Posted on General

Paloozas Reborn

The results are in!

The 20th Century Palooza Winner is. . . . The Fifth Element!

The 21st Century Winner was. . . a tie! So there are 2 choices: Tenet and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

I was going to cast the tie-breaker vote, but I think more options are a good thing. So watch both or watch one and skip the other.

So how are we gonna do this, in the absence of a podcast?

We’ll schedule a Zoom conference call for each movie where everyone can chime in with their thoughts.

We also still have this here Deadpan page, YouTube, and Facebook, where we can post whatever audio skits, video skits, reviews, and other Palooza-inspired creativity we want.

A classic, absurd Luc Besson Cyberpunk action flick.

A Christopher Nolan Time Travel mindbender.

A Coen Bros. Western mini-anthology film.

1,171 thoughts on “Paloozas Reborn”

    • Hadn’t heard of this one, but I’ve been to the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas. It was a lot of fun and also features a lot of classic 80’s arcade games as well. Definitely a recommend.

  5. Crap joke of the day:

    I bought a dog from the village blacksmith yesterday. As soon as I got him home, he made a bolt for the door.

  7. I had never seen it before, so I finally saw the first Godfather movie over the last two nights. While it was a good movie, and I enjoyed it, I don’t think it was up to the hype it has been given.

    • Tiffany had the same reaction, a few years ago. For me, these are both movie perfection. I even think Godfather 3 is pretty good, though not nearly on par with the first two.

      • We’re going to start GF2 tonight. Being 3 and a half hours long, it will be something we watch over 2 or three evenings.

  9. I am no fan of Bezos but 10 year old me is pretty damn impressed with where space travel has gotten to.
    Here’s cheering for the NEXT step, what ever that might be!

  10. RE: The Pinball Museum link: I’ll have to check, but that doesn’t seem to be linked to the pinball museum Tiffany and I visited outside of Vegas a few years back. That place was a ton of fun.

    Either way, it’s a damn shame.

  13. Watched the first episode of Marvel 616 on D+ about the Japanese Spider-Man TV show. Fascinating and often hilarious. Highly recommended!

  15. I haven’t seen “Buster Scruggs” or “Tenet”, so that will be cool. I’ve seen “The Fifth Element” several times, I think it is a fun movie, but mostly “meh”. Perhaps my fellow Deadpanites will educate me on what I’m missing.

    • The 21st Century movies are both new to me as well.

      I dig me some Fifth Element. I’ve seen it many times, but I intend to rewatch to collect some Palooza thoughts.

    • Fifth Element is an all-time favorite for me. I’ll happily re-watch that at any time. Tenet was good but I feel like re-watching will give me a deeper understanding of just wtf is going on. I have the major themes and concepts down and was surprised to find that almost all of the “what is going on in Tenet” web sites were stuff that I had already picked up on. Just need to get into some of the finer details. Buster Scruggs… well… I watched it once and didn’t care for it. But that might have been because I was expecting a movie based on… well… you know… Buster Scruggs… like in the title and all… … … and then I got a bunch of short films that didn’t seem like what I expected at all. maybe a second watch will improve things. I doubt it, but I’m willing to give it a go. You know, take one for the team and all that.

    • Predator 2 wasn’t trying to win any Oscars, but it didn’t have to. It was basically Lethal Weapon meets Predators. It was one of the first movies I bought on DVD.

    • We can’t get more than 50% of the population to get vaccinated. Covid of some form is going to be sticking around for some time. My hope is that kid-approved vaccines appear soon and that boosters will continue to keep the vaccinated safe.

    • He is the King of all the land
      In the Kingdom of the sands
      Of a time tomorrow

      He rules the sandworms and the Fremen
      In a land amongst the stars
      Of an age tomorrow

      He is destined to be a King
      He rules over everything
      In the land called planet Dune

      Body water is your life
      And without it that you would die
      In the desert the planet Dune

  23. In response to a few comments – – if you’ve watched one of the movies recently, then you’re probably covered. No need to rewatch so soon, especially if you disliked it.

    Also, while all participation is voluntary, I think you’re good if you only do one of the 21st Century films. I intend to watch both, but you’re covered if you only watch one.

