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heatherhilgers
Reviews
Get Gotti (2023)
Makes The Feds Look Incompetent
I watched three episodes and found myself rooting for Gotti over the government. The lengths of overreach in their investigations were astounding - bugging an old widow's home?! The routine breaking and entering by the government should not be permitted - this is illegal when a civilian does it, why is this different? Three separate government organizations refused to collaborate so they could get the glory? Get it together! The government through weak case after case at this man, stalked his every move, and tried relentlessly to convict him, the man couldn't even get a few month break between cases. This was ridiculous and reminds viewers of how the government employees feel they are above the law and free to invade citizens privacy.
Savior Complex (2023)
An Impossible Situation
This was a very well made documentary in which it showed multiple sides, I felt for every one of them but disliked them all.
We have Renee, who was a homeschooled teenager thrust into Uganda with what seemed to be very good intentions. Those of us who know US homeschoolers know they are usually good at spelling and religious studies but that's about it. I think she made a lot of morally correct decisions. She goes to Uganda, sees there's a routine issue of dying children and lack of hospitals with the capacity both monetarily and space-wise to treat them, so she starts a blog to fundraise, realizes there's still not enough facilities or well-trained individuals so she makes her own. I completely understand the logic of bulk buying medicine to give to those who can't afford it and thinking that one doctor's prescription of a problem can be repeated without issue because it's so routine. She's trying to do the same but for the major issues for children in the area of malnutrition and diarrhea. It's an impossible situation for her as a teenager, she's effectively a child and she's doing her best with death surrounding her - bear in mind, the children's death rate at her facility is less than the best hospital in the country's death rate. She's built a facility in the area that's capable of treating these issues for children but nothing else, and it's quite fair from that perspective, she never advertised them as being medically adept at every issue. It's simply a charitable facility for local children with specific issues and no money to go to hospitals.
Also in the documentary is the No White Saviors movement, led, of course, by a White Savior. The white savior named Kelsey spends her time preaching to Africans about how they are disenfranchised by White Evangelicals and neocolonialism. As the Ugandans mention in the film, they need aid, are they really going to turn away the helping hand in the name of rejecting these Western, progressive views? Kelsey is effectively preaching for Americans to send their aid... nowhere actually. She wants no aid at all. She wants Americans to keep their money because any money sent is neocolonialism.
Then we have the nurses and doctors of Renee's clinic who, frankly, are not well-trained themselves in any context. The locals employed by Renee believe that at the end of the day, their boss (Renee's) view of their work matters more than a Hippocratic Oath and the one American-trained nurse is fresh out of college trying to point out issues, as in.... A newbie, with zero-experience, thinking her textbooks and freshly-minted qualifications make her the smartest person in the room. She spends her time in the documentary pointing fingers at everyone but herself. As unlikeable as Renee is, she seemed to be very aware of how to treat malnutrition.
We also have the Ugandan mothers in the documentary who seem to have been coached by the No White Saviors movement to be upset at the facility. Riddle me this - your children suffered and died from malnutrition - who got them to this point? Would the children have died without Renee's facility? The documentary also shows mothers who had no idea their children were passed off to Renee's facility eventually.... Why. Why didn't you know where your child was. Why didn't you do everything in your power to not get them to this point - poverty is real but at the same time... so is scavenging. Take discarded food and plant the seeds, learn which naturally growing plants are edible, or raise and kill livestock to feed your family if that's what it takes, do everything in your power to not let it get there and, at the very least, oversee your kids to know whose care they are in. It seems like death was so common in the area that it's almost a given. There was also a mother with crocodile tears in the lawsuit saying her dead child was the last opportunity she had to have children - It wasn't even believable acting.
Then we have a local attorney who helped the No White Saviors Movement sue Renee's facility and, even she seemed ill-equipped to facilitate any rational lawsuit. She tried the case civilly while accusing Renee of Geneva Convention-sanctioned war crimes. Pardon? Yes you read that right, she didn't have a firm grasp of the law to make the right accusations in the right venue or report them criminally if that's what she believed was the issue. She also said that the No White Saviors movement was getting in the way of the lawsuit with their sensationalized social media posts. If actual war crimes were committed, any social media posts would have no effect on the outcome outside of bringing awareness, this statement effectively negated her own position.
Additionally featured are the deceased children. They are the only victims of the documentary. Their parents and world community failed them. I say world community because in one of the early shots, a child effectively remarks "oh a white person, are they going to give us food?" That helplessness is taught.
The cycle will continue until any one of the above-mentioned groups changes.
Lucifer (2016)
Terrible Acting, Predictable Outcomes
I gave this show a solid try - I watched four episodes and dear god, what awful acting. I thought the main character was charming but the other characters were insanely stupid to not believe him. The little girl was adorable, but otherwise, I didn't like the rest of the cast. Every single episode was easy to predict within five minutes of the start, assuming they had introduced the killer within that time frame.
