Sandman

I would guess that the choice of the character's name (by Mutant Enemy, I mean) was not a deliberate invocation of its original meaning; but I am sure that Roald Dahl's use of it was. If I were a betting man, I'd say that Charlie and Chocolate Factory was the first instance of "Veruca" used as a proper name -- although I haven't checked -- but most of Dahl's North American readers probably didn't realize that he was giving the character a name as awful as she deserved.

Maybe the price of restorative toxic goo fluctuates a lot with market availability?

If I wanted Jude Law to be crushed, does that count? The man is neither sexy nor good-looking. Ick.

I don't know how much is Molly's unresolved feelings about the first baby she lost, and how much is a genuine connection to the idea that this hybrid is at least half-human, but it seems clear that the alien is manipulating all the humans it comes in contact with. Evil Doctor Agent Ron Butterfield appears to be completely around the bend. The hybrid appears to have nothing we would recognize as a conscience given how it's toying with people's emotions. I had the impression that Yasumoto convinced "John Woods" to let him bring Ethan and Miss Gummer, rather than collecting them without his permission, but I agree he should booked out of there long before that little chat with Molly. (Were they both in different wings of Revenge Sensei's ginormous House of Obsessive and Creepifyin'?) I think Owain Yeoman's character has advanced degrees in drinking the scary Kool-AId and whackjobbery. How did O-Ring Odin manage to completely overwrite Ethan's behaviour in a ten-minute conversation? That's some lighter!

There are a number on this list that I have greater or lesser affection for, but I certainly agree that her professional relationship with Tim Burton (I can't speak of their personal ties) appears to have hobbled Helena Bonham Carter shockingly. I like almost every performance she has given which is unconnected with him. All of the performances she has given where he has been involved are, in fact, the same performance, and Bellatrix Lestrange is a varation on it. Away from Burton, she, like Johnny Depp (or at least like Johnny Depp used to be) can be a nuanced and intelligent actor. No one will ever convince me that The Black Swan is anything other than lazy, clichéd, self-indulgent crapola. The amount of unthinking praise lavished on it appalls me to this day. I do not, however, blame Natalie Portman for this.

Oh, god, Season 9.

"... and other times it doesn't ring true (a tenured professor as well known as Walsh isn't going to bother humiliating a freshman in the very first lecture)." Boy, howdy! That just rang all sorts of false for me. We are supposed to dislike Professor Walsh, fine; but it felt like one of those times the writers gave the audience no credit at all. Talk about inexplicable. I feel you on the clumsiness of the Veruca character, in both design and execution, and on how Hannigan and Green handle the breakup scene -- really wrenching work from both of them. Sombrero Giles is making me grin from ear to ear. (Spike not so much. Ech.)

Johnny Depp needs to get away from Tim Burton.

Maybe they don't have barrettes in the FUUUUTUUUUUURE.

How does an illiterate sorehead like Nina Garcia have paid employment?

Wouldn't it be awful if the alien fractal Olympic ring whosis was the outer space equivalent of "Can you hear me now?" Do aliens have corporate logos? Does Yasumoto want a piece of that brand action?

The use of paper seems less anachronistic to me than the flashy high-tech garbage zapper, honestly. Paper has been a part of human culture(s) for thousands of years. I think certain low-tech things will survive long after their "more advanced" technological replacements have come and gone. Was Ethan always supposed to have extremely advanced problem-solving skills? The game he and Lucy play didn't seem that much like a decryption matrix in three dimensions, but maybe there's some transferable skill there. I agree that scene made Ethan seemed a little too Data ex machina. (Also, why has it occurred to no one ever that Ethan has been experiencing partial memories of just before he was tased? Has "John Woods" never even heard of Occam's Razor?) The first thing I thought of when Evil Chandler Bing applied the little head paddles was the zone-out tech the EMTs used to sedate Molly. But he's probably dead, after all. But we still might see Kryger again. I'm not finding the acting terrible; Berry's the weakest of the bunch, but everyone else seems to be doing their best with writing that's not the strongest in terms of motivations or, you know, logic, and the pace of the show has definitely improved. I agree that "John Woods" is the most inconsistently written character. Sometimes the plot requires him to be a Dad, and sometimes a mad scientist. The writers need to pick one. Hee. "It's my haircut, isn't it? People think I'm evil because of my hair!" "Yes, Gordon; you have untrustworthy hair." I'm not seeing Miss Gummer as leading a cyborg rebellion, or anything, but I like what you did with Odin here. I really like Charlie the Lab Guy, too. Which means he's probably doomed. Enver Gjokaj, too, I bet. (Poor Astronaut Victor!) You have more self-restraint than I. I went there with the first episode!

