Culture

And the WGA more or less won. (original) It’s been really interesting to watch; this is the first US strike I’m aware of in which the PR battle was fought on blogs. And when you get right down to it, the writers make a living writing persuasive prose, so it’s not entirely surprising that the PR went well. On the other hand, it’s also the case that this strike didn’t affect the majority of the public in the way that, say, a garbage collection strike does. That helped PR too. ...

I’m thinking about a long essay on Johnny Depp’s trilogy of food movies: Chocolat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and of course Sweeney Todd. No? What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

Stop hurting America! (original) Michael Bay’s production company is working on remakes of: Nightmare on Elm Street Friday the 13th Near Dark The Birds Near Dark was just fine the way it was. Grrr. Who the hell is Samuel Bayer? I suppose I’m upset about Hitchcock remakes too. I’m not really upset about Friday the 13th, though.

For a lot of pretty good reasons, I missed a lot of movies in 2007. But this is why I have a big television in my living room, no? Yes. In no particular order: American GangsterEastern PromisesSon of RambowCharlie Wilson’s WarMichael ClaytonI’m Not ThereThe OrphanageGone Baby GoneDarjeeling LimitedThe King of KongCrows 0 I left off a couple of Phillip Seymour Hoffman flicks. I don’t know. He’s always brilliant, but can you hang a movie around that every time? Oh, hell. ...

Voting seems to have about come to a close, so let’s see what we have. First off, I totaled up our punches throughout the course of the season – five points to the person on top, four to the #2 slot, etc., etc. Mohinder and Matt each got 4.5 points the week they were tied. The sibs each got 2 points once. Our top eight looks like this: West (26) Mohinder (21.5) Bob (16) Maya (14) Elle (11) Matt (10.5) Adam (10) Angela (10) ...

This is the eleventh and most likely the last PITF Index for Season 2 of Heroes, the superhero TV show where punching people in the face didn’t actually happen this episode. Face-punch count: 0. Lotta powers, though. Not your usual PITF Index after the cut.

This is the tenth PITF Index for Season 2 of Heroes, the superhero TV show where punching people in the face will last as long as someone’s writing the screenplay. Face-punch count: 1. It might have been more but you know, it’s not like Monica’s powers could actually help her in a fight or anything. If only she’d seen some old martial arts footage… oh wait. PITF Index after the cut.

This is the ninth PITF Index for Season 2 of Heroes, the superhero TV show where punching people in the face is the raison d’etre, full stop. Face-punch count: 0. Apparently we’ve escalated to more serious forms of facial violence. PITF Index after the cut.

This is the eight PITF Index for Season 2 of Heroes, the superhero TV show where punching people in the face is not always successful. Face-punch count: 1, plus an attempted face-punch. Can’t punch what you literally can’t hit. PITF Index after the cut.

This is the seventh PITF Index for Season 2 of Heroes, the superhero TV show where punching people in the face is what it’s all about. Face-punch count: 2. No quips. Badass episode. PITF Index after the cut.