  25. Back in ye olden days, when del.icio.us was shutting down, I exported my bookmarks to a new haven at Google. Now, Google Bookmarks is also going away after 16 years.

    I haven’t really used that one much since, as the article notes, Chrome and most browsers now will sync your bookmarks in the browser across devices.

    Went ahead and did the exports, though, many of the links I had back in the day are now dead. Though, apparently, Slice of SciFi is somehow still a thing. Who knew?

    https://www.androidheadlines.com/2021/07/google-bookmarks-shutdown-will-not-affect-your-maps-starred-locations.html

  27. Finished watching Godfather 2 last night. My feelings are the same as one. Good movie, but maybe not as good as the hype.

    • For me, I love the storytelling, the nuance, the subtleties, the detail, the epic scope. All of the things playing out onscreen that are unsaid.

      Also of interest: In between these movies, Coppolla released an unrelated Gene Hackman films called The Conversation, which is also 70s and brilliant.

  29. I’ve been playing through Detroit Become Human with the eldest daughter on the PS4. Well – – she’s played it many times, and is watching me do a playthrough.

    I’m a longtime lapsed gamer, so the “quicktimes”* are always harrowing. But it’s a really neat game, very well done. Excellent story too, I can see why she got so into it. I mean, anything with Clancy Brown and Lance Henriksen in the cast has got to be good, right?
    Are there other good story games like this? She’s also playing “Until Dawn.”

    *Quicktimes are actions scenes where you’re suddenly prompted to hit one of the 6,000 buttons on the controller. You have 0.00001 of a second to do it, or you fail, and your character could die. (A little bit like Dragon’s Lair)

    • I first encountered them in the first Lara Croft game by Crystal Dynamics.

      At least it tells you what to press unlike Dragon’s Lair.

      • Same with this one, although it takes me a full second longer than regular PS4 players to find “triangle” or R2, which usually results in my character getting pegged.

        Also interesting about DBH: you’re playing 3 different characters through their storylines, so if you get a character killed, they stay dead (unless the plot dictates otherwise).

        • If you haven’t played any of the Mass Effect games, I would recommend getting the Legendary Edition for $45. I think you and your daughter would enjoy it. Horizon Zero Dawn is another masterpiece.

          • I agree with Rhettro, though those don’t have “quicktime” game aspects. Some other great games like Rhettro recommends are “Last Of Us”, “NieR:Automata”, and “The Witcher III”. I can recommend more, but all of these have great game play combined with great stories.

            If you are looking for other games with “quicktime”, you should definitely play the latest “God Of War” game. It has a great story, plus that style of game play. Actually, it is hard to go wrong with any God Of War game imo.

            The other Quantic Dream games are good, but have some even darker aspects to their stories. Plus, the quicktime events can get a bit frustrating in parts.

          • Yakuza all the way. Start with zero (be prepared to cry), then Kiwami, Kiwami 2, 3 to 6 remastered, and last, Like A Dragon

  31. 12:18am. The work project that started at 7pm this evening is still going.

    Mama, don’t let your children grow up to work in IT.

  40. Ohishi is very good. There is a 10 year brandy cask and a 8 year sherry cask; both for the same price. I picked the sherry cask. Delicious.

  45. So tonight watched the first two episodes of Schmigadoon on AppleTV+.

    Great fun and a good laugh as a couple get trapped in a town where everybody sings like it’s a musical.

  52. Episode 2 of Marvel 616 is all about the pioneering women creators at Marvel, from the 70s to the present. Really digging this show.

  54. CW: V I Warshawski

    I want to live in the timeline where this was movie was a hit and we got a series of films with Kathleen Turner kicking criminal ass.

    Well throwing criminal ass cos the character does Aikido

    A young Stephen Root plays a good slime ball client.

