TrueBlue4ever

Interesting take by Bill Maher (who even Liberals may find a bit much at times) or what Mueller did, or did not do. Warning, some NSFW language in this rant: Thoughts?

***OK, DON"T READ ANY OF THIS IF YOU HAVEN"T YET SEEN THE MOVIE. THERE'S YOUR SPOILER WARNING FOR THIS POST*** Re: plot holes - 1) Stormbreaker not working as well this time - I've had some one else raise the same question, can't come up with a valid explanation, except maybe Thanos' sword (made by the same Dwarf Eitri) could counteract Strombreaker (which Thanos did not have in Infinity War when Thor stabbed him). Actually just thought of that explanation as I was typing this, so yah, let's go with that! 2) The first time Captain Marvel fights Thanos in Act 1, he has been severely weakened by the using the stones a second time to destroy themselves - he even says it almost killed him - so he is easy to subdue .The second time she fights him he has the gauntlet (and remember how he handled Thor and Hulk at the start of Infinity war without the full power of the gauntlet, so he is very strong on his own), and she is more about preventing the snap, so the difference in his fight power can be explained that way. And he needs the power stone to fight back against her at the end. 3) Not sure what is up with Rocket's head, but he is a talking raccoon, so in the grand scheme of suspension of disbelief, I can overlook a bigger than normal cranium on a rodent. 4) The whole time travel paradox always wrecks movies for me when I start to think too much about it. They try to explain it away here with "all previous time travel movies are wrong, so don't get caught up in trying to kill baby Thanos, because the past is unchangeable and we have multiple alternate realities" summary (I need to see the movie again just for Ant Man's speech about "changing the past doesn't alter our present by making a new future - got lost halfway through that logic and don't recall how it goes). My problem is why they need to return the stones to the exact moment they took them (I remember the Sorceress saying that while the new reality can be corrected, her past reality will then go in a different direction, changing her version of the future) if taking them in the past does not alter their own future. Once Loki steals the Tesseract in 2012 and Cap fights himself, and reveals to past Cap that Bucky is alive, AND faking out Hydra, then that whole timeline changes and Winter Soldier would take on a whole new dynamic. And if past Thanos travels forward from 2014 and dies in the present (2023?), then he isn't around to snap in 2018 .And Nebula killing her own 2014 self in 2023 would erase 2023 Nebula, no? But if not, then why the necessity to return the stones? This is the "Terminator problem" all over again (not for this post, but p.m. me if you want that problem explained). 5) Yah, unless Peter's entire class got wiped out in the snap and came back without aging (like Ant Man in the quantum realm), then some would have graduated a while ago. May have been cleaner to erase the past 5 years, but then Thanos and all the bad guys are still alive (unless Iron Man wills it as part of his wish), just no snap. And keeping Iron Man alive by just erasing the past 5 years then presents the problem going forward of why he isn't around to protect the world from future conflicts. Other stuff - so what happened to Gamora? Was she so repulsed by the thought of dating Quill that she fled the battle? Did she feel she was responsible for working with Thanos and exiled herself? They really left that whole part hanging out there. Oh well ,I'll wait for Guardians 3 and they might explore her motives there. Funeral scene - missed seeing Maria Hill, although I 've been assured she was there. I got fixated on the random unidentified teenage kid they showed after Hawkeye and his family, only found out later it was the kid from Iron Man 3 who Tony leaves the garage full of stuff for, so I may have missed her while trying to place his face. But after they show the kid they pan to General Ross (William Hurt) and what I thought was a blond woman. Was that Hill, or someone else? And if someone else, who? Also, fun trivia from that scene - has any movie ever had that many Oscar winners (and nominees) in one shot? Also read that Captain's "Hail Hydra" fakeout in the elevator was a nod to the comic book issue where Captain really DID turn and had been a secret Hydra agent, poking fun at the fan-boys who freaked out at the turncoat storyline (the comic book writer got actual death threats for introducing that plot twist) by making it an ironic false trail to fool the agents in the movie. Other Easter eggs: (a) When Thor approaches Captain Marvel and summons Stormbreaker and she doesn't flinch (in the trailers, where he says "I like this one'), you can hear a whisper that says "telepathy". Can Captain Marvel read minds? (b) At the end of the credits, you hear a very faint hammering sound, which most believe is the sound of Tony building the original Iron Man suit in the cave in the first movie. Tne theatre staff was trying to kick everybody out saying "no end credits scene", but a neat final moment And lastly, audience reaction: 4 loud cheers/claps in the final act from my theatre: 1) when everyone returns through the mystic portals, more precisely just as Black Panther nods to Cap and just before Cap says "assemble", 2) Cap wields Mjolnir (biggest cheer by far), 3) the female Avengers all assemble and stand behind Captain Marvel to protect her, 4) "I am Iron Man". Wondering how other theatres reacted.

