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A few more... I'd agree with pretty much evertyhing that's been posted but would add (apologies to those who have in the list I didn'y check) anything by Elmore Leonard, especially considering the Carl Hiasen threads, as his novels skip along at a ridiculously fast pace and convey a huge amount...

Congrats Well, it's been ages since I posted on this site so it seems appropriate to make this the first: Congratulations! I'm 33, so it's been five years (my maths is not the best) since I hit big three-oh, but I seem to recall it was not that big a deal at the time. It's only now that I...

Casting reaons... Let's not forget that (for whatever reasons) Anne Rice approved the casting of Tom Cruise after seeing the final cut. Regardless of everyone's own opinion, she officially felt that he embodied Lestat (in feeling if not in form) to make the film work. Also, let's not forget...

Cool throwback A goth fan lives! And I thought my days of shuffling around the Student Union dancefloor to belters like Temple of Love were half-remembered dreams. Goth works well if if it's got a touch of humour or mystery about it - the Sisters were a prime example: no-one ever really knew...

Just finished the James Robinson Starman series from DC. Had been collecting since the beginning, but went abroad for several years and had to catch up - didn't want to finish it all until I could read it as a job lot. Fabulous. Tobytook

Buddy depth Well, the first Lethal Weapon did at least have some emotional depth to it, and a reasonable amount of character development - witness Rigg's transformation from gun-chewing suicide-freak to wannabe family man (again). Tobytook

Rock and roll ain't noise pollution Important not to let this thread lax, I think. I'm listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers' new set, By The Way here and there, but more crucially Bruce Springsteen's The River - why is this known as his "dark" album? - and The Afghan Whigs' brilliant Black...

Expanding the requirements If we take the idea of "recovery" to cover people as well, I would say you couldn't get much better than The Silver Chair by CS Lewis, the sixth book in The Narnia Chronicles. Lewis got much more heavily involved with characterisation as the chronicles progressed, and...

Trying to cut periodicals completely, and I'm down to: Stray Bullets, Hellboy, Strangehaven (published about once a year now!), and Raven (UK small press comic). Currently re-reading the Ennis/McCrea run of The Demon (back issues from 1993/4), plus Hellboy: Weird Tales #1 (2003) and the...

Kid stuff? I assume you mean you're glad you watched it first because it really isn't a film suitable for kids? I saw it before I read the book, many years ago - when I was far too young, to be honest. Unsettled the Hell out of me, although I did enjoy it very much and have seen it several...

Faulkner Unappreciation Society Not the most popular writer on the Forum, is he? Well, I'd have to agree with the majority on this one, as he is a bit impenetrable (and, frankly, boring). But I do think the majority of his works belong in the specified "sub-genre" - for the same reason Toni...

Have yet to see this one, though I understand Jon Favreau and Colin Farrell make it better than it might have been. And making The Kingpin a man of colour was a nice departure. There was a good point raised in The Guardian about DD's costume making him look a mite too much like a gimp -...

Magical realism This sounds like you're referring to Magical Realism, which is a dashed hard sub-genre to write in, I think, much less to do so convincingly. I suppose a lot of Faulkner's work would fall into this group, though the term would only be applied now. One of the best modern...

Mmm, yes, must agree. (Hello everyone, by the way.) Unlike Hornby's other books, his characters in this one just don't feel real. About A Boy (named, incidentally, after Nirvana's About A Girl) was a good example of this, as was High Fidelity - a corker of a book, and not a bad film despite its...

There is a tendency among American rock bands - especially recently - to milk the Cow Of Emotion, so that the taste is wholly insincere (hello Nickelback) but there are still a good amount of genuinely romantic and/or emotionally-sincere songwriters banging out stuff. Notable from the UK would...

Too trekkie? Hey Dawn Thanks for the welcome back. You are well-advised to leave off the latest (and final?) ST:TNG offering from the cinema. It is pretty good, no arguments there, and the final scene is extremely Star Trek II - although the director (a first-timer for Star Trek) had...

No super heroes? Agree with Morry that this is top-heavy with super-hero faves. No bad thing, I suppose, when you consider some of the heavy-weight stories that have come from the Batman and Superman mythos. But there are some other - arguably better - nominations: Usagi Yojimbo (Stan...

Follow the munchkin! Although that is a profoundly dodgy title, like something more suited to Julie Garland's finest hour, The Rainbow Children is more evidence of Prince's seemingly boundless creativity. He's recorded his best stuff, certainly, and he'll never reach the heights he achieved...

Where was Mini-Me? Not a bad film at all, but - apart from First Contact - all the Next Gen films feel more like extended TV episodes than real film films. And more to the point, what were they thinking with the villain this time?? I mean, no quibbles - the actor is obviously quite capable...

Cat among the pigeons Hey Booker, An interesting list. But is it really yours? It reads more like a safe list of books that are academically thought of as classic. Which brings the whole thing back round to the definition of the term, I suppose. By the way, the gigantically over-rated...