Black Knight
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Posts posted by Black Knight
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Who else half-expected Mr. Johnson to say, "Well done, Grandpa," when he looked at the historical picture after adjusting it?
I'm glad that that they chose to make the Oscars episode a work-focused one. Apart from about 20 seconds spent on Janine/Gregory (I loved Jacob's snarky meta line about them not being together now for some stupid reason), this was all about the school. I don't mind the personal storylines per se, but they shouldn't take up the majority of the airtime.
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They could have just slapped a "To Be Continued" on there, though. It's not like audiences back then didn't know about season-ending cliffhangers.
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On 10/6/2023 at 6:58 AM, joanne3482 said:
I felt like they were being a little over-dramatic about the safety of the kittens when it came to the guy team who was in the bottom two. My idiot kitten once jumped from the top shelf of a 6' shelving unit and neatly landed on the sofa. They're more durable than you think.
(I'm just now finally watching S4, and if I had known there was a kitten episode, I would never have put it off this long! Squee!)
While it was a bit over-dramatic - cats are tough creatures and kittens are so lightweight it's hard for them to hurt themselves falling - I still understood the decision. The show knew that catwalk wasn't attached to the other module and would fall if the kitten tried to walk on it, and that other module didn't look all that steady on its four skinny legs either. There's always that 1% chance the kitten lands in an awkward position that dislocates something or bangs their eye against an extruding Lego brick. And at that point the viewer backlash would be tremendous, the charity would be furious, and it would all come down to that the show knew the build wasn't stable. Actually, most likely the show would have to scrap the entire episode rather than dare show any of it, and then hope nothing leaked out - but they'd still have the angry charity to deal with, so good luck with that. The call was the right one.
The entrepreneurs' act might get old for me later, but for now it's cracking me up, particularly when they talked about beta testing the kitten. Heh. I can't be bothered since they really did end up building the best build from a kitten's perspective. I know it was a little busy and unfocused from a human perspective, but for a kitten there was lots of entertainment.
Will is as mostly unfunny as ever, and it pleases me to see more teams not bothering to play along with the lines that fall flat.
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8 hours ago, MagnusHex said:
But there's just onnnne little gripe... the next episode, the season finale, looks like a gag episode. For shame.
Yeah, I'll never understand that decision. Why would that episode not go earlier so Ides of March could be the season ender?
It was Renee O'Connor's first time directing an ep, so maybe that had something to do with it. But really...
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On 3/1/2024 at 2:38 PM, DoctorAtomic said:
They means the Japanese. I thought Blackthorne had the map of the catholic bases, and Macao was a big one. He didn't know about the gunrunning until later, but I was saying instead of doing what he did and trying to strategize instead, he might have done better there. I'm just saying use what you know to keep yourself alive and stay frosty. The yammering on the christian nonsense was getting to me. Once Blackthorne actually calmed down, he was able to communicate to Toranaga the larger context. Not entirely his fault, but not too.
I think you should rewatch the two scenes with Blackthorne, Toranaga and Mariko. There really isn't any "yammering on the Christian nonsense" from Blackthorne at all. In their first scene, he briefly explains, when Toranaga asks why his country and Alvito's are enemies, that they follow different Christian religions - he doesn't even make a "Catholics aren't Christian!" comment - and confirms when Toranaga asks that both Catholics and Protestants believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. Both the questions and Blackthorne's answers then move on from the subject of religion.
In the second scene, Blackthorne doesn't mention religion at all early on, except for letting Mariko know as a matter of courtesy that he is not Catholic, and then later on when explaining the world he mentions the Macao base is "Catholic" and still later about how Portugal and Spain want to replace the government of non-Catholic countries with Catholic rulers (which Mariko chooses to translate simply as "Christian") - points when it's entirely appropriate to mention religion. But he's very in control of what he's saying at all times.
