ribboninthesky1
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Posts posted by ribboninthesky1
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On 10/25/2016 at 5:38 AM, Hybridcookie said:
Same, I have no interest in Bucky, and to go one step forward, I have no interest in Steve either.
Steve is only about a step below Tony Stark for me on the annoyance scale. He's not level mostly because I've never liked Tony Stark, whereas I liked Steve once upon a time. I was over both of them in Civil War, and would have been okay with Zemo or Black Panther taking them out with Bucky. If only T'Challa had been more emo and bloodthirsty and immature...
I preferred Bucky when he was just The Winter Soldier. I assume he was brainwashed in the comics as well, but mostly, there's only so much of "It wasn't his fault he murdered a lot of people" I can take. I mean, I get it, but I tend to be more sympathetic to the people who lost their loved ones (even Tony, in this context). To his credit, he acknowledged it.
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Yeah, I've never understood The Talking Dead thing, either.
Apparently, This Is Us also has some kind of postmordem, though I've never watched it because I don't give a damn what the showrunners and actors think about the show. Matter of fact, after 4 episodes, I'm pretty sure I'm out - it's too treacly and as the lone person who still likes Kate, it's best I take my leave before the writing for her gets worse.
Thanks to Netflix, I watched the first two seasons of Penny Dreadful. I guess you have to be into gothic horror to fully appreciate it? Don't know, but I won't be watching season 3. I hesitated to watch it because of scenery-chewing, Gollum-adjacent Eva Green, and yeah...she didn't disappoint in that regard.
Also, I anticipated this awesome performance from Josh Hartnett that I used to read about. He was adequate, but the show, especially in the first season, kept going on and on about how "complicated" Ethan Chandler was, and I kept waiting to see all these layers. Guess I wasn't looking deep enough. All of the main characters had secrets of their own, so he wasn't "pretending" or "acting" more than anyone else. I didn't think he was hot in his prime, and still don't. Kudos for the height, but his face is super-punchable.
Meanwhile, my internal battle was in relation to Timothy Dalton, who has aged quite well. His character is so despicable, but damn if the man doesn't hold my attention on screen.
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16 hours ago, ShadowFacts said:
Chrissy may be content at her weight, or she may just say it, but I think being content and accepting oneself is a healthier way to start working at a problem than self-loathing.
52 minutes ago, taragel said:What looks like "content with her weight" because she's a happy, confident, charismatic person may not be content at all.
Agreed. I've long thought there was this false dichotomy in the public discourse around weight loss - you're either self-loathing, miserable, ever-striving in your progress or happy with no effort put forth. This is why I'm uneasy with how they've written Kate thus far, and don't have much confidence in how they'll move forward with her. I think someone mentioned elsewhere that Dan Fogelman consulted with his overweight sister(in-law?) on Kate's storyline. While her experience is quite valid for her, it also doesn't mean only her experience is valid.
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Agreed on all points, @LydiaMoon1. I think having her acknowledge it got my hopes up, you know?
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@Gurkel, your post is hilarious. Bless you for taking one for the team.
I used to think, "I hate his films, but at least he's employing black actors." But then, I started hearing about his issues with unions (allegedly as early as 2008), and it reaffirmed my loathing for the man. But hey, no doubt Madea puts people in the theater seats.
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Double-post, my mistake!
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3 hours ago, luna1122 said:
I think Justin Hartley is a better actor than apparently most everyone else does.
I think he's just fine (in more ways than one). For me, the Big Three acting saves the show, as the writing feels all over the place to hit the emotional moments.
I care not a wit about Jack and Rebecca. Not invested in how he died, when she married Miguel, or their relationship in general.
While I completely agree that Kate was out of line in the most recent episode, I still don't care for Toby. For now, I think she's been written into a corner.
I hated Beth's "Now I feel like a bitch" line from episode 2. I thought she was well within her right to question William's intentions, especially since Randall wasn't going to.
I've always given Randall the side-eye for bringing a complete stranger to live in their home after meeting him for five minutes.
William's quite fit for a man with stage 4 stomach cancer and only months (I think?) to live.
