snarktini
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Posts posted by snarktini
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On 12/7/2023 at 1:33 PM, Silver-hyren said:
Sounds like code for Sales.
(This was about Corey's title, something something client strategy and analytics.) I have Strategy in my title, my colleagues have Analytics, and all our work is client/account based...and about the last thing we do is Sales! Of course I can't speak for what he actually does but I doubt it's that. Data is a good guess.
On 12/13/2023 at 3:42 PM, Ancaster said:I don't find a refreshingly broad knowledge base and education arrogant, I find it laudable and depressingly rare here in the States.
100% agree. They are flat-out impressive, and have clearly had a broad and rich education in their lives. Language, music, technology, even kayaking. They are so smart and have their shit together. Good for them.
Rob and Corey have my heart vote, they are just pure joy. They were called goody two shoes above -- why is that bad?! They are so kind, and I love that.
But I can't say a bad word about the any of the final teams. They are all great pairs, supportive and capable.
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On 11/30/2023 at 2:52 PM, J-Man said:
Maybe I misheard, but I thought John specifically said that he'd never worked as a server but that he was really enjoying the "hospitality aspect" of the task.
He definitely said that he has never been a server. Watching him I was sure he had been, by how easily he slid into that hospitality patter when greeting the table and and setting down each course, and how quickly he knew to create a circular serving order around the table. But nope! He's just an observant person. (And likely one who's eaten in a bunch of nice restaurants.)
This is the most likeable cast we've seen in a long time. Ever? I tried to watch the earliest seasons last year and the screaming and bickering chased me away pretty fast.
It's rare to have multiple teams that are so likable AND so competent. Pulling for the brothers or Corey and Rob, and would also be happy for the friends. I love how steady they all are -- just plain good people having a great time. AL & Steve are my last pick and the least likeable but damn if they aren't good racers. They get the job done even with major setbacks. In other seasons, they wouldn't be anywhere close to the most irritating ones. -
Finished my season rewatch. I think Sara might actually have won this if it weren't for the liver.
I will never not think it's mean to have the last chefs eliminated be the sous in the finale! Even propelled by professional pride and camaraderie, it's got to be hard. Your dreams have been dashed, you're tired, but instead of recovering and feeling your feelings on you have to bust your butt to help someone else win something you were hoping would be yours. -
On 5/31/2023 at 8:28 PM, Vermicious Knid said:
I get why people perceive Buddha as arrogant, but in his case he's just that good. And there's no soul in his food? I see it in his meticulous preparation, his dedication, and the exquisite (most of the time) dishes it produces.
I am often sympathetic to chefs like Buddha who are incredibly talented and meticulous but can be perceived as sore losers or arrogant or even faking humility as noted elsewhere. (I'll put Blaise into this category. And Ruby from GBBO who was sure she sucked even when she was winning.) Overachievers are driven to be perfect / the best and what's hiding behind that -- what is doing the driving -- is often anxiety. A fear that you really aren't good enough. So it's not unusual to find a mix of confidence and anxiety. Yes, I've won a lot and that proves something objectively, but what if it's not enough? What if this is the time I fail? In the creative world, that's always possible! (And if it does go poorly I interpret their sour faces as being upset with themselves for being imperfect, not directed at others.)
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4 hours ago, Rickster said:
I thought the look of all three showstoppers were underwhelming for a final, but I thought it unfair that Josh was criticized for his decoration when his was the only one decently decorated.Definitely underwhelming style across the board, but I thought Matty's was way better, decoration-wise, than Josh! Matty's was more modern and and had a stronger, more professional aesthetic IMO. No one won for decoration in this finale, it must have come down to flavor -- and Matty had that. After their initial tasting comments it seemed likely to break his way.
Have we ever had an all-men final before?-
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On 4/28/2023 at 10:19 AM, caitmcg said:
Honestly, I’d rather a dumb movie tie-in on TC than their being forced to cook with some brand of mediocre prepared food.
The teams' strategy of focusing on claiming proteins showed how much they’re all stuck in that flesh-as-centerpiece mindset, whereas the all-vegetables yellow team had to be more intentional, and it paid off. All three of those dishes looked and sounded delicious.
