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Music Amanda Dobbins's Five Most Uplifting Pop Music Key Changes

  1. Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know"

    Among her many musical gifts, Whitney Houston was a master of the key change, milking that special moment when the backing track shifts and everything gets real. Her most memorable key change will of course always be "I Will Always Love You," but that goes without saying, so we'd like to honor another of her contributions: the sax solo special from "How Will I Know."

  2. Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror"

    Michael Jackson also knew his way around a key change. The beauty of this one is that it actually happens on the word "chaaaaange."

  3. Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way"

    Nick Carter's greatest vocal accomplishment. (Let's not spend too much time trying to list the others.)

  4. Genesis's "Invisible Touch"

    If you attempt to sing this song at karaoke, make sure you can handle the higher key. Just a tip from a friend.

  5. Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"

    She sang it from the bow of a boat. Come on.

DVDs Miranda Siegel's Noteworthy DVD Releases

  1. World on a Wire

    Rainer Werner Fassbinder's made-for-TV 1973 sci-fi thriller, often cited as a predecessor to The Matrix, is full of stylized suffering—and Michael Ballhaus's deep-focus compositions and fetishistic use of reflective surfaces help it transcend its small-screen origins, especially in Criterion's new hi-def digital restoration.

  2. Puss in Boots

    The good folks at DreamWorks have taken a break from cranking out new Shreks to give some love to the franchise's first spinoff character—a scrappy, swashbuckling, cock-eyebrowed cat—in his very own prequel. Refreshingly free of poop jokes and pop-culture references, and Antonio Banderas has a blast as the titular kitty.

  3. Tower Heist

    David Edelstein was a huge fan of this shameless but exuberantly well-done caper comedy about employees—including Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy—who band together to rob a smug Madoffian billionaire.

  4. Unforgiven 20th Anniversary

    If you've recently seen J. Edgar or Gran Torino, you might need to be reminded why we ever made a fuss over Clint Eastwood. Here's why.

  5. Martha Marcy May Marlene

    Sure, the ending might be maddening, but it's still worth checking out this super-hyped indie thriller about a girl caught between a satanic hippie cult and her wealthy Connecticut family to draw your own conclusions.

Videos Eliot Glazer's Most Viral Videos

  1. Watch a Real-Life Lady and the Tramp

    Now we really want spaghetti and meatballs. And a dog. Two dogs. Those dogs.

  2. Watch Mob Wives' Big Ang Recite Lines From Downton Abbey

    Highbrow meets low-low-lowbrow as one of the Mob Wives (well, the only one we can get behind, to be honest, because she's hilarious) gives "Downtown" [sic] Abbey dialogue her best shot.

  3. Watch Tim and Eric Misbehave on the Local News

    Tim and Eric visited Good Day Austin, and it was chaos. Hilarious chaos.

  4. Watch Paul Rudd Talk Dirty to Malin Akerman

    In the third leaked scene from Wanderlust, Paul Rudd's character struggles with pillow talk, and we'll see you on opening night!

  5. See a Sad French Bulldog Listen to Adele's 'Someone Like You'

    Rocco totally gets it.

TV Phil Rosenthal's Five Favorite TV Character Actors

  1. Art Carney

    Here's a moment: Ralph is worried he has a fever and Norton takes his temperature (orally), but he can't quite see the reading. So he takes out his lighter to see the little numbers. And when it's illuminated by the flame, Norton starts to cry. Ralph is worried: "What's my temperature, Norton? What is it?!" Norton, choking back his emotion, finally sobs, "A hundred and eleven!" 60 Minutes once asked Jackie Gleason what percentage of The Honeymooners success he would attribute to Art Carney. Without hesitation, Gleason said, "90."

  2. Ted Knight

    Every scene of every episode of the perfect Mary Tyler Moore Show that this man entered rapidly ascended to hilarious. He had the ability to seem incidental to the story of a scene, until it was over and you realized he was the reason for the scene. Always, always funny.

  3. Carroll O'Connor ...

    Archie and Edith: the Bigot and the Dingbat. Together here because on All in the Family, they were two perfect halves of a classic comedy team ...

  4. ... and Jean Stapleton

    ... The show endures 40 years later—not so much for its revolutionary political content, but because of the family relationships and the extraordinary talent of these two beautiful actors.

  5. Stephen Colbert

    I know he doesn't seem like an actor, but that's only because he's a genius at it. Night after night, his commitment to and execution of the material, his physicality, his verbal dexterity, is mesmerizing and hysterical. He even fooled the opposition into thinking he was one of them. Watch his performance at George W. Bush's White House Correspondents' Dinner: Not just brilliant, the bravest act of comedy in our lifetime.

TV Josef Adalian's Five TV Insiders to Follow on Twitter

  1. Adam Pally (@adampally)

    The Happy Endings star's feed is sort of like the briefly popular Jack FM radio format, those stations that played a wide and often random mix of music from various decades. One minute, Pally is offering up a left-field take on rock stardom ("Billy Corgan is one reason to think maybe it wasn't so bad we only got to know Kurt as long as we did"); the next, he's soliciting advice from readers about whether to marathon a TV show ("Thinking about starting Justified, but I kind of want to see the quality of person that responds to this tweet telling me it's a good show").

  2. Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER)

    The Cougar Town and Scrubs showrunner was an infrequent Twitter-er when he first joined the service. But his feed has truly become a must in recent weeks, following ABC's decision to postpone the show's expected January return. No, Lawrence is not the type to go biker on his network bosses (like, say, the amazing @Sutterink, who I'm just assuming you already follow). Instead, he's more likely to poke the beast by retweeting a fan angered by his show's forced hiatus ("Tonight, ABC will air #WorkIt, one of the worst reviewed shows in years. Meanwhile, where is #CougarTown on the schedule?!").

  3. Masked Scheduler (@maskedscheduler)

    Most everyone in Hollywood, including his bosses, knows the real identity of this veteran TV executive, currently employed by Fox. But most have agreed to simply not mention his name, in part because it gives the exec the comfort level needed to speak his mind about the TV business (and life in general). Some samples: "Looking at the rating for FEAR FACTOR reminds me that most TV critics sit in a perpetual state of shivah. I say: AMERICA FUCK YEAH!!!!!" And, "One can only imagine what the box office for Breaking Dawn would be if Jack and Jill wasn't still in theaters."