They missed an opportunity for a great inside joke when Ant Man appears and explains that the 5 years was only 5 hours for him. I was waiting for someone to say “I was wondering about that. You don’t look like you’ve aged a bit, like D-I-c-k Clark, or that actor from “Friends” who married Phoebe”.

But aren’t Trump’s base believing that it’s the Government, and not capitalism, that has left them behind? And as long as the economy is strong and people have more money in their pockets (the short term effect of the Trump tax cut), it seems that most Americans will forgive any other sins. And even if younger attitudes are changing, it’s always been the older generation who are catered to (and who turn out to vote).

So I won’t discuss specific spoilers yet, will say I had predicted the opening scenes spoiler a while ago, but was genuinely surprised by most of the other plot points and things one would spoil. Having heard reviews, many had talked about the dense back story to get the plot out. It did not seem that convoluted to me, but it did take a while to get going. It really is a 3 act story with set up, execution of the set up, then final act payoff. Not as tense as Infinity War was throughout, but the last hour payoff is brilliant. So unlike Infinty, which I thought was strong throughout with a big gut punch at the end, this one is more slow build to a long climatic event, but that event elevates the movie massively. Cheering and clapping in the movie at points from the audience, and a real emotional movie. So if you are not overly let down by the start, the payoff is totally worth it. And no post-credit scene, but there is “something” at the end of the credits.

Make sure the sound is on, and give it a minute to do its thing. Then click on the gauntlet again

Why, you hate free health care?

I have heard it said by political analysts that the US doesn't believe in democracy as an ideology so much as they believe in capitalism as their ideology. When they have invaded foreign countries to "prop up democracy and protect them from dictators", there have been instances where the deposed leaders were in fact democratically elected nut the country's policies were quite socialist (their words, not mine - I have not done the research to verify every "overthrow"). Point being, socialism is such a dirty word in the US that many are certain as loveable as Bernie is and no matter how much of a rock star he may be, the US will never elect a true socialist as President.

Got my tickets for Friday evening. So far, all spoiler-free reviews are absolute raves.

It was a weird play. In hindsight, maybe the "proper" and "fair" call would have been a 2 minute minor to Eakins for the cross-check, and 2 minutes to Stastny for roughing on the same play. It's his push while Pavelski was off balance that did the real damage.

LOL!

Exhausting to write, even more so to read I'm sure (sorry everyone), but the same tired mantra again and again with no foundation in solid facts was just too much. Going to go adjust my hate meter now, lol.

Maybe it's finally on display more now because he's never had to answer to anyone before. He was the boss, could yell "You're FIRED!" and that was it. Now he has checks and balances, still has to be accountable to the populace (both those who voted him in and those who didn't), and especially the people's proxy - the media, who take on the role of the official opposition party in the USA.

My drinking game is taking a shot every time Goalie posts a variation on "55 and 26 selfish, need to be split up/traded, coach is a disaster, fire him immediately or our window is closed". My liver is currently the size of the Jumbotron at Bell MTS Place. Do or Die and his gin is now considered "lightweight" at my current pace.

I'm not sure why this surprises me anymore, but I continue to be fascinated by the depths of Trump's oversized ego and at the same time his massive insecurity and inferiority complex. Doesn't really care about Twitter spam or cleaning up bots, just hates the bottom line that he is visibly losing followers - that is, his numbers aren't as big as he needs them to be in his mind (likely to boast -"most followers ever"). Just like his lies about his inauguration crowd size, rally crowd sizes, and his actual wealth (as others touched upon, his fear of being a "false billionaire"). Boy did he pick the ultimate wrong job if he was worried about his public perception and popularity. I'd like to think he had enough common sense to know that "politician" is an inherently untrusted and loathed occupation and could see what he was getting into (then again, his concept of a "real lawyer" is someone who never takes notes, so maybe he has no clue). Even the best politicians are going to get slagged by the media or some portion of the population just because that's what we do with our politicians and our own partisan views. Most amazing to me is how 65 million Americans did not see this glaring frailty and still seek to protect him.

