Wednesday, not the day, the girl …


Tim Burton’s Wednesday, Cats – I was hugely sceptical until having realised the immensely talented adidas fan Miss Jenna Ortega had also appeared in various other televisual feasts I’d recently seen, most notably the second season of “You”.

Spoiler Alerts, Cats …

“Wednesday” may be among the last few gasps of Hollyweird greatness, which of course harks back to its history, in this case, the wonderfully weird Addams Family series from the Sixties. Wednesday was so enjoyable, I binge watched all eight episodes in three nights.

While there are some regrettable references to progressive woke idiocy, it still manages to emphasise many universal truths for young people (ultimately its target audience) about society, families, friends and making your own way in this world.

It is an intelligent and esoteric series, prominently referencing as it does Edgar Allan Poe and that famous statement of the Raven, “Nevermore”.

It never takes its audience for granted – they’ll either know the references or be motivated to look them up, such as my having to look up which Cramps’ song Wednesday dances to at the “Rave’N”.

A stellar cast includes Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci*, Freddo Armison and Catherine Zeta-Jones who complement some competent (but still obviously learning their chops) young actors.

But the standout is Miss Ortega. Portraying the unrepentantly deadpan and gloriously gorgeous gothic chick, li’l Wednesday Addams, she is magnificent. While not of course, being seen dead in anything other than her preferred clothing tones of Black, White and Grey (Monochrome, Cats, I love it and wear it whenever possible).

Staggeringly beautiful with her “Dark Berry” lips, luminescent pale skin and jet-black pigtails, very petite (even her Doc Platforms barely elevate her to anywhere near her peers and elders) and infinitely knowledgeable, she effortlessly carries the entire series on her less than broad shoulders.

See for example, the scene where Wednesday “plays” a local mädchen guide (clad in seventeenth century puritan garments) informing in allegedly not impeccable German, a tourist group about the history of Jericho Vermont (the town where her school, the Nevermore Academy, is located) while “inadvertently” encouraging them not to indulge in some of the town’s famous fudges – all while not mentioning “the War”.

And – there are very complicated mysteries to be solved, which Wednesday engages in with much enthusiasm, bored as she is with School life and her insufferable roommate.

But the biggest shout out goes to Tim Burton. Thanks to the technicians in Hollyweird, the man has been able to harness the fruits of his unrestrained imagination for many decades. In 4K UHD his vision of the Addams family’s world just looks bloody magnificent (in more ways than one).

4.75 stars, Cats.

*Played Wednesday in the 1991 “The Addams Family” film.

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Muddy
Muddy
August 30, 2023 10:05 am

Ricci fans might enjoy the opening scene of ‘Prozac Nation’ (the fillum, not the book).

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
August 30, 2023 10:36 am

Tim Burton does good stuff even when he’s doing bad stuff, like Through The Looking Glass. May’ve flopped but the visuals are entertaining.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 1:42 pm

Aug 30, 2023 1:41 PM
Bruce O’Nuke

Yep. And just wait until they start noticing all the whale deaths and put restrictions on wind construction to protect them. Suddenly the economics will ratchet another step worse.

I’m curious about the level of noise for submarines using sonar systems.
It seems the soundwaves affect whales. Will they enable Russian or Chinese Boomers to hide close inshore to the Continental US? A depressed trajectory missile with 3 nukes each – the Type 094 carries 12 for a total of 36 warheads – could take out a large percentage of the US retaliatory strike capability in far less time than an ICBM launch from the Chinese mainland.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 2:02 pm

Black Ball Avatar

Black Ball
Aug 30, 2023 8:14 AM
More covid rubbish. Enough to boil the blood.

403 Forbidden.

Figures
Figures
August 30, 2023 2:02 pm

Wednesday was very good.

Only quibble is the father. Nothing against the actor but the character’s supposed to be suave and handsome.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 2:14 pm

Jorge

Aug 30, 2023 9:55 AM
If you’re in Melbourne and the mozzies are bothering you, don’t try and scare them off with the right arm outstretched. Get some aero guard instead.

How about outstretched arm with palm rotated 90 degrees, fingers closed into a fist, and a thumbs up?

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 3:41 pm

ZK2A:

“We need more people to go and explain the Voice to Parliament to our community, explain what it is and how it could help. We need to have it explained more to the grassroots level,” he said.

