How Baby Groot Stole Christmas

I’m so happy! I’m going to watch it again. I think part of the joy stems from how the other characters pause during the insane battle do things like stop him from eating a fly and to say “Hi” when he waves. He’s their baby. It’s incredibly sweet.

When the world is going to shit around you, sometimes you just gotta dance.

@JNOV: Outside the parts I obsess over, it’s also well-constructed classic comedy schtick — the innocent in the midst of chaos, the “real” action almost offstage.

And yes, that wave. There’s a scene later in the movie where a tired Groot reaches out to be held, and you know there’s some real family video behind that one. You can’t make up the nuances of that moment.

It’s all, as they say, closely observed. A lot of love went into that craftsmanship.

@nojo: I keep coming back to watch it, and I keep noticing things that I remember seeing before but now think, “Oh wow – that’s really smart. The camera just hit Groot and made a sound like metal hitting petrified wood.”

In other news, when I moved, I thought I’d be stuck in a deeply red Congressional district. BUT NO! WA 3rd is crazy purple, probably because it’s crazy big and people sneak in from Portland.

We have three progressive contenders (four Democrats, but one doesn’t count), and I just might have to volunteer for the first time ever.

@nojo: Yes, passing the sleepy baby. I might need a grandkid. Maybe there’s a hospital nearby that needs people to hold babies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkVwqEdYlNA
The Fear box.

@JNOV: It’s those details that keep drawing me back for close study. Just how Groot’s eyes move when he’s frozen because Drax is staring him down. Classic comic (and cartoon) schtick, but no motion is taken for granted. They worked the hell out of it.

@ManchuCandidate: I’m trying not to be cranky about it, but after VII, I just lost interest. (And I can’t get fifteen minutes into Rogue.) I’m hearing that VIII actually (finally) moves the story forward, and I’ll probably eventually give it a shot, but at some point I have to recognize that the last Star Wars movie I enjoyed came out in 1980.

Feliz Navidad, Stinqueros! May we all have peace, joy, and absolutely no news from the orange grinch at Mar-a-Lardass.

@nojo: I saw The Last Jedi last week (in 3D!), and I have mixed feelings about it. The space battles are A+++, however there’s plenty of groaner dialogue and long stretches where nothing the characters do makes much sense, in classic Star Wars tradition. The good news is that JJ Abrams didn’t direct this one. The bad news is that he’s returning for the next film, Star Wars: Lens Flares.

@¡Andrew!: In JJ’s defense, I liked the first Trek reboot, and, I dunno, maybe ten minutes of the second one.

@nojo: loved TLJ (saw it yesterday) and I own Rogue One. Just put it on and let it go, in the background. You will fall in love with it. Except for the Bor Gullet … that shit was stupid.

Feliz Navidog, Happy Festivus, Merry Solstice. Let us all take a page from the book of protesting with style from my hero who delivered horse shit to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin.

@¡Andrew!: It was great to hang out this week with you & the hubby & fashion forward junior – she was working that Yoko Ono look in the Castro – definitely more stylish than the three adults combined!

@SanFranLefty: Tú también, mi amiga! Looking forward to next time : )

I’m sure the Vatican is thrilled that Ambassador Callista Gingrinch of Stepford-on-Valium has assumed her official duties.

Nothing to see here. Just an adulteress appointed by pussy grabbing POTUS as ambassador to a pedophilia money laundering organization. — Bambino

Brav-oh (golf claps)

I saw TLJ. I like it. Not a rehash of a previous movie.

@ManchuCandidate: Space Dern stole the show.