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FilmTVGeek80

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Everything posted by FilmTVGeek80

  1. Today's writing for Nina explains why I'm not convinced they will throw her under the bus. It's still too early to tell, but I liked Valentin's little pep talk to her. I hope she takes some of it to heart and realizes she does not need to jump through hoops to prove her worthiness to Sonny, of all people. I like the chemistry between Kate Mansi's Kristina and MB (I'm not sure if her mimicking Sonny's accent today was an ad-lib, but MB's reaction seemed genuine, and it was a fun moment). Still, I am getting sick and tired of them leaning so hard into this idea that Sonny has been the ONLY one she's ever been able to turn to. That's not what I remember happening on screen. I don't remember her turning to him when she was abused. She and Sonny clashed bitterly when she struck up her friendship with Johnny Zacchara. Even when she was older, I don't remember that. I also don't recall Kristina being this "rah, rah, you're the best, most perfect parent ever." Maybe it's a function of thinking Sonny died during the NF storyline, but this still feels over-the-top.
  2. Like I said, I don't think Wendy's character was dreadfully boring. Still, even if she was, maybe the show should try changing the writing instead of giving up and tossing characters to the side - especially when they're from vastly underrepresented minority groups. At least they're not killing her off like they did with Haley. This seems to be a massive problem with the show, especially the younger set. I think the only younger female character they've given a chance is Ciara, and probably the only reason she survived was because of how popular her pairing with Ben was. Even with a legacy character like Ali, instead of figuring out what could work best for the character - or recasting - they just got rid of her. I think the only reason Chanel is still around is because they value Jackée Harry and like using Chanel as the young damsel in distress. Now that they've stopped doing that, she's just there to support Paulina. With Wendy and Tripp gone, only Chanel and Johnny are in that age bracket. Are they just going to move on to the teen scene with Tate, Holly, and whoever else they might bring on next?
  3. I don't think Wendy is a bore. At least the Wendy actress can act. I'm honestly baffled why so many people are enamored with Li. It was one thing when he would make his sporadic appearances and seemed kind of charming, but as soon as he was bumped up to regular status the actor's weaknesses became glaringly apparent. Not to mention, the character was a pathetic loser so obsessed with Gabi that he could only hang on to her by trying to kill her ex or blackmailing her. I didn't notice anything so glaring about their age difference that it needed to be addressed. What needed to be addressed with Bristen, IMO wasn't the age difference but her previous relationship and obsession with his dad that she just had transferred onto him. Plus, I guess (I wasn't watching at the time) Kristen was around Brady when he was a baby. There was none of that weirdness with Melinda and Li.
  4. Based on this show's history, I get why people would jump to the worst possible conclusions about Nina's future direction, but it was apparently the new writer's first day. It feels like jumping the gun and making assumptions about what the new writers have planned for her based on one day. I'm also unsure why people keep saying she has no ties to canvas or friends. She's shared quite a few scenes with Ava recently. They're friends. She may not have had scenes with them in a while, but she's friends with Curtis, and Maxie is her friend/family. And, of course, there's Willow. I'm curious if the new writers will do anything new with that angle because the previous writers handled it as poorly as possible. I don't recall Alexis and Diane having a law firm together (there was a time before Alexis got disbarred that I wasn't watching regularly, so maybe it happened then.)
  5. THIS! No matter what's going on behind the scenes, it doesn't make any sense, not to mention the character. Even if it's to write him off, they should deal with it instead of pretending the character doesn't exist and expecting the audience to accept it.
  6. Why would Jada be an idiot for not instantly assuming Xander is being framed? Ordinarily, I'd say who would be stupid enough to keep the murder weapon, but given Xander's long history of being a thug/criminal and a dunderhead, I would understand the police not giving him the benefit of the doubt. Sarah would have every right to question this. I think she's a bit of an idiot to believe him right away because he's been good with Victoria. The last time Xander was guilty of a crime (kidnapping two women because he was too incompetent to find gainful employment), Sarah figured out what he was up to, and Xander not only repeatedly lied to her but made Sarah feel like a traitor for not believing in him.
