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Reviews
Breaking Girl Code (2023)
The title is accurate
First, why would you tell a job interviewer that you interned on a job that you loved, in a city that you loved, but refused the job because you wanted to be near your boyfriend. This happens at the beginning of the movie when Andi interviews for a job. I almost turned it off after that silliness.
Except for Johnny Ramey who played Andi's boyfriend Sean, the acting is nail biting terrible. I thought Ramey did a good job in his role. Katelynn Bennett who played Andi, drove me up the wall with her giggling after many of her lines. That was a real turn off. Despite this, I continued watching out of curiosity to see the plot develop.
Secondly, a girlfriend (Farrah played by Revell Carpenter) invites Andi and other friends out. But then she ignores all of them all night to cozy up with her boyfriend. This is a huge broken girl code. Uh! Uh! She isn't given hugs when I leave. If she heard from me again, it would be to tell her what I thought of her behavior.
Why didn't Andi get angry with Farrah for telling her boyfriend everything she told her. I would've made it clear to her that whatever I told her about my personal life was just between her and I. That's what girlfriends are for. That's another girlfriend code that Farrah broke.
I didn't like the ending. I think Farrah should have received some kind of punishment, or sometime in therapy. One of the women who forgave her said "I've also dated bad guys." Farrah didn't just date bad guys, she aided and abetted predators who raped and killed to keep their rape club secret. I would never trust her.
A Husband's Confession (2015)
Packs a punch
This is a very interesting movie and quite entertaining. There are two stories in this movie. One involves a wealthy entitled teenager whose parents, well, did no parenting at all. The other is about a pastor with a radio show who finds out he has an illegitimate son from a one time fling that occurred before he was a pastor. The stories intertwine.
I thought both stories were told well and were easy to follow. I found myself thoroughly engaged and invested in both storylines. Each story has its own journey but provides the pieces of the puzzle to each other.
The actors are well cast and their characters are believable. One story wasn't the ending I wanted and I cried a little. The other story was the ending I predicted it would be, and I cried a little.
This movie is worth watching.
A Lethal Lesson (2021)
Entertaining
The movie is entertaining despite some of the dumb things Lauren, played by Rhonda Dent, did.
I knew as soon as the will was revealed who the perpetrator would be. But Conner's (Kaden Connors) role was a nice twist.
I do wish the acting was better. The acting is so bad it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. Ms Dent is the worse.
It's a good study of human behavior. Can people who say you are an excellent teacher, good person, appear to respect you, really turn on you so quickly. These are the kind of people I would never want to see again.
I had some difficulty feeling compassion for Lauren. She just sat there and let Nadia (Tegan Moss) make degrading insinuations about her deceased friend and her friend's law partner. I would think she would have defended her friend, especially since she wasn't there to defend herself. How could she believe those horrible insinuations while someone is doing almost the same thing to her, spreading hurtful rumors.
The ending was a surprise to me. There is no way I would have returned to that school, no way I could have trusted anyone there again.
The title is misleading. The student does not have a secret life. He's very open to the teacher about his feelings. The pre-school teacher has a secret life. Not a bad watch if you get past the "acting."
Beware the Night Nurse (2023)
Beware the stupid parents
I presumed a criminal attorney to be discerning. Not true in this story. Claire, Vitoria Setta, hires a nanny without getting her address, phone number, names of friends, family, etc.
She hands her baby over to someone she knows nothing about, because she could make the baby stop crying. This makes it appear that sleep is more important to her than the safety of her baby.
Zach's, the husband played by Bryce Jones, mother with the constant "I told you so" was very off putting. She was almost as annoying as the baby's constant crying.
Claire said after the nanny told her that she was her surrogate's, Liz, nanny when she grew up, she trusted her unquestioningly. Really! Liz never mentioned that she had a nanny, although she spoke incessantly about her horrible childhood and how her mother hated her because she was a boy. I'm sure she would have mentioned having a nanny.
Zach's instincts are better than Claire's, but he gives into her because he's so tired from lack of sleep due to the baby's constant crying.
I didn't find this movie to be interesting at all. It was mostly about a parent's reaction to a new baby's crying. It was a bit annoying with the constant crying of the baby, and the stupidity of such well educated people. The acting is what you'd expect from a Lifetime movie.