Overall, interesting twist on a detective show, but falls very flat. I don't like the whole "peers showing up from hell to nag the boss" thing, if he's the devil/your boss, give him some more respect.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)
Cute Coming Of Age Story
This was very cute but won't be a classic. It's nice to have a show made for preteens that captures the sort of awkwardness of that age between crushes, periods, and thinking the smallest embarrassing thing will ruin your life forever.
I loved that the main character's family was so close and caring toward one another, and I LOVED that her parents in the movie (Adam Sandler and Irina Menzel) brought her down to earth by saying no to a wildly expensive party. I was really worried from the opening scene that this would be one more movie where preteens get the wrong idea that they need to be materialistic and Keep Up With the Joneses, when it's the ceremony and mitzvah that really matters.
Overall, if I had preteen kids I would let them watch this. I stopped watching after a half hour as it clearly wasn't intended for my age demographic but it was very cute.
Entourage (2004)
A show only a man would love
This show is a dramedy with no conflict. If you want to sit back and not think for an hour, this is a fine option on par with SpongeBob, but the characters are uninteresting and there's no point to any episode. No conflict, no resolution, just a bunch of losers mooching off their friend and getting the leftover girls that the friend passes up. It's pathetic, really. I don't know why this show has such a cult following, Ari is the only good character but Jeremy Piven is effectively playing a wittier, more powerful version of his jerky self. People who like this show have low intelligence. Watch something else.
Telemarketers (2023)
Good Concept, Didn't Stick The Landing
What I think got everyone so excited about was the first episode - wonderful video footage of an industry environment which you'd otherwise think was unbelievable.
I thought the documentarians did a nice job interviewing former coworkers and peer telemarketers but seemed to really struggle when escalating these issues to the powers that be. It was frustrating as a viewer to see the second layer of interviewees (politicians, bureaucrats, people within the FOP) shutting down interviews or talking down to the interviewers. The interviewers were not used to gonzo journalism done by people with real experience in the issue and the intention of helping resolve the issue, but lacking credentials or a vocabulary such that the interviewees would take the men seriously so they'd shut down the interview and look like elitist pricks.
Overall, I thought the two documentarians' hearts were in the right place. I think they could have used more help from HBO on finalizing the ending to have some form of resolution or call to action for the viewers.
Barbie (2023)
A Technicolor Dream
Wow, this movie was a love letter to cinema. From the Kubrick reference at the opening, to the soundstage being 100% real - no cgi for the sets. There were dance sequences like in the olden days (think Grease) and the costuming , wow the costuming. Greta Gerwig dug deep to make this masterpiece using all of her technical chops along the way. The casting director also nailed it, everyone was wonderful.
The acting was perfection, I loved seeing the variety of Barbie's on screen and there were so many jokes that would be appropriate for all audiences, this has to be a voluntary PG13 rating as there wasn't swearing or nudity. There was one beach fight amongst the Kens but that's not really violence compared to today's average films, no one was harmed nor any fake blood used.
I actually didn't like the ending at all, and I was quite annoyed that Rhea Perlman played the creator of Barbie but made two quips about the IRS getting her for tax evasion - something Ruth Handler never dealt with. Her problem was with the SEC after she had signed off on a positive Mattel earnings forecast when they knew they were in a down quarter - how's that so tough to explain?
Irregardless, I want to see this movie again. And again. And again.
The Other Two (2019)
Proof TV Writers Shouldn't Be the Stars
I get it, you left your cushy SNL job to fulfill your dream of being the tv stars, but if you can't act, the show becomes a dud. I keep giving it a chance, I'm even on Season 3 but I'm hate watching it. This concept, which isn't great to begin with, needs more professional actors to make the script land. There are some funny moments, but they're few and far between. The two main characters seem to simply be playing a more exaggerated version of their actual selves, which is alarming and reminds me of Tracy Morgan's acting. Sometimes they try to bring in "stars" to make the show more fun, for example Kiernan Shipka, who is a C List child star at best.
Save your time, watch something better.
House of Hammer (2022)
Passable
This documentary could have been done so much better, I think the viewers are largely disappointed by the quality of those that were willing to be interviewed. We have an ex-fling of Arnie's who didn't like that they consensually engaged in bondage one time but she didn't speak up so now she's in therapy for PTSD for that, we've got a woman who turned the DMs she received from Armie into art for profit but she never met Armie in real life, and we have his estranged aunt who hasn't talked to him since he was a child and seems very bitter about the size of her inheritance and doesn't know anything whatsoever about Armie as a person but is willing to say he's probably a bad guy based on when he was a kid. Each of these people interviewed has an agenda, none of these people are the earth-shattering sources we needed to hear from. I wish we could have had the truly scary DMs and stories from actual victims front-loaded into the first episode instead of hearing them in episode three when I thought we were done talking about Armie.
