#think brad pit in troy

[asnowdriftsomewhere]

Im rewriting my first ACoTaR fanfic, and I'm describing Tarquin's fit and....

"He wore a loose fitting top, the same color as the ribbon in his hair, made of a sheer cotton like material that fell to just above his navel. The hem of which was embroidered with golden thread to look like waves crashing against the surf. The image was also engraved upon the golden cuffs he wore around his wrists. His pant, loose and billowy, the color of summer clouds, hung low around his waist as if inviting the eye to look lower."

[one-little-nerd-stayed-home]

It's been a minute since I laughed as hard at a short rest bit as I did at the reveal that Jake had a picture of Bradley Fucking Pitt as the character art for Henry Hogfish on D&D beyond or whatever online thing they were using.

[wild-lavender-rose]

Troy Anon!

I’m glad you enjoyed the movie! I did enjoy the movie as well with some minor things I didn’t like but it didn’t ruin the movie for me.

- I think the movie was really well-casted expect for Bratt Pit playing Achilles. I think he’s a good actor, it just felt like the role didn’t suit him if that makes sense?

- I loved Orlando Bloom in this movie and thought he did an amazing job as Paris; I wish there was more scenes between Paris and Hector as I love their brotherly bond, Eric Bana and Orlando Bloom did an incredible job. On the topic of Paris, I wish there was more than what we got with his arc and character development- felt a bit lacking.

- I kind of felt like there was a lack of expression with Diane Kruger; it just felt like she wasn’t allowed to be as expressive as the other characters because she playing the beautiful love interest and it did bother me in some scenes. Other than that, she did great with what she was given. I also love Helen’s dresses, I want to wear them. XD

- I did enjoy Briseis is in the movie, I don’t think I really like her and Achilles though. I did took notice that Paris and Hector seem to have forgotten their cousin for a bit. It didn’t bug me, just cracked a joke like ‘hey, Paris, remember our cousin- wonder where she went.’

What I love about the movie was mainly the scenes with Paris and Hector, the cinematography, the soundtrack, and the fighting scenes. The fighting scenes were incredible, especially the final scene. I also believe the actors all did a great job with the emotional scenes, you can literally see the sadness and pain in their eyes, especially with the father of Hector and Paris when he came to Achilles to plead to him- it made the scenes and characters feel more real. Other than these flaws, I did enjoy the movie- it may not be the best adaptation of the Trojan War but it was still fun and well-made.

Oh my goodness I love how detailed this review is!

- I completely agree about them casting Brad Pitt, it felt like he just went around the whole movie going why am I here???

- I’ve said it before, but Orlando Bloom was genuinely my favorite part of watching this movie. I do think that it felt a bit disjointed when he went from being scared and wanting to run to full on fighting. Were there more character development scenes that they cut out?

- Ahhh yes her dresses are gorgeous, especially the first one we see her in! <3 The only other thing I’ve seen her in is National Treasure but going from that I know she is capable of so much more expression than we see in Troy. Also, that accent absolutely killed me, it worked so well for her role as an exotic princess/queen.

- Honestly I think I would have liked the Briseis and Achilles romance more if it wasn’t Brad Pitt playing Achilles. That aside, I was absolutely obsessed with the Hurt/Comfort, enemies to lovers themes between them. Made my fanfic writer heart go eeeeek 🥰😂 and to just have the cousins give a nod to the fact they think she’s dead would have really helped things. But alas, they did not :(

The soundtrack is great, I’ve been listening to it on and off ever since I watched it. And Josh Groban’s song is fantastic, one of my new favorites I put on repeat while writing sad scenes. Like I said before, I’m in love with how much thought and effort you put into reviewing the movie. It reminds me of professional reviews I’ve received of my irl work. Are you a critic irl?

