kieyra

Sundance Now.

Airing Thursday, August 6, 2020

Former Michigan State gymnastics coach Kathie Klages to serve 89 days in jail for lying to police I can't remember if Klages is mentioned in Athlete A, but I just rewatched At the Heart of Gold and they spend some time on her in that one.

I didn't make it through this whole show, but as soon as I saw his face in one of the early episodes, I immediately thought: "Ugh, handsome villain = redemption arc and love interest. Gross."

I don't remember much of the book (I only skimmed it), but I only remember Marianne (and the mean boys at school) claiming she was ugly, and Connell telling her she wasn't, repeatedly. I don't remember if there was any reliable outside POV describing her as ugly, or just her own lack of self esteem. I thought the actress was very well-cast, either way, and convincingly mousy pre-university. Paul Mescal did look slightly too old in the high school (I think wrong term for Ireland) days. He's got a perma-frown line between his brows that doesn't help. But for me it wasn't really about the attractiveness of either actor--they just had incredible chemistry. Edited to add, unrelated to the above: I know one of the 'comic relief' videos was linked upthread, but I don't think this one was:

Re: Miranda ... don’t forget we saw her inhale some of the “stupid idea” dust in Dumb Patrol.

We’re basically on the same page here, except I have slightly more Larry interest. But man, between the pandemic and Dorothy, this season has it rough. I also wasn’t thrilled with the “terrible fathers” theme, especially when Kay/Jane’s metaphorical Well ... became a literal well. It was much scarier when Daddy was more of a shadowy, lurking presence than a run of the mill, abusive psychopath. (JMO) This past week, after much waffling, I got my husband to try the show. (I’m pretty choosy about which stuff I put in front of him, because I watch WAY too much tv and not all of it is top tier.) He got hooked from episode one, loves the characters ... until we got to Hair Patrol, an episode I realized I’d never even made it all the way through on my own because of the grossness, and the Gentleman Adventurer Niles story that goes on forever. He found it boring. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that that episode spawns (literally) the worst part of S2. I’ll have to do a disclaimer before we get there.

World champion gymnast Terin Humphrey alleges Larry Nassar sexually abused her

YES. For me I think it often comes down to some sort of chemistry mismatch between me and whoever did the casting. By all rights I should have loved the recent Gatiss/Moffat Dracula project, but every single actor was Zzzz to me. Their Dracula was like a vampire accountant. And not in a Colin Robinson kind of way. Looking at reviews now, it wasn't super well-received anyway, but I wouldn't have known because I found the actors so boring I gave up early. (BORING/uninteresting to watch, not 'unattractive'.) This has definitely happened to me with other shows, where I've been like "what I find interesting in a performer is exactly the opposite of whoever did this casting".

Aha, I had a feeling she wasn't an actress by trade, so I just looked her up (MMA fighter). It's probably telling that my 'favorite' new SW movies are the less-popular ones (I loved Rogue One, and I enjoyed TLJ more than I was apparently supposed to).

I just finally watched The Mandalorian. Woof. I seem to be immune to the Star Wars effect, but I’d gotten the sense this was a good tv show on its own merits. Found it cartoony, painfully clunky dialogue, improbable battles where the relative power of a given weapon didn’t make sense, bizarre character choices (I kept yelling at the Mando for his weird decisions), and overall extremely predictable. The painful dialogue didn’t do any of the actors any favors, but the actress playing Cara Dune was especially ... unconvincing. Here’s hoping Favreau lets someone else write the next seasons. Like maybe Taika Waititi.

For anyone looking for new content, Doom Patrol’s second season is airing, I think it will be abbreviated due to the pandemic but for now it’s fresh content. One of my fave shows currently. First three episodes of season one may still be up for free on YouTube, otherwise DC Universe or HBO Max. A few other things that may have slipped under your radar during the pandemic: Feel Good - Netflix: A lovely, bingeable lesbian dramedy. Dropped in March. Cheer - Netflix docuseries, can’t say enough good about this. Got some Emmy noms. It dropped on Netflix before the pandemic, but not too long before. Normal People - Hulu: Miniseries, YA romance and takes itself quite seriously, but incredibly well-done, groundbreaking intimacy scenes, and the lead actor, who was a prior unknown, just got the Emmy nom. (Paul Mescal, you’ll probably be hearing his name more.) Dropped in April. The Great - Hulu: Historical satire on Catherine the Great. Elle Fanning and Nick Hoult. Harlots meets Another Period. Completely bananas, vulgar, hilarious, and heartfelt. Dropped in the middle of May.

Airing Thursday, July 30, 2020

Cheer's Monica Aldama Reveals Her Team's Reaction to Their 6 Emmy Nominations

Wow: Paul Mescal got an Emmy nom. That’s pretty huge for how niche it seems this series was.

Yearly rewatch. Still mad at myself for how hard I dragged the show during its first season.

At one point Miranda mentions that 'everyone is acting weird including Flit'. But I could have sworn I saw Miranda inhale some of the purple. (Haven't rewatched to verify.)

There was a lot to like about this episode, especially a much-needed break from Dorothy. I always enjoy “altered states” episodes, and this one didn’t disappoint. They’ve refined Cliff’s character to the point that just watching him stomp around screaming FUCK FUCK FUCK is entertaining. I could watch a whole show about Jane and the alters, but that would be a Tatianna Maslany level workload. (Who, to my mind, Diane Guerrero is beginning to approach in skill with this show.)

That “House” was based heavily on Sherlock Holmes. Years, it took me.

Rewatch has also made me realize something that’s probably obvious to most ... I wasn’t always clear on some of the distinction between Jane/Hammerhead, when Hammerhead is just being snarky rather than full-on rage mode. I finally spotted the chest tattoo. /sigh

Shameless and The Magicians are two shows that have aggravated me so much that I won’t rewatch their earlier, “good” seasons on paid streaming services because it feels like rewarding bad behavior. It’s fine if you get bored and want to move on, but don’t leave the show’s reanimated corpse running for five more seasons, just let it die (Shameless); and don’t be edgy for the sake of edgy and cut your own legs off at the knees (Magicians).

Airing Thursday, July 23, 2020

Watching season one again. I’m used to a certain percentage of shows I watch being weird niche shows that no one talks about, but I genuinely don’t understand why this one doesn’t have a higher profile. So good, and very rewatchable.

Season 4 is definitely my least favorite. I understand why it had to exist, but ... I think my favorite season four moment is probably Gretchen storming into Jimmy's house, climbing up on the furniture so she can tower over him, and screaming: "... HEY! ... DOT! ... DOT! ... DOT!"

Priyanka’s been my favorite since ep one. She’s like a Canadian Adore Delano circa S6. Boa is doing nothing for me.