And that's why I'm ok with Spider Man 2.  Toby and Kirsten aren't my first choices for the characters, by any stretch.  As written, there aren't great explanations for his choices, but at the end of the day, they perform well enough to where I believe his longing for her and her complete exasperation/infatuation with him.  The details don't always add up, and as such this film will never be in heavy rotation for me, but I liked in the theaters, and I liked it in a subsequent viewing. 

Same with Inception.  There was probably easier ways for Leo to see his kids, but I totally bought his desperation to see them.  So when the opportunity came for an elaborate plot to see them again, I was along for the ride.  It's not a perfect movie for it, but I had fun.

They are not because while Lord of the Rings takes place that never existed (Middle Earth), in a time that never existed (?), and with species that never existed (Orcs, Hobbits, Viggo), Spider Man 2 takes place here and now, with fantastical elements (super powers, wonky science) added to familiar settings (New York) and species (humans).

Yeah, his whole stunt at Sundance was a kernel of a good idea wrapped in a huge ball of douchebag.  I respect him literally going all in with the rest of his career, but to invite acquisition folks he's known for 15 years under false pretenses, then insult them publicly to their face, and then rant incoherently about your half brained scheme...wow.  Whatta guy.

I love Rear Window.  The wife and I just watched it again the other night and damned if it doesn't still hold up. 

But considering Vertigo has ten minutes of no dialogue and you dont even notice, I would make an argument that that is fairly strong visual storytelling as well.

Recommendations for Film School month (way more than possible):

Rashomon
Citizen Kane
Lola Rennt
North by Northwest
Paths of Glory
Das Boot
Soy Cuba
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Wild Bunch
Touch of Evil
Midnight Cowboy
Once Upon a Time in America (Director's Cut)
Europa Europa
Throne of Blood
Vertigo
Butch & Sundance
THX 1138
Godfather

/wrist

Dude, you have no idea.  We had a discussion where we have to aggressively hunt sleep down.  He's asleep for 15 minutes?  go!

I didn't like the theatrical cut of Kingdom of Heaven and wasn't impressed.  THen I saw the directors cut and was gobsmacked at how much ass it kicked.  'm not talking about extended scenes, I'm talking entire characters, subplots, motivations, etc that were hacked out of there.  For instance, did you know in the director's cut, that Emma Green's character had a son?  And that he actually becomes king once Edward Norton dies?  Or that the dude that Orlando kills in the beginnig was his brother?  Yeah, that's the extent of the hackery.  The studio essentially forced Ripley to cut two different versions of his film at the same time, and while Ridley made his case for his cut, the studio wanted more action and cut down everything else.

It's a superb film on its own, and its a shame what happened to it.

I think that's the firs time that's come up.

I've become increasingly less interested in these.  I thought the TPM review was a fun little thing, but these belabor many of the same points he made then.  While I agreed largely with his point of Lucas getting lazy and just live switching between two cameras filming a couch conversation, I felt the rest of it was a bit thin.

I dunno, I'd almost rather listen to an hour long review of why the prequels are better than the original trilogy, and I'll tell you why.  I agree that the Prequels were bloated, unnecessary, and flawed from conception.  While RLM articulates these points well, I'm not sure why I want to listen to a dude make a point that essentially boils down to a "duh."

I'd rather have an intelligent person make an insane point (The prequels are better than the godfather trilogy) with a level of articulation that make me reconsider than someone parrot what every SW fanboy has been saying for the last 11 years.

Fair enough.  I am a tad reflexive about it because it gets a lot of hate.  But I would argue that I don't feel the pace is slow as it is deliberate.