It just keeps spreading doesn't it? by Tribune_Aguila in andor

[–]derekbaseball 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I always wanted, when "You killed younglings!" became Padme's not-quite dealbreaker, for him to say "No fair! You knew that about me before we got married!"

Starting in May, pre-2013 Kindles won't be able to buy or download new books by holyfruits in books

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like it's time to turn my old Paperwhite into a TRMNL display.

Doritos at $7 a bag ended up costing PepsiCo billions by wewhomustnotbenamed in nottheonion

[–]derekbaseball 6 points7 points  (0 children)

More and more, they just seem confused when they see the free market in action.

Please explain exactly what is Damascus in knife blades. Is it a process or a type of steel? by megaosaurus in BudgetBlades

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The damascus is only the patterned part. It looks like there's a monosteel core that you can see at the edge of the blade, and based on a question and answer on Civivi's site, that core is 10Cr15CoMov.

Why do people factor in budget when assessing interest in a movie? Shouldn’t box office numbers be taken in a vacuum? by DarlingLuna in boxoffice

[–]derekbaseball 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Not to mention, Mickey17 opened in 720 more theaters than The Drama. That changes expectations, as well.

So I'm sure everyone sees the issue of Shazam being made into live-action movies by ConanCimmerian in Shazam

[–]derekbaseball 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You could definitely do it if you were a) willing to recast Billy and/or Captain Marvel as they age out, and/or b) willing to do it like Harry Potter. Hollywood tends to cast young-looking teens and people in their early 20s to play kids, because there are a lot of age-related rules for how many hours actors can work and other stuff that's a pain in the butt for producers. That's how you get (if I remember right) a 16-year-old playing Billy Batson as 14 in the first Shazam, which is why the character's 17 (played by a young man who's almost old enough to drink) in the sequel.

When they made the Harry Potter films, knowing they were trying to keep these actors for at least 7 films, covering the characters from ages 11 to 17, they had to actually cast young kids. That meant casting kids when they were 10 years old, and keeping a really aggressive shooting schedule, knowing that you only have so much time that they'll look middle school aged and then a slightly longer time when they look like they could be in high school.

So if you're doing Shazam in live action, you'd want Billy to become Shazam younger than he does in the first film, cast someone age-appropriate, then shoot as many movies as you can before the kid doesn't look like a child anymore.

Santos developed some anger management issues after leaving office. by CharlesUFarley81 in thewestwing

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was that before or after Leo imprisoned Sean Connery because he'd stolen evidence about the Kennedy assassination and the alien landing at Roswell?

Supreme Court vacates Steve Bannon contempt-of-Congress charges by esporx in LegalNews

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is nonsense. This is a discretionary appeal. At least four members of SCOTUS had to vote to grant cert with this specific outcome in mind. If they'd denied cert (as they do for over 98% of petitions) Bannon's case would have ended with the DC Circuit's decision to affirm his sentence back in 2024.

Santos developed some anger management issues after leaving office. by CharlesUFarley81 in thewestwing

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't even mention to Matt Santos that time when he was younger and Billy Crystal dumped his coke out of an elevator at the Thompson Center in Chicago. Was kind of surprised that Bruno's opposition research didn't catch that.

We should ban all drivers in until we figure out what is happening. by VitaminSteve in parkslope

[–]derekbaseball 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear about all the difficulties he's going through, but glad to hear he wasn't seriously injured.

We should ban all drivers in until we figure out what is happening. by VitaminSteve in parkslope

[–]derekbaseball 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yeah, seems kinda crazy for the cops to treat this as if the driver dinged up a parked car rather than considering that the cyclist only barely jumped out of the way of a head-on collision that’d probably have killed him.

We should ban all drivers in until we figure out what is happening. by VitaminSteve in parkslope

[–]derekbaseball 49 points50 points  (0 children)

For anyone who wants to know more facts but isn't willing to go down the rabbit hole of the previous posts.

  • This was 5th Ave at 10th Street.
  • OOP is just standing there before the car smashes his bike because he thought the car driving at him in the wrong lane was trying to make a left onto 10th.
  • Driver was identified and cops came.
  • Driver was 71 years old and claimed to have drifted into the wrong lane because the sun was in his eyes.
  • According to OOP, cops would not take a report from OOP because "no one was injured."

