The title is related to the second part, given that "The Biggest Loser" is a TV show about fat people. The title seems to suggest that the goal of the TV show's contestants is counterproductive, though.
You people need everything spelled out. The title is
(a) a reference to Spinal Tap;
(b) a reference to the fact that Ogged and I are jokingly trying to push Becks' post down the page;
(c) a reference to the "Biggest Loser" half of the post-- the spinal tap song is about having sex with an overweight woman.
I thought that I could sort of tie things up neatly that way, just as I thought Clownae would get the funniness of treating TBL, which is all about revulsion at the human body, as "Project Runway," which is about models and fashion.
Well it seems like that would be kind of funny. But the transition is just too subtle for me. Or something -- you aren't pointing out how one show is comparable to the other, you are just saying one show's name and then talking about a different show. Or?
(a) is beyond obvious, as is the last clause of (c). (b) makes no sense whatsoever, unless you're saying Becks has a fat ass. The first part of (c) repeats 6, to which I echo 8, and believe 10 is an inadequate response.
10: Oh -- that's the point I am missing -- I was not aware that AA wrote summaries of PR. I didn't know what was going on with the Althouse tie-in. Except that it's always funny to throw in an Althouse reference.
No, let's just do it here. Things I liked: Steve Carrell-- nice to see him playing something besides the oblivious inadvertent asshole. Things I didn't: eh, formulaic genre film not entirely redeemed by its mild play with the conventions.
Also, I should mention that I really like SC's work on "The Office." There have been a couple of episodes where I expected him to pull more punches, but he went all-in-- e.g., the "I used to star in a children's tv show" bit. The gay thing on the season premier was ok, not great, but it had some nice small touches-- I really liked the psychotically angry guy in the satellite office.
18 -> 16. How was this a "formulaic genre film"? I admit I don't watch a whole lot of movies -- which keeps me from understanding how to draw connections between them -- but this seemed pretty different from any others I know.
Ah. The block quote is not your parody of Althouse, but Althouse's own inadvertant self-parody.
I am
i) less confused
ii) stunned that Althouse could actually fail to meet my expectations of her
iii) disappointed that you haven't written even one episode summary in the style of Althouse. You lazy, ambitionless fucker.
The main thing I liked about the movie was the amount of attention paid to portraying each character as an individual person -- each of them came across as real to me.
Clown: it was a "zany family on a road trip overcomes adversity to bond" kind of thing, which seems kinda standard to me. It bordered on cliche from time to time, but not enough to be grating. Greg Kinnear did well.
Matt: I would have, if I'd put more energy into looking for a summary of last night's episode. But I can't remember anyone's name. I am annoyed that they voted off who they voted off, though.
25 -- Yeah I guess there are other movies that fit that description. I'm not totally sure I've seen any of them though. "The Squid and the Whale" kind of did I guess, though there was no road trip. I liked that movie a lot too, and did not find it formulaic.
I really liked 'Little Miss Sunshine.' It is sort of formulaic, but there's nothing wrong with a well-done formula. I thought Abigail Breslin was very good ('Little Miss Sunshine!!!! I won, I won!')
I was very torn about last night's Project Runway. On the one hand, they've always had the final four present at Fashion Week, with only 3 in competition, as a diversion so people won't know who made it into the final 3 so they were all going anyway. In that respect, they might as well keep all four in competition. Yet it felt like they changed the rules because they had expected to vote Uli out and wanted to keep Michael in contention. I understand that, as I think Michael is awesome but his outfit sucked last night so he should have been the one to go, but it seems unfair.
This seems like a very good place to quote a letter from one Wiki editor to another. The context is completely unimportant, as the letter makes clear:
Well obviously you're saying that some unidentified people are upset that I don't do something they want me to do and, moreover, they wouldn't be nearly as upset as they are if I did whatever it is you say they want me to do. Well I have to reply that I in my turn could possibly be persuaded to be slightly, but not very much, upset that they (whoever they are) might think that, and it's conceivable that I might be convinced to feel a little bit happier if they didn't do whatever it is that they do, provided you could convince me that they're doing it and they, whoever they are, are harming Wikipedia by whatever it is whoever they are are supposedly doing. But it's okay for them to do what they do. Which they don't say, whoever they are. By the way, who are they? And why should I care? --Tony Sidaway
9:TBL, which is all about revulsion at the human body, as "Project Runway," which is about models and fashion.
Don't you think that Project Runway is also about revulsion at the human body? (Or maybe you were being all sarky and I didn't get it) Consider how the designers freaked out when they had to design clothes for average and fat people. Consider that the one size-twelve-type woman got to wear...pause..wait for it...a long sleeved shirt! With a poncho! Because if you're, you know, a size 12, your body is so disgusting that the sight of your forearms would make the world collapse.
