katha

Yeah. This is why having Spicer on is such crap. He has rabid voters that will carry him much too far on pure spite, in the process eliminating stronger dancers. To be fair, this has been always going on to some extent on the show. The problem with Spicer, like with Bristol, is the purely political motivation many of his votes have. Which is why it was a horrible idea for the producers to bring him on. The show can't afford another toxic/controversial season. Not to that extent. Oh well. I thought Sailor was improving each week and Val did well with her, so that was a shame. And I felt sad for her and how crushed she was. OTOH, apart from her mom she's probably very little known. So she's brought barely any fanbase of her own into the show. Her package and dance this week also wasn't very emotional, so the insta-voting format probably also worked against her. Ah well. I will miss her, she'd become entertaining to watch. Kate was lovely and looked lovely. Pasha's choreo was also lovely. It was immediately apparent that he was back on solid ground with a ballroom dance. They make a super team as well. Really the surprise of the season, the two of them IMO. And it seems like Kate is getting votes to some degree. So this is also a situation where social media/youtube views etc. mean nothing, Kate isn't at the forefront there. She probably appeals to an older demo that isn't as visible on social media as much, which makes it a bit difficult to predict how many votes she's getting. James was very good as well. So was Kel. And I didn't hate Lauren's dance, at least for a contemporary, soGleb better not backslide into terrible nonsense next week. 😉

Well, Disney night is always a bit too sugary for me, this time as well. And the no-elimination thing was blah as well. Who cares if it's Mickey Mouse time... Tbh, I was scared when I saw that Kate had jazz since it's likely that Pasha with his pretty hardcore ballroom/latin credentials isn't cross-trained. And boy, that lift in the middle of the routine went on wayyyyy too long, LOL. We're not fooled, dude. 😉 Saying that, I thought he did a decent enough con job and the routine held more or less together as a piece of performance. Had to laugh that he threw in Quickstep and Polka, since he's more familiar with that. Song/movie suited Kate. And it would have been better as a Quickstep or Polka. Saying that, she got decent scores. Now she's at least in with a fighting chance if she manages another good-scoring dance next week. The longer it goes on, the more it becomes obvious how hampered Lauren is by her partner. I thought she was totally overscored for that mess. Not that any of that is her fault, she did the best she could with it. Val is doing well with Sailor. She's not the most talented, not the most versatile, but she keeps improving and he gives her suitable dances. I thought Kel was really good, though HSM is such a weird group number... With James, though I like Emma, I sometimes wonder what someone like Karina or Anna might have done with him. It often seems, like his movements need to be sharpened and cleaned up a bit. Emma seems a bit too lenient in that aspect.

In general, the inconsistency we're seeing with most celebs this season is what happens if you don't have ringers IMO. Yeah, everybody likes to be grumpy about their participation, but they deliver good dancing every week. If you're starting with beginners, or people with little dance experience, they're gonna be unpredictable like that. Even Hannah and James struggle with some dances and aren't guaranteed to do great every week.

Yeah, Val has done a lot of cringeworthy and downright questionable nonsense and I've been side-eyeing his social media antics in particular (also that book? Not a good idea.), but he knows how to teach and when he's on, he's giving his partners nice material. And then they look better than they are, because he gives them decent material. Emma fell down a bit, both in her choreo and in her teaching this week and perhaps that is a bit of a weakness with her. IMO Rashad was also never quite as clean as he could have been. And I know he's popular, but Alan's programs are always...fine to me. Okay, but bland. Seems like a good teacher, though.

With all the (deserved) criticism he got, from me as well, I have to give props to Gleb. 😉 That was a nice dance and Lauren had clearly improved. Yeah, the style suited her, but still. Honestly, now that I've seen he's done decent work on other versions of the show, I'm probably gonna end up being even harsher on him, since I know he can do better... Kel and Kamaro were improved, so that was nice. Ally seemed overscored to me. Hannah was better than last week. Sailor did fine, but was a bit posey? And this is probably the last week where Kate could afford a weaker dance like that. I agreed with her marks, but now she'll need to deliver if she wants to last for a few more weeks, since I fear that it won't be so easy to get rid of Spicer... The choreo was nice and she was doing okay with the steps, I thought. But performance wasn't there, she was clearly struggling with that on top of doing the footwork.

