Wiendish Fitch

It's funny, I didn't think Elemental was all that great*... and yet I'm so happy it's become quite the sleeper hit. Who knew we still had those?! Maybe I like that there's still a market for simple stories about love and familial relationships. And it's not based on a pre-existing I.P.! Yay! *No, I didn't hate it, I just thought some of the world-building was a bit sloppy, but it was absolutely not the worst thing I've seen. If you loved it, that's wonderful, and keep making sleeper hits happen!

That moment is so great on so many levels: Boo overcoming her fear of Randall, stepping up to protect Sully, and Randall suffering the humiliation of having his ass handed to him by someone who's only recently toilet trained.

I finally saw Barbie a week or two ago, and you know what? You know something? Y'ALL WANNA READ MY SCORCHING HOT TAKE ON IT??!?! Here we go!! Barbie was... Fine. That's it. I thought it was fine. Not the worst, not the best, a decent, not particularly special way to spend 2 hours. The morals and themes were heavy-handed, but not offensively so. I adored the real sets (ah, man, real sets!), and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Honestly, my biggest takeaway was that I wanna get me some pink Birkenstocks.

Isle of the Dead is my #1 favorite Val Lewton flick, and let's just say events from recent years make it feel more relevant than ever. Boris Karloff is predictably great, and Ellen Drew brings dignity and backbone to the standard ingenue role. Ah, the Great Garbo! I recently re-watched Camille. Yeah, the melodrama is a bit much (and parts of it haven't aged all that great) but... darn it all, it's just so pretty! Camille was said to be Garbo's favorite of her films. MGM made the most consistently lovely black and white films of its day (Maytime is also a notable example).

Maybe Andrew from Sweet Home Alabama and Sybil from China Seas can meet via some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey thing, fall in love, and have amazing time traveling adventures together (I'd watch the hell out of that).

Savior Complex has been getting a lot of backlash recently. I was hoping someone would make some kind of documentary on Renee Bach, but I don't like that they interviewed her. I confess I'm perversely curious, but I'll keep this docuseries at arm's length until I learn more. Does anyone else have any thoughts?

Heck yes! False modesty can be every bit as annoying as arrogance!

This, absolutely. Poirot has an abundance of self-confidence that, in spite of his flaws, he's absolutely earned. He is a great detective, he does have the skills to pay the bills, and that's what makes him so appealing as a character. He isn't damaged, insecure, whiny, posturing, or navel-gazing like too many male characters are nowadays. Poirot knows who he is, and likes it, thank you very much. Nothing is more badass and, if you must, "manly", than genuine self-assuredness. Remember that.

David Suchet is absolutely the definitive Hercule Poirot: Pompous, prissy, a bit decadent, but also brilliant, dogged, and cares about people (or at least gives the impression that he does). I can't stand Kenneth Branaugh's Poirot: He's too tall and strapping (this Poirot would never even look at sweets), his personality is all wrong (must every character nowadays be a generic "badass"??), and God, I hate his mustache with a searing passion. It's too big, too ornate, it looks like it would take hours to groom (I know Poirot is vain and meticulous, but he isn't this impractical), and was it really necessary to give the mustache a tragic backstory?! It's bad enough that every character needs a tragic backstory, but does every literal thing? I think 1978's Death on the Nile is my favorite Poirot movie. Great screenwriting, wonderful cast, and-GASP!-it was actually shot in Egypt! 1974's Murder on the Orient Express was disappointing to me. It was drearily shot, kind of dragged, and Albert Finney was definitely in "fuck it" mode. I adore Ingrid Bergman with all my heart and soul, but I didn't find her performance in this all that Oscar-worthy. As a director, Sidney Lumet was at his best in his comfort zone, which was directing gritty urban dramas about pissed-off white guys (12 Angry Men, Network, Dog Day Afternoon, etc).

Same. I gleefully splurged on the Tomie de Paola stamps, because I loved that guy and I shouldn’t be allowed to have money.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Dammit, they were such a cute couple, too! I hope they'll at least stay friends.

Peace of mind, the greatest prize of all.

I quit Facebook 5 years ago. I've never regretted it.

I just finished reading Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted, which is about the making and legacy of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Very fun and informative, a must for fans of classic TV.

Re: Danny Masterson It very much reminds me of all the people who defended Larry Nassar: how "nice" he was, how much he did for the community, what a family man he was, and all that crap. Bad people can be "nice". Bad people can hide behind charitable works. Bad people can have spouses, children, homes in the suburbs in the "real America", etc. There are bad people who never so much as look at drugs and alcohol. Bad people can don incredibly good disguises*. The sad, frustrating thing is that, like Nassar's defenders, Masterson's defenders will most likely die on this hill. *Or mediocre, banal ones that somehow pass moral muster, like Josh Duggar.

I saw Sweet Home Alabama once. Once was too much.

Shopping for a good bra is a part-time job that I have and never asked for.

A resounding, deafening THANK YOU!!!! Hell, look at the Thin Man movies! Or any version of Tarzan! There are plenty of others! Thinking of Sweet Home Alabama and China Seas, if you're going to have the tension stem from our protagonist realizing their true feelings for someone else, you have to give us a good, compelling, believable reason why they would choose one over the other! It can't just be because the plot demands it, or because the leads are popular! Considering that Patrick Dempsey and Rosalind Russell's characters are, in fact, wonderful, and the people they get dumped for are demonstrably not... well, can you blame this particular viewer for feeling frustrated?!

Re: Sweet Home Alabama My #1 criteria for hating a movie is if I'm rooting against the people and/or events the story wants me to root for. If I'm pulling for the other man/woman, any antagonistic characters (the social worker, detective, etc.), unwanted event, or even (God forbid) the villain, then the movies fails my personal test miserably. China Seas? Rosalind Russell's character was 1000 times the woman Jean Harlow's was, and Clark Gable was stupid for dumping her. FAIL. The Hannah Montana Movie? I don't see a problem with a shopping mall being built. FAIL. Lost in Translation? Hell, if I were married to someone as dull and solipsistic as Bob or Charlotte, I'd cheat on them, too. FAIL.

Why do we even shame people to begin with? You don't know this person, you don't know their life, and even if they are living on Easy Street, what business is it of yours, anyway? For those who insist that all moms are the "most selfless, generous people in the world", I suggest you look up Susan Smith, Gertrude Baniszewski, Louise Turpin, and Debra McCurdy (just to name a few) and tell if you still hold fast to that belief. One last time, for those in the back: the oldest Millennials are now over 40, and the youngest Millennials can now rent cars. When you talk about them like they're pesky young kids, you sound objectively stupid and worthy of ridicule. If you must bitch about the younger generation, know which generation you're fucking talking about! And another thing: I'll take the "entitlement" of the current generation having week long birthday celebrations to the disgusting, barbarous entitlement of the older generations wanting us to revert to life in the 1950s and legalization of child labor.

Same. If I may be so catty, I think Gillian Flynn is a better writer than Karen Hamilton.

Most people associate "All Star" with either Mystery Men or Shrek. Me? It reminds me of the finale of one of my favorite comedies, Rat Race.

I just finished The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton. Suspenseful, but ultimately depressing, one of those "nearly everyone is a terrible person" stories. I'm over Fatal Attraction and/or Gone Girl ripoffs.

Embarrassingly late with this news, but Al Fong is under investigation for abuse. All I can say is FINALLY. Similarly, an article examining the abusive culture of gymnastics coaching.