The Woj (In Exile?)

The first thing we do, let's kill all the strawmen

Tue, 29 May 2012 16:39:42 -0700

My problem w/ Sabermetric fanaticism is that the formulas can’t be logically flawed but a manager can. But you name a formula and I can ….
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 29, 2012

…. cite a human factor that might be relevant on a given night that’s not factored in. It’s a human game played and run by people.
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 29, 2012

"But maybe it’s OK to find Moonrise Kingdom both dramatically inert and aesthetically entrancing, to..."

Mon, 28 May 2012 20:57:56 -0700

“But maybe it’s OK to find Moonrise Kingdom both dramatically inert and aesthetically entrancing, to recommend it with a Wes Anderson asterisk (which would probably be a bright yellow asterisk, lovingly embroidered on brown corduroy).”

- Dana Stevens on Moonrise Kingdom at Slate

Yo dawg I heard you like cabbage so I…

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:32:24 -0700

Yo dawg I heard you like cabbage so I…

When I'm having a bad day, and someone gives me a compliment

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:46:32 -0700

whatshouldwecallme:

I’m just like,

Photo

Sat, 26 May 2012 11:45:25 -0700

"Well, Walton Goggins and I have been pals for three years. We were always wondering when we would..."

Fri, 18 May 2012 23:08:35 -0700

“Well, Walton Goggins and I have been pals for three years. We were always wondering when we would get a chance to work together. It took until episode five for us to even get a scene together. We’re both always ready to rock and roll, and we come to win wherever we go to act. Acting is probably the number one team sport in America as far as I’m concerned. When you both crackle, then you make magic and you win. That’s the sports mentality that I have. Walton is the same. When we did that scene, it was so fantastic. It was a pissing contest. And at the end of it, when we were getting ready for the next scene, the two of us ran to each other and jumped into each other’s arms like we’d won the World Series. We knew that the two of us had gotten the chance to work together and have such a well-crafted scene for our first scene that it was just playtime. We loved it. We had a ball. I wish there was more between Walton and I because I think he’s phenomenal.”

- Neal McDonough (via olyroux)

Fall network dramas

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:32:52 -0700

From The Daily Beast slideshow listing all 38, I think, new shows, my hopes and dreams about the coming fall season, noting that my carryover network dramas are: Castle, Revenge, and Hart of Dixie. Only two shows really got canceled out from under me (Awake, which almost doesn’t count, and Prime Suspect), so it was sort of a good year?

Anyway, in order from most excited to least. Rough order.

