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| bartist |
 Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:52 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: SPOILER ALERT FOR "MAD MEN" FINALE There will be a lot of talk talk talk about the last episode of "Mad Men," and a great deal of it will be disparaging. You won't hear that here, however. I thought Matthew Weiner managed a superb mix of wrapping-up, on-the-nose happiness, earned tears, and appropriate and emotionally satisfying ambiguity. My only complaint was the fast, rushed, though funny and much-desired Peggy-Stan connection, which was such a rom-com cliche that it seemed like a self-parody. Even that complaint, however, was washed away by the charm of the scene....
Indeed. The sigboth and I just finished watching the final season. There's always the wish, with characters so well done, for a little more time - with Peggy and Stan, with Roger and his sexy Marie von Trapp, with Joan making movies, with, uh, Pete, well maybe not....maybe we got enough Pete. He, he.
Loved the ambiguity of the fadeout on Don-at-Esalen, that smile - I think the answer to all questions regarding it is "both." That is, yes, he's an ad man and the iconic cola commercial just lighbulbed over his head and he's going to go make advertizing history, and yes, he's made some peace with the past and found some light shining into his lonely places. Betty is going to die her way, and he's going to go back to work his way and make sure Sally stays in school. "Raise apple trees and honeybees...."
Anyway, it's nice to stop ducking spoilers. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:25 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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Saw the season finale last night of Indian Summers on PBS Masterpiece. Very enjoyable series. A second season is in the offing.
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2015 8:49 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Been wondering about it. Might check it out, thanks.
BTW, I recently discovered your moniker is a 1998 Indian remake of On the Waterfront. Any good? You don't seem like the type to take the name of a bad film. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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bartist wrote: Been wondering about it. Might check it out, thanks.
BTW, I recently discovered your moniker is a 1998 Indian remake of On the Waterfront. Any good? You don't seem like the type to take the name of a bad film.
I had never heard of Ghulam but now I learn from the Wikipedia that it was a "moderately successful" film. Ghulam is a common man's name in the subcontinent.
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2015 6:40 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| A couple of months ago I bought the DVD set of "True Detective" when Barnes & Noble was having one of its weekend sales, and just got around to watching it this weekend. It's a long harrowing tale, beginning with the discovery of a woman's nude posed corpse surrounded by small stick constructions, and progressing through the investigation of a series of disappearances of children and young women. Woody Harrelson, as the good-ol'-boy married cop, and Matthew McConaughey, as his moody loner partner, are terrific--I didn't know either of them had that kind of acting chops. They rub each other the wrong way throughout their partnership, have a rather violent breakup after they've solved part of the puzzle, but come back together some years later when McConaughey convinces Harrelson that he has a lead on the killer behind the horrible conspiracy. I'll admit that I got a bit bored with the domestic hassles and the sex involved, although those gave dimension to the detectives' characters--but you get the impression that all Louisiana women are either young with perfect bodies, or fat and middle-aged. In general, it's a dense and intelligent series, with some dry dark humor occasionally and a lot of vague philosophy, mostly from McConaughey. The last episode does a beautiful job of summing up and sending off. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 3:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:26 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Liked the fall finales of Bones and Elementary, though I could have done without the Bones cliffhanger. Also, shouldn't Jessica actually have made an appearance in this episode, rather than being mentioned in passing? |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2015 10:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I was just watching the Sinatra tribute concert at Lincoln Center that was taped live several weeks back, and remembered that the Times review had been remarkably astute about the effort of Seth MacFarlane to impersonate Sinatra as he sang "I've Got the World on a String" and "What's New." After describing MacFarlane's precise imitation of the Chairman's phrasing and timing, using the same Nelson Riddle arrangements, the critic said about the former song "Mr. MacFarlane ably went through the motions," and about the latter, "Executed with the skill Mr. MacFarlane displayed, [the song] can backfire and lay bare an underlying soullessness and lack of emotional commitment." I couldn't have said it better myself. One thing about hearing other people sing the songs so associated with him, though--it makes you recognize how unique and multifaceted Sinatra was, and that's what makes a star a star--nobody can really imitate them. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2015 11:55 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| Yep, I caught some of the tribute and, after Seth sang, I shut it off. I liked the other singers, who brought their own personal touch and didn't try to mimic. Seth just doesn't have the fire in his gut that Frank did. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 11:11 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Saturday's SNL was one of their all-time bests. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were a snappy team, as usual, with another chance to be Sarah Palin and Hillary; my favorite sketch, however, was the one in which they were psychics hosting a TV show called "Your Second Wife," showing contestants the women they would marry when their current marriages ended (one future wife was a five-year-old). The current wives, in the audience, showed variations of fear and fury. It had me falling off the couch laughing. Oh, and did I mention that Bruce Springsteen was the musical guest? With Paul McCartney showing up to have fun in the finale. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 1:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| It was indeed an excellent SNL. You failed to mention that one of the future wives was in utero. Outrageous. Springsteen and company were aces, really great. The only minus was that ultra-lame opening monologue with songs, which had me fearing the worst. Fortunately, nothing else was remotely as bad--or bad in any way. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:23 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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| I've rarely seen SNL for a long time. Usually it was because I went to sleep. When Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were in SNL, I made sure I would watch it. It was terrific. I stayed up to see the whole thing. (love those two women!) |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 7:34 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Tonight on PBS, "The Abominable Bride"--Holmes and Watson back in their proper century, for a 90-minute episode. (If the writer is Stephen Moffat again, the villains might be Daleks.) |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 10:41 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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carrobin wrote: Tonight on PBS, "The Abominable Bride"--Holmes and Watson back in their proper century, for a 90-minute episode. (If the writer is Stephen Moffat again, the villains might be Daleks.)
It's being rebroadcast on January 10 if you missed it. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 11:05 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| And what a terrific neogothic-baroque-timeleaping fun ride it was. (A Tardis would not have been out of place.) I'll watch it again on the 10th. |
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