Terry McMillan Presents: Forever (2024)
Emotional movie
I am thrilled that Terry McMillan teamed with Lifetime to bring the film adaptations of her books to the Lifetime network. I have read and enjoyed her books for decades. I have watched all of her work that was adapted to the big screen. Ms McMillan is one of my favorite authors.
This movie tugged on all my emotions. I was laughing hysterically one minute and crying the next.
Taye Diggs and Meghan Good give exceptional performances. The supporting cast is also excellent. Ms Good's acting skills just keep getting better each time I see her work.
This is an engaging movie about love, family and tragedy.
Pinky (1949)
You can't live without pride
This is an extremely moving film. This movie aroused a myriad of emotions in me, including anger, sadness, fear, happiness and pity, pity for such small minds. Racism and prejudice blinds you, makes your world smaller, narrows and hardens your beliefs and opinions about others.
How can a person say they love you, but you cannot be yourself or live who you are. You have to pretend to be something you're not.
"You can't live without pride".
Ms Jeanne Crain held her own as Pinky, a mulatto who while she was in the North attending nursing school, passed as white to find freedom from prejudice, and hide from her race.
But Ethel Waters as Pinky's grandmother Dicey and Ethel Barrymore as Miss Em, the white owner of an old plantation who had befriended Dicey over the years, filled the screen and gave unforgettable performances.
This is an emotionally charged movie that at times is hard to watch.
I Thought My Husband's Wife Was Dead (2024)
Strange movie
I don't know what to say about this movie except that it was beyond ridiculous. Yes. It did contain several twists. But the twists did not make the story any less ridiculous and boring. Why would you torture someone for days, let them see your face, and then do not ensure s/he is dead when you kill her/him. What was the purpose of bringing a baby into this mess. Especially when both the mother and father were planning to kill the other. I don't know. This storyline was neither suspenseful nor full of mystery. It was kind of all over the place. Some of the acting was alright. Some of the acting was a little over the top.
I really would like to have seen the car that Leo loved so much. This is kind of a strange movie.
Too Young to Be a Dad (2002)
Heartfelt and interesting
Fifteen year old Matt Freeman is an honor roll student. He is a model son. His parents know that he is on a successful career path.
But one night of sex, and Matt's bright future becomes dim. Matt is going to be a father at fifteen years old.
This story really touched my heart. I felt sad knowing this teenager would miss out on, well being a teenager. I thought of all the fun I had in high school and in college; going out with my friends and just being goofy, going out on dates, just being a kid. But Matt wasn't thinking of that. I watched Matt grow into a man and take responsibility for his actions.
Kathy Baker as Matt's mom and Bruce Davison as his dad give great performances. Terra Vnesa is also good in her role as Matt's rebellious sister Alex.
This is a touching and compelling movie. I thought the ending was as it should be.
The Neighbor Who Saw Too Much (2024)
Not a bad watch
I didn't find the teenage sister Haley, played by Sage Moore, likable at all. She didn't care that she put both her best friend and her sister in danger. She only cared about her own agenda, and that was to prove that her neighbor Jason, played by Devante Winfrey, was a serial killer.
The acting was as you would expect from a Lifetime movie. The older sister played by Kia Dorsey was the worse. The story line was interesting and kept me guessing. But I think it would have been better if the leading character hadn't got on my nerves with her antics. She took too many chances and broke laws. I don't know. I think she was just too impulsive for me. It's kind of heard to believe that her impulses paid off and she survived it all.
Bridesmaids (2011)
Funny, NOT
I made the mistake of eating a snack while watching this movie. There was farting, vomiting, diarrhea. It was disgusting and made me sick.
I could find nothing funny about this movie. The main character, Annie, was pathetic and boring. Her attempts at being funny were more sad than funny. Because of the hype, I kept watching and waiting for the funny parts. I kept waiting for the bride, Maya Rudolph, to bring her SNL humor. Instead she was dull and boring. Annie's roommate appeared to be mentally challenged and I found nothing humorous about that. The movie only managed to reinforce female stereotypes, jealous, neurotic and catty.
This movie just wasn't my cup of tea and I bailed after the airplane to Las Vegas fiasco.
Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up (2024)
Horrible person
Am I supposed to have compassion for this murderer, scam artist, adulteress, because I don't.
What wife wakes up her husband to tell him that she still cares about her ex fiancé and still has him in her heart. I think Ryan is a good man because my husband would've said see ya. But I would never hurt my husband like that.
At first, I felt really sorry for Gypsy for having to go through what she went through with her mother. But after a few episodes, I was like wait a minute, this woman is profiting off of killing her mother. She probably will never have to work a day in her life. There is something wrong with this picture. What message is this series trying to send. I think it's sending the wrong message, especially to vulnerable youngsters.
I feel bad for Ryan. He was understandably insecure and had problems trusting Gypsy. He always wanted to know who Gypsy was texting, who she was talking to, what did she say to that person, etc. If my husband told me that he had another woman in his heart, I wouldn't trust him.
Her crying totally turned me off. The bottom line is she left her husband for another man. She didn't even try to make the marriage work. She always wanted Ken. No matter how they try to make her the victim, she is a horrible evil person who sent her husband a photo of her and her lover. Her stepmother is also evil because she played a big role in getting Gypsy and Ken together. Evil people.
Much respect to Mia for having morals and values and confronting her mother for her role in this.
Swindler Seduction (2022)
Unbelievable
Really! This is based on a true story. There is really a woman out there who is this dumb. The man forgets his wallet. The man mistakenly takes the wrong set of house keys and has to sleep in your hotel room. The man can't reach any of his relatives, friends or servants to help him in his dilemma. He says he's wealthy with several villas, why couldn't he call his attorney or financial adviser. Oops. I guess he tried and couldn't reach them by phone either. The man tells you he can't have children. So you sleep with a man you just met without any protection. And here's the biggest stupidity of them all. The man buys luxury cars that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars each for people he just met, because you were so nice and took care of a $1500 bar bill for him. I know some naive women, but they wouldn't even fall for this. There are way too many coincidences. Too many red flags. How could anyone miss all those red flags. How could anyone choose to ignore all those red flags. This story is unbelievable. This should be under the genre Fantasy and not Suspense because this woman lived in fantasyland. I would say Comedy. But there were way more dumb scenes than funny ones. However, it was kinda funny to see Steve beating up his twin brother Mitch in jail. That was hilarious.
The Way We Were (1973)
I love it and hate it
The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was the most romantic movie ever. Of course the song added to the feeling of romance. But now that I watch it as an older adult, I don't like the story as much.
I see Katie's strength and Hubbell's weakness. Katie challenged Hubbell and he was too weak to meet her challenges. Hubbell wanted a life of wealth, an uncomplicated life, an acquiescent wife. This was something Katie could never be. Katie wanted to make the world a better place. Hubbell was only concerned about his world, his life.
I hated Hubbell for walking away from his daughter. I wondered if he did this because he did not want to deal with the complications of raising a half Jewish daughter. I hate that he couldn't even say her name, Rachel, when he asked about her.
The acting of course is superb. Streisand is beautiful, Redford is handsome, and their chemistry lights up the screen.
With all of my dislikes, I still recommend this movie to anyone. It's a good watch.
Rear View Mirror (2023)
Gave me a headache
This move was frustrating. It started frustrating me from the beginning when Jess, the main character, is preparing to leave her abusive husband after he leaves for work. He then calls her and asks her to go to the front door. He left her a flower on the porch. Then he tells her he forgot something and will be home in ten minutes. Instead of taking the flower inside so as not to arouse his suspicions when he got there, to give herself more time to get away, she leaves it on the porch. Then she farts around forever gathering and packing clothes until he shows up. If I was leaving an abusive husband and he was returning hone, I would have stopped the gathering and packing clothes and been out the door the minute I hung up the phone. To make matters worse, when he catches up with her, they both stand and stare at each other for almost two minutes it seems before she gets in her car and speeds away.
The story is also predictable. If you watch closely, you know that Cory is not right and is going to cause her fear and terror. You also start to suspect the sister, and your suspicions are confirmed in the last half hour when you see her going through her computer. You also know Jess's son is going to be the hero by informing the police. What frustrated me so about this movie was that Jess was always so paranoid. It drove me crazy. I know it was suppose to be part of the mystery and suspense. But she was always paranoid about everything. In the end I guess no one cared about even looking for or inquiring about the abusive husband who fell off the cliff into the water.
