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?

The good: Demi Moore is a great crier, and she really rocked that pixie cut! Whoopi Goldberg is a Global Treasure, and I'm delighted in a personal way that she won her Oscar for a comedic role. Firstly because, comedic roles don't get enough Oscar love as it is, and secondly, because Whoopi built her legend as a funny person. The bad: This movie is pretty silly, and the villain turn by Tony Goldwyn is fine mustache-twirling, enjoyable enough. But this movie won Best Original Screenplay over the awesome gems like Metropolitan (my personal favorite), Alice, Avalon and another romantic film, Green Card, which holds up as a screenplay much better back then, and over time. PS. We don't have to agree, of course. Ghost is a deserved iconic movie, but I still upset about this bad Oscar win personally!

I was disappointed on how the affair (or "affair") going on with Astrid's husband Michael was dramatically shifted by 180° in the movie. What happened in the book was such a refreshing take. (Which I understand was ruined after all in the second book. Guess I'm not reading that one…) Pretty much in general, I've come to accept that it is a rare, rare thing that the movie version lines up on what you envisioned from the book. I've learned to just see the movie adaptation as a movie. Even vastly different physical descriptions of characters, unless it was plot-critical, I've learned to let go. But it shouldn't go so far like The Prince of Tides, where the actual character of the Prince of Tides was pretty much eliminated in the movie version, for more canoodling between Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand. Really?!

He is quite delightful. I'm so glad the Jeopardy social media team are upping their game by allowing the post-competition chats are shared to the audience. (They used to occasionally show this as the credits rolled, waaaay back in the day. ) So we get to see Ken be quick with his wit, and lay down that affable charm (but not so squeaky that we have a "What is a hoe?" on occasion!).

He's not particularly good in Avatar, but Sam Worthington has given great performances, especially his earlier Australian work, which got him US attention. His streak of hot casting a decade ago, while lucky, didn't do him any favors.

I'm still not over this. I still loathe it. The cheeeek that is Sir Julian Fellows…

"LOVE BROKERS!"

Rocket is the best! Guess the in-between adventures of Thor with the Guardians will be in the Guardians movie, so I hope Chris Hemworth/Thor will be in Vol 4. On a very shallow (and very separate) note, Chris Pratt's hair length and beard look was very flattering here. I'll go even weirder in this thread by concluding: I think we need to get Kenneth Branagh back to this franchise – not necessarily to direct, but be involved int the story direction and/or the screenplay. He's not as funny as Taika, but he always, always takes pains to expertly support and organically weave in character development and motivation. (See also: Cinderella.) Has the that Thor banishing scene with Hopkins, Hiddleston and Hemsworth (hey – triple H! Didn't hit me till just typing this now) been topped? I'm not personally getting why Bale was a great villain. This filling-in-the-gap-from-the-loss-of-a-child was really pedestrian (as movie motivation and not real life, to be sure!) I am a massive fan of Taika (you will not see a bigger advocate for Hunt for The Wilderpeople), but this directing was lackluster. That Thor/Zeus deleted scened? We could have used more of that, Mr Waititi.

Some Baby Ken Jennings to tide us all over the current break: He's just won "over $900,000" dollars at this point, and got a nice media appearance run during Ken's taping break, as a record-breaking Jeopardy! contestant. Ken's still a computer programmer by the day here, but his comic timing is splendid. I've always found him to be enjoyable personality, which is also be cause of his well-written books. He's great at that too. Thanks, Ken. [/snerk on the last bit]

Accept no substitutions – the journey of Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliott from seemingly ordinary and forgotten (especially Anne) to heartbreakingly beautiful was beyond physical. It seemed that Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root used their emotions and pathos as tools for a glow-up. The 1995 adaptation really brought forward poignancy of Austen and time passing her by, and but knows she and other women to "loving longest when all hope is gone."

I remember him! He looks just like his brother Anthony, who had major feature film success, television success, and even on Broadway. He won a Tony for A View From the Bridge (side note: this play is such awards bait – Scarlett Johansson won a Tony for it too, for a later staging), and err, 27 years ago (!!), I saw in The Rose Tattoo in New York. I waited for him at the stage door, and he kindly signed my Playbill. (He specifically said, "happy to sign anything. Just no pictures, please. And even as Anthony repeated no pictures, there were still tried!) Back to Jonathan, I noticed him right away because he was the brother of Anthony, but I also remembered him because he's a qualified physician, but went into entertainment. Guess your future can really take different paths…