Maximum Taco

I get that but I'm saying if you load up on superstars and don't win you get a lot of media scrutiny ("How can you continually fail when your GM is giving you all the players you could possibly want?!") whereas if you don't load up on superstars and don't win, you kinda get a bit of a pass. ("Yeah, he can't seem to win, but if you run into a Superteam every year, what are you gonna do?") IMO that's why guys like James Harden face a lot more media criticism then guys like Damian Lillard.

I think with Harden it's just he's not been able to push himself up into the strata of LeBron, and Durant. Namely, he's an MVP caliber star but on a team that can't win. You aren't gonna get any credit from the media until you win, especially if your team tries to go the Superteam route like the Rockets have with CP3 and now Westbrook. This is why Dame and to a lesser extent Giannis gets a pass, they're both in smaller markets that are trying to win "the right way" with one superstar who has always been there. Kawhi I think just doesn't really get the fawning treatment because outside of his game he's kinda boring. Dame and Steph have got that swagger, LeBron embraces his moniker of the King and tries to do like Taco Tuesday and Space Jam and other stuff. Harden has his beard. Even Giannis has got a bit of personality. And Klay Thompson has got that goofy distracted thing that I admit I would find pretty adorable if I was a Warriors fan, and I love making fun of since I'm not. Kawhi is dull by comparison, sure he's got his "Fun Guy" thing but that really only gets him love in the market he's in. I'm a Raptors fan, and I loved having Kawhi in Toronto, but he's dull as a persona. In other news, all the Eastern teams are poised to sweep, except the top seed. That's just hilarious.

Wow this series is like Days of Our Lives. LOL.

I mean I get what's going on with the Lakers, their shots aren't falling. That's simple, and unfortunately not really fixable. Eventually LeBron and AD will regress to their mean (which they are playing woefully behind at the moment) and the world will seem normal again. In the meantime if Danny Green and KCP and Alex Caruso can't put together the bare minimum of being an NBA player Dame will usher them into the off season. The Lakers are still playing ok D though, The Blazers shot under 40%, and had 100 points exactly. That's not a terrible defensive outing against the current best player in the league (sorry Giannis, LeBron and Kawhi, but right now it's Dame Time.) The Lakers offense decided to take pretty much the whole night off and they still only lost by 7, and it necessitated Dame playing 42 minutes and triggering 4th quarter God Mode where the ball flies through the rim from half court and singes the netting as the NBA jam guy screams "Grandma's Sweet Potato Casserole!" But the Clippers have two of the best defensive players in the game, and they played all night, meanwhile Dallas' biggest threat sat most of the second half with foul trouble playing only 28 mins and the Clips still got torched for 127. That's what's confusing to me. I'm not sure what's going on with PG and Doc though, maybe you're right that something is up there.

Another day another upset. How are the Clippers so bad defensively when they have Kawhi and PG? I mean they should be handling Doncic and the Mavs a lot better then they are right? Am I just totally ignorant as to how this series should be going? But whatever, this feels like it'll be the most exciting first round in years. I LOVE IT.

It's the Magic's Kingdom, everybody else just playing in it.

The Magic rolled the Bucks!!! I mean I get that the Bucks were kinda sleepy in the seeding games, but I think we all expected them to flip a switch when the playoffs started. Still expect them to put it together and probably bounce the Magic in 5, but props Orlando. props. Way to turn up Home Team. EDIT: THE BLAZERS ROLLED THE LAKERS!!! The 8 seeds came to play baby. IT'S DAME TIME.

Powered through my meetings today to catch the second half of the play in. Looks like I made a good decision. Grizz and Blazers both want it.

I also want Dame to win, because Dame stands a better chance at challenging the Lakers. That's an insane thing to say but Bubble Dame has been just unstoppable and the Bubble Lakers have not been the Lakers. But if he's gonna stand any chance they gotta bounce the Grizzlies today, they cannot be farting around playing an extra back-to-back.

