#David Weissman

[masonskaya]

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Family Man (2000)

Around the holidays, you’re probably sitting around the TV with your loved ones, exchanging gifts and creating warm memories. Your heart is probably a bit mushy - your head might be too from too many glasses of “egg nog”. This makes you the perfect target for The Family Man, which is essentially a retread of other, better Christmas films with a couple of knobs tweaked. It’s got appeal but it’s no classic.

Thirteen years ago, Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) said goodbye to Kate Reynolds (Téa Leoni) and swore he’d come back for her after his twelve-month internship with Barclays in London. They never saw each other again. Now a bachelor living as a Wall Street executive, Jack gets to see the life he never got to live when he wakes up one day, married to Kate with two children.

We’ve got a kind of body-switch movie meets a reverse “It’s a Wonderful Life” scenario. Jack was used to lighting his fancy cigars with dollar bills. Now, he’s sleeping next to the same woman every morning, trying in vain to bring his daughter, Annie (Makenzie Vega) to school while keeping an eye on his newborn son. He sells tires at his father-in-law’s business and has a pathetic wardrobe compared to the luxurious suits he used to wear. The scenario is played for comedy until (of course) Jack begins to warm up to his new family. This is where the film wobbles. There’s a reason why body-switch movies usually feature someone at the bottom thrust up. A kid becomes an exec at a toy company, a daughter gets her mother’s body, a woman whose marriage is falling apart goes back in time to when she and her future husband first met. When you have it the other way around, it creates a divide between you and the protagonist. Firstly, Jack is hard to relate to. He went from a luxury suite in New York, working at a job that meant setting up meetings on Christmas day to what most of us would call an ordinary life. No one watching would ever think "This is not an upgrade". Secondly, Jack is an idiot for a large chunk of this movie, unable to handle even simple household tasks. It’s comical for a bit but this film leans heavily on the emotional side and the two should mix… but they just don’t.

A hint of what this picture could’ve been is seen briefly whenever Jack and his daughter interact. She recognizes immediately that something’s amiss - it’s pretty easy to tell but she’s the only one who does - and volunteers to help her “father” get through the day. Those scenes bring a smile to your face. More of those, please!

That said, the film often hits the emotional notes well enough for you to forgive its predictable storyline. For one, Téa Leoni and Nicolas Cage have fantastic chemistry. From their interactions, you’re immediately sold on the new lifestyle that’s been thrust onto Jack’s lap even though most of the movie doesn’t have the two of them properly in love. Maybe its the Christmas sentiments making your heart soft but whenever Jack has a revelation about his new life, you agree with it. In the back of your mind, you know the ending will be big and dramatic, that this glimpse at an alternate reality isn’t going to last, which fills you with sadness. You like this family. You want to see more of them and you want Jack to figure out what you knew from the second you saw him wake up next to Kate.

How you ultimately feel about The Family Man depends on how carefully you scrutinize it. Compared to the films it most closely resembles, it doesn’t hold up. Even without the comparisons, its nature prevents the film from creating the kind of emotional swell that sweeps you away. If you’re watching it with the whole family - the kids are there, your cousin who only watches Steven Seagall movies is there and grandma too - and you don't overthink it, Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni work together well enough for you to enjoy The Family Man. (On Blu-ray, November 30, 2019)

[stinckers]

PEEP comic magazine

lots of sticker friends inside. cover by Alex Schubert

[gryfflepuffinthetardis]

Supernova Series/Season One Cast

Toddler/Child Lillie Tyler - Lexi Rabe (I tried to edit a photo of her to give her blue eyes but her eyes are too dark)

The Miracle Baby

Thirteen-Year-Old Lillie Tyler — Malina Weissman

The Genius Child Inventor

Lillie Tyler — Katherine Langford

The Girl Who Was Reborn

Supernova — Katherine Langford

The Dying Star Princess

Rose Tyler — Billie Piper

Bad Wolf

Jackie Tyler — Camille Coduri

The Mother You Wouldn't Dare Cross

Mickey Smith — Noel Clarke

Ricky the Idiot

Ninth Doctor — Christopher Eccleston

The Doctor She Helped Heal

Captain Jack Harkness — John Barrowman

The Super Handsome Con Man; If It Breathes, He Flirts With It, if it Doesn't Breathe, He Still Flirts With It

Guest Starring:

The Tenth Doctor — David Tennant

The Man Who Was Born From His Love For Her

Lars South-Woods — (Redacted. Spoilers! Do your research, maybe you'll figure it out before they're revealed. 😉)

[fleuriosas]

get to know me better!