You Killed My Mother (2017)
"Loose ends kill friends"
Young woman goes on a killing spree after her alcoholic mother gets liver damage from alcohol poisoning and dies. After her mother is refused a liver transplant and dies, she swears revenge on everyone who she perceives as being responsible for her mother's death.
However, there are some incidents that made no sense to me. First, she kills the nurse from the ER who attended to her mother. She poisons her and sets her house on fire. But she saves the nurse's cat from the fire. If she's the monster she says she is, why save the cat. After she took the cat, she never showed it any affection.
Then there's the doctor who refused the liver transplant for her mother. She said she was going to kill everyone the doctor loved. But why did she kill Susanne, the doctor's boyfriend's ex wife. The doctor certainly didn't love Susanne. Susanne was harassing and threatening both the doctor and her ex husband. In fact, Susanne's part in this story had no connection to the story at all. Her role in this story was insignificant to the plot.
It was also unbelievable to me that the doctor's son, who is intelligent, artistic, polite, good manners, in other words, well bred, could fall for a girl who looked like a biker. This girl was rough around the edges and had very little feminine traits. Yes I know opposites attract. But this young man didn't appear to be the kind of person who would be attracted to someone so different from his upbringing. This was completely out of his character.
The acting was alright. It was good for an LMN movie. I just didn't find the story either credible or entertaining.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Poignant and beautiful scenery
This is a beautiful, heartbreaking story of love. It's about love between two men that endured for twenty years. Its about two men forced to deny who they really are because of the time and place.
The beautiful Wyoming mountainside makes this story more sad and heartbreaking.
It contrasts its stately forever beauty with the story of a beautiful love that had to be hidden because narrow minds saw it as ugly and unacceptable.
The filmmakers so carefully focused on these men's lives and love for each other rather than their homosexuality. Jack so easily accepts who he is, while Ennis struggles with his sexuality. His father taught him to hate homosexuality. So I sometimes thought Ennis struggled with self hatred.
The ending is so heartbreaking with Ennis left with only his memories of Jack and Jack's shirt and jacket. The viewer is also left wondering if Jack really died as his wife claims he did, or is Ennis' flashback of the two homosexual men who were beaten to death when he was ten years old really how he died. Such a beautiful sad story.
Desert Hearts (1985)
So much music
I appreciate that this movie is about love between two women in the 1950s, and not about sex. It isn't trying to make a statement about lesbianism. It is a simple story about a woman in her thirties being awakened to her sexual awareness by a woman in her twenties. But the movie is flat. The characters have no life in them. I felt that the detail it lacked that might have given more life to the characters, was filled in by the sound track. So much music. Too much music. I wanted to know Helen's thoughts and not hear music and songs covering her thoughts. The performances were alright. They were all very careful, very subtle. I didn't care for the ambiguous ending.
The Hours (2002)
"All your friends are sad"
"All your friends are sad" says it all about this movie. I don't remember why I didn't see this movie back in the day. But, I wonder if I would have enjoyed back then. It was certainly the talk of the town. I don't know why so many people found this movie riveting. I was bored. Yes, with all these fine actors, many of my favorites, I was bored. The acting was phenomenal. If I had to pick a winner, I choose Julianne Moore.
I couldn't understand why these three women found their lives so unlivable. The story wasn't clear as to why they were so unhappy. One had to make their own assumptions.
Although the script was not disjointed, it lacked too much information for me to enjoy the movie.
Broken Ties (2023)
It's entertaining
The movie script isn't terrible. There are some parts that are unbelievable, like how a woman overpowers a man three times her size and weight. There are also some gross parts. I won't mention them here. The movie is kind of predictable, but entertaining. You just have to get past the bad acting. The three bad cops are the worse. They are more like the three stooges. They tried so hard to look tough that it was laughable. I won't say it's worth the watch. It's your standard LMN/Lifetime movie. You watch them and then wonder why on earth you wasted two hours. But for some unknown reason, watching these bad movies are addictive.
