Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

Big C said:

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Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

---

Watching Alex Morgan and company with the family.

BREAKING: Trump announces he will institute death penalty for child traffickers after screening 'Sound of Freedom'https://t.co/2mZVLYdkoS

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 21, 2023

A third option would be another movie, the Sound of Freedom. Already over $100 million at the Box Office.

oski003 said:

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Big C said:

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Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

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Watching Alex Morgan and company with the family.

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Me, too. 2-0 USA at the half. How could Alex miss that PK? Then, looked like she was offsides on the second goal.

Dunno if it's cool to say this, but a lot of the players for Vietnam look like guys.

For you guys at Barbie, do check in later, but I'm glad you're not on your device during the movie. Hate that...

Big C said:

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oski003 said:

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Big C said:

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Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

---

Watching Alex Morgan and company with the family.

---

Me, too. 2-0 USA at the half. How could Alex miss that PK? Then, looked like she was offsides on the second goal.

Dunno if it's cool to say this, but a lot of the players for Vietnam look like guys.

For you guys at Barbie, do check in later, but I'm glad you're not on your device during the movie. Hate that...

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The average height of a USA player seems at least six inches taller than the vietnamese players.

Agree about the Vietnamese players looking like guys. It may not be cool to say that, but I noticed it also.

Vietnam vs USA was a mismatch.

USA should have scored way more. They let a lot of great chances go awry. Vietnam never threatened; there's a huge talent gap there.

Still waitin' to hear from you guys who went to the Barbie premier: You can go back on your devices now; it's only the after-party!

Big C said:

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Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

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Why would you be embarrassed?

I don't see Barbie as a "girls" movie. It's more of a pop-culture phenomenon that actually emphasizes Ken over Barbe.

Why is a film called #Barbie somehow all about Ken?

Read @garymkramer's full review: https://t.co/eBJCsw3kYu

— Salon (@Salon) July 19, 2023

^Looks like Jared Goff has had a busy off-season.

> Why is a film called Barbie somehow all about Ken?

dunno, ask again next year, but fwiw Ken is buried at 13 thru 18th on the feature's imdb cast list
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/fullcredits

okaydo said:

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Big C said:

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Let's say you have to choose one activity this evening, do you watch USA vs. Vietnam in the Women's World Cup, or do you attend the opening night of Barbie? (And no, you can't record the former, or go to a later showing of the latter... or see Oppenheimer instead, which is getting rave reviews.)

Wow, what a choice to have to make...

Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie.

Well, maybe not, because I'd have to throw in the embarrassment of maybe being spotted at Barbie (just my luck, there'd be a TV news crew there), so I'll have to go with the soccer game. Also, that's what my 11 yr old daughter will be watching, bless her heart.

USA! USA! USA!

---

Why would you be embarrassed?

I don't see Barbie as a "girls" movie. It's more of a pop-culture phenomenon that actually emphasizes Ken over Barbe.

Why is a film called #Barbie somehow all about Ken?

Read @garymkramer's full review: https://t.co/eBJCsw3kYu

— Salon (@Salon) July 19, 2023

---

The reason I would be embarrassed to be seen at Barbie is that I'm insecure.

Mattel Unveils New Pregnant Ken Doll https://t.co/BbR9qBfci3 pic.twitter.com/VdffyIxnhq

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 21, 2023

Here's the answer you're looking for:

You must watch the live sports event over a recorded film because the result of the game is more likely to get spoiled for you via social media before the film storyline is ruined.

Witness this thread. You yourself posted the halftime score, which would have ruined it for me. Im in Spain and the kickoff was at 3am here so I delayed watching and avoided clicking on your thread. I also saw that Barbie is about Ken, but that hardly ruins the film.

Further, games are more exciting when live.

My girls are going to see Barbie today, tickets bought long time ago. They're back home.

Oppenheimer…. I watched several documentaries on YouTube and can't imagine the movie is going to impress me after all that historical background. I'll likely end up waiting for a stream.

Game review
Vietnam had a lot of aggressive fouling - glad we escaped injury.

We should have done better. Disorganized attacking. Overly aggressive and selfish shot taking. People want to get their faces on wheaties boxes. It's a mindset, not a good one, ruins the quality finish.

Morgan's dump off flick pass on goal 1 was what's needed.
Our captain's goal was patiently taken. Thank you.

We'd have scored more if those mentalities were mimicked by the younger athletes.

It won't be a surprise when we lose in the knockout stage.

Morgan's PK?
Choke. Not gonna make too much of that just yet.

Vietnam didn't give up, good for them. Zambia parked the bus at the 16 yard mark - pathetic.

