Curtain Call: King Hedley II

King Hedley II 8/10

This weekend I went to see this play at A Noise Within with my best friend. We got there as it started to drizzle and got to the ticket booth only to be told that the tickets did not exist. She asked what we should do and I was like “Get something to eat” because I had been up since 5am and was hungry again. They said they had a few more tickets and sat us in the front row. We were both like “Um...” because I don't wanna sit front row for anything. So we sat and saw that the stage had this rubber dirt all over it and knew it was gonna flew towards us at some point. And by the way, there were quite a few seats available and we did not need to be sat that close to the stage. I like this place but they were having all kind of ticket finding issues when we got there. Now that is over I can talk about the play.

The Review: Casino

Casino 9/10

This movie starts off with the main star being blown up in a damn car. That was my introduction to the movie Casino. I somehow never got around to seeing this which shocked L. So we watched this three hour movie over two days. This starts off in the early 70's where this dude Ace is sent by the mob back in Chicago to run Tangiers. He sends them money every month and everyone is happy because he is very good at his job. One day his friend Nicky shows up and he is like “I can do a lot of bad shit here and get away with it!” Ace is like “Chill. This is not Chicago. FBI and cops will get you.” Nicky is like “Bet” and almost immediately starts fucking things up by doing assaults and robberies. Nicky brings in his friend and younger to help him ruin lives. Nicky is drawing all kinds of attention but Ace can't have him sent home or killed because he is Jewish and not truly gonna be a part of the gang.

The Review: Barbie

Barbie 8/10

I liked this weird ass movie. I wasn't in a rush to see it in theaters because the people rushing to see it honestly. You know how you can like a musician but not the fans? Yeah. Same thing. So Barbie is living her best life in Barbieland. The Barbie's, of which there are many kind, just enjoy life doing Barbie things while the Ken's just battle for their attention. One of the Ken's is into barbie and is only happy when she is around. One day Barbie wonders out loud about death and the party stops. She plays it off but the next morning wakes up with bad breath, her food is coming out wrong, and she suddenly has flat feet which freak everyone out. They tell her to go see Weird Barbie which made me crack up because my cousin had one when we were little. Turns out almost every woman I know had some weird ass barbie that they beat up or gave bad haircuts to. I did not know this was a for real thing.

The Review: Dream Scenario

Dream Scenario 9/10

The other night L. and I watched this movie she found called Dream Scenario. I had not heard of this movie at all but am glad I watched it. Her, not so much. She got legit mad at the stuff that was happening to the main character in this. I should explain what the movie is about. This guy named Paul who is a biology professor is in the backyard with his daughter when things start raining from the sky. He has no reaction to it. Suddenly she starts floating into the sky while he just watches. It turns out to be a dream. Students at school start looking at him weird and he and his wife bump into one of his old girlfriends. She says that she had a dream about Paul as well and they decide to meet up later. Paul is a very bland kind of guy who plans to write a book about ants while an old colleague is already in the process of doing the same in a magazine. This man never stands up for himself.

The Review: Night Of The Comet

Night Of The Comet 7/10

This was such an 80's movie! I had heard of it and thought I knew how it ended but I was wrong. I think I was picturing another meteor movie where folks eyes melted at the end. L. didn't dig this movie as much as I did. Everyone is excited about this comet passing by the Earth that hasn't happened since the damned dinosaurs. There is a girl named Reggie who is boning down with a coworker at a theater they work at and her little sister who is in high school is named Samantha. Reggie is also mad at someone beating her high score at a game. Someone known as DMK. They live with their stepmom who punches the younger daughter the night of the comet celebration while Reggie passes out after getting 80's style sex the long way. Let's not fly by that. The stepmother put the girl on the floor Mommie Dearest style. The comet flies over and my Black ass would have run inside so fast. Back in 2020 jets flew over and I thought it was the end of the world. If I am outside and the sky turns into Studio 54 I'm leaping back into my apartment!

