shrewd.buddha

Dune left me with the impression of a snow sand globe: It was mesmerizing, dreamlike, beautiful But also: somewhat isolated, slightly artificial, out of touch. We also saw it on HBOMax - - wanted to see it at the theater, but there was a scheduling issue. Maybe that was why it wasn't as immersive and awe inspiring as it could have been on a big screen. We also had to crank up the volume to make out all the whispered dialogue. Vileneuve does fantastic visuals. His films look like works of art.. Also, Rebecca Ferguson, Batista, and Timothee stood out by having very expressive facial acting ability. But the pacing and action sequences don't seem to be a strong suit for the director. And the sense of timing - - it felt as if House Atreides had been on Arrakis for only a couple of days before be siege. But that abrupt, anti-climactic ending .. it's difficult to fathom that a group of professionals agreed that was the best idea.

.. pretty much what happened to Martha Stewart - - instead of admitting she did wrong, she thought she could double down on the lie and finagle her way out. That did not work. It was odd that they seemed to be trying to make us sympathetic towards a church leader trying to defend his double life, hypocrisy and lying. It was not as if he was going to go to be sent to a concentration camp for being homosexual. Tiffany should have advised him against sticking to an easily refutable lie at the very beginning - instead of telling him at the end. That was some ham-fisted writing..

Yeah, about that .. it's a sight of sloppy writing when you have to make the bad-ass, female assassin somewhat incompetent (forgetting the gun, losing the book, afraid to make a jump that Cassie could do while drunk) .. just for the sake of the plot. Cassie should be the one making sloppy mistakes.

... sorta broke this show for me. Sorry. Turning the Watcher into an action hero who 'amors up' and punches people in the face is just wrong and borderline blasphemy. It's Pokemon GO ... but with Marvel characters. It's only the eighth episode and TPTB are already breaking the 4th wall - - which is basically the premise of the show. Infinity Ultron and Daemon Strange have now entered the Watcher's plane of existence. Can they now talk to us, the audience, too? This "over-the-top-ness" makes the series feel more like a Saturday morning cartoon and something that the Marvel brain trust (Kevin Feige) has little or no interest in (like the Netflix heroes and Agents of Shield).

Well .. that's that, I suppose. The only thing this episode was missing was the ending line: "And they all lived happily ever after." It was amusing when Lucifer was begging Rory not to damn herself to the guilt of killing a ruthless killer ... just after he and Chloe had slow-moed their way through a small army of minions, shooting, slicing and dicing. Then Chloe shoots him dead -- because Lucifer and Rory went with the age-old cliché of turning their backs on the killer who was only unconscious. It seems the TV rule is that it's only morally acceptable to kill a murderer when they are actively engaged in trying to kill you. If they take a break to monologue, reload, or sneeze, it's wrong. It was a fun show. This season made me realize that I actually preferred the weekly murder cases -- and how the writers managed to use them to reflect back on whatever issues Lucifer was dealing with at the time. This last season was a sweet farewell, but the show seemed to have lost its edginess and focus.

Apparently the Road to Hell is paved with schmaltz. I appreciate all the heartfelt good-byes and sweetness - - but .. for me .. that isn't what Lucifer - the character, the concept or the show - is about. I am sort of okay with it, but only for the sake of the cast, crew and fans just wanting uncomplicated happy endings. Yeah .. the whole theory that Hell is self-actualization run amok really doesn't work in all cases. Would psychopaths get to skip Hell because they don't actually feel guilty about their selfish acts?

Yes. This Dr. Strange had a completely different personality: caring, considerate, not obsessed with his career. A lot of things must have happened differently long before the car crash.

Agreed. This episode was mostly a downer, despite the attempts at humor. What was Pym's motivation? He was killing innocent, potential SHIELD recruits ... similar to his daughter's situation. Why not kill the man that he considered responsible for her death? Fury has has never shown any close attachment to .. anyone .. so it's not as if the killings would have done anything more than frustrate Fury. Yes, this was a big stretch from the normal "What If ..?" concept and execution in the comics. Also, yes: Natasha should not have wasted her dying breath with cryptic clue instead of just naming who was the killer.

This pretty much covers all the issues with the season (but in an amusing way): Loki Pitch Meeting

Agreed. When Sylvie entered the Castle At The End OF Time, she was fulfilling a destiny she had been working on since she had been snatched by the TVA as a child. At that point, our MCU Loki sort of became her tag-along companion (in my opinion). Sylvie had a mission and was making things happen. Loki seemed to spend most of his time just reacting to events, trying to survive, and being told how things work. Side question: How long would it take a Norse god to age from looking like a adolescent to a thirty-ish looking person?

