Best of the original trilogy? I still like the other 2 better than The Empire Strikes Back.
Just like in the Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy (the other 2 movies didn't happen, and I still haven't watched the newest one), the middle one is the darkest of the 3.
i am the wrong person to argue with since Episode V is one of my favorite movies of all time. i am generally a fan of "not happy endings" and good character development.
in a LONG 3 (or 9) part series - the development was essential. plus you learn a lot more about The Force and how it bind the galaxy together in this one much more than the others.
I wouldn't say Godfather II is better than the original, but it's the only time that both the original and the sequel BOTH won Oscars for Best Picture.
I would definitely say that Godfather II is better than the original. I like both movies a lot. But the storytelling in Godfather II is much more enchanting and engrossing than the original. Vito's backstory is amazing and, believe it or not, helps to fil out Michael's story as well.
Not sure if by “the sequel” you specifically mean “the second film” because most franchises have multiple sequels.
Terminator 2 (not later ones)
Bourne supremacy and ultimatum (but not later ones)
{But like SW, the originals are still great. Just the ones listed above kicked things up a notch.}
Mission Impossible (pretty much any film after the first, which i thought was pretty terrible. Was surprised that they kept going…but keep going they did!)
Star Trek 2 and 4 (altho not primarily a film franchise. One could potentially say, “TNG over TOS”, if one were so inclined)
Mission Impossible kinda turned into an Action series, a little bit like the Fast and Furious series. Not as much since they still have all the spy stuff that is like the old TV show, but definitely more huge Action scenes.
BTW, I loved watching the old B&W Mission Impossible series when I was a kid. I even watched the new version they did in the 80s where the real life son of the guy that played Grant (?) the tech guy played his son in the reboot.
tru dat, re: ST: TMP! I kinda wanna watch it again to verify its awfulness. Maybe it's just slow (intentionally?) in the way that 2001 is slow? (Disclosure: I'm not a fan of 2001.)
There were some bad (usually odd-numbered) ST movies, but prob nothing on the level of TMP
I always thought that ST: TMP was slow because it wasn't written and edited particularly well. Your comparison to 2001 may be apt. Both films are of similar length and the stories tend to be a bit ponderous.
I think that some filmmakers aspire to making "epic" films. It's fine if the story has sweep and an engaging story arc (e.g., Gone With The Wind, War and Peace), but Gawd help you if the writing is dense, or worse, seemingly inscrutable. Nobody is going to sit still for that.
i dont expect this to be a popular DBD game. someone at work put this together to get us to solve simple quantum superpositiion problems. you start w/ a qubit in the ground state |0> and apply various quantum logic gates to get to the desired state.
the gate choices are X (bit flip), Z (phase flip), Y (bit and phase flip), H (Hadamard gate for creating equal superposition), SX (sqrt of X gate), CX (CNOT gate like a classical XOR but reversible)
admittedly i am not very good at this game (but i probably should be given my job)
COLUMBUS, Ohio —California men's golf finished in eighth place at the NCAA Columbus Regional on Wednesday, eight shots back of fifth-place Florida State, and failed to advance to their third straight NCAA Championships. Sophomore Ziqin Zhou tallied his sixth top-10 finish of the season — shooting a 4-over-par 217 — to tie for seventh place.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder would prefer not to make a habit out of losing the opener of a playoff series, but they have developed a confidence in that situation, if not a comfort level.
Castle's dunk on Hartenstein was one for the ages. I feel a smidge bad for Hartenstein because he played phenomenally in a winning effort last night, and all anybody's going to remember from that game was him getting so incredibly posterized.
I didn't really watch either game, but I heard Hartenstein didn't play when Wemby played in game 1 but then in game 2 was super effective. Not sure how that happened.
Holmgren and Wembanyama hate each other, going back several years. It's sort of a throwback to 80s and 90s NBA, when stars held more animosity. Kinda fun, really.
Anyways, I think in game 1, OKC let them match-up and go at it, and Wemby clearly got the best of Chet. In game two, OKC put Hartenstein out there to be a traditional goon. He's just more able to muscle up the lankier Wemby, but he actually played a great all-around game even when he wasn't being the heavy.
Normally when a team has a bobblehead night for a musician, they play a ton of that artist's music. Not sure how many Too $hort songs are appropriate for family-friendly Raimondi Field!
It wasn’t enough that Ketel Marte broke the hearts of the San Francisco Giants with a walkoff three-run homer Tuesday night. He just had to go 3-for-3 with a walk and cross home plate as many times as the Giants’ entire team did in a 6-3 Arizona Diamondbacks win.