whatever or whoever i’m obsessed with at the moment is highlighted

artists and bands

sabrina carpenter, taylor swift, renee rapp, wallows, chappell roan, gracie abrams, halsey, olivia rodrigo, the marias, the last dinner party, role model, lorde, clairo, harry styles, louis tomlinson, conan gray, jeff buckley, kate bush, fiona apple, the smiths, paramore, hayley williams, boygenius, lana del rey, maya hawke, muna, remi wolf, towa bird, tears for fears, david bowie, abba, stevie nicks, arctic monkeys

actors, actresses

anya taylor joy, sophie thatcher, ella purnell, hailee steinfeld, rebecca ferguson, paul mescal, pedro pascal, cailee spaeny, kathryn newton, jared padalecki, jensen ackles, elizabeth olsen, natalie portman, hayden christensen, sigourney weaver, winona ryder, maya hawke, malina weissman, courtney eaton, olivia cooke, rachel zegler

films and shows

star wars (minus the sequels), marvel (the avengers and x-men), supernatural, a series of unfortunate events, alien franchise (especially aliens and alien romulus) , i’m not okay with this, arcane, coraline, scream, yellowjackets, brooklyn nine-nine, friends, dead poets society, most jim carrey movies, most cailee spaeny movies, the hunger games, the conjuring

others

marauders, the last of us, resident evil, life is strange, peanuts (snoopy, woodstock etc.), emily dickinson

[docrotten]

EYES OF LAURA MARS (1978) – Episode 232 – Decades of Horror 1970s

‘I remembered that I was sneakin’ out the back door of the bar. So I said to myself, man, I said,”What the *fuck* are you doin’, man? Sneakin’ out the back door, runnin’ away, man, from what? I mean, you didn’t do nothin’. Nobody can prove that you did nothin’ because you did not do nothin’.”’ As usual, he had an elaborate alibi. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr, along with guest Dirk Rogers – as they discuss Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), … a movie with a script co-written by John Carpenter?

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 232 – Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of the podcast and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

Synopsis: Fashion photographer Laura Mars, whose photographs contain violent images, develops the ability to see through a killer’s eyes. Detective John Neville notes striking similarities between her art photos and those of actual crime scenes and realizes that she can see what is happening through the eyes of the killer. Mars and Neville join forces to identify the killer before she, too, becomes a victim.

Directed by: Irvin Kershner

Writing Credits: (screenplay) John Carpenter and David Zelag Goodman; (story) John Carpenter; Tommy Lee Jones (monologue writer) (uncredited); Julian Barry (uncredited); Mart Crowley (uncredited); Joan Tewkesbury (uncredited)

Produced by: Jack H. Harris (executive producer), Jon Peters (producer), Laura Ziskin (associate producer)

Selected Cast:

Faye Dunaway as Laura Mars

Tommy Lee Jones as John Neville

Brad Dourif as Tommy Ludlow

Rene Auberjonois as Donald Phelps

Raul Julia as Michael Reisler (as R.J.)

Michael Tucker as Bert

Frank Adonis as Sal Volpe

Lisa Taylor as Michele

Darlanne Fluegel as Lulu

Rose Gregorio as Elaine Cassell

Bill Boggs as Bill Boggs

Steve Marachuk as Robert

Meg Mundy as Doris Spenser

Marilyn Meyers as Sheila Weissman

Gary Bayer as Reporter

Mitchell Edmonds as Reporter

Jeff Niki as Photo Assistant

Nicholas Guest as Party Guest (uncredited)

Jack H. Harris as Man in Gallery (uncredited)

John Carpenter wrote a script and it became Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). However, there was so little similarity between the finished product and his original script that Carpenter had little more to do with the film. Even so, Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Rene Auberjonois, Brad Dourif, and Raul Julia add credence to the movie along with Irvin Kershner’s direction and some very Giallo-like touches. Where will the Grue-Crew, joined by Dirk Rogers, come down amid the muddled aspects of Eyes of Laura Mars? You’ll just have to check it out to find out. Incidentally, did you notice Brad Dourif was in the film?

At the time of this writing, Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) is available to stream from Tubi and multiple PPV sources. It is available on physical media as a Blu-ray formatted disc from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the next episode, chosen by Bill, will be Black Noon (1971), a TV movie, horror western starring Roy Thinnes, Lynn Loring, Yvette Mimeaux, Ray Milland, and Henry Silva. Mr. Mulligan tells us it’s pretty good.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[commiepinkofag]

The Cockettes

A flamboyant ensemble of gender-bending hippies, The Cockettes created a series of LSD-fueled musicals in early 1970s San Francisco. These extravaganzas featured outrageous costumes, rebellious sexuality, and exuberant chaos. 2002 | Stars: Larry Brinkin, Peggy Cass, The Cockettes | Director: Bill Weber, David Weissman

[uboat53]

Okay, this one's been building for a while. It's going to be long even for my usual standards. Strap in for a really LONG RANT (TM).

