Howdy All! I’m Lisa. My girlfriends and I, and sometimes my kids, will be offering our take on movies and tv shows we have recently viewed. This may or may not be interesting, as we will be imbibing and may be quite merry while commenting. Still, it’s fun being cocktail critics and we often come up with legitimate reviews. So it’s off to the sofa, the wine and the remote. My fictional boyfriends (and girlfriends) are waiting. Slainte!
THE LAST SHOWGIRL – I disliked this film and could barely sit through it. The main character, played by Pamela Anderson, is needy and desperate and always speaks in an annoying childish voice. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a character similar to her role in The Bear. She deserved the Emmy for that role. I wasn’t impressed with her performance in this film and I’m surprised she was even nominated for an Oscar…much less winning one. The movie is one long yawn of ageism in a Vegas show which is aging itself into closure amid a lack of creativity and audience attendance. Then, in the final scene, all of a sudden Pam’s showgirl goes out on top, her relationship is repaired with her daughter and she is going forward with an old flame. Or maybe not. It’s unclear and definitely too quick to resolve whatever was or wasn’t happening during the prior 90 minutes. I like both Pamela and Jamie Lee…just not in this picture. Skip it! Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.
THE MORTICIAN – Macabre, true crime tale of repulsive acts committed on human remains by fiendish California mortician David Sconce. Operating out of a crematorium in Pasadena during the 1980s and 90s, it is despicable what he was able to do undetected for so long. Even more despicable is when he was finally arrested, he basically got off with a slap on the wrist, leaving countless families devastated twice. The number is in the multiple thousands. He offers commentary throughout this documentary and remains smug, arrogant, and above the law with a complete lack of remorse. He’d do it all again if he could. It’s likely he even murdered several people who were wise to the goings on at his facility and were going to blow the whistle. It’s a tough watch, but I couldn’t look away. It’s an engaging story of forewarning for the rest of us that we need to beware the funeral industry. Personally I want a Viking send off but I think that’s illegal. Cheers!! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.
ONE SHOT WITH ED SHEERAN – this hour long music experience with Ed may have been filmed in one continuous take, but there was definitely staging going on. Plus I don’t see how some camera angles could have been shot in one take. Still, Ed Sheeran fans (which we are) will find his jaunt through Manhattan fun and different…and it’s only an hour long. He plays several of his most famous hits among many songs as he and his guitar bop around the city landing on a friend’s wedding proposal, another friend’s party and supposedly impromptu (wink, wink) jams with a tavern band and folks on the subway. Ed is lovable in this piece and we loved him accordingly. Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 0.
TITAN THE OCEANGATE SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER – Blinded by hubris, arrogance and ego, Oceangate owner Stockton Rush became Oceangate murderer Stockton Rush. Ignoring the sub’s failure of all endurance testing, firing employees who raised safety concerns, overlooking the exit of many others who departed the company due to the same safety concerns, refusing to allow the sub to be inspected and certified for deep sea diving per industry standards, justifying his use of carbon fiber when he was repeatedly warned of its weaknesses. Still he continued to dive even though tragedy was only a matter of time, or as one of his employees stated…”it was a mathematical certainty the sub would fail.” It doesn’t get any plainer than that. Just seeing the graphs and hearing the popping sounds of fibers breaking during this documentary gave me goosebumps. I can’t imagine being locked inside this death capsule. Sadly it ended up being just that when four unsuspecting people, plus Stockton, imploded along with the sub on June 18, 2023, after only ten dives. Mesmerizing documentary. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – everyone who spoke up to avoid disaster.