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3 hours ago, Tooch said:
Absolutely. It's a fine line for the writers to walk though, because they probably don't want to put the lovely actress through the wringer of having to act out things that have likely happened to her in real life. Though really, the life of a fat woman of her size is rich with story possibilities. It's one thing to be a bit overweight but when you reach Kate's size there is a lot that's just legitimately so difficult, and dealing with society's treatment is one of them.
True. And maybe the writers will address it from that angle - it's early days yet.
2 hours ago, ChromaKelly said:Oh right, I forgot he said that.
However, it's still a consideration though to have his children in near racial isolation. I moved from an area where the schools are supposedly "better" to a more diverse area because I didn't want my son to always be the only black kid in class. OTOH, his daughters are at least coming home to a black family, so it's different for them.I do think seeing yourself reflected in your family is significant, especially as a child. Also, the girls seem to be get along well - no sibling animosity. There's also Beth's family, assuming she's close to them. To PRgal's point, I could see Randall and Beth making it a point to have their girls socialize with other black kids, or connect with presumably other black parents and their kids via school. I don't think there's been any commentary about the girls being the only blacks at the school, unless I missed it.
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1 hour ago, Dee said:
And the show is never called out about these blatant double standards. Instead, we're expected to view Violet as an unfailingly wise, impartial third party when she's anything but.
Right? That's why I can't roll with her. Yes, he's family, but she was the one who acknowledged early on that part of Ralph Angel's problem was Ernest treating him with kid gloves. Yet, she's taken every opportunity to do the same. *throws hands up*
Tina Lifford is a treasure, but whoo chile, I'm over Vi's coddling of a grown-ass man. I'm interested to see what she does for money if her break-up with Hollywood isn't resolved quickly.
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Forgot to mention Kate - agreed with what Tooch wrote. What I feel like is missing for adult Kate is how others treat fat people, especially fat girls and women. It's not all in her head. Her insecurities are not JUST because some 8-year-old girls drew a pig on a napkin and wrote they were embarrassed of her. It likely persisted, in one way or another, for a very long time. Maybe they'll show it, maybe not. But this subtext that Kate just needs to pull up her bootstraps and get out of her own head reads wrong thus far.
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On 10/20/2016 at 2:17 PM, topanga said:
Part of the reason I'm curious is that I'm a black woman who's been told for most of my life that I "talk white." I feel free to say Randall doesn't talk "white." Although he uses proper grammar, always puts a 'g' on the end of his gerunds, and rarely uses slang--unless he's joking with his wife--Randall definitely sounds like a black man.
I wonder how much of this is inadvertently Sterling. But I'm glad you reference the talking white vs black thing NOT being about use of proper grammar. There's an inflection and tone common, though not exclusive, to blacks with deep American roots. Especially if those roots are Southern.
On 10/20/2016 at 2:18 PM, ChromaKelly said:I do have to cut Rebecca some slack as an adoptive mom, as this is the era of Diff'rent Strokes and Webster. Parents were encouraged to go with a colorblind, love is enough attitude. So no, it probably didn't occur to her to reach out to other black people.
*Interesting to note that we're all, myself included, talking about Rebecca's role in this and not Jack's. Even today, in the online adoption groups I'm on, it's 85% moms. Some gay dads. Rarely any hetero married dads. It seems to be the woman's role to go do all the adoption/parenting research and bring back the clif notes version. Jack could have been taking Randall to a barber shop, as that's usually a father/son thing to do.In my few comments on the episode thread, I call out Rebecca and Jack on their Randall parenting. And to further clarify, my issue with them, but particularly Rebecca since her reactions were the focus, was more about what I inferred how she didn't pay attention to Randall enough to know he sought out and felt comfortable with other blacks at a young age. Some black kids in an overwhelmingly white environment, adopted or no, prefer to socialize with whites and/or other non-blacks. That wasn't Randall. I just find it hard to believe she and Jack wouldn't have ever interacted with black parents, even in passing, before that pool incident.
