My problem with “Stranger” I think, was that I wasn’t expecting that. If someone told me, before I watched it that, “this isn’t actually meta-fiction at all, they just use the idea as a vehicle for a predictable, somewhat cheesy, and very unbelievable love story and some nice tidbits about life,” then I probably would have enjoyed it more.

I like good metafiction, where you have things like the author inserting himself into the work, characters becoming aware that they are someone else’s creation, interacting with the author — there’s a lot of great themes in that idea that I love exploring. Grant Morrisson does it all the time, and Stephen King does it a lot in “The Dark Tower,” which is genius. I was hoping for an exploration of those themes in “Stranger”, but instead I got a generic romantic comedy, that wasn’t bad, but… well there it is.

Chris, I understand hating “Lost in Translation” and “Copland,” but why the hate for “Jesse James”?

I think the POINT is that is doesn’t matter HOW it happened or WHY, but, rather what our characters are going to do about it and how they will respond. In “Stranger Than Fiction” it was not necessary to know the particulars. This guy doesn’t know why he’s suddenly the subject of a fiction novel, but by the time he figures that out, he’ll be dead. So he better spend his time dealing with it, rather than trying to figure it out.

I liked “Stranger…” but I can understand how it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea. However, don’t get me started again on the travishamockery that is “The Assassination of Jesse James”………..or “Lost in Translation”……………………………………………………………or “Copland.”

Sometimes you just like a movie and you can’t explain why, I get that. And yeah, Maggie is amazing. I liked her character a lot in “Stranger than Fiction,” also, but I had a real hard time believing she would hook up with Ferrell’s character.