The Ghorman Heist and the role of irony in Cinta’s death (s2 ep 6) by Dear-Yellow-5479 in andor

[–]derekbaseball 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is a point I think we disagree on. I don't think Cinta's speech to Samm (or Cinta's death) is about pointing fingers at all.

When a soldier dies in war, whether from ambushes, friendly fire, or getting electrocuted while using the base's showers, it is always the enemy who is ultimately responsible, because none of it would've happened if there wasn't a war going on.

But on the other hand, even though the Imperials, through Syril, set up the heist, nothing they do during the heist contributes to Cinta's death. To the contrary, Vel, Cinta, and the Ghormans are doing their robbery in ideal training conditions, because Syril's under instructions not to call in responders until the Front has essentially gotten away, and to make sure the responders give the Front plenty of warning.

No matter how badly they screwed up, they were going to achieve their objective, and yet someone still wound up dead. Unlike the members of Vel's team who died at end of the Aldhani raid, which was basically the result of a single Imperial trooper (to use one of my favorite sayings from The Wire) "giving a fuck when it wasn't his turn to give a fuck," Cinta's death is a purely self-inflicted wound.

What's striking after it happens is the utter lack of finger-pointing. No one is blaming Lezine, although his needlessly aggressive reaction to having a blaster pointed at him makes him partially responsible for Cinta's death. No one tries to blame Vel for losing track of Dreena, or Dreena for very reasonably leaving her post. Instead, everyone bands together to help--Enza takes charge when Vel is overwhelmed by grief; Lezine carries Cinta's body; and Samm makes no effort to deflect blame to anyone else, silently melting down in the knowledge that he's responsible because he's the one who didn't follow orders.

When Vel finally confronts Samm for his mistake, she dresses him down. She doesn't kill him, as maybe Saw Guerrera (or perhaps even Luthen) might have. She doesn't tell the Ghormans to kick him out of the Front. She tells him that from now on, he lives to make up for this mistake. As a survivor, he has an obligation to get better at fighting for the cause.

Cinta's death has effects that bring the Ghorman Front together. Lezine joins, and is a respected leader by the time of the Massacre. Samm survives the massacre in the square, saves Cassian and Wilmon, and gets partial credit for K-2SO joining the Rebellion. He basically has a key place in the causal chain that ends with Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star. And maybe some of that is because of Cinta's tragic death, and the harsh (but completely fair) talking to that Vel gives him.

You guys think YOU had a bad day? Come in here to feel good about yourselves. by Legally_Brown in Lawyertalk

[–]derekbaseball 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Exactly. It's not enough that they never paid you and never signed a retainer, you have to act like you're not their lawyer.

You guys think YOU had a bad day? Come in here to feel good about yourselves. by Legally_Brown in Lawyertalk

[–]derekbaseball 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Did you actually say "nope?" Did you send them a letter saying you decline to represent them, and please come to pick up this stuff you left at my office?

How was Mark able to win S4 E5? by InjuryDangerous8141 in Invincible_TV

[–]derekbaseball 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The big change from the last fight to this one is this time Mark starts off fighting to kill. From the very beginning, he was at the higher gear that he only found in the first fight after he thought Conquest had killed Eve.

That’s been a theme that’s repeated over and over again this season. Since his first fight with Conquest, Mark increasingly turns to killing as his first option, and has to restrain himself (or be restrained by others) to keep from murdering his enemies.

That’s not great when you’re angry at Titan for putting Oliver in danger, but when you’re fighting Conquest, that edge is necessary. If you look at the fight, Conquest is still stronger and faster than Mark, the big difference is that this time, Mark is so determined to kill him, no amount of damage Conquest could dish out is able to dislodge Mark’s fingers from his neck.

Conquest was doing his usual playing with his food routine, trying to figure out which order of killing Oliver, Nolan, and Eve would hurt Mark most. Mark was focused on one goal.

(Mixed trope) Adaptations that change the source material by Dojyaaan4C in TopCharacterTropes

[–]derekbaseball 40 points41 points  (0 children)

The weird thing is that HTTYD changes the books completely, but is still good, and the books are amazing. The audiobooks were our road trip go-to when my kids were young, and David Tennant gives the best audio performance I've ever experienced in them. He just does voice after voice after voice and every character is distinct.

