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Oct. 6th, 2019 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Well, finished seeing the second episode of Stump Town which does a decent job of exploring the bar owner/ex-con friend of Dex's. And why they never became more than friends or crossed the line into a romantic relationship -- even though she did sleep with him. It also mentions, in an aside blink and you miss it reference, that Dex is bisexual. Not only that, but the case of the week concerns a bisexual con woman. (I remember when bisexuality wasn't acceptable in dramas, and there was a lot of push back from both the homosexual and heterosexual communities. It's comforting to know that this has finally changed. If Buffy aired today, Willow could have been bisexual without any push-back.) I was rather surprised by that Stump Town mentioned it -- but in a good way. Curious to see if they explore it.
I will keep going with Stump Town even though it is to some extent a paint-by-numbers noir detective series, the only difference being the PI is a female, although I've seen this before with Veronica Mars and VI Warshawski among others.
It's by no means a new trope. And this show is far from subversive. It's fairly formulaic actually -- so we'll see how long I stick. Formula shows tend to bore me after a bit.
2. Martin Scorcese declares that superhero films aren't cinema
Martin Scorsese isn't a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The iconic filmmaker – who has directed the likes of "Taxi Driver," "Goodfellas," "The Departed" and most recently "The Irishman" – told Britain's Empire magazine that he doesn't follow along with the comic book franchise because it's "not cinema."
Instead, the Oscar-winner compared the superhero blockbusters to an amusement park. "Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks," Scorsese, 76, said.
"I don’t see them. I tried, you know?" he added. "It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."
"Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn caught wind of Scorsese's remarks, admitting that they "saddened" him.
"Martin Scorsese is one of my 5 favorite living filmmakers," Gunn, 53, tweeted Friday. "I was outraged when people picketed 'The Last Temptation of Christ' without having seen the film. I’m saddened that he’s now judging my films in the same way."
This is a pet peeve of mine.
I think we all need to be more mindful of what words we put out there. If we dislike something -- that's fine. But to condemn it as being unworthy or not art, or to judge those that do is not only cruel and thoughtless, but it speaks poorly of us.And shades us in a negative light. Think how many people Scorsese may have turned off of his films, many who never saw them...and think what would have happened if he stayed silent? Or merely stated, "the superhero films aren't to my taste. I just don't like them is all." Sometimes it's better not to tell people what we think.
Scorsese should have put himself in Gunn's shoes or the shoes of the fans of that genre, and asked himself what if would feel like if someone said that about crime films or gangster movies or noir film? They have, by the way. That and much more.
But he didn't think. We live in a world in which people don't think before saying things. I'm learning that I need to think about it -- do I really want to put this out there? Too often I don't, and I hate the results.
3. Can the World's Oldest Political Party Survive Brexit?
I don't know it would certainly be karmic justice if they didn't. I'm also admittedly hoping that the whole Trump Impeachment mess takes down the GOP completely, leaving behind the Independents and Libertarians. Because that too would have the smell of karmic justice.
Since the birth of the political party, in 17th-century England, perhaps none has been quite as unsuccessful in its constitutional struggle as the Tories. Time and again, this most English of interest groups has been on the wrong side of history, advocating for a status quo that has slowly been eroded by the steady tide of human advancement.
And yet the Tories have survived at each turn, their genius lying not in an ability to conserve, but in an ability to adapt—reluctantly accepting reform and, over time, embracing the ancient, eternal nobility of the new settlement as if it had always been there.
Britain’s Conservative Party—the modern incarnation of Toryism, and its most dominant and persistent political force—does not burn bright, but it endures. Its cause is not ideological, but temperamental. Its strength is that while other political philosophies come and go, the conservative temperament remains, skeptical, tribal, cautious. Its allegiances are here and now, not abstract or academic: monarchy, Church, country.
The primary Tory duty is to govern in order to check the utopian passions of the tidy mind. “The Conservative Party exists, has always existed and can only exist to acquire and exercise power,” writes Robin Harris in The Conservatives. “It does not exist to be loved, hated or even respected … It is an institution with a purpose, not an organism with a soul.”
Set in this light, Britain’s current crisis over its withdrawal from the European Union is just the latest entry in the long roll call of political upheaval that English Toryism has faced and—so far—outlived. Its challenge now is to do so again in the age of Brexit, Donald Trump, and a surge in nationalism across the Western world, which are threatening to upend the basic political divisions in the United Kingdom, from class and economic interest to identity and place, just as Britain embarks on a mission to reimagine its global standing.
I personally think nationalism is destroying our world.
4. For the English Grammar nerds out there...you know who you are... How Non-English Speakers are Taught This Crazy English Grammar Rule You Know But Have Never Heard of
5. Five Expert Travel Tips from a Flight Attendant
Most of this is just common sense. Although the first line kind of killed the article for me.
Travel is one of the most satisfying experiences in life, but it can also totally wear you out.
Okay you kind of lost me there. How is it one of the most satisfying exactly?
I will keep going with Stump Town even though it is to some extent a paint-by-numbers noir detective series, the only difference being the PI is a female, although I've seen this before with Veronica Mars and VI Warshawski among others.
It's by no means a new trope. And this show is far from subversive. It's fairly formulaic actually -- so we'll see how long I stick. Formula shows tend to bore me after a bit.
