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lathamv
After graduating from Platt College in Irvine, CA I started off working for a special effects company situated within Warner Bros. Animation. I specialized in colorizing B&W film (scanned in frame by frame), digital creation/retouching of television show backgrounds and scenes, edited images in postproduction, and creation of special effects used in animation.
I moved to Hopkinsville KY in 1994. I started creating advertising for the local newspaper and several local businesses. I spent the last 10 years of my career working as a contractor for a special operations division of the US Army, creating graphics, photographs, movie clips, and animations used in the instructional courseware utilized by incoming soldiers.
In 2010, I was placed on disability followimg multiple back and joint surgeries due to the debilitating effects of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. While EDS is a congenital disorder and I had symptoms all my.life, As is typical with EDS, I was not diagnosed until my mid 30s.
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Reviews
Evil Lives Here: We Looked Happy (2018)
Wrong Focus!
This show focused on the wrong story. While I have no doubt Kevin Dunlap was an a-hole at home, if the show is supposed to concentrate on his evil side, they completely missed the mark with stories of the wife constantly contradicting herself (saying she didnt care about him but bided her time by staying married to him, divorce was filed then dismissed in 2004) and the daughter instilling the viewer with a flicker of maybe, possible sexual abuse during a seemingly nonsexual situation. Hes not evil because of his home life (if these stories are the worst of how he treated his family, they should be thankful). He is evil because of far worse acts.
Kevin Dunlap stalked a single mother of 3. He used a satalite tv uniform to gain entrance to the home. He used the siblings against each other, threatening their lives to get them to do what he wanted. He visciously murdered them in seperate rooms....
He bound and stabbed the 5 yr old brother 11 times
He bound and stabbed the 14 yr old sister 4 times
He bound, gagged with pantyhose, stabbed and slashed the throat of the 17 yr old sister. When neighbors pulled her from the fire by her legs, her skin slipped off in their hands but she was still alive. She was trying to breath. CPR and a defribulator were unsuccessful.
He bound and gagged their mom, raped her, then repeatedly stabbed her. A broken butter knife was found still imbedded in her neck during emergency surgery to save her life.
Before he left, he set the house on fire, trying to cover up any evidence and burn the house to the ground. The mom was able to drag herself into the pool. She was found floating face up, still bound and gagged. She was integral in the identification of Kevin Dunlap. The 17 yr old sister was left to burn alive. This is why Kevin Dunlap is EVIL. This part of his story was given less than 10 min of this episode.
Evil Lives Here: A Special Place in Hell (2022)
Empathy is saved for the real victims
There are women who only see their own value based on the man in their lives. This seems to be a problem for this woman. She connected to a man who attacked those emotional downfalls and took complete advantage of her. From overlooking the death of his first wife (claiming she wouldnt have persued him if she had known the truth but didnt look for the truth), to repeated seperations due to his emotional and verbal abuse, to validating her bad decisions to reunite multiple times while ignoring her childrens objections, she obviously has deep self esteem issues. None of this in any way negates her responsibility to her childrens safety. She repeatedly placed her emptional needs for this man above her childrens objections and fear. There is no way she can say she didnt know how her kids felt. A few diary entries werent the only things said. They told her multiple times.
Her story is sad. Her husband is a psychopath. There is no denying that. I truely hope she is getting very intense therapy but my empathy is for the real victims... the children who were brutally murdered because they believed their mother cared more for their safety than forgiving the man that terrorized their family. She says her childrens lives were most important to her but that statement seems hallow when she was in the process of a divorce, living in seperate dwellings AGAIN, after he threatened all of their lives but decided to let him move back in AGAIN bc he seemed to have changed, ignoring her childrens fear.
NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Gut Punch (2021)
Worst ever NCIS episode
I couldnt even finish watching the last 20 min. The WHOLE episode (aside from the side plot of adding Pam Dawber into the cast) was about COVID compliance. As if the audience hasnt been dealing enough with it in real life, apparently our weekly dose of NCIS "entertainment" needed to be drown in it also. The conversations could have been about anything else (spy stuff, gibbs abscence, the murder, etc) but jabs against our country's healthcare system and how wonderful and secure euro NHS was SICKENING.
