Wow, this is the first time I've read a review of a book in Salon the day after I've finished reading it. (I picked up the paperback in a Japanese hotel's lobby shop to read on the way home.)

The book only really goes wrong in its explanation of its one true mystery. But you've got to hand it to a write who makes a supermodel her single most truly sympathetic character.

lesls1, I think most people might want to have discovered that bit of the plot on their own.

Didn't congress legislate the inclusion of the V-Chip in every television sold in the United States? Doesn't the V-Chip allow parents to block shows they don't want their children to see? Doesn't this settle the issue? What is the FCC's position on the V-Chip now? Whenever some group complains about the offensive content on TV can't we just respond with "V-Chip" and move on?

Let me echo Blacknell's comment about leg room for tall passengers in coach. For people over 6' tall (I am 6'6") the concern is not about claustorphobia or feeling like a sardine. It's the difference between basic comfort and six to 12 hours of physical torture. The next time you're sitting in an airline seat, look at the metal supports for the tray table in the seat in front of you. Now imagine having those pressed into your knees for the duration of the flight. Your only hope of relief is sitting bolt upright and trying to squeeze your knees together for a few minutes. God forbid you should try and use the aisle for a little extra leg room (those attendants with the carts are merciless).

To those people of short stature who are giddy with delight when they've scored a seat in an exit row ... well, you'll recognize me by the scowl on my face as I pass you on my way to my own little torture device.

Rebecca wrote "diffusing the issue" when I believe she meant "defusing the issue".

I'd agree with most everything in the review here. But I take exception to the comment that "the illusions performed here" are "largely authentic to the period". There are no stage illusions performed in the film at all. They are all CGI shots. Even the locket is a cheat. Notice that the film always cuts away when the locket is manipulated. It can't possibly work as presented and would, at a minimum, rip the picture inside in half.

The miniature orange tree that grows from a seed to produce full sized fruit? The trained butterflies carrying a handkerchief? The ghostly, transparent people walking from the stage and into the audience? Painfully and clearly CGI effects. Lovely, but not true stage illusions.

Edward Norton may have trained to do some sleight of hand, but I can't even recall seeing him perform any in the film. And one doesn't need much training to stand next to a large stage illusion as it takes place.

This might not detract from most people's enjoyment of the film, but I'm a big fan of good sleight of hand and complex stage illusions. I would much rather have seen the filmmakers actually reproduce some turn of the century stage illusions for the camera rather than resort to the impossible CGI creations.

Ah, Mr. Burger left himself a big gaping hole with that "...or however". They used a lot of however.

Was the phrase "duel anniversaries" meant as a pun or did the author mean to write "dual anniversaries"? Are the anniversaries duking it out or are there merely two of them???

First link in the "Second Wave" playlist is not "Calm", it is "Parade of the Punk Rock T-Shirts".

Whu? I can't find any confirmation that that statement is true. What a very, very cruel joke to play on us Scrubophiles.

Did the owner acquire one cat that matched his wood floors and one that matched his tile floors, or did he have the floors installed to match the cats?

I think Mr. O'Hehir's comment that included Mr. Gilliam's age was less about age itself than it was about stagnation: "We get it. You're also 65 years old, and it's getting tired".

Also, according to the IMDB, Johnnie To's "Election" was made in 2005, not 1995. (There's also a missing close-quote on "Election" in the article, but I can't mention that because it doesn't conform to my "Numbers that end in 5" theme.)

Huh. I followed the link to the photo of the "pint-sized Sex in The City foursome happily toting shopping bags larger than their own torsos" and was bemused to note that of the three "American Girl Place" locations, only the photo accompanying the Los Angeles store shows girls who are not all lily-white with nary a shopping bag in sight. I'm not sure that that's an accurate reflection of the cultural differences between the West Coast and Chicago/New York but it was a little bit heartening to see.

I'm sure this wasn't intentional, but the reel-to-reel tape deck in Joshua Röpke's submission immediately made me think of the logo used in Saturday Night Live's animated "Fun With Real Audio" segments: http://snl.jt.org/toon.php?i=211

Swinging is premiering tonight on the Sundance Channel, not on ABC.