2. Martin Scorcese declares that superhero films aren't cinema
Martin Scorsese isn't a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The iconic filmmaker – who has directed the likes of "Taxi Driver," "Goodfellas," "The Departed" and most recently "The Irishman" – told Britain's Empire magazine that he doesn't follow along with the comic book franchise because it's "not cinema."
Instead, the Oscar-winner compared the superhero blockbusters to an amusement park. "Honestly, the closest I can think of them, as well-made as they are, with actors doing the best they can under the circumstances, is theme parks," Scorsese, 76, said.
"I don’t see them. I tried, you know?" he added. "It isn’t the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being."
"Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn caught wind of Scorsese's remarks, admitting that they "saddened" him.
"Martin Scorsese is one of my 5 favorite living filmmakers," Gunn, 53, tweeted Friday. "I was outraged when people picketed 'The Last Temptation of Christ' without having seen the film. I’m saddened that he’s now judging my films in the same way."
This is a pet peeve of mine.
I think we all need to be more mindful of what words we put out there. If we dislike something -- that's fine. But to condemn it as being unworthy or not art, or to judge those that do is not only cruel and thoughtless, but it speaks poorly of us.And shades us in a negative light. Think how many people Scorsese may have turned off of his films, many who never saw them...and think what would have happened if he stayed silent? Or merely stated, "the superhero films aren't to my taste. I just don't like them is all." Sometimes it's better not to tell people what we think.
Scorsese should have put himself in Gunn's shoes or the shoes of the fans of that genre, and asked himself what if would feel like if someone said that about crime films or gangster movies or noir film? They have, by the way. That and much more.
But he didn't think. We live in a world in which people don't think before saying things. I'm learning that I need to think about it -- do I really want to put this out there? Too often I don't, and I hate the results.
3. Can the World's Oldest Political Party Survive Brexit?
I don't know it would certainly be karmic justice if they didn't. I'm also admittedly hoping that the whole Trump Impeachment mess takes down the GOP completely, leaving behind the Independents and Libertarians. Because that too would have the smell of karmic justice.
Since the birth of the political party, in 17th-century England, perhaps none has been quite as unsuccessful in its constitutional struggle as the Tories. Time and again, this most English of interest groups has been on the wrong side of history, advocating for a status quo that has slowly been eroded by the steady tide of human advancement.
And yet the Tories have survived at each turn, their genius lying not in an ability to conserve, but in an ability to adapt—reluctantly accepting reform and, over time, embracing the ancient, eternal nobility of the new settlement as if it had always been there.
Britain’s Conservative Party—the modern incarnation of Toryism, and its most dominant and persistent political force—does not burn bright, but it endures. Its cause is not ideological, but temperamental. Its strength is that while other political philosophies come and go, the conservative temperament remains, skeptical, tribal, cautious. Its allegiances are here and now, not abstract or academic: monarchy, Church, country.
The primary Tory duty is to govern in order to check the utopian passions of the tidy mind. “The Conservative Party exists, has always existed and can only exist to acquire and exercise power,” writes Robin Harris in The Conservatives. “It does not exist to be loved, hated or even respected … It is an institution with a purpose, not an organism with a soul.”
Set in this light, Britain’s current crisis over its withdrawal from the European Union is just the latest entry in the long roll call of political upheaval that English Toryism has faced and—so far—outlived. Its challenge now is to do so again in the age of Brexit, Donald Trump, and a surge in nationalism across the Western world, which are threatening to upend the basic political divisions in the United Kingdom, from class and economic interest to identity and place, just as Britain embarks on a mission to reimagine its global standing.
I personally think nationalism is destroying our world.
4. For the English Grammar nerds out there...you know who you are... How Non-English Speakers are Taught This Crazy English Grammar Rule You Know But Have Never Heard of
5. Five Expert Travel Tips from a Flight Attendant
Most of this is just common sense. Although the first line kind of killed the article for me.
Travel is one of the most satisfying experiences in life, but it can also totally wear you out.
Okay you kind of lost me there. How is it one of the most satisfying exactly?
no subject
Date: 2019-10-07 05:09 am (UTC)English rule: There is a trick the article doesn't mention. Most Indo-European languages have a very similar rule even if the adjectives follow the noun as in Latin, French and other Romance languages. English speakers don't spend a lot of time learning the order of adjectives in Spanish because it just isn't that different. There is a reason they mentioned Hungarians learning English. Hungarian isn't Indo-European so those speakers have no feel for it. Turkish another non-Indo-Europen Language for example has a list that is almost exactly backwards of English.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-07 03:42 pm (UTC)As one of the posters stated on the site, where I found this link, we all want more movies that appeal to our specific taste. And while I'd understand folks like Scorsese bemoaning the popularity of a film genre they don't particularly like or enjoy in the 20th Century, right now? Not so much. There's over 100 movies released monthly, not all in theaters. And a wide range. Everything from British Costume Dramas to Spy Thrillers to Heist Movies to Action Fllicks to Serious Dramas, Comedies, etc... And a superhero flick isn't even out in theaters really...at the moment. Unless theaters are still showing flicks that are now available on demand.
And you can't really argue that only movies that make lots of money are made, if you consider the indie films being released, and the number of films out that don't necessarily make that much. The only films that have to make megamillions at the box are the ones that cost that much to make. It's like books -- not only best-selling books are published. Or television shows, there are series on TV still that are not high in the ratings. Supernatural is on its 14 season, it does very well in a nitch market. But it's hardly top of the ratings.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-07 10:13 pm (UTC)Agreed.