  4. Emily Kapnek (@emilykapnek)

    She's only been on Twitter for a few months, which may explain why the creator of Suburgatory has a criminally small following of barely 1100 fans. What are you missing by not following her? Sharp observations on random stuff ("Lotus Slit would be a good name for a girl band from Silver Lake"); insight from behind the scene ("#SUBURGATORY fun fact: Dallas' dog "Yakult" also guests on #AmericanHorrorStory & #UpAllNight yet remains surprisingly down to earth on set"); and smackdowns of beloved children's characters ("Caillou is such a phony little kiss-ass").

  5. Todd VanDerWerff (@tvoti)

    Since we're assuming you already follow @vulture (and yours truly, @tvmojoe), we feel secure suggesting you check out the fine feed of another small-screen journalist. The AV Club's television editor is a prolific tweet-er, musing often about current TV shows ("Everybody in Work It is trying so gosh-darn hard. It's uncomfortable") and shows no longer on the air ("Say what you will about it, but I still say the BSG finale has the best effects work I've ever seen on television"). Bonus features: Spirited conversations with other TV critics (such as HitFix's Alan Sepinwall) and Honeymooners-esque verbal banter with his wife, and fellow TV fan, Libby Hill (@midwestspitfire)

Movies Kyle Buchanan's Top Five Oscar Contenders You Can Already Watch at Home

  1. Margin Call

    Nominated for Best Original Screenplay, this tight, cool chronicle of economic collapse (as witnessed by a cast of all-stars over the course of 24 hours) loses none of its chilly impact on the small screen. Among the standouts: a swanning Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Penn Badgley's magnificent hair, and a marvelously clenched Demi Moore.

  2. Beginners

    This charming little tale made a pittance at the box office, but let's hope that Christopher Plummer's inevitable win for Best Supporting Actor will ensure that it's discovered plenty in the years to come. Delicate, emotional, and utterly winning.

  3. The Help

    If you've already seen it, give it a rematch just to appreciate everything Viola Davis does with her performance: In a cast of showy actresses making hay with that Southern-fried dialogue, she instead seems to think her dialogue instead of speaking it.

  4. A Better Life

    Don't you want to be the one at your Oscar party who actually knows who Demián Bichir is? Summit blanketed the Academy voters with DVDs of A Better Life early on, and it clearly plays well at home, to judge from Bichir's surprise Best Actor nomination.

  5. Moneyball

    Jean Dujardin appears to be edging out George Clooney in the Best Actor race, but if we had our way, this would be a no-brainer call for Brad Pitt. It's a deceptively easy-looking performance that makes great use of Pitt's commanding star wattage and his underrated ability to listen—really listen—and genuinely respond to his scene partners.

Music Nitsuh Abebe's Five (of Many) Great Soul Train Moments

  1. Stevie Wonder, 1971

    TMZ reported this morning that Don Cornelius, the legendary host and creator of Soul Train, is dead at 75. Feel free to take an hour to re-appreciate some of the beautiful things that happened on the show he built. One of the warmest moments I've ever seen on television comes around the nine-minute mark of this clip, where a young Stevie Wonder improvises a tune about the show, Don Cornelius, and the place "where all the brothers and sisters get together"—it'd make as beautiful a eulogy as anyone could ask for.

  2. Marvin Gaye, 1974

    In the interview that precedes Gaye's rendition of "Let's Get It On"—in his watchman's cap, down on the dance floor, surrounded by people—he does two amazing things. One: He openly teases Cornelius about the fact that Soul Train's performances are mostly mime and lip-synch. Two: When someone asks him about his hobbies, he makes women visibly swoon by more or less answering that his hobby is fucking.

  3. James Brown, 1971

    The Soul Train archives are pretty much an audio-visual Smithsonian of American dance moves. That happens mostly on the dance floor—but hey, try not to fall in love with the dancer who takes the stage during this James Brown performance.

  4. Yellow Magic Orchestra, 1980

    In which the Japanese electronic-music innovators play a cover of Archie Bell & the Drells' soul classic "Tighten Up," Cornelius conducts a rather awkward interview across a slight language barrier, and it's revealed that one thing the whole world has in common is Kraftwerk.

  5. The Soul Train Dance Line, 1971–2006

    And of course the day-brightening Smithsonian of dance and fashion comes alive with the single most wonderful thing about Soul Train—the televised strutting of the dance line. I'll leave it to you to sit rapt in front of YouTube for hours watching them, except to suggest that some truly historic things are happening in this clip for "Mighty Mighty."

TV Margaret Lyons's Favorite Oscar Nominees on TV

  1. Glenn Close, Damages

    Albert Nobbs has seemingly nothing in common with Patty Hewes, but Close gives both characters an inner dismay and almost visible sense of isolation—tragic in Nobbs, terrifying in Hewes. Damages' fifth and final season starts this summer, but in the meantime, the first three seasons are on Instant Netflix, and the fourth season is on DVD.

  2. Melissa McCarthy, Gilmore Girls

    McCarthy's butch gruffness in Bridesmaids has become an instant classic, but she was just as engaging and ebullient on Gilmore Girls, where she played the hyperperky Sookie St. James for seven seasons. (Don't waste your time on Mike & Molly.)

  3. George Clooney, Roseanne

    His character in The Descendants is so rigid and depressed that he can't even run like a normal human being, but back in 1989, Clooney was Mr. Loosey Goosey as Booker on the first season of Roseanne. Less depressing!

  4. Bret McKenzie, Flight of the Conchords

    McKenzie's been writing cute and strange and slightly sad but overall poppy songs since way before Jason Segel & Co. came along. Flight and the Muppets share a similar sense of bafflement—wait, this is how the world works?—if not quite the same level of earnestness.

  5. Aaron Sorkin, Sports Night

    Moneyball isn't really about baseball, per se—it's about passion and intelligence and the mentor/mentee relationship, and also Men Behaving Honorably. Same for Sports Night, which isn't about sports, really, but is an awful lot like Moneyball.

Movies David Edelstein's Films to See Now

  1. Albert Nobbs

    Is Albert Nobbs a "gay" film? I don't think Eros enters into the equation. It's more a matter of Albert finding somewhere safe in a society that treats all poor people badly but poor women worse. As Nobbs, Glenn Close is extraordinary, literally: Close resembles no man I've ever seen, or woman either. She's the personification of fear—the fear of being seen through, seen for what she is.

