the machine

DiCaprio has been operating at an incredibly high level since 2002. That's not "taking a few roles." He's been incredible for the past 8 years and has collaborated with Scorsece four times after being personally recommended by Robert DeNiro. Yeah, he's awards-worthy. Hell, he was awards-worthy 16 years ago in Gilbert Grape. That said, if Colin Firth doesn't win best actor this year, somebody counted something wrong.

Excuse me? Boxing Homer might have something to say about that. "Society put away Drederick Tatum for his brutal crime. But he's paid his debt, and now he's going to get revenge... on Homer Simpson." Yeah that one's pretty solid. "That bum has the energy of a hobo!" Besides, everyone knows boxing is fixed: "Man, I thought Ultimate Robot Fighting was real, like pro wrestling. But it turns out it's fixed, like boxing."

Wow, that's sad news. Postlethwaite is coming off such a huge year, too. He had a small role in Inception and another in Clash of the Titans, and a supporting role in The Town. A really underrated actor.

I have to say the only Simpsons + sports episode I really enjoy is the softball game. The football and hockey episodes are decent but unspectacular, and the tennis episode is unbelievably awful. Also as much as I've come around to find Season 2 as underrated, Homer as a mascot is an episode I could never sit through. It's so slow and the jokes are so few and far between.

Nobody's crying they just want you to come down from the mountain and recognize things you like and things you don't read on principle aren't separated by some arbitrary divide except the one in your own head. But hurr-hurr yeah remember when Marvel did that one shitty story? Boy they sure do suck now. Okay, to actually talk about comics, I found the latest New Avengers so incredibly frustrating. On the one hand, I'm a big Immonen fan and loved his art in this issue. And it's not that I'm opposed to a cool-down issue after the last arc for everything to sort of get their bearings together. And there were a couple of really funny lines! But then there was the bad stuff that just isn't fun. Stuff like the exact same unfunny joke being used three times in the same issue: both Luke Cage and Wolverine get awkward moments with unexpected women. Luke Cage is a total moron who doesn't have any money but resents the idea of being paid to be an Avenger. It's almost like being paid for being heroic was his M.O. Also there's a scene where a repair bill is so comically low it might as well be for ONE. THOUSAND. DOLLARS. But beyond that, Bendis doesn't push the story forward in any new ways at all. I mean as annoying as Claremont's tics were, when he'd have a whole issue of the team going to town or playing basketball in the mansion or messing around in the Danger Room, there'd always be interludes where we'd see some shadowy figure wringing their hands to set up the next arc. Here there's none of that: Luke just kind of makes a fool of himself for ten pages and then the team hires a babysitter. And I hate that I can't just enjoy a fun break issue, but I just wish he'd bother to have any attempt to lead-in to some long-term story.

Only if you have some huge attachment to Alec Guinness' performance in the original. It's not their best, but being a Coen Bros. movie, it's incredibly shot and has plenty of funny moments. I love how they managed to find deadpan humor to True Grit. Funniest hanging scene since Blazing Saddles.

Great list. Nice work, EWB! Now for some great episodes that should have replaced the completely mediocre trip episode, or episodes to wax nostalgic about: Lemon of Troy. One of my favorite "kids act like kids" episodes. Favorite quote: "This town is a part of us all! A part of us all! A part of us all!" Flaming Moe's. Probably the first big "Moe" episode, full of clever lines and quality satire. Quote: "Yeah, you can use it!" When Flanders Failed. One of the earliest appearances of "jerk-ass" Homer, I love every early appearance of Ned Flanders, from this one to Dead Putting Society to the one where he tries to baptize Homer's kids. Homer being an incredibly callous jerk was actually funny here. Favorite quote:"No, I don't know what "shaden-frawde" is, please tell me because I'm DYING to know." Lisa the Vegetarian. Lisa gets a little preachy, but it features my favorite Troy McClure video ever. Favorite Quote: "don't let the name fool you jimmy! It's not actually a floor, it's more of a grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported!" Mother Simpson. Lisa's Substitute and a few episodes of Futurama may be sadder, but Mother Simpson just gets to me. It's so sad and so funny. I love Homer's familiarity with and active dislike of "Leaves of Grass." Favorite quote: "Why does my death keep coming back to haunt me?" Also the wrong Halloween special: Treehouse V was the peak, just based on the Shinning parody. "That's odd, usually the blood gets off at the 2nd floor."

