Avq&A

AVQ&A Crushes on fictional characters

With Valentine’s Day looming, we look at the book, film, TV, and comics characters we’d like to blushingly send red roses and chocolates.

February 10, 2012 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Profoundest piece of comedy

The best stand-up comedy is funny and insightful at the same time. What comedy bits have most stuck with you as meaningful about life?

February 3, 2012 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A One magic pop-culture wish

A genie offers you one wish, limited to the realm of pop culture. What would you change, add, or eliminate to improve the world?

January 27, 2012 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Music as a weapon

Whether you’re trying to blast a dictator out of hiding or exacerbate a feud with your neighbors, what music would you use to punish your enemies?

January 20, 2012 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Best show, best episode

We’ve discussed the worst episodes of our favorite shows. But what about the best episodes, the ones that exemplify everything that makes our favorites great?

January 13, 2012 | 12:01am -
AVQ&A Best non-2011 pop culture we discovered in 2011

Sure, the year we just left behind always gets a lot of attention in entertainment circles. But what about all the great stuff from every year before that?

January 6, 2012 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Pop-culture resolutions for 2012

Our annual call for resolutions about the pop-culture decisions we want to make—or stop making—in the year ahead.

December 30, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Best music discovered in 2011

As the year ends, we discuss our favorite art of 2011. Here’s what a year of music brought us.

December 23, 2011 | 12:02am -
AVQ&A Best Christmas music

We’re following up our “worst Christmas music” staff and reader question with a chance to praise the songs that get it right.

December 16, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Best stories behind the art

Sometimes the story of how a pop-cultural item came to be is as good—or better—as the item itself. This week, a reader asks for our favorite pop-culture-creation backstories.

December 9, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Worst Christmas music

Christmas, Christmas time is neeeaaar / Time for toys and time for those same annoying carols over and over and over again.

December 2, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Best scenes in worst movies

Is it possible that every movie, no matter how bad, has at least one quality scene that makes it worthwhile? Our weekly staff and reader question comes up with some examples.

November 23, 2011 | 12:01am -
AVQ&A Fun for the whole family

The holidays often come with forced family togetherness time. What pop culture do you reach for when you want something fun (and safe) for people of all ages?

November 18, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A The TV parents we want

“If you could have any TV couple as your parents, who would you choose?”

November 11, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Favorite TV themes

This week, a reader asks us to help work out a list of the best TV-show theme songs in history, but demands we acknowledge The Rockford Files first.

November 4, 2011 | 12:01am -
AVQ&A Scariest Movie Scenes

Our weekly staff and reader question looks at the film moments that made us scared to sleep with the lights off.

October 28, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Actors we hate in movies and TV we love

Sometimes even your least favorite actors can’t spoil something really good.

October 21, 2011 | 12:01am -
AVQ&A Favorite unhappy endings

A spoileriffic edition of our weekly staff and reader question explores the sad story-conclusions that make us happy.

October 14, 2011 | 12:02am -
AVQ&A Favorite falling-out-of-love stories

Following up last week’s exploration of falling-in-love stories, our weekly staff and reader question goes in the opposite direction.

October 7, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Favorite falling-in-love stories

Our weekly staff and reader question surveys the books, songs, films, and even comics that most feel like real-life love to us.

September 30, 2011 | 12:03am -
AVQ&A Most inexplicably popular songs

This week, our staff and reader question ponders music tracks that don’t seem like sure-fire hits, but took off anyway.

September 23, 2011 | 12:01am -
AVQ&A Bands that should have been bigger

This week’s staff and reader question examines great musical acts that never had as much success as they clearly deserved.

September 16, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A First R-rated movie

This week, the staff and readers share stories about the first time they entered the exciting, grown-up world of the mysterious R rating.

September 9, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Best TV show, worst episode

A reader asks the staff and commenters to identify the worst installments of their favorite TV shows.

September 2, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Message art that delivers the message

Movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn said “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” But sometimes message movies, books, and songs actually work. This week our staff and reader question considers which ones work for us.

August 26, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Didn’t like it, would still recommend it

Just because something doesn’t fit your personal tastes doesn’t make it bad. A reader asks us to consider pop culture that we respect without liking ourselves.

August 19, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Vacation music memories

A reader recalls childhood road-trips and asks the staff and readers to share what music formed the backbone of vacations in their past.

August 12, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Least likely screen couples

Sure, film and TV pairings are often about wish-fulfillment fantasies. But this week, a reader asks us which match-ups push the fantasies into particularly unbelievable territory.

August 5, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A The best of 2011 so far

We’ve passed 2011’s halfway point: Time for a look back at our favorite books, films, music, and TV from the year so far.

July 29, 2011 | 12:00am -
AVQ&A Art at the exact right time

What pop culture did you come across when it was exactly what you needed?

July 22, 2011 | 12:01am -