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On 2/27/2024 at 3:27 AM, Puffaroo said:
Okay, I remember the original Shogun, also read the book.
I don't remember either being this dark and dismal.
I don't remember the first Shogun adaptation apart from a few scenes, but I do remember the book and it certainly starts off pretty bleak. Yabu boiling one of the crew alive while everyone around can hear the screams, yeeeeeesh.
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23 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:
Yeah, that's what I figured. I don't like it, causes problems with the Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, IMO.
Per Den of Geek (massive spoilers ahoy):
QuoteVilleneuve streamlined much of this in his film, by compressing the timeline to less than eight months. Jessica is about six weeks pregnant at the end of Dune: Part One and still has not given birth when Dune: Part Two concludes. That means there is no time for baby Leto, even as the movie makes a lot more time to study how Paul becomes a Lawrence of Arabia-like figure, helping lead the Fremen on raids against the Harkonnens.
Villeneuve explained his rationale for some of this when we spoke with him earlier this month.
“Momentum,” Villeneuve said about why he condensed the timeline. “Pressure to feel that the character was running against time, and that the world was eroding under his feet quickly. To give him less time to have a grip on reality, and create more feelings of danger around him. He will not have the time to install himself in the culture; he will not have time to absolutely gain the trust of all the Fremen. I did that just to put Paul more on edge. That was the main idea.”
I don't think the book's time jumps would have worked well for the film.
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Agreed. I watched it last Sunday, and promptly re-watched it with my parents who were interested after hearing that I had watched it. It holds up very well on a rewatch. And as an American, for me it was really interesting to see the way a French trial is conducted (albeit probably some liberties taken as is common with depictions of American trials). I particularly like how they can ask questions of the defendant during the examination of another witness. It's a more free-wheeling format and yet in a way feels more efficient despite the potential for it to spiral out of control.
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6 hours ago, possibilities said:
It is rather amazing that Gregory is now lunching with the students. He used to eat lunch in his car to avoid not only the kids but also the adults.
Presumably his eating lunch in his classroom is his way of still avoiding the adults, plus until now he had the expectation that he wouldn't be bothered by the kids either. Eating in the car isn't very comfortable, so he probably noticed that he could have the same result of avoiding everyone by eating in his classroom and was happy to make the transition, which was working fine for him until now.
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8 hours ago, possibilities said:
I also wonder if they are setting her up to eventually take Ava's job. I never thought of her as being someone who would rather be principal than teacher. But now I'm not sure.
I theorized something similar in the previous episode's thread.
There'd be a certain irony if Gregory, who was focused on the principal track, ultimately decides he wants to stay a teacher for his entire career, while Janine decides she wants to be a principal. And in some ways, I feel like that would be exactly right for both of them.
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15 hours ago, txhorns79 said:
It would be nice to know how it is these women are even friends. They don't seem to have much in common, except Truman, and being in society is not enough to sustain the kind of relationship these women are depicted as having.
I'm not sure about that last statement. New York society is a small world; these women understand each other, but they wouldn't understand any woman outside their bubble, nor would any woman outside their bubble understand - or have much patience for - them. Shared understanding in a small world with limited options for friends goes a long way in making strong friendships between people who otherwise maybe would not have much of anything to do with each other.
I referenced upthread, without giving spoilers because I figured the show was going to cover this, that Liz Smith hated Lee Radziwill for her role in the Gore/Vidal feud. I'll tell the anecdote now: The story Truman told about Gore drunk in the White House was told to him by Radziwill; that's what he needed her to testify to in order to help him with the lawsuit. Smith called up Radziwill to plead with her to testify, and Radziwill made the remark to her about "two f*****" that was featured in this episode, and still refused to testify. Smith, who was bisexual and leaned towards women, refused to have anything to do with Radziwill ever again.
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21 hours ago, Blakeston said:
I'm glad they had a character who just happened to be non-binary, but I admit I was distracted by it. I kept expecting one of the teachers to make a faux pas related to it, and I was waiting to cringe.
