GoldenTongue

Just watched the Season 3 finale last night.  That was absolutely brilliant.  Completely bonkers, but I can't help but feel like the cast knew exactly how ridiculous it was, and absolutely loved it.  What a joy.

And I'm a lowkey amazed by the fact that

JFC, what a delight.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the movie.

The almost tangible Sam Raimi-ness of it worked wonderfully at times; the film's story needed a darker tone and composition, and Raimi executed that in a way that sticked the landing more often than not.

But I also have this feeling that my enjoyment of where it worked, in execution, is really masking quite a few things that are bothering me, although I'm struggling to articulate what they are. 

I do think that that same Raimi-ness that I enjoyed (as a fan of many of his earlier works) might be a bit of a detraction, insofar as the movie felt pretty strongly that it was more of a MCU film cooked and pressed through an Evil Dead strainer, than as an MCU film which has a more pronounced directorial voice.  Which feels like a strange criticism to level at an MCU film, given the (rightful) complaints of overly homogenized paint-by-numbers structures for so many of the other movies, but here, it feels fair, when the Raimi-ness bleeds so heavily into the celluloid.

I think I'd read somewhere that for one or more reasons, Raimi had to start shooting before a final script was available.  I feel as though it shows; the movie doesn't do a very good job of exploring characters' motivations beyond a fairly shallow level.

I think associations with other MCU projects is very much a double-edged sword here. 

It also feels as though a number of elements were mentioned, but not really explored...

And I think this movie is flashing some warning lights of the dangers of the multiverse -

I don't know.  There were aspects of the movie I thoroughly enjoyed.  The action set pieces were phenomenal, and while I'm typically not a fan of Danny Elfman, I thought the score complimented the movie beautifully here.  And any number of scenes in which that Raimi saturation was particularly strong brought a huge grin to my face, regardless of whether the scene was going for humor or not.

But (as I mentioned in another thread), the best multiverse-based movie of the year does NOT star Benedict Cumberbatch.

I'm interested to see what Netflix does with this.  Their take on several reality-based shows has been interesting, at times.

And my wife and I have become total junkies for a lot of the competitive cooking shows on cable: Guy's GGG, Chopped, Food Network TOC, etc.  This should be fun.

On 4/15/2022 at 12:01 AM, Kal-El814 said:

 

Flash is still trucking along. I never watched Supergirl or more than an episode of the first season of Batwoman, so I dunno much about those. Superman and Lois is really good. I love the show’s take on Superman. Legends has really pivoted into something kind of bizarre that barely fits into the DCU at all at this point, really. It’s irreverent and goes out of its way to be progressive. I like it a lot even though I think its best seasons are behind it.

 

 

I got as far as the bit about a consistent brand strategy and started mashing  

@Kal-El814 - you really should give Supergirl a try. I held off wathcing based on what I later learned were some pretty stupid assumptions about the show.  It really holds up well on its own, and plunges headlong into some issues (LGBTQ+, race) in ways that have no business being executed with as much sensitivity as they do, in ways that feel happily organic within the framework of the show.  I mean, it's still filtered through the lens of a CW show, but the characters' struggles on those fronts don't feel at all hamfisted, and there's more than enough heart that it genuinely feels like an effort directed toward inclusion, as opposed to proselytizing.

Looks like I'll be moving on to Superman and Lois after I finish Legends.

On 4/30/2022 at 7:13 AM, SoberChef said:

A lot of people are upset about Caity Lotz' character not being able to finish her arc on the show. Considering she's been in the CW-Verse since Arrow S1, I get that some are miffed for sure. What's really astonishing is that Flash is still going isn't it, or is it on its final season as well? If so, guess CW is moving on from all things Berlanti-verse huh?

Arrow S2*

I'm working through LoT now; just finished watching all six seasons of Supergirl on Netflix.  I'm enjoying Legends so far, so I'm expecting to feel a pang of disappointment when I finally catch up.

4 hours ago, Moa said:

I adored this movie.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Chekov's buttplug

 

Absolutely hysterical.

5 hours ago, Zeluge said:

After seeing this, Swiss Army Man, and giving a lot of their short content a shot, I’ve come to the conclusion that I am hopelessly allergic to the Daniels’ brand. In full admiration of their creativity and originality, but I find their ”everything in the blender” maximalist approach to … everything to be very exhausting and distracting from the things that they seem to be aiming for, such as emotion and involvement and connection. The only really affecting moment for me was a late-game section centered around Waymond (Ke Huy Quan is the MVP of this movie) but even that went on for too long.

