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caracas1914

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Posts posted by caracas1914

  1. On 3/22/2022 at 2:13 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

    Have we talked about this person in this thread, and if not, HOW HAVE WE NOT?

    Meryl Streep's daughter Louisa Jacobson is the star of "The Gilded Age" on HBO and people haaaaaaaaaaaate her.  People hate Louisa's acting and they hate her character, Marian.  Now I like her, and I like her character.  I've never felt so out of step with the common opinion.  

    Mamie Gummer, another of Meryl's daughters, was always amazing on "The Good Wife" so I've always liked her.  

    Nothing against Louisa Jacobson, she's competent as Marian.   But let's just say she's not incandescent in the role, I simply don't see what makes her this object of fascination.  Having said that, in all fairness, it's not as if that character is all that well written. 

    • Love 1
  2. LIke many here I hate watch Oscars hoping I'm not too disappointed  enough to  slap who's sitting next to me.

    Best Picture:  CODA

    Nice choice, the films was surprisingly quirky, though I hate once again that the director of the BP wasn't even nominated;     

    though not gonna lie, The Power of the Dog was the "art film" which I thought was so accessible per it's theme and I was rooting for.    

    Drive my Car, Belfast, West Side Story, King Richard, even Dune (HALF a movie) all had their merits.

    I would have bitch slapped everyone if Don't Look Up had inexplicably won, WTF??  

     

    Will Smith was OK for best actor, shades of Julia Roberts winning for Ellen Brokavitch, mix in  the coronation of a career  of a popular actor with an uplifting true life  underdog story, insert OSCAR.   Could have been worse, Javier Bardem could have won.

    Thought that both Benedict Cumberlatch and Andrew Garfield  gave superb full bodied performances in very challenging roles that could have gone off the rails very easily... and Denzel's mastery of the Scottish play was an acting class exercise.  

     

    Best Actress: Jessica Chastain,   sigh the worst choice won. Olivia Coleman and Penelope Cruz would have thrilled for either, just great performances.  People trash Kristen Stewart but that was an impressive and surprising performance, would not have been crushed if she won.   Glad she got the nomination after so many downgraded her chances.  Kidman..meh.

    The best supporting choices I can't quibble with.  However looking and sounding nothing like the real life character/actor William Frawley, JK Simmons spin on him was so interesting and "lived in". Mike Faist in WSS, that was an indelible performance that was overlooked for a nom.

    Best supporting actress, Can live with Debose: just wish either Ruth Negga, Tessa Thompson or Cailtrona Bailfe were nominated 

     

     

     

     

  3. On 3/20/2022 at 10:48 AM, SunnyBeBe said:

    …I think they will catch the husband though, because wasn’t that last guy he killed typing what he found out on his phone before the crash?  If the phone held up, that text should still be there, even if it wasn’t yet sent.  And, wouldn’t the wife’s scarf still be with the guy?  With all the connections to missing people and dead bodies……he’ll get caught…
     

    It’s based on a Patricia Highsmith novel and  in the book’s ending  the husband gets caught.  But Geeze, this film deviates so much from the novel that I would at best say it’s a “loose adaptation.”

    • Love 2
  4. On 3/1/2022 at 10:39 AM, AimingforYoko said:

    To paraphrase a line, Sam Elliot reminds me of “ I’m not a cowboy, but I portray one on TV.”

    His statements smack so much of both homophobia and sexism rolled into one.   For someone who’s made Westerns his whole life, he’s criticizing  THIS film for being an inaccurate portrait of the West?   Seriously?  As opposed to what?  Wyatt Earp? Fort Apache? The Magnificent Seven? 
     

    New Zealand isn’t Montana?  shocker!  Let’s burn all nitrate from every spaghetti Western that Sergio Leone/Eastwood filmed in Europe. Campion can’t understand Westerns but every Hollywood hack who filmed inaccurate portrayals of cowhands, Native Americans, the West I guess is OK for Elliot as long as they portray HIS version.   
     

    As an actor, it’s embarrassing Elliot can’t grasp the notion of  a psychological drama wrapped around a Western setting because his head is too wedged in his ass for his own mythical West.

    • Love 8
  5. On 2/22/2022 at 3:48 PM, Lady Whistleup said:

    I think I still am traumatized by how vicious some of the Kweeniacs could be back in the day that I don't enjoy MK programs as much as I should? 

