The HBO documentary on Bishop Sycamore is incredible and a must watch.

That coach is a con artist, psychopath, narcissist, and it's stunning he isn't in jail. This guy sits down for multiple interviews for this and just shows how "off" he is and how different his reality is.

Watched Stake Land and Stake Land II on Prime. Solid movies, nothing great, but good escapism if you like post-apocalyptic, vampire stuff.

Better than some B grade stuff I collect so no complaints.

I'm not a Stargate fan (not even the movie) but started watching Stargate Universe series on Prime and have found it compelling.

Not great acting, not great special effects, not great stories but they are interesting stories. They are essentially in an old alien spacecraft that they cannot control (essentially on auto-pilot), overcome challenges, and visit planets.

Don't claim to know all the intricacies of the strike but assume there's a lot of people (non-writers, non-actors) who are not getting a paycheck during the strike.

So Bill and Drew wanting to restart their shows but making some concessions seems right to me. If more follow suit, that means the unions will have reduced leverage in negotiations. Interesting game of chicken right now.

Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore are returning to work — 'it’s all about greed' - MarketWatch

Just saw a trailer for Frasier (2023) on Paramount. Don’t think it’ll translate well to nowadays but rooting for it to succeed anyway.

Sad to see Winning Time end. Would have liked more but it’s hard to keep expensive prestige type tv around that doesn’t get Emmy noms. Second season was really truncated but the one Bird episode was especially good.

Some of these shows are getting killed by how spread out they are over streaming services. We're at the point where it costs far more than cable to keep up with most of the good shows.

This ^^^

When I cut the cord like 3 years ago, Hulu was $34.99 and few of these other places (other than Netflix) had anything. Now Huu just went up to $84.99 or something (with HBO included) and I'm paying for Netflix, Apple TV, and Paramount plus. Add in my internet and ($40 from AT&T) and I'm nearly back up to the $200 that Comcast was charging.

I'm pretty lucky right now. I have T-Mobile and it comes with free Netflix, Apple TV, MLB tv, and MLS season pass. I'm grandfathered for the Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle for $15 a month and I get back 1/2;by paying with my Amex. Somehow my Paramount account got messed up so I have free paramount+/showtime. And I got Peacock for $25 a year through December. Also have T-Mobile internet for $30 a month.

So for $40 a month I get internet/Hulu/ESPN/Disney/peacock/paramount. And I don't really count Amazon Prime as costing anything as the streaming there is a bonus.

Only thing I miss out on are braves games since MLB tv blacks them out, so I don't feel bad using free streams on Kodi.

That seems like a very good deal, what's the catch?

The most obvious one I noticed was having T-Mobile ;)

Haha!


Slightly-on topic of cutting the cord, my trainer was talking about how her parents had a 'jailbroken firestick' that was the equivalent of those modified cable boxes that got all the channels in the 90s.

That was the first I had heard of such a thing, but I figured if my trainers' crusty parents could figure it out than I probably could. Just out of curiosity, I got a 4K firestick for $25 on Prime day and spent a weekend fucking around with it & taking a deep dive. You can potentially access anything on any streaming service, practically anything that has a torrent can be streamed instantly, and you can access to live streaming channels & sports from around the world. That comes with plenty of caveats though: Streaming copyrighted material is still illegal of course, and some of the optional graymarket services still cost money, just less of it. Quality can be questionable, the more niche the content the more the quality is a crapshoot. The interface is clunky. Setup is lengthy and seems like it requires some active management.

I don't think I could live with the various quirks to actually use it as my viewing source, but it was fun to fuck around with for a weekend.

This

Yeah, TMobile and Amex are currently the secret sauce for me. Also got a sling air TV when it was on clearance. It's a streaming box I have in my attic hooked to an antenna so I can get all the locals free over my wifi. This is just so I don't have little antenna all over the house. I assume it's going to melt in a summer or 2 as it's an attic in the South, but it's worth it for Saturday afternoon.

Welp, looks like Bill and Drew both blinked.

I think it is because all the sides of the strike have agreed to come to the table, and there seems to be some optimism. It would be stupid to burn bridges just to have the strike end a week later.

I'm looking forward to further stories in the John Wick world.

‘The Continental’ TV Review: ‘John Wick’ Prequel On Peacock – Deadline

Unfortunately, I'm not on Peacock. If you are, let us know what you think ...

"Road Warrior" is one of my favorite movies of all time and I really loved a ton of Mel Gibson movies back in the day (Braveheart, Lethal Weapon, etc, etc, etc), but I just don't think I can watch him on screen anymore, especially in anything new.

He's just too awful. It's too bad, because the show looks promising.

Yep. Mel Gibson is on the Will Not Watch Ever list.

How do you feel about Mark Wahlberg?

