slowpoked

This was such a fun movie! I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Without really getting into the stupid “go woke, go broke” narrative around this film (which thankfully didn’t hold the film back), I liked how Greta skillfully navigated the decades-long issues of Barbie the brand and the doll itself (which has existed even before “woke” existed), without being preachy about it. That was my favorite scene too. Margot took her time looking at the woman with awe before telling her “You’re beautiful.” People never grow old in Barbieland so Barbie seeing someone old for the first time and appreciating it greatly was a nice touch. I know Ryan Gosling is getting a lot of well-deserved love and even early Oscar buzz, but I thought Margot did as equally fantastic and I think she should also be getting Oscar buzz. For some reason, this performance reminded me a lot of Reese’s Elle in Legally Blonde (first movie) - another performance that was criminally underrated and underappreciated in the awards circuit that frankly deserved more.

This is one of the shining moments of the film. For a story that tackles an issue that can easily be sensationalized and even be exploitative, they went with a quieter but more impactful approach. That scene where it shows different hotel hallways while it plays the voice recording of one of the women that Harvey harrassed was more powerful had they actually shown what happened in the room. It signifies that it wasn’t just one incident, with one hotel, with one woman. And the recounting of the assistants without having the simultaneous flashbacks of what actually happened in the room was also very well done. Focusing on the words of the assistants gave what happened to them more gravitas than if the actual visuals were provided. And it gave the actresses themselves a chance to shine, without relegating their voices in the background. As you said, it’s no surprise that the film handled very sensitive topics like this more delicately and thoughtfully since women are in-charge of both the script and direction. I want to think that that was also a very conscious choice of everyone involved, since one of the major complaints against Weinstein that came out later was that he would order to have more gratuitous sex scenes that have no importance in the film (Salma Hayek and Frida).

I just saw this movie last night, and it was so well done! Like @Bastet said, I’m surprised it didn’t get the same mileage as Spotlight - another movie I enjoyed - seeing as it has the same structure and tone. I wonder if it’s because, while he has been banished from the industry forever, that Hollywood isn’t yet ready to confront its own systemic failures that allowed Weinstein and others to flourish, so in that sense, this movie got “shadowbanned” somehow from the awards circuit, so it gets less attention. It only made a soft landing in BAFTA. Which is quite funny in the sense that it was the assistants in the London Miramax office who broke the story wide open for Megan and Jodi. I really like watching how the two women worked together, how they went to interviews as a pair, how they divided the work, without ever resorting to “that’s my scoop, or that’s my source!” catfights. When Jodi cried in the end when Ashley Judd finally agreed to go on record, I loved how Megan was so happy for Jody. Zoe and Carey had great chemistry together. Patricia Clarkson as their very calm and “voice of reason” boss also did very well. They actually did touch on this briefly at the beginning, when Jodi was talking to Rose McGowan. Rose admonished Jodi that NYT didn’t do anything about her story, despite telling a lot of people about it, and that when she even spoke at a rally about women being harrased by powerful men, the story and event ended up on the NYT Style Section instead. Dean also mentioned being contacted by Harvey a lot of times previously (alluding to the the past incidents of being able to squash the story).

I was watching Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, and in the beginning where Miranda was ranting to Carrie about getting pregnant due to a mercy fuck with Steve, she let it slip she didn’t use a condom - she felt like she didn’t need to because he only has ball. And Carrie silently admonished her like “you didn’t use a condom?” “He only has one ball, Carrie!” So for Carrie to get all indignant now for using a condom during sex is weird. Unless she only thinks of a condom as a way to prevent pregnancy and nothing esle, which would be weird because you would think a sex writer would know it also has other uses - i.e. preventing STDs.