"Strip away all the peripherals and I think this boils down to Alex Morgan vs. Margot Robbie"

As Gene Simons said to the agreeing Bill Maher, "In the end, men are just a brain and the schmeckle".

Not sure I can disagree with this profound observation.

BTW, my 37 year old daughter is putting the hard sell on me and her mom to get us to go to our first movie in a theater in 30 years. Can't say I'm looking forward to seeing Barbie. Now if Alex Morgan was playing Barbie...

sycasey said:

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USA should have scored way more. They let a lot of great chances go awry. Vietnam never threatened; there's a huge talent gap there.

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Huge talent difference, but always difficult to score when the opposition bunkers everyone in on defense. Did you notice how often the ball crossed midfield in the entire game? Certainly a plethora or shots.

Soccer because I'm never watching Barbie

In light of the Right's freak out about the @Barbie movie, @POTUS @JoeBiden should change up his wardrobe a little this week. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/CrZTN7wiQd

— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) July 23, 2023

I'm the first to say this anywhere, but if Biden came out wearing a dress, Republicans would flip out initially but would respect him later for his bold move.

concordtom said:

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Here's the answer you're looking for:

You must watch the live sports event over a recorded film because the result of the game is more likely to get spoiled for you via social media before the film storyline is ruined.

Witness this thread. You yourself posted the halftime score, which would have ruined it for me. Im in Spain and the kickoff was at 3am here so I delayed watching and avoided clicking on your thread. I also saw that Barbie is about Ken, but that hardly ruins the film.

Further, games are more exciting when live.

My girls are going to see Barbie today, tickets bought long time ago. They're back home.

Oppenheimer…. I watched several documentaries on YouTube and can't imagine the movie is going to impress me after all that historical background. I'll likely end up waiting for a stream.

---

I'm sure soccer's a great sport, but I'm only mildly into it. I will probably catch most or all of the US games, but if I miss one, no big. (It's my loss; I get that.)

Gotta pass on Barbie, even though people say it's deeper than what folks might have anticipated. Traditional Barbie, Politically Correct Barbie, I DGAF. Only way I would go is if my daughter wanted me to take her.

Lots of people are saying Oppenheimer is really, really good. I'm gonna have to check it out.

BearHunter said:

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I'm the first to say this anywhere, but if Biden came out wearing a dress, Republicans would flip out initially but would respect him later for his bold move.

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What if he dated a playboy bunny and f'd a stripper? Then paid them both off with campaign hush money?

smh said:

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> Why is a film called Barbie somehow all about Ken?

dunno, ask again next year, but fwiw Ken is buried at 13 thru 18th on the feature's imdb cast list
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/fullcredits

---

IMDb always lists actors by order of importance.

Like:

John Travolta is the 4th most important actor in Pulp Fiction. Samuel L. Jackson is No. 5. Bruce Willis is No. 9.

I haven't followed the women's game in a long while, so not much to add as far as predictions or analyses, but here are the odds to win from a quick search:

CURRENT 2023 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP WINNER ODDS

• USA +250
• Spain +350
• England +550
• Germany +700
• Australia +1000
• France +1400
• Sweden +1800
• Netherlands +2000
• Japan +2200
• Brazil +2500
• Canada +5000

Apparently Spain has a very good team, they weren't much of a factor back when I followed the game. As well, Japan used to have a very good team, with good passing and ball movement, they're not in the favorites picture now, neither is Canada, which used to have a solid team around Sinclair.

There isn't much suspense as far as group play is concerned, the margin between the top teams and the rest being very wide in the women's game, and with 16 teams qualifying for the bracket stage which starts in 2 weeks. Until then the games are just warmups, with the top teams will be rotating their roster to keep their players fresh.

Ice hockey out scores soccer 2-1.

Goldilocks Economy: How Taylor Swift, 'Barbie' helped prevent a recession


https://www.axios.com/2023/07/25/goldilocks-economy-taylor-swift-barbie-recession

*This story will reduce Conservative males' gnat nuts to amoeba nuts.

bearister said:

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Goldilocks Economy: How Taylor Swift, 'Barbie' helped prevent a recession


https://www.axios.com/2023/07/25/goldilocks-economy-taylor-swift-barbie-recession

*This story will reduce Conservative males' gnat nuts to amoeba nuts.

---

Swift is playing 6 nights in LA

Her tour schedule is brutal

I haven't seen any games yet, will probably catch a few in the bracket round (which starts this weekend), but it looks like Japan was the dark horse, they've crushed their group, 3 wins and no goals conceded including a 4-0 win over Spain, looking like the class of the group stage, while the US has had a slow start finishing 2nd behind Holland. It seems like there is more parity in the sport now than in previous times.