  7. If the "us" you're referring to is people who like those characters, then, yes, it is interesting. I happen to be one of those people. I'm more interested in that spoiler than Xander and his million and fifteenth brush with the law
  8. It's probably my fault for spending too much time on Twitter, but I'm so, so, so beyond tired of the discourse over Gerwig and Robbie's "snubs." For me, there's so much cognitive dissonance over how these are supposedly the most horrifically egregious snubs in awards history. People keep complaining about how it just isn't right that these two women were ignored. This ignores the fact that they both got nominated - just not in the categories Twitter seems to think they're entitled to. People want to act like screenwriting, and Best Picture nominations are lesser participation-trophy-style awards. I've also seen people talk about how this mirrors the movie's plot - because "Ken" got a nomination and "Barbie" didn't. First, they're not in the same category, so it feels like a moot point. People are saying this represents the patriarchy and the Academy's hatred of women. How? Besides Gerwig and Robbie's nominations, there are other women from that movie who got a nomination (America Ferrara, Billie Eilish, etc.) Then there's complaining about how there's no movie without Robbie, and Ferrara and Gosling are just supporting. There have been plenty of times when the supporting actor(s) get a nomination, and the lead doesn't. It happened this year with The Color Purple. It happened with Sideways. It happened with The Fighter (where most of the supporting cast got nominated - and two of them won - and the lead didn't. Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I feel so, so bad for Ryan Gosling and America Ferrara. They're not being allowed to enjoy their nominations because they're being made to answer for decisions that had nothing to do with them. Every headline I've read about AF's response has been about the disappointment of the twin snubs and not her getting her first Oscar nomination. In so many people's rush to complain about the patriarchy, they're more concerned with two white women (with previous nominations) supposedly getting snubbed and ignoring the minority woman's achievement. I wondered - and saw The Hollywood Reporter ask the same question - about whether this intense backlash could cause Barbie to win Best Picture, like what happened when people were so pissed Ben Affleck didn't get a director nomination (maybe it's less about feminism and modern Oscar voters not being as enamored with actors turned directors) that Argo won Best Picture. I was always annoyed because it seemed that controversy was why it won. Part of me would hate to see the over-the-top vitriol be rewarded with a Best Picture win, but I'm also kind of curious how fast the people complaining about how much the Academy hates women would change their tune if it did win. I was thinking of watching Barbie in the next couple of days, but I might hold off because my annoyance with this discourse might negatively affect my view of the movie. I never got the lavish praise for that adaptation. The 1994 version was far and away my favorite (I can hear one second of that score and am instantly moved.) I didn't really see the need for another remake, but I tried to keep an open mind about Gerwig's version. I just didn't see how it was radically different than the others and got so much awards love. I was happy when she didn't get a director nomination that year (and when she didn't win for screenwriting.) Then again, Gerwig just might not be my cup of tea as a filmmaker because I also didn't love Ladybird. I thought I would because the trailer hit home in many ways, but I didn't like it after seeing it. I was mystified at it having 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
  9. I guess to add to the confusion, I don't even think The Bear would qualify as a dramedy. JAW's old show Shameless was a dramedy. Barry's first two and a half seasons were more of a dark comedy but could qualify as a dramedy. While I think Ted Lasso, at its heart, was mostly a comedy, I can see an argument that that was a dramedy. To me, there's not enough humor in The Bear for it to be a dramedy. All dramas should have humorous moments, but that wouldn't qualify it as a dramedy. I think The Sopranos had comedic moments and characters who might be considered comedic relief, but no one would have ever called the show a comedy or drama. It's funny because the first episode of the second season had a lot of funny moments, so I actually thought The Bear showrunners might have been trying to address the "Is it a comedy" debate. But almost all of the humor of the second season is in that episode. To me, it's a straight-up drama that's half an hour with some amusing moments.
