Sunday, July 28, 2019

Text to Kill/ June in January/ Ungodly Acts/ My Life as a Dead Girl

Jun. 11, 2019 TV movie reviews: I watch these here and there, if the story line sounds interesting.

Text to Kill: I saw this TV movie in Feb. 2016.  It's also called Truth and Lies.

"Teens band together to investigate the source of anonymous messages that threaten to expose their secrets."

Why did you watch it?: Because it sounds like the TV show Pretty Little Liars where someone sends anonymous messages to a group of teen girls and threaten to expose their secrets.


Pros:


1. It had a good opening.  There is a car accident and Taylor wakes up from it.  Her dad had passed away in a car accident.


2. The cast:


Emily Tennant plays Taylor and she is average.


Dina Meyer plays Allison, Taylor's mom and is also a cop. 


Keenan Tracey as Cody was average.


The actors who play the teens were average.


3. The writing has drama, conflict, and tension that slowly builds up.  There is a sex tape of one of the character's mom.  


Spoiler alert: I did like that Cody told his story.


Cody: I was arrested on an assault charge.  He got my sister drunk and … you know.  She didn't want the cops involved.  I kicked his ass and put him in the hospital.

Taylor: If I had an older brother, I would want him to do the same thing too.
Cody: The cops got involved, and she wouldn't tell.

4. I do like the ending.  



Spoiler alert: Taylor is in danger, and Allison has to save her.  Cody is behind all this, because his parents died in a car accident that Taylor's dad was in.  It was revenge.



Cody was then going to kill Allison.  It then gets kind of clichĂ© with the dialogue.


Taylor: That's not justice, that's murder.
Cody: I know killing them won't bring them back.

There is some fighting and Allison finds out about it.  Cody is arrested.


Cons:


1. It's maybe too much like Pretty Little Liars with someone where a black hood and gloves to hide identity. 


2. It was kind of predictable, at least for me.  I figured out who it was and why around like halfway in.


3. It was kind of boring and slow.


Comparisons:


A enemy is texting and threatening a group of friends to expose their secrets: Pretty Little Liars.


A suicide or accident and it's really a murder: There are lots of shows and movies with that story line.


My opinion: It's average at best, and mediocre at worst.  I wouldn't watch it again.



https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3660856/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1

Jun. 21, 2019 June in January: I saw this TV movie in Jul. 2016



"A newly engaged bride dreamed of her wedding day with her late mother for her entire life, and is looking forward to planning every perfect detail to honor her mom's memory. But her special day is nearly ruined by her intimidating future mother-in-law and her fiancé's sudden work transfer, which pushes her perfect outdoor June wedding ceremony up to a January date -- just three weeks away!"


Why did you watch it?: Wes Brown was in it.  He was a bad guy on a Criminal Minds episode "The Slave of Duty."  I liked him so much I saw him in other Hallmark TV movies like Love Begins and Love's Everlasting Courage on Youtube.  I wrote about the TV movies on my blog.


Pros:


1. There is a good opening as Alex (Wes Brown) proposes to June (Brooke D' Orsay):


Alex: Love is blind, but to me it's crystal clear.  It feels like you've been part of my life forever.  It would mean the world to me if I know that everyday would be like that.  The only way I know how to make this the best new year of the rest of my life, is if you would share that life with me.  So June Fraser, will you marry me?  Please?


2. The cast: Wes Brown is the only reason I'm watching this for.


Brooke D'Orsay is good here.


Christie Laing is June's friend.  At first I didn't recognize her.  The second scene, I was like: "It's Marion (Robin Hood's wife) on Once Upon a Time!"


3. The dialogue:


June's dad Charlie has a girlfriend: "Charlie, don't be selfish. Make someone else as happy as you make me." 


June: How can I find romance without taking a chance?


Alex: I love June unequivocally and unconditionally and she has more class in her finger than I could ever dream of having.


June's mom: "Pledging to share your life to the one you love.  Life is full of the unexpected, embrace it.  If you truly love him, all the other details are immaterial."



I'm going to put that in my inspirational quotes.


4. It's not offensive.  You can watch this with the whole family.  You don't have to put much thought into watching it.



Cons: 


1. This is always the same with the Hallmark TV movies which are mainly romantic comedies.  There is hardly any drama, conflict, and tension.  It's so boring.


Here are some of the drama like:


Planning a wedding in 3 weeks.


They have to move.


There is barely a romantic rival to compete for Alex.


June's mom not being alive to see the wedding.


My opinion: It's average at best, and mediocre at worst.  I won't be watching it again.