Last Resort, ABC: Submarine ordered to nuke Pakistan. Refuses. Sub crew declares itself a sovereign nation by taking over a tropical island. It sounded cool right up until that last sentence. Still, Shawn Ryan has earned, sorta, the benefit of the doubt, and it’s got Andre Braugher and Dichen Lachman. Especially Andre Braugher. No, let me say it again. It’s got Andre Braugher.
Vegas, CBS: Nicholas Pileggi co-wrote it, Michael Chiklis is in the cast, and it’s about a ’60s Vegas sheriff. Hell yeah.
Nashville, ABC: Connie Britton as a country singer. SOLD.
Arrow, CW: As in Green Arrow. Hell yeah. And it’s by Greg Berlanti, so I’m kind of weirded out.
Cult, CW: It’s got a show within a show, a serial killer who might or might not be real, and a PA figures centrally, so why to make a star out of the downtrodden, CW. Plus I feel like a lot of people liked Farscape? And it’s by the Farscape guy, so that’s something.
Elementary, CBS: There’s really really really no reason to do Sherlock Holmes in modern day when we’ve already got Benedict Cumberbatch.
Red Widow, ABC: A soap about a widow taking over her husband’s role in a crime syndicate. It was a Dutch show, I guess, so maybe? But The Killing was also based on a successful European show from a country that starts with D. Although I guess Dutch shows don’t come from a country that starts with D, now that I think about it.
Golden Boy, CBS (mid-season): Ryan Philippe was going to be in this, but he’s not anymore, so I’m way less excited. It’s about a young cop who becomes a big hero, but the other cops want to bring him down. Greg Berlanti is involved, so it’s probably not some hard-ass drama. I don’t know, man.
The Following, Fox: It’s got Natalie Zea and Kevin Bacon, and there’s a serial killer, and Kevin Bacon is an alcoholic FBI agent, so that sounds pretty cool. Oh, but wait, the serial killer is using social media to build a following. Goddammit.
666 Park Avenue, ABC: The apartment building is supernatural. Whatevs.
Mistresses, ABC: Four female friends all have affairs, I guess? This is one of those shows where you can’t tell anything about how it’s going to be until it exists. I’ve always been curious how writers pitch these shows. I mean, Last Resort, that’s easy. “DUDE. SUBMARINE. NUKES.” But this is like, “So I guess like some ladies will sit in their living rooms and talk about the dudes they’re boning?” I mean, look at the photo.
Hannibal, NBC: The show is really in the early stages given that it’s supposedly on the schedule, so who knows. It’s about Hannibal Lecter and a profiler, so I wouldn’t call myself 100% jazzed about it.
Do No Harm, NBC: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde updated. Intriguing idea, I suppose, but an inside source tells me that the pilot isn’t super impressive.
Made in Jersey, CBS: Street-smart female Jersey attorney in Manhattan, blah blah blah. Pablo Schreiber, though. I love that family.
Infamous, NBC: It’s kind of unbelievable how hard NBC is trying to rip off Revenge. I should refuse to watch this purely out of loyalty.
Beauty and the Beast, CW: Everyone who bet $1 that Beauty and the Beast would one day be remade and that it would be on the CW? You can collect your $0.01 winnings. But “their take revolves around a police detective who solves crimes with a genetically altered Afghanistan war veteran.” What.
The Mob Doctor, Fox: She’s secretly a doctor for the mob! It’s going to be hilarious when a show called THE MOB DOCTOR has a pilot where it’s a first-act twist that she’s a mob doctor. Watch. I bet you it happens. Watch. (Oh, but Zach Gilford is in this, so …)
Zero Hour, ABC: Remember how awesome every Giant Conspiracy show post Lost was? Remember? Right.
Revolution, NBC: Remember how awesome every Giant Conspiracy show post Lost was? Remember? Right. (This one has Giancarlo Esposito, though.)
Emily Owens, M.D., CW: What an awful title. Does it tell you anything about what the show is about? Apparently it’s just “working in a hospital is like being in high school.” Why are these shows never about the actual hospital workers, by the way? I’m sick of doctors. I want a show about the radiology techs and the maintenance people.
Chicago Fire, NBC: This is like a mashup of shows that were on ten years ago. The female fire-fighters are distractingly tiny (because they have to be TV hot), but the dudes look mad hunky. I have no idea what this is going to be about, but apparently the writers’ idea of a joke is having the elevator operator be named Otis. That’s a reach, bros. Oh yeah, It’s a Dickwolf show.
The Carrie Diaries, CW: GTFO.

productiveouts: In case you guys didn’t believe this was real....

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:34:50 -0700

productiveouts:

In case you guys didn’t believe this was real. But it TOTALLY IS.

Jeff Muh’fuckin’ Derp.

"Because in Cuba, they say a lot of bad things about the United States. They say the United States is..."

Wed, 09 May 2012 16:15:33 -0700

“Because in Cuba, they say a lot of bad things about the United States. They say the United States is the worst country in the world. They say that we think only about money, that we don’t help nobody, that we only think about work. That there is a lot of crime and we kill a lot of people. That there’s racism. All that stupid crap. So when you come over from Cuba, that’s the first thing you have on your mind.”

- Ariel Prieto. Which part is wrong?

"HBO co-president Eric Kessler has said he thinks the move away from traditional television to an..."

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:50:01 -0700

““HBO co-president Eric Kessler has said he thinks the move away from traditional television to an internet-based model is just a fad that will pass – a temporary phenomenon.””

- Forbes

I cannot even describe how stupid that is.

"DePodesta did his best to ensure people were aware of that intelligence, often wearing a button-down..."

Sat, 05 May 2012 10:54:37 -0700

“DePodesta did his best to ensure people were aware of that intelligence, often wearing a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and glasses (rather than his preferred contact lenses) around campus so people did not view him as “a dumb jock.””

- The Crimson

Ah, college.