ABay

Rick, you may be focusing on the wrong part of the ad... Edited because I had the wrong poster's name. I don't know how that happened.

I think the keys to liking Shaw, if it's ever possible when beginning from the point of hatred, are knowing that Sarah Shahi was really great in Life with Damien Lewis (I try to pretend her USA show didn't exist because...the world would just be better that way) so it's possible for her to do good work, and seeing her character as a distaff revisiting of Reese's character from season 1. I wasn't keen on her at the beginning but I'm used to her now and enjoy some of her one-liners, and her relationship with Lionel. Root is taking a bit longer. I've loathed Amy Acker since Angel, and Root often makes me roll my eyes, but I love that she calls Harold Harry and that she's ruthless in a different way than Reese and Shaw. I still resent the shift away from Reese and Finch, because that's why I watched the show to begin with, and I would've been fine with case-of-the-week for a lot longer. However, I understand that the focus of the first 2 seasons was Reese and Finch building trust and a working relationship, which they achieved at the end of season 2, so things needed to shift. I'm not really sold on the new direction yet, but I've mostly enjoyed the ride so far and will continue to watch, while still hoping for more Harold and Bear and John.

I know, right? It's right in the episode! I didn't like the finale, but I understood what was going on. It was spelled out with unusual clarity right in the damned episode. I do not really understand where the confusion came from. It was floated in the press afterward that the network's use of old footage of the plane debris on the beach during the end credits confused people...but that seems stupid. Although, maybe when combined with how we were taught as viewers over 6 years to not believe a word anyone said because there was no reliable narrator and the repetitive baits and switches, it's a bit understandable.

Haleth, you've reminded me: Thanks to folks here and at TWoP, my life has been enriched by the phrase "Seymour butt necklaces".

Most of the people I know who hated the ending of Lost didn't hate it because it didn't answer the questions, although that's how Lindelof has tried to characterize it. Much as Joss Whedon dismissed fans who didn't like the last season of Buffy by claiming they just couldn't deal with the dark instead of addressing the real problems. Here's my UO of the day: I like Veronica Mars. Sometimes her tone was a little too sharp and I would've liked to have stepped into the room and suggested she dial it back a bit, but I really like the character and wish the show had gone on a few more seasons. My even more UO: If Veronica was male, she wouldn't be criticized as harshly as she is.

Or pick up a copy of We Killed: The Rise of Women in American Comedy. It begins with a chapter on Rivers and her contemporaries, like Phyllis Diller.

Jeez. I thought Hook was supposed to be the scary one.

I'd take expresso back even further (farther?) to "Sugar Shack" from the 1960s: There's a crazy little shack beyond the tracks/And everybody calls it the Sugar Shack/It's just a coffee house and it's made out of wood/Expresso coffee tastes mighty good/That's not the reason why I gotta get back to that Sugar Shack. Jimmy Gilmer, 1963.

Mandy Patinkin and Tom Selleck have become twins. It's probably the facial hair.

My problem with LOLCats and nom nom is that, as one who grew up with Morris the finicky 9 Lives cat and Dodsworth the lazy but fastidious cartoon cat, I expect cats to speak perfect English and not that grammatically incorrect garbage LOLCats uses. God knows, if my own elegant felines could operate the keyboard, they would be on their own version of this thread.

If I was Constance, I'd be helping dear hubby tie the noose and checking for a beam that would hold him.

Just finishing the Man in the Iron Mask. How I wish anyone other than Malkovich had been cast as Athos. Not as bad as Sheen as Aramis in 1993, but it really does not work for me. It would be unfair to compare the movies to the series, so this is strictly from the films: Best D'Artagnan: Gabriel Byrne Best Aramis: Jeremy Irons Best Porthos: Oliver Platt Best Athos: Oliver Reed Best Louis: the one from 2011 but it would be Cassel if I'd been able to rewatch the Four Musketeers Best Richelieu: Charlton Heston Best Ann: It doesn't matter, they're all just props

Oakes is also George in The White Queen. He's the go-to guy for dissipated brothers, I guess.

The 1973 version has been my favorite always. I watched it again for the first time in...possibly this century. The good bits on this watching: Michael York is not nearly as annoying as D'Artagnan as I remembered! It could be because I've now seen far worse in the 1993 and especially the 2011 versions. Also, the slapstick schtick is not as overwhelming as I remembered, although I still hate Spike Milligan and a few other bits. However. And I think all of what follows is because my memories involve both this movie and the second one (The Four Musketeers), it was not as fun as I remembered and the characters not as vibrant, Most disappointing, I felt very little chemistry among the 3M.

random chance, I agree with everything you said except that I like PC as the Doctor.

Rosewater gets standing ovation at Telluride. The author also questions the earlier mixed reviews.