  2. A Separation

    The first third of A Separation sets up a tragedy; the rest chronicles the attempt at justice via Iran's byzantine legal system, in which various parties make impassioned statements (and scream and plead) before being thrown into the street or into jail. Watching it might well be a different experience for Westerners than for denizens of Iran or similar cultures. We'll register the milieu’s oppressiveness, which they'll take as a given. Perhaps they'll focus instead on the spirit of the female characters, seeing sparks of subversiveness where we see servitude. No matter: We'll all have plenty to talk about afterward.

  3. The Iron Lady

    The Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady is shallow but satisfying, largely because of Meryl Streep and her big fake English teeth and gift for using mimcry as a means of achieving empathy. The director, Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), and writer, Abi Morgan (Shame), clearly admire her feminism but are studiously neutral on the nature of her politics—which is bound to goad those Tory-minded viewers who'd like to see Thatcher's ideas celebrated along with the force of her will. Not bloody likely.

  4. War Horse

    To say it's a "family film"—for kids 13 and up—is no slight. The horror isn't minimized, but Spielberg aims for a limpid, old-fashioned style that puts him firmly in the "square" category beside contemporaries with their jittery cameras and splatter. It's the restraint that makes War Horse remarkable. Spielberg shows you enough to understand that what you're watching—machine guns, mustard gas, bodies stretching into the distance—was unprecedented. And amid the incomprehensible slaughter, it's a horse that reminds these warriors of their humanity.

  5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

    Stephen Daldry's film version of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel homes in on a middle ground between jumpy postmodernism and ­Oscar-bait uplift. He succeeds, although once he strips away the book's postmodern gimmicks and appends an inspirational ending, what's left is a tearjerker that doesn't fully earn the right to use such terrible images. But the question hangs: Does this artificial, three-hankie scenario justify its 9/11 appropriations? Dry your eyes and decide for yourself.

Movies Claude Brodesser-Akner's Favorite Popcorn Movies

  1. The "movie popcorn" scene in Diner

    "It just pushed the flap open?” “It just pushed the flap right open."

    Popcorn as palliative for priapism? No wonder Orville Redenbacher could boast, "Mine is blowing the top right off of the popper."

  2. The "stove-top" popcorn scene in Scream

    "What's the noise?" "Popcorn." "Popcorn?" "Uh-huh." "I only eat popcorn at the movies." "I'm getting ready to watch a video."

    Um, no you're not, Drew: You're getting ready to meet a fate far worse than even that soon-to-be-smoldering pan of Jiffy-Pop.

  3. The "laser attack" scene in Real Genius

    "I think you used too much."

    You think?

  4. The "circus" scene in Big Fish

    "They say when you meet the love of your life, time stops—and that's true."

    So, apparently, does kettle corn, even in mid-flight.

  5. The "witch seduction" scene in Troll 2

    "Actually, I like popcorn." "Well, no problem. All we have to do is heat it up."

    This might be one of the greatest non sequiturs ever filmed, but then again, Troll 2 is a movie about a family who discovers that the entire population of their vacation getaway is made up of goblins, who, disguised as humans, are planning to eat them. As such, having a goblin sorceress perform mock fellatio on an ear of cereal grain is corny, but hardly the strangest bit in the movie.

Music Dan Tepfer's Five Favorite Goldberg Variations

  1. Wanda Landowska, 1933

    It's so ominous. You look at the sound wave of a harpsichord and it's a perfect square—everything has exactly the same dynamics. But Landowska makes really intense use of the pedals and octaves, and then above all she plays with timing. She's able to make the music sound very somber. I don't really share her vision, but it's amazing how good her version is.

  2. Glenn Gould: Live in Salzburg, 1959

    I was kind of flabbergasted that I hadn't come across this until a few years ago. It's not a perfect performance, but in terms of expressivity, joy, and surprise, it's far beyond Gould's other two Goldberg recordings. If I didn't know that Gould was the least improvising person on Earth, I would have assumed that he'd made this all up on the spot—it's so free and has so much gumption.

  3. Robin Sutherland, 1996

    When I was working on the variations and I ran into problems where I felt like I was just playing from notes, not playing it in a personal way, I would listen to Sutherland. He would invariably have figured out some other solution that would inspire me. It's very Romantic and quite idiosyncratic. The tempi are different from Gould practically all of the time.

  4. ParnassiMusici, 2000

    Part of the challenge of playing the Goldbergs is to get each voice to resonate with you. When you hear Parnassi play it, all of a sudden all the internal voices in the piece are blindingly obvious because they're played by different instruments. You can see parts more clearly, it almost takes things back to first principles.

  5. Pierre Hantai, 2003

    In Baroque architecture, you've got the basic structure and then all of this decoration—leaves, the tops of the columns, and all that. It's the same thing in Baroque music. You have a melody, and then you ornament it with little turns and trills. It's an important part of playing this music, and Pierre Hantai’s ornamentation on this album is just unbelievable. It's such an incredibly alive performance—visceral and strong.

Movies Derek Haas's All-Time Greatest Hit-Men

  1. Anton Chigurh, No Country for Old Men

    Javier Bardem made this sinister killer scary as hell, just by flipping a coin. The captive bolt pistol helped, too.

  2. The Jackal, Day of the Jackal

    Edward Fox played him cool and menacing in 1973; Willis did it again in '97. I prefer the original, but it's the Jackal's character that makes him so compelling.

  3. Mr. Wint and Mr. Kid, Diamonds Are Forever

    These creepy Bond villains dispatch diamond smugglers while amusing themselves and finishing each other's sentences. They should have gone less complicated than stuffing Bond in a crematorium furnace.

  4. Kirill, The Bourne Supremacy

    Love the way Karl Urban floats in and out of scenes and shadows in the second Bourne movie. Plus, he killed Marie, forcing Bourne to channel some more inner demons.

  5. Fox, Wanted

    I have to name one of my own movies, right? Angelina Jolie's assassin in Wanted liked to chew on hamburgers and curve bullets. What's not to like?

Books Dan Kois's Five New Books That Surprised Me

  1. Denis Johnson's Train Dreams

    I thought long Denis Johnson (Tree of Smoke) was even better than short Denis Johnson (Jesus' Son), but then this novella about the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the last century is the best thing he's ever written.

