In the kinky killverse of Hannibal, Will and Hannibal circle each other with all the operatic subtlety of characters in a Douglas Sirk melodrama; there’s an angle on Hannibal where every murder equals sex, and every time someone refers to Will and Hannibal’s “friendship” they’re referring to something very much else.

Entertainment Geekly: Why ‘Hannibal’ is the better version of ‘True Detective’ and ‘Fargo’ (x)

Hannibal never settles for easy answers. Even when you know that Hannibal Lecter is evil, the show takes his perspective on existence utterly seriously. He’s not a gibbering lunatic in the woods or a wandering loner who keeps running into a symbolic wolf; he’s a likable snob fascinated by human nature.

Entertainment Geekly: Why ‘Hannibal’ is the better version of ‘True Detective’ and ‘Fargo’ (x)

Even more impressive is how Fuller’s show interacts with Lecter’s onscreen history. It’s hard to think of a franchise with three movies as radically different as Michael Mann’s Manhunter, Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, and Ridley Scott’s Hannibal. Manhunter is cool, chilly, ’80s, pomo, electronic; Silence is bleak, gross, banal, kinky; Hannibal is cultured, operatic, bemused, architectural. Somehow Fuller’s Hannibal has weaved those three dishes into a new kind of meal

Entertainment Geekly: Why ‘Hannibal’ is the better version of ‘True Detective’ and ‘Fargo’ (x)

The cinematography is uncommonly rich, the costume choices suave and stylish: In an era of Thrones-style kinetic decadence, Hannibal has much more in common with Mad Men, telling whole stories with set design and impeccably patterned ties.

Entertainment Geekly: Why ‘Hannibal’ is the better version of ‘True Detective’ and ‘Fargo’ (x)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has invited 271 individuals to become members

Every year, the list of invitations includes several recent Oscar nominees. That’s true this year as well, with letters going out Wednesday to a cross-section of people including 2013 contenders Barkhad Abdi, Lupita Nyong’o, Hayao Miyazaki, Pharrell Williams, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, plus such creatives as Megan Ellison, Chris Rock, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steve Coogan, Jason Statham, William Chang Suk Ping, Joan Sobel, Tracey Seaward, Mads Mikkelsen and Chantal Akerman.

Congratulations Mads!!!