The US is going to play France, Colombia or Sweden, relatively tough matchups for a round of 16, due to the 2nd place finish. And a crappy kickoff time of 2am PST, this Sunday. Should the US advance, the next opponent will probably be Japan, the following Friday at 12:30am PST.

The End of the U.S. Women's Soccer Dominance - The rest of the world has caught up, and that's a good thing.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2023/08/us-womens-national-team-soccer-world-cup/674885/

USWNT is in trouble at 2023 World Cup if they don't turn things around and fast
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2023/08/01/uswnt-portugal-result-womens-world-cup/70503726007/

The History of the FIFA Women's World Cup

Would be nice if USA came roaring back to defeat Sweden and advance further. But soccer heads (including this one) say we look disorganized and ready to return home quietly.

Germany eliminated in the last group, won by Colombia and Morocco, which is another confirmation of the game starting to mature and gaining more parity outside of north America and western/northern Europe, a good thing.

US has a tough draw, getting Sweden then Japan, both coming in with perfect 3-0 records. Allegedly the USNWT has had some issues with team cohesion, as reported by retired star veteran Carly Lloyd. There seems to be a political/cultural divide within the team, with only 3 players including Alex Morgan singing the pregame national anthem.

Sad news for Colombia, who won their group, as they have lost their young star Linda Caicedo, the 18yo one of the revelations of this tournament, having been voted MVP in her games against Germany and S Korea. She's apparently collapsed during training and 3 days later late in the game against Germany.



The women's game has some promise, because a bit like in tennis, players have more space to move being a bid slower, which opens up the game for players with excellent technical skills like Caceido above. It also rewards ball movement and team play, which is what teams like Japan has done very well. In the men's game, teams can disrupt their opponents by clogging the midfield with athletic, higher-stamina players while in the women's game there is more space for players to move and beat their opponent through technique and teamplay, as seen for example in Caicedo's nice move in the above video to beat two defenders and proceed to score on a nice shot to the far post after a give and go.

Cal88 said:

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Germany eliminated in the last group, won by Colombia and Morocco, which is another confirmation of the game starting to mature and gaining more parity outside of north America and western/northern Europe, a good thing.

US has a tough draw, getting Sweden then Japan, both coming in with perfect 3-0 records. Allegedly the USNWT has had some issues with team cohesion, as reported by retired star veteran Carly Lloyd. There seems to be a political/cultural divide within the team, with only 3 players including Alex Morgan singing the pregame national anthem.

Sad news for Colombia, who won their group, as they have lost their young star Linda Caicedo, the 18yo one of the revelations of this tournament, having been voted MVP in her games against Germany and S Korea. She's apparently collapsed during training and 3 days later late in the game against Germany.



The women's game has some promise, because a bit like in tennis, players have more space to move being a bid slower, which opens up the game for players with excellent technical skills like Caceido above. It also rewards ball movement and team play, which is what teams like Japan has done very well. In the men's game, teams can disrupt their opponents by clogging the midfield with athletic, higher-stamina players while in the women's game there is more space for players to move and beat their opponent through technique and teamplay, as seen for example in Caicedo's nice move in the above video to beat two defenders and proceed to score on a nice shot to the far post after a give and go.

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Nice explanation. I don't follow sports anymore but I appreciate your take and it makes sense to my former sports minded brain.

Heads up - USA-Sweden still scoreless with 6min to go into extra time, about to go to the exciting/dreaded PKs...

Disappointing PK series after an excellent start, with the US missing 3 of 7, including 3 of their last 4, veterans Rapinoe skied it and O'Hara hit the post on a weakly-struck ball. GK Alyssa Naeher had a very good series though, did her best with at least one stop, and a well-struck conversion straight in the middle after the Swedish goalie had committed to one side.

Sweden won it by the skin of their teeth on the 7th kick, with Naeher making a save and pushing the ball out after it had bounced back behind her, going less than one centimeter behind the goal line, it took about a minute for the right call to be made and the ref to send Sweden into the next round and the US home, very dramatic ending.

Back to the drawing board for the USWNT program, after what is the earliest exit in WC history.

Not 1cm, but 1mm, maybe.

SWEDEN ELIMINATED THE USWNT BY A MILLIMETER 🤯 pic.twitter.com/xDQn97qjyF

— ESPN (@espn) August 6, 2023

I just pissed out a kidney stone larger than that.