  2. Miranda July's It Chooses You

    I thought I'd be annoyed by these whimsical interviews of PennySaver advertisers across Los Angeles, but instead found myself quite fond of these quirky Q&As, which helped to shape July's film The Future.

  3. John Berger's Bento's Sketchbook

    I thought I didn't care about drawing, but this slim volume from masterful critic Berger offers wisdom for anyone who's interested in images: How does the impulse to draw begin? When do a set of lines transform from an accumulation into an image? How do you enter an artwork?

  4. Will Hermes's Love Goes to Buildings on Fire

    I thought there was nothing left to say about the seventies NYC music scene, but Hermes puts it all together—punk, salsa, jazz, hip-hop, disco—into a portrait of a city in ferment, with new bubbles of innovation popping up all over.

  5. Héctor Tobar's The Barbarian Nurseries

    I thought it was impossible to write a good novel about Los Angeles, but I was wrong.

Music Jonny Pierce's Albums on Repeat

  1. The Embassy's Life in the Trenches

    If you have ever loved New Order or the Wake and wished there were bands around today making that same delicate but wiry guitar/synth pop, then meet the Embassy. These guys are sort of the godfathers of the current Swedish indie-pop scene.

  2. Ice Age's New Brigade

    When I met the lead singer of the band, he was not nice, which in hindsight I guess I prefer. Nice can be such a bore. Anyway, this album is usually categorized as "punk," but I can't help but be drawn to the incredible pop moments all over it.

  3. Part Time's What Would You Say

    This album was, in my opinion, completely overshadowed by the hype surrounding John Maus's latest release. It is also, in my opinion, much better than John Maus's latest release. It sounds like a guy in a bedroom recording cool songs to tape with synths and a guitar. Nothing tricky. Just how I like it.

  4. Johann Johannson's IBM 1401 A Users Manual

    This is an album dedicated to and inspired by the first computer ever brought to Iceland, an IBM 1401. There are five movements, and it features a full orchestra that plays along to the instructional maintenance/repair vinyl that came with the computer. The beginning of the future seems to be captured here in the most romantic of ways.

  5. Puro Instinct's Headbangers in Ecstasy

    These girls are from L.A. and have made a really nice album of chorus-y-guitar-dreamy-pop. The song "Lost at Sea" reminds me a lot of Bon Voyage and "Luv Goon" reminds me of Fleetwood Mac. I remember hearing "Luv Goon" quite a while ago, but it must have been a demo version because the new version is a little more glossed up, which I thought was a shame. Still, a big fan.

Comedy Greg Proops’s Top Five Podcasts You Aren't Listening To

  1. The Dork Forest

    Jackie Kashian plumbs the world of Dorkdom: Harry Potter, comic books, U2. She records in her house, sometimes live with stand-up sets.

  2. Comedy Film Nerds

    Comics and filmmakers Chris Mancini and Graham Elwood obsess over new and old movies, and make short films of their own. They are opinionated, informed, and wicked funny.

  3. Sklarbro Country

    Randy and Jason Sklar, twin comics from St. Louis, have a go at sports with time out for quippy potshots at music and pop culture.

  4. Girl on Guy

    Super fox and TV star Aisha Tyler talks with guys about what they like: cars, drinking, video games, and blowing shit up, mostly.

  5. Superego

    Jeremy Carter and Matt Gourley call this podcast "Profiles in Self-Obsession": It's a free-form, frenetic romp with guests ranging from Paul F. Tompkins to Drew Carey.

Books Dan Kois's Five Comic Books Worth Braving the Comic Book Store For

  1. Nate Cosby, Ben McCool, and Breno Tamura's Pigs

    A cadre of Cuban sleeper agents sets off on a mission, twenty years after the end of the Cold War, in this stylish monthly series, currently on issue No. 2. Gotta love a comic with the cliff-hanger, "Where the fuck is the rest of the President?"

  2. Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve No. 12

    New stories from the author of Shortcomings, including a tragicomic saga of horticultural experimentation and the weird life of a woman who looks exactly like porn star Amber Sweet.

  3. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's Spaceman

    Orson was created in a lab for experimental travel to Mars. Now that he's back, he has to make a life for himself. Issue No. 1 of this gritty and surprising new series from the creators of 100 Bullets is out this week.

  4. Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley's The Beauty

    What if a disease that made its victims beautiful swept the Earth? That's the premise of a slick comic that's part procedural, part meditation on what beauty means.

  5. Ethan Rilly's Pope Hats

    The life and times of aspiring law clerk Frances Scarland, who navigates an unwanted promotion, drunken best friends, and a surreal superman of a supervisor. The fascinating second issue is out now.

Movies Patti Greco's Five Films To Get You Ready for Fall

  1. Marie Antoinette

    "People loved to hate Sofia Coppola's follow-up to Lost in Translation, but it's actually not a bad movie" will become your new "counterintuitive thing to say" when its star, Kirsten Dunst, reclaims her leading lady status in Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. (Also, Tom Hardy has a tiny part in it. This and everything else about his career will interest you come Warrior and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.)

  2. Freud: The Secret Passion

    Montgomery Clift stars as the psychoanalyst in this 1962 John Huston film that's the perfect primer (if you have a multi-region DVD player) for November's A Dangerous Method, which follows the intense relationship between Freud (played by Viggo Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). When you find yourself having dreams about Freud, that's just your subconscious telling you to watch it again.

  3. Valhalla Rising

    It's directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, who helms next month's Drive. We think Ryan Gosling, the star of that movie and a mega Refn fan, sells it best: "There was a moment during Valhalla where one character cuts the stomach open of another and pulls out his intestines [laughs], and everybody in the audience was yelling at the screen and hitting each other and turning around. It was fun to be there."

  4. Cracks

    Not a lot of people saw this boarding-school drama directed by Jordan Scott (daughter of Ridley), but they should for Juno Temple's performance alone. The rising star, currently onscreen in Dirty Girl, plays a jealous, vindictive schoolgirl obsessed with her jealous, vindictive teacher (Eva Green, who also gives a twisted-good performance).

