Vee

Not surprising, sadly. But their problem is still serious with or without her.

I'll give it a look. These things have never more relevant.

I think it's still a little of both, which makes it very layered. I don't think you can untangle the crypto-sexual intimacy with Chip from the rest of her issues (and I know a little about Baldwin's character). And thanks!

In Ron's mind that warrants I still don't think she's dead for good, but it's just so unnecessary to do with this character period.

Episode 7 (Investments): Cannot believe even Val, an easy mark for her mother too often despite her still-visible resentment, just swallowed her gut and acquiesced to Chip staying with them. Val has a long way to go. I knew Diana would get involved with Chip, but I didn't know she'd be that hot and heavy that fast. What a simp. I did think the instant Ciji saw Chip that they knew each other and had a bad history, but I can't tell here if she seems to be yet another woman enamored of his pretty, pretty face. I did like that he twigged onto the driving ambition Ciji has, and hooked into it with his own. Karen has a great line to the cocky Mack about their sleeping together: "Call me an anachronism, but I like to be consulted on decisions like these." Her turning cold with Diana was a studied moment, but Michele Lee makes it. I liked her pulling back from Mack, and them meeting each other halfway at the end, admitting they're both nervous and scared, just in time for afternoon sex. A fascinating insight into both Gary and Abby's evolving philosophies when he takes her and the kids to see his latest dream: A ranch of his own, having never left behind his love of Southfork and working the land. Abby sees things differently, and very '80s: "Use [money] to make more money. Build bigger dreams." She sees the bifurcated Ewing in Gary - the one who can be an empire-builder, a la Jock or J.R., despite his lifelong love for the peace of the wild. I think both those men exist in Gary (like his love for both Val and possibly Abby), but Abby's only truly interested in one. Anyway, Gary's already found his next bigger dream: Ciji! I LOLed when he told Kenny "I thrive on risk" with a straight face. No shít! That's his whole history! That's why J.R. told the story to Abby about teenaged Gary driving his new motorcycle through a plate-glass window seconds after buying it! I have to believe the writers have a sense of irony about Gary once again embracing his impulsive, sometimes very rash judgment, yet at the same time this is Gary actualized in a lot of ways, finally. He is able to explore the power of his heritage and begin to flex it, and the record label is a solid choice; it also helps to finally begin to consolidate story for key players together, like a more full-on soap. KL Motors didn't quite cut it the same way, and Ewing Records or whatever they call it is much more of the moment with the '80s. The scene with Gary and Abby reconciling their differences over business and ambition were great, and I do believe Abby is being honest with Gary - or as honest as she can be - about her needs, her willingness to meet him where he is, etc. I think she also believes she can nudge him the rest of the way to where she wants for their shared business interests, hence her being delightfully heavy-handed with Richard about Daniel in the delightful sequence where she gets him over a barrel about cutting a deal for Ewing cash. Was it cruel and demoralizing for Richard, particularly to be cowed by the glammed-out rising executrix, the self-crowned 'Princess of the Ewings' who was once just the divorceé housewife he had nooners with while still operating as an upstanding corporate lawyer? Most likely. But I can't blame Abby - look at Richard's track record, both mentally and professionally. Will she come down hard on him and crush his dream, almost certainly, but Richard has been doing Richard for a long time. Evidently it is now time to abruptly write Joe out of the show mid-story. I won't really miss him, though I do think Joe improved a lot in his place on the canvas in recent eps. He had significant chemistry with Val and it seemed like they were positioning him to continue in her sphere even mid-episode, before he told Karen was leaving. I really wonder what happened behind the scenes there. Episode 8 (Man in the Middle): Again, let's be real: Is anything Abby is saying to Richard re: Daniel super evil or way off? More seating, more lunch service, Sunday brunches? She is not wrong - even if Richard or the audience takes issue with her tone as she, his former suburban housewife mistress, humiliates and emasculates him moments before his wife arrives. You see both sides of the equation, esp since restaurants take real time to turn a profit. And it turns out TPTB are doing just as Peter Dunne and co. did at MP almost twenty years later, like I mentioned before: Consolidating story around the musician character and the businesses. Ciji Dunne goes to gig at Richard Avery's Daniel just as Eve Cleary on MP became the singer in residence at Kyle McBride's Upstairs jazz club in its final season. If a formula isn't broken don't fix it, even if Rena Sofer's Eve, while mysterious and viable for the plot, was never as intriguing as Ciji (until she went batshit crazy). Anyway, it's smart storybuilding and canvas outgrowth, tying so many threads and people together. Speaking of MP, Gary Ewing did the Michael Mancini maneuver long before Michael: Cheated on his wife and moved to the beach with his sidepiece! That is a hell of a beach house. Way bigger than Michael and Kimberly's! The tone and disposition Sabatino's Chip affects with many elders, but especially Lilimae is fascinating - often obsequious, yes, but at times very tentative, meek and eager to impress. Obviously we know much of this is an act from a natural born grifter, and Chip bows and scrapes to flatter and please in order to manipulate, but when he nervously tries out his wardrobe in front of Lilimae I don't think it's all bullshít. I think he is genuinely a nervous manchild not born to privilege who is trying out high society duds, and so the mother/child, Oedipal thing with Lilimae hits deeper in these moments, as does the crypto-romantic desire Lilimae has for him that she denies to Val. You can read everything on both Harris and JVA's faces in those scenes, and they're heartbreaking. I was not surprised to find Ciji and Chip in bed together. I had a feeling when they met that they'd known each other before - it's not made clear here one way or the other re: how long this has been going on, but I still think so. Chip running game on Rolling Stone and other contacts for Ciji is great, and I liked Abby listening in and admiring his scammer hustle. Gary trying to play Phil Spector was funny as hell, and led to Abby marking her territory, sensing the spark between Ciji and her man. Seeing Val and Karen together for the first time in a minute, their bond here feels fresher and more spontaneous in their gabbing about Mack, the tour, etc. Val seems lighter of spirit and it's not all about Karen bucking up her sadsack friend. It's more enjoyable to watch. Speaking of happy people, the Averys seem unusually happy together this week; it seems bringing Daniel into their life (both Daniels) has temporarily smoothed things over. This episode is all about Chip and his machinations, and Michael Sabatino performs it all beautifully. It's really something and the show is ascending onto a bigger, grander canvas and scale, in tune with the '80s and upwardly mobile suburbanites. But I don't feel it's lost its roots - it feels of a piece with the changing times, just like Season 3 did. The web of connections and secrets just clicks together beautifully.