Yeah, for whatever reason, nothing he's done on other versions of the show really translates on DWTS. He's done well with Jana mostly, I'll give him that. But IMO after that it's been lost opportunity after lost opportunity. If you can only produce decent results with ringers or near ringers, that doesn't speak for you as a pro. Hell, even Maks has a Kristie Alley season under his belt, where he vastly overperformed with a challenging partner...😁 And it's like both teaching and choreo doesn't work, so it's not like with someone like Tony, for example, who wasn't some master choreographer, but had a skill set in teaching older and more tentative contestants. And even he did usually pretty good and went far into the season when he had strong partners. Lindsay seems to do well with everyone. Mark and Derek often had partners with potential. But OTOH, Mark IMO really showed his mettle with Bristol Palin, one of the most difficult candidates to ever do the show. And Derek and Mark also made people like Rickie Lake, Lil Kim, Candace Cameron Bure or Sadie Robertson into contenders.

It's basically the same thing Cheryl said, and I don't like it. I mean, some form of this nonsense was always present. In certain weeks the pros were stuck with unsuitable songs and ridiculous "concepts" that didn't work for the assigned dances, but it didn't seem like it was all the time. But as I already said, the (unintended?) consequence of this is that good teaching and choreography become even more important. So if you've got a pro that can somehow make the most of the situation and create good choreo and teach you well even when given absurd parameters, you're set. If your pro is weak in those areas, you become even more vulnerable. Not to be mean about it...but perhaps that's why Jenna and Gleb seem to be struggling even more than usual?

I understand the urge to get the show "back on track" to some degree, but they need to realize that this will hamper the quality of the dances and the entertainment value if they go too far. Also: The celebs with weaker pros will be at even more of a disadvantage, because if you have someone who can't work around the nonsense they're given, you'll look even worse... OTOH, this was always done on the show. Pros and celebs had perhaps some music input, but throughout the years there's been tons of inappropriate song assignment and wacky "themes" that made the pros want to run away. A lot of them have publicly complained about it. Mark once said that they basically ordered him to put Bristol in that gorilla costume. And I tend to believe him

So...I did some research. 😁 Since Gleb came highly recommended from other versions of the show, I looked through some of his dances there. A samba on Strictly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pZ23eShemY AT on the Russian version with Adelina Sotnikova (IMO the whole water theme is here much better used than later with Jana): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq3ojTRvfQA And tbh, it's all a bit of a headscratcher.... I mean, it's the same aesthetic he uses on DWTS, heavy on theatricality, for my taste too much filler and too much reliance on "sexy". But...those are substantial dances with plenty of content. Vastly superior to anything he's produced on DWTS so far. And it's not like he hasn't been given partners with potential. So what is the problem? Does he somehow just not click with this version of the show? Thinks he has to dumb it down for the format? Since TPTB seem to like him, I'd prefer it if the version of Gleb that was around on SCD showed up.

Yeah, I think you can't fault Jenna's work ethic, commitment or dance skills at all. And for all that it was a joke of a season, she produced mostly nice dances for Adam Rippon. It's just that teaching beginners, or teaching people who don't have that much natural talent is a skill set. And that's where she needs to learn IMO. Question is if they give her the time to do so, if the show is around long enough for it etc. DWTS is also usually harder on female pros if they don't deliver what they're expecting, so who knows... Mark was also a classic overdancer for many seasons. Though, at least when his season with Shawn rolled around, you also started seeing that he's a good teacher and choreographer who can cater to a partner's strengths. You also see what goods someone like Peta brings to the proceedings IMO. She's super patient with Lamar and you do actually see some sort of improvement with him, even though he's at such a low level. Not everyone would know how to deal with such a situation. Or Pasha, who is teaching a women over fifty without great dance experience proper technique and getting her to perform beyond all expectations. But it takes a lot of experience as a dancer, teacher and choreographer to achieve that. And he might not have that experience on DWTS, it's obvious he's gained plenty of it elsewhere.

I thought this was pretty entertaining tbh. What it IMO also showed is what a difference a good pro can make. This is the first time Sailor has made an impression. They got a goofy as hell song, but Val tailored it to her strengths and created a fun, pretty memorable routine for her. I'm sure that it was a tango and he could lead her more in the movements because they were in hold helped, but still. At the same time, Gleb IMO squandered the opportunity to create a good dance for a partner who has a lot of potential. The much better choreos Derek and Artem produced to the same music also don't really speak in his favour... Too many rumbas that early on for me. Ally did well with hers, best dance so far. James was great for a third week and looked really comfortable and into the performance. Rumba is very unforgiving for male contestants, so that was awesome. Hannah was a bit hampered by the song, it seemed more like a foxtrot or something? But it wasn't her strongest outing IMO. Kate and Pasha were super. Again. She's a great performer and obviously willing and able to learn pretty substantial dance content. And Pasha seems like magic. 😉 I mean, the teaching is there, the rapport with his celeb is there, he's choreographing fun, entertaining dances that play to his partner's strengths. Bringing in young new pros who learn on the job is cool, but when you have a seasoned dancer, teacher and choreographer who can hit the ground running, that's really impressive as well.