#7. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Point-versus-counterpoint can be interesting ... but also annoying when someone is reacting to each and every post made by a user.

I don't think I have a lot of confidence in the showrunners to have a lot of excitement for a second season. (It appears some higher ups didn't either, since some showrunners will not be returning.) My problems with show were with some of the basic premises. The acting, sets, etc, were good. The foundation, not so much: Loki is a thousand-year-old 'god' of mischief , but he does a heel turn in a few days time because he watched a video clip of the 'supposed' remainder of his life? He did not experience any of those life-altering moments. The Loki snatched from the 2012's Avenger's movie would have acted completely different. Loki altered the timeline, which alerted the TVA, just by escaping in 2012? Not any time-travel hijinks like the Avengers were doing? So a person could get snatched by the TVA for any normal change in action, like ordering a muffin instead of your regular bagel? If Sylvie is a Loki, she should be called 'Loki'. All the others were. I know they are trying to get around the name confusion and the twin-cest , but really: she is the Loki from her timeline or she is not. Loki and Sylvie somehow won and defeated the TVA by reaching the Castle At The End Of Time? Like in a video game? The Big Bad was defenseless after that? If they were a such a threat, they could have been killed (or discorporated) when they were captured earlier. The Big Bad wasn't much more than a monomaniacal monologue-r. He was dispatched with a sharp object.. If Sylvie wanted to know if he was telling the truth, she could have used her enchantment powers. (As she had done so many times before.) There were way too many 'office meetings' throughout the entire show for a supposed action-adventure series.

How did that guy manage to be The Last One Standing in a multidimensional war? He didn't exude any type of special powers or command any vast army. He seemed like a more annoying version of the original MCU Loki. As someone upthread said: it was strange to end the season focused on a character we had not been introduced to previously. The Exposition That Never Seemed To End seemed pointless. I agree with Sylvie - it was all BS. The timey-wimey aspect of the show makes if feels as if everyone is running on a multidimensional hamster wheel. There are no stakes. Did Mobius die? no. Did Loki die? no. Did 'old Loki' die? Not if they want him to come back - - they can just pull him from the timeline right before he was disintegrated(?) by the smoke monster. Will season 2 have a fun, mischievous version of Loki? I hope so.. This remorseful, do-gooder version is a bit dull.

I'm not sure if it is the writing, the acting, or the combination of each, but Assane comes off as sort of an arrogant jerk .. not a sophisticated gentleman thief. I think they were trying for charming, suave and debonair, but he seems more like a ruthless, manipulative liar. Assane creeping around in Claire's apartment, watching her and her boyfriend asleep in bed - that's not a good look. I'm not sure how Assane is hanging around, carefree, in Paris cafes and restaurants. (In episode 8) In the last episode, he escaped police custody and is now a known thief and criminal. And for some reason Pellegrini also appears to have lost interest in finding Assane at the moment.

Just watched the first episode of 'Part Duex'. What happened to the master, gentleman thief? The character from Part One was calm, cool, and prepared for every contingency. He even had bat-cave type lair. But this guy .. he bumbled through the entire episode, stumbling around the abandoned house with a flashlight and calling out his son's name. It looked as if he had never broken into a house at night before. He also had a lot of difficulty with the hand-to-hand combat with a older guy who was smaller than himself. The guy from Part One seemed like a skilled fighter. It was also a bit hard to believe a father would stand back while he thought he son was dying in a fire - no matter if someone was threatening to shoot him. I suppose he was dumbed down for plot needs.

It was mostly mindless 'fun'. But a kind of dumb fun. But .. Dan (Chris Pratt) did not save the future - - he and his daughter merely created an alternate timeline. The unhappy, MIT scientist daughter lived with another version of Dan - a Dan who was never drafted into a future war. In the original timeline, it looks as if humanity was wiped out - because no one really cared about getting the time travel machine back up and running in order to get the alien pesticide to the future people. The writers also didn't seem to bother addressing what would happen to the people from the future who are now trapped in the past. They were young, so as to avoid meeting their younger selves, who had not yet been born. But now, their younger selves will be born ... or will they? ... their parents may have been killed when sent to the future. It's a time travelling headache.. So, a few things: Shouldn't the future people share the time travel technology with the past people? And all other future knowledge that would help the past people be ready when the alien monsters eventually appeared? Instead of a military draft of not-combat-ready civilians for cannon fodder , why didn't the future scientists send out teams to find the origin of the aliens? How did the future people manage to create/discover time travel when the Earth was being decimated? At the end, when Dan's small group was about to enter the alien ship in the frozen tundra, they debated whether to go into the ship to kill the aliens or report their findings. Wouldn't the smart decision be to send two people back to report their findings - - in case they were killed by the aliens in the ship? The future 'scientists' were afraid of sharing too much information - and avoiding the time paradox of a person meeting their older/younger self - - but why worry about any of that if humanity is about to be wiped off the face of the Earth?!

