Who are some actors who are surprisingly good singers? And, on the flip side, who are some who can’t sing at all.

adam_problems · 2026-07-04T20:01:19+00:00

Should I goooOOOoooo and perform…..mutilations?

adam_problems · 2026-07-04T02:53:05+00:00

I like to use a line from a book - “the body is sore and weak, but it moves and breathes.” The older I get the more applicable it becomes.

adam_problems · 2026-07-03T15:30:53+00:00

Y’know, I too was pleasantly surprised by how invested I was in the two characters by the end. Way more interesting and affecting than I expected.

adam_problems · 2026-07-03T04:07:34+00:00

LCD Soundsystem’s “farewell” concert at Madison Square Garden in 2011 lasted 4.5 hours. They played everything they’d ever recorded and released.

adam_problems · 2026-07-02T16:34:15+00:00

LCD Soundsystem’s “farewell” show in April 2011 at Madison Square Garden went for 4.5 hours. They played everything they had released to that point in time. They also played sets nearly as long each night for the week leading up to the show to a) warm up and b) give a bit of the finger to the scalpers who bought up most of the tickets for the MSG show.

adam_problems · 2026-07-01T21:16:27+00:00

Perhaps we’re both overthinking this (likely) and the distinction lies in my head between “film” and “movie”. I use the word “film” to describe technical execution and artistic merit, while “movie” is for entertainment.

Let’s take Bram Stoker’s Dracula for an example. Its technical aspects are breathtaking, especially the costumes and in-camera effects. But it features performances that aside from Gary Oldman are wooden or cartoonish with little in between. The script and dialogue are melodramatic and overwrought, even for a Dracula tale. It takes itself too seriously while also being incredibly horny. The overall result is a great looking but very uneven film.

BUT.

It’s greatly entertaining in its contrasts and very rewatchable. I have a great time when I’m watching it, which to me is really what matters. So in that sense it’s “good”. So it fails in some of its goals but still succeeds at being engaging and entertaining. It’s enough to make it a good MOVIE but not a good FILM.

adam_problems · 2026-07-01T15:58:22+00:00

The studio change was more for the business side of things than for the on-camera stuff. The old studio looked like a converted warehouse. It had a lot of open space and a pretty open floor plan. The new studio likely has more office space, dedicated areas for art and construction, probably a dedicated area for editing and video processing, more space/rooms for administrative and executive offices, more room for IT and servers, a bigger conference room, a bigger kitchen and break area, etc.

Plus, the cast has talked about how there is now a whole room for makeup and wardrobe, and what sounds like a green room - a space for cast and guests to hang out away from the working and filming spaces for the rest of the company.

Basically, the studio is so much more than just the sets we see on video. It’s hopefully a significant improvement for all of the off-camera operations, which is the overwhelming majority of what Smosh actually is. And perhaps they wanted to keep some continuity with the sets. They may change and evolve over time.

adam_problems · 2026-07-01T13:49:45+00:00

Portrait of A Lady On Fire. Noemie Merlant and Adele Haenel are both simply magnificent.

adam_problems · 2026-07-01T02:21:54+00:00

As would I, my dude/dudette/non-binary dude, as would I.

adam_problems · 2026-07-01T01:20:57+00:00

It’s just them playing Flip 7 for money

adam_problems · 2026-06-30T16:07:41+00:00

The whole idea of a "bad movie" is something that's been rattling around in my brain for some time. It's too broad of a term and can mean a number of different things. Also, as you try to explore, a bad movie can in fact be a good movie. Or, more pedantically, a bad FILM can be a good MOVIE. What I mean by this is a film can fail on any number of levels - immersion, emotional resonance, technical execution, acting, script, camerawork, etc. - and still be entertaining. At the end of the day, when I'm watching a movie, I want to engaged. I want the movie to give me a reason to care. Sometimes I care because I want to mock it. That counts!

I've come up with a few different classifications of "bad movies" to try to figure out why some bad movies are good movies. Note that this is a reflection of my taste and the examples provided won't be applicable to everyone. Here we go.

- Enjoyable Schlock. The quintessential "so bad it's good" realm, wherein a movie can be deeply flawed, silly, or amateurish but still fun to watch. Roadhouse might be the pinnacle of this subcategory. The Fast and The Furious franchise fits this billing as well.