INTRODUCTION

Over the last 4 years, the news media has substantially degraded in their ability to do any significant analysis of political events. Maybe it's the drop in viewership after the Trump presidency, but something's off. People calling themselves political journalists are falling for the stupidest nonsense and failing even the most basic understanding of politics.

MY FIRST INKLING

Over the last few decades, I've put together a list of journalists who are consistently interesting and insightful. I look for their pieces when they come out and note when they change publications.

Over the last 4 years, however, nearly all of them have disappeared from major publications. David Weigel left the Washington Post and Jordan Weissman left Slate, both ended up at Semafor. William Saletan left Slate and Charlie Sykes no longer writes for The New York Times, both are now at The Bulwark. Matthew Yglesias left Vox and ended up writing on SlowBoring (although he occasionally also writes for Bloomberg News these days).

What do all of these have in common? All of them left fairly large, well-read publications and ended up at smaller, more niche publications. And they're not alone, a huge amount of competent, capable, and insightful journalists have quietly led an exodus from major publications since the end of the Trump presidency leaving behind journalists who don't seem to be nearly at the same level.

OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS

Take, for example, that we've all known for the last 4 years that Trump was going to run for president again. It wasn't a mystery. So why haven't we seen any coverage of him? Yes, he's not on Twitter anymore, but he still rants and raves on Truth Social. Yes, he's not president anymore, but he still does rallies all the time. Who's covering any of that? Do you know what he's said? Do you know if anything has changed about him since 2020?

Seriously, did you see any coverage of the insane things Trump has said or done over the last four years? Have you seen coverage of the Heritage Foundations Project 2025 plan? It's been four years, has the media actually vetted the presidential candidate of one of the two major parties? I mean, sure, he was president before, but it's been four years. Is there anything new we should know about? I already know a bunch of new things about him, but not because I read about it in major publications of the US news media.

The same lack of knowledge was clear when the media was covering the legislative battles in the first half of Biden's term. You had enough reporters shouting questions at Biden about why he didn't comment more about negotiations on his bipartisan infrastructure bill that he had to remind them all that it was a stupid question. Negotiations rely on trust and the easiest way to destroy that trust is to blab about everything you've discussed. Any reasonably competent journalist would know that, but apparently not the White House Press Corps.

You see the same thing happen again and again and again if you look for it. Coverage of Manchin and Sinema's antics during the legislative battles was nothing more than surface level commentary and did nothing to dig into their tactics and strategies or their goals and objectives. Coverage of Mitch McConnell's freeze-ups basically added no new information after the first hour. Heck, if you even wanted to know what Congressional negotiators were negotiating about in the various bills that they worked on, you'd have to look it up yourself.

TRUMP COVERAGE

What's brought this to a head for me is noticing the coverage of Trump over the last year. I've read tons and tons of detailed and nuanced articles from numerous major publications about his legal travails, but how many have there been about his politics and political fortunes? I'm sure you've read in detail how his New York City trial went, but how many articles have you read about how most of his stories at his rallies devolve into unintelligible nonsense? You've no doubt read about how the Supreme Court granted him a level of immunity from prosecution, but have you read any stories about the likely results of his economic plans?

What you're seeing is an example of how barren the political news landscape has become. Trump's trials are covered by the legal news team, a team that, at most publications and outlets still has a high degree of expertise and experience in their subject, and it shows! The comparison of the legal coverage of Trump to the political coverage of Trump is particularly damning, it's a team at the top of its game standing next to a team that clearly hasn't ever played before.

Tell me, have you seen any analysis of Trump's tax plans? Have you seen anyone discuss the likely effects of his deportation and immigration plans? Has anyone even looked at Project 2025, the plan that a large group of likely Trump staffers have come up with to guide his hoped for second term? And, once you start looking around, you'll realize this isn't even just a Trump problem! What do you know about Biden's proposed policies? Is he proposing any new ones or is he just running on the same things as last time?

THE DEBATE AND POST-DEBATE COVERAGE

Watching the coverage of the 2024 campaign is what really started crystalizing this in my head, but what pushed it over the edge and made me write this all out is the coverage of the debate. Look, we can all agree that Biden had a bad night, but is that literally the only thing a reputable journalist could write about?

Do you know how many falsehoods each candidate uttered that night? How about policies, did they mostly confirm their proposed policies or were there some surprises? We know that Biden seemed confused, but what about Trump? Was he in touch with reality? After all, it's much easier to seem confident and clear in something that you're making up on the spot than something that you have to remember; was he confidently spouting nonsense?

Honestly, the lack of journalistic professionalism didn't start with the coverage after the debate, it was on the stage as well. CNN had two journalists reading the questions, but why? They didn't do any follow-up, they didn't do any fact checking; why did we need journalists on the stage at all? They could have found a random guy off the street or a fourth grader if all they needed the moderater to do was ask questions. Heck, why not advertise your new AI? AI doesn't actually understand what it's reading, but clearly that isn't necessary anyways!

