Archery

I loved this movie so much, I went back and saw it again the next day with a friend. I've seen all four versions throughout my life, but I think that this one is the best because it is more nuanced. The other three leave the impression that these two people could not exist in the same stardom. But in this one, they are best when they are working together. The story is book ended by Jackson finishing Ally's song to make that first great YouTube moment, and Ally finishing Jack's love song as a tribute. Separately, Jack struggles and Ally produces (or goes along with) vapid pop dreck. This version also puts Jack's addiction where it belongs, with him, instead of linking it to his wife's rise. Jack had two strikes already: alcoholism in his family and depression (with suicidal tendency, which he self medicated). He was always going to have issues, and it left him unable to deal with his creeping hearing loss. I totally got that nobody recognized his deep his pain was until his Grammy meltdown, because he was so high functioning for so long. (I literally covered my eyes during that scene both times, and my whole body cringed.) I kind of like the way the focus was shared between the two characters; the shift of perspective kept it fresh. They direction was amazing; Cooper has a gift for letting faces speak. Sam Elliott's expressions especially killed me. (And I loved how Cooper's voice matched the famous Sam Elliott gravel voice--they really sounded like brothers.) I think Gaga did a great job--Ally was a newbie to the business, but not stupid, and her loyalty to Jack didn't feel like self-abuse. Jack was right; she has something to say, but the pop songs weren't saying anything. (Also, unpopular opinion: the manager may have been a jerk, but he was right about Jack.) I would love to see this film in the mix for awards for song, screenplay, directing, and acting.

"Apologies to all the presenters we didn't get to tonight...Michael B. Jordan! Scottie B. Pippen!" And they ended on the stroke of 11:00. SNL training for the win!

The advertising folks at NBC are on it. They pop in the trailer for whatever project the winner has going on immediately, the very next commercial break.

Tears on the very first note.

Find it. Watch it.

"Oh, my GOD, you won the EGOT! We GET IT!" Every wife everywhere. And then, "Thank you, Jesus..." so funny.

I expect I and my background are the photo negative of you and yours. I got it and loved it.

I don't remember what episode (I just binged seasons 1 & 2), but I'm totally using this one. Coulson (with his usual mild surprise): Who in the hell are you, and why, also in the hell, are you here?"

Tiffany Haddish hosted the Writers Guild Awards. So funny--and surprising. I could see her tag teaming the Oscars with a straight-man.

Helen should have gone home-- or at least been on the bottom for--that bedhead bathing suit thing. (I also didn't get the porn queen joke until you all explained it.) --

I thought Randall' s outburst to the social worker and his approach to Deja's mom were realistic in the moment. She doesn't show up, with no explanation to a kid who has been looking forward to this visit for weeks. Piled onto that is the gross experience of walking into a jail (it sucks), the memory of how far Deja has come (from not bathing or washing her hair to dressing up for this visit), knowing that if you tell her the truth (that her mom is refusing to see her) she's going to think it's her fault and probably regress, so you lie to her -- yeah, I get his rage in that moment. Nothing about that situation is okay. That there are other trash parents in world doesn't excuse Deja' s mom letting her down, but cool story, lady. I'm glad the adoption judge recused himself. He had made up his mind about an entire class of cases, rather than focusing on the family in front of him, so that's a judge fail right there. The two most heartbreaking moments for me this week were Kevin deciding that he is a nothing person, and William deciding that, after all these years, the judge's face and his promise aren't enough in the face of his cancer prognosis. But meeting his son is.

I was thinking that Margarita was actually on the bottom, below Kenya, but the producers felt it would be unfair to eliminate her for Tim's mistake. Tim gave her 5 extra minutes to replace the fur, but to compensate for the omission, she should theoretically have gotten 30 minutes to redesign her look. Since they couldn't do that, they made it non-elimination. Kenya's tears shouldn't have come as any surprise. She has always been emotional and nervous on the runway. My 13 year old daughter thought both Kentaro' s and Brandon' s garments were impractical for winter, and that Tim would make a great C3PO in the next Star Wars movie.

Huh. I thought it was fairly obvious that Claire would go through the same stones and that there was some passage of time before she stepped out of the coach. They used the same "vehicle" device before, transitioning from Boston to Paris. My UO: both Brianna's and Joe's accents are perfectly fine.

I guess I would have found it unsatisfying if three intelligent, practical people had not made any attempt to find an in-universe explanation for how it all worked, even if there IS no explanation.

True, areca, but Claire has no way of knowing that the means of communication will be available to her in the past, or that it will survive continuously to the present. For example she could identify a publishing house that exist both in 1765 and 1968, but who can tell if any particular publication survives throughout all those years. She doesn't even know for certain that she'll survive the trip, or that she won't be eaten by wolves the first day. I don't see how she could make a definite plan.

This is a more general question: each week, when they announce the prize, they refer to "the winning model." If the models and designers switch up each week, how would that be determined? Does anybody know?

Why would the mere mention of the word Africa be offensive? The statement wouldn't make any sense if you replaced Africa with Europe or Canada.

Dear Kentaro, it is not racist to reference Africa in a sentence because "Africa" is not a derogatory term. It is an actual place. You are like those people who will say "a black person," but whisper "black" as if they're trying not to swear. And you don't get a pass for being from Japan; bigotry is not solely an American cultural phenomenon. Those prints and head wraps are not "costumes" -- people of great style and fashion sense wear them all around the world, and it's nice to have a non-Eurocentric POV every couple of seasons. In other news, I was actually worried that Brandon's model would wipe out by stepping on one of those overly long pant-straps.

Thelma (looking in car's rear window): Yup, that's him goin'. I loooooove to watch him go.

Faced with a video game task I would (1) immediately start crying real tears, and (2) still be there (with my opponent standing on his head and playing the game with his toes). I am not above waking my teenager up and making him come downstairs to show me how to get Batman over the pit of molten lava after having tried it (and killed Batman) 72 times.

Michaela is so beautiful, it hurts.

The Slim Jim beef jerky commercial with the motorcycle cops (one cop keeps asking a question and then revving his motor loudly when the other cop tries to answer) just fills me with unreasonable rage. I want to punch the guy in the throat.

I was switching back and forth between The Singing Show and The Dancing Show, so it was like an old time Saturday night variety TV evening for me (Lawrence Welk, Sonny and Cher, Flip Wilson -- yes, I'm ancient). I don't think it's ever happened that the ones I was rooting for won in both competitions. I think my favorite moment was during Rashad and Emma's fusion dance, when Rashad went from stern-face-tango to full-smile-cha-cha, and it was like the sun came out, LOL. I'm glad Charo got a chance to play flamenco guitar; it washed away the taste of her obnoxious craziness. The only male "shock boot" I can recall was Wanya, but I don't know if he was considered a ringer. I've never really understood what makes one fit into that category.

Rashad's freestyle was the one I rewound and watched again immediately.

I loved the Shakespearean metre in this movie, and the way the Royals sounded so much more formal than everyone else. But the controversy seemed ... lame. Would people really get riled up over the would-be king trying to protect freedom of the press (rather than restrict it)? That rang hollow for me. Although I did dig the MP who clued Charles into the historical move of dissolving Parliament without leaving any fingerprints.