pancake bacon

I am so here for the Alden Ehrenreich-assance!

This documentary was great. For many like me who grew up outside the US, I got into Wham with “Young Guns” and “Club Tropicana” and thought Andrew was jus the HOTTEST. George was the one with the musical gifts, and you could see even then he would go beyond Wham. Over the years, Andrew was seen as a kind-of hanger on to George, and didn’t add to value to Wham. This documentary helped show that Andrew was also a musical gift to George, elemental in helping reach the heights. Andrew was a good enough friend to recognize and George was outpacing him. It’s heroic, in a sense…

It's a similar path with Nicholas Braun, AKA Cousin Greg on Succession. He's a nepo baby of sorts, as the son of Rolling Stone logo designer, Craig Braun. (Yes, that mouth!) He was tall and gangly in various child roles. In the TV adaptation of 10 Things I Hate About You, Cousin Greg Nicholas was the tallest teenager ever it seemed, as he was already 6'6". His co-star and fellow nepo (grand)baby Ethan Peck probably thought he was going to be pretty much the tallest cast member at 6'2" of the show, but paired with Nicholas… the camera people and production design folks of the show must have had their work cut out for them! Nicholas continues to be vague about his true height as according to him, admitting you are 6'7" is too much for the casting directors.

I think some (partial) red herrings have been served? Each episode has certainly taken place within a day/two days. There are no long-ish time jumps in the storytelling, but having the season be literally consecutive days is a stretch, in my view. Also Brian Cox and Arian Moyed aren't in every episode. Have they seen every episode and read all scripts? Show: We have ten consecutive episodes where the story takes place in one day.

There's a LOT to read and say about this Succession episode (is anyone surprised), but I just wanted to chime in and say "death's ears" is my new favourite malapropism.

Linderman is still taking offers! No longer a buck a today, though, with inflation. Talk about future movie stars: Who casted this movie? Matt Dillon, Jennifer Beals, Joan Cusack (Global treasure – FACT), and of course the Bodyguard himself, Adam Baldwin – all had some good measure of success from this teen role origin story movie.. Baldwin used to be one of my "oh he's in this movie? I'll be OK, then" actors: Chuck, the glorious Jayne in Firefly… He was wonderful doing tough and tender as Linderman in My Bodyguard, which I believe is his first role. (Why did he have to go all be conservative on me!)

This is personal favourite, and a terrific teen film for any era.

Usually, Matt Damon is considered the more "gravitas" actor out of the two, and for me this does bear out in roles like The Talented Mr Ripley (Damon earned his eternal pancake bacon pass with this performance; I think it's one of the best acting ever put to screen) and The Martian. Ben Affleck? His best work is his snarky audio commentary on Armageddon, especially all the shade for Michael Bay – so entertaining!

This is not the freshest of unpopular opinions, but I just don't care about The Little Mermaid – original from 1989, or the upcoming live action version. Yes, partly because it's disturbing about the notion of willing to give up your voice (and I know others have pointed out the themes of the movie are actually more complex), partly because I don't enjoy Ariel and Eric. Maybe a riskier unpopular opinion: I loved the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast – the new songs by Menken and Tim Rice were lovely, worthy additions and the extra context of the hand-waved moments in the animated version was good storytelling through live action. Sure, there were better options than Emma Watson, but she was not a fatal choice.

Where have you all been all this time? 😁 I've never been able to stand Depp, even way back in his 21 Jump Street days, where I recall he said out loud that he thought that show was beneath him. I have managed to not to see any of his movies since. The movie judgement and shock I would get from people around me when I said I didn't like him was crazy – he was so beloved (and apparently still is for many).

I agree Shinwell was not very "energetic" in the overall arc of the season, but the part he played toward the very end of arc did pull the rug from under me. I loved this thoughtful creativity with the costuming. From fresh off rehab messy, to neat sobriety… there was much discussion on the costume choices of the show, when it was airing originally. Even Sherlock's boots had a background that contributed to character, if I recall correctly. The semi-regular that worked best of all: CLYDE. 😄 Mileage may vary with various non-regulars in Elementary, but overall, show runner Rob Dougherty organically refreshed and re-imagined the characters from the Arthur Conan Doyle stories into plausible 2020s characters. Moriarty, Mycroft, Lestrade, the Irregulars as "Everyone"… Plus, original characters that popped up over various episodes that I enjoyed: Mason, the boy genius, coroner Hawes, did I also mention Clyde?

Maybe at the start, but at the conclusion of both series, Elementary leaves Sherlock in the dust. Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock barely did any detecting, Watson was the most thankless role, and the writing, in hindsight over the four seasons, was self-indulgent and went nowhere. Elementary was actually a thoughtful and clever adaptation in a modern setting, and integrating many Conan Doyle elements in very fresh ways. Believe me, I come by this conclusion in good faith. I was an evangelist for this show after the first season, to all my friends. ("Watch Sherlock!") It hurt me very deeply that this turned out to quite awful in the end.

I actually blubbed and got misty-eyed watching this movie. I too was surprised, because I'm not really into digital animation. (Pixar movies I've watched total: 2) I ended up watching Puss In Boots: The Last Wish because the timing worked out perfectly, after a shopping day with friends, so I had zero expectations about this movie, except maybe to laugh at some pop culture references that Shrek movies push out. The movie told a real story about having to face your mortality within the framework of commercial animation. I was delighted, amazed, and emotionally connected to the characters and story. By the way, Goldilocks is Florence Pugh's Best. Performance. Ever. (Sorry, Little Women hot take: I don't think she was great shakes in that one.) Team Friendship!

Thank you! This cure was just a Macguffin for the the other (and pretty great moments) of the movie. But this does confirm my fear of the same why-didn't-they-just-call-the-Avengers dilemma… Why not just have this cure ready for all the villains of the succeeding MCU movies… (Don't get me started on the "face mask" maneuver that's been in Winter Soldier, Black Widow…)

Can you help out: I watched this movie back during the theatrical run. I remember enjoying Garfield and Maguire moments tremendously, and parts of the movie were just so-so (there wasn’t enough Aunt May in previous movies for me to feel her loss that much). Much of the movie is a blur by now, but were the three Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?) trying to get all the villains in their time… so they could inject them with an an anti-villain dose.… that was created in a high school lab?