Damn, dude. Have you no heart? Dave deserves a break like anyone else. Slavedriver.

Philip and company, as noted awhile back, David is on a much-deserved vacation and thus collected these contributions to serve in his stead. However, I'm compiling a bit of "shorts" to go up here in the next day or so, to hopefully satisfy those of you who miss 'em.

And then more, of course, upon David's return on Friday.

Best,
Craig

Judging from this, and the comments thread that kicked off below, I think that GCdaily is being trolled:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

I'd say this is a good guess, Ben, though at least it hasn't happened to any of the other threads (let me know if it has). I've deleted a fair amount of bizarro Spam, but have tried to let the other stuff go. It seems like a good candidate for Troll-dom, though.

Cheers,
Craig

Dinner and a movie?

I'd say some Brooklyn style pizza from Sal's Pizzeria in Bedford-Stuyvesant then I'd watch The Royal Tenenbaums.

Uh, hi? I posted a comment expressing the sincere opinion that Acquarello's dinner preferences are not nearly as interesting as Greencine's usual fare. It was not a troll; I am a longtime reader and just don't like to see one of my favorite websites turn into a vanity platform for critics. Well, only Acquarello's was boring and pretentious enough to spur me to action, but still. If you believe in Greencine's mission of collecting opinions on film and criticism across the web, then you should be above deleting a comment that disagrees with you. Thanks for your time.

Josh - we didn't ask to be spotlighted for a series of vanity articles, we were asked. The participants also didn't have a choice on the question that was asked of us, it was assigned to us on very short notice. Frankly, I couldn't care less what my dinner and movie preferences are either, but that was the question that was asked of me, and I answered it in a way that tried to at least connect the two together. There was no pretense in either selection, just two things that I enjoy for entirely different reasons, and this petty attempt at public shaming isn't going to change that.

Hi Josh, it is also possible that you were the "victim" of bad timing - as your comments came at the same time as did a busload of legitimate trolls that all came from the same IP; these had attempted to start a nasty flame war in a previous thread (as you may have seen). I may have been oversensitive given that, and if so apologize. Did try to only delete messages from that one IP but you may have been lumped in with the others - basically, your comments were irksome and cranky, but not a troll. [grin] Still, as acquarello and the other contributors here have given their valuable time to this blog I'd hoped they'd all be treated respectfully, even by people who disagree with the choices or don't find something their particular cup of tea.

At any rate, thanks, and to all of you for your own contributions.

Cheers,
CP

Hey, all... I've just returned and read through the comments to these "summertime questions," and I'm hit with two big surprises. The first is the unpleasant one, that is, that some don't seem to realize that there comes a time now and then - and late July and August would seem to be as good a time as any - for lightening up and trying out something a little different. I'm particularly distressed that Alison and aquarello have borne the brunt of this narrow-sightedness.

What's more, for all the fun it's been, there's also been some marvelously meaty stuff to chew on in many of the replies to a whirlwind set of questions sent out on all but a whim. Again, I want to pour thanks all over those who responded on next to no notice at all nearly two weeks ago now. The response was so fantastic, in fact, these Q's and A's will roll on for nearly as long again as they have already, even as I get reoriented with what all's going on out there and start posting more of the "usual fare" again very soon.

The second big surprise - well, I'd admit it's not that big of a surprise, but it certainly is a lot more than pleasant - is how this little brouhaha has brought out the best in Daily readers in these threads - supportive comments from many whose own blogs I read and admire. Thanks to all of you for that, and special thanks, too, to Craig for handling the situation with grace and fairness.