Adding a new SoD and 2 new agents would have been much more effective in a better quality, better written episode. While Agent Sawyer is an idiot and useless character, the other 2 could be great additions to the cast if they werent treated as pawns for the regular team in this episode.
The Twilight Zone: The Bewitchin' Pool (1964)
Least Favorite EP
The idea behind the episode is actually quite good... kids that want to escape their terrible parents to a "fairytale" place with a grandmotgherly figure that gives them the responsibility they crave along with attention, love, desserts and the ability to be a kid.
The voice overs and supposed southern accents are bad. The acting is even worse. The dialoge is atrocious. Even when trying to show bad parenting, Twilight Zone writers should have been able write more believable dialoge between the characters. These things are so incredibly distracting that they make watching the episode very difficult and painful.
Evil (2019)
LOVE this show!!!
Im so happy to see its been picked up for a 2nd season. I was worried the story lines may have been too creative for the network admins.
The ideas of evil being so close to the surface of "normal" society is intreging. Grouping 2 skeptics with a spiritual believer makes for interesting stories. A positive view of a catholic priest (in the making) and the catholic church in general is almost unheard of in the past few decades. The imagry and graphics are well- created. Lealand (Michael Emerson) plays the perfect villian that I love to hate. Everytime I see his character, I cant wait to see him exposed for the evil person he is!
I didnt expect to love this show so much but every week, I couldnt wait for the next episode. Very creative and interesting!
Second Act (2018)
SERIOUSLY???
I thought this would be another typical "JL feel-good about womanhood" movie. to some extent, thats the case. but within the first 30 min, i find out her BF wants to get married and start a family. i couldnt believe thats what was said since im the same age as the 2 friends. then i realize jennifer and leah are TRYING to play characters 10 yrs younger. while these women are beautiful and funny together, they look 50 (or close to). all the makeup, hair color, and jeggings wont change that.
this is the 2nd movie today ive watched where middle aged woman are trying to play a character 10+ yrs younger. what is wrong with playing characters of the correct age. I was distracted by this problem the whole movie since almost all other characters are in their 20s (except her close friends).
there are a few unexpected, funny things that happen which make the movie a bit entertaining and easy to watch. on the other hand, this would have been better as a made-for-tv movie. there are too many side stories going on and too much life drama... careers dont happen like that. parents/childrens lives dont work out so smoothly. its a fairytale all the way around.
predictable. unrealistic. wrong women cast for the 2 main characters.
Peppermint (2018)
the stars are for garner...
The rest is a predictable, over used storyline that is a huge waste of time. they spent way too much time on her vigilantism and not enough on character development. because of this, there is not nearly enough time to connect to her family or her situation. there isnt nearly enough information given to show what she did durning those 5 yrs. the relationship between the detectives is annoying. the "gang bangers" and "drug lords" are stereotypical. the homeless children and street people are placed in the storyline for the sole purpose of gaining sympathy. the court room situation and garners one-woman rampage taking out so many people but yet saving the homeless is completely unrealistic and unbelievable. adding in social media was only to appeal to a younger audience.
normally, i enjoy ms garners movies. while her acting was typical of someone of her calibre, nothing else about this movie was entertaining, dramatic, enjoyable, or believable.
Star Trek: Voyager: Repentance (2001)
Another political story pretending to be entertainment...
As has seemingly become tradition, the writers have attempted to convince the audience the storyline is "compelling" by trying to draw comparisons between the episode and the death penalty, race, prejudice, and violence as a basis for entertainnent. Not only is this episode NOT entertaining, the comparisons the writers think they are making are overly simplistic, unrealistic, and not even close to what would happen if humans used guilt instead of justice to deal with violent criminals.