  63. Crap joke interlude:

    There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black:
    1. He called everyone brother
    2. He liked Gospel
    3. He didn’t get a fair trial

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish:
    1. He went into His Father’s business
    2. He lived at home until he was 33
    3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian:
    1. He talked with His hands
    2. He had wine with His meals
    3. He used olive oil

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian:
    1. He never cut His hair
    2. He walked around barefoot all the time
    3. He started a new religion

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian:
    1. He was at peace with nature
    2. He ate a lot of fish
    3. He talked about the Great Spirit

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish:
    1. He never got married
    2. He was always telling stories
    3. He loved green pastures

    But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Mexican:
    1. He treated his mama like she was a saint
    2. He always wore llantas and a serape
    3. He was a carpenter who could fix anything

    But the most compelling evidence of all – 3 proofs that Jesus was a woman:
    1. He fed a crowd at a moment’s notice when there was virtually no food
    2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn’t get it
    3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was still work to do

  65. Morning Pan
    Watched The Ballad of Buster Scruggs last night. I saw it before, hubby had not. I don’t think he was a huge fan

  75. I do love how she doesn’t even tie her hair back when sneaking onto ship.

    Pretty sure this CEO is a regular bad guy on the original Hawaii 5 O

      • If we’re just doing a zoom call, then I’d assume sometime late August would work for the first one.

        If you are inspired to create something, then any time works.

        • I watching Buster Scruggs now, about half way through. I think I have something I can do with this. Have to see if the idea will work for all the segments.

          Tenet has to wait until I have the time to do nothing but sit and watch alone with undivided attention.

          My current TV has crappy HDMI ports and the DVD player does not work with it. Fifth Element has to wait until the new TV shows up so I can play the DVD.

  84. I was watching some Olympic Rugby yesterday.
    I’m discovering it may be one of my favorite team sports. It doesn’t hurt that the rules seem to have been thought up by Calvin and Hobbes 🙂

    • Ha! I went to see Jeremy (from Seattle) play a few years back (He was on a semi-pro team, if you recall). At no point did I have any idea what was happening.

      But it was fun nonetheless.

  86. Having one of those mornings.
    Took spouses car to get a tire patched only to discover another tire had a sidewalk gash that went through to the chords and a BACK tire that had a big bulge in it where they guess it must have run through a pot hole at speed. These tires are less then a year old. And expensive. And they may not be able to get them Til Monday which is when that car was supposed to be on a long road trip.
    Meh.

    Oh and on my way home from tire store, the girl that cuts my hair called as a courtesy to say her under 18 year old daughter had a fever and symptoms consistent with Covid. SHE herself doesn’t have symptoms and is still willing to cut my hair this afternoon but wanted to let me know.
    Canceling seems prudent… but is it? 🙁
    I’m vaccinated but that doesn’t mean I can’t get it(and spread it). It just means it should’t kill me.

    • That is a tough one. It sounds like it’s about caution, as opposed to spending time with her daughter. If you both mask up and are socially distant from everyone else, then – – maybe?

      Still, no harm in being a little shaggy.

    • If you are both masked during the session, I’d have no hesitation about having her give you a hair cut.

      There’s a difference between prudence and paranoia

  87. Having heard for a long time that Schitt’s Creek is the best show of all time, we watched episode 1 last night.

    Not all that funny.

    I assume it gets better?

    • I haven’t watched it, but a few reviewers on IMDB says that it doesn’t get that good until season 3. That’s a lot of seasons for a payoff.

      • Funny, that’s what people keep telling me for Fear The Walking Dead. My wife and I watched the first season as we’re huge Walking Dead fans and found Fear to be a steaming pile of crap. Now everyone that likes the show keeps telling me that it gets great around season 3. Just doesn’t seem worth it to me.

        • That’s actually a true statement. FTWD didn’t get good until season 3. We stopped watching all the Walking Dead series as they seemed to be stuck in a soap opera formula without any clear direction on what they wanted for their shows.

  88. I give a show 3 episodes NOT 3 seasons.
    That being said, I gave this one a whole season because I got what they were trying to do with it … it just never got funny.

    • I did know that. Then again I know far far far far too much when it comes to Rush. I was fascinated by them and everything about them. At least up to Hold Your Fire. I like Counterparts after that, but nothing else. I feel like the majority of Rush fans have a place where the group grew beyond them, but I do know fans that still like everything they came out with.

