The Review: Widow's Bay

Widow's Bay 9/10

I would suggested watching this series Widow's Bay (on Apple TV which means I signed up for a week long trail) and after hearing about how well the show was received decided to check it out. L made it through one episode and decided that she didn't want to continue. I did and ended up finishing the last nine episodes this weekend. I don't tend to binge watch shows but this one is such an easy and fast watch that I did not realize how quickly I was plowing through it. I read today that there is going to be a second season and even if there was not I could imagine slightly how the town would have carried on after the finale. This is going to be full of spoilers.

The Review: The Last House

The Last House -2/10

Greta Lee as Ann

Wagner Moura as Jason

Riley Chung as 8-Year-Old Ruth

Emma Ho as 13-Year-Old Ruth

Arden Cho as adult Ruth

Noah Alexander Sosnowski as 12-Year-Old Graham

Gabriel Chung as 17-Year-Old Graham

Click here for previous The Review.

The Review: Strung

 Strung 0/10

Chloe Bailey as Laila Calloway

Lynn Whitfield as Audra Jelani

Lucien Laviscount as Marcus Walker

Anna Diop as Imani Walker

Coco Jones as Jasmine

Romy Woods as Zuri

Click here for previous The Review.

The Review: Another Man's Wife

Another Man's Wife 0/10

So this past weekend we managed to watch two terrible movies. Another Man's Wife. It's about this guy who's crazy rich. He's a tech guy and he created a dating app. Next we have a couple named Maya and Shawn. Shawn works making video games (which to me at this point seems like a job that's not going to exist in like two years). Maya, I am not sure what job she has but it involves fundraising. Seriously sitting here right now I am not sure what this woman does for a living. So Shawn heads the work and he finds out that he's getting laid off because of the competition. He decides not to tell his wife about this. Oh, and he finds out that his mother has cancer. What kind of cancer does she have? They don't say. How long does she have to live? They make it seem as if she doesn't get treatment in an hour she's going to die. Meanwhile Maya got a promotion. She is having the best day ever and she gets home and Shawn is like “Oh my mama dying.” She feels terrible for him.

The Review: Mortal Kombat 2

Mortal Kombat Two 0/10

I am not going to waste my time writing a lot about this movie. I love the 90s version of Mortal Kombat. I've even liked some of the animated films. The one that came out a few years ago was far better than it had any right to be. But this one I was worried about even from seeing the trailer. So I watch this yesterday and was so disappointed. The acting, the special effects, and the story were absolutely trash. I am not sure why they took such a huge step back from the previous film and making this one but it sucks. I have zero desire to see the upcoming Street Fighter film. I'm not sure what they need to do to make Mortal Kombat a watchable film other than duplicate what they did in the first one and enhance it.

Click here for previous The Review.

Sitting In The Aisle: Spider-Man Brand New Day

Spider-Man Brand New Day 7/10

So I just watched the latest Spider-Man. Three people I know told me that I needed to see this movie and I was on the fence about it since I first saw the trailer. I tend to judge these movies based on how many goosebumps I get and I didn't get any watching it. The main reason is because of that Doomsday movie that's coming out later this year. To me there are no stakes because people can be brought back from other realities or just brought back to life. I used to read comic books all the time and I know that this happens in those, but with the films I actually like that there seem to be some form of permanence with these characters deaths. For as sad as it is that Aunt May died in December we can see her come back to life. So while watching this movie I did enjoy it but there was just a cloud of doubt that anything that actually happened in his film would have stakes.

The Review: The Vampire Lestat

The Vampire Lestat 10/10

It's hard to try and describe this show. The fact that a lot of it bounces through time makes it hard to try and talk about this in a linear fashion so I'm not gonna even try. So far this show has managed to do three incredible seasons. That is close to being unheard of in this day and age. I was worried that there would be little interaction between Louis or Daniel or Armand this season because I've read these books and I need to realize that they have done something so different with this series that it is gotten to a point that I and a lot of other people need to let those books go. I see so many arguments and anger about certain things that are changed when people either don't realize or seem to forget that Interview With The Vampire, Lestat, and Queen of the Damned are pretty much the only good books in that series that contains so many books. No, I do need to point out that the Mayfair Witches or the Witching Hour is a very good book but they have managed to make a horrible series out of it.

The Review: Obsession

Obsession 1/10

This is a video/audio version of my review for the movie Obsession. I had to do it this way because I was full of far too many complaints to type it out.

Click here for previous The Review.