The aliens seem to communicate through one's personal dead. Sarah from Antartica was Olympic Ringhead guy's ghost, but I don't think she's the same (Earth) person as Also Space-Pregnant Katie Sparks. I don't trust Odin the O-Ring Guy (not the same O-Ring, obvs.). I think his super-limb meet-cute with Miss Gummer was arranged to get him close to Ethan. Don't ask me by whom. I've completely lost track of who wants what and why on this show. Also, it looks like Evil Chandler Bing ("Gordon"? Pff. Like I'm gonna start calling him that now) may have a few misgivings about being all evil on the job, if he's going to the drug salon on what would seem to be company time -- but hey, it's all done up in white, not beige!

I'll second that motion happily.

Cam Gigandet would belong on this list, except I don't even want to count him as an actor. Talk about a smug face! If you pushed all the smarmy and entitled in the world together into a little pile, he's what that would look like. Pillock!

Wait wait wait -- that's who his ex-wife is?! He's even dumber than I thought. "ALL YOUR CHRIS ARE BELONG TO US!"

I really have to see the Waterston/Widdoes Much Ado. I've seen clips, but never the whole thing yet. I've never heard a bad word about it. I lovelovelove the Branagh version, and I was prepared not to like Amy Acker, but she won me over. I hated the Betelgeused Dogberry that Michael Keaton turned in. I agree with Rinaldo that Branagh appears to have simply given up on getting anything more coherent out of Keaton; even the Keanu-ity of Don John wasn't as off-putting to me. [ducks] Whedon's version of Much Ado has a wonderful sparkle, and I think the screwball comedy overlay works really well. (Is it just me, or does the plot actually make a lot more sense if we allow as how most of the characters are just really, really drunk the whole time?) Aren't there indications in the text that Hamlet is actually in his late twenties (or even early thirties?), rather than being a teenager? (Branagh's still too old, but not by as much as all that, I think.) It's a very long time since I read the play, so I might be misremembermagining (or making stuff up, who can tell?)

A New Hope ... for space movies? It occurred to me after I saw it last night that it's kind of like Star Wars told from Han Solo's point of view. Some space treasure hunters have friends who are walking carpets, others have a dancing tree.

Wow. That is some crappy television.

I see what you did there. Heh.

Hee. And if she did, why wasn't she allowed to use her hands? I am going to assume that Sophia's in character, and Gloria was just on the business end of a makeover by Lily. Possibly in crayon. (What's with the panicky headline from HuffPo? I'd hardly call Vergara "unrecognizable" in the linked article. I mean, it's not like they found Don Rickles under there.)

I wondered, too, whether it wouldn't be simpler and more efficient to give Julie waterproof robo-legs. But I then decided I'd rather just wear the cool hover-chair around. If I can't have a flying car, I'd at least want a hoverboard. But at least there are self-driving cars. That's more like it! I liked the pace of the episode better, and I agree that it's nice to see Molly the Pretend Astronaut at least starting to think critically. And, yeah -- "John Woods" didn't really respond to Miss Gummer's reasonable objections very responsibly; is "You're not the boss of me" really the best he can do? I also thought Doctor Sam tried to tell "John Woods" as much as she could, given that her house probably is bugged, after all.

So Cheese Puffs Girl totally has a record, right? Or a grow op. Nick was completely adorable being flustered out of his mind around her. And Dov's apparently pregnant. I can honestly say I never expected the show to go there. (Marlo, I mean.) And Bailey Boom just wants to be the Bomb Squad version of Bruno Bettelheim? I too expected him to go splat before the end of the episode. Really, Rookie Blue? Andy's so special she can not only survive a close quarters bomb blast completely unscathed, but she doesn't even need to be checked by the EMTs? REALLY? I'd be more involved in Frosty's dilemma if I thought there was a chance of either the adoption or Holly's move to San Francisco actually happening. I think these out-of-the-blue life decisions are a cheap move anyway, but the showrunners seem to love them. And, oh, yeah -- I completely hate Duncan's Evil Stepdad already. The casting doesn't help -- or does, I guess; I find Richard Chevolleau kind of annoying to start with. Yeah, the Commissioner's got himself a sideline in razor blade sales. Because that's the kind of thing that would ... happen?

That's definitely how I saw it. A good part of the impact of that scene was that Lucy realized it was a final goodbye. I'm not sure that more dialogue would have illuminated Lucy's thought process better, because -- well, because Besson. He's kind of a form-over-function guy, I'd say. But I don't buy the reviews that criticize Johansson for giving an uninvolved or uninvolving performance. One online review I saw even said the filmmaker lost touch with Lucy's humanity! (Miss the point, much?)

If Ramsay's father was abusive, I understand him even less than I thought I did; he's already spoken publicly about being so shabbily treated by the infamously vile-tempered Marco Pierre White (under whom Ramsay worked as a young line cook) that he broke down and begged to be fired. What a hypocrite!