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ben mcd

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Posts posted by ben mcd

  1. Posted

    After that story, question time:

    Did I miss it either in 6 or 7 or have the movies never officially addressed the disappearance of Santos and Leo from the crew/family after 5? I remember hearing they were left out because of contract disputes to be in 6, but they just sort of went away in terms of plot/importance...not that character continuity is a problem for this franchise or anything, but it sort of bugs me, especially with this whole "family" horseshit being the driving motivation for everyone now.

  2. Posted

    I saw it on opening night in a packed theater (alone; my wife doesn't get why these movies are so dumbly enjoyable) and was laughing hysterically at the flash-back wedding, Dom's dead, Michelle Rodriguez verbal CPR scene to the point that an elderly lady sitting next to me put her arm around my shoulder and said "he's gonna be alright". When I told her I was laughing, she looked at me like I was an insane person.

    • Like 8

  11. Posted

    The music charts being stagnant seem to be a function of the inclusion of streaming services, which have horrible algorithms that never seem to change for the "radio" playback (at least from personal experience). The genre stations/playlists from Pandora, for instance, flat out do not change. I teach classes at a gym and one of the popular choices of other coaches is the "Dance Cardio" station that has been the same 10 or so songs for the past year and a half, at least. If the chart includes streaming services that report those plays, nothing ever moves.

     

    Father John Misty's skewing of those algorithms on his SAP parody service is pretty much spot on.

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    Without ruining it, I'll say this: there isn't much comedy to be found in the twist ending and I hope it sparks a legit debate about how fucked up of a morality-based sociopath Tyler Perry is. His crossdressing movies are one thing, but a drama that posits the moral that this movie ends on is dangerously bigoted. I'd like Jessica Chaffin on this just to hear her and Jason potentially rip TP a new asshole.

  23. Posted

    Earnest reading of New York lyrics had me dying. Totally forget how bad that song was or even what it sounded like until this episode. I think I only have room for one song called "New York" in my head and it is occupied by Doves.

     

     

    The Elevation tour was also sort of strange in that PJ Harvey opened for them on a huge chunk of dates which was a weird (but welcome) pairing. Saw it two nights in Chicago.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    Zooropa was the apex for me and still worth listening to, despite Bono's lyrics beginning to verge into the farcical ("skins white but you think you're a brother" or "If you need someone to blame, throw a rock in the air, you'll hit someone guilty.",...). To preempt the Pop critique, which is where I pretty much departed the U2 train (though went to the Popmart and next two tours), there was some great production and composition on that album that was then diarrhead on by lyrical content and themes from Lord Bono. If "Miami" or "Mofo" were just instrumentals, they would be pretty great songs. Last Night on Earth, Gone, Feel Loved and Velvet Dress are the only ones that I would say are fine as-is in hindsight. Everything else either needs heavy lyrical editing (God Will Send his Angels, Staring at the Sun, Please), no lyrics whatsover (Miami, Mofo, Discotheque) or just to be nuked from ever being recorded (Playboy Mansion, Wake Up Dead Man ((shudder)).

     

    And I hope the acoustic version of Staring at the Sun makes Scott's cut.

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