  10. She didn't do that out of the goodness of her heart. The only reason she attempted to do that was because it was Michael's main condition to keep her secret. I like Nina and despise Carly, but Nina's not some innocent here. Just like Drew and Carly are actually guilty of the crime that it was somehow oh so wrong to turn them in for, Nina is to blame for being blackmailed by Michael. Nina had so much blow up in her face when she kept Sonny in the place I will not name. Instead of learning anything from that, she kept this stupid secret, knowing it would blow up her life and relationships with Sonny and Willow. If she had told the truth, Michael (Ned and Cyrus) would have had nothing to hold over her head. I thought Willow was too harsh with her today, but Nina did herself no favors with some of the bullshit she was trying to shovel. She was rightfully gleeful when she threw it in Carly and Drew's face that Michael knew the truth, but when Willow calls her on it, she blatantly lies and pretends she didn't want to do it. Then, she tries to claim she gave in to Michael's blackmail because she was looking out for MICHAEL?! What? Just be freakin' honest. No, it wouldn't have earned her any points with Willow, but be honest. Yeah, I told Drew and Carly the truth because I want Michael to hurt as much as I'm hurting. Yes, I gave in to Michael's blackmail because I didn't want to lose you or Sonny.
  11. How was that being awful to her? It might not have been entirely necessary, but Sloan was factually incorrect, and Marlena corrected her. It's not like she said, "You're wrong, bitch. Screw you for bringing up such a painful topic." She corrected Sloan, and when Sloan was apologetic about it, she didn't give her a hard time. If Sloan could handle her liquor better (and her guilty conscience), she wouldn't have had such a meltdown over it. If Marlena were really awful to her, she wouldn't have sat around as Sloan vacillated between lobbing passive-aggressive and just downright hostile comments at her.
  12. I don't always care that much about the fashion at these awards shows, but DAMN - Hannah Waddingham looks AMAZING!
  13. Jack raping Kayla doesn't mean he doesn't get to be pissed at people who wrong him. It's not like Xander isn't a multiple attempted rapist himself. More importantly, Jack's forgiveness was actually earned, and he felt sorry. Xander barely feels sorry for any of the messed up stuff he's done. He actually had the audacity to ask John for romance advice after almost killing Marlena. Xander sucks for what he did to Jack & Jennifer, especially since he did it to defend Gwen's odious "honor" and was such. a smug bastard while doing it.
  14. But people are allowed to think she didn’t deserve it without it immediately being assumed that it’s because of her race. I think most who have expressed disappointment with her win have explained why they didn’t like it or her and I haven’t seen any that flagged her race. I can only assume that they feel like if they outright criticize her that it would make her fans rally around her (feeling like she was being picked on) more than just giving her a lower score.
  15. Let me start with the positive - JASON MRAZ! He was SOOOOOO fantastic tonight. That Foxtrot was gorgeous! I've had performer that I love whose freestyles either were incredibly underwhelming or just didn't have the rewatchability factor for me. I think Jason's freestyle goes up there with some of my favorites - like Alfonso and Witney's. Will definitely be rewatching many more times tonight - and for years to come. That was just pure dance. The choreography was so intricate and amazeballs! The one moment of sanity - and probably realness - for Derek tonight was when he said "11" when giving him his score. No matter what, he can be so proud of what he accomplished this season! When I went into the episode tonight, I was actually convinced that I would be fine with however was the winner (except for Charity.) It wasn't like last year - or previous years - where I really loathed the person who was being given the presumptive winner edit (looking at you dead-eye Charli.) The last couple of weeks, I've seen online polls and saw that Xochitl was the favorite to win, so I was preparing myself for that. But, I don't know, maybe it was all the filler (which didn't all suck - Hi Witney!) or how much Jason killed it tonight, or the obvious lowballing of Alyson, but before even the midway point, I was resentful at the obvious set-up to get Xochitl the win. And not just get her the win, but the manipulation to get the order it seemed the show preferred. I don't know what was up with Derek and Bruno tonight. It was pretty clear that Ariana was not as sharp in her first dance and Carrie-Ann was right, there were a couple of missteps. Yet, they threw her 10s and Alyson, 8s. Even though I felt it was partially scripted, I was happy that Carrie-Ann didn't