wanderingstar

Agreed - although I have liked Maggie Gyllenhall in other roles. I've never seen Julie & Julia, but I will never understand why Amy Adams got praised for her performance in American Hustle - an awful, awful movie in which her performance was one of the worst.

I am stunned at seeing Mirijana Lucic. I remember when she was the young phenom. Good for her for beating Halep.

UEFA Champions League Draw is out. I can't get over how similar this is to last year's Group Stage. Group A: Atlético Madrid, Juventus, Olympiakos, Malmo Group B: Real Madrid, Basel, Liverpool, Ludogorets Group C: Benfica, Zenit St. Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen, Monaco Group D: Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray, Anderlecht Group E: Bayern Munich, Man City, CSKA Moscow, Roma Group F: Barcelona, PSG, Ajax, Apoel Nicosia Group G: Chelsea, Schalke 04, Sporting, Maribor Group H: FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, Athletic Bilbao, BATE

For once, I enjoyed Berlin. Her charging over to that E-Rep soldier (or was he a prison guard) was the most awesome she's been all season. I feel so conflicted about the Irisa stuff. The Kaziri story wasn't my favorite, so I welcomed its conclusion. But I still feel like Irisa was almost...not there this season - even when she was involved in other storylines (which wasn't all that often). I get that that was a function of her story, but it made me lose touch with the character. I hate that Tommy's dead and that Irisa killed him. Hate it. What's Pilar's deal? Is she really working with the Votans? And where is she taking Alak & Christie?

Indeed. Everything with them was full of win! ETA: So, we've really lost Tommy, then? I'm sad. I liked that character a great deal.

Yawn. I didn't care about Dante's liaison with whatshername arms trader. Nor did I care about the Hubbards getting rescued. But it was nice to see Mac using her hacking skills. And driven, hot Morris Chestnut is always welcome.

Xabi Alonso going to Bayern Munich? No transfer has ever made me cry, but this one might.

I know Man United probably weren't that pressed about the League Cup*, and I know that was a reserve side LvG put out, but damn. Losing 4-0 to a third division side? *smh* *I refuse to call it the Capital One Cup.

Political Fictions by Joan Didion. Reading that during the 2008 election was illuminating...and disheartening.

I kept saying to a friend of mine last season, "Why do they keep trying to make Quinn happen?" I think Happytobhere might have hit on the answer: Shonda Rhimes knows the audience has little fondness for the character of Quinn, so she keeps her around, just to spite the audience.

Saw the cast at Chicago Comic Con (officially called Wizard World) today. They're a fun bunch. Was thrown off by William Shatner being the moderator.

JustaPerson, I know you understand :-) That was actually a good comeback from Arsenal. I just wish it had happened against another team - like, say Manchester United or Chelsea. Ha!

Every time one of the cast members complains about some aspect of their just-married circumstances, all I can think is: you silly people signed up for this!

The end of The Joy Luck Club, when June meets her sisters, gets me every time.

I firmly believe that Christy placed that mic where she did so Alak could squirm for a bit. So, yeah - she is basically Stahma's mini-me.

Since we're talking Bundesliga - the new season began last night with Bayern defeating Wolfsburg 2-1. As for main rivals Borussia Dortmund, they lost 0-2 to Bayer 04 Leverkeusen this afternoon. Didn't expect that.

GAH! This drove me crazy! They seemed content to ride out that 2-goal lead, but with a team like Arsenal, that just won't cut it. I just keep reminding myself that we started last season with 3 draws in a row before improving. *breathe* *breathe*

And I here I was deluding myself into thinking that Amanda was only pretending to warm up to him, so as to play the long game while she plots against him. Ah well.

Forgot to add - Morris Chestnut was looking quite good in this ep.

I enjoyed their scenes as well. Boy - does HIPAA not apply to these DCO employees?

Does anyone know who was covering "Doll Parts" at the end of this episode? I want to bottle the look on Alak's face after Christy confessed to him. Kind of like I want to bottle Alak's awkward laugh. So, it looks like the Kaziri tech only affects Votans (that scene of Tommy rejecting it was gross, but I was riveted). Enjoyed the hell out of Stahma and Datak in this ep. He always looks proud when he realizes the depths of Stahma's treachery.

I kind of wish they'd brought back Mama McCawley earlier in the season. Nice to see Linda Hamilton, though. Can't wait for that family reunion.

Aside from the first 50/60 pages, I really disliked The Kite Runner. I found it to be incredibly clichéd and trite.

I loved every part of There Will Be Blood except for the ending. I just didn't get it.

I read all the HP books and saw all the films. I totally missed the controversy around the casting of Cho Chang. Not so with the Hunger Games. The casting of Rue caused a vicious backlash, though in that case the character was very clearly written as non-white.