No.
If your kid doesn’t turn up at school and behave in a manner consistent with learning, then every fortnight, the parent will lose 10% of their sit down money. If the kid gets income from the State they can lose 10% as well.
Nothing else is working, so get bloody serious, Australia.
And I mean this for black and white, outback and city.
A bit of tough love will work, the current policies aren’t.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 4:20 pm

Gilas:

Please consider volunteering here.

Already volunteered, but now I will have the T shirt.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 4:27 pm

Bruce O’Nuke:

Winston – I don’t think subs are much threat to whales because using sonar is like putting up a giant sign saying HERE I AM in neon lights. Sub guys tend not to do that as it’s bad for their health.

Bruce you misunderstand my point.
If the Ecocrucifixes make enough noise to confuse whales, then the enemy missile subs will have a better chance of getting closer offshore without being detected because they will be shielded by the noise.
A noisy environment shields enemy subs from detection and USN hunter type subs will be operating in a degraded environment as they try to use sonar to detect the enemy.

Robert Sewell
August 30, 2023 4:34 pm

John H.

Aug 30, 2023 1:53 PM
NO. SOSUS.

John.
SOSUS is a sound detecting array. If the ambient noise levels double or whatever, the detection limit goes up.
The latest Chinese Missile submarine is noisier than its predecessor. The increase in noise from the offshore Ecocrucifixes negates that disadvantage. It makes it harder for the US subs to find them to destroy them.

Gabor
Gabor
August 31, 2023 3:18 am

Robert Sewell
Aug 30, 2023 4:34 PM

Wrong thread mate.

JC
JC
August 31, 2023 4:01 am

Dover

When you have, NPR, The Guardian, New York Times, Vanity Fair and every other leftwing publications, in the US, blaming Purdue Pharma for Opioid deaths, it’s always a good idea to seek a second opinion (pun intended).

Purdue most certainly over-marketed that drug, but let’s not forget that there is a firewall between Pharma and the patient. They’re called doctors!

So to fulfill my duty as an American and a physician who practiced internal medicine for over 20 years and was faced with many patients with real pain and many drug-seeking patients, allow me to place blame for our current opioid crisis and provide a roadmap for further investigation.

First, in all fairness, I will start with physicians. We overprescribe opioids, just as we overprescribe antibiotics. But it is generally well meaning; we don’t want our patients to experience pain. But then we prescribe 30 or 60 pills when 5 or 20 would have been adequate. We do that because we are used to prescribing in multiples of 30; 30 days for a month supply of a once a day medication, 90 days for a mail-order prescription. Prescribing 6 or 10 pills will undoubtedly result in a phone call from a pharmacist asking for a round number of pills, taking up time better spent entering meaningless information into our electronic health record systems. It is the leftover pills that sit forgotten in the medicine cabinet which often lead to trouble, stolen by a relative or visitor and abused. But sometimes it is that prescription that was provided for true pain that leads rapidly to tolerance and addiction. Healthy Living magazine recently published a heart wrenching story of a woman whose life was nearly destroyed by two weeks of oxycodone prescribed by a well-meaning physician for arthritis.

The role of these physicians can best be described as innocent bystander. We were truly trying to help the patient. But there are also what are known as “pill mill” doctors who set up shop, accept cash as the only payment and are willing to prescribe to anyone for any ailment, real or feigned. One physician in my area was so bold as to meet his “patients” in a local coffee shop to exchange prescriptions for cash. Needless to say he is no longer licensed to practice medicine. Doctors such as these are criminals and need to be stopped. They cast a long shadow on the work of every other physician trying to help patients.

And then lookee here: From where the pressure to deal with management also came from.

At around the same time as Oxycontin’s approval, the American Pain Society, our third guilty party, introduced the “pain as the 5th vital sign” campaign, followed soon thereafter by the Veterans Health Administration adopting that campaign as part of their national pain management strategy. This declaration was not accompanied by the release of any device which could objectively measure pain, as was done with all previous vital signs, blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate and temperature, making it the first and only subjective vital sign.

The Joint Commission also bought into this, earning a place on the list. In 2001 they issued standards requiring the use of a pain scale and stressing the safety of opioids. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, The Joint Commission went so far as to publish a guide sponsored by Purdue Pharma on pain management. This guide reportedly stated, “Some clinicians have inaccurate and exaggerated concerns about addiction, tolerance and risk of death. This attitude prevails despite the fact there is no evidence that addiction is a significant issue when persons are given opioids for pain control.”

Pharma is there to sell meds. The firewall between the patient and pharma is the doctor and that’s where the real hidden blame lies.

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