To your first point: definitely!
To your second, for sure the veggies pushed their creativity and they did a fantastic job. Proves something about veggies as the star. But worth noting those were decent ingredients -- peas, red peppers, and avocado can all be the center of a savory dish. Not to mention they are vegetables! Getting stuck with prickly pear and orange is a disadvantage. Dessert or salad is about it? Sweet, watery fruit is not very versatile and they didn't have access to something like fish or chicken. -
On 5/18/2023 at 8:32 AM, KatWay said:
I'll be honest, and I'm probably in the minority here, but I didn't like it much. There were some good parts and the ending felt satisfying overall but I thought it dragged on a lot and was both overly grim and cheesy at times.
On 5/10/2023 at 1:25 PM, tennisgurl said:This movie was surprisingly dark and gory, the High Revolutionary's horribly ruined face, everything that was done to the poor animals, the casual destruction of the animal planet, shit got very real. Although I really am not all that surprised, for a series that is famous for being a light hearted fun space opera, the Guardians series also has had some of the most disturbing things in the whole MCU, like Ego's cave full of the skeletal remains of his murdered children.
I didn't like it at all, frankly. Too disturbing, too violent, too torture-y, not enough humor. The other films had disturbing violence too but on balance it tilted a lot more toward light-hearted space opera. This was a slog of pain and grotesque human & animal experimentation. I was really excited for a fun Saturday night flick and ended up needing to take a couple hours afterwards to regulate my nervous system before I could go to sleep. And honestly I'm not even that sensitive to animal cruelty, it's not a big trigger for me. So, I don't know, this just wasn't the right movie or the right day for me.
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Mimi's superpower is her "cat that ate the canary" look. She always looks like she knows something delicious that you don't. It's in the eyes. Tyra would approve.
I did appreciate having a native speaker say avant garde! Somehow it's less pretentious that way. I haven't always been a fan but this time I liked Laurence best. By a mile.
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It's not the best movie, plot/screenplay wise, but it's visually stunning! The color palette (especially the color palette), the sunlight, the staging and blocking, the quirky details like the ramp to nowhere. It's just gorgeous.
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Oh dear. I'm doing a rewatch and it has been my happy place! I often stay up a little too late because I'm having so much fun watching. It's been total joy (except Gina, but the rest is awesome enough to overcome). Very sad to find out I've reached the point in the series where Adrien Pimento enters. His manic energy is grating.
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On 6/27/2023 at 9:10 PM, South said:
When Aunt Patty made her comment about blindness, Allison and Todd exchanged “wtf looks”. Before they could pipe up, Margaret walked over with some urgent info. But yeah, they never got back to it. After the realization that they were at the wrong awards “banquet”, I just figured that Patty is a loon.
Strong evidence toward "loon":
There's a blink-and-you-miss-it scene where Patty and Francey walk in front of Margaret's office, and Patty explains to Francey "This is Margaret Wright's office." (Cue Francey raising eyebrows at being told where her own boss's office is.) Patty continues: "The glass was my idea. She wanted brick. There's asbestos in them."There's also a moment where Margaret asks Todd if he remembers when Aunt Patty suggested that the best way to get rid of their Christmas tree was to eat it.
Loon city.
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On 6/9/2023 at 3:23 PM, Tess23 said:
Maybe it's just me, but I sensed a big lack of enthusiasm about Buddha's dishes overall from the judges - they loved the appearance of all four course and talked about how delicious they were, but I never did hear the 'oh my gosh, this is incredible.' Their comments regarding Buddha's food seemed slightly robotic.
I sensed that too, especially compared to how enthusiastic they were about his Tucson finale meal. It didn't sound like they emotionally connected to the food. That said, it's impossible to know if this is due to editing monkeys, what the judges chose to verbalize, or if they genuinely were less enthusiastic.
Tho IMO the first two courses got subdued reactions across the board. Great elements, but also flaws and no runaway winners. Things really picked up in courses 3 and 4 but until then the dinner seemed shaky.
