absnow54

My husband is usually totally off when it comes to identifying celebrity cameos, but he called this one right away. I was thrown off, because I thought she was much shorter. This show continues to be watchable, but not great. Sid is the only one who can generate a natural/realistic chemistry with the other characters, so I find myself only liking his storylines. The other characters always feel like they're being slapped together for the sake of the week's plot.

There's no way. For nominations, it's only the actors voting. For the actual award, it's the entire academy. People in "lesser" categories get their nominations rescinced all of the time for similar violations, and they'll view it as special treatment. Michelle Yeoh's only rival in the category is Cate Blanchett.

Does anyone have a good article that explains the controversy? I keep on hearing mentions of ranked voting to work the system, but then when I read any stories on it, they only talk about famous people hosting screenings and tweeting their support.

This. Jason Brown is clutch for a Top 10 finish. Ilia is the only skater to do well in the Grand Prix this season, but he isn't a lock for the podium. He has his bag of tricks, but he's yet to skate two clean programs, and the skaters from Japan are tough competition. Last season, the US had three skaters in the final (Nathan, Vincent, and Jason.) This year, they couldn't even get another skater in the Top 10. Third place at Nationals doesn't even have enough points to qualify for World's yet (just like Ilia last season.) I think it's smart to send someone like Jason to help secure next year's slots. Jason has already started choegraphing for other skaters. He has a good deal doing Ice Shows. I highly doubt he'll be hogging international slots in 2025 or 2026 when Olympic prep truly matters.

Even pre-ban, most of the skaters representing Georgia have been from Moscow. Hopefully someone knows the rules better, but I believe there's a probationary period for representing a different country, so anyone who defects, won't qualify for another few seasons. Diana Davis, is allegedly doing this so she can represent the US, but didn't compete in either the Russian Nationals or US Nationals this season.

Honestly, so many competitors look miserable to be there. They put so much pressure on themselves to do well. Jason Brown is a breath of fresh air in comparison. Men's figure skating has no shortage of talent right now, so I don't mind Jason Brown putting on a show in between the skaters who'll be going to Milan in a few years. I did think the raptourous applause after each of his elements was a bit much though.

I think they’re airing it next Sunday on NBC at 4PM EST. Before that they’re showing footage from the European competition.

It’s literally in Falls Church, VA. Just not the City of Falls Church.

I don't necessarily disagree, but if you compare it to Ice Dance and Pairs, where the leaders are ahead by 10-15 points, the Ladies category is far more competitive. 1st through 5th place are all within about 6 points of each other, which means the podium can shift dramatically, especially since most of the the ladies in podium position are so inconsistent.

The Ladies Free Skate is going to be interesting. Both first and second and then third and forth are separated by hundredths of points. I thought Bradie Tennell was over scored, but it was still a great performance. It’s the first time I’ve enjoyed watching her skate.

Yep. They just posted the start order, and he’s on it.

I think Best Actor is still a toss up. The major awards, so far, have been the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice, and not many people take the Golden Globes seriously. The SAG awards and BAFTAs are still pending, and we'll probably see a front runner emerge from those. I think their campaigns are both experincing a bit of backlash. People think Austin Butler's continued Elvis schtick is kind of odd, and they find The Whale offensive, regradless of Fraser's comeback narrative. I think Colin Farrell is still in the mix too, as a potential spoiler too.

I'm eagerly waiting for Michelle Williams to get the "it's her turn" Oscar, but the writing was already on the wall this season that she has no chance of winning, so I'm not sure why they wasted a nomination on her.

Yes, sitcoms really struggle in this new, short season format. With a drama, it's usually an overaching plot that's driven from episode to episode by character arcs, and they usually benefit from the shorter episode seasons, because there are less superfelous, filler episodes. With sitcoms, it's the opposite. Each plot is introduced and resolved within an episode and the characters development from situation to situation is what ties it all together. It's hard to get any kind of development in 10, 22 minute episodes. Especially with an ensemble. This show is also going to struggle with the premise that Leia lives outside of the Point Place bubble for 9 months of the year, while the rest of the friend group is still there. They need to send Eric back out of the country and come up with an excuse for Donna and Leia to move back to Point Place through the rest of her high school years.

