Bartimaeus

I had to look: hoo boy, I do believe this helps explain a few things, .

It seems like most would agree that budget wasn't really the problem there: don't think throwing more at it would really help.

Believe it or not, Spider's Bane is only +2 and applies the spell "Free Action" to the wielder...but the general idea of "kill all the spiders before you can obtain the spider-killing sword that you can't really use for its specific purpose of killing spiders because you already killed all the spiders" remains, .

No disagreement there, she did a lousy job representing herself. Why attack Jennifer Hale when she's got nothing to do with it? It obviously came from a place of emotion and distress from multiple angles (not being able to reprise what is presumably her most treasured role in a major game series that she was well-liked for is one thing already before you throw in needing money to survive), so I get it, but certainly not the most effective plea. I read earlier that before they "awarded" Hellena the role, they opened it up for others to audition, which is interesting. I don't know enough about the voice acting business to know whether that's typical, but it seems odd to already be auditioning replacements before you give the lowball offer. I can't imagine somebody like Charles Martinet (Mario, Luigi, Wario et al.) having to do that for each game that uses his voice, and she's already played the role in five different games as it is...but I don't know, maybe that's just part of Platinum Games' process: not every company will do things the same way, particularly across continents. Again, not likely something we'll get an answer about. Ah, the beautiful future of 'AI': just another one of those boots forever stomping on the face of humanity in search of a quick buck.

Most non-star VAs do have a second job: it is and has always been an underpaid and undervalued industry that preys on people's desire to be a part of something and be known for a role, possibly make it big. Regardless, it still doesn't take away the value of their work and impact whether they're being offered competitive rates for the roles they perform; replacing her with Jennifer Hale makes it pretty clear that it wasn't really about the money. Why Platinum Games seemingly wanted to replace her is a much more interesting question that we probably won't get an answer for. Personally, the little I've seen of those games makes me wish I could forcibly silence all voice-acting because of how gosh-awful the general voice direction is, so hey, if they really want to save some money, they could hire me so that I could fire everybody and just use text boxes that one hundred percent would be totally fitting and completely not clash with the style of the game at all, .

Considering they got Jennifer Hale to replace her, who almost certainly commanded a much higher asking price given her experience and fame in the industry, it would suggest that they simply wanted someone different and the lowball offer was their way of trying to shift blame ("we tried to get her back, but she refused the offer"). I haven't played the game or heard her work, so I can't comment on the wisdom of this. Yes: one should perhaps instead look up how much travel nurses are paid in the U.S. - it is substantially higher than regular nurses for short-term positions to cover staffing deficiencies, either because of simply not having the normal manpower for whatever reason or because of temporary situations that require more (e.g. surges in covid). Even that's still not exactly analogous to true contract work like you'd find in the tech industry, where e.g. external computer architects and engineers can get paid literal hundreds of dollars per hour for a job that may only be as short as 4 hours...or possibly much longer, depending on what it is. Point is, you don't know when the next job will come in for contract work, since by its nature it's irregular and unpredictable employment, so if your skills are valued enough for people to hire you for contract work, it necessarily has to be a lot more so the person can afford to stay afloat; if they can't, then it wouldn't be sustainable and it wouldn't be a thing.

As I wasn't ever going to touch this show with a ten foot pole anyways, it is quite petty and besides the point (also, possibly a little racist...against elves?). If the characters and writing were good, it would be more or less irrelevant immediately.

I have been informed that the following picture is apparently Elrond from The Rings of Power (yes, this is actually real): I am now starting to understand what @majestic means when he says the elves don't look quite elven, because these guys look hilarious. However, as I sadly have not watched the actual show, I have the fortunate distinction of being able to pass on discussion of the series in any meaningful capacity.

"I'm a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms." Gunsmith Cats (1995), featuring Rally (left) and May (right) are two gunsmiths who maintain and sell guns in the city. But actually, they're bounty hunters who have a propensity for bending the law a little too much themselves and end up, against their best interests, getting roped into helping the feds. For some reason, these two also live together and like to bicker about everything. The first episode (of a 3-part OVA) was genuinely quite fun. I've had this on my to-watch for a couple of years now, but my history in trying out old action-oriented shows/movies has been largely disappointing on the whole, so I'd grown skeptical of it over time. Hopefully the next two will be good as well.

All teams play on TNF each year, it makes sense to put these two in it together.

