Faulkner

^I wonder what happened....

Haven’t watched yet. The hype has been insane, which always makes me suspicious, but I’ll give it a shot.

Totally. Seems people are much more invested in the (not even) glorified exhibition that is Laver Cup these days, as expensive as it is. But DC could have been really fun.

I think it’s an attempt at a depth metric for each country. I don’t think it’s *that* useful in theory (one country could have five players in the top 40 and then their No. 6 is #185 and No. 7 is #587), but it does sort of line up with which countries usually have the most options in, say, Davis Cup, should top players decide not to play.

This struck me as interesting from someone reporting on trends in TV development. Not sure how much I buy it as some sort of dire prediction for the future of long-form drama, but we’ll see.

Adorable speech.

This is a crazy story, given how many players who’ve been on the tour for YEARS without a single ATP tour title at ANY level.

Yeah, Harry really didn’t have to wear the swastika t-shirt to be recognizable as Sid Vicious. He could have just gone shirtless under the leather jacket.

The runner-up trophy is cooler than the champion’s!

Wow. Season 3 of NatGeo’s “Genius” (which previously covered Einstein and Picasso) will be about Aretha!

BAFTA winners. Malek, Ali, Roma for Picture, and Cuaron for Director continue to look very strong to repeat at the Oscars, although the Oscars have a preferential ballot for Best Picture that makes predicting winners in that category tricky. I think the Brits love Colman, but I’m not sure she overcomes the due factor for Glenn Close at the Oscars. Similar sentiment for Weisz, who didn’t have to face Regina King at the BAFTAs. BEST FILM “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez DIRECTOR Alfonso Cuaron, “Roma” LEADING ACTOR Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody” LEADING ACTRESS Olivia Colman, “The Favourite” SUPPORTING ACTOR Mahershala Ali, “Green Book” SUPPORTING ACTRESS Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite” ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY “The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara ADAPTED SCREENPLAY “BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, Kevin Willmott ORIGINAL MUSIC “A Star is Born,” Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Lukas Nelson FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez DOCUMENTARY “Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shannon Dill, Evan Hayes ANIMATED FILM “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,”Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM “The Favourite,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara CINEMATOGRAPHY “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón EDITING “Vice,” Hank Corwin PRODUCTION DESIGN “The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton COSTUME DESIGN “The Favourite,” Sandy Powell MAKE UP & HAIR “The Favourite,” Nadia Stacey SOUND “Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Casali, Tim Cavagin, Nina Hartstone, Paul Massey, John Warhurst SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS “Black Panther,” Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, Dan Sudick OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER “Beast,” Michael Pearce (Writer/Director), Lauren Dark (Producer) BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION “Roughhouse,” Jonathan Hodgson, Richard Van Den Boom BRITISH SHORT FILM “73 Cows,” Alex Lockwood EE RISING STAR AWARD (VOTED FOR BY THE PUBLIC) Letitia Wright OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED) Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, Number 9 Films BAFTA FELLOWSHIP (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED) Thelma Schoonmaker

I also think Medvedev is being pitched as a villain against Golden Boy Tsitsipas. Still, he can come across as a jerk, both on and off court. Has she ever done the sports psychologist route? I would love to see more commitment to moving past those mental hurdles. She may be a lost cause, but we’ll never know if she doesn’t try. She’s still very young and could have many years ahead if her body holds up.

Madison’s trend line certainly isn’t going in the right direction. Hopefully she’s not injured, as her previous injuries really derailed a lot of potential momentum. But she does crumble a bit under pressure. I wonder what it will take to give her some belief. I suppose Novak played them both into form in Melbourne. Lol. (I think Mitchell Krueger, who played Novak in R1 in Australia, is in the finals of the Dallas Challenger.)

Wow. Cate Blanchett looks great with the dark hair and this cut.

Oy at Madison losing that Fed Cup tie. She was totally overpowering Ash at the beginning. But what’s going on with Gavrilova? She’s a disaster right now. Same as the other Dasha.

This late-career surge for Pierre-Hugues Herbert in singles is really something.

Yeah, Sean Penn of 10-20 years ago was winning Oscars. Not sure he has the same gravitas today.

They are really, really trying to push momentum for this film before final voting starts. Of course, that’s somebody’s job (a whole bunch of people’s jobs actually), and they have an opening in an unsettled Best Picture race. Not sure the push has been handled the best, though.