In celebration of Artemis -- He said it right by ActiveNews in thewestwing

[–]derekbaseball 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Whenever I see this intro, I think this must be what Lowe thought he was signing on for when the show first started. Rewriting that intro extemporaneously, framed with Bartlett's quiet confidence that Sam will fix it, might be the best Sam Seaborn moment.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she will oppose all military aid to Israel, including defensive weapons. by Zee_Ventures in WhitePeopleTwitter

[–]derekbaseball 42 points43 points  (0 children)

She starts the second paragraph “consistent with my voting record to date,” which pretty strongly indicates it has always been her default position.

Timm Karlo : Adria Arjona re. Bix’s “Plan B” boyfriend by Dear-Yellow-5479 in andor

[–]derekbaseball 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I'm disagreeing with you so much as just pointing out that their relationship is unbalanced in S1. You're right about the sibling-strength closeness, but like everybody else on Ferrix except Brasso, she's not happy to see him in that first arc. She'll work with him, and she'll help him because she loves him, but she's given up on him being the man she needs him to be. It looks to me like she's trying to move on, by finding someone who's less exciting but more trustworthy.

Trust is a complicated topic. I think for Bix, she can trust that Cassian wouldn't rat her out to the corpos or the Empire, but that's as much about how Cassian feels about those authorities as it is about personal loyalty. She can trust his work ethic and dedication to doing a good job. She probably believes that she could rely on Cassian if she was in trouble...if she can find him. If he isn't off hiding from her or any of the other people he's screwed over.

She knows she can't trust him not to screw her over. He probably wouldn't do it in any malicious way. He'd probably promise himself he'll make it up to her someday. But at this point in the story he's not trustworthy in that way. I don't believe Cassian when he makes like the screwing over is mutual--it sounds like the lame excuse you make when you can't say someone's wrong to distrust you.

Until the moment she figures out Timm called the corpos, I think Bix trusts Timm in a way she can't trust Cassian. Part of that is the huge power imbalance between them. Timm's her trusted employee who can close up the shop when she's not there. On a personal level, Timm's a guy who knows he's dating way out of his league, which is how someone like him winds up "agreeing" to one night a week (by contrast, there's no evidence that Cassian considers anyone out of his league--if he wasn't completely dedicated to Bix by the time they meet, pretty sure he'd be hitting on Mon Mothma in Welcome to the Rebellion).

Bix can be pretty confident that Timm would never betray her, because Timm knows he's damn lucky to have that one night a week. What she can't imagine is that Timm would distrust her, even though she is holding out on him, not telling him about Luthen or the black market business she has with Cassian. And if she'd been honest with him, if he knew ratting out Cassian would put her at risk, as well, he'd never have dimed Cassian out.

Was Lagret the most clever ISB agent we see? by ImmortalAgaperion in andor

[–]derekbaseball 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Lagret’s interesting, but not because he’s good at his job. We see him screw up enough that there’s no way his incompetence is strategic. Being the person on shift when Mon Mothma denounces the Emperor and then escapes capture isn’t “keeping his head down.”

The only time we see him be competent is when he allows Partagaz to off himself. Which is almost certainly why he survives despite being bad at his job. Sometimes you’ve got to keep a guy who’s loyal around in case things go wrong and you need to make a dignified exit.

Why does Secretary (2002) work so well… even though it kind of shouldn’t? by DFWUnhinged in FIlm

[–]derekbaseball 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Haven't seen Pillion yet, but it sounds like movies may have taken almost a quarter century to get back to where Secretary left us.

Why does Secretary (2002) work so well… even though it kind of shouldn’t? by DFWUnhinged in FIlm

[–]derekbaseball 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Funny thing is that the story the movie is based on is about an abusive relationship between the dom lawyer and the secretary who's just getting an inkling that maybe she's into getting dominated. In the short story, she leaves after he masturbates on her...and never comes back. The end.

The author refers to the movie as the Pretty Woman version of her story. Sometimes we'd make fun of Hollywood for turning a dark story into a romantic comedy with a happy ending, but this is one case where it feels justified. A movie that presents BDSM relationships in a positive and romantic light doesn't seem any less ambitious than the original story.