I'm pretty sure the Ned Flanders character on The Simpsons is based on him, with some added humanizing touches.

OMG, I'd never thought of that, but it's SO true. Heh.

That article was head-spinny.

pop culture's odd determination to erase gender differences

Ha! Christina Aguilera's buttcheeks beg to differ.

Also this summer, Red Eye featured fragile, innocent Rachel McAdams (best known from The Notebook) inexplicably besting highly trained terrorist hit-man Cillian Murphy in deadly hand-to-hand combat.

To be fair, she did have the element of surprise, and weapons (um, unconventional ones), while he did not. Also, Cillilan Murphy is the size of my toothbrush. I think I could pick him up one-handed.

Also also, that was the whole point of the movie. The character was a professional doormat (a hotel manager), so it was all about her grasping power in an overt way, and telling somebody "no".

(For all it was a silly thriller, it was a neatly laid-out thriller, with a nice little arc and everything. At the end, the audience was cheering her.)

The public doesn't yearn for stylish chicks to replicate the sweaty brutality of male action stars, but prefers watching characters who display the distinctively feminine strengths associated with the natural superiority of women.

Don't you love how he tries to make it a compliment, at the end? Don't fight back against a beatdown, honey; use your wiles and shit. What, wiles don't work against a beatdown? Not my problem.

Typical of Medved, I'm afraid, and a terrible bit of rhetoric. If he handed that in as a freshman comp paper, I'd give him a D.

Anyone else wishing for Medved vs. ita, dark alley, barehanded? Just me?(It would be a really easy fight for ita, but the part where she suckerpunches him and says "Wile this, motherfucker," would be my favorite clip of anything ever.) Cool. And I thought I couldn't hate him more. I don't remember exactly which now, but he has dumped on a number of my favorite films, probably for feminism. And he can't be a Homicide fan.(Not with Kay acting "like a man.") Somebody needs to kick his ass. I did recall thinking in WLG...that it looked like it might be too easy for Angela-as-Tina to, you know, "take" Ike, but he was controlling her psychologically too, so for me, that didn't last long...it was a great performance.

It would be a really easy fight for ita, but the part where she suckerpunches him and says "Wile this, motherfucker," would be my favorite clip of anything ever.

They should film this and show it every Xmas.

Wrod. Why I Think People Stopped Going to The Movies, by Erika
1. People were not rolling in money last year.
2.Cable is SO much better now.(among those that have it)
3. Netflix.(movies when you want. Yay!)
4. They keep trying to make the same movies twelve times and act like we don't notice. Wow, Tom Hanks is heartwarming and befuddled again...didn't see that coming.
5. Embarrassing television remakes.
6. The prices are still really high but the films aren't worth the commitment.
7. People act like the theater is their living room.
Anything else?

Big-budget special-effects movies have played out. You can't make "Independence Day" anymore, you actually have to pay attention to story and character.

Good answer. I actually think this is an exciting development...a hack producer who just paid Bruce Willis beaucoup to make "Things Go Boom" probably wouldn't agree though.

I'd posit a big artistic reason (aside from practical stuf about prices, cable, the environment) as the conundrum of niche markets. If you want to make $200 million per movie, you have to appeal to a really big niche. Unfortunately, the teen-blow-em-up niche is too fast-moving and too jaded to buy tickets to the same movie ten times -- that mine is exhausted right now.

You could make smaller movies, and thus make a profit sooner, but (A) the machine's not really set up that way right now and (B) your marketing department still has to spend zillions of dollars to get butts in theatres.

The next big thing right now seems to be Chick Lit movies, and all of them seem to be starring Reese Witherspoon or Kate Hudson.

Has anyone seen that Witherspoon Heaven movie? My friend saw it, because she's trying to make a movie where one of the characters is dead, and wants to see how other movies handle it.

She told me how it ended (Reese isn't even DEAD. She's in a coma. Happily ever after) (she hated it) -- I'm wondering how others might be feeling about it.

4. They keep trying to make the same movies twelve times and act like we don't notice. Wow, Tom Hanks is heartwarming and befuddled again...didn't see that coming.

5. Embarrassing television remakes.

6. The prices are still really high but the films aren't worth the commitment.

These three are all of a piece, and the execs just don't get it. We want good writing, interesting characters, and to be entertained, damnit! Even plain old popcorn films that just bring on the pretty/action/funny have to provide something different, otherwise it's just a big yawner. What made the Hitchhiker's Guide adaptation more entertaining than Fantastic Four was the good acting by the guy who played Arthur and the fun quirkiness of the Guide itself. FF had none of that, and was boring as a result.

7. People act like the theater is their living room.

This is a pain in the ass, and some of my friends and family are just as guilty as others, especially the ones that like to chat during the film (drives me nuts!)