And the post-debate calls for Biden to resign from major outlets have been similarly devoid of actual journalism, resembling celebrity "news" coverage more than they do real investigation. What would it take for Democrats to replace Biden on the ticket? Who would/should be the replacement? If it's not Kamela Harris, what challenges would come up from bypassing the first black woman vice-president for a (likely) white guy? If it is Kamela Harris, what challenges and baggage does she bring to the race? Do any of the proposed candidates do better than Biden in general polling at this point?

If you don't know the answers to any of these questions, that's okay! Apparently real journalists don't even know enough to be asking the questions!

THE CLINTON AFFAIR

Haunting all of this is that the American news media royally screwed up in exactly the same way not that long ago. Eight years ago, the news media descended on the Clinton e-mail story like a pack of rabid piranhas, completely ignoring just about any other story. Every major news outlet (except for those in the right-wing news ecosystem which have no shame at all) has admitted that their coverage of the 2016 election was poor and that they focused on the e-mail story to the exclusion of actually vetting the two candidates, and yet here we are again.

And, for the record, there was literally nothing to the Clinton e-mail scandal. Clinton used a personal e-mail server much as Secretary Powell had done before her with permission from the State Department. Every classified e-mail on her server was found to have come from others inappropriately sending it to her rather than her sending it out. And yet, coverage dominated the 2016 election, driving a drip-drip-drip cycle that damaged Clinton immensely and distracted from any coverage of Trump's very real issues.

Coming out of that election, most news outlets committed to higher journalistic standards. They committed to more aggressive fact-checking, more investigation, and less hysterical coverage of single issues to the detriment of broader coverage, and, during the four years of Trump's term, they largely did that to varying degrees of success. That, more than anything, is what makes their recent decline that much more eggregious. They know how to do this correctly and are actively choosing not to.

WHERE TO FIND GOOD JOURNALISM

And now the answer to the question I've posed obliquely this whole rant: if so much of political journalism is bad, where can I find good journalism?

Honestly, there's not a lot of it out there, but it does exist. NPR, as usual, is a bastion of great journalism. They are sometimes prey to the same instincts that lead the broader media astray, but they've done a great job keeping in place the structures they built as a response to the 2016 election and Trump in general such as active fact-checking and analysis immediately after each interview rather than letting it wait until a lie or piece of misinformation has solidified. PBS is similarly effective in this way; public media, as always, remains pretty much the best large outlet for information in this country.

The Daily Show is also a great source for journalism which is a sad commentary on journalism because, as should be obvious, these people are comedians and not journalists. Still, they do great work, better than most actual journalists because they take seriously the charge to dig deeper for the real story and speak truth to power.

Outside of that, there aren't really any large media outlets that I would strongly recommend. There are, however, smaller news organizations that are doing good work.

Semafor, for example, has a lot of great analysis of politics and actually asks the kinds of questions I noted above and sometimes even finds answers to them. The Bulwark is another one, though it tends to do broader political analysis rather than up-to-the-minute reporting. There are also individual journalists and writers who put forth very insightful analysis in larger publications such as Fred Kaplan at Slate, Joshua Keating at Vox, and Tyler Cowen at Bloomberg, but these are generally the exception to the broader coverage at those outlets. There are also writers at smaller publications like Julia Ioffe who now writes for Puck, though I can't recommend the whole publication.

Honestly, though, it's pretty barren out there. I'd love to have more sources of information that can check each other and make sure I'm not being pulled off into a lane of misinformation, but I'm not finding much out there. Please, if you find any, let me know, I'd love to have more good sources.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION

The American political news media, which improved significantly as a response to Trump, seems to have lost most of its institutional capacity since his defeat in 2020 to the point where they are now reduced to covering only a single story for days on end without adding any meaningful information or insightful analysis. Even a dedicated news hound like me is left frustrated with the difficulty of finding meaningful coverage and the drumbeat of nonsense is preventing this country from having a real discussion about the real issues in the upcoming presidential election which may be one of the most consequential of our lifetimes.

Don't get me wrong, Biden had a bad debate, but is that really the ONLY THING going on in politics right now? It isn't, but you certainly wouldn't know it from the sheer volume of "think pieces" and "breaking news" articles dominating the headlines these days.

And if it were just that, if it were just this one instance where political journalists were falling down on the job, I would accept it, that kind of thing happens from time to time, but it's not. Time after time on issue after issue for the last four years, political news generally at the nation's largest outlets has shown itself to be incapable of actually covering and analyzing the section of news that it supposedly specializes in with any kind of depth or nuance, instead, descending time and time again into tabloid nonsense.