On 6/9/2023 at 4:09 PM, barshi50 said:Sara's dessert sounded delicious, but why did she serve just a couple of crumbles instead of a slice or a cube?
As she was tearing up the cake to put on plates, she said that's exactly how her mom does it!
On 6/10/2023 at 8:46 AM, Norma Desmond said:Oh and regarding Buddha's alleged sour face when someone gets a compliment: I don't think so! He has the same expression when people get compliments or are criticised. Maybe he has resting sour face. As a fellow resting sour faced person, I emphatize. We are not displeased! That's just our blank expression.
I do think his resting face can be interpreted in ways that work against him and may not be fair. It's just his face. Also he has a way of tilting his head back and looking down that probably influences how people interpret him.
But because I identify a lot with him, I'll project another angle that could apply: When I get critical feedback or my competitor gets a rave review, I may look "off" because I'm in my head! I may even agree with the criticism and be happy for the competitor, but I'm frustrated with myself for not being perfect / the very best and thinking about how I could have done things better. In a competition I'm also wondering what the feedback means for where I stand -- every "best dish" comment that goes to someone else takes me farther from the win. They are tired, stressed, and competitive with a lot at stake. It's a lot to ask them to be vigilant about what their faces are saying at all times.-
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On 6/2/2023 at 3:54 AM, Leeds said:
I usually like the wall challenge because it's a funny hot mess - but not at this stage of the competition. And so much for fulfilling the brief of World All Stars - they could only drag up 4 relatively unknown American athletes? Which also meant an inherent disadvantage for the non-native English speakers.
It was patently unfair challenge. The wall challenge is already meant to make communication hard - adding in strong accents is just mean. Either rework the challenge, or pair them with someone who speaks the chef's preferred language.
However, it didn't affect the outcome of the show.On 6/2/2023 at 10:11 AM, Heathrowe said:Yes and also - someone mentioned he was the only one who had a language barrier to deal with. I noticed it when he told her to use Coriander and she was like - what's that? Because we say cilantro in the US. I think the language thing has been very under-rated this series, I worked for a German company for years and even listening to them speak English with a heavy German accent exhausted me! I can't imagine how my colleagues felt speaking in another language for hours or days if we were together. (I tried to learn German and failed.) Anyway - it's tiring in the brain, and I think it definitely led to some challenge misunderstandings for Begona and Victoire, I think. So hats off to all the international chefs, and I guess Buddha is technically not American....I wish the final 3 were a little more international!
Yeah, it's unfortunate that the competition was always going to favor the chefs who are the most comfortable with English and who know the norms / challenges / judges of US Top Chef. Language on top of fatigue and stress must be brutal. I don't know what the fix would be.
On 6/2/2023 at 12:30 PM, HurricaneVal said:Though, to be fair, when he told Suni to get the poblano chile, and she held up what looked like an Anaheim and asked if it was the green pepper looking thing, and he--holding his squatty, dark, poblano pepper--said "yes" and then they both went forward thinking they were both right. When Suni said "green pepper" she was thinking color, and when Gabri heard "green pepper" and agreed he was thinking shape.
I was confused in that interaction. How does green mean shape? Why did he think one green pepper was more obvious than the other? That was such an understandable mistake, he should have noticed there were two green peppers and said something about size.
On 6/3/2023 at 7:24 PM, violet and green said:I think when a chef with 3 Michelin stars offers to have Gabri take his number and come and work with him, it gives you an idea of how exciting the dish was to the guest chefs.
Good point! I wasn't sure which would go home or which I thought deserved to go home -- after all, I didn't get to taste the food -- but this really cements why they would keep Gabri.
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I would absolutely take (and have taken) a niçoise salad on a picnic and I wouldn't take fried chicken or potato salad. I'm more of a Barefoot Contessa Hamptons picnic type vs a down-home one. My go-to picnic contribution is a tomato tart.
And when the cues are Highclere Castle and Fortnam & Mason (as noted, the Queen's store), the fancy bites were the right thinking. They understood the brief even if they missed on execution. They only had an hour and a half to prep then it had to sit all night, which could explain some of their choices.