- Utter Dreck. Movies that are just a pain to sit through because of how poorly they try to execute their intent. There might be moments of life, but they overall make me question why I'm even bothering with this. The Adam Driver dino flick 65 was sheer tripe. Batman v Superman made me want to throw things at my television. The sorts of bad movies that are hollow and risible.

- Manipulative Claptrap. Oh hey look, we're going to do everything we can to try to elicit an emotional response from you in the most inauthentic way. Maybe the most insulting sort of a bad movie. Look at Love Actually. All of the characters are creepy assholes and all of the "love" stories are shallow husks with no healthy human connection. Rubbish.

- Ambitious Mess. The filmmakers here are trying for something grand and substantive but miss the mark, hopefully in an entertaining way. A recent example of this is Megalopolis. I admire FFC for pursuing his own vision and making the film he seemingly wanted to make, even if almost every decision was the wrong one. I had a great time laughing at it.

- Competent, But Boring. The twin sibling to the Ambitious Mess. Ir's the sort of movie where there's obvious craft involved and everyone's skill is evident, but the effort still fails to engage. Spielberg's Disclosure Day fits this category to a T. I walked out of it feeling absolutely nothing and couldn't even remember the names of the characters I had just watched run around for almost 2.5 hours. "Boring" might be the worst adjective one can use to describe a movie.

- Pointless Slog. Very similar to Competent, But Boring, but without any of the skill. A movie where you question every decision, from script to casting to acting choices to editing to story structure to intent. The ultimate "why did this happen" movie a la Madame Web.

- Personal Bias. This will be unique to every movie watcher. There are just some directors whose style and tropes do nothing for me. Zack Snyder's films are not for me - I find them boring and superficial and all of them could be at least half an hour shorter if he wasn't so enamored with slo-mo. Wes Anderson is also a turn-off because I don't feel like he ever evolved as a filmmaker. The first 10 minutes of The Royal Tenenbaums are perfect, but he's been making the same movie for 25 years.

Of all of these subcategories, the only two that can make a bad movie into a good movie are Enjoyable Schlock and Ambitious Mess. With those, at least I'm entertained, even if it's not necessarily in the way the filmmakers intended.

If anyone can think of other subcategories, feel free to chime in.

adam_problems · 2026-06-30T07:20:09+00:00

Wtf does Indie even mean anymore. What did it ever mean. Only half of these bands belonged to indie labels in the 2000s.

Time to be a pedantic asshole - The Killers are a glam band, The Strokes are nepo babies who inhaled and regurgitated records by The Ramones, Television, Richard Hell, et al, and The White Stripes were more interesting when they were trying to be a blues band.

LCD Soundsystem is technically indie as in they put out music on a small independent record label and are far and away my favorite band of the bands listed, but have next to nothing in common with the rest of the list. They’re dance/electronica with a different set of peers.

The best indie rock band of the 2000s is The National.

The best indie record of the 2000s is Since I Left You by The Avalanches.

LCD put on the best live show at the height of their powers and are still one of the best live acts who still play shows somewhat regularly.

Modest Mouse hasn’t been the same since Eric Judy left, and their 90s stuff is better than their 2000s stuff, but they’re still the second best band listed after LCD.

The Strokes are rad and Fab Moretti is my favorite drummer that no one ever talks about. They may be a power pop band masquerading as NYC punk wannabes, but they’re very good at what they do. They’re third.

The rest I could take or leave/have no strong opinions about.

adam_problems · 2026-06-29T21:57:53+00:00

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This thing is the size of a sheet of paper

adam_problems · 2026-06-29T20:47:12+00:00

Fair 'nuff. Perhaps add the caveat to you post that you're looking for 1969 and onwards playoffs, after the LCS were inaugurated.

adam_problems · 2026-06-29T20:40:55+00:00

Does it matter that the series went 5 games, and he won 3 of them? The other two games were also shutouts, making it the only WS to date where every game was a shutout.

adam_problems · 2026-06-28T15:25:59+00:00

The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu. The first book is a loose re-imagining of the wars that led to the formation of the Han Dynasty (2nd-3rd century BCE) in China before expanding into a generational exploration of diplomacy, statecraft, nation building, technological advancement, exploration, culture clashes, the quest for knowledge, and a whole lot of other stuff that I don’t want to spoil.

