At first glance, Avatar and Inception might seem entirely unrelated; the former is a CGI theme-park-ride with a boilerplate going-native plot, the latter a brainy and zany big-budget puzzle that's as much a meditation on storytelling as it is a summer popcorn film.

Excuse me, miss: Can I see your birth certificate?

Like any good reporter on an election night, I stayed home and watched a remake of a bad '80s sci-fi television miniseries.

We figured ABC was cynically getting a jump start on the 2012 hysteria. Silly us. Turns out they've got high-minded policy goals.