#damien lewis was good! but i genuinely don’t remember it well enough so i can’t claim to care enough to call it a favourite | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ta-ether · 5 years

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boy i have feelings about the new catch-22 miniseries. i didn’t hate it! there were parts i genuinely connected with and loved. but it was certainly in some regards a very odd way to adapt the book imo. so here’s some of my thoughts, very haphazard and also mildly spoilery:

getting rid of the non-linear aspect of the story WHILE keeping the climax the same and in the same spot — ie snowden’s death happens chronologically in the middle of the story, and is referenced multiple times throughout the book, but is not shown in full until the penultimate chapter, which then back-informs the entire rest of the book and yossarian’s choices — completely changes yossarian’s arc as a character

part of the tragedy of snowden’s death was that yossarian doesn’t know how to comfort him or have the words to help him die, which makes yossarian’s tenderness strange? and why didn’t you have him say “there, there”

the end of the book’s “if you can’t break the system, you must escape the system” and the end of the miniseries is “if you can’t break the system, angrily embrace the system” which is BULLSHIT

the miniseries is also in some ways far too conventional for its own good and doesn’t lean into the absurd nature of the book nearly enough

milo wasn’t villainized nearly enough tbh (though his actor was great, and i loved him in deaf west spring awakening as ernst’s voice)

6 45-minute episodes is not enough to comprehensively tell this story imo

they had decent chances to use lines from the book but either a) didn’t use them for whatever reasons, or b) didn’t do enough set up to make the lines make sense

aarfy doesn’t say that he doesn’t pay for it, milo doesn’t say “and everybody gets a share” nearly enough + no real payoff for milo anyway, YOSSARIAN DOESN’T SAY “THERE, THERE”

part of the book’s way of conveying information and changes is through the continued use of these lines, and it is their radical recontextualization that makes them all work

orr wasn’t established in any useful way nearly enough — he wasn’t a stink boy, his friendship with yossarian wasn’t really expanded upon, and his tinkering is only sort of hinted at — which means that his ending doesn’t work as much

not enough chaplain in any way, shape, or form.

i did love the acting. i thought it was all really good across the board, even if some of the casting and writing was suspect. the acting was good.

i don’t think the writers actually really understood the book? or to be more accurate, i think they only half-way understood the book. close but no cigar.

were there a lot of dropped subplots or was that just me?

seriously wtf was that ending where yossarian just… accepts his lot in life? what? what???

i wish the characters were given more time to develop and also more of an opportunity to be weird and strange

while i didn’t hate the ball subplot and i did think it was funny, why did they spend so much fucking time on sometime that i don’t think was in the book when there’s so much in the book that’s amazing and that you don’t bother to adapt?

what was the point of the ball subplot?

the women characters were given more substance, and Nately’s Whore and Nately’s Whore’s Kid Sister were given names (Clara and Ines) which I love and appreciate so so much, but they still weren’t amazingly written the miniseries does understand that sudden zooms are inherently funny and they use it to great effect and i loved it

ok, ok. the nickname “Yo-Yo”. from how i remember it in the book, yossarian is only called yo-yo by these new kids who end up bunking in his tent, and he doesn’t know them that well and doesn’t want to know them, and them calling him Yo-Yo is an expression of their nievate and youth. that they are in this place that is literally life or death and they’re like “wacky nickname for the crazy old guy in our tent”. the nickname is never (from what i remember) something that yossarian adopts for himself, isn’t really something his friends ever call him, and actually isn’t used that often, and neither is his first name (john). which makes it really odd when the series introduces him as “Yo-Yo”??? “Yossarian” is such a good, iconic name that’s not that hard to say, and for the majority of the book is the only name he goes by. It’s basically a mononym, so to see that changed was supremely strange. in light of this aforementioned “yossarian isn’t that good with young soldiers, but is probably good with young kids,” the naked hug at the end is also strange in a way? like, i know that that’s where with the new timeline his characterization would be going, but it’s still odd

the series made me laugh a lot. when they went for humor, they got it.

you could hear major major major major’s eyes screaming for help every time you saw him, and that’s how it was meant to be

mcwatt and kid sampson’s deaths were just as gut-wrenching as in the book, but they didn’t do the doc daneeka subplot that followed it, which was a shame

aarfy was a giant piece of shit and was therefore unchanged. similar, the end with rome was as horrible as it was in the book and worked.

the chaplain, what little they had of him, was lovely. a beanpole of a man, truely, and looked like a large gust of wind could knock him over. as it should be. also looked strangely like winters (and by extension, damien lewis) from BoB at times, which made his scenes with yossarian (looking mildly like ron livingston) quite funny.