Wow, I mean Sailor's rhumba was okay, but not great. As rhumbas in week two tend to be...IMO much too early to assign that dance. Mostly it will just end up awkward. But boy, did the band sabotage her. That was a horrific rendition of the song. There was absolutely no way to make that performance work with the butcher's job that they were commiting, music is an important component of the dances. 🥴 James was good, not as good as last week, but entertaining. And yeah, even if he's wobbly in technique or stuff, he is just gonna sell the performances and it will carry him. Hannah was very good. Kamaro was a mess technically, but fun! 😎 Kate was adorable. And Pasha is a real find for them, it seems. He taught her the technique. He gave her great choreo. And I thought the space alien framework was really funny. Yeah, it's not what the song is really about. Pasha knows it's not what the song is really about. But taking it literally made for a really fun set-up for the dance IMO. And it was very memorable! 🙂

So...Pasha looks like he knows what he's doing. Frankly, this is how they should have been handling bringing in new pros. When you have a newbie without teaching experience, start them in the troupe or whatever passes for that now. You saw the difference with Keo; He was much better in his second stint (why they sideline him now that he's produced his best result ever...). Or bring in someone like Pasha, who clearly has dance accolades and teaching experience. He isn't overwhelmed and knows how to deal with the whole machinery.

Coming late to this... It wasn't as bad as expected, so yay? 🤨 James was very good for a non-dancer in his first week. The legs were wonky, but that's to be expected. He looks like someone who knows how to perform and that will carry him, even if the technique isn't always 100 percent. Also, he's really funny IMO. That might endear him to the audience as well. Emma is the perfect pro for him. Hannah, Lauren, Sailor and Karamo all delivered comparably solid performances IMO. The difference in marks was mainly building of narratives, seems to me. Sailor did fine for three days of rehearsal. And yeah, Jenna may have overdanced a bit again, but it seemed to me that there was a clear effort on her part not to overwhelm her partner with choreo that is too difficult for him. So at least she's trying to tone it down. Pasha looks like a promising new pro. I approve. I don't agree about cutting Artem and to some degree Keo, but IMO the weakest link among the male pros is clearly Gleb and since he is not going anywhere...whatcha gonna do?

Eh, I have no doubt that most of the things on this trainwreck show are edited to death to fit a certain narrative. 😁 Coming in from figure skating/ice dancing, it was also totally ridiculous how they turned Davis/White into these aw shucks Disney figures. Ice dance is political as hell, and Meryl and Charlie have always been able to play that game and be as calculated as necessary. Not that this is a great crime or anything, it's what you have to do to survive and win in that world, but the image they presented/that was curated for them on DWTS was...curious, to say the least. 😉 Like, in the figure skating world it was known that Meryl is dating Fedor Andreev, the son of her then coach Marina Zueva. Since this looked dicey because Marina was also training their main rivals Virtue/Moir, they kept that quiet. And then they conveniently kept it quiet some more on DWTS...😎

What did actually work IMO, once you shoved aside the showmance, is tied to the fact that Meryl is rather serious and quiet. And since Maks is, when he puts his mind to it, a pro at this celeb/DWTS/how to play the show thing, he adapted. He provided contrast und did the entertainment/diva stuff, since Meryl might have come across as a bit rehearsed/dull on her own. But he could also match her tone. Because when he can be bothered, he's capable of being eloquent and thoughtful. So moments when he just honestly talked about how he works as a dancer/choreographer, how he didn't want this career but it was something his parents wanted, how Val is better at it etc.... That was cool, I thought. He's good on the show when he manages to get beyond the caricature. That's why it worked with Laila Ali, Mel B, Erin, Kristie to some degree. Also: IMO he did great work with Meryl and didn't implode, as he is wont to do. That tango is still one of the best things anyone has ever done on that show IMO.

