Vee

Romney, at least, buckles under pressure:

I think he's talented. My feelings about him are complex. I think he did great work on OLTL, on and off right to the end. I also think he did supremely shítty work, same timespan. Part of the reason they had to do Two Todds is because TSJ simply did not give a fùck and would play against anything earnest at times, even when they tried to pull him back from the voids the writers often fully drove the character into on their own. (He generally did not fail to deliver on heartfelt material under Michael Malone who introduced him, though that may have been because it was so early.) And TSJ would love to provoke the audience even IRL - if he threw out some lines like he used to at fan events (joking 'I love rape') today, forget it. But I will never forget the scenes he had with Susan Haskell in 2010/2011? where Victor/Todd shows up at Marty's office demanding their children stop dating, and when she tries to call the cops Victor starts screaming at her, hurls the phone and is completely out of his mind. This is a man who had raped Marty ('again') a little over a year or so before and he was now preventing her from leaving the room, preventing her from calling anyone, and launching into a self-pitying, narcissistic tirade littered with threats against her if she doesn't leave town. This culminates, after he finally leaves, in Marty being pushed down the stairs and miscarrying her baby. Victor is the prime suspect, but of course, according to the show, poor misunderstood Victor didn't do it. The show still wanted to present Victor/Todd II as a good guy deep down, and that is not what was on display in those scenes in the office. It was frightening and good work by TSJ onscreen, but it was completely irredeemable. That's largely on the writers, not him; so much of what became of the Todds is on the writing. The thing is Trevor didn't care, and any time they belatedly (and poorly) tried to insert more dimension or pathos to try to clean things up he would fluff it off and smirk through it. Later, Roger Howarth came back prepared to perform again but Trevor was still smirking and blowing off a lot of crucial scenes in the Two Todds saga up til his last days. You came away with the impression Victor was a narcissistic sociopath. (And I don't think he was deep down, because as it happens we don't know the real Victor who could be a fascinating character.) Was the sociopath mold true to life for a character with a criminal profile like Todd Manning, probably - but it was not what the show had, in its better years, worked to build. I thought Trevor did a solid job in his brief turn on OLTL 2.0 and I thought he always had scorching chemistry with Florencia. I thought the Victor Jr. character could go many interesting and dangerous places. But that was ten years ago, and you can't do a show with rapist twin leads today. In a hypothetical world where OLTL still existed, Victor and Todd should both largely be relegated to the past or to very controlled appearances. Anyway, this is a lot of pretentious bloviating just to say yes, I think Trevor can do great work. I think he also is often on his own trip - good and bad - unless the writing brings him around. Y&R is no different. But at least he'll liven that show up.

I should get back to this show. It was stunning. Still don't know WTF happened with Dawn-Lyen Gardner skipping out before the end though.

A very impressive sequel and probably the best MCU work since the end of the classic cycle with Endgame. Very strong, and notably led entirely by Black females - there were barely any males in the film other than Namor and the fitfully appearing M'Baku and Everett Ross. Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira and yes, the deeply problematic Letitia Wright carried the film, along with Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams (a much more appealing character here than in the comics as created by Brian Michael Bendis). I did not expect Riri to work but she really did for me. I'll talk about the film more at some point but the introduction sequence for Namor and the Talokanil/Atlanteans is one of the best horror sequences Marvel has ever done, if not the best. Terrifying stuff and a great, brief performance by the always-lovely Lake Bell.

Also: The two great opening tracks from Christine's solo '80s album, good stuff. Featuring Paul Bartel in the music video!

He also videotaped himself stealing the money and left a VHS taunting folks about it. And then came back and was DA again or something. I've never gotten over that.

As a huge fan of this film that I am proud to have sat through in theaters, I'm thrilled to see "Jeanne Dielman" trending on Twitter: If you check it out, be forewarned: It is largely static, silent shots of its title character going about her life and daily routine for hours, slowly teasing out slow details and mild changes that build to a shocking climax.

I thought the Alexis journalist thing would be nonsensical but it oddly really works, unlike a lot of the show. It makes sense Alexis would've been long-disbarred by now too, so it helps showing actual consequences for her choices.

In light of today's Kanye debacle on Alex Jones (covered in the media thread):

I would assume Holmes' wife hired the PI. She is apparently a pretty serious attorney.

They both apparently separated from their spouses in late August. The affair began early this year, allegedly.

Alex Jones' horrified, in over his head expressions during these clips are one for the ages.

@DRW50 Meanwhile....

Apparently both are nowhere to be seen this morning on ABC. Andrew Shue from Melrose Place! Here they are with Holmes palling up to Shue, I believe when Robach and/or Holmes were training for the NY marathon early this year which is where the affair may have began:

Someone online said FM was like having three bands in one with the three unique voices, styles, etc. and it's absolutely true. But what often excited me most is when you could hear Stevie and Christine on Lindsey's crazy songs or vice versa.

@DRW50will be thrilled about this. As am I. I wish Hulu would archive the full run, not just the latest season. I'd be happy to catch up.

With Robach the wife of Melrose's own Andrew Shue! I posted the original article in the Soap Stars thread bc of the Shue connection, but: You aren't fùcking around when you send the British paps after someone, and it looks like all these pix had to come from a PI discreetly tailing them - maybe by one of the spouses. (Allegedly, they each separated from their partners in August but who knows. The affair supposedly began early this year.)

Well, Andrew Shue (Melrose Place) is about to be back in the news because of this trending scandal featuring his wife, GMA anchor Amy Robach:

Yes, he does that. Sometimes it works for the characters, sometimes it's random but it suited his often-psychotic character on OLTL. But my problem is more when he is just literally sending up all his scenes and mocking them. An issue that plagued both Todds at different times.

I watched him chuckle his way through a ton of rape stories on OLTL. My patience is limited.