The original Gall Force is amazing. For one, they gleefully steal from everywhere (the first episode turns into the original Alien for 10 minutes). They shoved two hours worth of plot into the original 80 minute episode. The body count is also high. I won't say more than that

(also, the character designs are by the legend Sonada Kenichi, who did the original Bubblegum Crisis, Riding Bean, and Gunsmith Cats)

Act II

Editing turns into rewriting. As the first blizzard of the season closes the roads, isolating the mansion, Jack bangs his head against the script. Nothing is working. The mansion, though, is speaking to him. He senses its past. There is a story there. A story the ghosts need told. Miss Horvath doesn't understand. She had McFee lock up all the liquor. A drink. One good drink, and he will be able to write a new script that will make her forget hers...

Video games may crash first, simply because of the high costs to consumers. Studios are pushing out unfinished games, and consumers are getting pissed. A movie you can throw money at to finish quickly. Games, apparently, you can't. I'm not a big gamer, but the turkey that was Dragon Age 2 really got me angry. Take years to develop an incredibly deep game, then rush out a sequel that is incredibly incomplete (not to mention makes the actions of the first game pointless. Don't promise actions will matter if following through will be impossible).

Add to that the whole preorder system, and another crash probably is in the offering.

Agreed. For those who don't know, the ending of Superman was in fact the end of Superman 2, where going back in time is how Superman gets rid of Lois's memory of knowing his secret identity. The studio, getting frustrated with Donner, had him stop work on 2, finish 1, and use that ending. Also in the Donner cut of 2 is a great scene where Lois shoots Clark to prove he's Superman. Pissed, he tells her she could have killed Clark if she was wrong. Lois then shows him the gun was full of blanks. They never actually filmed this, but luckily it was one of the screen tests so that footage is worked into the new version.

It was interesting hearing Trey bash the second film, if only because for years I assumed the general consensus was that 2 was the better film, as it was a big super hero fight which is what people actually wanted in a Superman movie, as opposed to the bore that was the first half of the first film. That's what I seemed to remember from when it came out, but obviously time has not been kind to it

With regard to Superman's powers, every writer who comes on to tackle the character resets his power level to fit what they need for the story. Thus, in the 1990's Bruce Timm cartoon he's weaker than you'd expect, but once they moved on to Justice League episodes his strength was upped so he could fight gods.

Years ago, two producers had the rights to do a US version of Space Battleship Yamato over at Disney. That would have had, most likely, a refitted USS Arizona coming up out of the ocean and flying off into space.

With regard to "race-bending", I so want some Indonesian or Nigerian film maker to do an American Civil War movie, and make no attempt to match the races of the original setting

As is often the case, seeing it done badly can turn you off the whole concept I enjoy productions setting Shakespeare somewhere else, when done well. One of the early Shakespeare In The Park productions I saw in Buffalo as a kid had them set McBeth in a Latin American country, with McBeth as a General. The play opened with an army jeep pulling up on stage. Two years ago, they did an all female version of the same play. Very good, with my sister's old high school friend getting the best writeup in the paper.

Our top story tonight: Generallissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

I thought that was already announced, along with the return of Rose.

You also can, or at least could, buy stickers to turn an unsolved cube into a solved one.

You're most likely looking at some minor actor, who maybe is known as that guy on that show. The third doctor did funny voices in comedies (and "covered" Danny Kay songs that sounded just like Kay but deprived him of sales), Doctor 4 was a madman in two movies (He played Rasputin, and was in one of the Sinbad movies), 5 was in All Creatures Great and Small.

They won't make him female, but, please, let the show bring in Susan. The Rani would be nice, too...