Sandman
-
Posts
3.9k -
Joined
Content Type
Blogs
Gallery
Downloads
Discussion
Posts posted by Sandman
-
-
On 3/11/2022 at 1:06 AM, Cthulhudrew said:
I think I am in a different boat than most so far. I really like John De Lancie and Q, and enjoyed the heck out of S1, but I don't know if I can take an entire season of Picard: Back to the Future (or is it Star Trek: Flashpoint?)
“Encounter at Endpoint”?
I enjoyed the heck out of the first season, too, and liked seeing the band back together (and loved Elnor’s chipper observation “I’m a rebel!” this episode) — but I think I’m over Q. His smarmy arrogance and self-righteous manipulations were never cute to me, and watching DeLancie eat all that scenery just makes me so tired. This is only the second episode and it already feels like it’s going to be a long season.
-
1
-
-
On 12/21/2021 at 9:32 AM, Spartan Girl said:
The MCU made me care more about golden trio Peter, MJ, and Ned more than I ever did about about the Peter/MJ/Harry triangle, which is why the end hurt so bad.
Man, Peter Parker has the saddest lives ever.
-
1
-
-
I found myself saying "Yay, Tank!" when I spotted him in this episode -- but I spent most of the episode trying to figure out how an Albanian woman was named "Fiona." (Did the shields say "Polska" or "Polizia"? -- I thought it was some cognate of "Police" but my eye may have skipped over it.)
Wasn't sure why Raines was the one to have the most trouble with the lengths to which Forrester was going in manipulating the kids. It seemed to me more like a reaction that someone newer to the team, such as Vo, might have -- haven't Raines and Forrester worked together longer? Sometimes the show's plot seems to hinge on conflicts that a team that hasn't been formed for very long might have.
Edited to add: Don't get me wrong; I'm glad Raines called Forrester on his awful plan.
-
Wade’s “Lord, give me strength” facepalm might be the most I’ve ever liked the character. Can you even imagine having Smitty “work for” you?
Also, the very first words out of Gilles Marini’s Detective French Dude’s mouth are “Your accent is terrible”? Snerk. This show abandoned subtlety a long time ago, didn’t it?
-
6
-
-
On 12/8/2021 at 11:19 AM, MountaineerBro10 said:
Poor Tank. He’s my favorite character! Hope he’s alright.
I want to know how Tanky is doing! He's easily my favourite character. He's such a good boy!
-
1
-
-
On 2/28/2022 at 7:27 PM, rmontro said:
Especially since half of Amazon's promotional material seems to be pushing political messaging and pre-emptive attacks on fans …
Really? Wow, I guess I really am out of loop. (Maybe no bad thing?)
-
1
-
-
24 minutes ago, ChitChat said:
That stuff is a bitch to remove!! In the Star Trek universe, you'd think that they would have a simple remedy for addictions like this, seeing as how they seemingly cure some of the most serious diseases by then.
“Set phasers on polish!”?
-
7
-
1
-
-
3 hours ago, Llywela said:
Someone needs to buy that man a fidget toy! 😃
Cristóbal “Captain Spinner” Rios.
-
3
-
-
On 3/3/2022 at 4:32 PM, marinw said:
Because Jeri Ryan is gorgeous!
Yes — and, I think, because Seven has a greater range of expression — vocal as well as facial — available to her now than when she was first learning how to be human again. The Picard version of Seven seems more fully alive to me.
-
1
-
2
-
-
5 hours ago, millennium said:
TOS seemed to promote the idea there was little or no crime anymore, no poverty, none of the ugly human traits that formerly plagued society. Something as violent and ugly as domestic abuse would seemingly have no place in Star Trek society, what with everybody being so enlightened and all.
The existence of something like Section 31 has never sat right with me for similar reasons. It seems too Cold War-ish, too much of our time. (But that’s a whole other rant, I guess.)
-
1
-
-
On 3/3/2022 at 3:38 PM, MissLucas said:
This might be sacrilegious to admit but I would watch this show even without Picard.
Does this mean I wasn’t the only one surprisingly brimming with affection for these characters and struck by how glad I was to see them again? After the cold open (er, “hot open”?), I kept thinking “Hi, Raffi! Hi, Seven! Agnes, aw. Hi, Cris!”
I thought Laris’s feelings for Picard kind of came out of left field, but I was glad to see the Irish Romulan again, too.