ONE TO ONE JOHN & YOKO – The year is 1971. John & Yoko have fled London and begun life in New York City in their small Greenwich Village apartment which they will inhabit until moving to the Dakota in 1973. Produced by their son, Sean Ono Lennon, and Brad Pitt, it is an interesting snapshot of the US at that time. Political unrest is raging over the Vietnam war. Young people are rising up in defiance of the establishment. Nixon is president, and John & Yoko have become huge outspoken activists for peace. Snippets of current events in 1971 are peppered among commercials and tv shows popular at the time revealing a huge disconnect between the lives of everyday Americans and the violent chaos in the country and the world. Live footage from the Lennons’ One to One concert to raise funds for the retarded children of Willowbrook State School is included. For me, the most interesting segments were phone recordings of John & Yoko speaking to various folks involved with their peace movement. Quite the history lesson for those of us who lived through it and those of us born too late to experience it….although it is a vivid reminder that we are repeating much of the same behavior in our country now. Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.
RETURN OF THE KING THE FALL AND RISE OF ELVIS PRESLEY – New documentary covering Elvis’s life up to the comeback concert in 1968. Not a lot new here, but comments from Priscilla Presley, old acquaintances and Elvis himself, plus snippets from the ’68 concert, make this an interesting piece. And let’s face it, Elvis rocked that black leather outfit! I remember it well. Cheers!! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE – Fascinating look in real time at a nuclear attack on America. In this film we have no idea who launched the missile against us, all efforts to intercept it fail and the president has only 18 minutes to make his choice…retaliate or not. Either way, the city of Chicago is toast and the surrounding areas are radiation drenched and life as we know it is over. Three aspects of the crisis play out simultaneously while the clock ticks down the 18 minutes. We get an unnerving glimpse of how vulnerable we are should something like this actually occur. The performances are great and the storyline and filming sequence is unique. I didn’t come away terrified or disturbed as much of the audience did. It definitely is thought provoking however. And Trump deciding to test nuclear weapons a week after this film’s debut is also worrisome. I don’t know if there is any correlation or not, but this picture has everyone thinking “what if?” Cheers! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – o.
JUDY – Renee Zellweger takes a stab at portraying iconic Judy Garland in this film of Judy’s last year alive. A few things bothered me watching this piece. One – Renee never really captured Judy’s essence for me. And she doesn’t look much like her either, even with hair, makeup and wardrobe to match the role. Two – the movie focuses only on the five weeks Judy was performing in London, with occasional flashbacks to her early years at MGM where her tender psyche was abused and molded into the vulnerable, tragic person she became. Lastly, I’m not sure how much of this film is factually accurate. I’m a Judy fan, but not of this movie. Skip it! Cheers!
NOVOCAINE – I didn’t like it. I was expecting a comedy, but except for one particular scene which was very funny, I don’t think it was. I don’t know what it was. There’s a lot of cringe worthy graphics and violence that bothered me. I had to look away from some scenarios. John, on the other hand, thought it was clever and unique. Usually he hates violence, but didn’t seem to mind it in this film. He said he enjoyed the quirky storyline. So split decision from two peeps! Cheers!! Boyfriends/Girlfriends – 0.
BILLY JOEL: AND SO IT GOES – Five hours spread over 2 episodes of this documentary paint a vivid, detailed and thorough picture of Billy Joel the man. I was always a fan of his music, but never knew anything really about his personal life aside from the Christie Brinkley marriage and occasional motorcycle crash. I never found him particularly attractive. By the end of the documentary I was in love with him. He tells us most of his story himself while seated at the piano in his home. He’s engaging, funny, brash, candid…and brutally honest about his journey. You know, a typical New Yorker and I couldn’t resist his charm. In person it must be impossible! All of his wives, current and ex, speak frankly of their relationship with him. So does his daughter Alexa. Band members weigh in, too, as do various family members and friends. Throughout there is an abundance of performance footage and he gives us the lowdown behind the songs. It’s marvelous! Besides coming away from this piece with a new-found admiration for Joel, I also had endless tunes playing in my head for days. John (who loved the documentary by the way) and I danced to some of our favorites during the viewing. Not to be missed. Rock on Billy!! Cheers! Boyfriends – 1; Girlfriends – 1.
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