The whole point of the show seems to be to produce a hard, invulnerable, plasticized body-simulacrum and cover it with foofy cloth. (And I'm not talking about thin versus fat, I'm talking about the whole heavily machined presentation of people) This kind of fashion seems to me to be quintessentially about loathing of the body--after all, real bodies have hair and pimples and wrinkles and sags, even the best-looking ones. Real breasts are made of fatty tissue, even the best breasts. Real bodies, you know, get sick and die, even the best bodies.
There is good, interesting fashion that doesn't look so fakey-fakey--most of it, unsurprisingly, not on American television.
Right you are. While I agree, I'm pretty sure Althouse doesn't, which is, in its way, everything that's wrong with her political commentary wrapped up in a size 2 point.
Yet I still claim to be a heterosexual.
You do? I had no idea.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:49 AM
Did "Project Runway" change its title to "The Biggest Loser"?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:51 AM
Are the title and content of this post related in some way too subtle for my simple mind, or is the title just it's own separate little bit if wisdom?
Posted by Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:54 AM
"it's own separate little bit if wisdom" s/b "its own little bif of wisdom".
Posted by Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:55 AM
You prefer one typo over the other?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:55 AM
The title is related to the second part, given that "The Biggest Loser" is a TV show about fat people. The title seems to suggest that the goal of the TV show's contestants is counterproductive, though.
Posted by Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:55 AM
Motherfucker. I quit.
Posted by Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:55 AM
6 -- I am having trouble seeing how the post concerns "The Biggest Loser" though.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:57 AM
You people need everything spelled out. The title is
(a) a reference to Spinal Tap;
(b) a reference to the fact that Ogged and I are jokingly trying to push Becks' post down the page;
(c) a reference to the "Biggest Loser" half of the post-- the spinal tap song is about having sex with an overweight woman.
I thought that I could sort of tie things up neatly that way, just as I thought Clownae would get the funniness of treating TBL, which is all about revulsion at the human body, as "Project Runway," which is about models and fashion.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:57 AM
FL claims he may write episode summaries of "the biggest loser" in a sinmmilar style to anne althouse's summaries of "project runway". or something.
Posted by joeo | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:57 AM
Well it seems like that would be kind of funny. But the transition is just too subtle for me. Or something -- you aren't pointing out how one show is comparable to the other, you are just saying one show's name and then talking about a different show. Or?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:59 AM
It's not like Proust or anything, but, hey. Speaking of, anyone see "Little miss sunshine"?
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 8:59 AM
(a) is beyond obvious, as is the last clause of (c). (b) makes no sense whatsoever, unless you're saying Becks has a fat ass. The first part of (c) repeats 6, to which I echo 8, and believe 10 is an inadequate response.
Posted by Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:00 AM
10: Oh -- that's the point I am missing -- I was not aware that AA wrote summaries of PR. I didn't know what was going on with the Althouse tie-in. Except that it's always funny to throw in an Althouse reference.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:00 AM
12, yeah -- I brought it up here a month or so back. Are you ribbing me about that, or did you just see it and want to talk about it?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:01 AM
No, I want to talk about it. I'll do a post.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:02 AM
No, let's just do it here. Things I liked: Steve Carrell-- nice to see him playing something besides the oblivious inadvertent asshole. Things I didn't: eh, formulaic genre film not entirely redeemed by its mild play with the conventions.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:04 AM
Yay!
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:04 AM
Also, I should mention that I really like SC's work on "The Office." There have been a couple of episodes where I expected him to pull more punches, but he went all-in-- e.g., the "I used to star in a children's tv show" bit. The gay thing on the season premier was ok, not great, but it had some nice small touches-- I really liked the psychotically angry guy in the satellite office.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:06 AM
18 -> 16. How was this a "formulaic genre film"? I admit I don't watch a whole lot of movies -- which keeps me from understanding how to draw connections between them -- but this seemed pretty different from any others I know.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:07 AM
Ah. The block quote is not your parody of Althouse, but Althouse's own inadvertant self-parody.
I am
i) less confused
ii) stunned that Althouse could actually fail to meet my expectations of her
iii) disappointed that you haven't written even one episode summary in the style of Althouse. You lazy, ambitionless fucker.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:07 AM
Really, it was Michael who deserved to leave, but Jeffrey was pretty bad too, so they kept them both. Wrong!
She does have a moral center!
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:09 AM
The main thing I liked about the movie was the amount of attention paid to portraying each character as an individual person -- each of them came across as real to me.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:09 AM
(That and teh funny.)
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:12 AM
Clown: it was a "zany family on a road trip overcomes adversity to bond" kind of thing, which seems kinda standard to me. It bordered on cliche from time to time, but not enough to be grating. Greg Kinnear did well.
Matt: I would have, if I'd put more energy into looking for a summary of last night's episode. But I can't remember anyone's name. I am annoyed that they voted off who they voted off, though.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:14 AM
Maybe the thing that makes it formulaic is the father's redemption at the end? I could see that.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:14 AM
Favorite line: "Yeah, that's some sweet...sweetness."