There's been no insistence on cohesive meals -- even when they were told to be cohesive in the family meal, it was 6 mains 2 salads and 1 side I think with no comment -- so there's also no incentive for anyone to take on something like a potato salad or to make their dishes work together as a main with sides.
On 4/16/2023 at 2:27 PM, catrice2 said:Why can't people appreciate a good Mustard Potato salad? I hate mayo, or really anything white and creamy. I had a great recipe that was delicious.
If potato salad has yellow mustard (or egg) I am not touching it!
My preference is vinegar-based potato salads. For a picnic, the french type -- potatoes soaked in vinaigrette with dill and green onions. Or german, a warm salad with salty/sweet/vinegar dressing with bacon.
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On 4/21/2023 at 11:08 PM, Bastet said:
We don't know what additional details we weren't privy to, of course, but based on how the challenge was presented on the show, no one didn't meet it, it was just who didn't do it as well.
I'd argue that if Dale met the challenge, it was barely -- "don't be ignorant" isn't much of a message! It was barely coherent.
On 4/21/2023 at 4:24 PM, mlp said:I like Victoire but I think that, despite speaking several languages, she's having the most trouble with thinking in English. Her dish didn't really meet the challenge. She just made something from Africa - and not well. I thought she should have been the one to go. She and Dale each had food that wasn't great but he met the challenge.
I think she got through on a better message. Both had execution problems. Tom was safe IMO because he had the presentation AND flavors, he at least hit strong on two criteria.
"Trouble with thinking in English" sounds like a possibility. Perhaps she's just a very literal person or struggling with being so far out of her context (which is beyond understandable), but we haven't seen her be creative or conceptual.
She is so impressive, but she doesn't seem set up to thrive here. During judging sometimes it's clear she can't quite parse what guest judges are saying -- I wonder if they do anything to fill that gap for contestants?
On 4/23/2023 at 10:28 AM, DEL901 said:Weren’t there a bunch of other emoticons left. She didn’t need to choose sushi.
The sushi was too literal and too limiting -- there was nowhere to go with that. Considering "emotion" was part of it I'd have gone with something more abstract (of what remained) like the rainbow and told a story of vibrance or rain or something!
On 4/23/2023 at 7:27 AM, Yeah No said:I wasn't dunking on Sara's body, just her choice of pants. But obviously I was in the minority on even noticing that much less commenting on it.
I noticed, but honestly I think the world would be a better place if we avoiding commenting on bodies. Positive or negative. And I don't give a fig if our chefs look unkempt! I do notice, but set it aside because it truly doesn't matter. It's not a moral failing to have messy hair.
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On 3/7/2023 at 2:01 PM, akg said:
When first watching, I assumed what Laura was seeing were busts made by Arthur. I realized later that, as awesome as that would have been (her victims playing such a direct part in her breaking), it wouldn't make sense. Arthur probably never created one of himself and I have no idea how Charlie and her friend would have gotten their hands on Max.
I came back a day later to rewatch the ending because I was confused. So Laura basically just cracks up under the guilt/stress at the party, before they even show the red light clip? She only thinks she saw Arthur in the audience because of her guilty conscience? She hallucinates Max running and jumping again?
On first watch it felt like an elaborate sting where she'd been drugged and tricked by body doubles in the audience and the Orpheus props (like the little dude with the red lightbulb head) to drive her over the edge. But I guess the only thing Raoul and Charlie did was get the film footage, everything else was her losing it all on her own.
Definitely not one of my favorites. The episodes are getting creepier. -
7 hours ago, Paloma said:
Stupid questions, but why did Mavis have to throw up right after she kissed Camden, and what was wrong with the tub? Was she just sick from drinking, or was there something about Camden's mouth?
I believe she barfed because the alcohol caught up with her, it wasn't about him at all. The problem with the tub is that it was backed up and didn't drain her vom. That's one of the things he fixed in the morning, after he constructed her furniture. (Why she didn't throw up in the toilet I don't know.)