Presumably, black families live in the area because they came to the pool. My interpretation was that they (Rebecca and Jack) may have deliberately avoided it because it was uncomfortable, not because they didn't have opportunity. Which is very human, but unfair to Randall. I emphasize Randall, because for me, it's beyond the general "black kids should get to know where they came from" spiel. Some kids don't care. It's that Randall was genuinely interested, and I expect parents to tune into their children. Particularly "I'm a 9 out of 10 on the parenting scale and am a helicopter parent before that was even a thing" Rebecca.
I know most were sympathetic to Rebecca because she was panicked about finding Randall, but eh, I feel like the average parents in the mid-80s would have been perfectly fine with letting their 8-year-olds out of sight for a bit at a neighborhood pool. It likely wouldn't have been an issue until they were getting ready to leave and couldn't find the kids. I'm only a couple years older, and I distinctly recall, at that age, being able to go all around the neighborhood as long as I was home before dark. I don't think my experience was exceptional.
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On 10/15/2016 at 5:53 PM, Empress1 said:
Charley was having a day. Nova was dead-ass wrong for taking the money and for counting Charley's money. And she doesn't have an extra ten grand lying around - Charley's not getting that money back.
Maybe Nova will sell some extra weed...
I've been #teamCharley since episode one, and still am. She doesn't even get a day to grieve, process anything because she has to handle business. I've always liked Micah, but yeah...teenagers. My perception was that Charley was more upset he was with Nova than him leaving the house.
Charley was much kinder with Nova than I would have been.
I felt bad for Aunt Vi, she didn't deserve Hollywood's lies. Totally understand why she's done with him for now. That said...she came off rather self-righteous well before the crawfish boil:
- when Charley dared to *gasp* complain about the farm challenges, her response was, "Well, ya'll wanted it." She conveniently forgot her part in conjoling Charley and Nova, who actually didn't want it, to keep the farm for Ralph Angel's sake. The dude who knows little to nothing about farming.
- she conveniently left out that Ralph Angel would have DESERVED to be arrested during that warehouse bust as he was a full and willing participant. So her "everything isn't what it seems" didn't make any sense in context of Ralph Angel. It is exactly as it seemed - Ralph Angel was engaged in criminal acts. Whatever, Ava and writing team with this "Ralph Angel is doing the best he can" crap. Show me via his actions.
- she was awfully sassy with the restaurant owner for someone who up and quit with no warning, especially since she didn't bother to have a conversation with the owner about his nephew and give him a chance to address it.
- the one time she made complete sense to me was about not giving Ralph Angel custody, but then she lost me when she made it about Darla.
Hearing about Darla was awful, but she deserves a chance to be a mother as much as Ralph Angel deserves the chance to be a father. I wonder if Darla was an addict when she and Ralph Angel were together. If so, Ralph Angel has culpability for knowingly getting involved with an addict AND having unprotected sex with her. It ain't just on Darla. Not to mention, he slept with her AGAIN fairly recently. Either way, Darla hasn't been shown much, and the little we've seen has her behaving much more responsibly than Ralph Angel. So, again, I need to see Ralph Angel doing something beyond looking fine yet sulky when he doesn't get his way. Or show me Darla as the irresponsible, unstable drug addict that Vi saw.
On 10/19/2016 at 2:58 PM, Timetoread said:I'll stand alone as the only one who doesn't like Nova's new boo-ette and has no interest in their "woke" storyline. I love, love, LOVE Ava Duvernay, but it felt preachy.
My main problem with it is that it is very male-centered. As if black girls and women are impervious to the same conditions that these black men and boys have experienced. Not nary a mention of the black girls and women who have been beaten, shot, raped, and murdered, not just by police officers, but by the men in these very communities. I mean, if you're gonna go there, then go all the way there and be circumspect with it. I expect that kind of myopia on shows where the leads are primarily black men. I expect better from this show. I'm trying to hang, but it's tough.