I guess I should have prefaced and specify re: her dating and preferences of men, Miranda seemed to be the least snobbish and vain amongst the four. Charlotte seemed to be always very aware of the status of guys she’s dating - his surname, his numerals, his suits, his occupation, etc. Carrie, less so, but I think part of the reason she was drawn to Big, aside from him being the unattainable, was his stature. She’s also dated well off guys like Aidan and Berger. And we know Samantha was just concerned about one thing. On personal appearances, yes of course, all of them are very conscious and very vain. Because - in Carrie voice - they live in Manhattan, after all.

You summed up perfectly why I loved their love story the most, even over the main pairing of Carrie/Big. There was a tinge of sadness in Miranda when Steve fulfilled his dream but not with her. And Steve even acknowledged that he would not have the guts to pursue it if it weren’t for Miranda. The suit episode, I can’t forget about Miranda saying “Forget the suit…” while trying hard not to cry, knowing Steve was going to break up with her because he was highly insecure. Re: Steve’s mom - it was Miranda who told Steve his mom could live with them. Steve didn’t have to ask. Miranda didn’t care the Steve didn’t have money, or that he wasn’t from a pedigreed family, or that she won’t have the fancy wedding, or fancy ring. She was just really drawn to him, that’s why I think Steve was the one for Miranda. For the high-powered attorney, the overachiever, caustic, sarcastic character among the four ladies, she was the one who worried the least about appearances and money.

Yeah, I’m confused that this is even a debatable point. Miranda didn’t ask Steve to get back together because she was jealous of Debbie - she was in a healthy, loving relationship with a man who was crazy about her and Brady, a man who is more on her “level,” so to speak, than Steve ever was. But she realized that while she had the “perfect” man, she truly loved the “flawed” one more, because Steve was “the one.”

I was under the impression that Carrie and Big being childless was a conscious decision. There was a scene in movie #2 at the beginning where Carrie gifted Big a Rolex that had the inscription at the back “Just Us Two,” or something like that. I also thought that Carrie mentioned to the girls in passing that she and Big were fine not having children.

I agree. I know there’s a lot of Steve fans out there, moreso because of how AJLT chose to end their relationship. And while I loved their love story - Miranda ending up with someone totally unexpected for someone like her - I’m not a huge fan of Steve himself. Before there was Berger, there was Steve. Steve couldn’t handle Miranda’s success and so he broke it off. And still had the temerity to live in Miranda’s apartment while he looked for a place, even giving Miranda’s OWN landline number to a girl he met for a hookup. In movie #1, he cheated on her. Took awhile but she forgave him and took him back. I wonder why Miranda never threw that back at him when he was saying all those horrible stuff to her, especially the Brady part. That was just below the belt. Maybe their relationship eventually had to end. Love fades. But it was just really shitty writing that did it in. A more thoughtful breakup would have put their relationship in perspective and make people remember that they are both flawed people, who both made mistakes in the past, and there’s really no one to blame.

I think this might be my favorite episode of this series, but that's not really saying much. Michael King ruined Miranda's character forever, but it was nice to see that fire was still in there, when she finally stopped walking on eggshells with Che and finally told them off. That was a long time coming, but for Miranda fans, probably a little bit cathartic too. That was the Miranda we've all come to know and love - the one who walked off when her date wanted to watch porn while having sex with her, the one who told Steve "great sex, amazing" in a sarcastic tone after their first encounter, the one who automatically said "no" when Carrie was considering a final romantic encounter with Big before he moved to Napa, and told to her face that she should have ended up with Aidan instead. Miranda never bent over for anyone the way she bent over for Che. It was just so uncharacteristic. And Che never showed anything that they deserve that kind of devotion, from anyone, anyway. I'm also glad Steve told her off. That was also a long time coming. Steve is tired of being the nice guy and rightly so. I may be one of the very few, but with 1.5 seasons in, I realize I do miss Carrie's narration. There was just something in her narration that always tied everything together in an episode. I hope this is the end of Che and we don't see them again.

I just realized, that Miranda tiptoeing out of their room at 5 in the morning so as not to disturb Che, but ended up bumping the chair, hurting herself, and Che got extremely pissed is the perfect symbolism for their relationship - Miranda having to be extra careful not to piss them off, and even with her best intentions, ends up pissing them anyway.

