Ironik

What a terrible insult to golden retrievers.

You were five? I had just graduated from high school, let's see... 13 years earlier.

Some days I can't believe 1990 was 21 years ago. Seems like just yesterday we considered that "way in the future."

That's an entirely different thing, though. Watch some old Westerns (and even some modern-day epics from overseas) and you'll see the most horrific things imaginable done to animals, but especially horses. They used to tie a wire to a horse's front leg and then let them gallop along. When they got to the end of the wire, the horse would be tripped, throwing the rider. This was supposed to emulate the animal being shot, but it's incredibly cruel. Quite often they'd break their legs or necks, and the wrangler would just cut their throats and they'd cart them off once they'd bled to death. For a freaking movie. They still do this in movies in India, China and Europe. It started here because a Henry Fonda film featured a horse who was forced over a cliff to his death. Talk about senseless, man.

No dog or cat or bunny has ever screwed me over the way people have. Some people actually go out of their way to ruin your day. I have no problem going to guns on those folks. But a dog that wants to play fetch or a cat that wants to sit on your lap? Why is it cool or funny to mutilate and murder them?

I consider it such. It's a question of innocence for me. For the most part dogs are trusting creatures and I've seen so much abuse in my 30 years of animal rescue that it makes me sick to even think about it. I have the same issues with violence against women as it's portrayed in films and the endangerment of children just for cheap thrills. Victimizing those who are weaker shows a character's... well, character, or lack thereof, but it's gotten to the point where it becomes gratuitous. In Jurassic Park II Spielberg had a humorous bit where the Lab is barking at the noise until he sees it's a T. rex, then hides in his dog house. That was quite funny. But in the next shot, you see that the dinosaur has eaten the dog. That was just pointless and ruined the moment.

Right up there with Schwarzenegger as Conan and Shelley Duvall Olive Oyl, Dinklage was born to play Tyrion.

Killing a dog is almost always a guaranteed no-no for me. That usually results in a *click* of the remote. Sometimes, though, it can be made to work. I can't recall in the books if that action ever came back to haunt anyone; it seemed mostly to make her feel sad.

It's funny how a lot of people talk about the Joker not being a planner, based solely on that scene with Dent. It's already established that he's an inveterate liar and it's *shown* that he makes incredibly intricate plans. He's lying to Dent to further his plan. Heh.

Somewhat back on topic, the Joker is almost exactly one year younger than Batman. (Kind of hard to tell with publication dates.)

Have you seen the musical? It's Legally Blonde turned to 11. Clever wordplay set to catchy music and the goofy plot actually works better in the musical format. Unfortunately it's not available anywhere which is a shame, because I'd buy it today. Well, not available legally. there are other... methods of procurement.

Funnily enough, they could turn the musical back into a film and keep a lot of the same cast. Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Matthew Davis and Victor Garber can all sing.

Tremors is a great movie. One of my all-time favorite science fiction films, yes, but also one of my all-time favorite flicks. It is a perfect homage to those B-picture monster movies of yesteryear where the small town gets cut off from the outside world... except it's really, really good. Plus funny as hell.

But WarGames, Flash Gordon and Repo Man? If your family would judge you harshly for watching those, then you need a new family.

"Not everyone will get it, but the *right* people will." -- Joel Hodgson

I'm not sure you guys are grasping the nature of "guilty pleasure." It implies something that has little redeeming artistic virtue. Being a fan of, say, Three's Company or Married With Children or any one of the Shoutwives of Fill-In-The-Location. Preferring Mad Dog 20/20 over a quality pinot grigio.

WarGames was a huge hit and is a well-respected film even outside science fiction fandom. I mean, the movie's such an excellent example of character plus plot that it's taught in film schools nowadays, fer cryin' out loud. Troll 2, widely considered by many (me included) to be a contender for Worst Movie Ever Made, now *that* would be a true guilty pleasure, as it has zero redeeming qualities on any level.

Those are all very different roles, though. Throw in Two Hands, Roar and Monster's Ball and you can see what he can do. Pretty impressive for a guy in his early 20s. (Ledger was 28 when he died.) Plus his ability with accents was amazing. Ned Kelly, wow.

I don't follow what you mean by that. Ledger had more than proved his acting chops and tremendous range before Nolan cast him. I can't think of any unconventional casting choices Nolan has made. He simply hires good actors, all of whom already have a decent track record.

Burton casting Michael Keaton as Batman was something of an unconventional choice.

When Disney chose Fred MacMurray for their comedies, that was a *really* unconventional choice. Talk about casting against type! Today the equivalent would be casting Anthony Hopkins in those roles. Can you see Hannibal Lecter as the professor who invents flubber?

Wow, fastest list fail ever. Listing Conan the Barbarian as a crap film/guilty pleasure is wrong on every level.

The second one, sure, but Conan the Barbarian is pure distilled awesome.

Surely you're not claiming Nolan imbued Ledger with his acting skill.

I agree with Aunt Bea... st. 1997 was the year of awesome.

Skynet wakes up, the Robinsons get lost and Snake rescues the prez.

Ooh, this is cool. Makes me want to try and duplicate it.