    What’s funny to me is that back in the day I didn’t mind Lipinski, she had a great skate at the Olympics and deserved her Gold , it happens.


    However now  I curse that win because I have to endure her chatter on TV with Weir.  Fingers on a chalkboard would be a bliss alternative.

     

    • Love 1
  6. On 2/19/2022 at 2:33 PM, Conotocarious said:

    In reflecting on how different skating used to be I returned to watch this program….

     

    Where if you read the comments everyone is like “OMG….that STEP SEQUENCE. It gives me chills”. And it does. And there’s just nothing like that anymore. The only thing anyone cares (and no one cares all that much anymore) about is these pre-rotated and mediocre jumps in the middle of limp programs. 

    Back in the day, the step sequence in a program could be that moment. 

    FUCK.   That still holds up.

     

     

    • Love 8
  7. On 2/6/2022 at 1:33 PM, magicdog said:

    Who does she think she's kidding???

    Obviously, much of Hollywood is all about nepotism of one sort or another.  Even if you aren't an actor, those connections get you in the door for everything from producing to executive positions to directing to gopher!!  If you're a Fonda, of course you'll get in the door regardless of talent or lack thereof.  

    True, but at least she acknowledges her privilege.  As opposed to the ones who claim that they got there because of meritocracy.

    Does anyone truly believe the children and step children of Kurt Russel and Goldie Hawn would have made it on their own AT ALL??  

    • Love 6
  8. 4 hours ago, mojoween said:

    Yesterday’s anniversary was Peyton getting ballsmacked by the Seahawks, which I still am mad about.

    But guess what today’s anniversary is?!?  That’s right…18-1 baby!  I’m still terrified watching *that play* every time that Eli is going to be ruled in the grasp.

    Well if they continue to suck in real time the NY Giants can always look forward to the 20th anniversary and the 30th anniversary and the…

    • LOL 1
    • Love 1
  9. Novaxx better think twice about not getting vaccinated before the FO because if Rafa wins the FO then's he's two up and even Novak can't count on catching up so easily.  

    Over the moon over Rafa's win,  3 different ways those heartbreaking losses of  12, 14 and 17 all had to sting very badly .  The Wawrinka loss hurt so much because his back acting up like that before the final when Rafa had been playing so well. 

    Can you imagine what were Rafa's thoughts when he was broken when serving for the match at 5-4, 30-0.  Incredible he somehow worked through it.  Wish people would stop acting like Medvedev choked, maybe he used poor shot selection and was a bit gassed, but he was admirably fighting until the end.

    • Love 8
  10. I'm good with the SB lineup though it being in LA at SOFI the amount of thirsty celebs will be unbearable..

    Only 49r I truly feel for is Deebo Samuel,  that man is a BEAST and to have to rely on JimmyG as his QB as he did all the heavy lifting...

    • Love 6
  11. So Bridget Fonda was in the news:

    https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bridget-fonda-rare-public-appearance-birthday

    Always thought Bridget was very talented. 
    Thought this old 1993 Movieline interview requoted was interesting, about as “honest” an answer I’ve heard one of the Beneficiaries say about the subject. 

    Quote

    I wonder what kind of satisfaction I would have with where I am now if I wasn’t part of a family that has done such phenomenal work," said Fonda, the daughter of Peter Fonda, granddaughter of Henry Fonda and niece of Jane Fonda.

    "I wonder what it would feel like to know that you’ve made it completely under your own steam. I sometimes wonder if I would be more at peace if I could know I made it by myself, instead of always wondering how many times my name got me in the door."

     

     

    • Love 4
  12. 5 minutes ago, merylinkid said:

    Please note they trot out Bret Favre regularly.   And Favre is a lot more objectionable to me than Tom Brady.   I disliked Favre before disliking him was cool.

    Of course he couldn't wait until Tuesday to do this?   Now everyone will be talking about his "legacy" tomorrow instead of the championship games.  If he had done it next week, they could have talked about it all they wanted without distracting from those teams WHO ARE STILL PLAYING.

    But we knew he was done.   As soon as he started talking about being with his family, you knew he was done.   Its not about whether or not he thinks the Bucs can do it again.  it's whether he wants to put his body through all that for the chance to do it again.  Don't blame him one bit for hanging up the cleats.   When you are playing against QBs who weren't even born when you started, its time to move on. 