The Dodgers had a lead on the very first pitch of the game, while the Padres couldn’t scratch across a single run as the Dodgers took the series by shutting out San Diego 4-0 on Wednesday.
The Empire Strikes Back
Best of the original trilogy? I still like the other 2 better than The Empire Strikes Back.
Just like in the Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy (the other 2 movies didn't happen, and I still haven't watched the newest one), the middle one is the darkest of the 3.
i am the wrong person to argue with since Episode V is one of my favorite movies of all time. i am generally a fan of "not happy endings" and good character development.
in a LONG 3 (or 9) part series - the development was essential. plus you learn a lot more about The Force and how it bind the galaxy together in this one much more than the others.
Movie franchises where the sequel was better than the original
I wouldn't say Godfather II is better than the original, but it's the only time that both the original and the sequel BOTH won Oscars for Best Picture.
I would definitely say that Godfather II is better than the original. I like both movies a lot. But the storytelling in Godfather II is much more enchanting and engrossing than the original. Vito's backstory is amazing and, believe it or not, helps to fil out Michael's story as well.
i vote for II as well. both were amazing though
@I'm a big Godfather III guy, myself.@
I always thought Aliens was better than Alien. Might be because I watched Aliens on opening night and had never watched Alien until the next day.
Not sure if by “the sequel” you specifically mean “the second film” because most franchises have multiple sequels.
Terminator 2 (not later ones)
Bourne supremacy and ultimatum (but not later ones)
{But like SW, the originals are still great. Just the ones listed above kicked things up a notch.}
Mission Impossible (pretty much any film after the first, which i thought was pretty terrible. Was surprised that they kept going…but keep going they did!)
Star Trek 2 and 4 (altho not primarily a film franchise. One could potentially say, “TNG over TOS”, if one were so inclined)
Mission Impossible kinda turned into an Action series, a little bit like the Fast and Furious series. Not as much since they still have all the spy stuff that is like the old TV show, but definitely more huge Action scenes.
BTW, I loved watching the old B&W Mission Impossible series when I was a kid. I even watched the new version they did in the 80s where the real life son of the guy that played Grant (?) the tech guy played his son in the reboot.
i suppose any in the sequence would be fine. had not initially considered that.
well any ST movie would be an improvement on the original movie.
tru dat, re: ST: TMP! I kinda wanna watch it again to verify its awfulness. Maybe it's just slow (intentionally?) in the way that 2001 is slow? (Disclosure: I'm not a fan of 2001.)
There were some bad (usually odd-numbered) ST movies, but prob nothing on the level of TMP
I always thought that ST: TMP was slow because it wasn't written and edited particularly well. Your comparison to 2001 may be apt. Both films are of similar length and the stories tend to be a bit ponderous.
I think that some filmmakers aspire to making "epic" films. It's fine if the story has sweep and an engaging story arc (e.g., Gone With The Wind, War and Peace), but Gawd help you if the writing is dense, or worse, seemingly inscrutable. Nobody is going to sit still for that.
on the other hand, Wrath of Khan was so good that they made a copy/sequel to the sequel using the new cast.
Word(le) Games
Quordle
🙂 Daily Quordle 1578
5️⃣6️⃣
7️⃣8️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
i didint know that last word. it was the only option left ..
🙂 Daily Quordle 1578
3️⃣4️⃣
5️⃣6️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/
Octordle
Daily Octordle #1578
🔟🕚
6️⃣5️⃣
8️⃣4️⃣
🕐7️⃣
Score: 64
first time playing. in some ways easier than Quordle because you get so much info that there are not so many choices left.
i guess if it takes a while to get the first one then it could be trickier.
Daily Octordle #1578
7️⃣🔟
6️⃣5️⃣
8️⃣3️⃣
9️⃣4️⃣
Score: 52
what is this score 52?
and why is HAG's score higher?
maybe lower score is better?
No idea what the scores mean. I've never even noticed them.
Worldle
Travle
#travle #1254 +4 (2 hints)
🟧🟧🟥🟥🟩🟩✅
https://travle.earth
almost perfect ..
#travle #1254 +0
🟩✅✅
https://travle.earth
#Worldle #1581 (21.05.2026) 5/6 (100%)
🔥 Current Win Streak: 1 days
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜↙️
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜↙️
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨⬇️
🟩🟩🟩🟨⬜↘️
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/share
semi lucky guess on round 2 for being 15k km away on the first guess
#Worldle #1581 (21.05.2026) 2/6 (100%)
🔥 Current Win Streak: 2 days
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜⬅️
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/share
Globle
🌎 May 21, 2026 🌍
🔥 1 | Avg. Guesses: 9.6
⬜🟥🟧🟧🟥🟥🟩 = 7
https://globle-game.com
#globle
my goal was to beat HAG so i took some risks!
