Wiendish Fitch

So many loathsome characters on Boardwalk Empire, but the Commodore and Nucky Thompson top my list. The Commodore for being a pedophile and all-around monster, and Nucky for being a murderous, conniving, backstabbing, hypocritical, morally bankrupt piece of crap who enabled the Commodore in his disgusting appetites. I don't care how much Nucky loved his wife, I don't care how much he helps Margaret and her kids, when you hand over an innocent 12-year-old girl to a pervert, irrevocably warping her psyche and destroying her life, you are no longer a "complex character", you are just filth.

I love Wait Until Dark, because I think it's Audrey Hepburn's finest performance, and she doesn't have to rely on Givenchy to make her look fabulous…er. Heck, she even looks close to dowdy at times (though Hepburn could never look bad). Still, I admit I really have to ignore my aversion to Idiot Plot contrivances, because, hoo boy, is Wait Until Dark guilty of them. Namely, that Suzy's problems could have been avoided if she had just locked the damned door and called the police!

Superman: proving there's no shame in being a mama's boy since 1938! My "Hell yeah!" moments: Beauty and the Beast: Belle giving the Gaston the humiliating rejection he so richly deserves. Oh, and standing up to the Beast ("Well, you should learn to control your temper!"). And let's not forget rushing off to save the Beast during the climax and breaking down the palace door on horseback. I went through a phase where I wanted Beauty and the Beast's alternate title to be Hell Yeah!: The Movie. Mulan: the fan fake-out. Too badass for words. LotR: The Return of the King: "I am no man!!" Eowyn is awesome, and I won't tolerate anyone saying otherwise. The Wizard of Oz: It's a minor one, but when the Wizard tries to screw over Dorothy and her friends by making them come back the next day, they're understandably pissed and stand up to him (even the Cowardly Lion!). "Small and meek" Dorothy stands her ground by saying something I wish more movie characters would say: "If you were really great and powerful, you'd keep your promises!" This scene, by the way, is just one of many reasons why Oz: The Great and Powerful was a stupid idea for a movie… I can't figure out why we would be expected to root for a miserable charlatan who has no compunction of sending an innocent kid and her pals to their possible doom. High Noon: Then there's the ending.

Don't get me started on Colleen McCullough's obit, it pissed me off to no end. Had she been a man, I doubt her looks would have been mentioned.

Classic film actor I don't get the appeal of is Joel McCrea. I've seen almost a dozen of his films, and I think he's dull as a stone, but critics seem to adore him. What am I missing?

I couldn't care less how tall they make Jean (I'm no purist when it comes to comic book adaptations), I just hope she isn't the crushingly uninteresting drip she's portrayed as in both the films and the old animated series. Plus, Sophie Turner is a wicked good young actress, so I approve wholeheartedly. I had wished Lupita N'yongo could have been cast as Storm, but if this is set in their early days, then I guess, at 31-32, she's too old. Pity. No more Wolverine? Do I dare hope?!!

It's actually Betty Noyes singing for Debbie Reynolds, not Jean Hagen.

Ah, yes, I Am Sam, the movie that taught us that to raise a kid, "all you need is love". Even if you're developmentally unable to navigate the adult world on your own, don't listen to those mean ol' social worker poopheads, good intentions are all you need to rear a human being into maturity! There have been cases of mentally challenged people who are somehow able to parent children. It's not easy, and they need a lot of help, but they do it, but not in the way it's depicted in I Am Sam. As someone who has known and worked with adults with mental disabilities, Penn's portrayal of a mentally handicapped man absolutely disgusted me. He reduced these people, who deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect granted anyone else, into a pitiable and cartoonish caricature. I Am Sam is an insult to people with mental retardation, an insult to parenting, an insult to everyone's intelligence. I hate Sean Penn, can you tell?

Never mind, ispansy beat me to it.

Kelly's great (though I'm an Astaire girl through and through), but I agree, he very often comes off as douche-y in his films, most notably in An American in Paris (dude, Lise told you to leave her alone, don't harass her at her job!) and For Me and My Gal (but he does learn his lesson at the end). He's at his most likable in Singin' in the Rain, and his tendency toward jerkiness is put to good use in Inherent the Wind.

Darn it, Shannon L., you beat me to the punch! The Lego Movie was…. okay at best, and I don't think it was "snubbed" in any way. I thought it was occasionally amusing but nothing special, and I was bothered by its feeble attempt at a moral (is everyone special or not? Make up your damn minds!), and I didn't like the archaic, sexist undertones of the ending Really, all The Lego Movie did was remind me how much I adore The Incredibles.

