Casual Viewing

And Alex Newell is in that show. I recognized his fabulous voice in the performance before I recognized him. Melissa B was looking pretty stunning too as a presenter.

Discovered a new series called Shakespeare & Hathaway. Kind of light-hearted (in the style of Father Brown, or Death in Paradise.) Speaking of which, I'm going to miss Dwayne from next season of Death in Paradise. Think I may tryout Britbox for my UK fix. Anyone here subscribed to it?

Groff has started filming season 2 of Mindhunter, so that (given Fincher's style of film making) will tie him up for the rest of the year, maybe more. Don't know if he's completed all the voice work for Frozen 2 yet. Enjoyed the 36 questions podcast musical he did and hope that the Bobby Darin Story that he did at 92Y turns into something down the road for him.

I too wish they'd ended it at season 3 final episode. Season 4 was such a mess that I pretty well stopped watching until season 6. I did like their version of "the scientist" but aside from that I've erased what little I saw of season 4 & 5 from my brain. Season 3 made me angry in a lot of episodes but the last three episodes redeemed it for me.

You know, with all the news about abusive producers/actors & pedophiles emerging in the past few weeks, and the fact that Naya was a child actor, one has to wonder if she too was a victim of the system and it screwed her up. There are far too many former child actors whose lives have fallen apart with drugs,, alcohol, eating disorders etc. etc. for there not to be a very dark underbelly to Hollywood that played a key role in their troubled lives. Seems like quite a few of the Glee actors had/have their personal demons. It makes rewatching Glee sad now.

TG for generous friends who pvr the show so I can watch it! Saw this episode this morning and I just have to say the cinematography, esp in the opening scenes was such a feast for the eyes. The opening scenes too were so intriguing they immediately got me wondering which parts of the murder/storyline they would belong with. The music at the start was stunning and thanks,Kryptogal, for the info re: Crystal Organ. I too am sad to see the distance between Endeavour and Thursday, Some of Thursday's comments to Endeavour made me want to smack Thursday, but Endeavour got his own dig in later so it was good to see him so resilient. I didn't like Bright at first but ever since the Tiger episode he has become a favorite. This show is so well cast. I like Trewlove and Frazill. I was very relieved that Frazil was rescued; she's awesome! I must say also I really enjoyed the subtle but different play of emotions across Shaun's face in this episode. So, are the Freemasons responsible for Endeavour's missing exam? They severely underestimate Endeavour's tenaciousness if they think that was enough to keep Morse down. Anyway excellent episode and definitely one I would enjoy watching again.

I admit that when the first suggestions came out that 13 might be a woman, my mind immediately rebelled at the idea. But after seeing that reveal clip I've become intrigued and am looking forward to seeing the next season. Making the Doctor a woman should open up all kinds of new opportunities for the series to explore. If the writing is good, the stories interesting and well acted, who cares if 13 is in a female form? We are after all talking about an alien species that regenerates.

It was a fun, entertaining movie and I actually shed a few years in a couple of places! Jack had to be at an all-time low at the start because that led him to betraying the compass, still it was hard to see him like that and I wish we'd got to see more of his cleverness reappear sooner. It wasn't until he was back on the sea that he became the Captain that I remember. Then, once the Black Pearl was restored, Jack was truly back. The flashback to young Jack was quite fascinating and the villain in this was so much better than Blackbeard in the previous Pirates4. I've seen Dead Man Tell No Tales twice and enjoyed it even more the second time. The critics should be ashamed of their ratings for this, but then again they weren't all that thrilled with the first in the series which I consider a classic. Good thing I ignore the critics.

I guess I'm a different breed of Doctors Who fan than most on fan forums. I've seen all of Who since the 3rd Doctor as well as seeing some of the 1st and 2nd and I love the series warts and all. I don't expect the show to be logical, nor do I anaylize every detail, as long as I'm entertained by it and enjoy the performances, I'm happy. In an entertainment world saturated with comic book superheros I'm just thankful I have Doctor Who to watch. I really liked this episode. For me it was suspenseful and the ending moved me. I especially love Nardole and Bill as the Doctor's companions. Doctor Who has only failed for me when I really dislike the companions (Rose with Ten, Clara, Mel).