        • I did know that about YYZ! That’s why it opens with that hihat rhythm. I think I learned that from their R40 documentary.

          I think their best era was the one leading up to “Exit Stage… Left.” There were some not-so-great phases, but I thought they went out really strong with Clockwork Angels and Snakes and Arrows.

          • The last Rush album I bought was “Roll the Bones.” It was pretty great, but I haven’t been compelled to see what came after. I might though now.

          • I don’t agree about “not-so-great” phases: it’s all a matter of taste. Though from 2112 to Power Windows, they were at their prime. Clockwork Angels was a great way to go out on top too.

            There isn’t an album of theirs that doesn’t have a great song, imo. The albums as a whole…? Well some work better than others, but I love the fact that Rush was always experimenting and trying new things. I know some fans really hated “Presto” but there were some really interesting songs on that album.

            I also hate trying to rank albums for a band like this. Some will albums will always rank lower, but that’s a matter of preference not a reflection on the album being bad. That being said, I think this fan selection of the best 10 albums is very good:
            https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/rush-greatest-albums-readers-poll-14091/hemispheres-233734/

          • I actually agree – – 100% (even tho you’re disagreeing with me :D) . I think Presto may be their weakest album, but even it has a few classics. This was also their least interesting phase for me, when they occasionally dipped into Adult Contemporary sounds.

  91. John and I have started using Board Game Arena to play with friends online. Since I won the last game (Terra Mystica), I’m going to say it works quite well

    • Disney+ is charging $35 to see it. And while I do want to see it, I don’t want to see it that bad. I’ll wait until it comes to normal streaming.

  105. Morning Pan
    Went to the zoo yesterday. The red pandas were the most active I’ve seen them.

    Now it’s back to work for this bunny.

  109. So the theory from a film critic on Twitter is The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a statement that the Coen Brothers were making about their co directing days coming to an end.

  110. I’m really happy about the success of the Mars helicopter, but I have a feeling that the day will come when NASA crashes it. It has met its performance goals already so it crashing won’t be a failure. It will just feel like one.

  111. It’s weird how long my personal Missing Persons kick has been going. . . Almost a month? I’m not even sure what set off this obsession.

    They only had 4-5 great songs, but damn, those songs were great. Dale Bozzio was a one-of-a-kind frontwoman. And drummers tell me that Terry Bozzio is one of Rock’s all-time best.

    I might suggest their “Spring Sessions M” album over their Greatest Hits.

  113. Nothing like a local council implying your childhood did not happen where it happened to make you think you are losing touch with reality.

  122. I’ve watched a few episodes of Love Death + Robots season 22, and I think it’s a huge improvement over season 1.

    The first season had its moments, but there were so, so, so many exaggerated cartoon boobs and cursewords and over-the-top violent scenes, it often felt like it was created by and for 12-year-olds. There’s still plenty of silliness and excess, but it’s easier to digest. So far.

    • I missed the cartoon boobs, but to be fair the stories told didn’t really require them. I agree about the pointless over-the-top violence. I don’t think any season 2 episodes had the emotional impact of “Zima Blue” or “Beyond the Aquila Rift” from the first season. I’m looking forward to season 3.

  128. It appears the Canadian women’s footie team has stepped up and won gold at the Olympics.

    The downside is people using that to attack the Captain of the US team which lost earlier in the competition.

  133. I did watch Citizen Kane tonight – actual Citizen Kane, you know, Orson Wells, Rosebud, etc. It’s only my 2nd viewing, and first in over 20 years.

    On my first watch, I recall thinking, “yeah, it’s fine, but not the ‘greatest movie of all time’ as so many film experts say.”

    I saw and understood a LOT more on my second viewing. It truly is brilliant. Truly a masterpiece. I get it now. So much depth. So many incredible little moments and scenes and details.

    Now I can say that I greatly admire and appreciate this movie. I enjoyed it deeply, but I wouldn’t say I loved it. It’s not in my personal list of all-time favorites. Anyone else have an opinion?