Why is the play-in game, the only game today, on at 2:30 in the afternoon? I realize that it's Saturday but I got things to do today NBA!

It really doesn't feel like they know where they want to go with this whole Kite-man/Ivy/Harley triangle. Ivy doesn't seem interested in Harley at all romantically, I mean, sure they kissed, but while Harley seemed to take this episode spiraling as she tries to deal with her feelings, Ivy jumped right back into her relationship with Kite-man, and doesn't seem to be acting any differently then she usually does. Some people are better at hiding their feelings than others, but I think we need more in a work of fiction. It seems like we're maybe supposed to be questioning why Ivy is with Kite-man cause she's serious and competent and he's goofy and idiotic, but they just give us more and more reasons why they work together. In this episode he's sweet and cares about her and even when she screws up, he never gets mad. And she stands up for him and helps him to stand up for himself. This relationship works and it'll be pretty terrible when it goes down the tubes to perpetuate a Harley/Ivy relationship that, for now, seems substantially one-sided. It's also gonna feel pretty phony if Harley finally admits her feelings for Ivy and she dumps Kite-man on the spot. It'll still feel phony if they go slow and Harley admits her feelings for Ivy and that's what it takes for her to start questioning her relationship with Kite-man. Ivy already had pretty severe commitment issues that she's gotten past, and now she's ready to marry someone, and all it takes to shatter that is someone else (admittedly her best friend) telling her that they love her too? I think the writers may have written themselves into a corner if they are committed to an Ivy/Harley endgame.

The latest episode of Ken Jeong and Joel McHale's podcast is just a zoom call with Dan Harmon and the main original cast, seems like it's from directly after shooting the upcoming table read. Edit: Oh my god it is so hilarious. I can't wait for the table read. And after that I'll just be constantly searching for movie news.

Gotta say, I like Bret a lot more now that it's confirmed he has a crush on Archie. "That guy's built like a freaking SUPERHERO!" I hope Arch lets him down easy.

My problem with all of them isn't really the time it took, it's that they were undone at all. When Rey destroyed the transport that was (supposedly) carrying Chewie, it meant something. I felt something, and then it was taken away, it was like the movie saying "No you were wrong for feeling that." Then they try and have a false moment of sacrifice for C-3P0, he's supposed to be making this huge sacrifice. "I'm taking one last look at my friends." That was one of the few moments of poignancy in this movie, and then it turns out the sacrifice he made was really just losing a few days. It was the droid equivalent of "R2! I had the most peculiar dream!" These fake outs are sometimes well done. They make you feel scared for the character and then relieved that they are ok. But doing it over and over cheapens each one. When Rey died I had no illusions she would stay dead. Because the story up to that point had no consequences. The same with when Finn stayed behind on the Star Detroyer to finish destroying it.

I don't really see what the EU has to do with it. I didn't really bring up any EU examples, and I'm personally not really invested in the EU at all. I've watched the Mandalorian if that counts I guess.

I'm not properly engaged because the story lacks logical consistency and gravity. If you invalidate every criticism with "Go write your own story then!" then every movie, book and tv show is the same amount of good and bad. I guess if we're exchanging Jedi wisdom Obi-Wan would tell you to not let my disappointment factor into your enjoyment. After all many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view. Personally I'm glad you (and anyone else) enjoyed the movie, I don't wish disappointment on anyone, but I didn't enjoy it for the reasons stated.

I can extrapolate, if that extrapolation is a logical leap. In my opinion this isn't. There's too many steps. You say someone picked him up and got him the medical care he needed. Ok who? And how did they get him this medical care? And why did they keep it a secret? The Empire collapsed largely because there was no leadership. Wouldn't it have made more sense to say the Emperor is alive and well, as he recovered? He created a fleet of Star Destroyers. Ok how? He used the Force. Ok, if he could use the Force to create a fleet of Star Destroyers all with the power of a Death Star, why didn't he do that before? At a certain point I'm not watching a movie anymore, I'm making up my own movie in my head. I can do that, but that's not why I go to the movies, that's why I run a pen and paper RPG game.