The Review: Poor Things

Poor Things 1/10

I gave this a 1 instead of a 0 because L. and I finished it. We had half an hour left before going to sleep and finished it the next morning. This movie was ass. There is literally nothing I liked about it. It felt like it was trying to imitate better films and directors and failing at every aspect. I should probably talk about what happened in this four hour feeling ass thing. This lady jumps off of a bridge and lands in some water. A guy fishes her out and a doctor pays him for the corpse. Next thing you know the doctor who looks like something from a horror movie has this woman who seems to have the personality of a toddler. His named is Godwin Baxter aka God. The woman is named Bella. She eats food and spits it out. Pisses on the floor. Just all manner of strange shit.

The Review: Reacher Season 2

Reacher Season Two 10/10

I fucking love this show. What I like most about it is that when a season ends even if they didn't bring it back (they are though!) there aren't any lingering questions. Besides, you could just read the books as well. They're very good and will make you hate the Tom Cruise movies. This season starts off with a man being tossed from a helicopter. I was like “That's a hell of a way to go.” Meanwhile Reacher is in a small town about to use an ATM and while waiting a nervous woman is in front of him. He talks to her and is told that she has her son in the car and a man with a gun is having her withdraw money. Reacher beats this man like a drum and them heads back to the ATM and sees a secret message on his receipt. Neagley (who is one of the coolest characters on television right now) knows that Reacher has no house, phone, or way to get in touch with him so she used military codes for assistance needed.

Documentality: They Called Him Mostly Harmless

They Called Him Mostly Harmless 8/10

Spoilers!!! This was insane! L. mentioned hearing about this on a podcast and we checked it out. This hiker known to other hikers as Mostly Harmless was found dead in his tent in 2018. He had money and food but weighed about 83 pounds. He had no identification on him and even when he was fingerprinted nothing came up. They speak to other hikers who met him and took pictures with him but no one knows his real name. They had experts and others talk about how hard it is to actually be as unknown as this guy was. I just wanted to know if they eventually found out who he was. L. assured me that we would know his name by the time this ended. His body was discovered by some other hikers after smelling some dead human funk and alerted authorities. They tried their best to make an image of what he may have looked like alive from his body. It looked horrifying.

Documentality: Lover Stalker Killer

Lover Stalker Killer 6/10

L. and I watched this crazy ass documentary on Netflix a few weeks ago. Once it started she already knew the story and we fast forward through a giant chunk because Netflix was like “We have a lot of text effects and we gonna use all of 'em!” It gets old. So this dude Dave is newly split with the mother of his children and decides to start using dating apps. This is back in 2012 when dating apps were like the wild west. So he meets up with this lady named Liz. He tells her he doesn't wanna be tied down and she seems cool with it. He later meets another woman which sets off a bizarre series of events such as Liz coming down with the worst luck ever. House burned down. Car keyed. The other woman comes up missing. Liz says she is being stalked. Turns out that Liz is doing all this to herself and stalking the fuck out of Dave. Oh, and she murdered the other woman. I told my lady “Ain't no dick in the world that good!” She agreed. This was fine but felt longer than it was even with fast forwarding. They could have had two different stories in this.

Click here for previous Documentality.

Curtain Call: The Wiz

The Wiz 6/10

I liked this show but whenever I talk about it I sound like I am just complaining about what I didn't like or was confused about. L. took me to see The Wiz at The Pantages (notoriously bad sound system) for my berfday after a nice dinner and avoiding crazy ass rain. I was excited when I saw that Wayne Brady was playing The Wizard of Oz after seeing him in Kinky Boots. Well, guess what? No Wayne. No Brady. Let me get to discussing the play. It starts off with...wait. I am not gonna sit here and type out what The Wiz is about. If you have seen The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz then I can say that this is a combination of the two which is kind of confusing. Its called The Wiz but Dorothy is in school and not a teacher. She is also on a farm and not in Detroit. This is me being puzzled from the start. I push that away and keep watching.