The Review: They Will Kill You

They Will Kill You 3/10

Okay. So when L and I watched this I knew who was starring in it and as the movie began had some basic idea of what it was possibly about. Woman named Asia and her younger sister we thought was her daughter are on the run from their abusive father. He finds them at a store and as he is about to capture them Asia shoots him and he grabs the younger sister Maria. Asia is like "Deuces!" and leaves her sister behind. Years later Asia been in and out of jail I guess and learning every fighting technique known to man. She gets into this place called The Virgil by stealing someone's identity.

Documentality: Bang My Box The Robyn Byrd Story

F

Bang My Box The Robyn Byrd Story 9/10

This was a damn good documentary L suggested. This is about Robin Byrd. She hosted a public access series called The Robin Byrd Show in Manhattan where she spoke about sex, love, life, championed causes for the LGBTQ community, and safe sex. And this is something she kinda fell into. A show she had showed up on was being canceled (Hot Legs) and they just sorta threw her on and the show blew up. This show aired from 1977 to 1998. She went against the government during the shitty Ronald Reagan era (I shit you not when I was about 5 or 6 years old I wrote an article for the school paper about him titled “Bad Actor Makes Worse President”) and she won. Robin had been in adult films and would have adults performers on the show to just hang out, talk, dance, and speak with callers live on air. This could not exist now. People suck.

Documentality: The University of Cosmic Intelligence

The University of Cosmic Intelligence 2/10

Not too much to say about this as it was advertised as a documentary when it was more of a I guess “be on the look out for these missing people” type of thing. This dude Rashad Jamal from Chicago beats and strangles his woman. Years later he is Atlanta trying to rap. Meets this lady who has kids who wants to be a singer. They get together and have a kid. He starts making up all these conspiracy videos that get traction online talking about Black people being gods and Atlantis being where Atlanta now sits and all kinda weird shit. Its Pandemic time so everyone is going crazy and a bunch of crunchy Black folk start following him. He gets too nutty and molests his lady's daughter and eventually he is arrested for 18 years.

The Review: Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary 9/10

Spoilers! This movie was so damn good. There are movies like this that come out maybe once every two years that make me go “Damn, I wish I had seen this in a theater!” or “I am so glad movies exist.” This movie is told out of order filling in blanks which L and I were thankful for because I kept wondering “Why is a teacher on a shuttle?” Yes. I watched Challenger blow up decades ago in school and there was a teacher on it. Shut it. Plus, this teacher Ryland Grace absolutely didn't want to go to space. He wasn't a science teacher that dreamed of one day heading into the cosmos. I should probably talk about what the plot of this movie is. I seriously was gonna just keep writing like a weirdo.

The Review: Ready Or Not 2 Here I Come

Ready Or Not 2 Here I Come 4/10

Last weekend L and I watched Ready Or Not 2. I liked the first one and was confused that there was even room for a sequel. Turns out that was very much the case with this. It didn't need to be made much like how I felt with Megan 2. This starts immediately after the first movie with Grace sitting on the steps of the burning mansion. Police arrive and she faints and wakes in the hospital. She is handcuffed to the hospital bed and covered in injuries. Her sister shows up. Yes, she has a sister. Now this sucks and I wish they hadn't added this character. Her name is Faith. Just realized that I didn't like this actress because she was in Ant Man and The Wasp and Abigail. I feel better now. Seriously couldn't figure out why she bugged me.

Documentality: Three Docs In One!

Bring Me the Beauties: A Model Cult 6/10

Over the last few weeks (pre Rhode Island vacation) L and I watched a few documentaries. This was the first. This former male model named Hoyt Richards ends up joining a spiritual cult. At one point he was the most famous male model in the world (I realized that other than Fabio who appears in this I barely know male models but knew most women). He left his home after being approached by the guy named Frederick von Mierers. This guy rounded up attractive people and had them help sell crystals and cassette tapes. Frederick is a weird dude and gathers everyone as they party and try to explain their beliefs to everyone. Its all nuts and I won't bother describing cause it sounds like every other weird cult. Past lives. Egypt. The usual. It wasn't like he had all his money stolen or was told what to do with his life really. This “cult” didn't seem all that bad honestly. Watched on HBO.

Curtain Call: Hell's Kitchen

Hell's Kitchen 9/10

This past weekend Cam took me to see this Hell's Kitchen play at The Pantages. Thankfully we found parking a few blocks away because their own parking is expensive as hell and ridiculous to get out of. We also stopped by Amoeba where she got a Rick James CD and I got a The Last Dragon shirt which drew too much attention when at The Grove with L. So we got to the show and I had no idea what the show was about other than it was loosely based on Alicia Keys' life. We had really good seats at a balcony where no one was in front of us which I am always a fan of.