Of course I am trolling a bit, but I am making a point of my own instead of missing it. To assume that anything spoiler-ish is fair game the second it has hit the public conscience is more than a bit presumptive. In the world of 3 TV networks and no VCRs, it was safer to assume that any major plot development would be seen by all at the same time, or those that missed it did not really care enough to watch the show in the first place. And spoilers were limited to word of mouth for the most part, so people could self-regulate what information they wanted to receive. But in today's world of "57 channels and nothing on" (more like 200), PVR and binge-watching, it is wrong to assume that everyone sees the episode right away (much like a movie that has so many sold-out showings that many won't get to see it until the second or third day, or maybe even the second or third week in this extreme case - hence my specific reference to it). And with the advent of instant gratification internet media like twitter, instagram, etc. and 24-hour streaming news/sports/entertainment, and the ability to cross over from one platform to another, the possibilities of being notified of a spoiler are much higher, despite one's best intentions to avoid being spoiled. So I can avoid all spoiler sites about "Avengers" diligently (moviespoiler.com and any Google search that takes me to "Avengers spoilers" websites would be the obvious ones to avoid) in an effort to not have the surprise ruined, but reading a generic Bomber fan website and being told about a big spoiler (plot-driven or not, it clearly is a big enough deal to hit CNN and obviously enough to warrant your mention of it, so you would have appreciated the sensitive nature of it to some) with no advance warning can be jarring - if you are so inclined to get worked up about such things in life. And to be fair, a CNN headline saying "actress thought GOT sex scene was a prank" that requires you to click on a link for more details is a lot less specific than "hey, I'll identify this person by name and say what happened out of the blue with no prior hint that the topic had changed". So my troll point was simply to say it's a bit frivolous to say "well if it's aired it's fair game and not a spoiler anymore because I've already seen it, so tough on anyone who missed the boat" as a justification for letting a spoiler slip, and used the extreme example of the biggest movie around to beat you over the head with my point. Not very subtle, no, but you get my drift, even if you want to debate the semantics of "movie" vs. "TV", where the lines are more blurred in the current day and age than in the past, IMO. Just my 2 cents. Personally, I'm not going to get bent out of shape about spoilers, but I am sensitive to those who do.

Not a spoiler if the episode has aired. Especially when it's newsworthy, right?

So we can spoil Avengers :Endgame since it has opened overseas?

Just curious, if you don't mind sharing, what is your annual salary (before taxes)?

Don’t blame him. I’ve been wanting to tell some select critics to f*ck off myself.

I am of the belief that the team chose to rest up down the stretch as much as anything. Their first round play would indicate that they are not “fundamentally broken” like the nay-sayers would proclaim. Pushing hard to 114 points last year left us worn out by round 3 last year. It didn’t do Tampa or Calgary any good to pile on the points in the regular season. I see no indication based on their play in this series that Maurice has “lost the room” or that we are being outclassed by our opponent. The series had been remarkably tight, as it should be for two teams that each had 99 points. And it isn’t over yet. People need to stop firing the coach after each individual loss in a 7 game series.

Big difference between Stanley Cup contender and “the guarantee” 4 years out. But that’s all anyone seems to see. We have SC caliber talent, but so do Tampa, Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and now arguably NYI and Columbus (given their results in the first round) in the East, and Calgary, Nashville, Vegas in the West. San Jose, minus the goaltending woes no one saw at season’s start, have as much talent as anyone. And given their second half play, one could make an argument that St. Louis and Colorado have that caliber of talent too. And Dallas has the defence and goaltending that could carry them a long way. Point is, only one team can win - you don’t fire a coach just because you don’t make the conf. finals. 27 teams aren’t firing their coaches this year. We have not been outplayed in this series, we certainly have not had a lot of luck on our side. Even with talent, so much needs to happen to win a Cup. A lot more than a magazine article proclaiming it to be so a half decade ago.

Have to revise my hate meter (told you it was a constantly shifting scale). Removing my Tortarella hate for now. Dude has been very entertaining in these playoffs, even smiled after he got beer dumped on him during a game. Now, we’ll see if Oscar the grouch returns if they start losing, but I also saw that he took in an abused and neglected horse and nursed it back to health on his farm, and also has 3 rescue dogs he took in. Can’t hate on him anymore. That leaves me an extra hate point, which I will add to the Winnipeg Jets fans, specifically he “Fire Maurice” brigade who disappear after a win but come roaring back after a loss, no matter the circumstances. This kind of blind idiocy is why I avoid message boards for 24 hours after a loss.

This was the worst thing that happened to our fan base. Gave us completely unrealistic expectations. This team is not Cup or Bust yet. Firing Maurice right away because we lost to a hot goalie and a team that was tied with us in the standings will not propel us forward.