Anakin survived Mustafar with the help of Darth Sidious and extensive surgery from the finest doctors of the Republic. Luke survived Bespin because HE contacted Leia and she came back for him. Both of these survivals were explained IN MOVIE, and not only that they were explained in the SAME MOVIE that the trauma happened in. Also neither of these people survived and then decided to lay low for 30 years biding their time on a plan that made no sense. Asking me to fill in the plotholes is lazy storytelling. Sci-Fi and Fantasy isn't an explanation or an excuse for lazy storytelling.

It was just awful. This is probably the worst Star Wars movie, yes worse then the prequels, yes worse then The Last Jedi. 1) This movie makes no sense. - How did Palpatine survive? All we get is a stupid quote from Episode III; That's not an explanation. Also how did he make it to Sith Planet and keep his existence a secret? Also how did he mass a freaking ARMADA and keep it a secret? Also why would he wait THIRTY GODDAMN YEARS before springing his final trap? How the hell does that make any sense? He didn't need Rey to trigger the Final Order he seemingly could've done it at any time, and if his real end goal was finding/killing one girl, it would be a lot easier to do that at the head of the Empire. Saying "The Force" is not a catch all explanation in Star Wars, it's lazy and stupid and makes no sense. - Speaking of that what the hell is the Force even anymore? I understand the need to invent new uses, but it's just too much too quickly at this point. It can teleport people and objects now? Since when is the Force this powerful? Also why is it Rey can seemingly heal anyone from any harm no matter how dire, but when Ben tries to it kills him? Also why does Ben become one with the Force when Rey didn't? - Why are the Lightsabers buried at Lars Homestead? Luke couldn't wait to leave Tattooine, Leia was there for all of a few days in ROTJ. This place has little significance to Luke, and almost none to Leia. - So Lando went with Luke to desert planet 3, and then decided to stay there forever? WHY?! Oh for the love of god why!? Why wouldn't Leia have gone looking for him sooner? He just needed to hear from Rey that he should go back? - Why is Palpatine still making more Snokes? What purpose does this serve? 2) This movie is perhaps the best example I've ever seen of a lack of gravity. There are absolutely 0 consequences. The whole movie is just one large fake out. - Rey is supposed to 'earn' Luke's lightsaber, but she never really does, Leia just gives it to her cause she needs it and it's stupid to not give it to her, and then she gets Leia's lightsaber too. And then she gets a third lightsaber, without even showing how. How did she earn any of this? - Chewie's dead! Oh wait no he's not. - 3P0's gone! Oh wait he's exactly the same but with amnesia. Oh wait now he's exactly the same as he always was. - Rey's dea-- Oh goddamn it. Why should I feel anything when it's just going to be undone seconds later? All these emotional moments are just stolen when they are reversed, or revealed to be fake outs. 3) This movie makes no sense and has no gravity on it's own, but even worse it just invalidates all of the movies that came before it and steals their gravity. - If Palpatine survived, what is the point of the story of Anakin Skywalker? He's supposed to bring balance to the Force but he never actually did, unless we're supposed to believe he did because Luke is his son who trained Rey who starred in the movie that insanity built. - If the Emperor could use the Force to seemingly single handedly build an Armada of ships with Death Star tech why would he bother with extreme subterfuge in the Senate and a secret manufactured war to seize power in the PT and why would he painstakingly use man power to build not one but TWO Death Stars during the OT? - Poe's backstory had established his parents as being Rebels, and him as following in their example. It's a great backstory, why did we change that to making him a drug smuggler? The only reason I can see to do this is to make him more like Han Solo. Han Solo is Han Solo, let Poe Dameron be Poe Dameron. - Wasn't it supposed to be an important story how Maz got Luke's lightsaber? - TLJ's big point was that greatness can come from anywhere, but really that's not the case, either you're Force Royalty or you're garbage in this universe according to ROS. I knew this movie was going to be terrible as soon as the opening scrawl began with 'THE DEAD SPEAK!" but nothing could've prepared me for how truly wretched it was.