Very late in watching this episode (I somehow missed it when first televised.) I was disappointed that season 2 left us with such a cliffhanger and season 3 just gave us only a very quick summation of what happened. I was unsure of even how long Morse was in jail for but in the DVD extras Shaun mentions it was 3 months; I wouldn't have known that from just watching the episode which made it seem only to be 1 month. This episode was a gorgeous feast for the eyes! I wish we'd seen inside Waddeson Manor though as it was one of my favorite houses to tour. It was nice to see the outside at least. There was so much happening in this episode that I ended up watching it twice and enjoyed it much more upon second viewing; in fact I'd say it is now the episode I like the most from season 3 after just finishing rewatching the rest of season 3. That surprised me a bit as I disliked The Great Gatsby and there were indeed some similarities to it. It may be because I liked Bixby and also seeing Morse in a different milieu?

I'm very happy for Amber; she has an amazing voice. It would be cool if she transitions to Broadway with the show. I hope she is taking good care of her voice because doing musical theatre week after week, month after month can be stressful on the vocal cords.

I haven't seen this show, but I always felt that he didn't stay in rehab long enough and wondered if it was the right facility for him. I've also always wondered how much of his checking into rehab was really his wish versus being given an ultimatum and just agreeing without fully committing to it. Drugs, esp. heroin are so hard for someone to give up, and he got hooked on it at a young age. Filming a movie in which he played a heroin addict was not the wisest decision, me thinks. It's sad that now when I think of Cory, the first thing that comes to mind is how gaunt he looked at the end, with a twisted un-Cory smile; like he'd been sucked dry of life. I had boycotted that season of Glee and so the photos of him came as a shock; his death a few weeks later after seeing those photos, not so much.

Jonathan is still enjoying exploring the various acting mediums; he isn't keen on tying himself down to roles that are lengthy. Shows like Glee, Boss, Looking and now Mindhunter, allow him that kind of freedom; as does doing vocals for Frozen and its sequels. His time in Hamilton was the longest commitment he's done since Spring Awakening and turned out longer then he'd anticipated, but even while in Hamilton he did alot of one offs or side projects. I think that for both him and Chris, who they get to work with (actors, writers, directors) is fairly important to them and they take that into consideration when accepting a role. Yes all actors have to eat and so some of the roles they may choose are to pay the rent, but there are actors who act for the joy/challenge of performing and then there are those who do it just for the money/ fame/ and adulation. The latter tend to rely on their looks instead of having or developing talent. Funny how the name Amber Heard immediately jumped into my head just as I typed that last bit. :-) ETA. I think too that when an actor is good to work with then word spreads and others are eager to work with them, and then more opportunities come their way. It's a snowball effect. Likewise if an actor is a real pain to work with, word gets around and fewer and fewer opportunities come their way (unless they can guarantee being a big fandom draw.) The hard part for an actor is getting the audition, getting noticed. Once they land the roles a lot will then depend on their talent level and attitude as to what opportunities come next. .

I think there was a lot of ill will towards Finding Neverland due to Weinstein's involvement, thus the Tony snubs and ripple effect on box office. There seemed to be a lot of people wanting it to fail. Still I think it did better than expected by many. It's hard to say how much of a draw Matt created. Maybe if his role on Glee hadn't been so restricted after season 2, and if Glee hadn't slid so much in popularity, his presence in FN would have made a bigger difference in it's longevity. In other news, Jonathan Groff was nominated for a Tony for best featured actor in a musical, although I expect Daveed will win the category. Meanwhile, Jon starts filming the Mindhunter series this week. It's been interesting comparing his career choices to Lea's since they left Spring Awakening.

What really gets me is that they only had half a season for season 6 and they wasted so much of it on stupid Sue storylines so we we were robbed of a truly satisfying conclusion. But considering how bad/lazy the writers were at writing characters with any true consistency or believable growth I shouldn't have expected a well rounded story arc. Glee taught me one very important lesson, i.e. never ever again to watch anything written by Ryan, Ian or Brad. I have blacklisted them permanently.