  5. The Twilight Saga

    Do you really want to be in the dark when Breaking Dawn: Part 1 hits theaters in November? No! Life is too short to be asking "huh?" every time someone brings up Bella's wedding. Step into the light and sparkle! (You'd get it if you saw the movies. )

Movies Cary Fukunaga's Favorite Film Adaptations (of the Literature He's Read)

  1. Breakfast at Tiffany's

    Obviously it's Truman Capote's male perspective of sexual deprivation. Holly Golightly is very clearly a gay male. But there's something about that female character—as a straight man, there are those women whom you are attracted to who are completely damaged and in a different realm than you're used to.

  2. Brokeback Mountain

    I thought the film was just heartbreaking. It's a shame it didn’t win the Academy Award that year. I'm not talking shit about Paul Haggis [who directed Crash]. But Brokeback Mountain is a masterpiece, and it will stand the test of time.

  3. Apocalypse Now (based on Heart of Darkness)

    Obviously the book's much darker: cannibals, people's heads on sticks everywhere. And having studied the Vietnam War by that point [when I saw it], too, I didn't think it was the most accurate Vietnam story. It's an allegory, and I appreciated it for that.

  4. The Shining

    There's nothing that compares to the artistry of a horror film like The Shining. My cinematographer and I rewatched the film before doing Jane Eyre, because we appreciated the aesthetic of it, and also the tone and pacing and how it reveals information. And the haunting aspects of being in this huge space—the hotel is its own character, which was what we were trying to communicate, in a very subtle way, with Thornfield.

  5. Lord of the Rings

    I read the novels knowing the films were going to be made, and I really loved them and enjoyed the world. What Peter Jackson did, the special-effects ground he broke bringing that world to life, is amazing. For all the hardcore fans out there not to be displeased with the films is a testament to his research and creative prowess.

Comedy Marc Maron's Five Comedians to Watch

  1. Kyle Kinane

    The cranky guy. The cranky guy is one of my favorite comedy archetypes. If it doesn’t come naturally and is forced, it stinks. There is a fine line between being a crank and a complainer. Kyle is a seamless raconteur with a genuine voice of the ageless, cranky poet.

  2. Joe Mande

    The smart guy. Joe is a smart-ass. A really smart smart-ass, which makes him hilarious and cutting. He also knows how to tell and sell a joke or a story. You wouldn't assume he could by looking at him because he looks unassuming. That's his secret weapon. I believe Joe will eventually piss some powerful people off. That makes him a great comic by me.

  3. Pete Holmes

    The desperate guy. Pete is like a needy, laughing dog. He really used to annoy me and he still does a bit, but he is a natural. He gets onstage and puts all of himself out there. The observations are unique, honest, smart, and hilarious. He really wants you to like him, but he is still really, really odd. Good comedy combo.

  4. Amber Preston

    The brassy gal. I like ballsy women who know their way around a stage. Amber Preston kicks ass. She has great jokes and she doesn’t take any shit. She's the kind of comic who could play a one-nighter at a bowling alley or a 1,000-seat theater and just nail it. I think she could beat me up.

  5. Ryan Singer

    The absurd optimist. Ryan Singer is the most intentionally happy person I know. Which either means he is really happy or is about to lose his fucking mind. I like Ryan because he is weird onstage and commits to it. It's not an alienating weird; it's a happy, embracing weird. If people don't embrace it, he just gets weirder. I love that.

Movies Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci's Five Favorite Movies About Cowboys or Aliens

  1. The Searchers

    The foundation for understanding Westerns, and its connection to sci-fi. Case in point: The script's damn-near structural perfection is borrowed with almost scene-by-scene accuracy for Star Wars.

  2. Alien

    Exploring new frontiers, one may sometimes encounter a face-hugger. Rarely, however, does a woman emerge as the hero among a band of roughneck men. Ellen Ripley helped bridge the gender gap in a genre that had once been reserved for boys. She was an inspiration for Ella in Cowboys & Aliens.

  3. Yojimbo

    Toshiro Mifune played a silent, nameless ronin hell-bent on justice, the inspiration for ...

  4. A Fistful of Dollars

    Eastwood's "Man With No Name," which is now a legendary Western archetype. Daniel Craig's character in Cowboys owes everything to both films.

  5. Predator

    A postmodern showdown at the OK Corral, via the Colombian jungle. A testament to the successful blending of both genres and how much sci-fi storytelling owes to the Western. The Predator's gunslinger stance informed our alien design.

Movies Will Gluck's 5 Great Movies That Would Have Been Better If They'd Been Filmed in New York

  1. Star Wars

    How many people go on the 7 train in record heat when the air conditioning is broken and wish that thing would go into hyperdrive before the gentleman next to you starts unzipping his fly? In those surroundings, Luke would have gotten a handle on his Jedi mind tricks a heck of a lot faster.

  2. There Will Be Blood

    Sure, Daniel Day-Lewis has a tough time drilling for oil in California, but how much more interesting would it have been if he had tried to exploit the landowners of the Chrysler Building? He would have been drinking milkshakes through his wired jaw at Mt. Sinai.

  3. Footloose

    Imagine Manhattan instituting a ban against dancing and rock music that only Kevin Bacon can get removed. This movie would have been the biggest piece of science fiction since Knocked Up!

  4. Fired Up

    This was my first movie, and I've done a lot of thinking about this: If only I'd had the 30-year-old high school guys go to a cheerleading camp in Queens. It would have been box-office gold, but these are the lessons you learn as a young filmmaker.

  5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

    Call me crazy, but this movie might have been a lot more interesting if it were actually shot in its namesake location instead of Stage 5 on the Fox lot in Los Angeles.

Books Willa Paskin's Ongoing Literary Series You Can Painfully Await Sequels For Now That A Dance With Dragons Is Here

  1. The Magicians

    The Magicians, the first installment of Lev Grossman's planned trilogy about a newfound wizard's college years, was like Harry Potter with more sex, drugs, and Brooklyn. The sequel, The Magician King, comes out next month and picks up where No. 1 left off, after college, in a magical realm and also Massachusetts. When you've finished both, wait painfully for the next one, which should arrive in approximately two years.

  2. Ibis Trilogy

    Historical novel Sea of Poppies, the first installment of Amitav Ghosh's planned trilogy about the inhabitants of a ship going from India to Mauritius in 1838, focused on how the motley group of passengers got onboard and included politics, romance, and insights into the opium trade. The sequel, River of Smoke, comes out in September and picks up with the cast of characters in a cyclone. When you're finished with both, you can wait painfully for the next one, which should arrive in approximately three years.

