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TV Movie: Peaky Blinders

Better written than One Battle After Another.

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TV: DTF St. Louis

Strange show. Richard Jenkins stealing it.

TV: The Rooster

Don't like it, am watching it.

TV: Imperfect Women

Don't like, stopped watching it.

Main characters who run a lot...enough to qualify as a genre?

This Will Sound Crazy

But Trump deserves some credit for backing down. 

Everyone says this is a win for Iran. I don't think most of these people have any clue whatsoever, but are paid to talk out loud and thus must say something. I would not overestimate their takes. Like with most things, time will tell...

Trump's Statement/Tweet

My best hopeful explanation of the tweet is that he doesn't know what he's saying. Not a good place to be.

Wait...What?

Gavin Newsom's wife killed her own sister with a golf cart? And thinks prisoners in San Quentin are in jail for accidents? What the hell is going on here?

Avoiding War

We are re-learning the lessons of earlier generations about why it's smart to avoid war.

Civilizations

I don't think we ought to be threatening them. 

Low Pressure

Part of me wonders if we can flip the script on the Iran situation and keep a low-level pressure on the Iranian regime until they begin to crack or need to negotiate. They think they can keep the low-level on pressure on the US until we cut and run. Why can't we flip it around? I don't understand why we always do this timetable thing with our adversaries - it basically signals to them: just hold out for 2 weeks. Which is easy to do. But if the timeline becomes uncertain for them, I feel the calculus changes. 

The Liberal Worldview

Has no sense of duty or obligation or limits. It's all feelings all the time. Not making you feel good, you oppose. Make you feel good = support.

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Film: Sentimental Value

Impressive degree of difficulty points for pulling this film off. No real plot other than the "making of the movie" to hang their hat on. Just relied on powerful scene and character work. Everything a European film ought to be. 

Loon

Taleb says Israelis can't fight. 

Then explain how they took on an enemy Arab and Persian population about 10x their number for 50 years and seem to be winning.

I Demand Proof

That talk therapy works better on men than sports bars with fairly priced beer. 

Comfort Level

Maybe the real debate boils down to this: Europeans are willing to bow at the feet of Iranian fanatics and have no real issue with them developing a bomb, but Americans and Israelis cannot. 

Gavin Newsom's Wife

Changes the protagonist of male stories to women when reading to her kids. This is one of the most psychotic admissions I've ever heard uttered. Why? 

a) A more sensible approach would be to read books with female protagonists (of which there are many!).

b) Total arrogance and zero respect for the author who made a deliberate choice 

c) And we wonder why children are illiterate?

Rahm

Is 100% right here. 

But the problem with the Emanual bros is that they are careerists first and foremost. So he's right at the wrong time and when it no longer matters. If you think about it, the ascendency of these guys more or less coincides with the downfall of the institutions they mastered. Rahm for the Democratic party and Chicago politics, and Ari for Hollywood. That tells me something...their true skillset is scavenging the carcasses of dying giants.  

Birthright Citizenship

Do I really need to develop an opinion on this matter? Please say no. 

LGBT Cruelty

Fine, I'll weigh in on this Jaden Ivey thing. Everyone here will flip sides, including me. The woke folks will argue the NBA has every right to fire Jaden Ivey even though they said the exact opposite about Colin Kaepernick. I'll argue something a bit different - if this is all true about his troubled childhood - maybe we ought to give Jaden Ivey a little grace.

Oil Theory

For the folks getting excited about "blocking" China's oil, just want to point out that's precisely what led to Pearl Harbor -- the choking off of a rising Asian power's fuel.

For the Record

I pitched this idea weeks ago: oil pipelines bypassing the Persian Gulf either into the Mediterranean Sea or the Red Sea. 

No brainer to build in flexibility.

Conveniently Forgetting

Or, Saudi or UAE.  

What a dummy.