Lotte Verbeek is in Outlander as Geillis Duncan? Douglas? She befriends, more or less, Claire.

I think the DW live show was a one-time thing on BBCA but I watch Hardwick on @midnight, which normally airs Mon-Turs. Wheaton was on at least once, and was fun. He was also good in Eureka and Leverage. But his a 12(?) episode show on SyFy this summer was painful and mercifully not renewed.

The Chris joke made me laugh because one of my friends lives in Florida and his partner is named Chris. I wonder if he knows he's being cheated on.

Nitpicking--I think it's the giant E in End that he hits.

May I and my rocking chair share your porch? Usually, Wil Wheaton's post-Wesley Crusher appearances on talk shows and game shows have been really fun. But I've reached saturation point and need him to vanish again for a while. I, too, still like Chris.

The only thing the Tom Fontana-produced Borgia series has over this one is that they found actors who really looked like the major players, or at least like the portraits that have come down to us. I couldn't make it through 3 whole episodes, though, so I think this one went the smarter route by casting actors who could act, even if they looked nothing like the real people.

Grainger as very good. My own quibble is that she went from sweet to cunning a bit abruptly, but that's the writing and not the actress.

I didn't request the forum, but am pleased to see it anyway. takeitotheBanks, when I first glanced at your post at the top of the page, I thought it was going to say "I think they tried to keep as much historical accuracy out of it as they could." Heh. I'm still annoyed that the Sforzas all became cousins just for the sake of a few quips. However, since I felt like they threw out history with the same joyful abandon from the second Jeremy Irons chowed down on his first piece of scenery, bless him, I just went with it and enjoyed the silliness and the pretty. Returning after reading the other threads...It seems to me that what they did was take every rumor, regardless of historical evidence or consideration that they almost all originated with Della Rovere's camp, and throw it onscreen. And then also messed with the facts behind events, like the first French invasion, in order to boost other storylines. Which is fine, it's not a documentary. I would really have loved an After the Borgias show where they went over what really happened.

I've just begun watching the 3D masterpiece and paused it to share this with you although I'm not quite sure how to describe it...The narrator pronounces "Richelieu" as if it's an English word and he (the narrator) is Inspector Clouseau. I'm waiting for him to ask if Louis has a leesaahns for 'is minkey. OKaaaaay. Well. That was...pretty. Very graphic novelish in visuals and the interpretation of Milady as 17th century Catwoman. How pissed would Riario be to know Buckingham got DaVinci's airship? </Davinci's Demons> MacFadyen is a passable Athos, but see below re: Sutherland and the near impossibility of ruining the role. Ray Stevens was auditioning or reprising his role in Thor, depending on which came first. Aramis was a cypher but at least not offensive. It's the hardest of the 3 to play, I think. Santiago Cabrera is definitely the best I've seen but he's also had a lot more to work with than any of the movie incarnations. This D'Artagnan was AWFUL! OMG, I was chanting "kill him kill him kill him NOW" from the minute he opened his mouth. Christoph Waltz is a forgettable Richelieu, and I've already forgotten his Rochefort. This Constance deserved this D'Artagnan although. Anne wasn't a complete waste but also not a standout. This Louis was definitely in keeping with both Ryan Gage and Jean Pierre Cassel. The less said about Orlando Bloom as Buckingham, the better. I've moved on to 1993 this morning and would like to propose a rule for all future adaptations: No Americans or Canadians unless they can sound like they aren't American or Canadian. It hurts my ears. So far the best part of this version is the bumpers before commercials: there have been 24 adaptations and the novel was originally released in installments in Le Siecle.But then she pronounced the s in Dumas. Bad narrator! Oliver Platt is a very good Porthos, as someone said earlier. He's by FAR the best of the Musketeers in this adaptation. Sheen is the worst Aramis, possibly in the history of filmmaking. Sutherland is a crappy Athos but it's a hard role to really fuck up too badly. Curry...Tim, I love you, honey, but Richelieu as a lech is just wrong. I hope you got extra pay for the cheesiness of some of the dialogue. I liked this Rochefort, possibly even more than Chrisopher Lee, who this actor was clearly cast in memory of, and appreciated the backstory given to him. If any other actress than Gabrielle Anwar had played Anne, the character would've disappeared from the screen completely, as Constance did. Even Rebecca de Mornay as Milady was mostly a waste of time. This Louis was an unmemorable boy-king. No Buckingham in 1993, no Treville in 1993 or 2011. Both use a similar plot device with the Musketeers--in one they're in disgrace, in the other the Musketeers have been disbanded. In both, D'Artagnan's father was a Musketeers. Both use the Musketeers failing to protect L13's father from assassination. I don't remember these from the book but it's been a long time since I reread it Later this weekend: The 1973 classic by which all others are measured (for me) and The Man in the Iron Mask (diCaprio, Malkovich).