The outcome seemed fairly predictable. This was round two with Vargas and Isobel was due for a win. Jubal is dating his boss's boss? Wouldn't that get whats-her-face fired for fraternization with a subordinate? I found it odd that Isobel and Jubal hugged when the bombs were deactivated. You don't see male employees hugging other males. But that's on Isobel - - she's his boss.

Army Of The Dead Pitch Meeting Although I still enjoyed the movie, ^^ this reminded me of a how many WtF moments there were. A zombie horse keeping up with a helicopter? Okay, sure..

Sometimes (but only sometimes) it is fun to have all the tropes and all the clichés proudly on display in a popcorn flick. This was definitely one of those movies. It would have been more satisfying (to me) if the movie ended with Bautista back flipping burgers on a grill ... exactly back where he started with nothing to show for it. The most interesting aspect of Tig Notaro's performance was that fact that her character was added post-production - and she has claimed to have never met Bautista. I was looking to see how they cut between characters and scenes to piece the character in. Tho, I am not sure if I would have noticed if I had not known before watching.

This show takes a lot of shortcuts to get where it wants to go - - but an online stock trader type person leaving a computer out in the open ... and the computer never going to sleep and requiring a new log in ... ?? That's just lazy writing. Another head-scratcher. If Scola wants to "do good" and has a serious amount of $$, it would seem more likely that he would use it to put himself into a more influential position that just an FBI field agent. It would be like a rich person who wants to help animals and decides to get a job as a veterinarian's assistant at the local clinic -- but nothing more. Scola should maybe watch 'The Equalizer' (also on CBS :-) I am not sure what Jubal was expecting to hear when he went to talk to the kidnap victim/Kix founder. It seemed very naïve of him. If he were to ask a faith healer, in private, if people were really being cured, would Jubal expect a confession that the entire practice was a sham?

Back to the topic of Zach Snyder's Justice League on HBOMax .. Has there been any conclusive decision as to whether it was a success or not?

The Serial Bomber's Brother wasn't completely off the mark when he made the remark about how things usually turn out when law enforcement deals with the mentally ill: "We want to help you .. but we kinda want to shoot you, too." When Serial Bomber's Brother came back to talk to Maggie at the end about how he overlooked all the signs that his brother was going off the rails - because that was easier - - I sort of wish he would have paused and said "You do realize that we're totally talking about you and your sister, right?" Maggie could have replied: "I know, I know .. I should have known as soon as I saw those crazy bangs.. That was definitely a crystal meth hairdo."

I am torn between disgust and amazement as to how much scapegoat-ing certain people are attempting to hang on Joss Whedon. Regardless of whether Whedon is a major douche or not, he agreed to deliver WB's two-hour time limit , tonal changes and the tight release schedule. Now it is like that scene from Airplane! where everyone with a grudge is lining up to get their slaps in. No one seems to be blaming WB for not holding production back, to allow Snyder to finish the original movie. ( I would like to have seen Snyder's 2-hour version.) Fun fact: Joss Whedon may be responsible for 20% of ocean plastic pollution and 15% of greenhouse gases. (joke)

Just my interpretation .. but I think she was apologizing for putting her law enforcement brain ahead of her devoted partner brain. In her defense, her boyfriend started out by lying to the FBI. And a law enforcement person trying to have a relationship with a career politician is a train wreck waiting to happen. In my experience with relatives in law enforcement, they see a lot a bad behavior and tend to get into the mindset that everyone (besides themselves) is probably a criminal scumbag who hasn't been caught for something .. yet. In most of these CBS procedural shows, the main characters always put their job/career above everything else. That is why they are mostly single, workaholics and always act as if their co-workers are their 'family'.

Well, we finished it.. That should be somewhat of a thumbs-up - - tho maybe a weak one. The anachronisms were hard to deal with - and they seemed to get progressively worse as the episodes went on. And I don't think Sherlock fans would be happy with the the liberties being taken with the character - especially his embracing all things supernatural - - and being a dead-beat dad. Even at the end, I still think this show could have been so much more fun if the angsty group of teenagers had been a ragtag gang of adolescent street urchins - - sort of a Sherlock Holmes meets Oliver Twist. (But I did appreciate Leopold's bargain to keep Billy out of jail.) Someone once said: For people who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they would like. ...that's how I would sum up my feelings toward The Irregulars.