I literally have no idea what you are even trying to say. This was started by you coming into the thread, announcing "real" Marvel was dead, and then recommending a middling Image book. Then, in apparent desperation, recommending literally every book your local comic book shop guy has ever recc'ed to you, regardless of genre, quality, or the fact that nobody is saying those stories are bad, just that you are wrong. You're the one saying that Marvel's current production is bad (even though you don't read it), and that even when there are good stories, they are magically made bad because later writers might want to tell new stories that contradict or ignore continuity. And, surprisingly enough, nobody is particularly convinced by that argument. Your opinion isn't supported by reason. Your "points" are vague assertions that are the complete opposite of what was explained to you in specific detail: that Marvel does in fact produce very good books that people enjoy. Therefore said people get a little annoyed when you declare Marvel "dead" out of nowhere because of your own personal bias.

You obviusly have not understood Invincible. There is a difference betwen homage, moking and copying. Besides there is a lot of originalety and most importantly progress. Yes, because I'm trapped in my little monthly comics box and have never even heard of these obscure indy books like "Walking Dead." I mean, seriously? I mean, why on earth would you think I haven't read any of these books, because I don't have your same bizarre dislike of working within established characters? Yes, sometimes mainstream books suck, but to argue that they don't move forward or are somehow different from a book like Walking Dead is silly. And I mean, why even tell me to read "classic" stories when my last post was explaining how a classic story doesn't magically become a bad story because of what happened 5, 10, or 25 years later? Seriously I don't know that I haven't read a single one of your incredibly trite suggestions, but thanks for assuming I must not have read any good comics because I don't have some axe to grind with Marvel/DC comics in general. And no, I haven't "obviusly" misunderstood Invincible. It's a love letter to what came before but with enough self-awareness and grittiness that it doesn't read like a Kurt Busiek title. Seriously, if all Marvel/DC comics are "fan fiction," what do you think something like Astro City is, as a work written by a huge fan of the big two where nearly every character is a pastiche of another character if not "fan fiction"? Seriously, Captain America has been one of the best written, best drawn comics period, and it's been constantly pushing forward into new stories. Young Avengers was a great new book. Avengers: the Initiative was a fun read that used established continuity to push things forward. Even Hickman's FF, which is what was being referenced in the first place, has been a lot of fun. I mean, I don't read what I don't like, but I think it's ridiculous to dismiss everything put out by Marvel or get on a high horse while recommending a mediocre genre book produced by a different company.

Later bad stories don't undermine good stories. That's not how ongoing stories work. They may lose some of their power and become artifacts of their era, but Dark Phoenix Saga doesn't magically become a bad story because years later a young fan named Kurt Busiek thought up a way to bring Jean back. The only thing that holds a story like that back now is the change in styles in the way Claremont goes overboard with his exposition. And it doesn't make much sense to whine about Marvel for not having ideas when everything Invincible does is a reference to ideas developed by Marvel or DC.

I know FF fans have probably already suppressed this, but remember this: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/110818-Millar-FF.html "All I will say is that the Invisible Woman does die in the next issue of the Fantastic Four." But of course, he never specified which Invisible Woman! Turns out it was an alternate Invisible Woman from the future that died. Anyway my money's on Reed.

Incredibly, Kubrick was only nominated 4 times, for Barry Lyndon, Clockwork Orange, 2001, and Dr. Strangelove, and didn't win for any of them. But again, I'm looking for more than 4.