Carrie giving up on George because he’s up against a deadline reminds me of Carrie giving up on Petrovsky and Paris because she’s been to all the museums and ate all the croissants in all the cafes in TWO WEEKS!!!

After the thrill of her sexual awakening, I don’t see what else Miranda sees in Che. They may be the most selfish person Miranda has ever dated - only thinks about themselves, Miranda don’t do this or that, Miranda do this or that. The relationship is according to their rules alone. I mean, in two seasons, what sweet thing has Che done FOR Miranda (and no, finger-banging her in Carrie’s kitchen doesn’t count)? I just don’t buy this pairing, because it’s just lacking romance and tenderness. This has been a one-sided relationship where all Miranda does is give and all Che does is take. And another reason why I freaking hate that they destroyed Miranda’s character this way, because old school Miranda will never be in a relationship this selfish.

I just finished S2 E7 and wow, what a fantastic episode! Probably the best of the series so far. I didn't care much for the Richie character in S1 - in fact, I almost gave up on the show because I could not take in all the swearing and yelling and the "COUSIN!!!" every 2 minutes. I really liked it that they toned down Richie this season and gave him a great episode to shine. I'm one of those people who enjoy fine dining, so this season is more interesting to me than S1, although I did end up liking S1 as a whole, the sum of its parts. I've been to the famous one in California, and another one in CA too but unfortunately got burned down. The service is truly topnotch and personalized. Before I had the impression that these kinds of restaurants would have the hoity toity attitude, but so far I've been quite as impressed with the service as we were with the food. So I guess that's why I especially enjoyed E7. It was nice to see the inner workings of the service in fine dining, because most of the time, when fine dining is featured in shows, it's mostly about the food.

I get that both prosecution and the defense try underhanded tactics, but I really like that the judge put Mickey in his place when the prosecution revealed their ace - “you engineered all of this to force her hand, and you just can’t unring the bell now that you don’t like your hand.” Much as Mickey called her bluff, the DA called his bluff too. I like it. Especially since Mickey is slowly finding out that Lisa isn’t as honest as she seems and as innocent as she insists. I also like it that Lorna called out Mickey on his assholery. It’s so unfair of him to question Lorna’s commitment to the case and the job when she has been pulling all-nighters to write motions he knows are only for show, and to go through boxes for discovery. I’m glad she told him to fuck off.

The original ending didn't bother me that much. I've always thought Ben was the endgame, especially since she "conquered" the high school jock, and got that itch out of her. The heroine of the story always goes back to the "boy next door," which is pretty much what I expected. Even though it's a "happy ending," I think that little speech by Ben the morning after is foreboding that things may not eventually work out and they'll grow apart and move on. In the heat of the moment, it seemed they were content in giving it a second go-around and do-over, and then they say their goodbyes. And then Ben realizes that he actually wanted to try to work it out with Devi, key word being try. John McEnroe's last words also refer that it may not last.

This is one of the worst parts of SATC for me. In the real world, it’s normal and human to ask your current partner to not be friendly with his/her ex. If y’all eventually get friends, organically, then sure. But Carrie forced Aidan on that issue. She had a huge drama about how Big would always be a part of her life somehow and even had the gall to invite him up to AIDAN’s cabin when he’s the guy she cheated on him with. Then Carrie even had more temerity to act like how and why Aidan could not understand that Big is suffering and so she invited him up. What, Big doesn’t have any drinking buddies of his own that he can drown his sorrows with or another young model he could bang for one night while he gets over his actress ex? If I were Aidan I would have thrown them both out of his cabin instead of giving Big the couch. Definitely one of the episodes that shows how selfish and self-absorbed Carrie is.

