Tonight’s entertainment was “The Foreigner” (2017), with Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. We both enjoyed it, although we had some trouble telling the doughy British and/or Irish people apart. It reminded me of another film I rather like, “The Limey” (1999), with Terence Stamp.
Tonight’s entertainment was “Star Wars 10: Solo, A Star Wars Story” (2018). It has some dumb bits (e.g., why his name is “Solo”, why he calls Chewbacca “Chewie”), but we liked it. It was a fun movie, and had a happy ending despite a lot of sympathetic characters dying.
Alden Ehrenreich (who played Han) and Donald Glover (who played Lando) did a really good job of adopting the accents of the original actors for those parts. I was impressed. I also liked the new Chewbacca, and that he got to flex his muscles, so to speak. I was also pleased to see Emilia Clarke, who played Sarah Connor in the ill-fated “Terminator: Genisys” (2015). It was not a good movie, but I really liked her turn as Sarah Connor, and I am glad to see her getting work.
It took fourteen episodes, but I have found the first bad episode of “Enterprise”. I mean, the “Tripp Has Nipples On His Arm” episode was not great, but this is genuinely bad: season 1, episode 15, “Shadows of BDSM”.
Archer and T’Pol are captured by rebels. I’m only halfway through, but so far, Archer and T’pol have had a tied-up “Oops! My face is in your boobs!” moment, and now they are in Shibari style bondage and trying to eat oatmeal.
Ugh.
But most episodes so far have been pretty good, and some have been really good. For example, “Enterprise” season 1, episode 7: “The Andorian Incident”, featuring the brilliant Jeffrey Combs.
“For people without emotions, you sure have a flair for the dramatic!”
— Charles “Trip” Tucker III, to a Vulcan monk who just did something unexpected.
By the way, I haven’t seen any of these episodes since they were first broadcast. I seem to recall people being super critical of this show, but I am enjoying it so far. I really like the cast, particularly Jolene Blalock, John Billingsley, and Linda Park. But really, I like the whole cast.
P.S. I spoke too soon. This episode just got good.
Fun fact: “science” isn’t an object that can be banned. “Science” is a method of observing the world and understanding it. It’s not infallible, because humans are not infallible, but one of the best aspects of the “scientific method” is it is self-correcting, like shooting an arrow closer and closer to the bull’s eye on a target. Banning “science” doesn’t move the target, it just means your arrow will miss it. And the target, of course, is the real world.
In 2012, the state now in the path of Hurricane Florence reacted to a prediction by its Coastal Resources Commission that sea levels could rise by 39in over the next century by passing a law that banned policies based on such forecasts.
The legislation drew ridicule, including a mocking segment by comedian Stephen Colbert, who said: “If your science gives you a result you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
North Carolina has a long, low-lying coastline and is considered one of the US areas most vulnerable to rising sea levels.
But dire predictions alarmed coastal developers and their allies, who said they did not believe the rise in sea level would be as bad as the worst models predicted and said such forecasts could unnecessarily hurt property values and drive up insurance costs.
As a result, the state’s official policy, rather than adapting to the worst potential effects of climate change, has been to assume it simply won’t be that bad. Instead of forecasts, it has mandated predictions based on historical data on sea level rise.
“The science panel used one model, the most extreme in the world,” Pat McElraft, the sponsor of the 2012 bill, said at the time, according to Reuters. “They need to use some science that we can all trust when we start making laws in North Carolina that affect property values on the coast.”
By the way, I support The Guardian by subscribing. It’s worth paying for, if you can afford it.
I am not a fan of Deadpool, the comicbook character. I think he makes any comic worse with his appearance. However, I have enjoyed the two Deadpool movies more than the last several non-Deadpool Marvel and DC (and Star Wars) movies.
Does that seem right to you?
Tonight’s entertainment was “Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut” (2009), which is basically the Director’s Cut spliced with a bunch of cartoons. I have two thoughts about this. First, it’s a good movie, and as far as I know, it’s the only good movie Zach Snyder has ever directed. Second, the cartoons added nothing, so if you have a choice between this and the Director’s Cut, choose the Director’s Cut.
Just finished watching the “Avengers Infinity Glove” (2018). Wow. That was the dumbest superhero movie I’ve seen in a very long time. Even dumber than the Justice League movie (although it’s basically the same movie). What the villain does is dumb. Why he’s doing it is dumb. What the heroes do is dumb. It’s just two solid hours of dumb.
I guess Disney/Marvel is in a slump. They’ve gone from great movies like “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “The Force Awakens” to crap like “The Lost Jedi” and this. I think it’s time to give these franchises a decade to cool off, and then start over from scratch.
And wow do Don Cheadle and Robert Downey Jr. look old, or what.
Observation: post-apocalypse movies are all adaptations of the 1972 novel “Watership Down” by Richard Adams.
Susan described this to me, and I created it.
We’ve created the cyberpunk dystopia which used to be fiction.
Key points:
Source: “Almost 80% of US workers live from paycheck to paycheck. Here’s why.” , Robert Reich. The Guardian. 2018-07-29.
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Blackmoor Vituperative