Nope, Lumet was nominated 4 times without winning, but not quite as many as the men I'm looking for. Not surprisingly, all four men had careers that spanned decades.

Keeping up the Oscar snub list, 4 directors share a tie for most Best Director nominations without a single victory. Name one of them. Edit: It's actually 4, not 3. Still, 2 of them are pretty dang obscure.

Pretty sure it's Lawrence of Arabia himself, Peter O'Toole.

Can't really help you on the Batman front as I'm not a big fan and hated Arkham Asylum (the comic, not the amazing game it was turned into), but as far as Daredevil goes there's basically Frank Miller's work on the character and then there's Bendis and Brubaker's run and about 20 years of nothing important in between. Bendis' work is probably what was collected into the omnibus that was rec'ed to you, as it's probably his best mainstream superhero stuff by a wide margin. He and Maleev had an amazing run on that book. Brubaker's stuff was solid but not quite as strong, and has the additional disadvantage that nothing makes sense if you don't go back and read at least some synopsis of Bendis' work. There's also Kevin Smith's "Guardian Devil," which is some of his strongest comic book work, which isn't saying much since the last few projects he's put out have been unbelievably awful. Marvel's current EIC handled the art chores during Kevin Smith's run, so the art was very good. As far as Miller goes, his actual run as an artist begins in Daredevil: Visionaries part 1, which is mostly pretty standard super hero stuff from the late 70's/ early 80's. He takes over the scripting in volume 2, introduces Elektra, and everything starts being really Frank Miller-y from then on. Miller also did a "Year One" type story for DD called "The Man Without Fear" with art from John Romita Jr. Miller also scripted Born Again, the story where the Kingpin discovers Daredevil's identity and promptly ruins DD's life. It also featured art from the same guy that did Batman Year One. Elektra: Assassin technically isn't Daredevil but it's from that same era and has Bill Sienkiewicz's art along with Miller's writing. If you can put up with incredibly campy material, there's also Stan Lee's work on the book in the 60's. It wasn't a huge seller for Marvel but their bullpen was so talented that it still had amazing art for stories about Matt tricking his friends into thinking he was really his cool brother "Mike Murdock" who wasn't blind but just wore sunglasses a lot. But Wally Wood and John Romita are pretty great artists if you can stomach Stan Lee's prose.

She's 26. And she's cute as a button on both her shows.

It's been 12 hours, but I'll guess and ask one anyway. Is it the "John G. Murdered My Wife" one. I know it's backwards and it's shown once in the mirror I think. It's been years since I've watched Memento anyway. Last year, in the musical "Nine", Guido was played by Daniel Day-Lewis. "Nine" was originally a Broadway play. Who played Guido in the original musical? Man this thread is dyin'! And no, the tattoo you're describing is seen several times, I was looking for a tatoo seen only once. In a dream/fantasy sequence, he has a tattoo that reads "I've done it" over his heart, as he is reunited with his wife.

I don't go to the LCS every week either, but I went over the weekend and picked up a decent backlog of stuff.

I don't think you got my point. I agree Pitt's a very talented actor, but my point is about how his celebrity can cause people (not me, mind you) to overlook his legit acting talent. Love him in 'crazy' roles. He's incredible at them. Oh, and two more "Bale phones it in" examples: Terminator and Rescue Dawn. Terminator's understandable in that it's a mediocre action movie directed by McG, so nobody expects real acting, but he was just bad in Rescue Dawn. Completely missed the character, and does his standard American accent for some reason. Really disappointing. Also Steve Zahn did a great job and made him look worse by comparison. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a great movie, but I'm not sure he should be in front of some of those guys, especially Nicholson. I mean, KKBB, Chaplin, and... maybe Iron Man are his best roles? Compare that to Nicholson, who has 12 Oscar nominations, and that's not even counting his performances in Batman and The Shining. He's also been in some of the greatest films ever like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Chinatown. Honestly though RDJ kind of reminds me of a young Nicholson: all he has to do is keep turning in memorable performances for another 20 years or so and they'll be right at the same level. As far as DeNiro goes, I think there was definitely a period where he was working at a higher level than anyone else in the industry, but unfortunately that period ended about 20 years ago. I have a hard time saying he deserves to be #1 over Nicholson because Nicholson was consistently great for a significantly longer period of time.