I know where to find good information, but it takes a lot more digging than I'm used to and people don't follow the news as voraciously as I do shouldn't be expected to do that kind of digging just to have the bare minimum of information necessary to carry out their duties as citizens.

I don't have any solutions here, I just hope that you know that what you're seeing on most TV, radio, and newspapers/online these days is just a shadow of the information you should be getting. Let me know if I'm missing something, because it's getting really depressing.

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel episode 5.09 "Four Minutes"

Rachel Brosnahan in "Four Minutes". Image courtesy of IMDb.

I guess Amy Sherman-Palladino still hasn’t figured out how to end a show. I’ll admit that I’ve watched every episode and felt entertained, but I never fully embraced Maisel. I’m hard on it because it had so much potential and was always right there on the edge of being a landmark in tv- it just didn’t have that last little oomph. But even among the avid fans that I’ve talked to, I haven’t heard from anyone who appreciated the way this story ends.

Before I get to the wild things that happened in season 5, I just have to say- I never liked Midge. That’s really my only problem with the show, but it’s a big one. Maisel did so much telling rather than showing in that regard: they didn’t make her likable, they told me that people liked her. I’m supposed to be charmed by her the way everyone else is, but more often than not, I’m pulled out of the moment wondering how she’s suddenly somehow won people over. Most of all, though, I don’t think she’s that funny.

Rachel Brosnahan in "Four Minutes". Image courtesy of IMDb.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is hilarious. Sherman-Palladino knows how to make a beautiful, colorful, bustling setting full of quaint and funny people who talk back and forth very quickly. With those strengths, I have to wonder what inspired a premise centered around a career of stationary monologues. The show made me laugh out loud countless times, just never at one of Midge’s jokes. So frequently Midge would force her way onstage, royally pissing people off in the process, but suddenly everyone loves her act so much- or worse, just thinks she’s so pretty- that all is forgiven. An act that I didn’t even laugh at.

The show has an obviously feminist premise, but its execution here too leaves me feeling like the only takeaway there is “women can do anything they want!! No matter how good they are at it or how they treat people along the way!! If they make a mess, a man will be possessively in love with her and toxically sacrifice himself to make it all okay. As long as she’s pretty.”

So this is already the headspace I went into season 5 with, and its ultimate conclusion really doubled down that sentiment for me. The setup for this season has Midge working as the only female writer on America’s number one talk show, the Gordon Ford show. Gordon is a new character, but I warmed up to him quickly. He’s chill, surprising, and funny- actually funny. Midge isn’t intimidated by him because has she ever been? She’s demeaned at having to be a writer and not “talent”, but she’s gonna grin and bear it. A job plenty of ladies (me included) would kill for, and that she’s breaking the glass ceiling by having. But she’s slumming it.

Midge’s privilege is another roadblock to her likability. Not necessarily the fact that she has it financially, which I am glad this season touched on, but it’s the attitude she has about it. All the Weissmans have lavish class privilege, and this season used Zelda’s quitting to gently poke fun at their helplessness, but Rose and Abe at least have an awareness and sense of gratitude for the help they receive. Abe’s journey of self-awareness throughout this season was incredibly moving and heartfelt, and the way he beat himself up over the most minute of mistakes at his newspaper job really highlights the lack of those qualities in Midge.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: the chronologically confusing time jumps revealing the demise of Midge and Susie’s friendship and business partnership. God, I feel so bad for Susie. There’s a Friends blooper where David Schwimmer just bursts out laughing and goes, “poor Ross”. I would be amazed if Alex Borstein hasn’t had a similar experience.

Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan in "Four Minutes". Image courtesy of IMDb.

Here’s the quick version of what happened over these 9 episodes: Susie’s been in bed with the mob since before this season- I was honestly thrown for a loop when they became such an important part of this season, they’ve always been surprisingly sweet, funny, and helpful. Nonetheless, they asked Susie for the favor of having Midge star in a musical about the waste department. See? Sweet and funny. It was significant, though, because Susie thought this would make her square with Frank and Nicky. As in, no more getting a cut of her and Midge’s profits. But Midge looked down on the whole trash gig thing and phoned in her performance when the rest of her life wasn’t going the way she wanted. This sparked a conversation between Susie, Frank, and Nicky that Joel observed from afar. Susie tried to promise that Midge would step up her game so they could all part ways, causing Frank and Nicky to explain that there was no “getting even”. Susie always thought she owed them a favor that one day she would repay and wash her hands of the whole thing, but Midge’s poor attitude only revealed that even if they had done everything perfectly, there was no getting out from under them.

