I loved the movie - glad I went and took my son!

I think there’s some sense to it. These MCU shows have doubled down on dealing with post-End Game grief (well, post-Infinity War, really, in a way). Wanda captured and mind-controlled a whole town out of grief, and who knows what she’s up to next. And, as clumsy as it was in its deployment, grief was a motivating…

Also starting with the “not to defend Whedon” caveat, he actually was dealing with a lot of meddling with his “genius” with all of Marvel’s insistence on the inclusion of plot points that set up future movies but had little to do with AoU. We know their heavy-handedness has also bugged other directors (some to the…

Karl Freund had a fair bit to do with creating the 3-camera system, for the record (on I Love Lucy, of course).

Timerider was one of the first movies I went to see by myself, and it totally blew my mind. It was the first time I ever saw the time travel “trope” that ends the movie and I was buzzing for days about how cool it was!

Ugh, that sounds awful. I’ve been hanging on here for ages as it slipped, enjoying the few remaining bright spots, hoping for a reemergence, but it just seem that the powers that be are determined to keep dragging it towards “content,” without any thought of putting up good actual content. It must be frustrating for…

Maybe . . . maybe . . . if you’re only talking seasons, although I’d put AoS S04 and S05 up against any of them. But as complete packages, I don’t think any of them are as consistently good, or develop the way AoS does.

I was pretty sure WandaVision and Loki would be 1-2, but Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D at 9? That’s crazy math.

Yeah, very smug when he didn’t like something. Unlike some of the ‘70s guys, I think his views actually got more expansive as he aged and more nuanced in his thinking, and his reviews became more open to what the filmmakers might be trying.

Ha ha, that’s funny because that’s how I’ve always pictured Bosley Crowther who preceded him at the Times. In the ‘70s, at least, Canby had some pretty good takes on some of the crazy stuff that came out of Hollywood and could be good on some of the weirder European stuff, too. H&M was not him at his best. I think the…

Great write-up of a film I’ve loved for decades (my avatar might give that away). I’m really glad you mentioned Harold’s need not just to discover how to L-I-V-E LIVE!, but also learn about pain and that loss and pain are okay (also, is he still dealing with trauma around his father’s death?). It’s something that’s…

Oh wow, I’d never heard that. I don’t know how she’d have done, but as much as I like Diaz in some roles, she’s dreadful in Gangs.

I think there’s probably something to this. I remember back in the day reading about how Gellar didn’t take part in the Shakespeare parties he hosted, etc., the implication being she thought she was too cool for them. But maybe she was just protecting herself (or maybe Whedon even let it be known she wasn’t invited).

By all the accounts so far, Whedon was a psychological terrorist and emotional bully, but not a sexual abuser. Not saying the former isn’t horrible, and Carpenter, Benson, and others are still clearly dealing with the trauma of it.

A lot of the studio practices and tools that the bands you mention would take advantage of were first used, developed, put into practice, etc. by the Beatles, of course with George Martin and Geoff Emerick. Like, Are You Experienced and Days of Future Passed didn’t even come out until after the Beatles had been…

I’m a Gen-Xer who read the books as an adult and has been re-experiencing them with my kiddo. I dig them, but also, meh. But I was talking to a really smart, literate millennial dude a couple years ago, and the deep, emotional way he spoke about that scene between Neville and his grandmother in the hospital really…

For me, and I’m no Potter purist or anything, Slughorn’s confession in the book is one of the key scenes of the whole series. Harry manipulates Slughorn because of his love for Lilly and it really sets the scene for where the cards will fall in the final book. Even though it’s not totally believable plot-wise,…

I only recently came across this idea that the Beatles are somehow “underrated,” and it really struck a chord with me. Because, while I agree, as some say here, that they’ve long been regarded as THE BEST!!!, I also tend to agree that most people who love their tunes - or even tolerate them - don’t actually get what…

Cougar Town may not be “great,” but from about halfway through season one until at least the end of 3, it’s really really surprisingly funny and some absolutely fantastic character dynamics emerge. The last few seasons are pretty good, but it does get into sort of a repetitive groove - luckily, the characters are so…

Quick take - a pretty good list, overall. I appreciate the foreign-language entries, but it’s still pretty anglo-heavy. I guess calling such lists “ . . . in English” might dilute their power?