    • I watched in my lowest-of-all-filler-college-course “Introduction to Film” class and had to do actual research on it. So when I watched it I think I enjoyed it and appreciated it far far more than I would have if I just watched on my own. I really did enjoy the film and see why Orson Wells was considered a master director. Then again, I haven’t ever watched it again so I think I share your lack of actual love and/or desire to put in on my all-time favorites list.

      • I will also say: on second viewing, there were many aspects that got me -right here-. Kane is mostly not a likable figure, but is still sympathetic.

        Truly heartbreaking.

    • I watched it a long time ago and I think it is a fine movie. If you compare movies of the same era,” Citizen Kane” is a lot different. The camera angles, lighting, and framing to enhance the message of the movie are way different. Most older movies used to be filmed like they were a play. The filming techniques of Orson Wells set the standards of modern filmmaking. So a large share of admiration for “Citizen Kane” is that it is groundbreaking in that regard. Of course, modern movies use all those techniques now and I think there are a lot more enjoyable films now.

  134. CW: Battle Angel Alita

    You know it was slagged off at the time, I remember enjoying it at the time and on reflection it’s a damn fine sci-fi blockbuster.

  140. Morning Pan
    Last day of holidays for the hubby. I can’t decide if that’s a bad thing or a good thing. The bad side, I won’t see him as much and get random hugs. The good side is I get a lot more done when he’s not home.

    • A solid write up. And I say this as someone who, while I listened to that song and a few other of that pop metal era, never really got into heavy metal myself.

      • Thank you, sir!

        Metal was my first music, and obviously, still music that I love – – but I’m so glad I found other genres in the 90s. I have a few friends who’ve never branched out beyond the stuff they liked when they were 15.

    • Don’t know how I missed this until now.
      Entertaining and informative.

      My knowledge of that periods “heavy metal” is very superficial. I know what pop radio and MTV wanted me to know. So now I know more!

  146. Int. Living room, a few days ago:

    Leeloo: Mama said you’re a writer.
    Me: Yes, I am!
    Leeloo: But you’re a meetinger.
    Me: (sighs) Yep, that’s exactly right.

    End scene.

    This is the most damningly accurate summary of my existence ever.

  158. Morning Pan
    We really need rain. I don’t think we’ve had any in weeks. The sky threatened rain yesterday but then never delivered. It’s suppose to start getting stupid hot again, but still no rain.

  161. Watched the first couple of episodes of the new season of Titans, got off to a slow start.

    Also the first episode of S2 of Star Trek: Lower Decks which was fun.

  164. Made the neighbor cry today. . .

    She was telling us how they’d taken two big trips to see family. I asked if their dog travelled with them. . . and it turns out. . . the dog had died a few months ago.

    Way to go, me!

    • Her arguments are not totally off base. The whys and wherefores could be argued until dusk, but, it’s true, in certain games, movies, tv, from Han Solo in Star Wars to Majima in the the Yakuza games, I loves me the bad guy (or, at least, morally gray).

      • Good article! And – interesting aside – I haven’t seen Gone with the Wind since the previous century, but I don’t recall Rhett Butler being villainous.

        (I’m aware of the debate about him carrying her off to bed. . . I’d need to watch again to have an opinion about that scene.)

  168. Looks like the Delta variant has paid a visit to the Hastings Household. Teresa tested positive yesterday. Her symptoms are light, Moderna seems to be doing its job. I’m going to get tested tomorrow, but judging by the slight metallic taste in my mouth, I’m guessing it will come back positive. So far, we don’t have any difficulty breathing. My expectation is that it will be like a mild illness. We’ll be self-isolating until it clears.

  175. Finally got a chance to watch “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” which is our one palooza feature I wasn’t familiar with. We saw Tenet pretty recently and I can probably recite a good portion of The Fifth Element.

    I’ve certainly enjoyed my fair share of Coen material over the years, but this was a hard one, I must admit.

    I was about ready to punch a wall after “The Gal Who Got Rattled”

    At least now I understand the “first time?” meme.

    • And, fwiw, regarding punching a wall, it wasn’t that it was a bad segment. Quite the contrary, it was such a masterful build up that I wasn’t prepared for the gut punch that I should have seen coming. Especially with all the seasons of Fargo that I’ve watched.

