aghst

Supposedly Denzel, Will and one other guy prayed together during the Oscars? Don't know if it was before or after Will won his award. They don't come across as especially religious.

Started a rewatch of this show, which drew critical raves but not enough ratings to get more than one season. I recognize many of the things in the first two episodes but don't recall how it ended so it's almost like watching for the first time. The striking thing is that they are looking at books, old newspapers and so on. They have cell phones but smart phones haven't taken off yet. Still they should have all manner of online search tools? Even before Google, there used to be systems like Lexis and other online resources, even going back to the '90s. I don't know if they'd have had newspaper crossword puzzles online though. Probably still don't have that now, though imagine the work of digging up old newspapers (not even microfiche) to look for similar or same clues in different newspaper crossword puzzles across several years. So it takes days to do these kinds of queries, which seems even quicker than one might imagine. But you can see the separate plots about the billionaire who killed himself, after seeing a four-leaf clover in his crossword, and Will looking for crosswords which require that clue. He has someone else check crosswords going back decades and find a similar pattern of same clues across several international newspaper crosswords and discover that the last time it was done, in 1983, it was an order for action, which may be related to the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon. The suspense in the first two episodes comes from the manner in which David, Will's former boss and mentor, is killed and Will being surveilled at the roof top of the American Policy Institute, the front name for this unit of analysts and being followed to his home. I can see why this didn't appeal to a big audience. I don't know what kind of expectations AMC had of this series but it was right in the middle of the Mad Men run. Breaking Bad had started it's run 2 years before so it was in the middle of its run as well. Mad Men had a lot of male-female intrigue and BB had a lot of action. Rubicon was suspenseful, even as they make connections in the worlds of intelligence and geopolitics. But it's about analysts looking for patterns, solving puzzles, which might show what certain individuals or states may be up to. The stakes are, some former Soviet guy who may look to be selling unsecured nuclear weapons to terrorists. Will had lost his wife and child on 9/11 so terrorism was still in the zeitgeist, at least in the intelligence community. But the show requires viewers to pay attention to these details, try to solve the puzzle at the same time as the characters. Lost was ending its run in 2010 so maybe there's some influence from that as well since that show inspired a big following of people trying to solve puzzles and easter eggs. However, we now know that this kind of analysis is done by the NSA, spying into civilian communications of all kinds or using supercomputer tools to process huge volumes of data or information of the kind shown in Rubicon, looking for patterns. Otherwise, the cast is good but maybe not charismatic enough to draw a big audience.

They've always put their stuff out there haven't they? Including cultivating public and social media personas for their children, starting from when they were very young. They've probably benefitted from that, getting themselves a lot of media attention. I remember when the whole Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie affair came to light, they were a regular feature on tabloids and all the celebrity media for years. Someone once estimated that all that attention was worth tens or hundreds of millions to them, again confirming the notion that there was no such thing as bad publicity. Have the Smiths tweeted or spoken publicly about their marital situation? People certainly have made jokes about it. So when Jada communicated about her hair, did she not expect jokes and reactions? They don't deserve abuse but when they publicize their personal lives, there's a downside to doing so.

Mexico City - We know in many cases, they're already living in the home that they end up choosing. They probably already had a business or at least a specific business plan when they moved but they portray it on the show as if they just picked up and moved because they fell in love with the city on one visit and some friends gave them ideas about what kind of business they could do. Or they have a pretty fat bank account that they're able to rent a $3200 apartment, which is $500 more than what they were prepared to spend, without any prospects for income. They probably knew Polanco was the most expensive district but scoped out the market and figured they could afford it. So it's doubtful the couple decided to just move their family of 6 on a whim, with no plans for income. They talk up how their kids have lived in all these different countries, like that is the only factor that drives their decisions, like they're some dreamers who don't care about finances -- money will always sort itself out.

I have Nespresso too but Nestle the parent company is still doing business in Russia and they've had a sordid history with children's formula in the 3rd world. So no more Nespresso capsules for me. Peete's will have to do.

Chris was right not to ask them to have Will Smith arrested. Can you imagine the visual of Will Smith, one of 5 black Oscar winners, being led away from the Oscars? And if he resisted at all, it coul look even more ugly. Would have overshadowed The Slap.

Yeah it may turn out to be nothing. But Lila had been freaking out about Michele Solara trying to get to her by being nice to Gennaro, maybe influencing him. Lenu may or may not be aware of this. She wanted to know exactly why Lila foisted Gennaro on her for the summer. But if you remember, the series started in season 1 with an adult Gennaro calling a middle aged Elena about his mother going missing. So he presumably doesn't turn out to be some heinous mafia wannabe.

Is this the first time Glen has put a firing on the table? He can't avoid it, Bravo must have thought "won't play along with the fire the crew member game, well we will just cast someone horrible."

Where does Paper Boi find a chain saw in someone else's place? As for as the whole white guilt thing, they touched upon it in the first episode of season 3, with the crazy women who took in the black kids. They are capable of abusive behavior in the name of being tolerant to POC. It's kind of a new twist on the limousine liberals of previous generations, around or after the Civil Rights movements. Back then it was hypocrisy of these people, they were fine supporting causes for black people but they didn't want them to move into their neighborhood. I suppose Glover as a star has been exposed to some egregious behavior of this type. But it's interesting that he sees their behavior as monstrous, not just hypocritical. As far as how blacks have been received in Europe, well at least for jazz artists, they felt welcome, back in the ''60s and '70s. Not that there wasn't racism back then or now. But in some milieus they idolized black artists and athletes -- like track athletes could make a living over there compared to in the US.