On top of all that, the writers want the audience to believe all it takes is some "minor" brain surgery to turn a violent criminal into a repentant, guilty, "normal" humanoid. it had to be because of a mental or physical defect that made him as violent as he was... all that has to happen is forced, unapproved brain surgery under the guise of required medical care to "fix" him. based on his original personality (and how he reacted to his supposed guilt) i doubt he would have approved to be surgically altered. also, just bc the surgery result was a pleasant surprise in the first patient, it would have to be approved by any other prisoner unless they were planning on beating them all within an inch of their life for the sole purpose of implanting nanoprobes.
Enterprise: Regeneration (2003)
I love this EP
To find out the Borg crashed on earth in the 2050s... only 30+ yrs from now. Reality or not, the idea of it is a bit scary.
One of the things I have enjoyed about ENT is the writers ability to integrate storylines we know from "the future" in with a timeline more closely related to us. A crashed borg ship found frozen for 100 yrs. The crew regenerating (as we knew they would... seriously?! put them BACK in deepfreeze), assimilating the arctic crew, and heading to delta quad, gaining as many humanoids as possible along the way. ENT crew not only has to stop the ship and hopefully try to get the crew back but they find out just how resilient the aliens can be... stonger, more intelligent and goal oriented, able to adapt to phaser frequencies.... deja vue but also new. Great way to introduce the Borg at a much ealier era than originally thought. The arent the 24th century Borg with all the aquired technology of 200 yrs but they are just as scary to the humans of the 22nd century.
Enterprise: Judgment (2003)
the duras family has always been conniving
TNG fans know how unhonorable the duras family is. Time and time again, they attempted to boost their honor by taking advantage of others, lying every chance they get. apparently, thats always been the case. even 200 years prior, during archers time, they tried to disrupt the klingon way of life.
this ep doesnt follow typical linear story telling. the actors are wonderful playing their klingon parts. the courtroom and mines were well created. i like that there are some honorable klingons willing to protect their way of life instead of just terrotizing everyone they come in contact with.
Enterprise: The Crossing (2003)
ghostly entities or sentient beings in subspace
I gave this ep a 5 for its potential and beautiful scenery. as with other comments, there was so much more the writers could have done with this and kept in line with ENTs exploration.
yes the subspace entities took over tripps body wo his permission the first time. the writers could have used this opportunity for the entity to explain the problem. they werent like the ghostly criminals in TNG taking over 4 crew members, escaping a prison. They just wanted to survive. this could have been done by the crew helping them fix the failing alien ship from crew members willing to help while the entities had control of their bodies and abilities.
the writers could have taken the opportunity to allow the crew to experience the lives of subspace beings in a way that they would never find again. instead, the normally trusting archer was not himself. tpal was also not her normal self... almost like they switched personalities just for this episode.
the writers started out having them be sentient subspace beings but they turned out to essentially be ghosts. either way, how could they travel through space to get to the enterprise once its released but then wont survive in space. if they are subspace beings, why couldnt they just go back into subspace. was the ship the one thing that allowed them to travel into ENTs space? things just didnt match up and the writers couldnt decide which they wanted.
all in all, just an ok ep. i really expected a different ending. i sure didnt expect archer to blow the ship up and kill every living entity on board. what if they were they only beings of their kind. archer had no way of knowing and instead of finding a way to help them, he killed an entire race.
Enterprise: Stigma (2003)
volcans showing their colors
I really enjoyed this episode. not only does it show tpal using her logic to defend others but it shows the volcan society in general as the fallible beings humans thought they were without any real defense from the volcans.
after seeing prior star trek series, it never occured to me that the volcans ever thought the mind meld was a bad thing. voyager, showed mind melds on a regular basis. we intitially learned of them on TOS. the most respected volcan on TNG used the ability to strengthen his mind. Its something inherantly volcan but in ENT it has been used as a form of mind expansion, rape, and the basis of extreme prejudice. it took another 100+ yrs for the mind meld to be accepted practice for volcans. this series does a good job at showing not only how humans grew from volcan contact but how volcans learmed tolerance from humans... something they never expected to do.