    • I plan on recording my thoughts for posterity. . . I’ll just say I agree. I liked each of the stories, but I didn’t love any of it. I can’t imagine I’d go back and watch it again.

      • Once I got past the complete destruction of my expectations for what I assumed it might be about… I settled in for the ride and was then blown away by the “craft”. There is some just marvelous film making going on there.
        Also … somewhere deep within me, the little surviving spark of a punk rocker glowed a bit at them making another movie that the “standard” movie consuming public was going to HATE. 🙂

    • 20 years to get their act together and they fold in less than 3 months.

      Lessons no one will learn?
      These come to mind.
      – If you’re going to spend trillions on the problem, maybe try something other than bombs and bullets?
      – The US needs to take a MUCH more serious look at it’s own domestic terrorism problem before our extremists get this sort of a foothold.

      • Yes to all. But don’t forget that many people got very wealthy (or just much wealthier) from Afghanistan. It’s been a huge success for those people.

  183. Fascinating:
    TOS season 2:

    4: Mirror, Mirror
    5. The Apple
    6. The Doomsday Machine
    7. Catspaw

    So you have the best of Trek back to back with the bottom of the barrel.

  185. Is there a bigger time suck then No Mans Sky?

    I sit down to start repairing a ship I’ve found and boom! 3 hours is gone and I haven’t even finished the repair job!

  187. The Fog (1980) is a better movie than I’d remembered. Cheesy, yes, but still classic Carpenter. Tom Atkins is one of the best “hey, it’s that guy” B-list actors of the 80s.

    On Amazon Prime right now.

  190. You don’t really realize how festive your wardrobe is until you are trying to pick out an outfit for a funeral.

    Neighbor’s adult child died. Drug overdose. Not clear if it was a “recreational” accident or intentional. These are tough times.

  194. Fucking furious with AZ’s governor right now.

    I’ve been buying my kids classroom supplies for years, but he just announced that he’s going to give big funding boosts – – – only to schools who comply with his anti-mask mandate mandate.

    So the money is there – as long as everyone complies with his policy, forcing kids to be in danger.

    Fucking furious.

    • Dunno how this is legal but nothing is surprising anymore. Also, watching nothing be done for gun control after a class of Kindergarteners was mowed down made me realize that kids lives are big business and that no one on the right really cares about kids lives. Not really.

  197. The Suicide Squad. Big meh. Better than the first, sure, but that’s not saying much.

    This is the same guy who made the Guardians of the Galaxy movies?

  203. As we look back on news paper articles about the Flu Pandemic of 100 years ago, I am seeing a historical need to get as many things published in print as possible about what went on here.
    Specifically the fact that Republican politicians convinced their constituents NOT to take precautions and NOT to get the vaccine as soon as it was available.
    A generation from now they will be trying to paint this as “Act of God… who could have seen this coming … did all that we could”.
    As “electronic” records are easily changed or simply erased, It will be important to have published, historical records indicating what they really did.

        • Still need to check out the Bad Batch.

          I assume/hope that the powers that be at Disney have learned their lesson about going the “safe” route with Star Wars. Although episodes 7 – 9 made enough money to buy Canto Bight, so maybe not.

  210. Crap joke for the day:

    The professor showed a large cage with a male rat in it.

    The rat was in the middle of the cage.

    Then, the professor kept a piece of cake on one side and kept a female rat on the other side.

    The male rat ran towards the cake and ate it.

    Then, the professor changed the cake and replaced it with some bread.

    The male rat ran towards the bread.

    This experiment went on with the professor changing the food every time.

    And, every time, the male rat ran towards the food item and never towards the female rat.

    Professor said: This experiment shows that food is the greatest strength and attraction.

    Then, one of the students from the back rows said:

    “Sir, why don’t you change the female rat?This one may be his wife!

    The professor stood straight up his finger pointing towards the student and said “You are a Damn Genius”

  216. LOL
    I had two appointments today. The first was a consult on a “routine colonoscopy” and the other was with cable install techs.
    Guess which one was the pain in the ass.

