u/Extension-While7536

One fun exchange in "Oppenheimer" was when David Krumholtz's Isaac Rabi, in bonding with Oppenheimer, asks him how it is he could be an NYC kid and Jewish and never learned a word of Yiddish. Robert says, "Not as much of it spoken on my side of the park." Rabi smirks at the classist remark and tells Oppenheimer to go f**k himself, and they're friends from then on. But has that kind of division in Manhattan Jewish culture remained today, or how has it shifted?

I saw Operation Mincemeat two weeks back and the performance Jeff Kready gave, especially in "Dear Bill", is still vivid. I wonder for those who have seen both Jeff and Jak's takes what were some of the biggest differences between their approaches. Jeff felt like kind of a cross between Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie and a lot of Danny Kaye energy. I never saw Jak's performance.

It's gorgeous!

Mac's reactions from the gang is exactly how the Marvel fans acted when Kumail Nanjiani got ripped. As he said in Night Thoughts, "I was the first celebrity to get ridiculed for getting in shape! How the FUCK did that happen?"

The good guys, so to speak, win. The worse guys go to jail, and the rest survive though not unscathed. A brutal finale for sure but looking back, were we better off as fans with it?

I am a non-Muslim and was at a playground recently in my neighborhood with my infant daughter. We went to the swing set and encountered a mother in a full-face hijab (eyes only) pushing her son in the swing. She said to me, "Hello there!" And I said, "Oh hello!" And she said, "Do you remember me from the other day?" And I said no of course, because my neighborhood has many Muslim women who wear full-face hijabs. I wonder though whether there are legitimate ways that those with full-face hijabs have of recognizing those who are friends of theirs or even family, without having to say anything? I always assumed such veils make someone completely anonymous by their very nature, but are there ways around that to ease interactions in public life?

Hear me out.  A performer struggling to make a name for himself through thankless gigs, his best friend who can’t seem to hold down a job, another friend who is possibly a bit insane and often off on random adventures, and a woman friend who seems like she should be above their antics yet often falls into them anyway.  Kind of both shows, no?

Of course the tones are different but take away the laugh track from “Seinfeld” and think about some of their episodes featuring Crazy Joe Davola.  That actor (Peter Crombie) got laughs but he played that lunatic pretty straight.  If you take away laughter from the clown/opera trip episode, it’s often a bit more veering into horror.  Likewise, both shows had episodes that basically seemed to have almost no plot at all: if you described Seinfeld’s Chinese Restaurant episode or Atlanta’s  “BAN” episode to some execs, both could elicit reactions of bafflement from the lack of story or character development.

I wonder where Donald Glover and Larry David might find some common ground when it comes to their senses of humor.  Seems like both of their shows got at the awkwardness of everyday banal activities; where Glover was able to often bring in the tension faced by poor and black Americans, I think Larry has always got at the tension of being born with a natural urge to question seemingly unnecessary social norms, and the FAFO of what happens when his characters violate them.

Anyways, just a thought.  Would love reflections from fans of both shows.

To Peter and the "Wait, Wait" producers,

When Faith Salie tells you during an "Odyssey" discussion that she made out TWICE with Matt Damon in college, you don't move on to asking "what insect is this summer's biggest issue?" You WAIT. You pause, and you ask the questions! Like, how was it, of course? But also, was Faith "the one that got away"? Was Faith in fact the inspiration for Minnie Driver's character in "Good Will Hunting"? Did Matt meet Faith in a bar with a history buff who tried to pick up Faith with his knowledge of Gordon Wood? Did he years later wish he had driven cross-country to go find her, and consequently is Faith Salie the inspiration for Matt's Academy Award-winning movie which is what turned him into a STAR?

You're a news station: this time, you totally buried the lede!!

P.S. If you don't think that I wrote this in jest, and that I worship the audiowaves Mr. Sagal and Paula oscillate on, then you're missing the point.

A fascinating thing for me as I saw Joe Turner's Come And Gone was figuring out that Seth and Bertha (stars Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson) aren't who the show is about. It is very rare to watch a play where the actors with the biggest names and most lines aren't really the center of the show. This is much more a show about Harald, Mattie and Bynum's interactions from what I could tell. What other works can you think of where the lead roles aren't actually the protafonists?

