sandwoman

QuinnM, I totally agree. Resisting having another editor is a mistake I've seen lots of directors make ... in film school. Basically we're watching Shane go through a weird form of film school. It's Extremely difficult for directors to be objective and cut things that need to be cut. The smartest move Anna made was giving the footage to not only a professional editor, but someone who hadn't been on-set. Just the other day, I was watching an early cut of a film one of my friends made (and yes, he's fresh out of film school). He was the director and so far the only editor. There were all sorts of shots that I felt slowed things down or didn't advance the story but I also could tell that those were probably shots that took a while to get. An editor really needs to be objective enough to say things like "this whole scene isn't contributing" or "this cool shot isn't helping us tell the story". When you can remember "Oh it took us allll day to get the party scene ...", you resist cutting it. You can think "Oh I'm being so objective" but it's really impossible. Anyway, I could go on and on, but ... the long and short of it is: Shane is dumb. He's his own worse enemy. I feel bad for Lauren because she seems competent and that she knows better. But I'm probably just projecting on her ...

I think a lot of the laughter at the producers' screening is from ... well, trying to have a positive attitude and familiarity with the actors on screen. When you see people you know doing dumb stuff it's a lot easier to find it funny than seeing strangers doing the same dumb stuff. Especially if you were on-set when things were filmed because you remember everything involved with making the scene. That is my excuse for Moosa laughing because I like Moosa and I want to pretend that he's not an idiot.

I love how Janelle and Nathan go on and ON about how "stable" they are and then she then posts crap on social media every time they fight. The lack of self-awareness is staggering.

That moment of weird silence after Drew was like "I found it very moving to watch Barb this season and see her worry about the impact of everything on Jace" and Janelle and Nathan just S-T-A-R-E-D with dead eyes was terrifying. Like they couldn't (or wouldn't??) even read the social cue of like "say something nice about Barb" or "say something about how you worry about Jace too" or Anything to show some compassion. They can't even Pretend to be humans with emotions. And the way they (well, Nathan) Obsess over what Jace calls Barb is Fucked Up. Focusing on what Jace calls her instead of focusing on his Actual well-being shows how they (again, mostly Nathan) are obsessed with control and with appearances. He doesn't care about how it's going to fuck up Jace to yell at him not to call the woman who raised him 'mom', it's all about some weird fantasy-world that Janelle and Nathan are living in where they're the smartest and the best "co-parents" in the world. Arg! I want to punch them so much!

Yes, this is a real red flag to me. She doesn't want him to have more time with the girls because taking care of them is a part of her identity? That's a terrible reason! That makes it all about her and not about their needs. Really messed up priorities.

I like George a lot, but I think he should have gone home this week. That jock goblin was so unfinished and the painting looked so flat. That said, Rachael and Andrew's missteps saved Sasha. Her interpretation of Cyclops came off as just ignorant. Like she had never any Greek myths or of the Odyssey. She seems very sheltered, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.

And here is Shane's NYTimes Review: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/movies/not-cool-an-entry-in-the-starz-contest-show-the-chair.html Ouch. And

Next week's preview shows Barb, Janelle and Jace agreeing on a plan to transfer Jace back to Janelle (in theory ....): http://www.mtv.com/shows/teen_mom_2/weve-come-so-far-sneak-peek/1084354/video/#id=1731201 I have to admit, I got a little pre-teary when Barb started crying, worrying that Jace will think she's abandoning him. It was like she let her gruff guard down and showed some real emotions. Of course, Janelle sits there, stone-faced, barely looking up from her phone ...

I really didn't like how Kail is so determined to make sure Isaac likes being with her more than with his father. I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to make Isaac choose between Jo and her when he's older (like revisit the custody agreement in court). She's so competitive, she doesn't understand that Isaac can love both her and Jo. He doesn't have to love one of them "more" or like being with one of them "more". It's so frustrating to watch because I can tell she's going to make Isaac neurotic for the rest of his life, always trying to test him to make sure he loves her more than Jo.