Errol's up to some tomfoolery.

This screams 'immediate cancellation' but I'll still watch Susan Sarandon in most things even if I find her political mindset absolutely idiotic.

If it's the 105 minute cut, it's probably the director's cut. But Amazon has it in 1080, of course. You can very easily search them for '54 director's cut'.

The director's cut of 54 - suppressed for decades by the Weinsteins, who cut/reshot the movie immensely to remove the gay content and a lot more amorality and darkness written in by its gay writer-director - is now available on streaming. It's a much more worthwhile film (and includes a gay scene featuring AMC's Cameron Mathison, who was just starting on AMC at the time).

Yeah, it got middling but decent enough reviews for me to give it a watch along with a lot of other stuff for Pride. I figure it's not hurting anyone to give it a shot.

I'm going to give it a watch for Pride month. I'm more interested in the Billy Eichner movie, but I do like Bowen Yang. (And they had Muna doing some of the music, and I dig Muna)

This one's a twofer, of sorts, and I'll use a bit more brevity because I've been busy: Episode 5/6 (Catharsis/New Beginnings) + Dallas (Jock's Will): The wrap-up on the Karen/mob affair was decent enough. I did like the ending tag with it seeming as though Karen set the whole scenario up to bust the bad guys - I was legit wondering for a few minutes there if she'd planned it to feed Roy and Frank to the bigger mob boss, since it seemed Mack could do nothing. That would've been ballsy. But it worked out well, though Macht and Kevin Dobson seemed to be trying to outshout each other and on the verge of each taking a run at "I'm walkin' here!!' Abby is snubbed by Gary when he plans to take Val to Texas for the reading of Jock's will, at least at first. There's a pretty hot scene with them in bed, and her nasty note to him cracked me up. But Val shuts him down and there you have it, off they go. Richard's not taking his shrink appointments while launching Daniel. I'm sure that'll turn out fine. Everyone's obsessed with Ciji! It is not lost on me that Gary keeps listening to her song over and over, and Ginger's pretty over Kenny doing it too. I didn't realize Gary might enter into the Ciji story on a deeper level, and that really intrigues me. As for Episode 6, the crossover with Dallas on the same note re: Jock's Will, the show instantly feels more modern here - sleek, all-white hotels, sexy sax, Val dolled up for her book launch, even if it is all in Dallas itself. I wasn't expecting the KL episode to take place half in Dallas with appearances from more than J.R. I love the shenanigans Gary and Abby get up to in their suite, the elevator, etc. Mills and Shackelford are so much fun together, while J.R. and Abby still uniquely have each other's measure. I did love that Abby asked him outright why he is so afraid of Gary if his brother's such a loser, and J.R. said it was about Gary's rage. Still, he compliments what Abby has helped bring out in Gary without challenging him. "Gary with guts," J.R. marvels. I do think Abby loves Gary here and now - partly she considers him a project, an investment in his emergent, more powerful self, but she loves him for that and for what she sees in his potential, and has fallen for him genuinely. YMMV. (I also loved Shackelford's monologue about Jock's death and its effect on him.) Lord at Lilimae invading the Bess Riker agency, monologuing about her arrest and prison break! And somehow, utilizing both his and Lilimae's own personalities and penchants for fibbing and/or skullduggery in Chip's case, Chip Roberts has managed to scam his way into the Ewing home. Michael Sabatino and Julie Harris are uncomfortably good together, with the strange romantic edge as he wheedles his way into Lilimae's heart to get what he wants. I don't know why I was surprised to find out that he was also sleeping with Bess (Louise Sorel). Interesting to see both Chip and Bess openly calling him 'young and pretty' - non-masculine signifiers. The show is really heating up on a level it hasn't before with the addition of this storyline, and the more concentrated focus on Gary and Abby's rise to power and Val's career (which she finally seems happier with, this week anyway). At first I was not a massive fan of how Mack talks to Karen's sons ('yer ugly faces') when we've barely seen him get to know them. He was a bit too familiar as the patriarch for a man at best dating their mom. I guess he and Karen are technically official now, though they've never quite said it. He won me over completely though in the great scene with Diana, where he sort of dissects himself and his too-familiar or aggressive behavior with them, and people in general, to try to mend fences with her. Everything he said about himself was absolutely right and you understood him better for the