  218. The Horatio Sanz/SNL/NBC debacle is FUCKING awful. All the names involved or potentially involved… sickening.

    https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/saturday-night-live/horatio-sanz-sexual-assault-snl/

    Oh and shocker of shockers – Louis CK was on the writing staff at the time. Man fuck that guy. And more than likely FUCK Jimmy Fallon and Lorne Michaels.

    And, potentially, FUCK some or all of the following:
    Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Darrell Hammond, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, Chris Parnell, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Jerry Minor, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Dean Edwards, Seth Meyers, Jeff Richards, Robert Carlock, Jim Downey, Steve Higgins, Michael Schur, Paula Pell, Ken Scarborough, Robert Smigel, Max Brooks, Andrew Steele, and Jack Handey.

  219. So, how long until we get some decent memes of the outlaw Robin Leach and his Merry Men?

    #whatif?

    My wife asked me how old you would have to be to catch that malapropism. I replied as old as we are.

  226. CW: Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

    Annoying that the actor who is playing Snake Eye’s friend/enemy speaks with a English accent but is forced put on an exaggerated Japanese speaking English accent for the role.

  227. I’ve done 2 at-home movie nights now with the little one. Toy Story was last week, Toy Story 2 was last night.

    I can’t recall how long it’s been since I last watched Toy Story 2, but holy crap, it’s every bit as great as I remember, if not better. The cast, the jokes, the cleverness – – it’s just a perfect movie. The first one is also still wonderful, but this is the rare sequel that’s way better than the first.

    • Pixar makes some absolutely wonderful films.
      Especially those that Disney simply supplied the cash for and then kept their hands out of the production process!

      • There was a time when Pixar did no wrong. Even today, they still sometimes produce diamonds. For every Cars 2, there’s an Inside Out.

  229. We watched 1974’s “Chinatown” 2 nights ago.
    I don’t know how I made it this long without ever seeing that. It’s a master class in film making. Solid acting. Been a long time since I had seen Nicholson in a part where HE wasn’t just playing “Jack Nicholson in a movie”.
    I felt like the film stood up well. While slow by today’s “short attention span” standards, it still moved at a good pace.
    If you haven’t seen it and find yourself in the mood for a solid, film noir, “Who done it?”, don’t be afraid to give it a try.

  236. It sounds like I need to watch Ted Lasso. (?)

    Unrelated, but sort of related: Brett Goldstein, of that show, is rumored to be the next Doctor. He’s appeared on the show before, but that doesn’t rule him out.

  237. Elder daughter made a hair mask mixture for herself:

    1 banana
    A bunch of honey
    1 raw egg
    A tiny bit of water
    Probably too much apple cider vinegar

    My hair now stinks, even after showering.

    • I saw the hair mask thing on FB. Is this the latest thing the young hip people are doing that I’ll never understand? Putting random things in a bag to condition one’s hair? At least it seems safer than the tide pod challenge fad.

      • *shrug* Possibly.
        She blended it into a stinky mixture, which she then rubbed into her hair like shampoo.

        Back in the day, my friend’s wife ran her own salon, and would make me sit around for 20 minutes with stuff in my hair and a baggie on my head. It felt kinda like that.

  242. You don’t even have to look it up to recognize an Iron Maiden song. I have Our hard rock video channel, “Loud”, playing in the background. Soon as I heard the music, without knowing the song, I could tell it was I rom maiden

    • Not a bad episode but def the weakest of the season so far. Especially coming off the heels of one of the best MCU highlights….ever…. of episode 2

  248. Nicked from FB, as the hip Vans say:

    “Anti-vaxxers, esp. anti-COVID-vaxxers, don’t think about what they believe. They don’t WANT to think about it. They are looking for authoritarian figures to dictate what they believe, and they don’t question the facts or the hypocrisy – they’re just happy to be led, and to have what beliefs they DO have confirmed. Yet they call those of us who do think and question and compare, “sheep,” for doing the right things, all because their masters have told them to do so. While they’re being stuck in the worst ways by their leaders, they actually believe they’re ‘sticking it to’ the rest of us – they’re standing on the deck of the Titanic and laughing at the people in the lifeboats for ‘living in fear.'”

    • Along those lines,
      Greg Abbott has updated his executive order to ban vaccine mandates for ANY Covid-19 vaccine.