Joel didn’t hear the conversation, but somehow he put the whole thing together really quickly, getting in Susie’s face and saying that he won’t stand for Midge being caught up with guys like that, because he’s very familiar with them. I really don’t know when Joel became such a hard-ass or got all of this mob experience. Susie tells him that she’s got it all under control- maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t- we’ll never find out, because Joel takes it upon himself to meet with Frank and Nicky and fall on the sword to protect Midge. He lets the mob in on his club business, mixing their books as he begins to buy more clubs. Midge never has any idea until his eventual arrest, in Temple no less, where he’s put away for the entire mob operation. Midge doesn’t hesitate to cut Susie off and stay by Joel’s side, religiously visiting him in prison during decades worth of time jumps.

I hate all of this for a few reasons. It really just feels like Joel felt he had to find a way to keep himself relevant in this story and in Midge’s life, and it’s so disappointing to me that this works on Midge. Before all this, Midge and Joel had a really mature and endearing post-divorce friendship. It’s hard to say if Mei’s abrupt departure at the end of season 4 was a logistical hurdle for the show or a creative choice to free Joel up to do this, but regardless, this was an unwanted replacement for a fleshed-out relationship between Joel and Mei, whose story still feels unfinished. And his weirdly intense speech to Midge on the fire escape about not letting anyone hurt a hair on her head? I’ve never seen a not creepy use of that phrase, so I don’t know what to make of Midge eating it up. This all really undermines the respectful, minding-their-own-business nature of their progressive relationship. I think if someone had said at the end of season one that this show ends with Joel’s relentless love for Midge disseminating her friendship with Susie, we would have all thought that was very off-message.

Not to mention, as all of this unfolds, we’re also treated to a glimpse of everything Susie did for Midge over the years of their partnership. When Midge got cold feet the night before a destination wedding because he didn’t make her laugh, Susie tried to put her foot down and set some workplace boundaries- this has nothing to do with Midge’s career, Susie has no obligation to untangle the mess Midge has made of her own personal life. But Midge bursts into tears, and of course Susie makes it all okay.

But the biggest catalyst of emotions boiling under the surface comes from Gordon Ford’s wife. I don’t think Susie’s sexuality was a mystery to anyone, but we’d never talked about it before Hedy. Susie was clearly deeply wounded by her, and even though she’s not one to spill her life’s story, that much is clear. Nonetheless, when Midge finds out that Susie knows her personally, she aggressively pushes Susie to talk to her about getting Midge on the Gordon Ford show. Susie is extremely hesitant, leading Midge to say that whatever is holding her back, if Susie doesn’t do this for her, then Midge will know that her manager didn’t do everything she could for her.

With the context of everything Susie has ever done for Midge, this is such a slap in the face. Add in the heavy hinting that Susie is in love with Midge, and the whole thing just makes me sad for her. The lesbian sidekick being in love with the straight main character is so tired to me. But of course, Susie talks to Hedy, and of course she pulls it off. Once Susie’s done what she wanted her to do, Midge softens and convinces her to talk about what happened between her and Hedy. Then, Midge says if she had known she would never have pressured Susie to talk to her. As if there was no way of initiating this conversation sooner.

Alex Borstein in "Four Minutes". Image courtesy of IMDb.

So for Midge to not even hesitate to turn on Susie after Joel’s arrest, something he brought entirely on himself against Susie’s wants and pleas, is so blatantly cruel that I almost wonder if Midge isn’t even supposed to be the hero of this story.

This brings us to the title of this episode and Midge’s tendency to act like- and be treated like- her showing up is God’s gift to whatever room she’s in. Susie talked to Hedy, Hedy talked to Gordon, Gordon begrudgingly broke his longstanding rule to not have staff members on the show. But, if he’s gonna do it, his frail ego is going to do it his way (remember when he started a bar fight with Hank Azaria for wanting Midge to work for him? He was being ‘noble’ because clearly Azaria’s Danny Stevens is just attracted to her. Gordon won’t let her be on the show but also won’t let her work anywhere else, how protective and helpful!).

It’s moments before the show when Midge and Susie learn that Midge will appear on the show, but not as a comic- rather, she will be interviewed by Gordon as a writer on the show, a human-interest piece. Midge is to sit on a stool, rather than the respectable couch the ‘real’ guests get to sit on. Even in this Gordon is seething and throws the show to commercial only seconds into the segment. There’s still “Four Minutes” to fill when they come back, tensions are high, and Gordon is as unhappy as someone can be on national TV.

I’ll give Midge credit for getting Susie’s blessing before she does this. I don’t even blame her for doing it, to be honest. The Gordon Ford show returns from commercial and Midge steps over Gordon’s return to the segment, walking up to the mic and doing four minutes of standup while Mike and Susie do everything they can off camera to keep Gordon in his chair.

I’m the petty bitch that counted, but if you’re literally gonna call the series finale “Four Minutes” I’d like to think it would actually be four minutes. She talked for almost ten. I believe in the universe of the show it really was just four minutes (even Midge Maisel can’t eat into somebody else’s primetime air), but to me this confirms Sherman-Palladino’s disconnectedness to standup itself as an art form. They call it a ‘tight five’ because it’s hard to do, and I was actually really interested to see what Midge could pull off in that amount of time.