[purplesurveys]

564

You hate these 'Are we alike?' surveys, but you still can't resist them. I don’t hate them, I just don’t like just bolding stuff. I get talkative when it comes to surveys so I like explaining myself, like right now haha. I definitely answer these types much less often, though. You are female. Indeed I am. You are eighteen years of age. I’m three years older than that. Your hair is an unnatural (but tasteful) shade of red. It’s black, and I’ve never dyed it red either. You have brown eyes. It’s either black or very dark brown, because I’m not sure if black eyes are actually a thing.

You are single. Nah and haven’t been in a while. You have one older brother. Nope, I’m the eldest in the immediate family and I’m a sister to two siblings. You are third generation Russian and Polish. I’m quite sure there is zero tinge of both bloods in me. You live in Florida. And I also live way too far from Florida. I don’t think we’re much alike, man lol. ^And it is just way too fucking hot for you. Not at the moment. Christmas weather is approaching fast, so I can actually go nights without turning on the aircon now. You are currently waiting to get a piercing. Nope. Terrified of them. You have lots of tattoos already planned out. I don’t have any design ideas other than my dog’s pawprint and a plate of nachos. You write, but don't really consider yourself a 'writer'. If I did, it would probably be an insult to writers. I’m not always confident about my writing, even though I love to do it. You love photography (and not because it's 'popular' these days). I respect the skill and the profession, but I don’t do it myself. I used to try out my hand in it though precisely because it was popular, but that was like nine years ago; I quickly realized I wasn’t any good at holding a camera. You drink tea and coffee on a regular basis. I don’t drink tea and I probably drink coffee 1-2 times a week only.

Gore generally makes you laugh. I try not to laugh at it because I know artists spend a fuckton of time working on making it look legitimate (not related to gore but I felt bad when a bunch of fans called out Bryan Cranston’s bald cap in the El Camino movie, especially knowing that Greg Nicotero, AKA dude who works on the makeup in The Walking Dead, was in the team who made the cap. They did what they could and it highkey looks pretty good, but some fans are just brutal); but if the gore was intentionally corny or bad, then I might laugh.

You basically write down everything because you're afraid you'll forget. Yep, that’s why my Notes app is a list of the most random shit. You're a 'highschool drop-out'. No, I graduated. ^And you're currently working towards your GED. We don’t have that here; I don’t actually know what that means. Am open to anyone explaining it to me! Hahaha You don't really care what anyone thinks about you. Of course I care. But it only matters most when the opinions come from the people close to me. You Tweet excessively and shamelessly. I was definitely more obsessed before (I would probably do 150-200 tweets a day and the website would usually kick me out for an hour for tweeting too much). But I mellowed down over the years when I realized making Twitter my life was a horrible habit and that I needed to get off my laptop lol. I still have the app open all day long, but I do more lurking than posting tweets.