I think the show found its groove around episode 6, when they started leaning in heavy on pop culture references (ie 90210 and Jerry Springer parodies.) The cast really doesn't click though, and I'd be surprised if it gets a second season. The only standouts from the kid set were Ozzie and Nikki. I wanted to like Gwen, but the actress couldn't pull it off. I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be channeling dark and sarcastic, but instead she had this aura of "just happy to be here" which didn't click with the writing. Jay Kelso was also a flop for me. He certainly looked like the offspring of Jackie and Kelso, but I feel like there was a real disconnect, because they wanted to keep him a viable love interest. They should have made him the anti-Kelso, instead of pretending he was just like Kelso, when he was dull and harmless. It would help if Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had more time to drop in like Laura Prepon did throughout the season. I actually thought Leia and Nate had better chemistry than Jay and Leia, but I hate triangles (and between 90210 and Dawson's Creek, I understand that it's a hard trope for a 90s show to ignore.) I thought it was kind of haphazardly slapped on out of nowhere. They should have waited another season for almost kisses and angst. I hope this show lasts through 1999, if only to see Eric's reaction to the Star Wars Special Edition in 1997 and The Phantom Menace in 1999. The most egrigious thing about this episode was that nobody wound the disposable camera between pictures.

BAFTA Nominations are out. Everything Everywhere All at Once continues to pull ahead, with the Fablemans missing out on several major categories. What I found most surprising is that neither Paul Mescal or Daisy Edgar Jones have been nominated for the EE Rising Star award, although he picked up a Best Actor nomination this year. Both have been building impressive resumes since Normal People.

Results from Critics Choice Awards

SAG Nominations have announced. I'm bummed that Michelle Williams Oscar run seems to already be DOA (#justiceformanchesterbythesea) Yes, right here.

Oops, wrong thread...

I don't think this is necessarily a good example. The Coen brothers had indie acclaim for Blood Simple and Raising Arizona, at best, when Frances McDormand was nominated for her first Oscar and Tony. Frances has won 4 Oscars, the same number as Joel, and only one of them she got from working with her husband. Yeah, Leslie Mann is another interesting example, because she gets steady work now because of Judd Apatow's success, but she broke into Hollywood and got decent work throughout the 90s before she married him (and long before he was a household name.)

Was Popular in the clip package at all? I kept looking for it, but didn’t see it.

The presenters are obviously sweating from it (at least Glenn Powell is.)

I actually feel like the Hyde reveal made Tyler an even better love interest for Wednesday. Like this is Wednesday Addams, a barely contained beast who could snap at any moment and try to kill her is probably one of her greatest fantasies. In their first scene, Tyler is trying to fix the espresso machine, and complaining that it’s a beast with a mind of its own, and Wednesday fixes it in 5 seconds. Based on that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought Tyler back next season, with Wednesday becoming his new master in order to defeat the next big bad, but that might be too dark for a teen drama. I thought Jenna Ortega popped with pretty much every one of her scene partners except for Xavier, so I hope they drop the romance on that front, but I doubt they will. The show seems determined to do a slow burn with him. I think they were hinting at the Hyde persona starting to bleed into the human form of Tyler. The psychiatrist noted that during his sessions, Tyler would become cold and distant, like a completely different person. And then later at the police station, after he confessed to murdering people and liking it, he sort of shifts into this trance that doesn’t seem like an act. I don’t think he became self aware that he was the Hyde until the episode with the dance, when he doesn’t actually kill Eugene, but I’d have to watch again with clearer eyes, knowing now how the season ends. This is why I don’t think he was self aware for the first few episodes. Laurel knew that Rowan was trying to kill Wednesday so triggered the Hyde to take him out, and to not kill Wednesday, because she was needed for the ritual. I don’t think actual Tyler had any idea who Wednesday was, and initially entering her orbit and offering to help her get out of town wasn’t a part of Laurel’s plan. Again, it was the dance episode, when Laurel discovered Wednesday brought Tyler as her date, that it seemed like the dynamic between Tyler and Wednesday shifted, and all of his interactions with her were strategic in throwing her off Laurel’s scent.

I think what will come from this is a lot of fine print added to the end of trailers, or the narrator breezing through a quick terms and condition spiel at the end of every advertisement. Something along the lines of "Some scenes may be modified or removed before the final release of the film. Subject to change..."

I watched A Hollywood Christmas last night on HBOMax and really enjoyed it! I love Josh Swickward on General Hospital, and he was great in this role too. I liked it better than Hallmark's version of a "making a Christmas movie-movie" (Lights, Camera, Christmas!) I also thought it was better than anything Netflix put out this year. And I don't know if it belongs in this thread or the Movie version of the Christmas Movie thread, but Something From Tiffany's on Amazon Prime is another gem. It had a real, 90s-era rom-com vibe, and the leads had great chemistry. I also thought they subverted a lot of tropes by making the "other woman" mostly likable (the "other man" not so much...)