I wasn't surprised. This is a large urban school that goes through 6th grade (which is what Jacob teaches). Multiple older kids will be identifying as nonbinary. The teachers would all be familiar by now.
I was aware of both Jeffrey and Geoffrey, but I have not seen the latter as a last name. As such I would have found it perfectly plausible that Janine just defaulted to Jeffrey, but I guess they thought the Gee-oh-free thing was funny.
I can understand why Barbara doesn't leave her church. Yes, the people in the choir are jerks, but they are only a few of the people at church. Barbara and her husband would have friends in the congregation at large, plus they may really like the minister. Going to another church just so she can have solos would be, to Barbara, missing the overall point of going to church to begin with. It's supposed to be about her relationship with the Lord, not about personal gratification.
I really liked this episode, largely because of Barbara and Ava, but I feel conflicted because the show has really shifted away from work storylines to personal storylines and I'm not crazy about that shift, even if some strong episodes come out of it. I preferred the balance of earlier seasons, where it was about a third personal and two-thirds work. Now it's the reverse. I hope they can course-correct a bit and at least get it to 50/50. I wonder if they're just finding it easier to use the kids less.
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I don't think Ryan Murphy had much to do with this season. I think every episode so far has been credited to Jon Robin Baitz as the writer and Gus Van Sant as the director. According to IMDB, Baitz wrote four of the eight episodes and Laurence Leamer (who wrote the book) wrote the other four. Van Sant directed six episodes and Jennifer Lynch and Max Winkler each directed one. Baitz is credited as developing this for TV. Ryan Murphy doesn't have an individual credit anywhere in the opening or closing credits, but his eponymous production company gets a card at the very end.
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NFL Thread
in Sports
It's just so different from the Chiefs, who discussed this extensively and prepared for it and were very clear on what to do if the game went into OT and which option to choose if they won the coin toss and so forth.
And of course, they knew the correct thing to do if they had won the coin toss, which would be to kick the ball. They explained exactly why, and Shanahan has come out with his own explanation for why he chose the way he did, and the contrast between the two explanations is just so remarkable and really showcases what might be Shanahan's biggest problem in these big games, which is no killer instinct. He plays not to lose and he doesn't seem to get that other teams play to win.
He really thought that it was a good idea to set things up to (try to) win on the third possession? What a fool. That's a loser's mentality. The Chiefs were going to do whatever it took to win on the second possession, which is why they wanted to have it. First, they get the chance to win it on the first possession via defensive TD, but if not, they get the chance to win it on the second possession, knowing exactly what it is that they need. They have the freedom to play with a four-down mentality instead of three - and giving Mahomes four downs is a dumb-ass thing in itself - and they can win. If the Niners get a FG, then the Chiefs know to get a TD. If the Niners get a TD, the Chiefs know to get a TD and then a 2-point conversion. The game was never, ever getting to that third possession, Shanny.
He will never win the big one until he learns to stop playing not to lose, and starts playing to win.
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I don't think the district people are evil either. They'll just run up against the same things the teachers do, of not being able to change things enough fast enough, and maybe become the victim of budget cuts at the district.
If there's a longterm purpose in mind, I suspect it's about getting Janine to become interested in pursuing the administration track. This show reminds me in some ways of Superstore, and on that show the Janine counterpart eventually became upper management.
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NFL Thread
in Sports
On another note, Shanahan made exactly the same mistake that he did in the first SB against KC, which is letting the first half end without going for more points. He could have used his time-outs to ensure there'd be time for the Niners to run some plays. You just can't let these opportunities pass by in close games against teams like KC.
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NFL Thread
in Sports
1 minute ago, twoods said:My bad! I didn’t know in the playoffs the rules changed. Is that because of the Bills/KC matchup?
Yes.
