THE NEXT STEP IN FILM EVOLUTION: It's been a while since we talked about what's out at the cineplex, and I have some things to say about X-Men: First Class. (Thoughts here are relatively spoiler-free, but comments may contain spoilage, so beware.)

• I hadn't seen Jennifer Lawrence in anything substantive before this (didn't see Winter's Bone or The Beaver), but this performance absolutely sold me on her playing Katniss Everdeen. Indeed, her arc here as Mystique has an awful lot of similarities to Katniss' arc in The Hunger Games, though I think her character's motivation in this film is underwritten.
• I've rarely seen a film with a more complicated relationship with continuity. The opening scene is either lifted from or pretty slavishly recreated from the first film, and by casting much younger actors and using some internal reset buttons (at one point, a scientist notes that Mystique ages much more slowly than a normal human or even most other mutants because of her DNA), pretty well deals with continuity issues for many of the principal characters who've appeared in previous films. That said, I'm not sure how the character of Beast fits into continuity at all, and the relationship established between Mystique and Xavier in this film doesn't really square at all with how they deal with each other in the earlier films.
• Vaughn's developed a lot as a filmmaker. Layer Cake was a very gritty and dark film pulled along largely by the charisma of the then-unknown Daniel Craig, and Kick-Ass wasn't exactly epic in scope, but Vaughn here synchronizes action on multiple fronts, in multiple languages, gives pretty much everyone in the cast a chance to shine, and pulls off some neat directorial flourishes (in particular, in a 60s-ish training montage).
• Really dug the script's conception of a young Charles Xavier--glad they recognize that if you were the world's most powerful telepath and a good looking 20-something, not all of your pursuits would necessarily be high-minded.
• So nice not to see a film with unnecessary 3-D effects tacked in. There would have been a few moments where 3-D would have been cool, but it wasn't necessary or organic to the story, and because this is a relatively CGI-light film (most locations are practical, rather than green-screen), it wouldn't have worked that well anyway.
  

GOIN' DOWN BY THE RIVER WHERE IT'S WARM AND GREEN: Frequent commenter (and longtime friend) Jenn has a request:

Could you possibly do a post asking for food recommendations for me in New Orleans? I have two arguments there next week, and so, will be staying there for three nights. Given the arguments, I need to keep it to New Orleans proper. Obviously, I'd like for at least one night to be authentic Cajun or Creole, but I'd love to get recommendations for other cuisines, as well.

ROLL CALL!  It's been awhile since we've done one of these, and after a week like this it's appropriate for us to, once again, figure out and introduce who the heck is reading this site.  So, regulars and lurkers alike, please share with us the following, to the extent you're willing to share:

• Hometown
• Age
• Occupation
• Song you'd put on a "songs of summer" mixtape/playlist/whatever-it's-called-this-week.

P.S. If you're not yet on our Twitter list and would like to be added, please share your handle.

P.P.S. And here's why Watts is awesome - she's compiling the ALOTT5MA Songs of Summer video playlist.

ALOTT5MA FRIDAY GRAMMAR RODEO: It's time for us to tackle, at last, the Oxford (or serial) comma, as to which the Chicago Manual of Style states:

When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series, a comma -- known as the serial or series comma or the Oxford comma -- should appear before the conjunction. Chicago strongly recommends this widely practiced usage, blessed by Fowler and other authorities (see bibliog. 1,2), since it prevents ambiguity.

Examples of such potential ambiguity are easy to imagine: "With gratitude to my parents, Mother Teresa and the pope."  Newspapers see it otherwise. The Associated Press has a "don't use it ... unless you need to use it" approach:

Q: Is clarity essentially the only rule determining when a serial comma should be included?
A: In a simple series, AP doesn't use a comma before the last item. For a series of complex terms, though, use commas after each for clarity.

As does the New York Times, whose deputy news editor offers:

I haven't researched the question, but I suspect that journalists' aversion to the additional comma arose in the old days when setting type was laborious and expensive. If you already have an "and," why bother with a comma, too? The practice persists, from habit and perhaps from the sense that fewer commas make prose seem more direct and rapid — qualities we journalists prize in our writing.

There are a few cases, however, where we have to make an exception for clarity. For example: The candidate promised lower taxes, higher spending, and ice cream and cake. Without a comma after "spending," the sentence would be a jumble.

The Economist concurs: "Do not put a comma before and at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another and. Thus 'The doctor suggested an aspirin, half a grapefruit and a cup of broth. But he ordered scrambled eggs, whisky and soda, and a selection from the trolley.'"

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss wrote: "There are people who embrace the Oxford comma, and people who don't, and I'll just say this: never get between these people when drink has been taken." A poll has been posted, and it's time to throw down.

2011 SCRIPPS NATIONAL SPELLING BEE - CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS:  I only competed in the Spelling Bee once, erring in fifth grade in the Philadelphia competition on dowdily. If there was a way to compete after that, it wasn't made apparent to me, and my schools showed no interest in sponsoring kids for the Bee thereafter. My parents did not push me in any particular academic direction; they were thankful that I was smart and motivated, and encouraged me to free-range in whatever direction my interests led.