It bothers you that almost every statement on this thing begins with 'you'. It’s supposed to be an are-we-alike survey so I don’t see why that trend should be a problem. Winter is your favorite season. Which is weird because I’ve never experienced it. But based on everyone’s stories about how winter is in their area, it sounds beautiful. You know every word to Badlands by Bruce Springsteen. I have never heard a single note of that song. ^And you're not ashamed to admit it. c: You're afraid to go to sleep most nights. Nah. I’m RELIEVED to sleep every night, especially after a long day lmao You have a blog and you're not afraid to use it. :D This is my blog. I’m not afraid to use it but I definitely am cautious about anyone in real life finding out about it. 'Cheesy', 'dorky', 'weird' and 'freaky' are all terms that apply to you. I’m sure everyone identifies with at least one of these words. You are not religious. That I am not. There was a very VERY brief moment when I was ~17 that I went back to my Catholic roots but that fizzled out quickly once I got to college. ^You are spiritual. No. You can't resist making your mom jokes. They’re old, cheap, and unfunny. Except for the White Chick ones HAHAHA ^Or 'that's what she said' jokes. These are even worse. You have a minor obsession with travel-sized objects. Not really. Hades is a BAMF. <3 Like, Percy Jackson-Hades? Idk, I’ve never seen the movie. ^You actually know who Hades is. (Lawlz.) ^ That’s the only Hades I know. You plan on getting two kittens and naming them Hades and Apollo. I don’t plan on getting kittens, and boy these statements are starting to get real specific that no one else is most likely to relate to them lmao. Serial killers never cease to both amaze and fascinate you. I mean I don’t glorify them in the way you just worded it, but I am interested in reading about them. You have a thing for anything vintage or gothic. Before, I guess. Not so much nowadays. You don't have a lot of patience for stupid people. For stupid drivers, mainly. You tell your fair share of racist jokes. ??? This is one of your are-we-alikes????????? You think neck tattoos are sexyy. I find them neither sexy nor unsexy, but I do inwardly cringe because I always imagine just how much it would have hurt to have had it made, especially tattoos on the throat. You want a mosh pit at your wedding. :D Hell no. 14 year old, punk rocking, headbanging Robyn may have wanted that, but I’m so glad she grew up over the years. The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe made you cry. I don’t think I’ve ever read it. You get showtunes stuck in your head on a daily basis. I don’t like that kind of music. You eat emo kids for breakfast. Ok now this is just awful. ^And then follow up with a helping of scene kids for lunch. What the hell does eating emo and scene kids even supposed to mean? You secretly want to become a zombie-human hybrid. I’ve seen enough The Walking Dead to not want this scenario for myself. You strongly believe in peace through superior firepower. No.  You hate hippies. Also no. You actually take the time to look up words you don't know the meanings to. Sure. Googling literally takes five seconds, sometimes fewer. You have a habit of calling everything 'ridiculous'. I like using it as an adverb but I wouldn’t call it a habit.

You love Skwisgaar from Metalocalypse. :D Never heard of both of those things. You wish to invest in a pair of plaid pants. Not my style. You love scaring people--literally and figuratively. Not really. You hate the Fourth of July. I don’t celebrate it so I don’t have reason to hate it. You get excited over new pens and notebooks. That’s being a college student for ya.

^And basically any other kind of art supplies. I guess, but pens and notebooks excite me most. You have a thing for Mustangs. (The car, not the horse.) No. In the Philippines, Mustangs are the most basic of luxury cars so I’ve stopped being impressed when I see them around hahaha. You shamelessly jam to 'Don't Stop Believing' every chance you get. No. You think boundaries are overrated. :D No, they’re necessary. You rarely drink soda. I hate the feeling when it goes down my throat. You always procrastinate until the very last possible minute. For certain work that I particularly don’t like doing. Your favorite font on Microsoft Word is 'calibri'. It’s far from my favorite. You enjoy talking in various fake accents. I can’t do accents. The only time you ever thought Brad Pitt was sexy was when he was in 'Troy' I haven’t seen much of his stuff but I find him very attractive in general. You can make the fuck out of some brownies. c: I don’t bake. You don't do well with change. Sometimes. You always listen to music before going to sleep. I don’t; I find it too loud. You thought this was gay. Ugh, this is awful. ^And you now want to lodge a battle axe into my brain. I’m not THAT violent.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1311

Monday, September 28, 2020

 Thanks to my buddy Doug I am able to catch up on these four DC titles.