I was a little surprised to see almost everyone back in the Starfleet fold. Too bad we didn’t get a scene of Admiral Clancy’s choking on the offer to make Picard Chancellor of the Academy!
-
4
-
-
On 2/14/2022 at 7:34 PM, Haleth said:
Oh, I don’t know about JRRT not recognizing a warrior Galadriel. He wrote of some pretty bad ass Elven women, including Idril, Luthien, and yes, Galadriel.
Galadriel is clearly a badass, but was she ever a warrior, or commander of warriors? Maybe I missed it -- I haven't read all of the Legendarium, so I might be talking out of my hat.
-
1
-
-
On 2/13/2022 at 5:27 PM, FnkyChkn34 said:
Yes! And does anyone else remember that Salem actually has a system of canals (or at least one)? Back when Bo and Hope had a whole house, complete with kitchen and backyard, their house was on the canal and the Fancy Face was docked in their own backyard.
I do! I remember that -- at least it rang a bell when you mentioned it. But that totally counts, right? ;)
-
1
-
1
-
-
I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this comment, but the information I've seen online indicating young Galadriel had some sort of warrior role seems (to me, anyway) like something the Professor would not have recognized -- isn't the point of Eowyn that she's something of an anomaly as shieldmaiden?
The previews suggest strongly to me that Middle Earth is being Game of Throne-d up (or made Wheel of Timey-wimey?) pretty much as I had feared. Lord of the Rings: Generic Action Show doesn't feel like my cup of tea. Ah, well.
-
1
-
1
-
-
On 12/2/2021 at 10:12 AM, Brian Cronin said:
Again, if it's outside his own lived experience, it's like Nash has never existed in the world and doesn't know how anything works.
I agree, and I’d say this is a very big problem for a writer. Sure, there’s “write what you know,” Nash, ya big galoot, but research is also a thing.
-
1
-
-
On 1/9/2022 at 7:59 PM, snarktini said:
I think we shouldn't overlook how much Clint blames himself and how even he could explain it, it wouldn't necessarily convince Yelena. Or himself. He didn't kill Natasha and he couldn't have stopped her, but she did die in his place. In a way, she died because of him. (Which is a lousy lens to look through because it takes away her agency, her choice to make a sacrifice to save him and the world.) That's a hard thing to live with. Not to mention all the actual deaths he has caused.
I liked the scene where Yelena and Clint talked about how Natasha died in part because it was very clear to the audience, and I think to Yelena, just now much Clint blames himself. He didn't try to make excuses; he tried to let Yelena know he shared her grief and he expressed his regret and sorrow the best way he could, and she was able to believe him. (I think the scene did a pretty good job of not telegraphing a happy conclusion.)
But Clint likely has two simultaneous and contradictory feelings about Natasha's choice: I think he genuinely loves and respects her enough not to want to take the choice away from her -- and he reminds Yelena that nobody could have made Natasha do anything, anyway -- but not being able to follow through on his choice to preserve her life haunts him. The tension between those two ideas is part of what makes his survivor's guilt so painful.
-
9
-
-
3 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:
It still may be. I assume that a SHIELD retirement watch has some pretty cool features ...
I like this idea a lot. There could conceivably be more to Clint's line about "taking better care of your stuff" than I first imagined. And it's a good point about Clint and Laura being important enough to Fury to merit the safe house arrangement.
7 hours ago, Cristofle said:I've always gotten the impression Joss Whedon chose to undermine their relationship mostly out of spite in Age of Ultron.
This never would have occurred to me, honestly. Out of spite for whom, exactly?
It seems I have a lot fewer problems with Age of Ultron than a lot of viewers do.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, cambridgeguy said:
That depends on whether or not Agents of Shield is canon, and that's a conversation with no definitive answer right now.
Yeah, I've completely lost the thread on that one.
-
On 12/22/2021 at 4:28 AM, vb68 said:
I liked watching Kate go down the side of the building. Where is your friendly neighborhood Spiderman when you could really use him?
I thought the web-like electrified net arrow across the store window to prevent Fisk's escape functioned as a nice allusion to Spidey's history with the Kingpin.
I was sure that the Rolex of Mystery was some pilfered Stark tech (as I suppose the show intended me to). But is Agent 19 synonymous with Mockingbird? Because Bobbi Morse exists in the MCU, no?
A thoroughly satisfying conclusion -- though I still don't trust skeezy McStabbington Jack. And I'm sure the Kingpin's not dead -- loved Kate's setting off ALL the Arrows Too Dangerous To Use. That was a great moment, as was the "Let's give 'em hell" fight scene.
