#9) I think misgivings about mass popularity are justified much of the time. It was the "will of the people," that ultimately turned Sylar from an interesting, engimatic, shadowy, boogie-man of a villain into a mustache-twirling joke, because his popularity pushed writers into believing it was a Good Idea to expand…

This is pretty much the same as any other producer (which is often code for investor in Hollywood-speak) having its "creative input" in return for the money provided. The difference here is that the producer's creative agenda is as much political as commercial. Puts a whole new spin on the concept of product placement…

Movies aren't called (or considered) art except by idealists who have never worked in the industry (or who have but remain in denial over its essential character). Most of the people involved in financing a film have no idea what great art requires, nor do they care, as long as the film makes money. And they, my dear…

Okay, I'll summarize my point this way:

Everyone can ask for better films, but that assumes the forces necessary for producing them is easy to marshall, when it is not. Hollywood is not gifted with an abundance of talented writers and producers. And those few that do exist only get together rarely; usually they are at odds with each other and the result is…

The true crime here is that nothing new is tried and there is no ambition...

Well, the Firefly that everyone loves isn't merely a background world with spaceships and horses. It is, more than anything else, the particular cast of characters (actors) that formed a dysfunctional family on board a shady scavenging vessel. If you know anything about the show, then you know that Whedon and crew…

But you are putting the blame where it belongs, which is not very much fun for the hand-wringers. Not much false controversy to be found in blaming private gaming groups for their own in-game "diversity index". Making it all the fault of artists and publishers makes it a Big Problem In Need of Correction By Society.…

I'm not saying it isn't happening. I'm saying I don't understand why it is happening given that such notions should have no discernable cultural traction with anyone born in the last 20-30 years. Hopefully the current generation of "old guard" politicos will be the last one still beating on those ancient drums of…

The acceleration curve of cultural change grows ever steeper, especially with the Internet (and its "memes") rewriting the DNA of modern culture every other week. These outdated notions of gender-oriented talents and (professional) disciplines look as tiny today in the rearview mirror of social progress as Victorian…

I am a member of "society". I would never discourage an interest in science in girls. I would never suggest to a girl that science is somehow intrinsically inappropriate for her gender. As a father I would never steer a daughter away from an interest in science or any other male-dominated field.

Sofia Vergara is a charicature of a human female. A South American Jessica Rabbit. And not funny. At all. But the puppy bowl was worth a laugh, yes.

That was awesome. The lens flares were a particularly nice touch...

These posters are a Master clinic in the fundamentals of graphic art. Simply brilliant.

Wonderful stuff. Faust's sense of tone and comedic timing is spot on.

Best Bat-toon image evar!

Right, cuz superheroes are supposed to look "typical". Um, really?

It's not Hollywood's fault they were invited to the party. It is the fault of the Con organizers for thinking that the convention is a superior experience for their presence, nay, their dominance. I blame the Comic-Con organization itself for walking down this odious path. They labor under the misapprehension that…

...as people in wealthier parts of the world have come to better understand the dangers of smoking...

There is nothing deep or profound about Hollywood capitalizing on P.T. Barnum's observation yet again.