The Review: The Vince Staples Show

The Vince Staples Show 10/10

I had no idea this show existed until L. mentioned it this past weekend. The way Netflix is set up I likely would not have even had this suggested to me. I'm glad it exists because I would love more shows like this. It has been compared to Atlanta in some ways. I have watched that show on and off and to me it felt like a alternate reality where people know Vince Staples is a rapper or they don't know who he is and do not care at all. There are only five episodes (British style) and they run less than half an hour each with one going for only eighteen. I for real cracked up watching this multiple times and wanted more but was happy with what I got. The reason why I gave it such a high score is that I have zero complaints about this show and no suggestions on what could have made it better.

You Had One Job: The Crow 2024

In the original Crow movie “A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.” In The Crow: City of Angels “The spirit of the Crow resurrects another man seeking revenge for the murder of his son.” In The Crow: Stairway To Heaven series “A deceased street musician returns to life, and must restore the balance between good and evil to be reunited with his dead girlfriend.” In The Crow: Salvation “Alex Corvis returns to the world of the living to solve the murder of a young woman that he was wrongly accused of.” In The Crow: Wicked Prayer “On his way to becoming an immortal demon, a gang leader orchestrates the murder of an ex-con and his girlfriend.” I have seen all of these except for the series because I just had no desire to watch it. The other films were complete ass but they had one thing going for them that this new movie that is coming out: they used new names and characters.

The Review: 30 Coins Season 2

30 Coins Season 2 (10/10)

You crazy if you think I have the mental capacity to recap a show like 30 Coins. The first season was insane and the second one made it seem like a fun day at a playground by comparison. Every single episode had L. and I yelling at the TV and disgusted by something strange. You want me to try and describe some of the show. Priests get brought back as decomposing zombies. Hell looks like the least fun place ever. A lady gives birth to a crab monster. God and Satan are the same person. A guy gets flattened like a pancake by magic. Alternate dimensions. A damn spaceship! Just so much crazy shit happens that even when I wanted to recap this weekly I knew I couldn't so after finishing the show months ago I know that right now I can't even make an attempt. I think more people need to be watching this. I need there to be a season three right now. This is an incredible show with great acting, writing, and set design.

Click here for previous The Review.

The Review: The Color Purple

The Color Purple 1/10

The funny thing about me giving this a 1/10 is that it still feels a little bit too high. L. and I watched this last weekend on a whim. I remember when I heard this was being made and scoffed. I know that the first movie (which I saw every week as a child because my parents were strange and rented it from Cal-Fal) is based off of a book (which I read a tiny bit of) and this movie is based off of the musical (which L. has seen). That being said...wow. This was super bad. I know that a lot of reviews praised this movie and that is because they don't wanna come across as racist. I'm Black. I'm gonna just come across as a asshole. Don't get me wrong. I love musicals. I just didn't like this movie. Let me explain why.

Documentality: Chowchilla

Chowchilla 7/10

So L. and I watch this documentary on HBO that was originally done on CNN called Chowchilla. This was insane. I had never heard about this case before where a bus full of 26 students and the bus driver were kidnapped. So these kids riding the bus just living their best weird ass Central California life when these guys wearing stockings over their face and holding guns stop the bus. Now the bus driver let them on and all I could think about was that if this ever happened on the public transit that I ride. The bus driver would immediately let anybody on seeing as how they let on screaming, yelling homeless people daily. So these kids get taken for a ride and then they're moved into this underground bunker type thing and next thing you know they hear dirt being shoveled on top of them. These kids started having hallucinations and pretty much losing their minds as you would expect. The bus driver tries to rescue them by lifting this lid and he can't do it but one of the boys is able to. This boy is a true hero this story but what sucks is that the bus driver got all of the credit. Even on this bus driver's Tombstone when he died years later they put that he was a hero.