Yeah...the figure skating world is not for the faint of heart. And the ice dance world is arguably even more brutal. D/W are Olympic champions and knew exactly what to do to sell themselves to the judges. So it's not like they were in any way surprised by the DWTS antics. The ice dance world operates in exactly the same way. Yes, Meryl and Charlie preferred an "aw, we're just wholesome kids next door" approach to PR that's been dominating US figure skating since always, but that doesn't mean that they haven't seen it all and participated in plenty...😉

Hm... I think this might have potential? But yeah, the trailer makes it come across as too modern and chopped up. And it's really, really heavy-handed about Jo being an unconventional protagonist not interested in the typical romance plot that's been prescribed to female characters since forever. Which...I agree that this is a strong motif in the book, but IMO the trailer was really awkward and used all the sledgehammers to try and bring this across. Perhaps it's better done in the movie? And yes, IMO Laurie looks too young. The story works if Jo and Laurie are peers, here they don't look the same age. Anyway, I'm willing to give it a chance. Every modern adaptation of the book has to change one aspect completely anyway: Marmee. IMO the character in the book comes across as really of her time and all the pronouncements she makes to the girls about how they should behave are adhering to very, very restrictive gender norms (and that one time she let that bird starve to death to teach them a lesson....jeez, sadist much?). The 1994 version did away with that (and rightly so) and the new one will have to do the same, I'd guess.

I definitely agree that JA didn't have today's standards concerning age differences, Marianne and Brandon and Knightley and Emma come to mind. But yeah, IMO she also knew how to sketch predatory behavior and how to differentiate that. Wickham targets 15-year-olds both times (we don't know if those were his only targets, they're the only targets relevant for the story), beyond that he's a conman and a liar the way he behaves in Meryton (and he has such a practiced air about him, the way he goes spinning his tales, I'm sure he's done that a lot of times as well). Darcy also clearly outlines the emotional damage his sister suffered in the aftermath of Wickham. So I'd argue that Austen clearly frames him as someone very unsavory and creepy, perhaps with a harsher judgement than was usual for her time. Willoughby is also portrayed in those terms. It's not only that he's after money and is abandoning girls when they don't fit his plans: It's the way he manipulates them and preys on their vulnerabilities beforehand. It doesn't matter that he genuinely loves Marianne, that just makes him a more complex character. Not less of a villain. Henry Crawford also has hints of this, at least in the way he tries to coerce and manipulate Fanny Price. Since he's a grey character, at some point he steps away from that behaviour to some degree and comes to care for her in a slightly less selfish vein along the way. But I'd argue that these are all scenarios where JA frames the men as to some degree deliberately preying on younger women. Willoughby is the worst, of course.

Yeah, Wickham is just really, really nasty. Particularly the way he specifically targets young, vulnerable teenage girls. In fact, IMO what's actually a very quiet, but poignant note in the characterization of Darcy is his attitude towards Wickham's behaviour and towards the young girls he targets. Georgiana is his sister, of course, so he is protective, but the way she adores him also makes clear that he didn't blame her and didn't shame her for nearly eloping with Wickham. He put the blame squarely on Wickham, where it belongs. And one of my fave little details in all of Austen ever, probably, is how he deals with Lydia. It's just a few sentences, but the Gardiners mention that he first tried to persuade Lydia to leave Wickham and to go back to her family. Only when she absolutely insisted that she wanted to stay did he bring the marriage about. It would have been in Darcy's best interest to get them quietly married to hush the whole thing up, but his first action was to try to get Lydia away from Wickham, It marks him as a decent man, without being loud or ostentatious about it, neither in the writing nor in the way the character in the text goes about it. It's also an attitude that puts the welfare of young girls like Lydia or Georgiana above societal pressures and expectations that were prevalent at the time.

I actually think that the top two in ice dance deserved their placements. P/C are the class of the field, whatever you think of their style. S/K IMO have an incredibly strong tango RD, very difficult and really showing off their skating skills. That midline step sequence is something else. The FD is rather traditional, but it flows well and they've performed it well all season. From my point of view, H/D are rather lucky to be on that podium. That FD has been an unholy mess all season, and it didn't really improve here at Worlds either. Plus, I just think it's always a terrible idea for ice dancers to do R+J. It worked once for Anissina and Peizerat, that's about it. They might have been in more trouble if the field behind them didn't have their own weaknesses. StepBukin, I hate that music in the FD, but that's my personal hang-up LOL. I think what's really hurting them is that she's one of the weaker skaters in the top ten at the moment. Their programs are designed to hide that to some degree, but at a certain point she'll have to improve. Sinitsina has improved a lot, perhaps it's possible for Stepanova as well? Because, as I see it, in the age of P/C and their smooth skating the international judges have decided to go with S/K as Russian number one because of their superior skating skills. The Russian fed was ready to go with S/B until it became clear in the GP that the international panels prefer S/K. WeaPo, they've been around so long I think the judges often just see them as stagnating. C/B have done well to go to Montreal and I love their FD, would have had them higher as well. But they are turning around the trajectory and have to convince judges that they're no longer in a downward spiral. It's starting to work, but will take time. G/P have a lovely FD that IMO they haven't skated as well at Worlds as they could have and they also just don't seem quite as good as the pairs in front of them to me? Like, it seems obvious that there's a leap in quality starting with Chock/Bates and that group includes C/B, W/P, S/B, H/D and S/K, while anyone below sixth place is weaker. P/C are on their own. In general, though: Ice dance needs to get away from all this soft, soft, pastel skating. It works for P/C, let them do it. IMO it actually hurts pairs like H/D who are also stuck in that mode even though they would be much better suited for something more powerful.