 Action Comics #1023 to #1025 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) John Romita Jr. (pencils) Klaus Janson (inks) Brad Anderson (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). We have chapters 2, 3 and 4 of "The House of Kent" story where Superman teams up with Conner Kent/Superboy, Jonathan Kent/Superboy and visiting from the 31st Century, Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes, to take down Metropolis's Invisible Mafia crime syndicate led by the new owner of The Daily Planet, Marisol Leone and the super villain The Red Cloud who is Daily Planet reporter Robinson Goode. Got all that? Need more? Then how about Kara/Supergirl joining the fray. Issue #1023 has Superman saving Jimmy Olsen from being killed by The Red Cloud and Lois Lane meeting Conner for the first time. Issue #1024 has Supergirl showing up to help and the Kent clan flush out the bad guys. Issue #1025 introduces the big bad that is going to kill the Kent clan. He's a Parasite from another Earth who was successful in killing the Superman of his Earth. I wish the art was better. John Romita Jr.'s work has lost a lot of appeal for me. As much as I enjoy the way Brian Michael Bendis writes I really am tired of his expositions and recaps. I get that it's great for new fans and makes it easier for them to jump on board a series but I just find all of it boring and repetitive. I'm also getting tired of stories where a super villain comes close to killing Superman like this new Parasite and The Red Cloud before him. It seems like DC only wants to do these types of Superman stories ever since Doomsday "killed" Superman in 1993. I'm at a point where I'm "been there, read that". I will continue to read this book as long as Doug keeps it on his sub list but even he is thinking of dropping it.

 Batman #98 & #99 - James Tynion IV (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Tomeu Morey (colours) Clayton Cowles (letters). In parts 4 and 5 of "Joker War" Batman recovers from Punchline's toxin with the help of Harley Quinn (IRL) and the dearly departed Alfred (in his mind's eye). The Joker's plan to kill as many citizens of Gotham City as possible nears its conclusion. Just like Superman versus the Invisible Mafia in Action Comics, Batman calls in reinforcements to help defeat Joker. Red Hood, Nightwing (getting a new costume), Signal (I still think this is a dumb super hero name), Orphan (ugh), Spoiler (meh), Red Robin, Batgirl, Harley Quinn (on the side of the angels now) and Batwoman answer the call of duty. I liked the argument that Batman has with Harley just before he goes to confront the Joker. The Joker's bat suit is a scream. Meanwhile, Catwoman, the Penguin and the Riddler team up to pull off a major heist. Lots going on and I can't wait to read Batman #100. Kudos to Jorge Jimenez for the fantastic art throughout both issues.

 Superman #22 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Kevin Maguire (art) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). I missed reading this issue with the first batch of comic books that Doug loaned to me and I almost didn't read it except that it was the conclusion to the Superman versus Mongul fight and Kevin Maguire did the art. Yes, Superman wins again and Mongul is sent home with his tail between his legs. The interaction between Lois Lane and FBI Special Agent Chase back on Earth was much more interesting than the space brawl.

 Superman #25 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Ivan Reis (pencils) Julio Ferreira & Danny Miki (inks) Alex Sinclair (colours) Dave Sharpe (letters). Introducing Synmar! Pretty sure he's going to be a bad guy what with "sin" in his name. Synmar or Eisno Alkor is the protector of his planet, also named Synmar. These aliens have been monitoring Superman's progress since he left his exploding home planet of Krypton as a baby. At the end of part 1 of "Mythological" it looks like Synmar has to do something because his planet perceives a threat from Superman even though Superman doesn't even know about the existence of the aliens. I hate these kinds of made up crises that pits Superman against another powerful alien. He just got through having a big fight with Mongul. If it wasn't for Clark reuniting with his high school crush Lana Lang this extra-sized anniversary issue would have been ho-hum.

 Detective Comics #1027 - This $9.99 US, 144-page mega spectacular is the epic 1,000-issue anniversary of the Dark Knight. With 12 complete stories you do get your money's worth. The list of writers include: Peter J. Tomasi, Brian Michael Bendis, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, James Tynion IV, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marv Wolfman, Grant Morrison, Tom King, Scott Snyder, Dan Jurgens and Mariko Tamaki. The artists are: Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy, David Marquez, Chip Zdarsky, Eduardo Risso, Riley Rossmo, John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson, Emanuela Lupacchino & Bill Sienkiewicz, Chris Burnham, Walt Simonson, Ivan Reis & Joe Prado, Dan Jurgens & Kevin Nowlan, and Dan Mora. Colourists are: Nathan Fairbairn, Alejandro Sanchez, Chip Zdarsky, Eduardo Risso, Ivan Plascencia, Arif Prianto, Jordie Bellaire, Nathan Fairbairn, Laura Martin, Marcelo Maiolo, Hi-Fi and Tamra Bonvillain. Letterers are: Rob Leigh, Joshua Reed, Aditya Bidikar, Tom Napolitano, AndWorld Design, Troy Peteri, Carlos M. Mangual, Steve Wands, and John Workman. Sounds like an awards show acceptance speech.

