Your “Why Does My Brain Work Like This?” Wednesday Evening Open Thread

NFL Noise:

• Stealing from Crimebeat!:
  • Bengals CB Mackensie Alexander is having himself a rough few days:
    • On Monday, his father went missing on a palmetto berry picking trip in Okeechobee County, FL.
    • On Tuesday, Alexander was arrested for assaulting the man who allegedly left his father behind. He remains in jail pending a bail hearing on Wednesday.
      • He apparently confronted the fellow in the presence of law enforcement, and when they left he took matters into his own fists.
  • The pull-quote from ESPN says it all:
    • A former Washington Football Team executive instructed employees to create a behind-the-scenes video for owner Daniel Snyder featuring clips of partially nude team cheerleaders pulled from a 2008 swimsuit calendar shoot.
    • According to the Washington Post, which wrote the original story, twenty-five more women have spoken to the Post about experiencing sexual harassment while working for the team since their first story came out a couple of months ago.
      • These new allegations also include an incident where Dan Snyder attempted to coerce a cheerleader to “get to know each other” with a friend of his up in a hotel room where a function was taking place.

• Le’Veon Bell is pissed with Adam Gase over whether or not his hamstring is at risk.
  • Gase pulled him from practice when he observed him apparently favouring the leg.
    • Not wanting to risk serious injury three weeks from the alleged start of the season.
  • Bell, however, had opinions on the matter that differed from his coach.

ain’t nothin wrong with my hamstrings https://t.co/6ri3vCVQ1U

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) August 26, 2020

In-between periods of the Flyers-Islanders game today, I flipped around & got hooked into “Scarface” on AMC. It had been awhile since I’d seen it, and I was simultaneously engaged and horrified. Thus, I have a number of questions, for which I will be parroting [DFO]’s award-adjacent feature, “25 Questions”.

1. How many people have actually seen the Paul Muni original? 
2. How many people have actually heard of Paul Muni?
3. Did you know Al Pacino’s agent came up with the idea for the remake after watching the Paul Muni original on late night TV?
4. And that Sidney Lumet was going to be the director?
5. Oliver Stone was hired to write the original script, and said he spent two months in Florida “doing research and cocaine”. Based on the script, how much cocaine do you think Oliver Stone did?
6. Do you think you underestimated the amount of cocaine?
7. You did, didn’t you?
8. Do you think Oliver Stone being a coked-out spider monkey is what caused Sidney Lumet to quit?
9. Do you think cocaine is why Brian De Palma signed on to direct?
10. The “Scarface” remake is set in Miami, using Marielitos as the protagonists. Outside of Florida, do you think anyone knew what a Marielito was?
11. Al Pacino is Italian. Cubans are not Italian. Correct?
12. They had to apply bronzer to Pacino to darken his complexion to make him look more Cuban. This is “Brownface”, no?
13. His Cuban accent is also a gross stereotype. Does the cartoonishness make the Brownface better or worse?
14. It’s gotta be worse, yes?
15. Steven Bauer was the only Cuban in the main cast. I don’t have a question here; I just want to point out how handsome this bastard was. 
16. They couldn’t have found someone non-Italian to play Gina, Frank Lopez or Omar?
17. They couldn’t make this movie today, with these casting choices, right?
18. Did you know they shot most of the movie in California, due to threats from locals and the city government?
19. They only shot exteriors in Miami, and only spent 10 days there. Can you tell they shot most of the movie on a lot in LA?
20. Why do they show this movie on AMC?
21. There is so much swearing, the dubs make it seem like a totally different movie. It was the first film to have over 200 uses of “fuck”, which is abbreviated “the f-word” on most movie trivia sites. What’s the point, at this point?
22. How soft are American viewers that the violence isn’t what gets edited but the swearing and the occasional sideboob?
23. Also, why is it on at 3:00 in the afternoon?
24. You know what doesn’t get edited? Maricón.
25. Seriously, in today’s culture, how does this movie still get a pass?

This concludes my rambling. It doesn’t end my questioning, however.

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins – 7:00PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet
    • Game 3 – series tied 1-1
  • Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars – 9:30PM | NBCSN / Sportsnet
    • Game 3 – Dallas leads 2-0
• NBA: All games postponed due to player boycott over Kenosha
  • Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets – 6:30PM | TNT / TSN
    • Game 5 – Series tied 2-2
  • Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 8:00PM | TNT / TSN
    • Game 5 – Lakers lead 3-1
• MLB:
  • Yankees at Braves – 6:00PM | ESPN / TSN3
  • Blue Jays vs. Red Sox (from Buffalo) – 6:30PM | Sportsnet1
  • Dodgers at Giants – 9:00PM | ESPN / TSN3
• MLS:
  • Miami vs. Atlanta – 8:00PM | TSN2
• Wrasslin’:
  • NXT – 8:00PM | USA

Thanks to the basketball schedule, AEW is pushed to Thursday night if it airs at all, so Joliet Jake Delhomme has got you tomorrow. Balls will be back on Friday, so it’s an early weekend for me. Adios!