Bad Idea

To blow up Iran's water. Again, a misestimation of who we're facing. I agree they are suicidal maniacs running their country, so what makes us think this ridiculous threat wouldn't just play right into their hands?

The Alternative

I know people in CA complain a lot about high housing prices, but in the scheme of things, it probably beats the alternative, i.e., low housing costs.

You Don't Have to Be Right All The Time, Just When It Matters

We, the US, don't need to win decisively every single battle or skirmish. We lost Vietnam and still won the Cold War. 

AI

When I picture a "good day" or even a "great day," in no way does AI factor in at all. 

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Film: Project Hail Mary

Hollywood is back.  

They managed to pull off what I didn't dream they could anymore - a crowd-pleasing four-quadrant live action film. I loved the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the film. When it becomes more like ET, less so. But that's my taste. Also, they didn't, IMO, stick the landing. Unnecessarily complicated. But overall, couldn't ask more from the studios these days.

It got me thinking about Gosling and how I perceived something in both the film and marketing. He's passed Leo in movie start status. Here's what I think it means to be a movie star: they connect with a number of different audiences. Leo became a heartthrob with Titanic and Romeo and Juliet, but became a star when he began a successful collab with Scorsese. Leo became a guy both men and women championed.

A movie star needs multiple avenues to maintain a connection with audiences and stay relevant in the public mind. This is why so many benefit from the tabloid angle. Leo had it all for a while - heartthrob, tabloids, men, and the "film buff" crowd. Scorsese was a brilliant collaborator because he helped Leo connect with both men and film buffs.  

So what has Gosling done that Leo hasn't? Gosling, I think, has found an angle with Project Hail Mary to connect to the "next generation." The kids. Leo hasn't. That's why no one watched the Oscars this year. Millions of young audiences didn't give a shit about any of it. This film (and if the new Star Wars project works) can give Gosling 10+ more years of runway.

One Battle did nothing for Leo but fan service. He already had the film buffs. This is the one problem for PTA - he has only one audience going for him - male film buffs, college/grad school types. Scorsese also appeals to working-class men.

Going through some other stars in my mind, and I observe a pattern:

Denzel. Spike Lee and the Scott Brothers. He managed to become an icon of black audiences via Spike Lee collabs, but an icon to American men by working with the Scott brothers. But the moment Denzel become a bonafide star was Julia Roberts freaking out over his Oscar. At that moment, the most trusted female star of her generation gave him the stamp of approval after their Pelican Brief collab and boom! He hit the trifeca and has never looked back. It also helped he was a Lakers fan and maintained a connection with the sports audience.

Tom Cruise. Still the GOAT movie star. Two big moves - with Top Gun Maverick, he managed to pull a Gosling before Gosling and get an entire younger generation on board with him. A family friendly action film with him front and center that kids could love. But his second great move was his own myth-making stunt gimmicks - of being an old guy who does these remarkable stunts. This is a clever way to remain public without resorting to tabloid relationship stuff, to get notice even when you don't have a hit movie. To lay groundwork.

TBC...  

5th Column

I'm sympathetic to the charge that many in the US (and the West in general) root for our defeat. This is a common refrain from the Right side of the aisle. But I have trouble squaring this belief with the war of choice with Iran. How can one believe we are being eaten within and are one Donald Trump election away from "losing the country" and also think we should be going to war? I find these two ideas contradictory. In fact, if we are indeed on the brink of "losing the country," the last thing we need is a war. 

No Kings

I'm 100% convinced that the "No Kings" is a social event for many of the participants. Americans post-COVID stopped having parties and social engagements are probably down 20-25%. I believe this impacts what Alex Trebek would call "losers" the most. They want something to do. No Kings offers them this. 

Criticize youth sports in the US all you want, but all the parents I know are spending Saturdays at Youth Sports stuff, and not a single person would miss a sports event for No Kings. To put in perspective how important this thing is for regular people.

And as a political message, I can't remember a dumber slogan. We don't have a King. Trump was elected. Like it or not.