I’ll admit that it was one of her better sets, but certainly not something of the caliber that warranted a complete 180 in Gordon Ford. He laughs out loud as she talks, and when she’s done, he invites her onto the couch, reintroducing her as a comic, the marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Why is she even still using Joel’s last name? I digress.

Reid Scott in "Four Minutes". Image courtesy of IMDb.

With some comparable behavior, Midge and Susie do ultimately repair their friendship. Susie, later in life, is an ultra-successful talent manager, repping the biggest names in entertainment and becoming something of a celebrity herself. Her falling out with Midge, though, is the elephant in every room she’s in. There’s a roast for Susie in one of the bigger flash forwards, with everyone she cares about there to good-naturedly poke fun at her. Everyone except Midge, which all the guests speculate about throughout the event. Then, at the end, a screen descends from the ceiling, and a recorded video of Midge plays. It sounds like she’s ready to make amends with Susie and see her again, and Susie, of course, is tripping over herself to find her way to her. After everything Susie did for her, Midge is the bigger person? The hero? Just for showing up? Again, I digress.

The series closes on the two of them watching Jeopardy! together over the phone, chatting and laughing, hard, something that’s always been important to Midge in the people she keeps close. And this time, Midge really is funny. She’s at her best when she’s interacting with people. It’s a really sweet scene and I’m happy to see the show end this way. I just wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I would’ve liked after everything that happened to get us there.

What did you think? Do you see a different side of Midge than I do? Was Susie more wrong and Joel more right than I think they are? Does Midge’s standup make you laugh? Let me know!

[bubbleteycosplay]

All actresses/actors we have already considered for the role of Sigyn in the Marvel films/series:

Jessica Alba

Meryl Streep

Lily James

Emilia Clarke

Angel Coulby

Holliday Grainger

Rebecca Ferguson

Imogen Poots

Katie McGrath

Zawe Ashton

Amy James Kelly

Jennifer Connelly

Olivia Cooke

Natalie Dormer

Evan Rachel Wood

Ellie Bamber

Alana Boden

Phillipa Soo

Anne Hathaway

Ritu Arya

Sandra James Young

Niamh Walsh

Emily Carey

Romola Garai

Perdita Weeks

Britt Lower

Georgie Henley

Sophia Lillis

Sofia Wylie

Naomi Ackie

Alia Shawkat

Karen Fukuhara

Gratiela Brancusi

Gina Stiebitz

Joanna Douglas

Moses Ingram

Dilraba Dilmurat

Zoe Boyle

Freida Pinto

Charlotte Riley

Penelope Wilton

Jing Tian

Annabelle Wallis

Sophie Rundle

Alicia Vikander

Gemma Arterton

David Lindstrom

Isla Fisher

Gabriella Wilde

Hannah Dodd

Deepika Padukone

Marion Cotillard

Ksenia Solo

Denée Benton

Mia Wasikowska

Julia Lester

Ginnifer Goodwin

Malina Weissman

Naomi Scott

Ashley Johnson

Àstrid Berges-Frisbey

Millie Bobby Brown

Tamla Kari

Dianne Doan

Aisling Loftus

Pedro Pascal

Jessie Buckley

Felicity Jones

Lucy Martin

Sadie Sink

Lana Parrilla

Katheryn Winnick

Golshifteh Farahani

Vanessa Kirby

Kaley Cuoco

Alicia von Rittberg

Rachel Shenton

Meryem Uzerli

Jeanne Goursaud

Sophie Skelton

Léa Seydoux

Claire Holt

Sophie Turner

Nicola Coughlan

Sophia Myles

Regé Jean Page

Sara Gadon

Kelly Marie Tran

Hugh Dancy

Lydia West

Amanda Seyfried

Oona Chaplin

Billie Piper

Charithra Chandran

Keira Knightley

Elizabeth Debicki

Bella Heathcote

Savannah Steyn

Jodie Comer

Eleanor Tomlinson

Clémence Poésy

Jodie Turner-Smith

Charlotte Hope

Madeleine Mantock

Simone Ashley

Georgia Tennant

Jessica Williams

Daisy Head

Ana de Armas

Jessica Brown Findlay

Mimî M Khayisa

Lolly Adefope

Amy Adams

Jessica Chastain

Bryce Dallas Howard

Kirby Howell-Baptiste

Susan Wokoma

Aiysha Hart

Sophie Okonedo

Imelda Staunton

Anna Shaffer

Emilie de Ravin

Elle Fanning

Ruth Wilson

Anna Popplewell

Nathalie Emmanuel

Freema Agyeman

Rose Leslie

Halle Bailey

America Ferrera

Jeanne Goursaud

Drew Barrymore

Sogol Faghani

[livesinyesterday]

David Strathairn Appreciation:

Richard Weissman in Louder than Bombs (2015)

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

hey! what runs are you excited for during Summer Games Done Quick this week?