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3354866/?ref_=nv_sr_2?ref_=nv_sr_2


Jul. 5, 2019 Ungodly Acts: I saw this TV movie in Aug. 2018.


"Police investigate the fanatical leader of a religious cult. Daniel is obsessed with end times prophesy."


Why did you watch it?: It sounded interesting.


Pros:


1. The cast:


Brant Daughterty plays the cult leader Daniel.  He was on Pretty Little Liars.  He is solid in this role.


Meghan Park as Melissa.  She was on The Secret Life of the American Teenager.


2. There is a good opening with Melissa who is dead.  


3. There is drama, conflict, and tension as the police investigate is Melissa died by suicide or was it murder?


4. We learn signs of a cult.  Daniel is bullying his members.


5. Spoiler alert for the ending: It was deemed a suicide.


Cons:

1. It was kind of boring.

My opinion: It was mediocre.  I won't be watching it again.

Jul. 9, 2019 My Life as a Dead Girl: I watched this TV movie in Dec. 2018.


"A teenager assumes her murdered friend's identity and takes shelter with the girl's estranged family, but her vengeful pimp threatens her new life."



Why did you watch it?: It sounded interesting.


Pros:

1. Cassandra Scerbo as Brittany is a good actor.  She was in Make it or Break it.  I never watched the show, but I recognized her because of the ads.

Kirsten Zien as Chelsea was average.  She wasn't a big part of it.  She was on Kyle XY.

Keenan Connor Tracy was average as Aunt Kim.  She was on Once Upon a Time.

Chad Rook plays the pimp Jackson, the villain.


2. The story is good.  Brittany is a prostitute, but she's nice.  She befriends a runaway Chelsea.  They become close and they both have sad stories of not having a good family and living in foster care.

There is drama, conflict, and tension as Brittany poses as Chelsea to get away from her pimp.  How long can she keep up her charade for her Aunt Kim and Uncle Donnie? 


Jackson is looking for Brittany.


A detective is looking for Chelsea.  


3. The dialogue:


Donnie: Look forward.  You can't embrace the future without letting of the past.

I'm going to put that in my inspirational quotes. 

4. There is a good climatic ending.

Spoiler alert: Jackson finds Brittany and attacks her.  Brittany's friend Adam comes to help.


Kim and Donnie know the truth about Chelsea.  They adopt Brittany.


Cons: None.


My opinion: The TV movie was solid and average.  I wouldn't watch it again.


Jul. 27, 2019 Summer TV: That's the thing with summer.  There aren't a lot of TV shows to watch, so I record a lot of mid-season and spring TV shows.  They are my backup in case there's nothing to watch during the summer. 


I record movies.  I also write about TV shows and movies so it feels like I'm re-watching it in a way.


My week:

Sun. Jul. 21, 2019 "Homeless immigrant Allan Par needs help":


Swallows flutter out from beneath a bridge over a shallow Winnipeg creek next to where Allan Par has made himself a home in one of the unlikeliest of places.

"I like the solitude," Par says from outside the significant two-room shack he built from scavenged pallet wood, shingles and other discarded materials from surrounding commercial businesses.

The building backs onto a parking lot bridge over Omand's Creek off Empress Street in Winnipeg's busy St. James industrial area. Par says he's been living beneath the bridge and in the shack for the past year.

His struggle with homelessness shares some of the hallmarks of those living on the streets: down on his luck and with no support network, he was forced to improvise and focus on survival.

He's a victim of the same judgments and stigma that follow others like him.

The 41-year-old immigrated to Winnipeg from Manila, Philippines, with the help of sponsors nine years ago. He says he bounced from job to job in the first three years but was repeatedly let go without explanation.

When his relationship and living arrangement with his sponsors soured, he found himself with no money and nowhere to turn.

Now, part of him regrets ever leaving Manila.

"I expected … here in Canada, I have a better job, I have a better work, I have a better life," he said. "But it's the reverse."

Back home, he said he was employed in the welfare and social work sector, helping the unemployed learn how to use Microsoft Excel, Powerpoint and other basic computer programs that often go hand-in-hand with securing a job.

"I need to be a hard [worker] because I want a better place, I want a better place to [stay] every night, especially in winter. In winter it's very cold and it's very hard to live in the street."

He remains skeptical about his prospects in Winnipeg. He wants a job and a home, but he feels disheartened after all these years on the street. 

Par questions whether the promise of a better life in Canada that drew him here is really all that it seemed.