  3. The Passage

    The Passage, the first installment of Justin Cronin's planned trilogy about a postapocalyptic future overrun by vampires (but in a very well-written way!), clocked in at a little under 800 pages. When you're finished with it, you can wait painfully for installment No. 2, Twelve, which arrives next year.

  4. A Suitable Person

    A Suitable Boy is Vikram Seth's 1,500-page novel about a huge extended family in India in the early fifties. If you can commit to it (and, if you like comedies of manners, you should), by the time you're done you can wait painfully for A Suitable Girl, Seth's follow-up of sorts set in the present day, which will allegedly be in stores in 2013.

  5. Bas-Lag

    The excellent fantasy novels Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and Iron Council by China Mieville are all set in the same highly complex, steampunkish, magical world of Bas-Lag. Though they are not strictly sequels, they do share a globe and a mood. When you've finished all three—and the short story "Jack," which is set there as well—you can wait painfully for the next one, which may never arrive: Mieville refuses to say when, or if, he'll go back.

Movies Teller's Five Favorite Movies About Magicians

  1. The Great Buck Howard

    The most accurate depiction of what it's like to be in magic anywhere, because it's so…sad! I've been greeted a thousand times by that very woman who greets Buck Howard with a bouquet of flowers or a pitiful basket of fruit. I find that movie just wonderfully touching and astonishing. In fact, I'm so close to it that I can't even tell if it's a good movie, because it rings such powerful chords of sympathy with me.

  2. A-Haunting We Will Go

    As a kid, one of the movies that actually made me fall in love with stage magic was this Laurel and Hardy movie. They encounter the actual real stage magician Dante, and there's a whole bunch of comedic slapstick mix-ups involving Dante and all of his equipment. There actually is magic in the film; it might be slightly cheated here and there.

  3. The Man From Beyond

    Houdini was a movie star—not a hugely successful movie star because he wasn’t a very good actor, but he made a whole series of silent films in which you get to see a little bit of Houdini's astonishing physicality. In The Man From Beyond, he doesn't really do magic; he plays someone who's been frozen in ice since prehistoric times who meets his soul mate once again in the modern world. It's absolutely sheer melodramatic crap, but it's Houdini, for crying out loud! You're actually seeing Houdini on the screen!

  4. Nightmare Alley

    Tyrone Power starts off as a sideshow magician, then he starts doing a mind-reading act, and he's gradually tempted into the role of being an evildoer, a crook, somebody who says he's going to bring back your dead wife so you can make love to her in the dark. It's just a hideously black downward noir-upon-noir spiral as he goes down and down and down. The book is even better; it's just beautifully written, and it also draws the parallel between psychiatry and fortune-telling and spirit medium stuff.

  5. The Lady Vanishes

    In Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, this mysterious woman suddenly disappears on a train, and other people who are on the train include a magician and his troupe. There's a scene in a luggage car in which our heroes are searching for the lady, and they get all caught up in his magic equipment and doves fly out. I think it's one of the most perfect movies ever made. And the fact that the evilest bad guy takes as his cover that he's a magician—that makes me laugh.

Gadgets Nathan Fillion's Favorite Father's Day Gizmos

  1. Amazon

    I can't get over the convenience of Amazon. Think of something you need, click, done. Amazon Prime allows for free two-day shipping on a lot of products, and $4 if you want it overnight. Saves you time, and it's like Christmas opening all those packages…or like the mailman is in love with you. Either, or.

  2. BlueAnt Supertooth 3 Speakerphone

    It's imperative. This one holds a charge for ages, is packed with features, and because it's incredibly simple to use, you can get one for your techno-lame dad or grandpa without the guilt. The sound is clear, and it has noise-reduction tech, so for Pete's sake, don't yell into it.

  3. The Jawbone Jambox Bluetooth Speaker

    It's a single piece, rechargeable, and it carries impressive sound. Combined with the Pico Projector, you'll always have a mini-theater with you.

  4. Microvision Laser Pico Projector

    A mini-projector that connects to your iPhone, iPad, camera, or computer certainly isn't a necessity. But let me just say this: Pocket-size, rechargeable, LASERprojector. 'Nuff said.

  5. LED flashlights

    If you love a bright light, or live somewhere dark and woodsy like me, you'll love it. I have a Panther ball cap with LEDs in it that makes hands-free lighting a breeze for any project. Also, if you are looking for security while walking your dog, flash a Cree three-watt LED in an attacker's eyes, then crack him on the forehead with the beveled edge.

Movies Malcolm McDowell's Favorite Movie Villains

  1. James Cagney in White Heat

    I loved his enjoyment of life, his energy, his pistol-quick delivery. You know, many great actors worked with him and were on the screen with him, but you only watch Jimmy Cagney, or at least I did.

  2. Christopher Walken in True Romance

    Understated and deadly. Deadly! Chris Walken is one of our national treasures. He's one of my favorite actors—he's off the wall. I love whatever he does.

  3. Alan Arkin in Wait Until Dark

    He makes the whole film work by being creepy. He's not in the film that much, but my God, when he's on ...

  4. Kathy Bates in Misery

    You really believe her physicality. You don't want to mess with her, and that's pretty difficult given she's up against James Caan, who is a very powerful actor.

  5. Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

    I love the look at the end, don't you? It's just so crazed. Bette Davis was a force of nature. I knew her. Sadly it was only after her stroke, so I never really saw her in her prime, but she was obviously quite a ballsy lady. I wouldn't want to come up against her in a dark alley.

TV Sam Beam's Top 5 Doctor Who Episodes From the Tom Baker Era

  1. "The Ark in Space"

    Giant space insects attack a space station and threaten the future of mankind. Doctor Who saves mankind. Highlights include giant space grub POV and the bubble-wrap alien costume with green spray paint.

  2. "The Pyramids of Mars"

    Sutekh, the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness, turns out to be real and threatens the future of mankind. Doctor Who saves mankind. Highlights include robot mummies and Bernard Archard's face.

  3. "The Robots of Death"

    Slave robots begin killing the crew of a remote mining ship and threaten the future of mankind. Doctor Who saves mankind. Highlights include spooky murderous robot POV and the chipmunk voice that saves the day.

