Everybody's Linking for the Weekend

I just dropped a bowl and smashed it to smithereens in my kitchen, so I could probably deserve a link (Marmie Hart!).  I'm guessing so could you, so let's get started...

In Entertainment...

-The new Fantastic Four movie appears set to completely tank, with star Miles Teller and director Josh Trank off complaining about the movie already (though I don't see them handing back the gigantic wads of cash they received for making it), Rotten Tomatoes having it in the toilet, and Friday numbers being thoroughly disappointing.  I honestly don't know why studios can't get this franchise right-it's one of the rare Marvel comics that is actually supposed to be dramatic, it has such a cool origin story, and four complicated characters.  This was my favorite comic series growing up, so it disappoints me to no end that they can't figure it out-perhaps it's that they don't understand the actual characters?  Or that they keep hiring actresses of questionable talent to play Sue Storm (or actors who are way to young to play Reed Richards?).  Whatever the reason, this is surely the final nail in the coffin for the series' big-screen opportunities, so I will just have to console myself with a pile of comic books and at least knowing that Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan got in spandex for the films (#silversurferlining).

-My love/hate relationship with Ryan Murphy and American Horror Story continued this week.  On the negative side there's Lady Gaga getting what clearly is the central role, playing a wealthy socialite who has an evil plan, a role that feels written for Jessica Lange, and probably would be better played by her.  I don't mind pop stars who cross over to movies (Cher, for example, proved to be an excellent actor and a great addition to the cinema firmament), but Gaga is too earnest and doesn't have any edge, she's just very good at creating catchy pop-I doubt that will change when she gets into acting.  Yet, I loved Finn Wittrock last season and he apparently is playing a coked-out male model, which seems really up my alley in a way I should probably discuss with a therapist, and now he's announced my beloved Darren Criss will be in the show, which I see pretty much everything he is in...ugh, I can't decide-in the comments share if you're a waning AHS fan and if you're coming back to the Hotel.

-I had never heard of this before, but now desperately want to go.  The 'Mostly Lost' Film Festival took place recently at the Library of Congress' Packard campus, where film fans look through fragments of films that historians and critics haven't been able to deduce who the stars are or what the film is.  The attendees shout out clues in the middle of the film to try to figure out through old databases, magazines, and records what the film is to identify it for the library.  If that doesn't sound like the best date idea anyone has ever had, I don't know what does (if you're trying to woo me, get me tickets to this and I'll go).

In Politics...

-Really has there been a politician who had a bigger week than Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)?  The presumed next Democratic Leader of the Senate started off with a huge moment for the left, kicking off a new push for gun control legislation in the wake of the shootings in Lafeyette, LA.  He even got his famous cousin Amy to help with getting some press for it on Twitter (Ms. Schumer's film Trainwreck was playing at the time of the shooting).  While Democrats were all abuzz about this new push, Schumer sort of derailed his positive press by going against President Obama on the Iran Nuclear Deal. Both sides were livid, as the White house was hoping to have Schumer delay his announcement as the Obama camp is trying to find as many Democrats as possible in the House and Senate to ensure that the GOP cannot override the veto, while Schumer said it was Obama who leaked his vote to the press.  White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest seemed to think this could jeopardize Schumer's position as leader, and while I don't think it will (Schumer is more popular in the caucus than Obama, thanks in large part to the number of freshmen he helped elect like Jon Tester, Claire McCaskill, and Al Franken when he headed the DSCC), but I think it should, quite honestly.  This is a huge moment for the Democrats and it couples Schumer not wanting to press for Obamacare a few years ago-his vision for the party isn't grand enough, particularly considering how ambitious the Right has been on their platform.  Dick Durbin has already announced his support of the deal, and Patty Murray is still on the fence but you have to believe will probably go for it.  Both of them should be reconsidered for the top spot in my playbook after Schumer completely rejected such a crucial part of the Democratic agenda.

-I haven't weighed in on the debates because quite frankly I didn't watch them.  The idea of watching FOX News host a bunch of Republicans hyperboling over themselves seemed like about the worst way to spend an evening that I could think of-throw in Donald Trump and I just couldn't.  I will say, though, reading both transcripts and watching clips from the next day, three things.  One, it does appear that FOX News did have a bit of an agenda to knock Donald Trump down a peg.  I don't usually buy into conspiracy theories and Trump clearly went overboard in the days since with his ridiculousness against Megyn Kelly (perhaps one of the few GOP powerhouses in the country he won't be able to take down), but I do think Roger Ailes told the moderators to give him a rougher go than the other candidates.  Secondly, John Kasich's stance on gay marriage is nothing to applaud.  Yes, he may have been the most moderate voice on the subject on that stage, but really-if the best the GOP can do is "I tolerate them with my whole heart" (bravo Tina Fey), then the party is still pretty damn pathetic on gay rights and this should not be accepted.  Rob Murray, Susan Collins, Ilena Ros-Lehtinen-these can be candidates who can be held up as strong examples of gay allies on the Right-not Kasich.  Lastly, the media has gone all over itself congratulating Carly Fiorina on her great performance, but I looked at this and her answers were all style and there wasn't anything particularly strong in her actual stances or remarkable in them.  This seems a bit ridiculous to me-every CEO of a Fortune 500 company could do what she just did-it doesn't mean that she should be president.  When your track record is only that you tanked at Hewlett-Packard and that you bombed in your Senate race (in 2010, no less!), you shouldn't be considered for a White House nomination, period.

-Moody's has accurately predicted every presidential election since 1980, and it came out that they are predicting that the Democrats will win, but only by two electoral college points.  While I do agree this is going to be a nailbiter, and I do think that the Democrats have the slightest of edges still (based on President Obama's popularity, the advantages they have in the Electoral College, and the uncertainty surrounding the GOP's eventual nominee), I do quibble on which states are the "most at risk to switch" list.  I'll buy that Ohio and Florida could both go GOP, but there's no way in hell that Nevada is more at risk than Iowa for the Democrats to lose, or that Minnesota is more likely to switch than Wisconsin or even Michigan.  Plus, New Mexico has consistently been blue in almost every election except governor, which is likely to go Dem in 2020, so again it shouldn't be ahead of Wisconsin, which nearly went for Bush in 2004 and with Scott Walker potentially on the ticket.  Still, good news for the Democrats nonetheless.

Shameless Self-Promotion of the Week...

-The famed Jon Groff/Sutton Foster stage door photo is everything I always dreamed it would be.


YouTube Video of the Week...

-My single favorite recurring series on YouTube is back: Auguest!  Tyler Oakley's month-long series of collabs started out with the most perfect of guests, Ms. Grace Helbig (see the video below) and has continued with Zoe, Tanya, Joey, Ingrid, and Jenna.  Can't want for next week (and hopefully Marcus & Mamrie!), and am seriously hoping considering the amount of shade that Tyler is getting from Pewdiepie that they end up teaming up (weirdly Tyler hasn't commented yet on Twitter about the videos):

Just One More...

-My new obsession (NASA photos) came out with a doozy this past week, with a random 6000 meter pyramid that is randomly on the side of Ceres.  This is odd principally because it's the only mountain of its kind on Ceres, a dwarf planet between Mars and Jupiter, and there's no early explanation as to why it exists.  Stay tuned...