@thefienprint.bsky.social
Chief Television Critic, The Hollywood Reporter. General social media dabbler. Most of my content/writing/word-spewing can be found here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/e/the-fien-print/
In that case, I humbly submit my counter-answer, not as a CORRECT answer, but as a worthwhile piece of the conversation. [Had Newman won for "Hud," it would be the correct answer.]
Paul Newman won an Oscar for a movie whose entire theme, text and subtext, was "Paul Newman Can Still Get It." And he was Paul Newman.
[My opinion as a straight man is probably irrelevant to this debate.]
Q: How is Jack Benny in "To Be or Not to Be" like an ergonomic chair?
A: He provided superior Lombard support.
[This joke works better spoken aloud.]
The answer, especially in recent years, is "More than none."
Just as an example from the football side, Malachi Nelson has gone from USC to Boise State to UTEP to Syracuse in four years.
The Quakers are going dancing! Which I believe is also the plot of "The Testament of Ann Lee"!
Great first season for Coach Fran.
#GoQuakers
I feel like he could transfer to BC now and spend his senior year as a starter.
He practically threw his name into the transfer portal!
TJ POWER DOESN'T ABBREVIATE!!!
#GoQuakers
Well, he only directed the first two episodes.
ICYMI, my review Paramount+'s "The Madison," which represents both the worst and near-best of Taylor Sheridan:
The Hamletoverse is absolutely IP.
There are MANY more lightbulbs on the "Culinary Cup" primary set than the "Top Chef" kitchen!
I liked that for the "Meat two-ways" challenge, more than a third of the contestants didn't understand the prompt, but rather than acknowledging, "Oops, we weren't clear in our dumb challenge," they scored those people low and sent one home for an unclear prompt. [It wasn't THAT unclear, oddly.]
It's only a good look when I do it.
It's *a* show.
[Actually, each season has improved upon the season before and the most recent season was great.]
And the contestants before the challenge in their staged conversations being like, "What commandment will this week be?" even though there wasn't a commandment in the first week, so they don't have a clue what it means. The producers just told everybody, "Say 'commandment.' A lot."
But it isn't more concrete. It's just arbitrariness with a number next to it! I'm perfectly happy to accept that appreciation of food is subjective.
Of course. But Padma rarely asks my opinion, which is her loss, because I would surely share it.
"America's Culinary Cup" is BAFFLING to me.
I don't dislike it. What's to dislike? It's a shameless rip-off of "Top Chef," only with an arbitrary, silly scoring system.
But the real question is how nobody, at any stage, asked the creators, "Um, do you know what a COMMANDMENT is?"
This season has been significantly less graceful with that.
The show isn't stupid and the way he acted was a data point in his being generally out-of-control, but week-to-week it leaves a bad taste, to be sure.
Ha. I never even though about the deposition/July 4th thing.
Alas! I'm sure we'll be back on the same page next time!
Sorry to say this, but if we are going to gush and cheer and slobber over "The Pitt" when it deserves to be gushed and cheered and slobbered over, we have to also be able to acknowledge when it isn't good.
And this week's episode of "The Pitt" is bad. One egregious cliche after another.
Paramount+'s "The Madison" is two shows at once, one that's among the most mature and introspective that Taylor Sheridan has ever made, boasting a GREAT Michelle Pfeiffer performance, and one that's embarrassing garbage.
My review:
Me, the next time my editor impatiently asks when I'm going to file a review.
Paramount+'s "The Madison" is two shows at once, one that's among the most mature and introspective that Taylor Sheridan has ever made, boasting a GREAT Michelle Pfeiffer performance, and one that's embarrassing garbage.
My review:
And his ripping off the Fruity Pebbles rap in the Year of our Lord 2026 apropos of NOTHING isn't cultural appropriation?
Especially given that the show has settled into a location in which "culture" has been erased entirely.
OK. Clearly things that are illegal or should be illegal are worse.
But among LEGAL things?
Jeff Probst's Tribe Swap rap was an all-time Bottom 10 "Survivor" moment, but Dee greeting him derisively as "Jeffrey the Rapper" almost makes/made it worthwhile.