shrewd.buddha

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.

I think I would have liked it better if the kids had been adolescent street urchins .. around the age of the kids in the first season of Stranger Things. That could have been fun. Casting the main characters as teenagers (basically adults in Victorian times) makes me feel as if TPTB are wanting to go down the usual angsty , CW network route .. not my favorite thing .. but others may enjoy that. They are already setting up a love triangle -- only slightly less painful than having your eyes plucked out by birds. .. We will give it a few episodes to see how things go ..

Zack Snyder's Justice League Pitch Meeting

The expanded post credit scene starts at the 1:24 minute mark: Justice League: The Colbert Cut

So .. Zach Snyder's Justice League - - move over Tyler Perry, someone else is tagging their movies.. We braced ourselves for four hours of slo-mo-epic-seriousness and watched. And watched.. Was the Snyder version better than the theatrical version?: Yes. Most definitely. So many things made more sense. Did the Snyder version have its own problems? Yes. Most definitely. So much slow motion. So many ballads sung. The 4:3 aspect ratio (why?). Agreed. I have thought he would make a really good cinematographer. The Flash was still unsatisfying to me. He still runs funny and his overly-armored costume makes him look small. Am I supposed to believe that Barry Allen can stock a warehouse lair with more equipment than a BestBuy warehouse - yet cannot manage to put together enough money to get into a criminal justice school? I find Snyder's version of Wonder Woman and the Amazons much more satisfying than Patty Jenkin's 1984 version. Even without the ability to fly. Something about Diana being a god-level badass unapologetically and nonchalantly appeals to me. The WW solo action sequence in the museum was near perfect - especially her taking a moment to make sure everyone was okay afterwards. There were no wasted minutes there. This version really benefited from having the Cyborg story fleshed out. (heh) It was overwrought and overdramatic, per Snyder, but it really held the movie together. The 'miracle' of getting the Bat-troop-carrier to fly seemed a bit much. And Cyborg's unlimited abilities bordered on magical powers. The Cyborg costume also never looked real. (Side question: without his hoodie and sweats, is Cyborg basically running around naked?) Steppenwolf and Darkseid still looked like cartoons. Steppenwolf's costume got bedazzled, but his face seemed to have gotten smaller, so there was no emotional connection. Snyder really should have used actual actors as the basis for the villains - it would have helped. But the defeat of Steppenwolf was much less silly in this version. Martian Manhunter? He seemed pointless. It was odd that he admitted to doing nothing during the whole destruction of Metropolis by Zodd event. Also pointless? Batman's (k)nightmare dream-vision in The Epilogue and the inclusion of Joker therein. Are we supposed to believe that if Superman actually turned evil he wouldn't just kill everyone with his heat vision from five miles away? And I still have same complaint as before concerning Superman's Mom having financial issues: that should have never been a thing. Clark could have found a gold mine with his abilities and set Martha up for life long, long before he ever was in danger of dying. Basically, what I felt about the Snyder version of Justice League was the same thing I felt about the tape recording that Silas left for Cyborg. I felt bad for Silas when Victor cut him off by destroying the tape player. ..but then.. when Victor went back and played the rest of the message.. I was like: "please shut up now - you have gone on for far too long."

I very much agree. Everything felt forced this season and the cringe element hit heights never before seen. The only thing that really stood out for me was how committed the adult actors were . . . they seemed committed to doing their best with the ridiculous situations they were given.

The Snyder "trailer" that was released on Valentine's Day was so very, very quintessentially Zack Synder: A series of images that are iconic, dramatic and larger-than-life (emphasis purposely emphasized) .... but also feeling somewhat random and not giving much indication as to how one image leads to the other. It seems , to me , that Snyder spends a lot more time and energy on creating images like the one of Aquaman standing in front of a gigantic ocean wave than he devotes to plot, story structure, character development, etc. (Maybe those things are someone else's job.) And yet, on the other hand, while online I have seen so many fans who are honestly, earnestly happy about this Snyder Cut, that I don't begrudge it coming into existence. And I will most likely pay a one month HBOMax subscription price to see it - - at some point. My one hope is that after it is released, Zack Snyder can finally shut up about it.

Yeah, someone really dropped the ball on editing. There were already issues with trying to figure out what Naomi was trying to accomplish on the USS BoobyTrap. But things got worse in this episode. The cuts between ships and crew members was not done well enough to clearly convey what was happening. Without having established the profiles of particular ships, I could not tell what was happening during the Rocci space battle. I could not tell any of the ships apart in Drummer's attack group. And again, with the attack on the Ring Gate - it was difficult to tell who was doing what to whom. It's not as if the spaceships are as distinctive as the Millennium Falcon...

For me, one of the worst offenses was the complete lack of 80's music. How? Why? Even the first trailer (which looked promising) featured 80's music (New Order, I think..) How did none of the producers realize how much music could add to the appeal of a movie ? (ie: Guardians of the Galaxy).

What happened to the FX budget? This show feels so cheap now. Here are a couple clues of cost saving measures: Instead of paying to choreograph a fight scene for Clarissa/Peaches, why not just cut back to where she is standing over a group of people who are lying down .. then she can just swoon as if she's beaten the crap out of them.. Hey, why not have the gun fight at night? We can pretend there's a small army attacking .. and we don't even have to pay for blood effects.. people can just say 'ouch' and fall over.. How many scenes can we have in the same places, like little shit Filip's room? More hallway and corridor scenes..!! Looking out of windows is expensive .. let's have shots of looking into spaceships.. How many episodes can we have Alex and Bobbi sitting in a cockpit and talking? Wow.. that many..?! On second thought, maybe it is a COVID restriction thing. If sets of actors have been tested, they can just film the same groups in the same locations without having to deal with exposure issues. All the scenes with Holden, Alex, Drummer, etc. could have been filmed in one long setting and then spread out over several episodes. I don't think there is going to be much of a satisfying conclusion to the season in the next episode. At the current pacing, I doubt Marco will be dealt with .. maybe just some resolution to the Naomi situation. Of course, if Naomi is willing to sacrifice her life to save anyone approaching her ship, the solution for that is pretty simple .. just pull some wires. Lastly .. I just don't buy the whole "let's get off this shithole planet called Earth" idea that they are trying to sell. I find it hard to believe Amos has no appreciation for blue skies, fresh ocean air, trees, birds, clouds, rain, snow -- and on and on and on. In space and on Mars, people have to live in tin cans with recycled air. There is no flora. There is no fauna. Resources are limited. If you don't have financial means or some needed skill, no one is going to want you there.