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:15 AM
25 -- Yeah I guess there are other movies that fit that description. I'm not totally sure I've seen any of them though. "The Squid and the Whale" kind of did I guess, though there was no road trip. I liked that movie a lot too, and did not find it formulaic.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:18 AM
I really liked 'Little Miss Sunshine.' It is sort of formulaic, but there's nothing wrong with a well-done formula. I thought Abigail Breslin was very good ('Little Miss Sunshine!!!! I won, I won!')
And I'm probably a sucker for Nietzsche jokes.
Posted by Cala | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:19 AM
Yeah, when she gets that phone message, it's pretty great in a painful way.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:21 AM
Oh, yeah, and that scene at the end on the pier? There was a great chance to mention the eternal return, but they passed.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:22 AM
My favorite scene was definitely the ice cream.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:23 AM
The ice cream was great, as was any scene in which the grandfather tried to mitigate the father's assholishness.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:25 AM
I was very torn about last night's Project Runway. On the one hand, they've always had the final four present at Fashion Week, with only 3 in competition, as a diversion so people won't know who made it into the final 3 so they were all going anyway. In that respect, they might as well keep all four in competition. Yet it felt like they changed the rules because they had expected to vote Uli out and wanted to keep Michael in contention. I understand that, as I think Michael is awesome but his outfit sucked last night so he should have been the one to go, but it seems unfair.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:39 AM
I hate Greg Kinnear but liked LMS and The Matador, which everyone from here should see, as it has one of the best cock jokes ever in a movie.
Posted by Becks | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:40 AM
My big complaint about this season's PR is that guy with the tattoos on his neck -- they're horribly distracting and he just seems like such a pill.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:42 AM
I am getting dizzy switching back and forth between this thread and the torture thread.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:46 AM
That sort of cognitive dissonance is what Unfogged is all about.
Posted by LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 9:53 AM
This seems like a very good place to quote a letter from one Wiki editor to another. The context is completely unimportant, as the letter makes clear:
Well obviously you're saying that some unidentified people are upset that I don't do something they want me to do and, moreover, they wouldn't be nearly as upset as they are if I did whatever it is you say they want me to do. Well I have to reply that I in my turn could possibly be persuaded to be slightly, but not very much, upset that they (whoever they are) might think that, and it's conceivable that I might be convinced to feel a little bit happier if they didn't do whatever it is that they do, provided you could convince me that they're doing it and they, whoever they are, are harming Wikipedia by whatever it is whoever they are are supposedly doing. But it's okay for them to do what they do. Which they don't say, whoever they are. By the way, who are they? And why should I care? --Tony Sidaway
If this isn't famous already, it should be.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 10:05 AM
It seems to me that it needs a semicolon and about three more "that"s, but it's good as it is.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 10:07 AM
Also, I should mention that I really like SC's work on "The Office."
Noooooooo!
His lines are funny, but I don't imagine he can take credit for that. His performance is the very definition of "unsubtle."
Posted by dagger aleph | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 10:34 AM
His performance is the very definition of "unsubtle."
His character isn't supposed to be subtle.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 11:10 AM
9:TBL, which is all about revulsion at the human body, as "Project Runway," which is about models and fashion.
Don't you think that Project Runway is also about revulsion at the human body? (Or maybe you were being all sarky and I didn't get it) Consider how the designers freaked out when they had to design clothes for average and fat people. Consider that the one size-twelve-type woman got to wear...pause..wait for it...a long sleeved shirt! With a poncho! Because if you're, you know, a size 12, your body is so disgusting that the sight of your forearms would make the world collapse.
The whole point of the show seems to be to produce a hard, invulnerable, plasticized body-simulacrum and cover it with foofy cloth. (And I'm not talking about thin versus fat, I'm talking about the whole heavily machined presentation of people) This kind of fashion seems to me to be quintessentially about loathing of the body--after all, real bodies have hair and pimples and wrinkles and sags, even the best-looking ones. Real breasts are made of fatty tissue, even the best breasts. Real bodies, you know, get sick and die, even the best bodies.
There is good, interesting fashion that doesn't look so fakey-fakey--most of it, unsurprisingly, not on American television.
Posted by Frowner | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 12:38 PM
also about revulsion at the human body
Right you are. While I agree, I'm pretty sure Althouse doesn't, which is, in its way, everything that's wrong with her political commentary wrapped up in a size 2 point.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 12:46 PM
Shit, I misspelled "inadvertent."
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 1:16 PM
Huh?
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 1:18 PM
In 21.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 1:21 PM
Oh yeah.
Posted by Clownæsthesiologist | Link to this comment | 09-28-06 1:24 PM
I now have an mp3 of He-Man saying "fabulous secret powers" on my desktop. Yet I still claim to be a heterosexual.
You're really resigned to be one of those, "Did you hear he came out of the closet? Well, he was the last one to know! anecodtes, aren't you?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 09-29-06 10:20 AM
Michael, you'll be shocked to learn that I've heard that before.
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 09-29-06 10:21 AM