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Reviews
O (2001)
Makes You Mad
I'll start with saying it's a movie worth watching. It's hard to say it's "enjoyable" considering it's dark nature and not even a hint of a happy ending.
I saw Othello during a high school field trio and normally I am not a fan of Shakespeare. However, I had seen "O" first which actually helped me understand the language in Othello. When you watch "O" for the first time without being familiar with Othello, you hope for a positive outcome. Or justice. But the movie follows the play so you're left feeling sad and, honestly, mad.
The ending brought me to tears, especially after Odin shoots himself and Desi's dad sees her dead body. You can't make any sense of it. 5 kids dead and countless lives effected all because 1 punk with daddy issues was jealous. He wasn't the basketball star and didn't have the popularity or cute girlfriend. If your own father is the coach and you still aren't made MVP, maybe it's because you didn't EARN it. But Hugo decided it was better to destroy someone's life and resort to murder rather than looking within. After all is said and done, he shows no remorse. Even though his initial plan fell through, he still got the satisfaction of destroying Odin and being the only one left to tell the story.
The acting was fantastic. And this was filmed during a time where a lot of the actors were still pretty new in their film careers. I'm sure we all could've done without the sex scene for more reasons than one. Despite no nudity, it was long and didn't leave much to the imagination. Next thing you know Odin, in a fit of rage, rapes the woman he loves and poor Desi doesn't even realize it's rape until her friend tells her it was. I still wonder how much of his influence was from the drugs and how much was from Hugo. All it took was a scarf and not being able to hear a whisper. How was he able to be convinced that murder was the solution?
I also wonder what would've happened had Hugo's plan gone the way it was supposed to. Would Hugo have turned in Roger and Odin? Did he think there wouldn't be evidence found that it wasn't murder/suicide? If the plan was to destroy Odin, was it just enough that his girlfriend was gone and left an open spot to be his #2 on the basketball team? We were left with unanswered questions to a nonsensical plot. If anything, the movie teaches that jealousy is an evil emotion for many, but also don't be so quick to trust your "friends."
Dirty Little Secret (2022)
I'll Rewrite The Ending For You
As soon as I learned the mom had asthma, it was easy to predict that at some point she'd lose her inhaler among the "treasures."
New Ending: Johanna has her asthma attack and cannot find her inhaler. Lucy comes home to find her mom passed out and calls 911. Johanna survives and the two have a heart-to-heart in the hospital. Johanna promises to get help. With the help of a garage sale and donations from the hospital co-workers, she is able to seek therapy. Lucy is able to attend FIT with the help of scholarships. The house is finally cleared and cleaned as Johanna is happily reunited with all of her kids. Cherry on top is she uses the red dishes to make souffles in a clean kitchen.
Was that so hard, Lifetime?? Why go for such a dark ending? Johanna needed to get help, not die. And for Lucy to be so concerned with humiliation she sets her own home and mother's body on fire? What the WHAT??
Another Lifetime movie with wasted potential.
Manifest (2018)
Thank you, Netflix!
I had watched Manifest since the beginning and was crushed when it was canceled on NBC. Fans like me weren't going to get the closure or answers to so many questions we needed. I was so excited to hear Netflix picked up the show for a final season and thank God they did. I finished part 2 of season 4 last night and was in tears. HAPPY tears. I had my theories on how it could end but strongly hoped it wouldn't be another garbage ending like 'Lost.' It was anything but. In my opinion, the passengers got to have the lives they deserved by getting a second chance. I was so happy to see Grace, Ben and Michaela's mom, Cal and Zeke. I couldn't have asked for more. Had Netflix not picked up the show, us fans wouldn't have been able to have this beautiful ending. My only question now is "Will there be a spin-off?" They did leave the door open with a plot of what happened to Angelina and the other 10 passengers whom did not survive the death date. I'm just not sure if I would watch a show about psycho Angelina.
A Million Little Things: One Big Thing (2023)
You'll Need Tissues
As if the entire series didn't take us on an emotional roller-coaster, the final episode did, as well. In fact, this episode left me with burning, red eyes from crying and I'll probably never be the same.
Gary has been my favorite since day one, so I was absolutely gutted when the fate of his character changed. I would've even loved a Gary spin-off series. I am pleased that his character, as painful as it was to watch, got to go on his own terms. It was as thought-provoking as I'll get out. However... WHY did they have to include a closeup of Collin whimpering with a tear in his eye. That just BROKE me.
It was so sweet to see teenage Javi watching the videos his dad left behind for him. Also to see good things happening for the other characters. The icing on the cake was the friendship that started it all now has their own boys continuing on the "Band of Dads" legacy. Perfect way to end the series.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: King of the Moon (2023)
Could've Been Better
This episode was a good idea with poor execution. Other than the lovely Nancy Travis receiving the extra screen time, I'm not sure the couple's backstory was entirely relevant to her rape/murder. The bedtime story ending was just bizarre. Seeing Whitford playing an astronaut wasn't sweet or powerful. It was strange and corny. I'm not sure what they were going for with that and I hope that's not how the season ends. Also, why the casual "In Memory of Richard Belzer"? Detective Munch was a big character and deserved better. I'm a longtime fan of SVU but what is going on?? The writers need to step up their game.
In the Dark: Please Shine Down on Me (2022)
A Better Ending Would've Been....
While I completely understand Murphy's need for vengeance, I'm not sure killing Josh was the right way to go. In fact, I thought it would've turned out she was imagining it and she would've convinced him to turn himself in. Or kept him tied up after telling the police where he was. Like Murphy said, she was never a murderer but turned out to be what she was accused of all along. It would've been more satisfying for Josh to go to prison as an accessory to murder and Murphy be the one to put him away. Instead of Felix and Murphy driving to who-knows-where together, they should've shown her somehow saying goodbye to Max THEN done a "Where to next?" bit. I'm not sure if this was how the writers intended it to end because if so it was a bit lazy. I would've liked to have seen more of Darnell, too.