 

It took me embarrassingly long to see the Wong Kar-wai reference. That was nice.

I can understand this, to some extent.  I think the movie is maybe 15-20 minutes longer than it needs to be, with some content in the second act which seem a bit superfluous, or perhaps redundant.  And while it maintains the same frenetic pacing, that redundancy in certain elements loosens what had been, all things told, a fairly tight propulsiveness in many regards.

And I can see how the "turn everything up to 11" approach could be a bit exhausting, although I found it absolutely exhilirating.  There were times when I LOL'd harder than I can remember laughing out loud during a movie, and felt genuinely touched on several occasions late in the movie.  You can't help but feel the writers'/directors' passion for this project while watching the movie; there is an absolute joy to be seen in so many of the performances, from Yeoh, to Quan, to Hsu, Curtis, and Hong.  

I can understand what johny is saying about those with more basic/traditional tastes not getting into the movie, but by the same token, a part of me hurts at the idea of someone loving DR STRANGE MoM (for what I expect to see from it) but not being able to enjoy this.  

Not that there are any other movies like it. Here is an orgiastic work of slaphappy genius that doesn’t operate like a narrative film so much as a particle accelerator — or maybe a cosmic washing machine — that two psychotic 12-year-olds designed in the hopes of reconciling the anxiety of what our lives could be with the beauty of what they are.

It’s a machine powered by the greatest performance that Michelle Yeoh has ever given, pumped full of the zaniest martial arts battles that Stephen Chow has never shot, and soaked through with the kind of “anything goes” spirit that’s only supposed to be on TV these days.

https://www.indiewire.com/2022/03/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-review-1234707051/

Everything Everywhere All At Once is simply sublime, and quite possibly the best experience I’ve had in a theater in years. 
 

The MCU has absolutely NOTHING on this movie when it comes to outrageous conceptualizations of character and world-building. 
 

Go see it. See it NOW. 

Phenomenal series.  I need to rewatch the end of S2 before we start watching S3.

On 8/22/2021 at 6:31 PM, Kal-El814 said:

I loved the first season. The second one has been much more uneven for me. If it keeps trending in this direction I'll end up being disappointed.

Out of curiosity, did you binge the first season or watch it week by week?

I have some similar feelings, although I believe I've enjoyed the second season more than you have.  

Thanks all, for the kind words.  Nice to see so many familiar faces still posting around here

Stop. You’re making me blush. 👀

3 hours ago, Komusha said:

Okay, after finally watching the trailer I admit this looks fun and much better than that mediocre Falcon and Winter Soldier show.

 

But still, I gotta draw the line somewhere. I just can’t watch every Marvel show they release. It’s getting to be too much.

Not entirely sure I follow. It’s been one show at a time, limited series runs, each with distinctly different tone and atmosphere. 
 

I won’t deny that every one has a very recognizable Marvel feel, but I’ve enjoyed what we’ve seen from the expansion into the D+ Arena. 

On 9/13/2021 at 12:04 PM, Kal-El814 said:

 

You won’t be missing plot details in the movies. Some winks, nudges, etc., sure. Even in Endgame they take the time to explain what happened in Infinity War.

I'm a bit skeptical of how easily Marvel will be able to continue in that vein, of having each movie (more or less) remain capable of standing on its own.  It certainly feels as though the D+ shows are being leveraged to help set the stage for Phase 4 events and at some point, it's hard to imagine how the narrative sprawl will be able to be covered with minor expositional catch-ups.

That's bizarre.  My neighbor 2 houses over has DirecTV, and I didn't have a problem ordering Sunday Ticket last year or this year.

20 hours ago, Emblazon said:

You can only get Sunday Ticket in the US if you are already a DTV subscriber, or if you live in an area that has no DTV coverage. It's shady as fuck. 

?

We have a subscription for the Sunday Ticket without a DTV subscription, and I know it's available in my area.

So, my wife and I were high-school sweethearts who reconnected via Facebook about three years ago.  She was living in LA, and I was (and am) in NYC.  Once we'd reconnected, we spent about nine months doing the long-distance thing, with one of us flying cross-country one weekend/month, before we made the decision that it made the most sense for her to move out here.