just hand out 10s and was calling some stuff out. But, then she went blind during Xochitl and Val's dance and didn't call out an obvious mistake. I can't remember what Bobby Bones score was during his freestyle, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't a perfect score. That is what it usually takes to not get all 10s during a freestyle. Either you have to be that bad or there has to be a massive mistake. I knew, with the first scores, they were trying to make sure Alyson didn't have a shot in hell of winning, but I was still surprised that they didn't give her a perfect score. I get that Alyson wasn't close to the technical level of the others, but there was no reason to do her like that. We're not talking about someone who was horrible like BB or Bristol Palin. Last week, I mentioned that I thought Charity could be kind of arrogant at times. Tonight in her freestyle package, at one point she said 'I'm the best of the best and I have to do something to really stand out.' Jigga-what now? Best of the best? And that was the result of the "best of the best." An audition for the Broadway revival of Bring it On. I can only assume the audience - and the judges - had never been to a pep rally before. That's the only thing I can think to explain their orgasmic response to her freestyle. What's even funnier is that one of the judges (I think it was Carrie-Ann, who had been doing so well with sanity earlier) actually said what was great about the freestyle wasn't the tricks, but the actual dancing. What dancing? That was 90% Ringling Brothers. Xochitl also kind of annoyed me when she was talking about having to represent the Latin community. I don't begrudge her wanting to do that, but she was making it sound like she was the first person to ever do that on this show. When, hello, Val's previous winning partner was Laurie Hernandez. I don't usually watch the skybox interviews, but I'd seen people mention how Harry would sometimes steal focus up there during interviews. OMG, I wanted to punch him in the face when he interrupted Alyson's interview after her redemption dance. I don't even care if his emotion was actually genuine. It was so cringey. What was worse was he stood there while Alyson and Sasha were about to get their scores. I think Alyson even had to push him back a little. I thought Alyson's freestyle was lovely. It felt kind of short - at the end I was like "That's it?" But still, really nice. It helps that Enchanted is one of my favorite TS songs. Ariana's freestyle wasn't bad, but it was just blah. Xochitl's was a step above blah, but I didn't love it, either. It didn't feel like anything new or special. And, I think others were right that she got kinda lost in the crowd during the middle of it. Back to the shitty manipulation. I think I'll always wonder what would have happened if they hadn't decided to do five in the finale. I do give more credence to some of the more conspiracy minded thoughts from last week. While Charity wasn't that far ahead of Jason or Ariana, her coming in fourth makes me believe I've been right and she hasn't been pulling in the votes. I think she was legitimately in the bottom two the last few weeks. I think the producers might have wanted to save her the embarrassment of being one of the first Bachelorettes in a long time to not make it to the finale, and especially for her to not make it over a "worse" dancer like Alyson. I know the point difference between the top four wasn't huge, but I definitely wonder what would have happened if they hadn't rolled over the scores from the previous week. They could have basically done what they did with Iman vs. JoJo - which was give them the same scores and let the audience duke it out. They could have done that if tonight's judges' scoring wasn't combined with last week's. Jason was tied with Xochitl (both had perfect scores.) Could he have eked out the win under those circumstances? I guess we'll never know because of the shenanigans and because we don't know the vote totals.
  16. That’s not really true. Alyson has only been in the bottom “three” once in the last four weeks (and I think possibly only one other time before that.) Whereas Charity has been there three out of the last four weeks (one of the reasons I suspect she may not be getting as many votes as many assume.) So if anyone’s riding a sympathy wave, it’s Charity. It’s kind of pointless to really argue about stuff from another forum, especially when I don’t know specifics. Like, I don’t think name calling is necessary and DEFINITELY not death threats, but complaining about stuff other than dance ability is fine (within reason.) Charity, going back to her time on TB, has basically made it her profession to sell people on her as a person. Everyone who comes on DWtS is being judged on more than just their dance ability. If people don’t want harsh personal judgments, they probably shouldn’t go on reality tv.