The documentary could have been told so much more coherently, with each man in the Hammer lineage getting their own episode rather than winding back and forth. I didn't understand why they focused so much time on his great-grandfather being a communist and they glossed over that his grandfather got away with murder, that really deserved more discussion.
Bama Rush (2023)
Truly Awful Documentary
I watch about 50 documentaries a year and can fairly say this is the worst I've seen in 2023. There is no clear message, the director is interjecting throughout and making a college sorority rush about her personal struggles with self acceptance as a person with alopecia. In one scene she dramatically puts on a wig so she can go befriend more 17, 18 and 19 year old girls (creepy) and, rather than discussing sorority rush, she wants them to sit on their childhood beds (creepy) and divulge their deepest most painful secrets on camera (creepy). Can you imagine if a grown man did this? Also, what did this film have to gain by airing those compromising conversations, it feels as though the girls were duped into thinking they'd be in a documentary about sorority rush and instead were pressured to talk about a completely unrelated subjects like their sexual assaults, which will now be the top search results for their names for the rest of their lives.
I just finished and want to point out that this film doesn't give you much information at all about rush. Their example of the notorious "machine" being bad was that the fraternities and sororities remind their members of the Greek endorsed candidates at chapter ahead of the student body election..... what? How is that bad, that's a democracy. Endorsements happen by organizations all the time in the real world.
Overall, I thought this film was an invasion of privacy in many ways, from the showcased young women forced by the director to reveal vulnerable information, to filming underage parties without everyone's written consent. You know the saying let kids be kids? It's time to let young adults be young adults - let them grow up and find their way without HBO cameras.
SmartLess: On the Road (2023)
Self Indulgent Nonsense
This show attempts to humanize the three actors by showing background of a tour, but in reality it reminds you how painfully out of touch each actor is; Jason Bateman is whining that the private plane isn't nice enough and when someone doesn't immediately run out to help him with his bag he takes it upon himself and complains the whole way through; Sean Hayes is worried about the "extravagant" optics of ordering surf and turf... while sitting in a private plane; Will Arnett comes off the most normal up until he tries to show off by coming out of his hotel room in his underwear and Jason Bateman started describing his penis in detail. Back to Jason, what a complainer. My oh my, it's nonstop, he's the male version of an almond mom, constantly critiquing everyone's food intake.
This show feels like you're locked in a long car ride with people you hate. I highly recommend you skip it.
Beef (2023)
Normalizing Anger Problems
I watched two, very painful episodes. Every character is abhorrent and the acting is pretty rough. This level of anger and revenge shouldn't be normalized, the characters need anger management more than a second season. And what's up with the husband not being alarmed enough when he sees Ali Wong pointing a gun to her own iPhone? If my partner did that I would take the kids away for the weekend until the person calmed down, you can't have people flailing guns around in a home with children. Overall I thought this was a terribly acted show with some good cinematography, but it's promoting morally reprehensible behavior and reactivity.
How I Met Your Father (2022)
Please Cancel This Trainwreck
I will admit that I am one of the gluttons for punishment who continues to watch this nonsense. The show is not cohesive, funny, or interesting. The plots make no sense including the latest - making Megan Trainer give water birth in a shrimp infested inflatable tub in Hillary Duff's living room. I can't stop hate watching this. It's so bad. Hillary Duff never shook off the Disney-style over-acting of her youth, except this time her Botox and veneers make it much less charming. I appreciate the casting of Kim Cattrell but even her script is so dumb, I can't imagine her adult son would sit through her character's drunken retelling of how she met his father. My hopes for this show were never high but it's somehow managed to still miss.
Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022)
Poor Me Personified
I watched three painful episodes. I am so sick of writers creating female characters to place all the blame on in a relationship. They also cast the most bland, mediocre looking man and made him a regular Don Juan in the dating apps as part of the plot. Don't give married men watching this false hope - she was the catch, she settled for him and this story is clearly retold purely from his perspective. The story doesn't add up alongside the flashbacks. I imagine the reality of their marriage was not as portrayed and he is not taking ownership for his role in the divorce.
Poor me, I have an ambitious, hot, intelligent wife that I started blaming for everything for ten years until she left. Unrealistic that he wouldn't call the police and she wouldn't call to check on the kids when she clearly cared about them.
No. Poor us viewers. No one should have to see Jesse Eisenberg in one sex scene, let alone dozens.
The Wedding Planner (2001)
Promotes M&M Waste
I'll level with you - I like this movie. The one thing I can't get behind that has haunted me for the past 17 years is the scenes where they waste M&Ms. As a spoiler, Matty McConaughey has an initial scene where he's throwing out all M&Ms that are not brown; reason being, he thinks they have more food dye. Later on, Jenny from the Block does the same. This is wasteful and really took me out of the cinema experience. Why would you buy a bag of candy and refuse to eat 5/6 of it? Almost every processed food has food coloring in it, is this really a way to live your life? In sum, this is a top notch chick flick with a significant plot hole.