The trailers for Kubo are enough to make me completely forget how underwhelming Boxtrolls was.

"Then for no good reason Arya's only friend Lady Crane gets killed…"

I'm pretty sure face changing is tied to being "no one".

At times it is VERY funny. And it is never boring.

I'd actually managed to avoid this spoiler until this very article. WTF AV Club?

Skip both of them and watch "The Fall" instead.

Didn't see the first one because it looked terrible, but am I mistaken in my impression that the twist was that they were using real magic?

Was there a line of dialogue explaining why the map had a route on it? Do they have to take space roads to get there? Or why they couldn't ID the star systems in the fragment without plugging it into the whole galaxy?

But he tore it in half, the way pirates do.

At least there's no time travel in the SW universe for him to epically botch.

"Visually it's terrific and the practical effects(thank god) are welcome."

You're 100% right, but how often does anyone make something as remarkable as MMFR, though? I don't think we can expect that kind of risk-taking with the tentpole Star Wars films from here on out. You simply don't strap the goose who lays the golden egg to a flaming, spike-studded dune buggy hurtling at 60 MPH…

In addition to the sexism (which is very real and noticeable when shopping for toys), I suspect there is a strong bias in Star Wars toys toward cool character designs, leading to a lot of Squidheads and Death Star Droids, despite these being extremely minor characters.

Some of us fans are okay with that. I'm just happy it didn't irritate me the way Star Trek Into Darkness did.

To be fair, Avatar is an amazing spectacle. Not being able to understand the dialogue probably enhances it.

"The story and characters aren't particularly memorable, but the world and effects are pretty outstanding."

Other countries use crazy monopoly money that, unlike real money, comes in colors other than green and sometimes has ladies on it!

"Also, if they do take you to court you have to prove the debt is no longer legal."

I wouldn't call LWT stagnant, but FF is easily it's equal, and both are at the head of the pack in terms of quality. TDS gets too much hate, though. It's a different kind of show, with a much more demanding schedule. This was just as true with Jon Stewart, and I don't think the quality has changed significantly…

Jaqen rivals the Jedi Council in his theoretical awesomeness/actual tedium ratio.