It's never really expanded upon if Yoda's speech pattern is a species trait, or is just something he does. The only other adult member of Yoda's species we ever see is Jedi Master Yaddle in The Phantom Menace, and she has no canon lines in any medium, in some of the decanonized Legends material she is shown to speak in a similar pattern to Yoda though. Some have posited that Yoda's syntax is a biological feature of his species' brain, he simply thinks that way due to his physiology/brain chemistry, if that's the case then Baby Yoda, when he does learn to speak, would exhibit the same speech patterns. We probably learned he was a very strong force user in episode 2, picking up a mudhorn would be a difficult task for most younglings, although most Jedi could handle it easily. It's no X-Wing out of Dagobah's swamp, but it's still impressive for a being who hasn't yet mastered speech. Using certain Force powers does not necessarily brand one good or evil or light side or dark side. Force Choke/Grip is generally seen as an evil thing to do because it results in a painful and terrifying death for someone. The same way with Force Lightning, it is a cruel and painful way to go about fighting or killing. Count Dooku, once used Force Lightning to save his Padawan Qui-Gon Jinn, but he didn't immediately fall to the dark side. It took time. It's a slippery slope, you use a power once, and nothing seems to happen, but then you start using it more and more until it becomes common place. Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny...

And she's not even being halfway believable. I mean she wants Aunt Cricket to believe that she BY HERSELF (maybe with Toni's help?) dismembered a man who probably weighs close to 200 lbs and then cooked him into 2-5 pies? That's absolutely moronic. It would take like 400 single serving pies to use up all the meat, and what did you do with the bones Cheryl? And what did you do with the offal? And what did you do with the blood? You can't just drop an entire animal (or human I guess) into a meat grinder and just churn it up. A child might fall for this, but any adult person would call her out on her absolutely ridiculous lunacy.

I don't think there are any rules about what they can or cannot do. The test subjects get points just like they would on earth, and they get no points if their motivation is corrupt. It doesn't really matter if (they think) they are in the Good Place or the Bad Place, either way (they think) their soul has been judged, and it shouldn't negate their point total because someone who thinks they have already been judged would do good actions out of pure altruism and bad actions out of pure selfishness. The only way the experiment falls apart is if the subjects think the experiment is still going on, or they think they can change the outcome. It's a smart move honestly. Their motivations would be corrupt if A) They thought they were in a test to get into the Best Place, like Brent does OR B) They think that this is an experiment, like Simone does. They only way to shift them back into a system where actions matter in terms of point accumulation is to make them think they have already passed or failed the test. Then a heartfelt apology like the one Brent is (seemingly) about to offer at the end of this episode would count. He's not apologizing for any reason other then the fact that he is genuinely sorry.

Although it does make her storyline this week make a whole lot more sense. After 300+ reboots of her planning parties, it would make sense that Tahani is a little concerned that it's all she seems to be good at.

Nobody selecting their football team based on logic and statistics would pick the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Kawhi broke the league's psyche. Now everyone in the West who thought they had a chance last year and was like "We'll just run it back!" is going insane. Ok Denver, you're next up for a move that no one sees coming. Why wouldn't Presti make this deal? He ditched one of the biggest albatross contracts in the league for a smaller one, and pocketed 2 1st rounders and 2 pick swaps. And now he's probably going to move CP3 to the Heat, since they struck out on Westbrook. Sam Presti has taken PG's trade request and somehow orchestrated a full rebuild in a single off season. He's got 15 1st rounders in the next 7 years, and a bunch of pick swaps too. I know he won't because it's usually reserved for a GM who creates a competitive team but he should probably win Exec of the Year based on this off season. MasterClass in rebuilding.