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I'll agree to disagree. To me, the point isn't whether the black kids that day were new to him (and I don't know whether the notebook was used for every NEW black person he met, or just every black person he interacted with) - it's that he seemed to know there would be black kids there, so that indicated to me that the family had been there before. I'm also inferring that it wasn't Yvette's first time there, either, since she knew who Rebecca was. I watched that scene again - Yvette wasn't initially rude. Rebecca came through, completely ignoring Yvette literally standing right there watching the kids, asking what Randall was doing there. Um...safely playing with some kids? I don't think Rebecca was mean-spirited about it, but I got why Yvette was snarky with her.
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If it was their first time at that pool, why did Randall suggest it? How would he know there would be black kids there?
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2 hours ago, ChromaKelly said:
See, I had a completely different take. I was horrified at the way Rebecca was acting. Randall is black, therefore a member of the black community and he deserves to be raised with some basic understanding of his culture and where he comes from, and to have proper hair and skin care.
There's a phrase that is often repeated in transracial adoption: Your black child should not be your first - or only - black friend. Those moms have noticed Rebecca and Randall, and noticed her making no effort to speak to the few black families in the community. Granted, Rebecca and Jack didn't have much time to prepare for having a black child, but at this point they've had him for eight years. She should have taken him to a black barbershop by now at the very least.
There are still white adoptive parents (heretofore referred to as WAPs) who are like this. They will subscribe to blogs and by books by other WAPs all day long about hair and skin care, but won't set foot in a black salon/barbershop. They form WAP playgroups for their kids but don't bother having their kids in a diverse school so they can make friends with other black children raised in black families.
So, I was relieved that Rebecca went back over and saw this as an opportunity to connect with a black family.Yep. Here's my thing: it wasn't the family's first time at that pool. How many times had they been there? I'm willing to bet Randall made a beeline for the black kids every time they went. So, he's making the effort to interact with them. Yet, it never occurred to Rebecca and Jack to know who the heck Randall was playing with? It's taken eight years for them, especially Rebecca, to realize that he likes playing with kids who look like him? Even though they know he's bullied by Kevin (and other white kids) referring to him as Webster? To others' point, it never occurred to them to take him to a black barber? Word? #teamblackpoolmom #Rebeccadeservedthecondescension #otherwiseshedstillbeclueless
ETA:
I felt for little Kate. The actress has the most adorable, cherubic face. Makes me want to take her home and feed her a wholesome meal with her favorite dessert. Little Randall too, bless his heart.
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Yeah, I know nothing about the guy, but reading that he wanted to sleep in their camper despite Jillian's condition, yet when it was time to go the hospital, he took the time to notify the camera crew doesn't exactly advertise "caring and attentive partner." But then, Jillian is the woman who, after her water broke, took the time for staged photos. I hope little Leo has some extended family that will provide a sense of normalcy - his parents obviously aren't the type.
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Ha! That's fair. The staged photos are part of the reason why I found the post very odd.
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Sigh, I'm getting old. With increasing frequency, I read the box office results (thanks, Dejana for your diligent research), and know fuck-all about half the films listed. Occasionally, it's most of the list. For a long time, I preferred movies to TV, and it just hit me that the opposite is true for me these days.
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I was more disturbed, after reading the link, at how her fiancé/husband was so keen to bring the camera crew along when it wasn't what she initially wanted. She seemed fine once they got to the hospital, but...yeah. I don't follow her show, but that information gave me a peek into their dynamic. But in general, I thought the whole blog post was...odd.
As for the panties - it makes perfect sense to me to wear those after extraction of a being the size of a small watermelon from the vagina. God bless mothers!
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I think it depends. I assume he's well-liked enough (by fans and producers) to be the Bachelor, but historically, the leads are commonly perceived in a negative light by the end of their seasons. So depending on the edit he gets and how he handles himself on camera, who knows how it will end up. Time will tell. What I'm most curious about is if he'll sleep with anyone who is NOT his F1. If so...dude's gonna have some 'splaining to do!
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Ah, I see what you mean. The writers have hit the "Kate's self-esteem is negative zero! She's self-loathing! Because she's obese!" button hard thus far. But I think the actress is more self-assured, and it comes across in her performance.