CBS Sports put up an article about whether it's better to kick off in OT. Under the new rules, it's better to kick off, and that's the choice that is usually made in college ball. First, if you get a pick-six interception, the game is over. Second, if you don't get a pick-six, still when you have the ball for your possession, you know exactly what you need to win.
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NFL Thread
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Thank goodness the Niners lost - I can go to bed instead of having to spend several hours working.
Robbie Gould's voodoo doll worked. Shanahan bet he could have such a high-scoring offense that the kicker wouldn't matter. That blew up in his face.
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I’d be surprised if Gore Vidal doesn’t make an appearance, given that Lee Radziwill had a lot to do with the Capote/Vidal feud. (Liz Smith spilled the beans on it a little while back - she couldn’t stand Radziwill and this was why.)
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3 hours ago, baldryanr said:
If they want it, Steph, KG, DWade, and Duncan are locks in their cities.
The Warriors will assuredly do a trio of statues for Steph, Klay and Dray. (And they'll definitely want statues.) Their jerseys will be retired together, etc.
I was in Salt Lake City a few years ago and saw the statues for Malone and Stockton. They never won a NBA championship, but the franchise still wanted to honor them as one of the all-time great pairings.
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NFL Thread
in Sports
Any reason for not having the Jaguars in your ranking of likely teams? They'd be my first guess since the owner is more amenable to giving up home games. You're right that the Packers would be a good match-up, but historically the NFL hasn't really taken that into consideration for the international games.
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NFL Thread
in Sports
Good luck with your bingo card, @Dr Spengler! One year I had 0-0 for a square and it actually worked out pretty well.
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On 1/28/2024 at 8:22 PM, LexieLily said:
Maybe it's me but if you (the general you) are a fan of the Pistons wouldn't that be worse? If you're going to have a year where you lose 28 games in a row (and promptly lose the next seven after that lone win), wouldn't you want the horrific year to be "worth something" by being the worst team of all-time? Yeah, they'll probably end up making the top ten list of worst teams (either by number of losses or winning percentage, IDK how they qualify those), but that's just a garden-variety awful team.
I think the closest I've personally experienced this was the season the Raiders were threatening to go 0-16, and I can only say that I was rooting for them to get a win and avoid that infamy. While they would not have been the first team to go winless, they still would have gone down in infamy and I know I didn't want that. So I expect I wouldn't feel different about a chance to set a new record for futility.
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NFL Thread
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So, how is everyone leaning for the Super Bowl prediction? This is actually relevant to my job, because if I guess right, I'll save myself a ton of work, but if I guess wrong, I'll be doing a lot of work Sunday night after the game's ended.
I've been going back and forth, and I believe it'll be a close game that's decided late, possibly even in OT, but I'm currently leaning towards the Chiefs because I think their DC and defense are better than the Niners'.
Season 2 - Feud: Capote vs The Swans
in Feud
Thanks to the poster who provided the link to the infamous story. Having just read it, I can understand why Slim Keith was so angry with Truman - except for Ann, out of them all she had the most reason. I also see now why the show had the Slim/Bill affair, since the story's Slim says she and Bill were lovers for two years back when they were young, and remained incredibly close afterwards. So it wasn't a completely ludicrous plot point to have them fall back in bed for a bit.
I finally watched the last two episodes, and they worked for me. I admit it, the dreamy elegiac stuff always works for me. I understand where some would think it's over-indulgent and drawn out and boring, but for me it's none of those things. I haven't really felt Ryan Murphy's hand in this show until these last two episodes, but I sure recognized it now. For both of us there's something so interesting about the looking back and the consideration and reconsideration of our narratives. Joan Didion, one of the pioneers of New Journalism, famously wrote, "We tell ourselves stories in order to live." And the question Ryan Murphy sometimes asks is, "What are the stories we tell ourselves in order to die?" I was shocked when Capote died at the end of episode 7 and didn't understand how there could be an episode 8, but then I saw episode 8 and understood.