-
1
-
-
On 12/17/2021 at 8:15 PM, Dani said:
... based on what was Endgame, Ronin was completely unconcerned with collateral damage. He mowed through everyone without mercy. Yelena may have been condemning him for simply being a killer or she may have been condemning him for the way he killed.
Was he, though? I don't think we saw him mowing down bystanders; I think he did cut through a lot of mobster hirelings and (possible) secondary targets. I think Yelena condemns him not for being a killer in general, but for being her sister's killer (as she sees it) specifically.
On 12/19/2021 at 10:37 AM, johntfs said:I think you're coming at the "can't afford" angle from the wrong direction. It's not Yelena with that problem, it's Val, her handler.
I may well be wrong, but just to be clear, I was thinking of the practicalities (or what I assume would be the practicalities) of being a contract killer in general: a contractor who can't be trusted not to put a personal score before the contracted mission would soon run out of employment prospects.
Also, not entirely unrelatedly, I think Val may be, in fact, completely batshit crazy. (Which might be a problem on a whole different scale, if true.)
-
2
-
-
On 12/15/2021 at 9:27 AM, Cobalt Stargazer said:
He at least knows Yelena's name, since when Kate mentioned her in the Uber (and how adorable was it that she thought to call an Uber to pick them up?) he was aware that Nat had a sister. I wonder what he thinks now, why Yelena wants to kill him. If anything, I'd think the idea that he killed his best friend would hurt him more than anything Maya could do, because in some ways Nat is still with him, even if as a ghost.
I had the strong impression, partly from Clint's "Well, that tracks..." expression when Kate told him it was Natasha's sister, that Clint figures that Yelena holds him responsible for Natasha's death. (After all, Clint holds himself responsible.) I think he figures she has a right to want him dead. Frankly, I'm still a little surprise that Yelena actually has (or needs) an assignment. But I guess professional contract killers can't afford personal vendettas.
-
4
-
-
On 12/7/2021 at 6:37 AM, Spartan Girl said:
“What makes The Family Stone sparkle?” UGH.
"Sparkle"? I think this has to be a misprint. Are we sure it's not "What Makes The Family Stone Spackle?"
Spackle (Let's see: It's white, cold, sticky, full of bland lumps...) I could believe, but sparkle? Nope.
-
3
-
2
-
-
On 12/1/2021 at 5:59 AM, johntfs said:
Pym arrow! That is all for now.
Sandman: "Does that arrowhead say 'PYM' on it?"
:: Hawkeye's arrow strikes Kate's; Kate's falling arrow transforms itself into giant freaking ballista ::
Sandman: "It DOES say 'PYM' on it! Hot damn! Heee!"
I love this show.
6 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:Anyone else think Kozi looks like Jon Snow/Kit Harrington?
I started thinking of him as Dirty Jon Snow.
-
1
-
1
-
-
On 11/24/2021 at 4:01 PM, arc said:
Is it me, or does Jack’s accent go all over the place?
Thank you! Not just you.
On 11/26/2021 at 5:04 PM, arc said:... and for another, his uncle had an American accent.
Well, sort of. Simon Callow's 'Murrican as Duquesne is also a little bit hit-and-miss to me
-
1
-
Dune (2021)
in Movies
· Edited by Sandman
I can't believe I forgot about Leto's final confrontation with the Duke! It really was heartbreaking. Thanks for the reminder (I ... think?) The end of his life is truly tragic. I agree that Yueh somehow gets off lightly in Villeneuve's version, Yueh's betrayal -- and the horror that it evokes -- being almost literally unthinkable in the novel. I do like Rebecca Ferguson generally, and I think there's much good in her performance here, but Villeneuve's way of externalizing Jessica's conflicts weakens the core of the character.
I've always thought that looking to the prequel novels to fill in the characterizations felt like cheating somehow. Full disclosure: I've never read any of the prequels (stopped after God Emperor) -- I always dogged by the feeling that there was something cheaply mercenary about them.
Why does every adaptation of the novel pretend that the Baron can basically fly? I never had that impression from the book (he bobs along, too fat to carry his own weight. He's not soaring to the vault of the ceiling!) That image of the Baron rising and rising out of his Tar Bath of Eeeeevill (or whatever the kull wahad that was) was laughable -- the biggest misstep of the film, to me; certainly it was the only visual that pulled me directly out of the story. (I was too busy thinking "Whaaaa? Nope!")