    With all due respect, it didn't matter when he retired, he was still be bashed by some.  I think after 20 years in the league, GOAT and all, he retired in probably the least fanfare way possible, no farewell tour, no mikes before a stadium, 3  weeks before the SB and letting Tampa start the process of replacing him (sort of)

    I agree it's the mental strain of putting football first (basically) for yet another season.  Even with proper conditioning and nutrition, etc, I seriously doubt we are going to see another 44 year old QB who puts MVP numbers up like Brady in our lifetime...

     

     

    • Love 5
  13. 4 hours ago, ChitChat said:

    People do have valid reasons not to get the vaccine.  Labeling someone as an "unwashed Covid ignoramus" is actually more disturbing and divisive to me than anything Rodgers has said.  His body, his choice, right?

    He hasn't tried to impose his viewpoint on anybody.  The media is the one who took the story and ran with it.   What's right for me might not be right for the person standing next to me, so I'm not going to judge their decision on whether they get the vaccine or not.  I think that's kind of the way he is looking at it.   YMMV.  

    OK, I've  not called him an "unwashed Covid ignoramus", and I have friends and families who are not vaccinated and I'm fine with that , but that's not just why he gets on people's nerves.

    1) For a "smart" person, it's obvious he deliberately misled others with his "inmunized" BS.  Both Kirk Cousins, Carson Weitz, etc made clear they were not vaccinated.   Rodgers wanted his cake and eat it too, as in acting like unvaccinated shouldn't be criticize from a 3rd person perspective.   That was an asshole move.  

    2) He tried to skirt protocol rules for a nonvaccinated person.   Again, non vaccinated players are not BANNED from the NFL, they just have to follow certain protocols.

    3) Rodgers was close to journalists/media/others without mask protection and it was obviously they thought he was vaccinated.  Now there is an argument to be made that vaccinated people transmit COVID too, but again, there were rules in place. 

    4) Anybody who quotes the blow hard  Joe Rogan  IS an ignorant dofus, because JOE 
    ROGAN?  

    5) Personal choice and all that, and fine.  Just don't quote unsubstantiated "evidence" why not to get vaccinated and gussy it up with the Aaron Rodgers  "free thinker" claptrap.    The man doesn't hide the belief  he's this center of the universe intellectual above it all.    It's not Cancer culture why people reacted to him the way they did because of  his deceptive actions, but someone as entitled and spoiled in his life like Rodgers cant's seem to grasp that point at all. 

    • Love 19
  14. 2022: So the Packers will be around 45 million over the salary cap AND Devante Adams among several starters  will be free agent.  Even if Rodgers renegotiates his contract it’s hard to believe they will field a better team than the last couple of years.  Rodgers is on the record stating he’s not playing  for a rebuilding team, so that might have been his last Packer game.  

    I’m sure he’s pouring Goat’s  blood on the altar of the NFL Gods that Brady loses because if Brady wins another SB in the NFC… 

    Bus/Rams game: I dunno, all the talk from the pundits seems to center on how Brady and the Bucs offense is depleted with injuries…

    But apparently the Bucs  Defense has all its starters back for the first time since game 1 , so in this high stakes playoff game are we really going to bet on Matthew Stafford?

    • Love 1
  15. On 1/16/2022 at 5:15 PM, Carey said:

    …tuning out Collinsworth is not a federal crime)

    Its actual a public service deserving of a medal of freedom. 

    • Love 5
  16. I liked the element of danger and foreboding Leda felt  with Nina and her extended family.  However it made sense to me that per her character, she would refuse to move from her spot on the beach.  Leda in a sense had courted "danger" all her life.  

    She had courted being in moral danger with her very  life choices, but it was clear  she was not regretting putting herself first instead of her daughters, which to many is a monstrous choice.   She could sense Nina's sense of anxiety with motherhood and thought it mirrored her own exactly, which of course it did not.    So I think Leda always felt separate from so many mothers around her; even her memory of her daughters childhood experiences seems fractured and spotty.

    What I found fascinating was  after deciding she is leaving husband/said daughter, her berating her husband for threatening to hand the children over to Leda's mother.   Leda throws out how selfish and uncaring that would be, as she was traumatized by her upbringing under that roof.    It makes absolutely no sense, but it rings true as to how screwed up people's family dynamics can be.  ("Your selfishness is worse than mine!")

     

    • Love 1
  17. 2 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

    To some extent, we've already encountered this. Not standing by passively, but not even knowing that very large threats exist. Supposedly, Stephen Strange kept a watch list of people/beings who could put the world in jeopardy, and Loki was on it, but he had no idea Thanos was out there until Bruce Banner destroyed his skylight.

