dusang

Just finished #4 Detonating the C-bomb -- I love discussions of "taboo" words. Origins, rankings, it's all so bizarre and fascinating.

Okay... I just saw the film. I didn't make it all the way through the book, so I didn't know exactly where the story was going and literally screamed "WHAT?!" when the credits rolled -- the absence of plot is astonishing. Dakota did a reasonable job with a thankless role. Jamie Dornan, who I know exclusively from a Graham Norton interview last year where he appeared delightful and charming, had some problems. The first and foremost is that he cannot seem to pull off an American accent -- he sounded vaguely Russian. The second, possibly directly resulting from the first, or poor direction or general hatred of his character, is that he's a big block of (well-carved) wood. In the total absence of any plot or character development, a slight improvement could be achieved by them just not saying any of the awkward dialogue at all. It looks pretty good. Although the contortions DJ did to ensure her crotch is never directly visible do remind you that these had to the be the most awkward, technical sex scenes ever put on film. I have to say, and YMMV, I was surprised at how much sexual content was shown. It's not graphic, per se, but it is much more graphic than an average wide release. Also, although I was aware the BDSM community didn't like the book I thought that it was more that it was technically inaccurate and Christian had a bit too much stalker in him. Watching the movie I realized that it's actually presented as, basically, BDSM is a diagnosable psychiatric disorder than only mentally ill people enjoy. Which I found reeeeeally offensive.

I just recently started listening to the Slate Money podcast, hosted by Felix Salmon and I just got to the episode where they reference John's piece including him. (One of the guests quoted one of John's lines and said, basically, "that was super harsh but I would be thrilled to be mocked so hard by John Oliver" which is a respectable position to take.) But now I can't seem to find the Argentine Default piece online -- did HBO not post it?

I haven't seen this particular episode but generally, I love that this show never highlights or underlines that the women are as good or better than the men at the job but consistently shows it. I did note at some point in S1 that Amy had more (successful) physical take-downs than Jake, although I haven't kept count.

I hadn't heard about this but I am excited!

Sorry, didn't scroll far enough. Ignore me.

Oh. Well, I'm not really there for the plot either way, so....

It's a prequel? That explains much!

See, what I find attractive about Channing is his willingness to be goofy and mock himself. So, the fact that I was laughing during the trailer was the appeal. And the redonk quantity of abdominal definition on display. That was also appealing.

It was generally stated that Kevin Nash being terrible was part of his character -- he was too old and injured to actually do it (I'm pretty sure he's wearing a knee brace in his dancing scenes) and it was to reflect that he was really washed up but didn't have any thing to fall back on or move on to. I'm pretty excited for this film. And those guys look like they've put in the hours at the gym, we might as well appreciate.

M. Darcy I know you're joking and saying it with love but seriously, it's his name.

I know many people who agree with your "lunkhead" assessment. Personally, I've loved him since She's the Man, the Amanda Bynes vehicle where he plays the love interest. So, throwing down the almost insane opinion, I really liked Amanda Bynes movies including She's the Man and Sydney White. She was a solid supporting player in Easy A, too. Poor Amanda Bynes. (Opinions vary but I think that her spiral was the onset of schizophrenia not (exclusively) drug use.)

I listened to a Freakonomics podcast about "why doesn't everyone get the flu vaccine" and one of the best ways to get participation is to offer a small reward. Literally, people are more likely to get vaccinated if you offer them a chocolate bar while you inject them. This always makes me think of Office Space where Ron LIvingston is like "what if all you want to do is sit on a beach all day?" Because... me.

I feel like that sometimes. I have a friend with endless social media outrage for a wide variety of issues and I just can't. I had to unfollow her. The world sucks but sometimes you just have to look away rather than respond. (Unrelated side note: I am amused that spell-check does not approve of "unfollow".)

I haven't watched every episode but, based on your comments, just watched the Black Fatherhood one. I really enjoyed it -- although was it me or did four out of five of them say their father was an (former) addict? Or was it three out of five with a fourth who was a recovering addict himself? That is some shitty stats right there.

Slightly tangential to your point, I just have to throw in my UO that I despised the book of The Devil Wears Prada and found the movie a vast improvement on it (and I never read it/saw it as a transformation piece similar to Princess Diaries but now that you mention it...). That book is so terribly written and edited it is a blight on the history of publishing.

I absolutely love that the Nick Dunne character from Gone Girl is described repeatedly as having a face you want to punch (even the character himself says it) and they cast Ben Affleck.

I'll give you that Liam looks like a monkey but I enjoy Chris. (Also, hanging Mjolnir on the coatrack was his improv, so I have to like him for that. Or at least that's a story I heard.)

Not to too obviously date myself, but Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the first movie I remember seeing in my life. It's not the first film I saw, just the first I remember. And I have loved Harrison Ford ever since. It makes me sad to watch that movie with adult eyes and realize it's pretty grossly sexist and racist but I still have an irrational attachment to it. Also, I like Anne Hathaway. I'm not a superfan of the public persona she's cultivated but there are worse personas out there. Generally she keeps her private shit on the DL and I respect that. Also, I feel there's a tinge of sexism in the attitude to her "campaign" for the Oscar and her subsequent humility when receiving the awards -- if she went up and was like, "Thank God, I totally deserved this and if I didn't get it I would have had to cut a bitch" she wouldn't have made many friends either.

If that is an unpopular opinion, I am the most unpopular person in the world -- Harrison Ford was my first crush, I love him. In the Galaxy of Fame, he is my Sun.

How the fuck did Miles Teller make that cut? Oh, sorry. Off topic. Nice shot. I really like BC's current haircut.

Amy is also hyper-competitive, so it might be less about the reward and more about the challenge. Or, she needs the day for a personal reason.

I did not read that conversation the same way.

It's actually rather odd that they used that specific situation, as the only measure of whether he did or did not have to arrest was Jake's personal moral compass -- he could very easily have backed out of the room and allowed them to both pretend it never happened. He was even willing for it to not go on Parnell's permanent record, so really, what's the point of the arrest? Not to mention all the politics around low-level drug offences. I actually wish that either a) it was a totally different crime he was arrested for or that b) Jake had stood his ground to have this guy punished for his offence, rather than arresting him as a matter of form and getting him off the charge before he was even fully booked.

Interesting. I'm not convinced of either his innocence or his guilt but on the balance of evidence presented, were I a jury member I would have acquitted. Ironically, his trial was just a few months before the launch of CSI, which introduced the "CSI-bias," where juries began expecting or requiring much more physical, scientific evidence to support the case. Had he been tried just a year later he might have been acquitted.