Actually, it is! I Married a Witch was released on Criterion DVD (and I think blu-ray) a year or two ago! The restoration looks glorious. I think it's unfair Veronica Lake doesn't get her due as an actress. Her acting style was startlingly modern, and she had that wonderful, husky voice and such a strong presence… hard to believe she was only 21 when she made I Married a Witch!

Where the heck is David Oyelowo's Best Actor nomination? I'm going to be fuming about this all day...

The Thor movies are fun and all (Chris Hemsworth is always a treat, as is Tom Hiddleston), but I agree on Thor and Jane. I'm biased, though, because of my deep-seated loathing of Natalie Portman. I wish they could have someone tougher and more womanly as Jane. In other words, I wish they'd cast Jaimie Alexander or Kat Dennings (but they're stuck as Sif and Darcy respectively, so there you are). I mean, Thor is a god, he's not going to fall in love with just anyone!

I'm not sure if it was molestation in the strictest sense (she was just a little kid, after all), but I'm just baffled as to why she'd want to share that information with the world. I did a ton of embarrassing, shameful things as a kid, and I hope to take those events to my grave. And holy shit, those are some damn permissive parents Dunham has! I kind of enjoyed Girls in the beginning, but now I've grown weary with it. I just can't keep watching these whiny losers keep making the same mistakes over and over. Plus, I preferred merely speculating that Jessa was a sociopath (at least, that's how she came off to me the last time I watched the show).

I'm finally going to quit being a wuss and admit a UO that will surely get me flayed alive by my fellow Classic Hollywood fans. I'm sorry, but I can't keep this to myself any longer. [Deep breath] I think Ronald Colman was handsomer and sexier than Cary Grant! I can't help it! That voice, those eyes, that easy charm, it's all too much! I was rooting for Colman over Grant in The Talk of the Town (God, I hate that movie), and there are only a few Grant films I could love as much as Random Harvest! Let the derision and scorn commence, I'm ready for it.

I enthusiastically agree with you, harrie. Everyone else can keep their horrid, pitiful "bad boys". I prefer gentlemen, thank you very much (I'm pleased to say Mr. Fitch is one).

Me too. Yeah, I'm being a broken record (or a scratched CD, or jumbled Mp3 file, whichever you prefer), but I don't care. McAvoy is a thousand flavors of cute and awesome! And is it me, or he getting better with age? I hate that I won't be able to see him tackle Peter O'Toole's role in the stage production of The Ruling Class!

After seeing him escort Betty White to the stage, I think I might have a crush on Chris Evans now. Captain America, indeed. :)

I actually like the song "Disco Duck". Yes, I know it makes a lot of "Worst Songs Ever" lists, but I thought it was deliberately bad? Isn't that the joke? I dunno, I still think it's goofy good fun.

Actresses playing parts they're way too young for is nothing new. A great example is Joan Leslie, who played love interests to Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra), Gary Cooper (Sergeant York) and James Cagney (Yankee Doodle Dandy) when she was 16-17 years old. That's right, she was a minor not even eligible to vote, but somehow they saw her as an adult love interest (at least in Sergeant York, she's playing real-life Gracie Williams, who was a teenager when she married Alvin York). Loretta Young played a reporter in Platinum Blonde despite being only 18 years old, and Marian Marsh was still just 17 when she made Svengali. It could be chalked up to many things: ageism, young women being more mature back then, casting directors really believing in them, who knows? It's hard for me to begrudge Jennifer Lawrence too much, since she at least is adept at conveying an old soul (which makes me wish she'd been cast in The Age of Adaline instead Blake Lively). Still, a part of me wishes that all the talented, non-twentysomething actresses could have their moment to shine. I agree on actors' behavior. Remember when Melissa Leo dropped the F-bomb in her acceptance speech? Yeah, it was a faux pas, but I don't think there would have been nearly as big an uproar if a man had done it.

I've flip-flopped about this, and have decided I still like Tenth (because I love David Tennant and Tenth had the best companions), but I can never forgive him for what he did to Harriet Jones. That was just wrong.

Amen, galax-arena.

Let's hope they have enough stunt doubles. You know, even Roger Moore had the decency to be embarrassed about playing Bond after age 50 and eventually walk away from it (at 57, but still).

I love Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" from Twilight: Breaking Dawn. Don't like, love. Whew! I feel a pound lighter!