      Hide contents

    Come to that, the trailer for his upcoming movie makes it clear he knows what Wanda did in Westview, though it's not stated how, and yet either he didn't find out until after the fact or he just couldn't be bothered to contact her until he needed something from her, but that's a separate conversation.



    Ego was mentioned upthread. Did Arishem know that Ego existed, and if so was Arishem aware that Ego had already meant for the earth to be part of his rebirth? It's not as if they'd have drawn lots to see who got what, and that's not even bringing Thanos into it, who is the reason the Celestial planted inside the earth didn't wake up five years previously in canon. It's the uber-powered equivalent of all the human groups who run around doing things and yet somehow never really encounter one another. Here, only Ajak and Ikaris knew the full extent of what the plan was. Phastos and Druig had doubts, particularly Phastos after Hiroshima, but it's only Ajak who consciously changes her mind. And Ikaris killed her for it. It's never made clear why Arishem himself didn't intercede when Thanos was gathering the Infinity Stones, bypass the group entirely and shut him down before all those human lives went up in clouds of ash. He's so powerful he can create immortal robots, but he can't deal with one lunatic with a plan that isn't even a permanent solution?

    That's why the Celestials are tough to use as actual  characters,  Ego, Thanos, etc have relatable emotions/feelings/ to bounce off of.   The Celestials: nada, zip.   Sentient Lives mean nothing to them if it's stands in the way of their "projects".  How the Eternals are treated, rebooted and recycled by the Celestial shows they don't even consider their loyal minions in anything.  

    The  best rationale I can think of regarding the Celestials is that they are  the general building contractors hired  to build/renovate the Universe, they have their "methods" they've used forever and that's just the way things are.   Ever  tried arguing with a building contractor??  You  get nowhere.    It's not even whether the Celestials  are a force of good or evil, they are almost presented as beyond that.    (Tear down an existing  wall to build up a new building in its stead, kill a few billion to create a new galaxy).

    The conundrum per the Celestials creating the Eternals to destroy the Deviants is that the Deviants are presented as potentially delaying  the population of host worlds increasing to the desired limit to create the energy needed to birth a Celestial.  So it is shown that the timetable is important to stick to. 

    Well, Thanos blew that up  across the whole frigging universe, so that would delay their construction timetable far more than the Deviants could dream to accomplish.  

    Again, maybe they could have introduced the Celestials as this late date somewhat plausibly, but IMO  the way they presented them on screen in this movie makes no  sense. 

     

     

    • Love 1
  18. Mixed bag, not as bad as the fanboys claimed but neither a genuinely cinematic breakthrough for the genre.

    The  Eternals film never resolved the dilemma the comic book also had; how to fit it in with the rest of the MCU.  

    Even making them artificial beings seems like a weaselly way to exclude them from the effects of Thano's snap (ie robots are not living beings) while depriving them a genuine sense of self or history.

    Another issue bleeded over from the comics: Celestials are  these huge unimaginably powerful beings (forces of nature?) who are responsible for the physical creation of the Universe but are dull as dishrags as far as characters.   So they are in a sense the villains but almost nothing you can connect to, and the Deviants who at least in the comics were intelligent beings (one was Thena's lover) are reduced to generic  movie monsters.

    The ambition was there:  a storyline encompassing 5000 years of mankind's history, and Marvel's first genuinely international and diverse cast (Agreed that the Bollywood Eternal movie star storyline was such fun) and the conflict between duty and what is the greater good.   So I liked flashes of it that was different from the Marvel movie formula , and some of the self mocking humor was welcome, but at the same time the film couldn't shake a sense of  ennui hanging over the Eternals  that made things seem so depressing.  Try to survive centuries of passive non interference when you have the power to change things.

    One final vent;  it annoys me no end that these Eternals that stood by while billions of beings over millions of years were sacrificed for the Eternals grand design ( basically all a planet's inhabitants were fodder for a celestial's birth) would only have their consciousness awaken by mankind.   Yes, the world's humans are *that* special from everyone else.   Rolling eyeballs.  

    • Love 5
  19. I chalk up the Laconia storyline to the business end in case there is a sequel series...