I recognized Tasha Smith's voice immediately but not her face.-
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I'm so happy I finally got to see this! I moved halfway through this season, and lost my Bravo access. Just now getting Peacock and catching up
Why do I care so much? Because I grew up in Tucson and wanted to see the chefs work with carne seca, of course. That is such a hyper-local food -- while it does show up in some Mexican/Central American cultures (Evelyn said she grew up with it) it really is quite localized. You can barely find it in Phoenix even. After they moved away, my parents used to drive to AZ and come back with coolers full of it. El Charro is legendary.
On 5/27/2022 at 9:18 AM, meep.meep said:This is being filmed at the Marriott Star Pass Resort but they must have pulled out as a sponsor since it was never mentioned.
I'm so glad I didn't have to eat anything made out of nopales. It squicks me out, just like okra. I would have to be really hungry to go for slime.
I rewound searching for logos and when I didn't find any, looked up the location. It was built after my time and I didn't recognize it.
Yeah, I don't do nopales. Too slimy. I like the flavor of cactus like in a drink or jam, but that's usually prickly pear fruit.
On 5/27/2022 at 12:22 PM, meep.meep said:Protocols in AZ were not "less restrictive" - I have employees there. I have had to be on top of their protocols.
On 5/27/2022 at 7:42 PM, theatremouse said:I've been there too and recognized the place right away. My money says: they ate outside so they could show the cactusey hillside in the background.
That's my vote too. You don't waste that kind of backdrop. I miss that scenery.
I was in Tucson right around the time this was filming, and most people were masked most places, which was surprising in the best way. But I doubt that drove the decision. (It never hurts though, right?)
On 5/30/2022 at 11:01 PM, Sd601 said:While *this* particular challenge did seem to favor Evelyn because of experience working and eating these ingredients, I am assuming it was just lucky coincidence.
I was legit surprised she had experience with all the ingredients. I have never even heard of that pepper. Lucky for her! I like her a lot.
I also like Buddha, but they are so different. He reminds me of Hung more than Blaise -- cheffy, technical, focused, confident, doesn't go out of his way to be liked. (Blaise REALLY wanted approval.) When he said he quadrupled his friend group with the chefs in the room, that sounded right!
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On 5/14/2022 at 8:30 PM, Colleenna said:
ETA: My heart ached for Damarr, that he was unable to have family there.
Me, too. In the challenges that involve/evoke family, there is always someone who is at a disadvantage. In Kwame's season, he was so thrown by a challenge that brought up family trauma that he melted down and even cut himself.
Luckily while it was a bummer for Damarr, it didn't hold him back. It does make wonder -- if he didn't have an appropriate family/friend substitute who could step in, what would the show have done? Would they change the challenge?
I take this personally because that would be a problem if I were on! I only have two living family members, and neither would go on TV. No partner. No mentor. It would have to be a friend.
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On 4/22/2022 at 2:08 PM, caitmcg said:
Yeah, he still did a shit job of it, but she tried, even making sure he delivered the dessert course in person.
When she walked out and asked "did you 'spiel' them?", meaning did he explain the dessert, he automatically replied yes even though he hadn't! And even with that prompt he STILL didn't say more than a few words. Weird.
He seemed anxious, like he was afraid of or avoiding the judges. It's like his whole brain short-circuited. He got fixated on something and plum forgot how to do a job I'm pretty sure he knows how to do.
On 4/23/2022 at 10:16 AM, Yeah No said:He also revealed it at the worst possible moment, right before the judging when others could use it against him and tell the judges if their team wound up on the bottom.
On 4/23/2022 at 4:22 PM, GeorgiaRai said:Jackson screwed up, but I liked him before... and still like him! I found this interview really interesting.
The interview backs up the only way his confession made sense to me -- he was sure he was going home and felt like he had to get it out. (Maybe because he knew they'd find out when it aired, and wanted to get ahead of that reveal.) I don't fault him for holding this info back to this point in the competition, but he owed it to them at the beginning of RW to come clean. Doing it when he did was (IMO) the worst of all worlds. Especially since his ability to taste (or not taste) their food was not a big factor in why they lost.