Conan O'Brien recently debuted a new gelled hairdo that brought me back to the days of Riley's gleaming gelled hair. With the lights of the Garden shining off it, Riley could have brought ships lost in the fog right to courtside. What are some of your favorite memories of Coach Riley's hair?

I have often watched CNN's international versions when traveling abroad and the content is often very different from the US America-focused channel. Is the merger inclusive of all CNN stations worldwide and any clue as to how that would play out?

For me and my wife, if I say, "Jared, what is GODSON doing here?" at the right moment we both just lose it. (We've seen Emma Stone's "The Actress" sketch way too many times.)

I'm reading the Sunrise on the Reaping book by Suzanne Collins now, which is the story of Haymitch Abernathy's Hunger Games, some 20 years before the events of the first book. One thing that I'm realizing as I come to the end is that adapting Haymitch's time in the arena could be somewhat of a challenge because he spends a good deal of it alone. The first-person narration is key in part because even when he encounters others, he doesn't reveal his actual plans because he knows he's being watched. So, how do you successfully adapt that kind of solo survival story?

I think of Cast Away obviously, where Wilson served as a way for Hanks' character to have dialogue and explain his actions, while also giving the character an escape from isolation. No internal monologue needed. Then there are films like Apocalypse Now where Martin Sheen and his team go further and further into madness, and there are traces of monologue but it's certainly not constant. I wonder whether Sunrise would benefit more from keeping Abernathy's internal monologue or letting it all go and just have us watch and learn as we go what he's up to.

What films have you seen over the years that took interesting paths in either abandoning or delivering the solo survivalist's thoughts? I haven't seen for example Wild, The Revenant, The Grey, 127 Hours or 1997's The Edge.

I'm hearing news on security precautions for the weekend and advice on higher traffic but little regarding whether there will be a large crowd of fans or anything like that in Midtown. Are there going to be lines of fans coming into the city or is this going to be something no one lines up for because it's a totally private event?

So Netflix has revealed the cast for Season 2 now in production, with some welcome returns such as Mark Bonnar as shady Lord Advocate Stephen Burns and Kate Dickie as Chief Moira. Not so sure about Kelly McDonald, but one interesting addition is veteran American TV and film actress Amy Brenneman!

As for which book is being adapted, since the books were in Denmark and the locale's been changed to Scotland, names are changed, but one remained the same: "Kimmie", who is one of the lead protagonists of Adler-Olsen's book "The Absent One." They describe this season as a story of wealthy criminals conspiring, so I'm pretty sure this is the story they'll be telling.

If you haven't seen season one, start it today. At least get to the end of the pilot before you decide, and I promise it gets twistier and tenser with each episode. One of the most bingeable mysteries I've watched recently, with great turns by Alexej Manvelov as Akram and Matthew Goode as Carl Morck. ENJOY!

So Netflix has revealed the cast for Season 2 now in production, with some welcome returns such as Stephen Bonnar as shady Lord Advocate Mark Burns and Kate Dickie as Chief Moira. Not so sure about Kelly McDonald, but one interesting addition is veteran American TV and film actress Amy Brenneman!

As for which book is being adapted, since the books were in Denmark and the locale's been changed to Scotland, names are changed, but one remained the same: "Kimmie", who is one of the lead protagonists of Adler-Olsen's book "The Absent One." They describe this season as a story of wealthy criminals conspiring, so I'm pretty sure this is the story they'll be telling.

If you haven't seen season one, start it today. At least get to the end of the pilot before you decide, and I promise it gets twistier and tenser with each episode. One of the most bingeable mysteries I've watched recently, with great turns by Alexej Manvelov as Akram and Matthew Goode as Carl Morck. ENJOY!

I did not expect to fall for this movie. The premise sounds, as even one of the characters says at one point "a sick version of You've Got Mail!" but this is actually a much more fun and honest romance than that flick for me. Leah McKendrick is doing her own thing as a writer-director and Zoey Deutch SOARS as Jill. Nick Robinson is just fine as the lovestruck guy with a secret and he is charming and fun. This film wouldn't be nearly the unexpected joy it is without Deutch. Very romantic, very funny. They are NOT making many like this anymore. (Now course, I am also a man who loves Robyn, so maybe I'm biased.) "Voicemails for Isabelle" seriously delivers.