      His original order only banned “vaccines approved under emergency use.”

      Showing (as we know) it was never about protecting people from an “unapproved vaccine”. It has never been about protecting anyone but trump.

  249. Toy Story 3 is done.

    It’s good. . . coupla good moments, coupla clever bits – – but a huge step down from part 1 and part 2.

    Though last 5 minutes, though, are a complete emotional wringer.

  261. So someone who always said hello at the folk club recently died of Covid despite being doubly vaccinated.

    So let’s be careful out there.

    • Sorry to hear that Van. In my own Covid news, Teresa is recovering well. She still has an occasional cough, but never got bad enough to go to the hospital. My daughter and I, while undoubtedly breathing in vast amounts of Delta virus for days, never caught it. It’s a flip of a coin how bad one will react to Covid, so it is still advisable to act cautiously. I’ve read good things about the booster shots raising immunity by 26 times, so get your boosters when available.

      • Sorry to hear that Van.
        Fuck Covid.
        I’m glad things are looking up Rhett.

        At the end of the day, NONE of the downsides of taking every precaution you can (masking, social distancing, avoiding inside crowds) equal the worst downside of getting the virus.

        • A positive. This brings up a funny observation. My mother is a very rare AB negative and my dad is O positive. Remember the high school biology days, A & B are dominant traits, and O is recessive. The only way you get O-type blood is if you have two recessive Os from your parents. This means my folk’s children could only ever be type A or B. So Teresa and I have been watching Wayward Pines on Netflix and at one point a detective finds out that two people were mother and son because they both had the ultrarare blood type AB negative. Um… no. An AB mother could give birth to any other blood type except O. It makes me wonder if the screenwriters were away of this or that they put it in just to see if they could get away with it.

  265. Watched an older, Simone Pegg film last night. He plays a hit man in Australia.
    It was Ok.
    Had the vibe of a Liverpool Gangster film.

  278. CW: The Protege

    Maggie Q kicking arse.

    Also one of those “I thought he was dead” moments with the veteran actor Patrick Malahide, I did google and he’s still alive.

  281. Every time i relisten to Jack White’s Blunderbuss album, I’m caught off guard by just how great the best songs are. Hypocritical Kiss and Weep Themselves to Sleep are so damn good.

  282. Do i have a good argument about Black Monday being the best show on tv right now? No.

    Do I have a good argument about Black Monday not being the best show on tv right now? Also no.

    In any case it’s what caused me to finally get a subscription to Showtime after 25 years and I ain’t mad.

  284. Morning Pan
    We usually use our cat as our alarm clock. This past week, for whatever reason, she’s been letting us sleep in an extra half hour. Hubby has decided he doesn’t like the idea of an extra half hour sleep and actually set the alarm to go off at 4am again this morning. Getting up before the cat wakes us has confused both the cat and myself.

    • Goddamn paywall. I can’t comment on the article’s contents, so I’ll just say, here among friends:

      It seems to me that this was badly bungled in a number of ways, but at least he’s finally getting us out. It was a doomed endeavor from the start, when Dubya launched it. Absolutely Vietnam II.

      Imagine how much worse this would have gone if it had been trump in charge.

      The “Thanks, Obama” crowd were saying “Thanks, Biden” from day 1. Their criticisms are completely disingenuous.

      • “ the total number of Americans and Afghan allies extricated from the country may exceed 120,000.”

        Can’t find the link but a few weeks ago, when the Afghan Army folded up in hours, the Army estimated we might have to evacuate as many as 12,000 to 15,000 people.
        We pulled out almost 10x that many.
        The over all situation is catastrophically regrettable but the evac operation itself is phenomenally successful. One of the largest the world has seen.
        In other times our patriotic conservatives would be wanting to hold parades and give out medals.

    • I must be getting old. I like the original version of the movies (which this doesn’t actually show). There was something cool about the slight stutteriness of stopmotion.

  298. Today’s movie is Don’t Listen

    After a tragic turn of events at the new hole he’s fixing up, Daniel hears a ghostly plea for help, spurring him to seek out a famous paranormal expert