Acrimony (2018)
Good movie
After watching this movie, the low ratings really surprise me. This is a deep movie with a focus on mental illness. It's about how a mentally ill wife's mind becomes so deranged after catching her then boyfriend cheating, that she lets this incident rot in her mind until it destroys her and her marriage. Her family encouraged her in her delusions instead of encouraging her to get the help she so desperately needed.
Taraji P. Henson is excellent as Melinda, the deranged wife. I believed her 100%. When she starts telling the story, I am on her side. Then the craziness emerges and you see that Robert, played by Lyriq Bent, is really the victim in this Greek tragedy.
Good supporting cast. Great movie.
Dirty Teacher (2013)
Enjoyable
This is an enjoyable movie with some flaws. The acting is good. Whenever I see Josie Davis starring in a Lifetime/LMN movie, I know she is playing the psycho. Her characters are never likable.
There was such shoddy police work.
They didn't check all of Danny's and the teacher's text messages. They could have subpoenaed the records.
Forensics would know the blood was smeared on the car's bumper, and it didn't match the victim's wounds.
Although the teacher purchased a ticket for the eight o'clock show, the ticket should have been stamped with the date/ time of purchase, I would think.
They could have checked the teacher's vehicle and would have seen that her grill was newly replaced.
With all its flaws, it was still entertaining. I would have liked the ending to include an apology from Danny's parents to Jamie.
Mannequin (1937)
Always and Always
I love the old black and white films, and I am a diehard Crawford fan. I thought I had seen all of her films multiple times. I don't know how I missed this gem, the only movie in which she and Tracey starred in together.
The movie is the typical movie of a young woman eager to move away from her meager existence. The difference here is that Jessie (Crawford) isn't looking to be rich or famous, she just wants a decent man and food on the table. Of course, before meeting that decent man, Hennessy played by Tracey, she marries her childhood sweetheart Eddie, played by Alan Curtis. Jessie is blind to the fact that Eddie is a conman, a schemer. He has the very character from which she is running.
Jessie's and Hennessy's
paths diverge when they happen to be at the same restaurant. Hennessy is the complete opposite of Eddie. He's successful and kind. He falls in love with Jessie at their first meeting.
Tracey and Crawford didn't light up the screen like Tracey and Hepburn. But they were good together. They are convincing as a couple. They both gave top notch performances. Alan Curtis is excellent as the no good husband.
I enjoyed this film very much. I liked the song Ms Crawford sang, Always and Always. A beautiful song. This was a great find. It is another Crawford film that I will probably watch multiple times.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Spiraling Down (2011)
Nobody won
I thought this was one of SVU's best episodes. It calls attention to CTE in NFL players and teenage prostitution. Although, teenage prostitution kind of gets lost . I think there should have been a little more focus on how teenagers, especially runaways are manipulated into prostitution. It's very sad.
The story is well written and well directed. The late Treat Williams gives an Emmy worthy performance of an ex NFL Quarterback who is suspected of suffering from CTE and/or pugilistic dementia. The late Andre Braugher returns to give a powerful performance as his attorney. I found this to be an emotional and poignant episode. Yes, it brought tears to my eyes. The ending is heartbreaking. No. There are no winners in this episode.
The Walking Dead: Here's Negan (2021)
Beautiful and heartwarming
Wow! What a comeback after the last few episodes. This history of Negan pre apocalypse was fantastic. Negan a high school gym teacher. Yes! I can see that. This is why he would never ever hurt children post apocalypse. This is why he so easily related to and loved Carl and Judith.
I can't even imagine his guilt after cheating on his wife with her best friend and then finding out she had cancer. But he stood by her and cared for her. I'm still trying to understand why he burned her up in the house after she committed suicide rather than just killing her Walker existence. But after this episode, his fondness for his baseball bat makes sense. Great episode.
The Walking Dead: Diverged (2021)
Meh
Carol makes dandelion soup in nasty gloves that she's used for digging and killing, and with blood and dirt all over her. Yuck! No thanks! Carol, who use to be my hero, is now my most disliked character. I get it that she's suffering from PTSD or something. But she seems to be devoid of any real feelings, except towards Daryl. She walked away from her relationship with Ezekiel without even trying to make it work. She is almost a psycho. I don't trust her.
This episode was truly boring and hard to get through. I don't need a character study about Carol. Enough about her. However, I did enjoy seeing more of Dog.