It did make the most sense, and she's acclimated well to NYC, but I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't a part of me that feels as though I should have moved out there and just worked on re-building a network there.

The traffic sucks (like NYC), but unlike NYC, the traffic doesn't seem to cultivate the worst in people's aggressive driving tendencies.

@TwinIon - My wife is into the third year of her lease of a 2017 Hybrid Niro.  She's loved it so far, and we'll probably either get another Hybrid (if we lease) or an EV (if we buy).  I'm not the biggest fan, but for what she's looking for (compact crossover that isn't too long), the Niro was the best value that we found after looking around.

I'm starting to look around for a new car myself - new promotion at work that entitles me to an upgrade over what I have now ('18 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid): thinking along the lines of an X5, Q7, or XC90.  Lots to love about all three, but I think I'm leaning toward the Q7 at the moment.

In that particular scenario, sounds like an easy decision.  Congrats!

Refinancing is one of those topics like 401k's (or any type of investing, really), where I get annoyed when I hear people in my office talking about what people should be doing: decisions like that are so subjective that it's foolish to try to project one's own unique analysis onto others' finances.

9 hours ago, sblfilms said:

 

I like being able to do whatever I want to my house. I even live outside the city limits so I can build stuff without permits.

 

Unless you happen to get lucky with market conditions at a one you want to sell, between debt service, property taxes, and maintenance costs, most houses won’t generate a positive return. 

 

The banks and their American dream Mumbai jumbo have trained you well  

While I'd agree that too many people sometimes treat their primary residences as a speculative investment with unrealistic views of an ROI, I would also argue that for a sizeable majority, gaining equity has value that shouldn't be so readily discounted.

Is it possible to perform better in the long-term by renting and investing the "savings" associated with ownership overhead?  Potentially, but I don't believe most people are equipped to plan that way.  It takes a lot of discipline (and liquidity) to be able to pull that $500-$1000/month (or more) aside after paying all the other bills and put it into a savings or brokerage account.

On refinancing, I hope that I am never in a position where it becomes overly appealing or (worse) some type of necessity.  I doubt I'd be able to refi while maintaining my 3.125% rate, and at this point, I'm debating how much additional principle I want to pay each month.  

31 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Apparently this policy update meant something far narrower than originally reported. Seems more like general incompetence in the explanation of what the policy update did.

Apologies for the laziness, but is the incompetence in the drafting of the 8/28 Policy Alert, or in how the verbiage of the policy change (which might have significantly broader implications than originally intended)?

6 minutes ago, Jason said:

This isn't even bad for your 401k/etc if you're not retiring soon. You'll get to buy in on the cheap. The people who get hosed are people who are imminently/currently living off their 401k.

The investment portfolios of those two groups should not be in any way similar. If you’re living off of your 401k, it should not be (heavily) portioned to anything with as much volatility as the stock market. 

On 7/27/2019 at 7:44 PM, Kal-El814 said:

The book was every single indulgent, “edgy,” “dark,” trope masquerading as a realistic / deep take on superheroes. It’s peak Ennis / aughts / bro comic writing and I’m kind of flabbergasted it got made into a 2019 show given how problematic almost every single aspect of it is. Are you ready for the umpteenth male take on how a woman responds to sexual assault... but this time she has POWERS? The Boys has you covered. It’s never more insightful than, “what if superheroes but BAD?”

 

Preacher had stuff to say. The Boys never did. The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen started coming out 31 years ago, I can’t believe people continue to be amused by worse versions of those. 

I'm going to assume that you haven't seen it yet.  

I don't necessarily disagree with anyone you're saying (although I have not read the comics), but the first season was solid.  Certainly not worth comparing to any higher-minded material, but it's free of pretension, somewhat self-aware in all the right ways, and is a downright blast at times.  It looks like Urban is having a blast in leaning into Butcher's scenery-chewing bluster, and he's not alone - I'm not terribly familiar with most of the main characters, but they really nailed the casting from top to bottom.

Glad to hear that the show was picked up for a second season; looking forward to seeing the direction the story takes based upon the first season ended.

And yes, the episode descriptions in Amazon are amazing.

6 hours ago, TheGreatGamble said:

Israel and Jew are interchangeable. It’s them that insist it’s a Jewish state. 

Always easier when painting with such a broad brush.