Protip for my fellow white people: in discussions about representations of race in culture, saying "I don't see the problem" is not only not a good argument, it is a statement of the problem.

The people who told you that most likely read the first chapter, "Concerning Hobbits" -- which is completely that -- looked at the number of pages they had left to go, and gave up. But after the first chapter Tolkien gets down to the business of telling the story and it's a much easier read, although I found that the also became much easier to read after seeing the movies.

The term is less about what would make it better in a rewrite, and more what an audience member brings to and accepts as already part of the "canon" of the movie, even though the movie does not establish it.

If you're arguing a plot hole in a movie with a friend who likes it more than you do, and they justify how the plot hole actually isn't that big a hole, and it involves some variation of the phrase "We can probably assume..." they're bringing their own concrete to fill in the hole.

Why not? It's not like extra boards cost money.* I can post my prequels and finish fixing the Matrix sequels.

(*Do extra boards cost money?)

Yeah, that's the one thing about J.J.'s writing style that gets a little old, and his protege Lindelof took that ball and ran with it hard.

As aggravating as it is to us normals, I think it's actually part of what gets these guys the jobs. The beancounters reading the scripts don't know from story, but the script sure seems EXCITING AS HELL and a skimming executive can catch all the IMPORTANT PARTS because they're RIGHT IN HIS FACE.

This has been bothering me for a while and I need to say something.

In this episode, I make a joke about Padme "asking for it" (i.e to get raped) with the way she dresses in the fireside scene. There's certainly a joke of some kind to be made about the mixed signals going on in that scene -- mainly in Lucas' handling of it -- but in the years since this recording I've grown to realize that so wasn't it.

I've never been called out on this, publicly or privately, so I'm calling myself out. I can't change the recording but I want to go on record here and say -- to anyone who has listened to this or may do so in the future, and is hurt or upset by a misguided attempt at humor of which I've come to be ashamed -- I'm sorry. I hope to do better.

I think this is the first movie in a long time where my own reaction is completely mixed. The stuff that's good is really good, and I honestly think this is the best Superman movie yet made. It's not "gritty," but it is serious, removing the irony from all the proceedings and aiming to deal with Superman's internal conflict as much as his external. I don't think it entirely succeeds, but I appreciate the effort.

At the same time, the action, while delivering incredible spectacle, is so monotonous it becomes numbing. I can only watch cartoon people smash into the sides of buildings so many times before I begin to check out, regardless of -- or maybe as a result of? -- the amazing destruction simulations, and that post-9/11 obsession with falling skyscrapers we have often noted was just out of hand here.

I know I'm blaspheming and all to question the master, but... is it just me or is that Being Human poster kind of awful?

I'm seeing it at midnight, so I'll have an opinion around 3AM.

I like what we saw of Smaug. Seeing that massive head come around the corner gave me the bottom-dropped-out-of-my-stomach sense of terror he deserves.

As for the rest, ugh. As Red said, Jackson is actually making the unengaging cartoons the old guard has been accusing genre filmmakers of making for the last few decades. After HOBBIT 1 I wasn't expecting otherwise, though it is gratifying to see I'm not the only one who feels that way among genre fans.

It is ever and always "when it's done."

Maybe if he didn't do his writing on a goddamn Speak & Spell it would go quicker, since he'd be able to review the writing as he goes and realize he'd already written the chapter he's about to write. Twice.

/annoyed by Dance with Dragons