     

    Though the wrapped up storyline I really can't complain about:

    Chrisjen: Loved the callback to the first season where Earth came first above all for her and she had no compulsions in torturing a Belter for intel.   Her growth was the one of the best things about the series, and has there ever been any TV character  who wore jewelry seemingly as armor as magnificently as she did? 

    Loved the confirmation yet again that Amos & Bobby were the two baddest badasses to ever roam a universe and woe be to anyone and anything that gets in their way.

    I get that James Holden was the necessary trope:  noble "leader" and no diss on Steven Strait,  but dang, compared to so many of the other characters he was sooo boring.  Season 6 did not change my opinion.    Reversing the usual "white male savior" endgame was nice.

    Drummer:  Making her a fearless fighter  AND a humanitarian supplying badly needed supplies makes her  storyend arc make even more sense.   Drummer was basically the flip side of Marco,  acutely aware of the injustices against her people but it was never about her pride and position but the Belters.  I loved how BOTH Marcos and Drummer's followers were shown sincere and even good people fighting for a cause they believed in.   Oye! Beltalowda  indeed.

    Marcos Inaros, another boring character but at least his  death was silent, no chance for another wordy tirade.

    "Peaches"/Clarissa was a pleasant surprise, in that I initially didn't see the point of her reintroduction but the personal struggle to redeem herself struck a chord, and Naomi's gradual acceptance of her just reminded us again what a genuinely good person Naomi is. 

    And I'm sorry, but yes, the callout of pilot  Alex was a great emotional  touch, with the characters singing along to a Hank Williams tune, now THAT'S  how you do a departed character tribute.

     

    • Like 1
    • Love 8
  20. On 1/11/2022 at 2:55 PM, merylinkid said:

    Joe Judge finally fired.

    It's like calling the fire dept. after the house has completely burned to the ground.  

    On 1/12/2022 at 8:19 AM, mojoween said:

    Has Aaron Rodgers *always* been an asshole, or is this a recent development?

    Look, pinhead.  You worry about your own sordid business and keep the Giants name out of your greasy mouth, got it?

    Rodgers is not the worst person ever, but he's among the most annoying group of people we all familiar with;  the ones who self proclaim themselves intellectuals and free thinkers.   ANNOYING.

     You couldn't write the script of his referencing Ayn Rand's "Atlas shrugged " the Bible of all the pretentious douche bags from  high school.

    Having said that, he had a heck of a year, what with that 37 to 4 TD/INT ratio.  However , while it's annoying how the MVP debate unfairly shifts to QB's, I just can't see the argument for Rodgers  being the MVP over Brady.

    Both their teams had 13-4 records and won their division, with Rodgers/Packs the #1 seed but the Buck right behind as the #2 seed in the NFC, but Brady had more completions, more pass yards and more TD passes.  Albeit in 17 games, but Brady also broke the record for most completions in a season.    He's the only QB other than Drew  Brees and Peyton Manning in the last 40 years to lead in all 3 passing categories. (comp, yards, TD's)

    I do agree both teams would have done far worse  without these two guys leading them, though with Rodgers losing a game due to COVID stupidity, I can't give the edge to him.   

    • Love 2
  21. It's well known that Steven Sondheim wasn't exactly thrilled looking back at his lyrics for WSS, but I actually thought the creative ways Spielberg set up the musical numbers enhanced the music and words.  Less "traditional" (ie n just letting the characters statically belt out a song ), Spielberg brought out a nice visual style to complement the music, which is so familiar to people to almost make it inert otherwise.  

    To me, the most appealing and complex character has always been Anita, , and one interesting touch was the implied skin color bias even among the Puerto Ricans in the film , Anita obviously being also of African American descent.

    One thing that both films sort of skip over was  how Anita would have the largesse to help out the killer of her lover Bernardo.    Anita knew Bernardo was an impulsive hothead, but just something that let us know Anita acknowledged  it was an unfortunate series of events beyond any one character's control one make her 180  turn just a wee bit less incredulous.

    I mean, this is the same Anita who minutes earlier had angrily spit out: " A boy like that, would kill you brother."  Somehow Anita ceding to Maria's "pure love" platitudes is still hard for me to swallow 

     

    • Love 1
  22. Ok we finally have a contender for best movie pretty couple  since “ Cat on a hot tin roof”  (Elizabeth Taylor/Paul Newman) and it comes in a MCU flick.

    When Gemma Chan/Richard Madden were on screen I kept on visualizing the little Eternals those two would produce.  ( Organic robot babies?)  ; ) 

    • Love 2
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