I like Bale very much as an actor, but IMO he often gets praised for the wrong things by critics. Yes, physical transformation can be impressive, but it's not what's making his strongest performances shine. He is capable to bring a lot of nuance, he goes where he thinks the character needs to go even when it gets ugly and...something that is a pet peeve of mine when actors refuse to do it: Bale has no problem going cold and unlikable. I'd agree that he has misjudged in that aspect in one or two roles and gone too far in that direction, but IMO that is preferable to actors who insist on playing characters as warm and flashy and misunderstood where it's inappropriate. I think Kate Winslet can be guilty of this and it's really marred some of her performances for me. Also, Bale is stunning in "Empire of the Sun" and IMO you could see even then that he had the chops to make it in the industry as an adult. That was no cutesy child actor performance. Now for something completely different LOL: Peter Jackson really squandered a good thing with the Hobbit-trilogy. I'm still super impressed with his original LOTR-series and IMO it holds up well. It does the books justice and where it falters or gets things wrong...well, a movie is never going to be able to be exactly like the book. Which makes that Hobbit business even worse...It's messy, it's too dark and serious, it's so convoluted it practically eats itself and doesn't do the source material justice. A shame, really. So much talent wasted. Freeman is ideal casting, but was pushed aside and made into a supporting act in his own movies. Armitage is a good actor, it's not his fault that he was saddled with all that endless brooding. Lee Pace is one of the best things in this whole mess, and that's even with the script twisting the character and making him the anti-hero. He somehow manages to turn even that into a strength and make himself one of the highlights of the films. Think how fantastic he would have been if he hadn't been hampered by the script... And, and, and...That whole project is full of missed opportunities and it makes me sad.

IMO this is the worst DWTS winner ever, but that something like this happens has always been a possibility with the set-up of the show. With ratings declining, none of his competitors probably having a strong enough fan base and also not appealing to the main demo like he does...here we are. A broader general audience rallying behind a stronger dancer might have derailed such an outcome in earlier seasons, but with less participation the possibility of a voting bloc taking over is also bigger. Nevertheless, I thought Milo and Evanna did very well. As did Witney and Keo. Keo really, really made a statement this season. Though IMO, ever since he did his stint in the troupe, he's been showing improvement. He did really well with Charo, for example, tiresome as she could be. Until now he just didn't have a strong enough partner to show how much he's grown.

No one concrete comes to mind for the newest adaptation, but I really thought Christian Bale nailed it in the 94 version. He was a perfect mix of joyful exubarance and charm, tinged with spoilt petulance when things didn't go his way. IMO Laurie isn't all that easy to cast, actually. You need someone who is believably happy, extroverted and mischievous, without coming across as annoying or unkind. The cast looks good overall, though. As I already said, I think Watson and Norton are great choices for Meg and John and might do very well with the material.

IMO a faithful adaptation of the book (meaning keeping it in Regency England) has to make Emma's actions obnoxious. It's Austen's great mastery as a writer that makes her such a complex character and gives her amiable traits as well, but she's behaving in nasty and cruel ways and it could have all gone terribly wrong and really ruined several peoples' lives (Jane Fairfax, Robert Martin and Harriet Smith)...just because she was bored, snobby and thought she could play puppet master. Attempts at "softening" her just make the film jarring (like the Paltrow version; the cast is quite good and would have done even better with a stronger script IMO). "Clueless" gets the essence of the book, while also successfully creating circumstances that make Cher's actions more forgivable (she's younger, she's living in the 20th century, no one is so wholly dependent on her whims as people in Emma's society were).