Enterprise: The Catwalk (2002)
battling deadly radiation AND a bunch of "bad guys"
After being warned of a radiation storm headed their way by a small alien crew, archer takes in the crew and together with his own creative-thinking crew, come up with a plan to ride out the storm. in the mean time, a larger crew of militant theives (uneffected by the radiation) boards the enterprise and attempts to take it over.
the storyline (like many of trek universe storylines) is recycled from other trek shows. personally, im ok with that. each version has its own differences. looking at "catwalk" on its own merits, it has our fearless leader continuing to follow his heart and help anyone in need... his prior "bad experiences" have not seemed to have jaded him. taking the small alien crew at their word is typical of him and is somewhat endearing. it may place his crew in continual possible danger but thats "what they signed on for" and they are willing to follow him.
the small alien crew is lying. although he questions their truthfullness when they come clean, the actions of the larger alien crew indicate they may be telling the truth now. either way, he has no way to deal with the lies and save the ship. saving enterprise and her crew is all that matters now, even if he has to threaten destry them to keep the wouldbe theives from aquiring the ship.
with limited time and some creative flying, archers gut feelings about both alien crews save the ship. a weeks worth of close quarters wo showers and a mess to clean up are small consessions to make. its an episode worth watching.
Enterprise: Strange New World (2001)
really enjoyed this episode
This ep, along with a variety of others in Enterprise, show the human learning curve for exploring our galaxy. The audience has come to this series with the knowledge of the "Prime Directive" but ENT shows human infantcy into space exploration. While I agree that Archer and his human crew show their ignorance more times than not, this is how humans learn. We are naturally curious and exert our beliefs and ideals (albiet with no intention of harm) on other cultures because thats all we know. its like letting a child make mistakes to learn from them. when that happens as adults, sometimes ppl get hurt. T'pal does a good job at trying to direct the crew in the Volcan direction and to learm from their techniques but ultimately, she comes to realize humans dont learn well that way.
The beauty of the planet is enticing. For hours, theres nothing about their exploration that leads them to believe something could go wrong. The sensors on the enterprise are advanced for that time but not enough for every unknown particle that could be encountered. Some species may never have a problem on the planet, some (like humans) can have extreme reations. luckily, no one dies.
after the experience, the enterprise logs can warn any other humans that may encounter the planet. the crew has to form their own path through the galaxy. that knowledge is what leads them to the prime directive. they learn that even the Volcans arent perfect and their "logic" isnt always the best idea for every species and culture.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Masks (1994)
One of my faves, if only for brent spiner
While the story line might be a bit odd, its not difficult to follow. a lof of earth cultures follow similar gods/godesses. what is odd is the way the enterprise is controlled.
why this is one of my favorite eps is bc of brent spiners range of acting out all these characters. he does a wonderful job getting the audience to believe he is each individual. he goes from one character to the next seemlessly and is believeable with each one.
Star Trek: Voyager: Nothing Human (1998)
entertaining but illogical
I found the episode (overall) entertaining and it kept me watching through the whole thing which is why i gave it a 7.
i can see the dilemma for the crew members who have an inherant hatred for cardassians in general and this cardassian dr specifically. the drs appearance could have been changed before anyone saw him and that would have fixed the problem. the writers wanted put forth an ethical dilemma for the viewers to consider. the problem is, the crew would have to consider that same dilemma for almost every medical decision made. reason being... from vaccines to cancer, most of all human medical research was founded by testing on living beings including other humans. historically, we dont forego medical advancement solely because we found out that the research was unethically practiced on humans (ie some cancer research and treatments). just because the cardassian drs research was still fresh in their minds, doesnt make it any less ethical than standard medical treatments used by the HMS. the writers turned voyager into a spaceship of hypocrites. they should have left this as a question of racial bias not medical ethics.
Star Trek: Voyager: Drone (1998)
one of the best voyager storylines
I have found watching episodes of TNG, VOG, and ENT to have similar episodes, rewitten for each series particular storyline. I can see where some might see this ep as similar to TNH 3:16 "the offspring" but I find it closer to TNG 5:23 "i, borg". I dont have any issues with the writers doing this. there are several eps of TNG that are similar to OS.
