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ericrwiksten
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Reviews
Stormy (2024)
Put the politics aside- a well-made documentary
I enjoyed this sordid trip down memory lane. The film is really half news documentary and half biography-as-it-happened of Stormy Daniels. It tells the story, I believe truthfully, of the brief affair and stalking of Stormy Daniels by Donald Trump. This films deals with the unwanted and dangerous attention of trump supporters who threaten and openly despise Stormy while ignoring the other half of this affair.
In the news documentary portion, we see trump for what he is, a deceptive cheat who used his influence and celebrity to lure a woman half his age into his hotel room. We see the news clips, the evolution of Michael Avenetti, and the corruption of Guiliani with the hindsight to know what happened to these men.
On the biography side, we meet a woman who came from a very broken home, with a broken mother, who grew up in Baton Rouge, LA. Mentions are made of a molesting neighbor, of her introduction to the adult entertainment industry, first through dancing then to film, to worldwide recognition. Sadly, get to watch the dissolution of her marriage and her trying to protect her young daughter from the reality of the situation, I think of all the characters in this entire film, her husband of a decade was the most sympathetic character. He was caught up in an insane situation not of his making.
So, if you can put your either reverance or disdain of Trump aside, I think you may enjoy this film. The film does not idolize or demonize the characters, but presents them in an honest, understandable light.
The Female Brain (2017)
A criminally underrated film
The Female Brain is just a wonderful film.
This film is told through the thoughts of a female neuroscientist who tries to rationalize the differences of men and women through science, specifically MRI brain scans. The film revolves around three couples who are experiencing love in three brain chemical stages of progress, namely fear, dopamine young love, and oxytocin togetherness. Along the way, we see many familiar situations of the clash between men and women, women and their mothers, and men trying to understand why chaos is involved. I think most men who have been in long term relationships will see some of themselves in this film.
Whitney Cummings is both director and producer, star and writer of this film all at once, but at no time does this become self indulgent. I recommend this film highly for men, and I really appreciated the men portrayed in this film were strong, intelligent and empathetic. At no time were men shown as bumbling, sex starved idiots, which seems to be the case for most romantic comedies.
Inside Man (2022)
Silence of the Lambs but with an absurd script
It's difficult to describe just how awful this mini-series is. Never mind that two death row murderers are left simply handcuffed in a cell with a Senator or a young woman. Never mind that the premise is "everyone is a murderer if they meet the right person". Never mind that the warden of a maximum security prison just walks up to and casually chats with prisoners within arms length.
The entire premise of the show is absurd. Stanley Tucci, who is very talented, is very good in his role as a criminologist behind bars for murdering his wife. He accepts cases to work on while he awaits the executioner, because that is what happens in maximum security prisoners- outsiders are free to come and go as long as the warden is cool with it.
Next we have David Tennant, a great actor as well, but completely unbelievable as an English vicar taking the blame for a heinous crime against children rather than reveal the true culprit who maybe confessed? Absurd.
From there it just becomes less and less likely, all the way to kidnapping a masochistic woman who seems eager to be murdered herself.
A remarkable waste of talent.
Barefoot (2014)
Could have been far more charming.
I like the premise, and the acting is charming, but they threw in ridiculous scenarios like outrunning the police in a unique Jet Stream like RV. Be They run up felonious behavior scene after scene, coupled with puppy love romance. So, a 4.
Out of Time (2003)
One God-awful film
I love the actors in this film, but this script should have been trashed. The premise is one crooked making all the other cops and detectives look stupid to escape justice. This premise could have been great as a dark comedy, but without any humor or character development, it is just a dumb film.