#catch-22 #someone please talk this adaptation with me

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league-of-light · 5 years

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2019 What’s the Weekly Challenge Rankings Week 1 Weekly Challenge What Is It IDP Flex Weekly Challenge? Rankings

What’s up YouTubers it’s the Will + Dyl show back at it again with another set of power rankings. And by Will + Dyl back at it again I mean Dylan back at it again while I incoherently ramble nonsensical garbage next to him. We’re off to a great start. Per usual, Dylan will provide his EXPERT level statistical analysis of players and teams, and I’ll pick some stupid meme to run with. This week we’re going with Super Smash Bros because Banjo Kazooie just dropped and it’s the only light in my life outside of Ace and Dairy Delight. Anyway, take it away Dylan.

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Howdy folks! It’s been a while. I’ve wanted to get back into writing Power Rankings, but it seemed like a bad idea. I haven’t followed football late in the 2017-2018 season, and honestly, I have no idea what’s going on. But Will has convinced me that it doesn’t matter, and that I can do these anyway. So without further ado, here are my power rankings, based on what I understand about the league from almost two years ago.

11. Cleveland Browns

The Browns have been the worst organization in football for about 15 years. Last I checked, this team was losing every single game, finishing the season 0-16. And now it seems that Josh Gordon DeShone Kizer aren’t even there anymore? This team has no shot. I don’t know who this Daniel Jones fellow is, but hopefully he can help; otherwise, this team is primed for a lot of losses.

Super Smash Bros character: Pichu. If you’ve played Smash Bros, you know that Pichu has nearly the same moveset (if not the same exact moves, sue me Evan I don’t use Pichu) as Pikachu. The only difference is, anytime Pichu attacks, it also hurts itself. Just like me, every time I look at this stupid gimmick team I decided to go with instead of actually trying to win free money.

10. Honedge Heroes

Antonio Brown AND Le’Veon Bell? I’m not a fan of taking the two Steelers, who will steal touches from each other. Brandin Cooks is great, and I like Derrick Henry, but I’ve never even heard of half of this team. This team should suspend any hope they had of being a contender.

Smash Bro: R.O.B. Rob is a robot, so is Dylan. I am reminded about a thing I read today on Reddit about a robot. It was written by Douglas Adams. Please hold while I find the quote:

A robot was programmed to believe that it liked herring sandwiches. This was actually the most difficult part of the whole experiment. Once the robot had been programmed to believe that it liked herring sandwiches, a herring sandwich was placed in front of it. Where upon the robot thought to itself, Ah! A herring sandwich! I like herring sandwiches. It would then bend over and scoop up the herring sandwich in its herring sandwich scoop, and then straighten up again. Unfortunately for the robot, it was fashioned in such a way that the action of straightening up caused the herring sandwich to slip straight back off its herring sandwich scoop and fall on to the floor in front of the robot. Whereupon the robot thought to itself, Ah! A herring sandwich...etc., and repeated the same action over and over again. The only thing that prevented the herring sandwich from getting bored with the whole damn business and crawling off in search of other ways of passing the time was that the herring sandwich, being just a bit of dead fish between a couple of slices of bread, was marginally less alert to what was going on than was the robot.

^ This is Dylan, and the herring sandwich is the New York Mets.

9. Cursed Will

It’s tough to rank the team with the best player in football (Aaron Rodgers) this low. But Jordy Nelson is getting up there in years, so I’m not sure how good Rodgers receivers will be.

Super Mash Potato: King K. Rool. Dylan had a pretty fire one for this, so I’ll let him take it away:

IT’S NICE THAT AFTER YEARS OF FREELOADING IN SMASH GAMES AS A TROPHY AND A STICKER, KING K. ROOL FINALLY DECIDED TO CONTRIBUTE AND BE PART OF THE SMASH ROSTER. THIS DOESN’T HELP ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO SPENT YEARS WITH THE EARLIER SMASH GAMES, BUT I’M SO FUCKING HAPPY THAT NOW THAT HE’S OLD AND IRRELEVANT, HE FINALLY DECIDED TO BE USEFUL.

For those who don’t know, Evan now pays rent. For those who also don’t know, Evan and King K. Rool are both thousands of years old, have leathery skin, and eat Taco Bell every other day. Also, check out this screenshot of K Rool from when Banjo was announced, it’s literally the most Evan photo on the internet.

8. Float Like a… Whine Like AB

I’m not sure why they have Alex Smith’s backup at QB. Davante Adams and Michael Thomas are great, but Mark Ingram seems to be their only competent RB. Maybe they’ll get Alex Smith and find a way to contend. Otherwise, I’m not really sure what this team is doing.

Smush - Donkey Kong. For those of you who don't know, Donkey Kong got his name because Nintendo wanted to convey that the ape was stubborn, so they picked the most stubborn animal they could think of. Or at least that’s how the story goes. That alone would be fitting enough for Jason, but really he gets DK because of DK’s affinity to charge up a punch and wiff on it, only to CHARGE UP AGAIN LATER.