  17. I’m not on any other DWtS forums, so I don’t know what’s going on wherever else, but why does it have to be “something else at work?” I haven’t said it here, but yeah, what little personality from Charity I’ve seen, I haven’t been a huge fan of. Like a couple of weeks ago she was complaining about not getting 9s. She’s not the first person to complain about their scores but, to me, there was an air of her feeling like she was entitled to those scores and it rubbed me the wrong way. Again, I’m not on any other forums, but the harsh comments toward Charity are NOTHING compared to the comments directed at Harry (and I’m not throwing stones because I’ve leveled some harsh comments at him myself.) And he’s not black or a woman. To be fair to Charity, I surprisingly liked her rumba. It was mostly surprising to me because rumba is my least favorite dance by far, but she did deliver a better performance. I wasn’t impressed by her quickstep and would have probably switched her scores - with a few less 10s. But that breakthrough came in the semi-finals. Of course, the unrelatable narrative stuck to her. She’s been that way all season. She’s technically better than Alyson. She might be technically better than Xochitl (though I prefer Xochitl on a dance and personality level) but that doesn’t matter as much if people don’t like her. Even casual viewers don’t only vote based on who’s technically the best dancer. I’ve seen the complaints about how black female contestants are treated and I don’t see it myself. I don’t remember anyone being singled out and thinking something fishy was going on. As far as Black females winning. Amber Riley from Glee won. Others have come close. Zendaya is half African-American and was runner-up. Normani from Fifth Harmony was third. Mya, I think was runner-up. I also don’t agree about submissive women doing best. Amber was fierce. Ditto Rumer Willis, Normani, Meryl Davis, Nicole the Pussycat Doll who won, JoJo Siwa, etc. Jennifer Grey wasn’t submissive, either.
  18. It's not BS, and I don't believe they only reserve it for Black women. I think most of the recent Bachelorette contestants have been hit with that criticism, except Gabby because she (even though she wasn't my favorite) had personality for days. All of the recent Bachelorette contestants (again except Gabby) have been far too robotic and pageant-y. They've all been technically good, but lacked personality. I do agree with what was pointed out that Charli also lacked personality. Just like with Charity, I never really connected emotionally watching any of Charli's dances. I disagree though that they have the same dance level. Charity is good, but she's not that good. My major issue with Charli was she was basically a pro and it showed. I think that (and her massive IG presence) is one of the reasons, the judges let her lack of personality go.
  19. Who broke into my house and screamed "Thank freaking God!" when Harry was finally booted off the show? Oh, wait that was me. I don't remember the last time a dancer made me cringe so much with just his dancing. Though to his credit, I will say that this was his best week. Not 8 or ranking higher than Alyson worthy, but still better. In fact, I was afraid that this could save him. With Carrie Ann (and Mandy) being insane giving him 8s, I worried that we'd reached the stage where the judges see the writing on the wall and start giving way too high scores to the worst dancer left. I was especially worried when Alyson was behind him. Even with Allison coming out ahead in the end, I wasn't sure it would be enough. People who have ranked far higher than him have still gone home. So glad I was wrong and he won't make it to the semi-finals. With Harry leaving, I'm starting to wonder this myself. This week's dance wasn't her best - and she was hurt by going first, but them putting her last like that seemed way too harsh. Before the season started, I assumed Alyson would make it far because of her combined BtVS and HIMYM base, but then she was pretty bad that first week and I wasn't sure how far she would go. Now, she's been steadily improving. Not only does she have her previous fanbases, but fans do love a good underdog story and to see someone without dance ability improve. Yes! That handstand lasted way too long! It did make it seem like he was trying to cover up for a Harry-level celebrity when she has gone far past that level. Pretty much 100% agree. I see that Ariana is technically good, but I've rarely been wowed by her. I've watched Jason's AT a ridiculous amount of times already. I think it's my favorite AT since James Hinchcliffe's (speaking of handstands....) Jason doesn't do it for me attraction-wise, but at one point he looked at the camera and winked and I considered throwing my panties at my TV. Daniela has not been soft-balling him all season, but the amount of content she put in it was insane - and amazing. It's also one of those times the show gave me a new appreciation for a song that I wasn't that familiar with. Good for Harry he went out on a high note. Even better for us, he went out. I had a feeling Jason and Charity would be matched up in the relay and was certain they'd give it to Charity no matter what. I thought they were technically evenly matched, but it was obvious by the judges' comments that while they thought Charity did a good job, she didn't have that extra something that put her over the top. They still weren't connecting to her emotionally. I thought the judges might still give it to Charity, but I'm so glad Jason rightly won instead. I think Charity has the same affliction that a lot of the Bachelorette contestants have, but her pageant face might be the worst yet. Honestly, I barely looked at her face during her AT and thought the dance, technically, was pretty good. But during the cha-cha relay, I looked at her face - and yeah, it was really dead. In a million years, I would never think that a The Bachelorette contestant could go out before the finals, but I'm starting to wonder about Charity. The first week she was in the fake bottom "three," I thought there was no way in hell she was in the actual bottom two, but with her now being in it three weeks in a row, something's up. I don't think she's getting the votes the producers thought she would. Either she was really in the bottom two at least one of these weeks, or she's still not getting enough votes and they're trying to scare her fans by putting her in "jeopardy." Still, it seems kind of cruel to put her in jeopardy this week, if she wasn't really in the bottom two. If her fans didn't rally enough after two weeks of scares, what would one more week accomplish? There's no reason they couldn't put Xochitl or Ariana in the fake bottom three.