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On 1/26/2023 at 7:13 PM, Irlandesa said:
I did not recognize Danielle McDonald in this episode until I read the credits here.
Everyone was familiar in this one! I knew her face but didn't know from where without help.
On 3/2/2023 at 3:13 PM, DearEvette said:I liked her dislike of the dog. Hey if you are an asshole, regardless of species, you should be called on it.
Lil Rel Howery was fantastic as Taffy.
All the times she called it hateful / asshole / fascist made me laugh. She never ran out of names! I would never ever have started the car and driven off with that non-stop barking. But it provided comedy for us :)
Lil Rey Howery was the guest star I was compelled to look up. It was bugging me! I've only seen him in one thing, Free Guy, but he made an impression. -
On 6/15/2023 at 9:26 AM, KittyQ said:
Bolding is mine.
I've read comparisons to older shows like The Fugitive, and I can see that. In the 60s there were a few shows about people who, for one reason or another, travelled across the country, getting short-term jobs for income (off the top of my head: Run for Your Life, Route 66, The Invaders, Then Came Bronson). I started thinking about how apparently easy it was for someone to pick up a short-term or temporary job, probably for low pay back then. No security checks, paid in cash, and so on. Even my first jobs had pretty basic job applications with little background info needed. Now it seems like even a low-level job requires background checks.
I think about that every so often. It used to be possible to just move somewhere with a made-up name and start a new life. No forged papers needed. Certainly in the 1960s, but even more so farther back when there were no databases at all. You were who you said you were. You could live a life with cash, because cash/trade was literally all there was! There are under-the-table jobs and ways to live off the grid today but there are serious limitations to what you can do without credit and a verifiable identity. Especially if you don't start with a stockpile of cash.
Sandwich guy had good instincts about the killer -- he was a lot more dangerous than he seemed at first glance. Dude didn't even blink before shoving him off the roof.
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I do feel sorry for Allison! She has an overbearing, interfering mom constantly criticizing her choices. My god, Margaret couldn't even go on a covert mission in her grown daughter's house without rearranging the furniture because it was wrong.
So, yeah, Allison should have had agency in her life. But I feel for how she has no idea who she is or what she wants, because she followed the script that was pushed on her -- a high-status job, a perfect marriage, stability and success above all else -- but it wasn't hers. I know a LOT of women like this. They were told if they made the "right" choices that's what would bring happiness. They don't even know they can do something else. If you're wired to people-please (and raised by someone who reinforced that) it's a heavy weight to throw off.
The older brother, for me, brought into focus that Margaret had no intention of letting them be their own selves. Because he wasn't "smart enough" to be the doctor they wanted him to be, they shipped him to military school, which he resents to this day. So then all focus turns to making sure Allison fulfilled that destiny instead. And as is often the case, the daughter was the most vulnerable to parental pressure. Todd was the one who broke free (and he never hears the end of it either)-
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On 3/3/2023 at 10:21 AM, Sarah 103 said:
Vernoica as a season/series-long big bad does not fit with this show. She was fine as a backstory event to get the story set-up, but this series is pure USA Network blue-sky era, and she is from a super serious CBS procedural. It doesn't work. I'm okay with Todd having an outside antagonist, but it needs to be a totally different type of character.
Agree totally, having a mustache twirling Big Bad like her is a totally different show.
Psych was mentioned recently as the two shows share a producer (?)...The Yin/Yang episodes also struck me as "totally different show". The tone was completely different. When I rewatch Psych I always skip those.
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S35: Rob and Corey McArthur
in The Amazing Race
I found it surprising that at one point I thought I saw Rob sign out "roadblock" using individual letters. (But not knowing ASL, maybe I got that wrong.) I would have expected them to create some custom gestures for key race terms (and competitors). Seeing how Tasha did that on GBBO it made a lot of sense. Both fun and expedient!
I was also a little surprised throughout how little not being able to hear affected their performance. The glass blowing in the finale looked like one of the tougher situations -- the ability to hear your partner say "keep turning" or "stop blowing" without looking up or using hands would have been helpful! But they made it through without a big deal.