@Gromnir Do their words become worth less if they initially lied to the FBI? Genuinely asking, I don't know about this sort of thing.

I should re-watch Coraline sometime. It seems like something I should enjoy, but it did not click for me at all when I did watch it a few years ago.

1. Methinks the Packers need to learn how to play football for more than exactly one half if they're gonna wanna hang with the other contenders. 2. I was the only one that picked the Cowboys in my pickem group, and I have no idea why. Rams have looked so bad while Cowboys have been alarmingly good without Dak.

Nah, it's perfectly fine, especially if you use spoiler tags; I looked at them earlier today and I already don't remember what was in them, . I'm pretty good at preventing stuff from being committed to memory if I don't want it to be.

You have my attention. Though I guess I should ask: is it terrible? I don't think I can even start to think about watching the show until all of it is out. That at least means I'll forget whatever spoilers I read by then, at least.

Watcher (2022). Mike of RLM loved this one a couple of months ago and it sounded like it was up my alley, so I waited until I forgot what it was about before I watched it. It's a really simple and straightforward kind of film that is pretty much exactly what it presents itself as, which is our main character moving to a different country (Romania) where she doesn't know the language or anybody besides her husband, and she feels as though she is being persistently watched by someone most any time of day and wherever she goes. Even though it's a fairly simple concept, it's a very tense and pretty film that makes good use of its foreign location to help isolate the main character, and I really rather enjoyed it. Other reviews mention it being too slow and not crazy enough, but that was O.K. with me: if you do "forced into being uncomfortable and vulnerable" well enough, I think you have a good film for this concept.

I officially, and humbly, retract my previous statement of the two western divisions sending 6 playoff teams. I don't know if even three are going to make it at this point.

Haven't seen The Counselor, but from what I read, probably? Bigly spoilers about Martyrs:

Biden pardons thousands of people convicted with marijuana charges...but possibly more importantly, if anything comes of it:

The closest comparison I have is Martyrs (2008), which is...there's literally nothing to feel good about with that film: The Skin I Live In was rainbows and lollipops in comparison, so I was happy it didn't go quite that dark. I probably wouldn't want to watch it again either, but I guess my overall impression is...positive.

The Skin I Live In (2011). A sci-fi thriller starring Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya about...the listed premise doesn't really actually do the film's concept any justice, but at the same time, you can't actually say much about it without revealing too much. Kind of had the full range of a movie-going experience for me: there were stretches of the film I really enjoyed, some stretches that I did not at all, felt creeped/grossed out at times, laughed because a few things didn't quite work for me like they should've...and even got a little emotional at the end because I really felt for a character. Weird experience being so all over the place.

Alita: Battle Angel (2019). For some reason, they mistakenly call her Alita instead of Gally. Well, it's a bit of an ugly and pedestrian affair: they jammed some new details in (which may come from later in the manga?) and yanked others out, but it more or less followed and ended with the incomplete two episode OVA...albeit I feel like they really missed the mark on setting the tone and atmosphere that the OVA did, on top of the characterization somehow being weaker. It's over twice as long as the OVA, yet feels like it really rushed through its story beats in favor of a lot of action scenes. Uh...I don't know why I watched this: I'm sorry. Whatever they did to "animate" Gally makes her look like a 3D cartoon character in a real world space - most other people look and move around like...well, people, and then you have this Shrek-looking lady awkwardly lumbering around right beside them; who thought this was a good idea? More generally, the first few minutes or so of this film made me realize I hadn't watched a big dumb CGI Hollywood blockbuster film in a while, and I'd kind of forgotten how they work: it was honestly a bit of a culture shock. Surely this isn't how the film is going to look and operate? Well...yes, yes it is. Right, now who wants to help me stick James Cameron into a blender?

Like every 3 months or so, I am faced with an announcement like this from a site I use: To which my reply, of course, is: "Screw you, I ain't watching any of that garbage...and while we're at it, screw all you people on here that will: we are not the same kind of people, I'm only on here to find old crap, while you lot are the rotten poison ruining the medium." ...I guess I have some internalized anger towards the people who make the anime industry what it is today, .

Yeah, I didn't love either of them, but they were pretty good quality, particularly for '87, and it would've been nice to see more and different concepts a la a real anthology series. Oh well.

It does appear that way. Out with the old, in with the new! Cue Dak Prescott coming back and losing a couple of games and the Cowboys fanbase collapsing in on itself.