Then came MathCounts, which I did in eighth grade. We didn't find out about the City competition until a week before it happened, then showed up and placed something like 1st, 2nd, 4th and 9th among the individual competitors in the field, won the team title and subsequently finished credibly in the state competition. I remained a competitive mathlete as a freshman in high school, but ultimately shifted to the debate/mock trial/Model UN track.

The last such competition I did was the now-defunct Citizen Bee as a senior in high school -- a history/civics/American culture amalgam in which I won the regional competition (with something like ten rounds just with the last two students, even though we both were guaranteed a slot at the state finals), then finished 6th in the state competition because I got an art question and I didn't know anything about Winslow freakin' Homer, other than that it's now twenty-one years later and I still know it's his fault.

Nights like this, in other words, bring back a lot of memories.  We begin with thirteen fantastic spellers. Tonight we celebrate the hard work that got them here, and treat their efforts with respect and good cheer. Join us.

AFTER THE BEE, VOL. II:  During this afternoon break before we return (ESPN, 8:30p EDT), please enjoy many more updates compiled by JJ Goldstein, showing just how much Bee veterans accomplish after (and based upon) this experience:

Megan McFall: #176, 1998 (85th) & #52, 1999 (22nd)

I went to Grove City College and I studied Business/Communication. I am currently working in Human Resources for Bechtel Power Corporation. On a serious note, I am working on a novel and would like to be published within the next year. On a slightly less serious but still somewhat plausible note, I would like to be the next spokesperson for Pepsi Max. (Yes, only Pepsi Max.)

I think more than anything the spelling bee taught me that you don't have to be the best to be good at something, you can work hard and still not win everything and the people who are the best/powerful/famous have just worked hard at something and so therefore they are good at it (usually). Obviously there are exceptions but in life it's good to remember where hard work can get you and to not be discouraged if you're not the best. Also, because of all of the word study I love to write hence the novel. 

Jesse Zymet: #129, 2002 (26th) & #4, 2003 (8th)

I just graduated from Rutgers University with majors in linguistics and quantitative economics and minors in mathematics and cognitive science. My choice of majors and minors reflects my attempt to keep as many doors open as possible. While my life goal is to eventually obtain a Ph.D. in theoretical linguistics (after which I would work in academia, if I get lucky) or computational linguistics (after which I would work in the computer industry), I decided to obtain additional degrees closely related to quantitative management in case I want to go into the private sector.

The bee has influenced me in a number of ways.

ROUND 7: We launch right back in with this new round. Laura Newcombe is up, bubbly, almost giggly. She's Canadian and full of energy. She spells choralcelo and heads back to relax.

Veronica Penny wants this too much. Maybe she spent too much time studying, worrying, stressing out about the Bee? I want her to go away and discover art and literature, nature and music. Or at least Beiber or Bella and Edward. Anything as long as she learns to relax before college.

11:10 am/2:10 pm: The spellers have been on stage for over 4 hours. Do they not get a bathroom break? Just curious...

Joining David Phan who went out on ocypode, Grace Remmer falls down on casquetel (a light open helmet without beaver or visor). I like how, once she hears the ding, she says brightly, “Thank you everybody!” She’ll be back next year, I’m sure.

Lily Jordan is back up. Her brothers are holding hands, dying with tension. They hug and pump their fists like this is a football game when their big sister spells dolichopodous.

Dakota, Nabeel and Siram sail through by easily spelling tough words. Arvind spells epigonism at lightning speed and then rushes back to his seat.

I think we might be about to lose Nicholas Rushlow on caffeol…

AND WE DO! WE DO! HE IS GONE!!! SHOCKING!

It was just stated that for every speller from here on out, if they spell their word correctly, they are automatically in the tonight’s finals. Here we go:

Joanna Ye gets into the finals hyoptrichosis (a congenital deficiency of hair). My money is still on her.

We lose Anahita on boudin. She was guessing and her disappointment is all over her face. I'm not sure I like the lady in the kiss 'n cry area who takes their hands and rubs their backs as if she knows them. The kids stare at her, wondering why this stranger is acting like their moms and when they can get away from her. It's awkward.

Sukanya sails through to the finals on thalassocracy. Narahari struggles with ceratorhine and is out!

Mashad has movie star eyes. I want him to star in his own kiddie action movies. He’s the Brad Pitt of spelling. And…wait. The judges stop everything to discuss the word: melittologist (an entomologist specializing in the study of bees). Maybe they too were mesmerized by his eyes. And he spells it correctly and is in the finals!

Last speller in the round is Samuel Estep. I love that he looks exactly like a young BBC Bailly. Certiorari (a write issuing out of a superior court to call up the records of an inferior court or a body acting in a quasi judicial capacity) is his word. And he is in the finals!

We have 13 finalists! Laura Newcombe, Veronica Penny, Dhivya Murugan, Lily Jordan, Dakota jones, Nabeel Rahman, Sriram Hathwar, Arvnd Mahankali, Prakash Mishra, Joanna Ye, Sukaya Roy, Mashad Arora, and Samuel Estep.

I like this Bee. This Bee that takes place exclusively on ESPN. No controversy, no stopping a round to deal with the demands of prime time network TV. Just spelling. Pure and simple. Okay, nobody fainted this year. But we still have the finals...