In this case, ONE uses his advanced technology and his desire to connect to the borg collective, to help voyager. the writers do an excellent job of making ONE very endearing in a short period of time (similar to HUE in TNG). this ep shows another way seven is becoming more human in that she feels maternal protection towards ONE. in the end, seven had to let ONE make his own decision. afterall, thats how she "raised" him to think... as an individual.
janeway, like picard, find destroying this new, individual lifeform a difficult task which makes sense. shes an explorer and for the most part, refuses to destroy sentient life until it becomes a danger to voyager. what i find contradicting is her refusal to see the danger in allowing ONE to become an adult drone but had no problem destroying a molecule considered to be "perfect" by seven and another alien race solely bc starfleet and the federation didnt know how to stabilize it. by that standard, she should have distroyed the drone.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Chain of Command, Part II (1992)
Excellent Performance by Sir Patrick Stewart
There are several episodes that I love and look for to watch over and over. There are very few that I skip over when streaming. These 2 episodes are the rare times when I have to be in the mood to watch. Patrick Stewarts performance is very moving. Some of his best acting on any of his shows. Hes completely believable as the willing captive (willing only due to his inability to allow his crew to be in his position). He shows how our psyche is so stong while at the same time so fragile. This part of the storyline is what draws me back to watch.
Up to this point, every time Picard has been indisposed, the Enterprise has been turned over to Riker. He has always been the best choice since he knows the crew and day-to-day ops better than anyone else. He has also been in command during fights with the Borg. It greatly annoys me that they turn command over to Captain Jellico for no good reason. This completely upsets the crew and could potentionally cause Picard distraction from his mission which is why the Federation removes him from command in the first place (to allow him to have complete focus on his mission). The Federation leaves Picard with no reason to think he will get his ship returned to him. It throws the whole crew off to the point they can no longer be effective in their very critical jobs.
The writers seem to do this just to cause chaos, let the veiwer believe Picard will never return, and that the crew will split up. It was a cheap way of causing controversy which could have been done in other ways. Since this situation encompasses both episodes, when I watch, I tend to only watch the 2nd episode. At least that way I get to watch Stewarts incredible performance and see Riker take Jellico down a few pegs. If it werent for Picards situation, it would be my least favorite pair of episodes and I would never watch them again.
Criminal Minds: Scared to Death (2007)
just so-so
Not one of my favorites but not the worst either. fairly interesting unsub since hes not this super scary killer lurking in the dark. the crew is dealing with emotional issues of their own so it makes sense to have an unsub that plays on peoples psycological issues, which is where i think the writers were going with this story.
two problems i have with the methods of murder...
1. not sure the coffee table/box was airtight. while fear could have easily caused the person to hyperventilate and passout, i doubt the person would have suffocated or at least not in such short of time as indicated in the show.
2. (this one really annoys me everytime i watch it) the person being buried alive is standing on her feet, not tied up or otherwise incompacitated. even in her fear (maybe especially so), she could have easily climbed out on top of the dirt. granted, some people deal with fear by "freezing up" (ie: not speak or move) but in this case she was moving her arms and begging to be let out. fight or flight adrenalin would have caused her to start climbing and digging her way out. the dirt was dumped 1 small bag at a time, not with a dumpster. she wouldnt have just waited to die for what would have taken at least 30-60 min to fill up in that space with small bags of dirt.
Criminal Minds: Zoe's Reprise (2009)
One of my favorite episodes
There are so many ppl like the Zoe character.... wanting so much to do their duty and use their zeal to help catch murderers. Unfortunately, without the experience and education needed to really do the job, its surprising more ppl dont end up in the same situation.
