Maedhros

Not only anti-vax, he's also quite clearly pro-russia. Anyone voting for him instead of Biden is a loony. His backers want Trump as President. A vote for him is a vote that favours Trump over Biden.

Watched Barbie - I expected it to be overhyped, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. It's not funny, and it's not clever. Not a good combo for a film that tries to be both.

Should probably be in the "funny stuff" thread.

The naive policies of Sweden are starting to send waves of crime to their neighbours. But it's not in the character of a Swede to admit they were wrong. Ask any Norwegian or Dane. (I still love you though, Sweden).

Watched the D&D movie, which I liked more than I expected to. Fun adventure film with lots of heart. More similar to something like Princess Bride or Stardust than Lord of the Rings.

Elephant Man has been on my watchlist so for so long, pretty much the only thing I haven't seen by David Lynch yet. I really, really enjoyed Twin Peaks season 3. Far more than I believed I would. One of few films/tv-shows I really want to watch again.

Because they are the ones most deserving of criticism/disapproval. Why let them off the hook?

It baffles me that anyone's focus in this war is consistently criticising anyone but Russia.

Avatar. Way too long, with a pretty damn average script - but the stunning visuals makes it worth it.

I think rather the war in Ukraine is the reason. Turkey is more important to NATO and the EU than ever.

https://variety.com/lists/best-martin-scorsese-movies-ranked/ Controversial pick for #1, but it really is a phenomenal film.

Elrond (and his friendship with Durin) is the best part about the show I think. They nailed the "kind as summer" Elrond from the books, unlike Hugo Weaving who is nothing like the character. People like his Elrond because they like Hugo Weaving...who's just being himself. He also looks just as much an elf as bloody Hugo Weaving with his receding hairline did. --- As for the show. The hate and unreasonable criticism it's getting is so over the top. I've read all of Tolkien' writings (including the obscure stuff) a gazillion times and the feel I'm getting is that these guys know Tolkien better than Peter Jackson did. While the showmakers take liberties at times, and invent stuff left and right they kind of have to as there are so many blank spots to fill in, in the second age. The dialogue for the most part is Tolkienian (more so than PJ - "let's hunt some orc!"), and he even had so much dialogue to pick from the books. I'd rate it a decent 7/10, with the expectation that things will get even better now that they've sat things in motion. Big kudos to them that they manage so much with so little to go from, AND with big constraints put on them in terms of where these characters have to end up. I especially loved the dwarven stuff, and the orcs looked better than ever. The dialogue was at times beautiful, and some scenes were much better than they could be expected to be (like the intense back-and-forth with the two Durins).

Living standards declining in 90% of countries: https://www.dw.com/en/un-index-shows-living-standards-declining-in-90-of-countries/a-63052023 Coronavirus/war in Ukraine/global warming cited as main reasons.

Liking House of the Dragon so far (bar that action scene at the end of episode 3). It's taking its time, and laying some really good groundwork for upcoming conflicts. Kudos to the writers for being very loyal to the story by GRRM. Rings of Power I had very low expectations going into, and I'm reasonably happy with it. They clearly care about the lore, despite the weird scriptmaking decisions at times. It's just frustrating that they don't have the rights to Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc. They're also gonna miss out on some key events that they don't have the rights to in the future).

@BartimaeusI quite disliked Jojo Rabbit, and feel very alone in that camp (what's up with EVERYONE loving it so much?!). It wasn't smart and it wasn't funny. Though very different, I think Death of Stalin did satire much better. In terms of Taika Waititi, I vastly preferred his Hunt for the Wilderpeople. When I think about it, I think I've just grown tired of his style of quirkiness. What We Do in the Shadows isn't as funny as it used to be either.