You are correggere!

Re:  Your reply:  Yup.  That's almost exactly how I see it, too —right down to snickerin' at O.J. (although, I tend to cut Baldwin some slack, if only because I cringe at the thought of "ME" being judged by strangers only by the worst of my isolated and out-of-context moments of violent assholery with loved-ones and…

Hi @avclub-5e7e49d9ac705cfa3a4ec1b2b4692404:disqus :  I don't know why you assumed the person in that Carnegie Hall limousine JOOOOOOOOKE was female.  Apparently you're not all that familiar with the "World of the Theater"…darling.

Preachin' to the choir, good sir.  I'm a Director (mostly), and I do a lot of commercial work and industrial films/documentaries, and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find new female narration/acting artists with any emotional tone and depth to their voices.  I must have held readings to cast projects 30 times…

Hi @avclub-4369a7506a50bd14d4540f91219319a7:disqus (in response to your post below):  No, no; I'm not saying American actors are being passed over because of their lack of heft.  I was just noting how a particular actress "of an earlier time" seemed, AS A PERSON, much more substantial to me —and hence more possibly…

I'm not saying (and DIDN'T say) they took "Philosophy Classes."  I said they took part in "group discussions" —which were Actor's classes that were the precursors to "method acting," where the Positions, Manners, Philosophies, Histories (etc.) of the specific people (and TYPES of people) they were to PORTRAY were…

I think there's a bottomless wealth of great talent in Film —RIGHT NOW.  However, here's where I think your assessment gets gummed up:  There are (percentage-wise) very few screen performances (in American movies) where Acting Talent can even be properly gauged, as one of the MAIN ways that's done is through…

Hi @LurkyMcLurkerson:disqus  Listen, I apologize if you think I'm sneering; because I would hate myself for doing that.  I agree with you that there were management "excesses" and impositions that the actors were slammed with in the studio system; and I've got lots of relatives working as actors and musicians and…

"The Indentured Servitude of Actors" sounds like an Ibsen Play about the pampered sensibilities of Americans, and would likely make any REAL servant throw a rotten tomato.

Actually, Lana Turner is an exception (as are many "like" her):  She had no formal training, true; but her "myth" (her discovery at a Drug Store) was concocted by MGM to foster her position as the "Sweater Girl," and as a lure to other young ingenues who dreamed of likewise being a "natural" and stumbling into Fame. …

Hi @avclub-9f3362679d786df531bab7953d7ab610:disqus —Iconic comic performers like The Three Stooges, The Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello (etc.) were a product of a DIFFERENT "training system":  Vaudeville, and the Catskills' stand-up/theater circuit.  This is where "natural" clowns refined their schtick and turned…

Hi, Evan.  No, I wasn't trying to imply that she was an actual PRODUCT of this system (sorry if I gave that impression); merely that this sense of general excellence-in-one's-CRAFT (and the desire to always carry oneself with style in public) was still very much de rigueur at that time, and, in fact, so omnipresent…

You nailed it.  I remember watching an old TV talk show's early kinescope recording of a young female actress ("nobody special" —I can't even recall seeing any of her films) and considering her as she was talking about performing on stage and screen, and realizing how impressed I was with the "heft" of her persona: …

I just thought I'd drop off my April Fool's joke for Gene a few days early:

HERE'S MY ADDITION: Let's not forget those sweet girls at the Confederate Boarding School who were able to take Clint Eastwood down a peg(leg) or two in the skirt chasing department —in "The Beguiled."

Hi, J.P.  Regarding your thought that: if this particular plot point proved to be true, it would most likely be used as a "twist" —I completely agree.  I was thinking that it might come down to Chris confronting "Clark" (after being led to him by Martha), and Phillip turning the tables by checking up on Chris and (—in…

Hi @avclub-ef062084a1c4a3584af1d4f8e514ea50:disqus:  Why, you ask?  Well, p'raps to not be outed to his bosses —and to thereby advance his career.  It's a standard "beard" move in Politics and Government gigs.

That's the thing:  I've been registered for well over a year, and HAD an Edit Button up until 6 weeks ago…when it pulled a David Copperfield —and the Russkies smuggled it out of the country.  I've emailed the AV Club, asking for a fix, at least 5 times…and it's all still FUBAR.

Hi, @avclub-41ae3cd2f3e6402db3f418313787cf86:disqus :  Regarding Chris following Martha.  I remember reading an essay about why it happened to be that so many gay men had gravitated to the British Secret Service…and one of the main reasons a study had uncovered was that they were so often possessed of an "outsider's…

At least this episode gave me a new band name:  Blake's Anal Bead Flail