the episode does a good job of showing rossi's feelings. he goes from confindent and a bit conceded to feeling real sorrow and guilt. he uses those feelings to help him do his job. it also shows how standard ideas of how serial killers work arent always typical. while the BAUs standard profiling techniques work the vast majority of the time, there are cases where those standards are used but out-of-the-box thinking is needed to realize there is a serial killer as well as trying to find him.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
one of the most thoughtful trek movies
If youre only looking for the stereotypical captain against an enemy with a bunch of action to distract the viewer from the fact that theres not much substance to the movie, then this one is going to bore you. not only were the graphics and special effects incredible for the time, but the story line shows where we can be our own worst enemy. remember, this movie came out only 2 years after the voyagers were launched. they had ideas of where they would go as they travelled through our solar system but, they had no idea where they would end up. this storyline represents one theory of what could happen when we launch ships into space. its a much more realistic idea than pretty much any of the other star trek movies and what happened to the enterprise in them.
in reality, when we finally have ships with humans living on them going out to explore space, i see it much like the enterprise entering VGERs cloud... everyone standing still, obsorbing all tje visualization around them. kirk knows that all the other ships n the space station did the wrong thing by trying to protect themselves. he had to do the only thing he could which was nothing.
they spend a lot of time showing the viewer what maybe space would be like if floating around in a space suit. there was more beauty and information gained by slowing the viewer down than trying to make it a hail of phaser fire n fighting their way in to the core. this movie is much more like what i expect "first contact" to be like.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Frame of Mind (1993)
Riker in the spotlight
TNG has a few eps where Riker is the lead character but in this one, he carries the show AND he does a good job. When I saw this episode this first time, I was confused and completely wrapped up in his insanity... in a good way. I believed he was going insane.
Riker has a solo mission to be disguised and dropped into an alien society in order to locate and rescue a federation group that has been caught up in the societies civil unrest. what we dont know until the end, is where the mind control begins and reality ends for Riker. Hes been the main character in a play prior to taking this mission and at first he thinks he knows the difference but every time he thinks hes acting, the stage and the characters become real. Has his life on the Enterprise been all in his mind? Are his close friends just different aspects of his personality? Did he really kill another man in an alley? Was it on purpose or self defense?
This episode does a good job of blurring these lines and keeps the viewer on their toes. Even when hes being told the truth and we think his real friends are trying to help him, that "reality" is shown to be imagined also. Once Riker starts to take control, everything unravels. Its reminiscent of the original Twilight Zone story lines. Fans of TZ and TNG will love this episode.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Inner Light (1992)
In Top 5 Best ST:TNG EPs Ever
Ive seen this episode several times. Each time, it keeps me glued to the tv (gotta love streaming w no commercials). The acting is wonderful and convincing. I dont see it as a VR or or holodeck type ep (i do love the holodeck eps). Those still seem to run in real time. I see his absorbtion into the alternate life as like in a dream. So many times Ive woken from a dream feeling like its been several hours but its only been 10 min. This makes this ep all the more realistic.
As far as the SCI-FI-ness of the ep... the situation he and his family are living through is very real. In the 90s when this ep first aired, i was in my early 20s and didnt know much of space and the scientific info to go with it. In the past 10 yrs, I have seen episode after episode of space science shows that say this is how earth will end eventually. I dont know if this was readily available information at the time of writing of the ep or if it was just speculation but the writers were spot on when it comes to earths death. Our sun will become so large that it will swallow up our planet in another 3 or 4 billion years.
This ep gets a 10 rating because it has suspense, romance, drama, life changing experiences, and yes... science (not necessarily fiction as we know now). Anyone rating it less than a 9, isnt truely a ST:TNG fan... so why are you bothering to still watch after 150+ episodes?
Supernatural: Black (2014)
good start but "deanmom" lacking
"Black" was a good intro to the season. They gave the audience some previews of what story lines will be expanded upon during the season. although the episode may have touched the beginning of too many ideas which made the episode a little convoluted (one star lost).
The only other issue was "Deanmon" wasn't the demon I expected. I understand hes wanting to take a vacation from being humanity's savior but nothing about him said "demon" to me... he was just Dean on a bender. Another star lost for not living up to the expectations of "DEANMON". If they want us to believe Dean is really a demon, we have to see that in him. Granted, the writers have a whole season to expand the idea but a sample of that part of him would have made this episode an exceptional premier.