I enjoyed the commercials more than the show. Best parts for me were Spotlight winning and Morricone's win. Wish The Revenent's director had lost, preferably to George Miller. Happy with all the actors wins, except I don't think Leo deserved it for this role; I still think nothing tops his performance in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. All the music sucked as far as I was concerned, and Gaga still needs to tone it down a bit more. I couldn't watch her in that terrible hair/wig (?) so I just listened without watching, and to my ears it was not her best vocals, but Sam didn't deserve that win for that horrible Bond song. Now I'm taking a break from awards shows until the Tonys! my favorite awards show. Edit to add: I'll start listening to what Leo says about the environment when he quits flying everywhere in private jets and cruising on motorized yachts.

Well, I just watched the Bowie tribute from The Brits awards 2016. Now that's how you pay tribute to an icon. Bravo!!!

I read on one site awhile back that she got him a job promoting clothes and brands. Same site also predicted that unless she ended up pregnant they'd be over as a couple by early 2016. It was implied that he was just using her as a free meal ticket and if things didn't go as planned he'd dump her.

I should have added a emoticon after that last sentence I was being facetious. But I am going to have to stop reading gossip sites :-) I've got the point where I'm starting to believe that 80% of Hollywood actors are gay or bi and many of them are in bearded contracts or PR contracts. In Lea's case I never believed she and Cory were anything more than a PR couple. My problem with her relationship with Matt was I just felt he was using her as a step on the ladder of fame. I could not see why she'd be stupid enough to date him and get him work. Lust is blind I guess, in any case that is one relationship I'm happy to see end, it was in no way a relationship of equals.

I never understood that pairing. I saw nothing appealing about him and he was a gigolo previously, non? Maybe his contract just expired.

I think they chose that number so people would be introduced to the main characters, IMHO there's many other songs from the show that are more interesting. I am not a lover of rap but it is used very effectively in the show and it is a clever way of relating a lot of info about the characters and what happened. If they'd used only conventional forms of music the show would likely be 5or 6 hours long to tell the same story.There's some really beautiful non-rap songs as well. I find I tend to listen to the entire album end to end again and again. My favorite songs also change day to day. "Wait for it" and You'll be Back" are today's favs. Try listening to it once from start to finish on the free version of Spotify while reading the lyrics at genius.com. Hamilton is a very interesting story (and I'm not generally interested in U.S.A. history--it's too recent). I was fascinated from start to finish and wish I could get to see it.

I like them because they really know how to arrange a song vocally (they won a Grammy Monday for that btw,) and because if for no other reason they have shown that there are singers out there that can actually sing without autotuning and over production and be popular. If they can turn people on to real singing and off the crap fake singers that are everywhere I say more power to them. I agree that a special separate tribute show should be done apart from the Awards show. That would allow proper honour to those talented ones we've lost and not get so many people's feelings hurt. Also, as so many great artists are dying and we are bound to lose more in the coming years, the Grammys is going to become even longer than it already is if it tries to do tributes. This year was bad enough, can you imagine what it will be like in the following years? I really feel that Johnny is not only in a mid-life crises but that he is suffering from major depression and self-medicating with alcohol and who knows what else. The lack of personal hygiene, the weight gain, the deadness in the eyes etc. all scream depression. He's suffered from it before (circa What's Eating Gilbert Grape era) and I'm afraid unless he gets help he's not going to be around too long. It's a shame because he does have a great deal of talent, (acting music, painting) but he's just a total mess now. Amber's going to be a very rich widow one of these days, probably her only claim to fame.

Did he actually get a Grammy for Spring Awakening though? He was part of the Grammy award winning album, but I don't think the cast received individual recognition/ a Grammy back then, only Sheik, Sater & the engineer did. Whereas with Hamilton all the principle soloists are listed by name in the nomination and therefore win the Grammy. Technically Jonathan is also part of an Academy Award winning album (Frozen) but since he only sang for about 45 seconds and the Oscar goes to the composers, that doesn't really count. Still it's awesome (wow!) that he's been involved in such great projects since leaving Glee and I love his songs/voice in Hamilton.

Because Groff was one of principal soloists on the Hamilton Original Cast Album, he now has a Grammy!

Well, I can see their point. I didn't realize she had so many noms and wins, I wasn't really into her style of music I guess. When all is said and done the Grammy's are and always will be a big corporate popularity contest that is the definition of soulless.. The real music will always be played in concerts and small venues by real musicians, many of them never getting a record deal or airplay because they don't fit the radio format. I'd rather listen to this performance any time over Gaga's garbage soulless tribute.