I'm going to miss this show. I enjoyed it for what it is, and overall I enjoyed all seasons, even if there were times it lagged a bit, and a little bit disappointing in some of the storylines they just dropped (Paxton's family, esp his sister and her relationship with Devi, Nalini's career, Aneesa being one of the close friends, etc.) It's an easy watch, and there were genuine LOL moments. For me the best relationship of the show was Nalini-Devi. As much as the show was Devi's journey, it was also Nalini's. I can definitely understand Nalini being short-tempered, nagging, closed off in the first season - she was also dealing with her own grief, and coming to terms with the realization that she's suddenly a widow at such a young age. One of my favorite scenes of the show was when she took out Mohan's scooter and drove it around Malibu, finally, slowly coming to terms with him being gone, and her still being alive and a full life still ahead of her. I thought they would have brought back Common to give her a happy ending too, but Andres is also fine, seems like a nice guy. It's just weird how they dropped her doctor storyline and just settled for some mentions here and there.

I agree. I also like that they're treating Lily as a regular rich kid like most shows would if she was a white kid. Last season I know there were grumblings of why Lily's storyline isn't the racism suffered by Asian Americans during the height of the pandemic, instead of being a piano prodigy and struggling with her period/puberty, etc. If Lily was a white kid no one would question her storyline about struggling to deal with puberty, growing up, etc. Asian kids also go through that same confusing time in their lives. I think it would actually be disrespectful to her character, ANY character actually, to reduce their storylines to whatever race issues their race has at that time. I would think these characters would want to be treated like any other regular (white) characters too.

It wasn't a problem when she was single in her 30s and bringing home guys, if it's the same bed (I assume the mattress has been replaced) As far as I can remember, Big, Aidan, Berger, her fuck buddy, Bon Jovi all stayed in her apartment and slept on her bed.

I also didn't get the part where the designer was so stressed out about the back of the dress when there's a cape anyway covering that back. Then again, I don't get Met Gala fashion so there's that. Like most of you, I will continue to (hate) watch this season, hoping for some pleasant surprises here and there. I totally forgot about Carrie's podcast producer. Having just finished the last season of Never Have I Ever, it's nice to see the actor again. Poorna and SJP - he's having quite a nice dating life in his TV shows.

I don't know how the writing of this kind of series goes, but I'm actually curious if they had intended Rollins to be IN the season finale AFTER just writing her off in Ep9. I mean, that's barely a minute to bring someone back who was just written off in the same season. That's why I think there's some remorse going on behind the scenes, especially as Muncy didn't exactly work out. I appreciate the mentions every now and then, considering she is connected to one of the regular characters, but something just felt off bringing her back this fast.

This. Max already told him to stay away. Why isn't there a big "NO ENTRY FOR JOSH ALLOWED" in the lab and morgue? I get that he wants to solve the crime ASAP, but not only did he jeopardize his own career, he jeopardized the entire lab, to be credibly accused of covering up for one of their own. Max is a good boss. I really like her as the boss CSI. But the writing isn't doing her any favors.

They just didn't know how to write this character. I guess they want her to replace Rollins, but also don't want her to be a very similar character. I just never bought her being tomboy and all of a sudden being so loyal to Velasco. I would have preferred that Kat stayed. This! Olivia has a good point about laying low until they figure out the reach of the perp. He's a classic "see forest for the trees" guy. Everytime he's on, I wonder why they would replace Garland with him. This is one of those times where I miss Garland's measured wisdom. Sure, he butted heads with Liz too but he was mature enough to not throw a tantrum. If they are tight for budget, why not move Garland into a recurring role instead of a regular? They way they torpedoed that character was stupid.

Oh it is coming back. It's already been renewed for Season3. I'm totally confused about Catherine's role. I know she went back for love of the job, she doesn't need the money. But is she Max's #2? Is she staff level CSI, considering how Allie was bossing her around, and her taking orders? I agree with you, it's nice to see some OG CSIs but they haven't been utilized well this season. This is already the season finale??? WTH I was waiting for the big reveal that it's Chris. Who else would it be? Or the brother ME.