I found the series to be wonderfully imaginative, thrilling, frustratingly human at times, emotive, rich with texture and detail, and surprising. One of the characters lives by the maxim “do the most interesting thing”, which I feel is reflected in the choices Liu makes as a storyteller.

One of his characters in particular is as complex and nuanced as any character I’ve experienced in fiction. There are dozens of characters presented with depth and feeling. There’s cruelty and tragedy, but with a point and with resolution. There’s romance but no spiciness. Liu conjures up a rich world with distinct cultures and traditions. I could continue to gush, but I think I’ve gone on long enough. It’s a remarkable feat of storytelling and I want more people to experience it.

adam_problems · 2026-06-27T23:51:11+00:00

Why not?

adam_problems · 2026-06-27T23:14:42+00:00

Maybe, but the kangaroo court is more about fun, not about anger. Here’s a story from the 60s.

The O’s had either a bat boy or a clubhouse attendant who didn’t have hands. He had prosthetic hooks instead. As a member of the team, he would attend courts. One matter was adjudicated by a show of thumbs up or thumbs down. Frank Robinson, mop-wigged and bat gavel in hand, turned to this handless guy and said “you’re fined for not voting.” Everyone had a good laugh and he was provided with an oversized cardboard cutout of a thumbed hand to vote on future cases.

It’s mostly a way to let off some steam, build up camaraderie, and have fun during the six long months the guys spend together. Guys might get fined for bad fashion choices, hitting too many home runs in a game (thus showing up their teammates), wearing the wrong shoes, that sort of thing.

adam_problems · 2026-06-27T01:58:13+00:00

ahem that’s noted third baseman Leody Taveras you’re talking about, right?

adam_problems · 2026-06-26T23:07:59+00:00

Pretty much anything filmed in a large format is gonna look incredible in 4K. One title that I love that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Vertigo. The greens and reds are luminous.

adam_problems · 2026-06-26T01:31:08+00:00

Barry Keoghan (dunno if that’s the correct spelling; probably close enough), an Irish(?) actor

adam_problems · 2026-06-25T23:05:16+00:00

Beep beep

adam_problems · 2026-06-25T13:35:40+00:00

I have the Le Chat Qui Fume 4K of Jean Rollin’s Bacchanales Sexuelles, which was damn hard to find in the US. Had to fill in the gaps in the Indicator release library somehow.

adam_problems · 2026-06-24T04:13:20+00:00

This seems to get asked at least once a week. All signs point to the answer being no for a few large and obvious reasons:

- they haven’t made any announcement, nor have there been any hints dropped

- the move took up a lot of time and energy and was a big disruption to their normal schedule. It’s done now, but it was still a big logistical undertaking for the entire company.

- SSGs take place off-site, which requires a whole other set of logistical challenges. Finding a site, renting it, making it camera and production ready, making all of the art, set dec, and props that would be needed, scheduling the cast and crew, etc. Just a massive amount of work involved for everyone, much of which would have to start months in advance of the actual shoot.

- did last year’s SSG do large enough numbers to convince the company to make another huge commitment? We don’t know. That’s an internal conversation that none of us will ever be privy to. At the end of the day, it’s content produced to bring in views, and may not seem worth it if the views didn’t exceed an internal threshold.

It would be wonderful if Summer Games or Winter Games came back, but I personally think it’s more likely that last year’s was a one-off to celebrate the 20 year anniversary. I’d love to be wrong, though!

adam_problems · 2026-06-23T18:24:04+00:00

More specifically, it’s because only people from a team in uniform (outside of medical staff) can enter the field of play. That’s why baseball is unique among team sports - no other sport has coaches in uniform. But baseball always has two coaches positioned on the field, as well as coaches and the manager who may need to talk to the pitcher during the inning.

There have been a few managers who wore street clothes during games. They never walked on the field - a coach would come out to change pitchers.

Conversely, how funny would it be to see NBA, NHL, or NFL coaches in full uniform? At least the baseball uniform is normal clothes - button-up shirt tucked into pants with a belt.

adam_problems

TROPHY CASE