Tad_MMA

Reviewing 2008-1017, whenever the Blue Stars do well, Madison doesn't. I don't know what the Wisconsin recruiting factor is (other than female membership), but keep an eye on those two.

In compiling thoughts for an article, I can easily find caption winners through historical recaps. Guard is harder, because "From the Pressbox" doesn't have all results. I STILL don't understand the "2.0" scoring of the 1970s --- more than one corps achieves that number, so I don't know who really won. Is there a place or a historian who can lead me down the right road? Thx

And when I say "old timers," at my first live show in 1985, people were complaining about guards dancing, no headgear, drill designs that were (gasp) completely abstract and weird musical choices like "Jeremiah." At the Key to the Sea show, some were complaining that the Cavaliers sold out, because the guard guys were using red balls during "Uranus." I loved all that stuff, so I'm not THAT old.

I'll tell you what: if some of these corps put less effort into out-theming each other (and attempting the best pre-season poster) and more effort into creating/presenting entertaining, understandable, compelling programs, many of us old timers (who have the money) might be more excited about DCI.

I'm not sure that this is on topic, but I found something quite puzzling about SCV. As far back as the 70s, Vanguard was the standard for design and class. They drummed spectacularly and were rewarded for their drill design. Still the ONLY corps to appear in EVERY DCI Finals, they couldn't win High Brass until 1984, and that was a 3-way tie. Their only other Ott trophy was 1987 -- another tie. Now, that caption has been utterly dominated by a small cadre of corps: BD, Phantom, Star, Cadets, Madison and now Crown. Is there something philosophical behind this, or does SCV just not use the right people? Footnote(s): NINE different Brass winners from 1972 through 2017.

Scene w/ Andi's 1st day: when Emily tells her she'll go to Calvin Klein, she says, "Me?" Emily then snarks...ending with the line, "...some hideous skirt convention you have to go to..." She absolutely breaks up on "to" as the camera quickly cuts away. There's nothing in the commentary, but I think that line was so funny to Blunt that it was the best take they could get. I'd love to know the real answer.

I feel that way about "The Devil Wears Prada." I enjoy it on a surface level, although every single movement in that film was predictable and completely without thought. It's as though the director was reading from the UCLA Film School 101 Make-a-Movie outline, checking off things as he plodded along. Plus, it was a waste of talent for a great actress. (Mood shift...something lacking in the film.) I'm talking about Emily Blunt.

Someone I know called this "a viciously racist parody." I shot back, "It's a wonderfully vicious RACIAL parody." I'm trying to remember who in Hollywood referred to Rita as "that Puerto Rican Pepper Pot." It was around the time that Sinatra said about (first ever black) Oscar host Sammy D .Jr, "...he looks like a headwaiter in a rib joint somewhere."

In his boring words, Spielberg wanted to show Americans as refugees. We (not him...not his phony Hollywood colleagues) need to be knocked down a peg. The same man who made "Schindler's List" (he begged on Oscar night: "Teach this in your schools!") made the garbage political essay "Munich" which sure as hell sounded like, "Hold on! Let's hear everyone's point of view!"

And nobody counts the Cadets' 1994 WSS among the best-ever shows. Oddly, it's what G Hopkins WANTED '84 to be. "Cool," "Mambo," "Somewhere." M Cesario said, "Nuh uh. We'll open with 'Maria,'" and everybody looked at him like, Whaaa? To have grabbed 13 minutes out of a 2½ hour stage show with only a few "I love that song!" moments was brilliant.

Only 3 shots of the Martians. Spielberg had to have one rush the camera to generate emotion. zzzzzzz And a little girl was more frightened of the spider on her face than scary beings killing everything in sight.

Hilarious. The original FB was better: "...moofie BERDDDDDDDDSION...of The Rink..." Also, at the end, they replaced "Debbie Allen" with "Ruthie Henshaw" (I think.) Who is the latter?

Right. Because machines buried on Earth 1M years ago (AND NEVER DISCOVERED) start right up. Conceptually, it was stupid from the start and stayed there. George Pal couldn't afford the FX in '53 to use tripods; the flying machines were absolutely creepy. And I studied the novel and the original film for post-grad work - you have no case here.

I'm sure you've heard the Forbidden Broadway "Chita/Rita" parody. Hysterical.

Robbins/Wise won (co)Directing Oscars even though Robbins had been fired from the production. Neither thanked the other on stage. Good Heavens, as long as they're remaking HUGE Academy Award-winning films, will Spielberg take a crack at Titanic or Lord of the Rings, ROTK? Maybe All About Eve? I'm sure the completely replaceable Bette Davis could be forgotten, right? His horrible War of the Worlds remake (2005) was a bad copy of Independence Day which was a stinko copy of the terrific 1953 WOTW.