7. tbt to K88 being platonic

I’m glad to see Larry Fitzgerald is still around, and they have Andrew Luck’s long-time favorite target Eugene Hilton. Ben Roethlisberger could have a huge year with the talent on that Pittsburgh offense, and Alvin Kamara is great. Still, I’d expect Devonta Freeman to split carries again, and the Bills’ defense can’t be very good.

Super Dunk - Young Link. Young Link has been out of the Smash Brothers games for over a decade which is almost as long as Harnsowl has been out of America. Also, YL can drink a seemingly endless amount of Lon Lon Milk, just like Harnsowl with alcohol.

6. Spicy Meatballs

From what I’ve been told, James White should be the best RB in football by now. I’ll take Phil’s word for this. And Drew Brees is awesome. But I’m not sure about the rest of the team. JuJu Smith-Schuster will have trouble getting touches over the Killer B’s, and all I know about Anthony Miller is that he was a mediocre NBA player in the 90’s who had a brief cameo in Space Jam. Tough to see this team doing well if they can’t improve on that depth.

Super Meesh Pepe - Samus. Another soulless human robot thingamabob whose only purpose is to watch the New York Mets. Dark Samus for when the Mets lose. So I guess always Dark Samus?

5. No Content

I don’t know if Kyler Murray is actually good, but I’m expecting a big year out of Eric Decker. And the Colts QB has always loved throwing to TE’s, so Eric Ebron should have a huge year. A definite sleeper who might take the league by storm.

Supper Dinner Brother - Lil Mac. Dylan beat me to it again:

I respect the effort that they put into making Little Mac a better character. They improved his aerial gameplay and his recovery, and made a bunch of other improvements. It must have taken them, like, 12 weeks of work! But, despite all that effort, he’s still in a low tier and can’t compete with the stronger characters.

Honestly, the biggest difference here is that Lil Mac definitely never skips leg day (see photo)

But apparently Kyle has been for the past 84 days.

4. Shit Outta Luck

For some reason, their team page says that they dropped Andrew Luck, but I’m going to assume that there’s some kind of issue in the database that will be resolved shortly. I’m assuming some team that already had a franchise QB took Saquon Barkley at a completely reasonable pick in the draft, and he’s doing great there. And Mike Evans is a star. Once Andrew Luck is re-added to the roster, this team can be a real contender.

Smash Bros Character - N/A. Dylan, Who’s fuckin team is this?

3. I’m Still Here Bitches

A shockingly strong showing for Team Arielle. David Johnson, from what I recall, is the best RB in football. Julio Jones is awesome. Dak Prescott is pretty good, although honestly, I still think Tony Romo is better. Damien Williams might not get a ton of carries in KC, but I still think this team could go a long way.

Daisy. Daisy doesn’t belong in Smash (yeah, I said it Andy), and Arielle doesn’t belong in the league

2. Team Mar

The squad from the 845 is looking very strong. Two superstar WR’s in Alshon Jeffrey and Keenan Allen, a perennial MVP candidate in Matt Ryan, and two top 5 caliber RB’s in Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey? I have no idea how this roster is even possible.

Mashed Potato: Joker. I honestly know nothing about you, just like I know nothing about this anime (?) character who is in Super Smash Brothers. His name is Joker but he’s clearly not from Gotham and your instagram handle is Marisa845 and you’re clearly not from the 845 otherwise Bowers would’ve remembered seeing you at South. He knows everyone who went to South.

1. Venice Beach Hulkamaniacks

Now here’s a team of people I recognize. A.J. Green? Trey Burton? Melvin Gordon? Shady McCoy? DION LEWIS? I honestly don’t see how things could possibly go wrong with that kind of talent. This team shouldn’t lose a single game. And there you have it. Hopefully by next week, I will have learned a little bit about the modern NFL and can take a better stab at these, but hopefully this helps get you excited for another great season of the NATIONAL! FOOTBALL! LEAGUE! Back to you Boom.

Smash Boo: King Dedede. The people’s champ. The Penguin with the Hammer. Just like Kirby, King Dedede can suck in opponents. Just like Bowers, if those opponents taste like carbs, he will not swallow them. King Dedede has an unrelenting hammer akin to Bowers’ unrelenting trade offers for LeShady McCoy, and had this other game where he got swol af just like Bowers is gonna be at the end of his journey. At least his 12 week journey has seen results.

Also, I’m genuinely unsure if Bowers wrote this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jibCSdZ8xG0

73. Andy Brown

A late addition that we had to shoehorn in here even though they don’t belong in the Power Rankings.

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