They tend to follow trends every year.  This year definitely has more geo-political intrigue type films.

in a room its called room tone, outside, its called wildtrack.  This ends my nitpicking.

If we schedule it, one of us could tackle a book each and get really deep into it.

Hmm.  Where to begin.  Firstly I, nor my esteemed colleague Dorkman, has a problem with a scene that is slow paced.  I LOVE the Milk Farmer's scene, and it stands my favorite in the movie.  But there is something to be said for both pacing and resource allocation.  QT's main problem is that he is the biggest fan of his own material.  That's not a slam against him, nor an accusation of egoism, he just loves his reference points so much and has an unbridled enthusiasm for what he does.  The trade off is that many of his scenes are self indulgent, even if it's something that makes the scene work.  The slow burn of tension works perfect with the Milk Farmer, but goes a few beats too long in the German bar.  He could maintain what works in that scene with just a tad bit of self restraint (which, sadly, now that Sally Menke is gone, I honestly don't know if he's going to have any). 

Also, I think its a false choice that movie has to be Inglourious Basterds or Transformers 2.  Believe it or not, there is plenty of real estate between those two landmarks, and there are several ways to navigate scenes in IB so that they don't resemble spazzy robots.

As for your assertion that films are either Art or Not Art, I call shenanigans.  Alien is art.  Aliens is Art.  Citizen Kane is art.  Birdemic is art.  Godfather is art.  The Room is art.  It may be bad art, but that is completely subjective.  Think of the worst film you know and I guarantee there is someone so far up that movie's ass they can extrapolate all sorts meaning and symbolism from it.  It may seem silly to you or I, but the only difference in what makes a movie artful or not is personal preference and supposition.  I have seen so called art films and I have seen pure popcorn entertainment, and while my opinions vary, you can't strip the title of art away from one and not the other.  I have, sadly, watched the entire Cremaster Cycle and I have, thankfully, watched all of the Jean Claude movies where there are multiple Jean Claude's (Double Impact, Timecop, Replicant) and damned if I can't tell a bit of difference.

In regards to the Scorcese quote, the reason that time somehow reveals genius, isn't because audiences somehow become smarter, it's because society changes, and the things we as a society seek changes.  Take American Beauty (please!),  In 1999 all sorts of critics slobbered over the cinematic knob of that fucking thing (myself included, in all of my college smugness) and hailed Alan Ball as the next Yates.  Well, a 9/11, two wars, an economic collapse and 4 Twilight Books later, our society has changed significantly.  So much so that I doubt a movie about fussy suburban malaise could even get made now.  As such...how many times do you pop in American Beauty just to watch it?  IB may indeed get more love from folks as years go on.  But if it does, it won't be because people will suddenly, "get it."  It will be because as our generation ages and the next generation matures, that society may find something relevant or reflective in what is going on in the world.

Again, I like the movie, and you certainly are entitled to think its unmitigated genius.  But it's not injustice that not everyone else sees it that way.

Lethal Weapon 2 is actually my favorite.  1 is certainly an underrated classic.

Mike references the "My First Movie," book, which I own, and heartily recommend.

Good commentary guys.  Really liked this one.

Oh, look.  Someone named "AstroninjaStudios" (no relation myself of course...there's a space between the two words on MY name) has posted a video of the Sundance screening where Duane refers to Jessica as the Co-Director several times.

1) The one take handheld steadi-cam shot that goes into the pool and out in "I Am Cuba"
2) The Trombone shot used on Roy Schneider's face in "Jaws"
3) The computer controlled Dolly/Timelapse of Ellen Burstyn cleaning in "Requiem for a Dream"
4) The Interrotron rig low angle that gets the both Bob McNamara's and Errol Morris' face in "The Fog of War"
5) The first bullet time rig in "Matrix"

The top five Documentaries that don't feel like documentaries.

This is feature directing.  You dont cut demo's and do interviews.  If she claims she's a director, and they go to IMDB and see no Director credit, it kills her credibility.  Likewise if she DOESN'T list it, she loses out on her first Director credit, which is always the hardest to get with real films.