foibles in a society, everyone's. And I think you're really shooting the messenger here. The movie makes it pretty clear that Tracy is just a kid, who was basically…

Erik: Yeah, social satire and comedies of manners are nasty business. They're not supposed to be warm, fuzzy and humane. They're meant to expose the nasty foibles in a society, everyone's. And I think you're really shooting the messenger here. The movie makes it pretty clear that Tracy is just a kid, who was basically…

No, it isn't. I don't think she even watched the movie.

No, it isn't. I don't think she even watched the movie.

The Ice Storm is great and should never ever be compared to American fucking Beauty.

The Ice Storm is great and should never ever be compared to American fucking Beauty.

I really hate contemporary popular culture's tendency to rationalize everything and employ pseudoscience to explain fantastical elements. Can't a fairy tale just be a fucking fairy tale? Can't there be an element of the mysterious, ambiguous or romantic in these contemporary re-tellings? Does everything need a…

I really hate contemporary popular culture's tendency to rationalize everything and employ pseudoscience to explain fantastical elements. Can't a fairy tale just be a fucking fairy tale? Can't there be an element of the mysterious, ambiguous or romantic in these contemporary re-tellings? Does everything need a…

They had tinted glasses then. Not super common, but they existed.

They had tinted glasses then. Not super common, but they existed.

He definitely had it coming. Hoffman's character was pretty sleazy too, playing the Ivy League snob bully. Lot of good victims in that movie. It's one of the those movies where I get a juicy class war vibe.

He definitely had it coming. Hoffman's character was pretty sleazy too, playing the Ivy League snob bully. Lot of good victims in that movie. It's one of the those movies where I get a juicy class war vibe.

I always thought an Arbenz coup movie based on the book Bitter Fruit would be fantastic, especially if you worked in elements of black comedy. There were so many awful spooks, corrupt corporate schmoozers and colorful political actors involved in that mess, it would make for a perfect screwball tragedy. Hell, you…

I always thought an Arbenz coup movie based on the book Bitter Fruit would be fantastic, especially if you worked in elements of black comedy. There were so many awful spooks, corrupt corporate schmoozers and colorful political actors involved in that mess, it would make for a perfect screwball tragedy. Hell, you…

Great (I appreciate your enthusiasm for action and suspense), but you forgot Mishima, Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies and Ran.

Great (I appreciate your enthusiasm for action and suspense), but you forgot Mishima, Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies and Ran.

I'm really glad to see Lone Star on here (certainly one of my favorites), but the omission of Heat reflects a flaw in your overall methodology. Oh well, lot of good films anyway.

I'm really glad to see Lone Star on here (certainly one of my favorites), but the omission of Heat reflects a flaw in your overall methodology. Oh well, lot of good films anyway.

The AV Club should do a 1980s inventory. It would be more challenging and the results perhaps more interesting since the 1980s is further away in the cultural memory. As a decade, it's not really remembered for its films or film culture, but there are some half-forgotten gems that would worth bringing back into to the…