1 hour ago, AzraelKay said:And until this episode where Randall said his father had been with them one week, I thought it had been longer than that since Kate and Toby met each other. I think we've seen them go to 2 meetings, I thought at one point he said something about a 3rd date, we know that they went to a party together....seems like a lot for 1 week.
You bring up a good point with the meetings. You'd think they were once a week, which could make it seem they've been dating longer. He said something about them having 3 lunches and 4 dinners and they've made out X times (ep 2), and it seems like he's been with her every day since they met. Maybe the meetings are twice a week?
The wonky timeline confirms my belief that the writers are playing fast and loose with details to hit certain emotional milestones. Or maybe this is a sci-fi show in disguise, with the east and west coasts operating in different time dimensions.
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I just watched that scene again - perhaps Mable was killing two birds with one stone, as it were. Shooting the uncle seemed to be more about him betraying the family by meeting with the Puerto Ricans. Either way, Mariah's rape was cannon fodder for Cottomouth's flashbacks and used to set up Diamondback as the main villain for the latter half of the season. We didn't get to see young Mariah's pov because that was never the writers' intent.
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I don't know about obsession; I assume there was some backlash about Barb towards the showrunners I'm not aware of? I'm comfortable with liking/disliking a character for whatever reason, but I've never cared enough to bother contacting the showrunners about it. I didn't think much of Eleven or the young actress portraying her based on what I saw, but hey, she was presumably the cat's pajamas to most viewers, and that's fine. She was meant to be.
I've never been a Winona Ryder fan, but I also believe she had the toughest job with her character. She started off quite annoying for me, but once she became more proactive to get to Will, I appreciated her more. She was quite fearless, IMO, particularly after remaining in that house despite the shit she first witnessed. Not sure I could have done it alone.
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11 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:
There was also some offensive subtext in his insinuation that since he's interested in Kate (at her size), she ought to drop her other priorities and nab him, or at least hop into the sack because she's lucky to have the offer.
You think so? I agree on the offensive subtext, but I perceived it was more a sense of entitlement that, since he doesn't "perform grand gestures for every girl he goes on a few dates with," she should see him as priority one. It didn't occur to me that it was about her weight. Sadly, it's common for a certain kind of man to feel as if he's owed something because he did something "romantic." Akin to what ThoughtAFool wrote.
2 hours ago, PRgal said:People might actually WANT to see Kevin because his show could be billed as "that sitcom guy with the viral video." Or maybe not. In any case, he'll probably end up in some sort of Full Monty type production (even if he doesn't want to be in one) as the "one guy withOUT the Dad Bod."
Ha!
1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:Are they portraying Kate as Kevin's personal assistant AND agent? She sent him scripts? And now he's off to NYC to find work with no agent?
I feel like they're playing fast and loose with key details because they're trying to hit certain emotional beats. For me, it makes those beats feel shallow. The actors are elevating the material, but I'm curious...how long will that sustain viewers?
Merlin (2008) - General Discussion
in Merlin (2008)
Really late to the party, but I agree with this. As talented as Colin Morgan is, I watched until the end mostly for Gwen. Or perhaps more specifically, Angel Coulby.
I vaguely recall reading on the TWOP forum that the producers took inspiration from Smallville, of all shows. Told me everything I needed to know about the writing.
I watched the show real-time back when it aired, but was recently watching some episodes on Netflix. I remember liking Merlin in season one, but watching it again? He got insufferable quickly for me. I think it was something like the 2nd or 3rd episode where Merlin is whining about wanting to be himself, and I thought, "Jeez, you just got there, and you witnessed Uther's hatred towards sorcery first hand, why are you already complaining? You could always go home..."
Arthur and Merlin, despite being the central relationship on the show, was the least interesting for me. I thought Colin and Bradley usually were at their best opposite other actors. For me, almost all of the most poignant scenes involved Arthur or Merlin interacting with other characters, not each other. The petulant sniping got old really fast, and I found their final scenes together dull. I would have preferred Arthur and Gwen getting to say goodbye to each other.
Santiago Cabrera is HOT, and should be on my TV as much as possible, but Lancelot's martyr complex drove me up the wall.