They have some strange experiences. Al seemed skeptical about this party but he took stacks expecting to gamble it? I don't recall the interactions they had in the previous seasons. Van went to one of Drake's places, wanting to check out his bedroom and closet. Now they're kind of blasé about wealth, wasn't too impressed by the shabby fake house below, liked the sheen and brightness above, with its own Nando's. Van says she doesn't need anything yet she's apparently tagged along from Amsterdam to London. Who's covering her expenses? You'd think Alfred would want Earn to pay since it's his ex.

Sorry this is not a series, it's a 1 hour 40 minute movie. Got that wrong. It's in 4K and HDR. And it's getting panned pretty much.

Only the primary seems to put on airs about fine dining. The other ones just want to eat but not necessarily what Ryan is serving. Do the preference sheet not indicate what they want and don't want? Or is Ryan just ignoring it? Yeah the attitude is going to wear thin. Aesha has already had it with him. Magda's previous yachting experience was as yoga and fitness trainer. Well she is wiling to learn and do the dreary work but is she on this boat because they're filming a TV show? These guests, the guy sounds like Andy Dick except he's not doing a parody. Every other sentence is I got this in Monaco. So you overpaid for pajamas, big whoop. They really featured bikini shots of that chick. And she annoyed Ryan, so win-win. Those waters are really teeming with huge fish. Kind of freaky. I may be going to Queensland but probably not as far north as Airlie. Never scuba dived but never had some great desire to visit an aquarium either.

Did that advice involve putting out a sex tape?

Story coming out now is that Will Smith was asked to leave the premises after The Slap and he refused. So the Academy is having having disciplinary proceedings against him.

Can they get a pension that young? They seem at most early 30s?

Brisbane wife said more than once that she followed her husband to Australia for love, not that she was especially interested in living there. I must have missed their main source of income? It can't be working part time in a bike shop? If their income doesn't improve much in a few years, she may not tolerate him only working part time. But she's willing to put up with compromises in the place where they live for now.

Taylor has simple needs. The standing dinner date at that Chinese place with Mafee, though maybe the bill for a meal runs into the hundreds there. They do have a multimillion Manhattan apartment. Maybe some other properties as well? But based on the last episode, maybe Taylor needs some walking around cash to help them seduce some young women they might fancy once in awhile.

I researched that place, it's called The Sagamore on Lake George, NY. It's north of Albany. Rooms start at $500 a night and up. Probably doesn't include golfing fees or shooting skeet fees. Not out of the reach for even the upper middle class but seems to be catering to millionaire clientele. That is where they took the guy who saw himself as the champion for eliminating inequality.

She could take it easy on the kid but she could have gone hard at the stage mom. Doesn't time cost money on sets?

Season 2 not quite as good as season 1. They wanted to extend the chase and uncertainty of season 1? They hooked up immediately but it took a year for them to express that they wanted more from each other. She doesn’t leave because of him but as soon as they get off the bus she’s trying to avoid him? If they become a couple and she’s not playing these games, then the show becomes different in tone and it’s over? At least the timeline isn’t a full year before she admits that she’s held back, pushed him away. So maybe season 3 will be the end and they go off happily after. Would be hard to sustain these on, off rom coms for much longer. At some point Tom decides she’s not worth all the ups and downs he puts him through.

She was a doormat on the set to the kid, the mother and then the lead male guy. I don't know if TV show directors try that hard or have the nonchalant attitude of Elijah -- it's just a network show. (well maybe it won't be as crappy as The Chi) But she wants to own her mother, deign to sit down with her while she takes abuse from coworkers and her daughters. They didn't have time for a cooking montage on this episode but they had a mini montage of Sam stuffing hard boiled eggs and bacon a couple of times. So they've had these dogs of how long but they're not housebroken? Or not let out into the yard or taken for walks? And what was with the cold open of the old lady throwing an e-scooter out of her path and Sam watching while driving by? Some of the scenes look like some random shit they throw in.

S03.E05: Terror No matter how much she tries to leave her past behind her, the past keeps chasing her down. Violence between the Communists and Fascists escalate back in her home. Gino the schoolmate who once paid Elena to flash her breasts, is gunned down by a masked gunman who looks like Pasquale. I guess they were laying the groundwork, with Pasquale talking about how the mafia was sucking the life out of the people in the neighborhood eventually graduating to violence. I know there were leftist acts of terrorism in the '60s and '70s in Italy but didn't think some of the characters in the book/show would be involved. What's surprising though is that the camorra allowed all that violence in the neighborhood to go on without ending it. Couldn't have been good for all the businesses they controlled. Lenu and Pietro contained themselves when Pasquale and Nadia visited, as they both insulted them and then had sex in the bathroom that Lenu cleaned up. Can you imagine what Lila would have done? She'd have grabbed a knife. Pasquale kept speaking to her in Neopolitan and she really didn't engage, replying mostly in Italian. Pasquale was hostile to Pietro and then trashed Elena's life. Lenu gets into the growing women's lib movement but Pietro is unhappy that she took her daughters to a march. She throws some feminist rhetoric and Pietro shows the privileged sexist that he is by slapping her. Then Enzo brings Gennaro, Lila's son with her. Michele Solara has been tempting the boy with sweets as a way to get at Lila so she gets Lenu to take him for the summer. Pietro and Enzo get along far better so not everyone from the neighborhood are boors. But Gennaro may be turning into another creep like the Solaras, trying to show his weenie to Elena's daughter. Florence may not be far enough away from Naples and Lenu may have to find another faraway place to get away from her husband.

Saw a tweet suggesting that he didn't write the joke. Whatever, he said it on TV in front of an international audience so the buck stops you know where.

Will has apologized to Chris. Chris is going on tour this summer. Does he use it?

Misogynous, asshole behavior is an aphrodisiac to some women.