If I thought about it much, he'd probably be on the list with Mel. But so far, I'll still watch movies that he's in.

A quick websearch affirms that I should add Wahlberg to the list.

I was obsessed with Braveheart as a kid. Yeah, it's not the same anymore!

I loved Braveheart. But I can't watch it anymore.

I just always found it amusing that Mel Gibson is effectively black-listed from Hollywood movies for drunken driving and racist slurs. Yet no one seems to care that Mark Wahlberg has committed racist violence or made The Happening. Which IMO is much worse than anything Mel did.

Mel also has domestic violence incidents.

I have no time for either of them, but I think what helped take Mel down so much harder were all of the recordings and videos. It's one thing to read about an incident and quite another to actually see it/hear it (see, e.g., Ray Rice).

Of the two, I feel the loss of Mel Gibson more so, because I really liked him as an actor and loved many of his movies.

Other than The Departed, which Wahlberg is great in, I think he's largely ass as an actor. I guess he was fine in Boogie Nights.

Related:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2UoHb0ziMDA

This dude does incredible work. He only has three videos up, but the other two (Steven Seagal gets choked out on set & Michael Jackson's hair catch fire) are even more in-depth, with interviews and musical numbers.

I don't know if I could self censure based on the the actions of the actor. There may be some that are an automatic no, but you'd have a really small library of films.

It's not that hard, really. I imagine it's quite subjective and based on different things for different folks, if at all.

Agreed. I don't judge people on who they can or can't stand to watch. Mel was in so many great things that it is hard for me to say I would never watch "Lethal Weapon" or "Mad Max" again. But they are tarnished. I can't think of a Gibson movie I would go out of my way to watch, but I also wouldn't leave a party if someone had one on.

this is awesome

Exactly. I saw Road Warrior in the theater when I was a 8 years old (my parents were quite lax). I have loved that movie since then, but I am not sure if I would go out of my way to watch it again. Whenver I feel the Road Warrior itch, I just throw on "Fury Road."

Fury Road is a superior movie in all facets anyway.

The Elora's Dad episode of Reservation Dogs is so good. Most shows struggle with character development episodes, but they do them so well. There was basically no plot that mattered, but the character development was outstanding.

And Ethan Hawke is underappreciated.

Reservation Dogs has been consistently my favorite show over the last few years. It’s remarkable.

Strike is over.

Writers Strike Ends: WGA, AMPTP Agree to Deal After 146-Day Strike

Yup. Now it is just the actor's strike, but i think this agreement will likely make the framework for theirs.

Do we know who "won?"

No details yet, but my guess is they both gave ground but the writers would have "won." There is going to be some revenue sharing where there wasn't before, and a restriction on AI use where the studio's wanted none.

Dang, I really like Zooey Deschanel, I guess that means I can't watch her stuff anymore? My wife will be real upset when I don't allow Elf this Christmas.

Still no details, but the email sent from the WGA to its members makes it sound like they got significant concessions.

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I read up on Wahlberg and disagree with you.

Wahlberg had 2 separate incidents (blacks & Vietnamese) in the 80s when he was in his teens. From what I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong), there's not been any other incidents since then.

Gibson has been antisemitic as an adult along with sprinkling of other "off-color controversies". See below for his list ...

Mel Gibson says the Catholic Church needs some 'housecleaning' | Daily Mail Online


Neither are a must-watch actor (unlike Tom Cruise). I didn't think Braveheart was all that great.

He beat the shit out of a random innocent shopkeeper because he was Vietnamese and left him blind in one eye for life. I'm glad he hasn't done that a lot since but I don't feel the need to celebrate him or brush it aside either. Just like Tyreek Hill it's better to commit your most serious crimes before you get famous.

I read this as part of my research.

Mark Wahlberg gets pardon from the only person who matters, the victim Johnny Trinh | Daily Mail Online

I don't know any charities he supports, but it would be good if he donated to some causes and personally ask his victims for forgiveness. As far as I know, he hasn't done that so that is also part of the story.

Tom Cruise is a big POS than either. The things he has been involved with as the number 2 man in Scientology is pure evil.

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And Curt Schilling comes around the outside screaming anti-semitic rants!

He's about three interviews away from an, actually Hitler was good, rant.

The WGA details have been released. The writers definitely won. Steaming residuals with the streamers having to disclose viewer hours and foreign inclusion. Restrictions to AI use, including the right for writers to use or refuse to use AI. Staff writer room minimums, not quite what they asked but still as many as 6 depending on the number of episodes. All things that the studio's wanted to be zero.

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Schilling is a steaming pile of shit for revealing that Tim Wakefield has serious brain cancer and Tim’s wife has pancreatic cancer.

That is an incredibly sad. Wakefield was one of my favorite non-Braves.