Mostly I'll be streaming and watching the ones that will feature my favorite people, i.e. Michael "Mike" Kirkland ("Bunny Foo-Foo"), David "Bigjb" Weissman, and Bennett "Demon Hunter" Coultham.

[tenebrisanimarol]

Reserva de Avatar

Ashley Benson

Alex Høgh Andersen

Alexander Ludwig

Alexa Breit

Amita Suman

Anastasia Eg

Booboo Stewart

Brant Daugherty

Brock O'Hurn

Camila Cabello

Christian Meier

Chris Pine

Chris Pratt

David Balheim

Dean-Charles Champán

Derek Theler

Deva Cassel

Dominic Sherwood

Dylan Hasselbaink

Ewan Mitchell

Francista Estévez

Freddy Carter

Georgie Henley

Harry Shum Jr

Indiana evans

Jade Weber

Joseph Gordon Levitt

Julia Adamenko

Kai Kamal Huening

Katherine McNamara

Kento Yamazaki

Kristy Lani

Lauren Jauregui

Lee Ho Seok (Won Ho)

Magdalena Zalejska

Matthew Gray Gubler

Malina Weissman

Mario Cimarro

Miranda Kerr

Molly Hull

Natalie Dormer

Paz Vega

Renata valliulina

Ricky Aimee

Rudy Pankow

Sabrina Carpenter

Selena Gómez

Timothée Chalamet

Tom Holland

Wang Yi Ren

Zoë Robins

[kwebtv]

From the Golden Age of Television

Episode dated May 25, 1954

The Goldbergs - Music Lover - DuMont - May 25, 1954

Sitcom

Running Time: 30 minutes

Written by Gertrude Berg 

Produced by Henry Opperman

Directed by Martin Magner

Stars:

Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg

Eli Mintz as Uncle David

Arlene McQuade as Rosie Goldberg

Tom Taylor as Sammy Goldberg

Robert H. Harris as Jake Goldberg

Ben Astar as Mr. Vargas

Dora Weissman as Mrs. Herman

Gene Leonard as The Critic

Regina Resnik as Eva Vargas

Leo Taubman At the piano

[requiemtvshow]

Requiem 7

Titre original Requiem 7

Genre Thriller horreur

Réalisateur Armani Johnson-King

Acteurs principaux Katherine Langford, Naomi Scott, Shawn Mendes, Cody Simpson, Nick Jonas

Pays d'origine États-Unis

Studio Johnson-King Movies

Bande Originale Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler)

Durée 2 heures 07 minutes

Année de sortie 2024

Lieu de tournage Palm Springs et Cathedral City

Budget de production 30 millions de dollars

Box-office international 324,9 millions de dollars

Synopsis

Après une absence de trois ans, le Vénitien fait son retour à Oakswood avec une nouvelle cible en vue : le mystérieux joueur Charles Windels. Quel sombre secret lie ce lycéen en apparence ordinaire à ce redoutable tueur en série ? Adele et les autres survivants parviendront-ils à le sauver de son funeste destin ?

Casting Principal

Adele Carpenter Katherine Langford

Hendricks Guggenheim Shawn Mendes

Miles Brown Cody Simpson

Graham Guggenheim Nick Jonas

Meg Carpenter Neve Campbell

Diane Carpenter Jamie Lee Curtis

Charles Windels Joshua Bassett

James Waters Noah Schnapp

Casting Secondaire

Donna Sheridan Kathy Bates

Ben Weissman Patrick Dempsey

Casting de Victimes

Olivia Gallagher Marcia Cross

Tommy Sheridan Michael Cimino

Bobby Beck Doug Bradley

Gary Molina Brad Dourif

Shay Al Ryad Naomi Scott

Quinn Lloyd Sharon Stone

Scott Sheridan Josh Hartnett

Gloria Lombardo Eva Longoria

David Windels Jason Biggs

Ricky Schwartz Shemar Moore

Curtis Sparks Chris O'Donnell

Jada Turner Marsai Martin

[truck-fump]

'He will sell out <b>Trump</b> before he will go to jai': Meadows loses in Georgia RICO ruling

New Post has been published on https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DImnGXFflRdc&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjUzM2UwMTY5ZmFhZTIwMGQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw0nhl1b85Q6DjlE06Rv4iHs

'He will sell out Trump before he will go to jai': Meadows loses in Georgia RICO ruling

Andrew Weissman for top official at the Justice Department and Former Congressman from Florida David Jolly join Ali Velshi in for Nicolle Wallace …