 The stellar line-up of creators did an excellent job of presenting a mix of emotional family stories and thoughtful mysteries needing some detective work by Batman and his allies to solve. There's a standout story about a GCPD rookie police officer and two stories tied into the current storylines in ongoing Batman and Detective Comics. If I could buy only one Bat book this month, this would be it for it's great art and stories.

[planbeeeee]

2020 Oscars Predictions

Inspiration.

I’ve been thinking about inspiration the last two weeks. 

I, like many of you, spent the better part of January 26-28, overwhelmed with the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi, and 7 other victims of a helicopter accident in California. It was information overload that day. Refreshing the social feeds didn’t help. News went from bad to worse. No rollercoaster of emotions, this just felt like a pit. 

The news dominated Sunday.

But long lost clips of interviews and heartfelt stories took over on Monday and Tuesday, and I was truly blessed by it. There was one clip I saw more than any other. It wasn’t Kobe dropping 81 against the Raptors, or him scoring 60 on his final game. It wasn’t the lob to Shaq, the dunk over Dwight, the free throws after tearing his achilles. No, it was of him and his daughter Gigi sitting courtside at a random Haws-Nets game at the end of last year. Just talking ball, father to daugher, mentor to mentee... inspiration to inspiration.

Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game, won an Oscar in 2018 for Best Animated Short Film for his retirement announcement letter put to music and illustration called Dear Basketball. The final words of his acceptance speech he speaks to his wife and daughters in Italian and tells them he “loves them with all his heart” and that they are his “inspiration.” 

You see inspiration is that enthusiasm you get from someone or something that drives you to create something extraordinary. It is not earned or deserved. Inspired work stands apart from everything normal. 

That’s exactly what appeals to me the most about the Oscars. We get to look back in the year that was and award those truly inspired pieces of art through film. The value beyond this is that inspiration is, as David Brooks in his NY Times Op Ed put it:

“...a beautiful contagion that passes through individuals. The word itself comes from the Latin inspirare, meaning “to breath into.” One inspiring achievement — say, the space program — has a tendency to raise the sense of possibility in others — say, a little boy who dreams of being an astronomer. Then the one who is inspired performs his own feats and inspires others, and so on down the line.” 

In truly contagious fashion, this year we may see a former athlete win an Oscar for his Animated Short Film called Hair Love. Matthew Cherry tells a heartfelt story of an African American father learning to do his daughter’s hair for the first time. It is worth ALL 6 minutes and MORE. 

Cherry, a former NFL player, has spoken very openly about how he was inspired by Kobe’s film... and here we are. 

A basketball legend inspired by his daughters 

A daughter inspired by her father to pursue basketball

A former athlete inspired by a former athlete to create a short film

“Success is not just what you accomplish in your life, it is about what you inspire others to do.”

---

Bee’s 2020 Oscars Predictions

Year 7! Last year was tough even though I got 5/7 correct. I included Best Documentary Feature last year so it helped my numbers but since I didn’t see any of the full length documentary films this year I’m crossing it out and replacing it with Best Animated Feature. Got to 44 movies in 2019, 1 shy of last year’s total. So close. 2019 was a really bad year in movies for a while but then Q4 turned up the heat and it ended up being one of the better years in recent memory. So let’s dive in!