  4. "The Talons of Weng-Chiang"

    Jack the Ripper turns out to be an intergalactic fugitive war criminal and threatens the future of mankind. Doctor Who saves mankind. Highlights include giant sewer rat costume and murderous puppet that isn't really a puppet but an alien with the surgically implanted brain of a pig.

  5. "The City of Death"

    An ancient alien's mechanical problems turn out to be the initial spark that started all life on planet Earth. Said alien then collects art, makes a fortune, builds a time machine, and threatens the future of mankind. Doctor Who saves mankind. Highlights include Paris, Douglas Adams's brain, Julian Glover's ascot tie, and a cameo by John Cleese.

Music Esperanza Spalding's Music That Blew My Mind

  1. Wayne Shorter's Atlantis

    Each song on this album is teeming with so much life. One absolutely must listen over and over and over to taste all the inner story lines. Every time, I hear a new line, a new melody, a new character.

  2. Milton Nascimento's Minas

    I like all the experimentation on this record—with song forms, with arrangements, with sounds. Milton seems to be channeling a lot of Beatles, and he takes the African musical influences from bluesy sixties rock and Brazilian folk music and has them form a perfect symbiosis. When I’m reaching for something a little out of bounds in my own writing, when I’m in a period of unease, this record inspires me.

  3. Betty Carter's The Modern Sound of Betty Carter

    Ms. Carter adds more pages to the singers' bible. These are amazingly original interpretations of the American Songbook. And while the arrangements themselves might not sound revolutionary to the modern ear, Ms. Carter's way of singing is free of its time.

  4. Juan Falú and Liliana Herrero's Leguizamón - Castilla

    Cuchi Leguizamón is my king of melody, and Liliana Herrero channels the storytelling power of the sage. She and Falú radiate tremendous beauty and sincerity. I feel this record in my bones and blood even stronger than I enjoy it for its aesthetic beauty.

  5. Jack DeJohnette's Music for the Fifth World

    Put this record in your stereo, turn the speakers to full volume, look at the cover, and press play. I don't know what "the Fifth World" is, but this music is definitely divined from another planet. It sounds like the superhuman characters from dream thoughts realized through music.

Movies Paul Feig's Five Most Impeccably Dressed Men in Movie History

  1. Marcello Mastroianni in 8 ½

    He dresses the way every director in this world should dress, as far as I'm concerned. The guy wears a perfectly tailored Brioni black suit with a thin black tie, dark-framed glasses, and a hat that Claudia Cardinale bizarrely says makes him look like an "old man." If that's the case, he's the coolest old man ever.

  2. Colin Firth in A Single Man

    Okay, so he kind of dresses like Marcello. Give me a break; it's a style I like. Colin was at his Mastroianni best in Tom Ford's 2009 masterpiece. But then again, if you can't look good with Tom Ford designing your clothes, then you'd might as well go live in a nudist colony.

  3. Cary Grant in His Girl Friday

    Let's face it: Cary Grant was impeccably dressed in every movie he ever made. But his thick double-breasted suit in this film made it look like the guy could be shot with a machine gun and the bullets would bounce right off. Sort of like a really stylish British Superman.

  4. John Lurie in Stranger Than Paradise

    John Lurie looked awesome in this movie, no matter what he did. It seemed like he bought all his clothes in a thrift shop, threw them in a pile on the floor, had sex on top of the pile, and then threw some of them on without looking in a mirror. I'd do the same thing but I'm far too anal to throw my clothes on the ground.

  5. Michael Caine in The Italian Job

    The man rocked the greatest collection of sixties suits in this film, as well as fantastic ties, ascots, and cravats. And a turtleneck so high that his head looked like a golf ball sitting on a tee. If I were president, my first act would be passing a law requiring all men to dress like Michael in this and Get Carter. So clearly I'd make a terrible president.

Comedy Brad Bird's Five Favorite Comic Strips

  1. Will Eisner's The Spirit

    One of the things I always admired about Eisner was that his comic strips were more like movies, in terms of the extreme angles and the way he let the panels be something you could really disappear into.

  2. Charles Schultz's Peanuts

    I liked Peanuts ... until Snoopy stopped walking on all fours.

  3. Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes

    I feel like Bill Watterson straddled the incredible simplicity of Charles Schultz, who never wasted a line, with the pure draftsmanship of somebody like Will Eisner. He could really crank it up and lay out these shots—for want of a better word—that were real storytelling shots.

  4. Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury

    The writing in Doonesbury is great. I feel like the art has always lagged way behind, but I always liked the writing.

  5. Winsor McCay's Little Nemo

    I remember being stunned at McCay's sheer draftsmanship and his ability to express these really abstract ideas in a very elegant way. The language in the strips is kind of arcane and feels old, but the visual imagination in them never fails to drop my jaw.

Movies Bill Plympton's Top Animated Features

  1. Mind Game

    To my mind, this is the Citizen Kane of animation. The director, Masaki Yuaasa, uses strange views and exaggerated visions to convey an action. Sometimes, as in the escape from the whale's mouth, he goes on and on with a single scene. But it's never boring. Yuaasa ratchets up the intensity with each shot. This film is genius.

  2. How to Train Your Dragon

    What a marvel of a film! The character design is fantastic; the story is charming and engaging. The flying sequences in full 3-D match and perhaps surpass the flying sequence from Avatar. That's a pretty high bar.

  3. Porco Rosso

    The best of the Japanese master [Hayao Miyazaki]'s films. It has terrific visuals, lush backgrounds, and fabulous action scenes. There’s a wonderful bawdy sense of humor, too—something that’s been lacking in his more recent efforts.

  4. Yellow Submarine

    I saw Yellow Submarine as a senior in college and it blew my mind! The designs are by Heinz Edelmann. His background was in illustration, but the numerous fantastic characters populating this film are so inventive and beautifully designed, you'd think he grew up in animation. It's the greatest union of music and visuals I've ever seen.

  5. Song of the South

    This film is very hard to see, because Disney won't release it for fear of offending African-Americans. It's too bad, because the animation (supervised by the great Milt Kahl) is to my estimation the highest point of Disney films. The characters of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear were influenced by the seminal work of A. B. Frost, but Disney artists really let loose with their character development.

Comedy Colin Quinn's Stand-Up Comics on Broadway

  1. Chris Rock in Motherf**ker With the Hat

    Being an actor, for comedians, is tough. On the one hand, you have Chris Rock being Chris Rock, but here he's really in the character. It's like one of those shows, at intermission, you don't dread to go back in. It's going to get rave reviews.