  20. Because, despite the opinion of many here, Ross and Rachel were a massively popular couple - and still are. The writers didn’t lean into Monica and Chandler because they felt it was the best story-wise, but because of the massive audience reaction.
  21. Wow. I know a lot of people hate white privilege, but to say white collar criminals are the worst? So to you a woman who cheats and tries to get her kid into a good college is worst than Jeffrey Dahmer? White collar criminals are worse than serial killers or child molesters? Most criminals generally have some reason for doing what they did. Not all are horrible or irredeemable. Blanket generalities don’t really work in a complicated world. This woman was literally punished for what she did. She went to jail and, I believe, paid a fine. I don’t care if it was some swanky, rich prison. She was punished for the crime she committed. You may not consider not doing what you love a punishment, but many do. I know in this day and age of cancel culture and social media mobs thinking they have the right to pass sentence on people, but that’s not the way it works. If, as an individual, you want to hate and judge her and not watch anything she does, that’s your right. Just like it’s the right of any casting director/production not to hire her. But it’s not anyone’s right to ban her from working permanently at any job she wants. You don’t know her, yet for some reason you’ve decided she’s the scum of the Earth and has no remorse. Just because she tried to get her kid into the college she wanted doesn’t mean she valued money and power above everything. And she did lose money and status. Like I said, there’s the fine she paid and the lost work over these last few years. The internet is forever and she’ll never have the same reputation again. She deserves that, but not being shunned forever for a white collar crime she actually did her time for.
  22. Overall, I thought the episode was mostly meh, especially compared to his first hosting gig. There were several sketches in that first ep that I thought were genuinely funny and rewatchable - whereas in this ep, other than maybe the first sketch, I don't really have any desire to see any of them again. I get that some fans just enjoy watching Timmy sing anything, but the appeal of Tiny Horse completely escapes me. But kudos to him for having a popular enough sketch (two even since the character in the rap sketch was from his first ep, too) that they wanted to reprise it. The gym sketch could have been good, but wasn't. One joke sketches can be funny (like the Kieran Culkin cable company sketch) but this just felt tired. It's funny, because in many ways he seemed more poised and confident as a host - especially in the monologue, but he was able to keep it together much more last time. Last time, he broke a couple of times in a couple of sketches, but this time he broke several times in almost every sketch that wasn't pre-recorded. Sometimes I enjoy when the hosts/cast break, especially when I understand why, but sometimes he would start to smile/laugh for no obvious reason. Sometimes it was funny, but mostly I found it distracting.
  23. So because she committed a non-violent crime and then served her time she should be punished for the rest of her life? Her getting to work again is not about "celebrating" her. She has a right to work in her chosen profession as anyone else.
  24. I think my favorite line of his is from TOW the List - "Oh, no two women love me! They're both gorgeous and sexy! My wallet's too small for my fifties, and my diamond shoes are too tight!" I watched some Friends lists on YouTube, and another of my favorite lines of his was shown often - "You have to stop the Q-tip when there's resistance." Despite how many times I saw it yesterday when I watched the episode (TOW Ross's New Girlfriend) today, I still cracked up. The line delivery is fantastic, but the topper of him miming removing the Q-tip and then holstering it in his pocket gets me.
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