🌎 May 21, 2026 🌍
🔥 3 | Avg. Guesses: 8.89
⬜🟥🟥🟧🟩 = 5
https://globle-game.com
#globle
Wordle
Wordle 1,797 4/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 90/99
Luck 52/99
Wordle 1,797 6/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟨🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 76/99
Luck 40/99
Possibly the worst I’ve done without losing completely
I was similar. Had the first and last letter on the second row but didn’t get the word until row five.
Wordle 1,797 4/6*
⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩
🟨🟨🟨⬛🟩
⬛🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 83/99
Luck 51/99
Quarks ... a Wordle-like game for quantum computing
https://mellifluous-sprinkles-5f4e8e.netlify.app/
i dont expect this to be a popular DBD game. someone at work put this together to get us to solve simple quantum superpositiion problems. you start w/ a qubit in the ground state |0> and apply various quantum logic gates to get to the desired state.
the gate choices are X (bit flip), Z (phase flip), Y (bit and phase flip), H (Hadamard gate for creating equal superposition), SX (sqrt of X gate), CX (CNOT gate like a classical XOR but reversible)
admittedly i am not very good at this game (but i probably should be given my job)
almost exactly the same as WordleBot. 1st word same, and our 2nd word had the same letters.
Wordle 1,797 3/6*
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
WordleBot
Skill 98/99
Luck 56/99
Well done!
Cal
[MGOLF] Bears Finish Eighth At Columbus Regional
https://calbears.com/news/2026/5/20/mens-golf-bears-finish-eighth-at-columbus-regional.aspx
COLUMBUS, Ohio —California men's golf finished in eighth place at the NCAA Columbus Regional on Wednesday, eight shots back of fifth-place Florida State, and failed to advance to their third straight NCAA Championships. Sophomore Ziqin Zhou tallied his sixth top-10 finish of the season — shooting a 4-over-par 217 — to tie for seventh place.
Go Bears!!!
PRO
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 30 as Thunder even series in Game 2
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48832009/gilgeous-alexander-scores-30-thunder-evens-series-game-2
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder would prefer not to make a habit out of losing the opener of a playoff series, but they have developed a confidence in that situation, if not a comfort level.
Castle's dunk on Hartenstein was one for the ages. I feel a smidge bad for Hartenstein because he played phenomenally in a winning effort last night, and all anybody's going to remember from that game was him getting so incredibly posterized.
I didn't really watch either game, but I heard Hartenstein didn't play when Wemby played in game 1 but then in game 2 was super effective. Not sure how that happened.
Holmgren and Wembanyama hate each other, going back several years. It's sort of a throwback to 80s and 90s NBA, when stars held more animosity. Kinda fun, really.
Anyways, I think in game 1, OKC let them match-up and go at it, and Wemby clearly got the best of Chet. In game two, OKC put Hartenstein out there to be a traditional goon. He's just more able to muscle up the lankier Wemby, but he actually played a great all-around game even when he wasn't being the heavy.
Unfortunately the Spurs had a couple of injuries. Might keep them from beating the Thunder.
they played Wemby much better too
Oakland Ballers beat Missoula PaddleHeads, 13-8
No 3 and I are going tonight for Too $hort bobblehead night.
Normally when a team has a bobblehead night for a musician, they play a ton of that artist's music. Not sure how many Too $hort songs are appropriate for family-friendly Raimondi Field!
Lots of radio edits or bleeping. Plus I think Too $hort is supposed to be there.
PaddleHeads is an awesome name
Read ‘em and sweep: Marte and Kelly down Giants
The SF Giants battled hard for half a game but ended their long road trip with a 6-3 loss
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/san-francisco-giants-scores-standings/106843/read-em-and-sweep-marte-and-kelly-down-giants
It wasn’t enough that Ketel Marte broke the hearts of the San Francisco Giants with a walkoff three-run homer Tuesday night. He just had to go 3-for-3 with a walk and cross home plate as many times as the Giants’ entire team did in a 6-3 Arizona Diamondbacks win.
Shohei Ohtani’s two-way skills on display in shutout win over Padres
https://www.truebluela.com/dodgers-scores-standings/116374/dodgers-padres-game-recap
The Dodgers had a lead on the very first pitch of the game, while the Padres couldn’t scratch across a single run as the Dodgers took the series by shutting out San Diego 4-0 on Wednesday.