The A.V. Club - AVQ&A

TV: AVQ&A: Crushes on fictional characters

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Here’s one just in time for Valentine’s Day. What fictional character have you developed a crush on? I was discussing romantic movies with a friend, and realized that ...

Comedy: AVQ&A: Profoundest piece of comedy

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Stand-up comedy often attempts to come at real-world issues from odd angles, making fun of the absurdity of life while trying to get past people’s assumptions and defenses, and ...

Music: AVQ&A: One magic pop-culture wish

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Here’s a question courtesy of our own Genevieve Koski: You’ve discovered a genie, but he has some limitations: He can only grant one wish, and it must be ...

Music: AVQ&A: Music as a weapon

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. I was just thinking about the aggressive use of music, for instance by the U.S. armed forces against Manuel Noriega in Panama, or Steve Zahn against his guppie neighbors ...

TV: AVQ&A: Best show, best episode

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. I always want to get my friends watching all my favorite TV shows—Parks And Rec, Community, etc. But I’m sometimes at a loss as to what episode to ...

TV: AVQ&A: Best non-2011 pop culture we discovered in 2011

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Every year-end holiday season brings a flurry of best-of-the-past-year lists. But what about all the neglected art from every other year? What older films, books, games, TV shows, artists, etc ...

TV: AVQ&A: Pop-culture resolutions for 2012

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. In the spirit of the New Year, here’s our annual opportunity to contemplate the year to come, and reflect on all the things we vow to read, watch, play ...

Music: AVQ&A: Best music discovered in 2011

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:02:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. What was the best music or musical artist you personally discovered for the first time in 2011? Nathan Rabin Loudon Wainwright III has lingered in the periphery of my consciousness ...

Music: AVQ&A: Best Christmas music

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. We’ve heard the worst possible Christmas music, which is pretty much all of it. A few editors wrote some good recommendations (e.g. The Muppets & John Denver), but is ...

Film: AVQ&A: Best stories behind the art

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Last night, I watched McCabe & Mrs. Miller for the first time. One of the DVD bonus features was a short documentary about how all of the cast and crew lived ...

Best Of 2011: AVQ&A: Worst Christmas music

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. My wife recently found the radio station that’s already playing nonstop Christmas music, now through Christmas day. Obviously, this has made my life a living hell. While there are ...

Film: AVQ&A: Best scenes in worst movies

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:01:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. When I’m praising a film to someone, I will occasionally run into a “How can you like that? There was nothing good in that!” reaction. And I can usually ...

Film: AVQ&A: Fun for the whole family

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. For a lot of people, Thanksgiving is about getting together with the extended family for a big meal and some together-time. But what do you do with that together-time after ...

TV: AVQ&A: The TV parents we want

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0600

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. If you could pick which parents from a TV show you could have, who would you choose and why? —Sam Huddy Tasha Robinson Let me preface this by saying that ...

TV: AVQ&A: Favorite TV themes

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:01:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Everyone knows The Rockford Files had the best theme song of any show ever aired on television, but I’ve been consistently hard-pressed to come up with a second-best, or ...

Film: AVQ&A: Scariest Movie Scenes

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. What’s the scariest scene you’ve ever seen in a movie? Tasha Robinson Plenty of film scenes terrified me when I was younger, but since I hit adulthood, nothing ...

Film: AVQ&A: Actors we hate in movies and TV we love

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:01:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. I was re-watching a favorite comedy of mine, Bring It On, which I actually don’t mind Kirsten Dunst in, despite not enjoying her as an actress. But that also ...

Film: AVQ&A: Favorite unhappy endings

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:02:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. In the “Favorite falling-in-love stories” AVQ&A, Todd VanDerWerff parenthetically states, “I don’t trust really unhappy endings, either, but that’s a discussion for another time.” I would love ...

Music: AVQ&A: Favorite falling-out-of-love stories

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Last week, we covered our favorite songs, books, films, etc., about falling in love. But what about the other end of the spectrum? What are your favorite pieces of art ...

Film: AVQ&A: Favorite falling-in-love stories

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:03:00 -0500

Welcome back to AVQ&A, where we throw out a question for discussion among the staff and readers. Consider this a prompt to compare notes on your interface with pop culture, to reveal your embarrassing tastes and experiences, and to ponder how our diverse lives all led us to convene here together. Got a question you’d like us and the readers to answer? E-mail us at avcqa@theonion.com. Half of art seems to be about the heady feeling of falling in love, but it’s rarely done convincingly or in any detail; it’s such a universal experience ...