12 hour rule. In Memento, there's one moment where Leonard has a tattoo not seen at any other point in the film. What does this tattoo read?

I'm sure Norton's a nice guy and it's great that he tries to support things he believes in and etc., but he is extremely bland. On the other hand, he was in Fight Club and there's less reasons to resent him then there are to resent Brad Pitt, so I understand why he's on a list like this despite his lack of talent or any unique characteristics. Are you talking about the same Brad Pitt who appeared in Inglourious Basterds, Burn After Reading, Fight Club, Ocean's Eleven, Snatch, 12 Monkeys, The Assassination Of Jesse James and Benjamin Button? Y'know, the Brad Pitt who's one of the most talented actors of this generation? Anyone who rates Ed Norton above Brad Pitt is a dullard. Forget about ballparks, they're not even in the same sport. Well duh Pitt's more talented, but did you read what I said? He's far easier to resent. He's constantly in the celebrity media, he's extremely good-looking, he stopped boning one famous beautiful woman so he could bone a different, more talented beautiful woman. There's a lot of reasons to dislike the man, and in a "favorite actor" poll, that keeps you out of the conversation.

I'm sure Norton's a nice guy and it's great that he tries to support things he believes in and etc., but he is extremely bland. On the other hand, he was in Fight Club and there's less reasons to resent him then there are to resent Brad Pitt, so I understand why he's on a list like this despite his lack of talent or any unique characteristics.

Went with Toy Story, but Liam, you need to learn you some taste. Brad Bird is an amazing director and The Incredibles is so over and above a generic family movie like Cars. Also I still don't get why people like Up so much. It just doesn't work for me. It's so cloying and manipulative in its first act and so bizarre and kid-friendly in the final act; it's just structured in a weird way and I don't think it's a very good film, even if it has some good gags.

1. "The Count of Monte Cristo," by Alexandre Dumas. I love all of Dumas' work, but Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite and the one I can read over and over. 2. "Foucault's Pendulum," by Umberto Eco. Again, I like all of Eco's work, especially the Name of the Rose, but Foucault's Pendulum was probably his most accessible and rewarding. 3. "1984," George Orwell. 1984 is still the definitive work of sci-fi government control, in some ways a (sadly) visionary work of fiction. 4. "Catch 22," Joseph Heller. Hilarious, sad and true commentary on the military and bureaucracy in general. 5. "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger. The most accurate look into the teenage mind ever. 6. "Dracula," Bram Stoker. Everybody knows the story, but the book is a great read. 7. "Top Ten," by Alan Moore. I love pretty much everything Alan Moore has ever done, but Top Ten is the thing I could read a million times and can safely recommend to absolutely anyone. It's a police drama set in a city where everyone has super powers. It's funny, it's moving, it's got great characters. It's just an incredible story. I know Watchmen and LXG are more acclaimed, but Top 10 is my favorite. 8. "Nextwave, Agents of H.A.T.E.," by Warren Ellis. I also love Warren Ellis, and Nextwave is my favorite book he's done. It's crazy, satirical, funny stuff. 9. "Persepolis," by Marjane Satrapi. This illustrated memoir of an Iranian girl is thoughtful, funny, and moving. 10. "Winnie The Pooh," by A.A. Milne. My favorite book as a child, it's still worth reading. Don't let the never-ending merchandising throw you: it's an amazing book. Honorable Mentions: The Lord of the Rings, A Wrinkle in Time, Candide, the Odyssey, Don Quixote, Ishmael, Alice in Wonderland.