The New York Times Presents

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

The somewhat recent one about the deaths of racing horses was tough to watch and I'm not sure things will ever get fully fixed given the amount of money involved unless the industry crashes from their own greed

I don't know if I'll ever bring myself to watch that one.  With the way the horses and jockeys are mistreated, I am completely opposed to the sport.  I already know the abuses, so don't need to watch in order to learn anything, and I'll get upset about the horse deaths.

The Breonna Taylor episode is one I'm saving until I'm in the right head space, too.

[Bastet]

The straws at which a couple of people were grasping to try claiming beauty pageants are feminist was hilarious, especially when one woman said they wear sashes, and so did the suffragettes. 

The episode about Nate Woods got me even more angry and sad than I expected.  I'm pretty familiar with his case, and with the history of the bullshit law under which he was convicted, but I wasn't prepared to be so thoroughly repulsed by Curly's daughter.  I think a lot of people in her shoes would convince themselves their dad wasn't a crooked cop, but that she buys this ridiculous theory that Nate was a mastermind who planned this whole thing and lured them in the house is not something that can be excused by grief.  At least Robocop's sister stepped up in the end, acknowledging Nate was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and asking for clemency.

You gotta love the police chief saying these apprehensions were done by the book, because they knew there would be public scrutiny in this case -- in other words, the norm is not to follow the law.

They did a good job letting numerous people in the community express their experiences with the cops.  I particularly liked the man who said he's not happy they're dead, but plenty of people are.  That they treated some people well, but everyone knows they're drug dealers, and it broke his heart when the young cop, who'd been considerate and cared about the community, got corrupted by them.

I'm glad they juxtaposed the differing perspectives of the jurors, particularly when the Black woman described Nate's comportment as being as serious as the case, saying he looked defeated because he knew his fate was sealed, and then the white guy says "he was trying to intimidate us" because he stared at the jury.  And I think he was the same one who had the "OMG, really, that's what you're going to say?" reaction about Nate's "If y'all want my blood for theirs, so be it" statement.  He wants this man to be contrite and remorseful about ... being in a house in which someone else shot people. 

Nate's dad touched me in the beginning when he said he'd moved Nate down with him to get him away from his abusive mother, but Nate would have been better off staying because this wouldn't have happened.  And at the end, when he shared Nate's last words to him, about being a free man on the other side, I cried.

I cheered Nate's sister when she had the guts to walk up to the governor and say "You killed my brother".

[Bastet]

The episode about the misogynoir on full display after Janet Jackson's breast was made visible for 9/16 of a second was good, and gave Les Moonves just a ration of the shit he deserves.  Good for putting David Letterman and Chris Rock on blast, too.  After so many years, the FCC guy admitted the reaction was overblown, and Justin Timberlake apologized (that guy is such a consistent jerk, I have trouble believing he truly understands and feels remorse), but nothing can make up for the damage done to her career.

[Bastet]

I watched the episode about the terrible Australian wildfires, and find myself fixated on the father/daughter duo who stayed behind.  The mom (who is presumably the brains of the family) evacuated with the younger kids, but dad and legally adult but seemingly still quite young woman stay behind.  Okay, but then as we view the daughter's cell phone footage - because, of course, she's filming the whole thing - we learn the family dog was left behind as well.  Oh, hell no.  Why wasn't he shipped off with the mom and kids?  Dad can certainly make his own decisions, as can barely legal daughter (although, if she was my kid, I'd have snatched her by the hair and thrown her in my vehicle), but you don't subject a pet to that!

Then at the end we learn that oldest daughter had heard her mom say Dad was bummed about having only daughters, and that when she asked her dad about it after this debacle, he said he didn't need a son because she has more balls than any man he knows.  So if she wasn't a stubborn mule like him, he would be bummed?  He's bummed by his other daughters?  And he apparently recognized the writing on the wall and took shelter, but when she couldn't hear him yell, he just stayed there while she continued trying to fight the fire?  I'm glad they survived, of course, but the family dynamic was disturbing -- Dad sucks.

I'm one of Those People, who feels terrible for the people affected by fires - especially if they're killed, of course, or displaced - and agrees that should be the primary statistic, but resents that property damage is reported as worse than the loss of pets and, especially, of wild animals.  So to hear that approximately one billion wild animals lost their lives was difficult, but I'm grateful that was included.

The cranky, crazy neighbor who demanded her two sheep be evacuated with her (I'm not sure why those two were more important than the 50-some who died) and the couple farther away from the fire agreeing to accommodate that were interesting; I love that when they realized they had lived, they decided to get drunk, and remain friends.

Kudos to the woman running the camp for displaced people (and their animals) for how she handled the climate change-denying Prime Minister's photo op.  I love that she always addressed him as Mr. PM, but others yelled insults based on not just this but a history of inaction when this community is under siege, and she reminisced that probably even her goat called him out.

[Bastet]

They should do a follow-up to the Breonna Taylor episode after the last of the trials is over, because they did this one so early it didn't include a lot of information -- like the fact the cops lied on the affidavit to get the warrant for her house in the first place, and then conspired to cover that up.  And one thing that I'm almost certain was already known at the time but was not included other than a brief reference to her lying there was that when cops called an ambulance (after having sent it away prior to the raid, when procedure calls for it to be on stand-by) to tend to their buddy, they didn't summon any medical attention for Breonna.  The coroner says she could not have been saved anyway, but she took five shots, was gasping for air, while cop sat there awake and aware with one to the thigh.  That she was too gravely injured to have been saved is irrelevant to the fact that getting help for him but not her was another one of their despicable actions.

[Sweet-tea]

Anyone watched Sin Eater, about Anthony Pellicano? What a sleaze ball! I wish they had revealed more about what he did to help these celebrities with their PR problems. It’s an interesting subject.  The guy seemed like a narcissist who got off on the attention and power he got from working with the Hollywood elite. 

I remember the Larry Sanders show with Gary Shandling. I had no idea his girlfriend went through what she described, although I vaguely remember a lawsuit. 

It was hard watching the MIchael Jackson stuff. 

Edited September 8 by Sweet-tea

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, Sweet-tea said:

Anyone watched Sin Eater, about Anthony Pellicano?

I loved them juxtaposing his ridiculous musings on how they were a family in his office with his former employees describing what a fucking nightmare he is.  And including the way he spoke to the woman interviewing him. 

[DanaK]

Quote

Season 3, Episode 4, "The Weight of the World" will broadcast on Friday, November 22 at 10pm ET on FX and stream next day on Hulu

As GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic soar in popularity for weight loss, this film follows three people on their own GLP-1 journeys and explores how decades of diet culture and society's relentless pursuit of thinness paved the way for their rise.

http://thefutoncritic.com/listings/20241021fx02/

Edited October 26 by DanaK