telling of it. Of course Diana in her infinite wisdom then goes out and befriends Chip Roberts, and Mack is back on her shítlist. Oh well. Speaking of "Jock's Will," I've enjoyed a fair amount of idle watching of Dallas Season 5/6 during these crossovers, and I haven't binged all of it, but I am inclined to agree with some of the KL bloggers out there: It's occasionally diverting fluff, but very little ever changes on Dallas. Smiling men in suits meet at restaurants to either deal with J.R., team up to get J.R., or worry about what J.R. will do to them. "The cartel" is regularly discussed. Bobby and Pam (a far cry from her earliest self) worry over J.R. or, too often, something to do with Pam's health, babies, or mental health re: babies. Cliff Barnes grins like a March hare and says something stupid meant to mock the sworn enemy of J.R., while constantly vowing to get J.R. who has already destroyed him and/or driven him to suicide at least five times. Sue Ellen, a far cry from her earliest self too, cycles through wretched hairdos while worrying about J.R. or a man in her life (be they infantile like her son or simply mentally infantile like her lovers) who could fall prey to J.R. while staring at the crystal decanters on her shelves. Barbara Bel Geddes sighs, purses her lips and thinks of Jimmy Stewart and "Vertigo" in between crying jags. Lucy's varying deranged, bland or dead men (Mickey was cute) come and go while Lucy's acting ability and characterization fail to find any new heights. And Steve Kanaly remains very hot to me. But Dallas is no Knots Landing. I don't know how long they got by doing so many variations on the same old thing, though I will say S5-6 are far more diverting than some other episodes so far, and I may keep following along this Jock's will plotline where he's divided the company. I've been fooled before, though: The intriguing development where Cliff and 'the cartel' had J.R. truly over a barrel in Season 5, then Jock's death hit and J.R. began spiraling further was compelling, but it lasted maybe an episode and a half before J.R. had recommitted himself to being J.R. 'for Daddy' and began scheming in earnest anew, reclaiming Sue Ellen for perhaps the third or fourth time and vanquishing pathetic Cliff yet again. I nearly tune out when, well, half the characters are onscreen at this point. I just can't watch the same old thing in perpetuity. You don't get that on Knots, at least not yet. At least Priscilla Pointer is here as Pam and Cliff's imperious mom - and I'm pretty sure she cacks it soon, too.

An additional thread: Sonmez has certainly done her share of showing out in the last few days and appears to now be trying to get fired. But I also don't think anything she's said about the editorial double standards at these offices is wrong. Hence why scum like Josh Kraushaar has finally been rescued from the depths of the National Journal and hired by (of course) Axios. There are always different rules for white men, but especially white conservative men.

I completely agree. It's never been lost on me how many people salivate to go after the older women in the party, and forget Feinstein's long and distinguished record. But I also think Feinstein is ill, has made some key mistakes on her own recognizance that aren't connected to that, and purely for health reasons shouldn't still be in that seat. YMMV.

Their son had been struggling with addiction for years - it's just so sad. Kristina's endured a lot.

Oh, how awful.

A truly shocking return, filming for next year:

All of the above?

RTD posted a new pic with Eve Myles today. Torchwood was such a ropey show at almost all times, but I did love that cast. Who knows when they'll let Barrowman out of Industry Jail, but I would like to see some of those characters (especially Gwen) again someday.

A lot to process. It's easy to distill Feinstein down to the most frustrating lowlights of our recent times, but her career is historic, much of the work she did during it was seismic, and its end is tragic.

I'm very calm, lol. The issue is that people casually talk about the openly gay creatives on these shows like this all the time around here but no one else, and it just feels gross. iI's also not gonna get legitimate complaints about GH taken any more seriously, it's just gonna get the whole place dismissed as a house of cranks and lunatics even more than usual. There are dozens of serious things wrong with GH, many of them all Frank's fault, but I don't have to bring it down to a male actor turning tricks or showing hole for Uncle Frank to make it about his very obvious favoritism and biases towards past shows he's worked on, and loads of other shitty behavior and choices. You don't have to agree with me, you do what you like; I just wish we could talk about this without trying to imply FV is Gay Harvey Weinstein based on no evidence.