Best Picture

Will Win & Hope Wins: Parasite- It comes down to Parasite and 1917 for me. I LOVED them both. Any other winner would be just absurd here. Parasite is a 100% lock to win Best Foreign Language Film, and I believe it is well deserving of becoming the first film ever to win both that and Best Picture. Director Bong Joon Ho created a masterpiece that is now in my Top 10 movies of All-Time. It is the best film I’ve seen since 2015 (The Big Short) and I think the depth of storytelling, suspense and symbolism is just near perfection. 

Lead Actress

Will Win & Hope Wins: Renee Zellweger, Judy- Here’s the answer to the inevitable question “Where has she been this whole time?” Renee Zellweger did take a 6-year acting hiatus from 2009 to 2015. Her portrayal of an overwhelmed Judy Garland is in many ways representative of her own struggle with the rigors of Hollywood. Judy was a subpar, biopic but Renee Zellweger was extraordinary in it. 

Lead Actor

Will Win & Hope Wins: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker- No one on earth could play Joker like that. It was such an intense performance on his part. The movie was hard to watch at times but you just couldn’t take your eyes off him. Usually biopics are the way to go for winning best acting oscars. The Lead Actor category has had a winner in biopic films in 6 out of the last 7 Oscars. Joaquin will make it 6 for 8. If for no other reason to hope he wins, that acceptance is going to be entertaining to say the least!

Director

Will Win: Sam Mendes, 1917- The “one-shot” was better than any movie has ever done it. Some saw it as a gimmick but I just thought it worked so seamlessly with the plot of the movie. 1917 goes down as one of my favorite war movies of all-time. Mendes has one Oscar for directing already for American Beauty and he’s definitely deserving of this year’s prize as well. 

Hope Wins: Bong Joon Ho, Parasite- I’m a member of the Bong Hive. What can I say?! It’s so hard to make a movie with no clear protagonist or antagonist. You’re not rooting for anyone, as the audience you are most literally along for the ride. I should also note that weeks later the movie sticks with you like glue but I honestly forgot it was all in Korean. The linear storytelling and purposeful nature of every scene and dialogue comes so clear in his work. 

Supporting Actress

Will Win: Laura Dern, Marriage Story- Marriage Story just didn’t work for me. Laura Dern was fine but I really think people are overvaluing her performance. I tried my hardest to empathize with the circumstances surrounding their ugly divorce but unless you have a kid and are consumed with your work, I don’t think you can relate. The acting was good but there were so many unnecessary elements. I’ll just say for those that watched: Box cutter?!

Hope Wins: Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit- It’s the year of Scar Jo! Nominated for Lead in Marriage Story, Supporting in Jojo Rabbit, and was a part of the highest grossing film of all-time in Avengers: Endgame. She really came into her own this year flexing her acting muscle. She was so good in Jojo Rabbit. Presented strength and weakness in such a believable way. She’s never been nominated before so all the more reason to pull for our Black Widow here.

Supporting Actor

Will Win & Hope Wins: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Pitt has been around acting in enjoyable movies for such a long time now (Seven, Fight Club, Snatch, Troy, Ocean’s, Moneyball, etc) but he has no Oscars hardware to show for it. He was in Best Picture winning 12 Years a Slave but that award was for the film as a whole. It’s time Pitt deserves his recognition. Both his role and Margot’s were almost pseudo leads. Also the rest of the competition in the category is relatively weak (Hopkins in Two Popes was great though). 

I should point out as well that his production company has for years now been involved in moving the needle on diversity in film. 12 Years a Slave was the breakthrough but since then they’ve produced:

Selma

Moonlight

Okja

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (should have nominated for Best Picture over Ford v. Ferrari)

Would love to see Pitt and his production company get its due. Oh by the way the name of said production company:

Animated Feature

Will Win: Toy Story 4- I didn’t see it. But I heard it’s not as good as Toy Story 3.

Hope Wins: Klaus- In the mold of Polar Express and Home Alone, this could be a yearly Christmas-time watch for me. It was entertaining and different and meaningful all wrapped into one animated feature film. It’s on Netflix so if you haven’t seen it, don’t even wait for Christmas to watch it.