  2. John Leguizamo in Ghetto Klown

    You're watching him and you're watching someone do something they're meant to do. If you said, "Listen, we need you to do two more hours," he'd be like, "Alright," and take off. He's just got that thing; you can't stop watching him. He was a class clown.

  3. Kathy Griffin in Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony

    She just stands there and it feels like she's moving all over the place. I never even noticed that about her. She doesn't move. She just stands there in front of the mike. She talks and does her fucking Whitney impression. Have you ever seen her do Whitney Houston? She's so funny. We're lucky she's meant to do what she does. It really is amazing.

  4. Jim Gaffigan in That Championship Season

    Who the hell knew this bastard was such a good actor? He's in the middle of this play with all these serious stars. He's great. It's tough when you have to do the same shit every night and not rely on the laugh. To comedians, that laugh is reassuring. It makes me feel comfortable, like now I can relax. He's just got to be the character.

  5. Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger at the Bagdhad Zoo

    I hate to use the word "raw" because it's overused, but it's the only way to describe it. It was about Iraq and the feeling when things like that happen, that there is no God, or where is God? It's stark, you know. It was really poetic, but it was also him being naked in some way I've never seen him before. Figuratively.

Books Meg Wolitzer's Literary Moments in Failed Sex

  1. Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra: A Life

    King Ptolemy XII leaves the throne to his daughter, the great Cleopatra VII, and his eldest son, Ptolemy XIII. They are meant to have sex, for the sake of the dynasty. However, at the time of their marriage, she is 18; he is 10. Cleopatra to her brother: "I didn't know puberty was so important."

  2. Neil Jordan's "The Crying Game" screenplay

    Talk about your Irish Troubles: Jordan's 1992 gender-shocker leaves Stephen Rea—and the minority of the audience that didn't know the secret—saying to the slinky Jaye Davidson, "I didn't know you had a penis."

  3. Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach

    This compact, riveting novel of a terrible wedding night and its aftermath could have been renamed "The Honeymoon Killers," after Edward finds his beloved bride, Florence, can't bear to sleep with him. Edward to Florence: "I didn't know you were sexually incompetent."

  4. Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre

    First she had to survive the hideous Lowood School; then she was this close to finding love with the mutton-chopped Mr. Rochester, except for one impediment. Jane to Rochester: "I didn't know you had a wife."

  5. Hermione Lee's Virginia Woolf

    She was the brilliant, beautiful, unstable genius; he was the long-suffering husband. Together they were intellectually incandescent, but somehow he couldn't light her fire. Virginia to Leonard: "I didn't know we couldn't just talk."

Movies James Wan's Favorite Movie Twists

  1. The Usual Suspects

    For all its trickery, The Usual Suspects pulls the rug out from under you with something that's so simple. You totally don't see it coming, but you sort of kick yourself afterwards. This was a big inspiration for Leigh [Whannell] and myself when we were trying to come up with the end of Saw; we wanted that kind of simplicity.

  2. Greedy

    This one's a great comedy starring Michael J. Fox. It's about a rich, old, eccentric guy who's dying. He gathers his whole family, who can't wait for him to die, and reveals that he's flat broke. The whole movie is about him finding out who really loves him. And of course, it's Michael J. Fox.

  3. Angel Heart

    The film starts off as this gumshoe detective story, and as it progresses it gains this supernatural undertone. Then finally, at the end, it's not an undertone you're sensing anymore—you're like, Whoa, this is totally supernatural! I love how it just becomes this other thing as it goes along.

  4. Lost Highway

    David Lynch is one of my absolute favorite directors. How many filmmakers can go, "Okay, you're going to follow this character, and then halfway through the movie, I'm going to switch actors. This character is gonna go to prison, have a mental breakdown, and when he comes out, he's gonna literally be a different person." I loved that.

  5. The Others

    It wrenches suspense out of every little moment, every little scene. And the twist at the end is just amazing—it makes it even more heartbreaking. It's just a beautiful haunted-house movie. This was definitely a big inspiration for me while making Insidious.

Guest Sarah Vowell's Favorite Things in History

  1. The Book of Mormon

    I predict this will go down in history as the greatest religious-themed musical of all time. No offense, Fiddler.

  2. Amy Ryan in The Office and Win Win

    The only thing she cannot do is be like anyone else.

  3. The New Hawaii Five-0

    It portrays the sociopolitical makeup of life in a multiethnic archipelago with humor and actual emotion. Also, cool fight scenes.

  4. "Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis"

    Not since Ted Koppel retired have interviews been this hard-hitting.

  5. Yogurt

    I was going to rave about the chicken at Little Owl on Bedford Street, but then I read about that Japanese grandmother who survived on yogurt for nine days while she was trapped in earthquake rubble. As someone with a wheat allergy who is constantly trapped in airports where yogurt is at times the only edible, non-Cinnabon foodstuff, I'm never going to take for granted live active cultures again.

Movies Charles Ferguson's Five Movies to Take Your Mind Off the World's Problems

  1. Withnail and I

    Brilliant, quirky, very British, utterly sweet, very funny. Two struggling actors, one of them really trying hard and the other not so much, confront rich relatives, poachers, rain, poverty, dirty dishes, the police, and the world's most convincing pot dealer. "Please help us. We've gone on holiday by mistake."

  2. The Bourne Films

    Yes, occasionally a good character dies and there is some existential angst, but mostly there is smart, tough, fast, cool fun, with justice done by a guy whom you really don't want to find on the opposing side. No sex, a little bit of love, very clever, even some wit. "Why don't you go upstairs and book a conference room. Maybe you can talk him to death."

  3. Repo Man

    Space aliens, punk rock, evangelical Christians, and highly philosophical car repossessions, fueled by food that comes in jars labeled "food." Not quite Hunter S. Thompson, but close.

  4. Bullitt

    Oh, that sixties San Francisco cool, Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset, that evil evil Robert Vaughn, the jazz, and, of course, the coolest car chase absolutely ever.

  5. The Avengers

    Not a movie, I admit, but so what. Patrick Macnee must have suffered greatly, for when compared to Diana Rigg's Emma Peel, he was pale indeed, but someone had to do it. Those cars, those clothes, those sets, the dry British wit.