I find Anna really insufferable on the show but I'm oddly thrilled for her that she's getting good reviews. Shane's movie seems to be going through a much more non-traditional method of release. I'm sure he'll just shrug off the bad reviews and say that "his" audience loves it and that's all that matters. Either he never really wanted to branch out or he's simply incapable of it.

Hmm. There's a NYTimes review of Hollidaysburg (Anna's movie) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/movies/in-hollidaysburg-friends-gather-during-thanksgiving.html?_r=0 But I'm not sure where it's being shown.

So delightful to see Billy get appreciated! Dave seemed really tickled by him. It also led me to the episode of In Bed with Joan with Billy on it. So funny and (now) sad to watch.

Ug. I had to stop watching when Madison took out the urine lining at the playdate. W.T.F. And her whole shtick about how playdates were "learning experiences", she clearly meant they were learning experiences for other people, not herself. Madison's insistence on making people uncomfortable and forcing people to just deal with her is nauseating. Yes, people think it's weird to have toddlers play with uterine lining! Yes, people think it's weird for children to be exposed to sex toys! That doesn't mean that they're being "body negative" or shaming their children! Her whole way of acting "surprised" that someone would object to what she's doing really somehow bugged me the most of all. She can't interact with "straight" people, but they're supposed to all just accept her insanity. And then when she just giggled telling her husband about the playdate -- arg! I hate her! I don't think there's anything wrong with being open about bodies. My mother showed me a medical textbook and explained to me how babies were made when I was just a little older than Emma. But I really think the way Madison is insistent on "pushing boundaries" and "can't live in the straight world" is selfish. It's all about her and her self-image and not about her daughter. In other news, I found the hyno-mom amusing and silly but not Upsetting. I'm glad they had her and her kids in the episode to show some fun crazy instead of disturbing crazy.

Here's a "bonus clip" of Barb and Jace setting up the party: http://www.mtv.com/shows/teen_mom_2/all-by-myself-bonus-clip/1080790/video/#id=1730903 It's still pretty damn heartbreaking and Barb ... Barb has Problems. She shouldn't be bashing Nathan to Jace (even though I really hate Nathan) because Nathan for all intents and purposes is Jace's stepdad. The way Jace scampers after Barb and climbs the ladder, desperate for physical contact, it reminds me of this psych experiment with baby monkeys. One monkey had a "cloth mother" and one had a "wire mother" (both just dolls). The way Jace snuggles up to Barb and she pays no attention to him, she's like those artificial mothers. She's there but she's not giving anything back. Sadly Janelle is an even worse alternative. The whole situation is like an advertisement for why adoption is a better option for some young mothers than keeping a kid that no one has the emotional resources to love.

This was a boring episode. Both families seemed excessively staged and the mom of the three girls just didn't seem so bad or "extreme". It's only fun to watch if they're crazy!

To answer why they set up the challenge at Sony Studios, the current Sony lot is the old MGM lot, and where they shot the Wizard of Oz. Around Culver City (where Sony is) there's a lot of Wizard of Oz related stuff. So ... I assume that was the concept but probably they couldn't mention it on-air because of some legal issues that came up.

I am fascinated by this show and I love the weekly quotes collection. How old is Marisa? I was curious since her school friend had a daughter in high school. In the restaurant she said, "Can we teach him some manners here?" Um, that's your job. She didn't seem to discipline him very much. Austen seemed like a nice kid and pretty sweet-natured. He's lucky to have a seemingly reasonable dad to balance out his kooky mom. But it was sort of odd to me how immature Marisa acted, forcing her husband to almost parent her. Everything with her was "I want! I want". It felt like she was frozen at a pre-teen maturity level, with no sense of perspective. She lives in an ever changing fantasy world ("he's going to be Andre Agassi!" "he's going to be 6'8"" "He's going to be president!"). One nice thing is that I predict that however Austen ends up, she's so delusional that she'll insist it's the BEST. I've known lesser Marisas who sing how their children are the best in the world at Everything and they just put a spin on everything. No Ivy League? Then she'll crow how Random University is actually Better than the Ivy League. Also she was clearly passing her fear of the water onto him.