---

Best Picture Films Ranked

Parasite- 9.1

1917- 8.7

Little Women- 8.4

Jojo Rabbit- 8.2

Joker- 7.7

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- 7.7

Ford v. Ferrari- 7.5

The Irishman- 7.1

Marriage Story- 6.8

My Top 9 Movies of 2019

Parasite

1917

Blinded By the Light

The Farewell

Avengers: Endgame

Little Women

Jojo Rabbit

Us

Always Be my Maybe

*Endgame better win best Visual Effects. This slight against comic book movies is so tiring. See you next year!

[yahoo-from-the-marbles-blog]

Takeaways from Kentucky: What if we just fast-forward to Homestead?

Welcome to our weekly post-race column of fire takes. Let’s see what’s in store this week after Saturday’s race at Kentucky.

• It’s going to be a major upset if one of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick or Martin Truex Jr. doesn’t win the 2018 Cup Series championship. So why don’t we just skip ahead to the Nov. 19 title race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and settle the championship?

OK, it’s a ludicrous thought. No one knows how to time travel. But we’re quickly getting to the point where something will have gone incredibly wrong for the three aforementioned drivers to not be racing for the championship.

[Truex gets fourth win of the season at Kentucky]

Truex’s win on Saturday night marked the 14th time in 19 races that either he, Busch or Harvick had won a race this season. The three of them have also won all of the races contested on 1.5-mile tracks in 2018. Five of 10 races in the playoffs are at 1.5-mile tracks including Homestead.

Again, you want to bet against a driver other than the three of them winning the title? Here’s what the playoff point breakdown looks like with seven races to go in the regular season.

1. Kyle Busch, 30 2. Kevin Harvick, 27 3. Martin Truex Jr., 25 4. Clint Bowyer, 10 5. Joey Logano, 7 6. Austin Dillon, 5 7. Erik Jones, 5 8. Brad Keselowski, 4 8. Ryan Blaney, 4

With the addition of carryover points in NASCAR’s playoff format, the rest of the season between now and November feels like a formality. All that’s left — we think — is to determine who will challenge the top three at Homestead. Will it be Bowyer? Jones? Logano? Keselowski?

•  Keselowski and Kurt Busch were the only ones that really challenged Truex throughout Saturday night’s race and that was because they tried some two-tire pit stop strategy.

“I really enjoyed the way [crew chief] Billy Scott called the race because our lap times were really strong on the super-long runs, and that’s why he left me out there in Stage 1.  We didn’t get points, but it put us in good position for Stage 2 and then we were ahead of the game to make a call again. It just kept us ahead the whole night. Even though we didn’t have the fastest car, we led a lot of laps tonight and it was fun to have the Monster Energy Ford out front.”

• It’s hard not to wonder if Kentucky Speedway will have a Cup Series race much longer. Look at this crowd for Saturday night’s race.

(Via NBC Sports Network)

What’s the redeeming quality of Kentucky if it doesn’t have capacity crowds? Located between Louisville and Cincinnati, the track isn’t near a major metropolitan area. Traffic is terrible when crowds are good. It’s yet another 1.5-mile track on a schedule that has a few too many races on 1.5-mile tracks.

NASCAR’s sanctioning agreement with tracks expires after the 2019 season and it reasons there will be major changes starting in 2020. Will Kentucky be one of those changes? We wouldn’t bet on it. But we wouldn’t bet against it either.

• When you count the backmarker bankrupt BK Racing there are six Toyota cars that compete full-time in NASCAR. Toyotas have now won 10 of the first 19 races of the season. Truex and Busch are responsible for nine of those wins, of course, but it’s still an impressive stat.

– – – – – – –

Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

More from Yahoo Sports: • Even in defeat, Serena Williams is the American Dream • Troy coach sends conference title ring to family of player who died in 2016 • Sources: Channing Frye returning to Cavs on 1-yr, $2.4M deal • Unlikely source keeps dropping Kawhi Leonard news