"I'm [a] hard worker," he said. "Other people, instead of help me, they judge me." 

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/homeless-immigrant-builds-magnificent-winnipeg-shack-after-promise-of-better-life-in-canada-falls-through/ar-AAEBRcl?ocid=spartandhp


Job search: Today was a bright and sunny day.  I went to downtown and passed out some resumes.


Mon. Jul. 22, 2019: I expanded a bit.  I called and emailed my 2 bosses from the Soup place to ask if they know any place that's hiring.


I also called and emailed my 2 bosses from the Fast Food Place whom I worked for a month in 2017.  I was let go due to lack of work.  However, they said they can be my references.  I asked if they know any place that's hiring.


Tues. Jul. 23, 2019 Under the High Wheel:


I have heard of the saying: "You are responsible for your own happiness."  


So I'm going to write about things that make me happy.  I was talking to this cook who says he also works at this restaurant called Under the High Wheel.  A couple of weeks later I was walking on Whyte Ave and I saw it.  It's the old timey bikes with the big wheel at the front and the little wheel at the back.


https://underthehighwheel.com/


The Simpsons: This reminds me of the episode where Homer was accused of sexual harassment because he looked like he touched the babysitter's butt, when he really wanted to get a piece of candy off her butt.  Homer than goes on public access TV to make a statement.


Homer: I have done a lot of bad things in life, but harassing women is not one of them.  You know like those old timey bikes with the big wheel at the front and the little wheel in the back?  So I took a big chunk of cinder block-


Marge signals to cut him off.


Later Homer answers the door and a guy on a big old timey bike kicks Homer in the face.  Then Groundskeeper Willy comes with the tape of Homer and the babysitter. 


Jul. 23, 2019 David Spade talking about Kate Spade: Yesterday I was listening to an Ande Anderson interview and how successful people commit suicide.  I thought of Kate Spade.  Today I found this article:



The 55-year-old star opened up to the newspaper about losing sister-in-law Kate Spade in June 2018. The fashion designer, who was married to Spade’s brother, Andy, died by suicide at age 55.

Spade has paid tribute to the fashion icon on social media, but delved deeper into the circumstances of her death in his interview with the Times.

“I feel like Katy wouldn’t have done it, five minutes later,” he said of the designer, who suffered from depression and anxiety. “But these things happen and there’s no going back.”

He also described her as “so funny.”

“I don’t know if agoraphobic is the word, but she didn’t like to mingle a lot; she’d have people at her house and she was always so funny,” he shared.

Kate’s isn’t the only major death that has rocked Spade’s life. He also lost his stepfather to suicide at age 15, as well as several close friends as a young man.

“People just started going right and left, and I would sit and stare at a wall,” he said. “I just said, ‘OK, I guess I’ll cross my fingers that it doesn’t happen to everyone.’ And more people would go.”
Farley’s fatal overdose in 1997 — Spade’s SNL, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep co-star was just 33 — was an especially painful blow. The Lights Out host also revealed that he is frequently targeted by trolls saying they wish he’d died instead of his close friend and comedic partner.

“The first couple times it was rough,” he said, “but now it’s the standard burn. I wish I didn’t get that three times a week.”
“But do you just stop doing what you’re doing because of a tragedy?” he continued, referencing his career since Farley’s death. “You have to go, well, I still like doing this. Some people won’t be interested. But I did three sitcoms after that. It wasn’t totally horrible.”


10 hours ago
He seems genuinely distraught over her passing. It seems too many people close to him chose their own endings too soon in life.
I think it’s healthy for the survivors (family and friends) to speak openly about how the death of a loved one affected them, how they dealt with the grief, and how they learn to cope with the loss and to share that with others facing the same trauma.

My opinion: I am neutral with David Spade.  I did see him on 8 Simple Rules.

John Ritter's death: David Spade came on 8 Simple Rules after Ritter's death.  However, since Ritter was the lead star on the show, the show ended soon after.

Luke Perry's death: He was a supporting actor on Riverdale, so it didn't affect the show as much.  The show will continue on without him.



Canadian actor Simu Liu in Marvel movie: I have seen him on the first two episodes of Kim's Convenience, and then I never watched the show again. It's good to see an Asian and a Canadian in this big movie:


“I feel like I’ve been plucked out of the craziest dream you can imagine.”
Simu Liu is on the phone from his hotel room in San Diego. His phone is blowing up with messages. Twitter is on fire with the news that the Kim’s Convenience star is cast as Marvel’s Shang-Chi, Marvel Comics’ first Asian superhero.
“It really feels like someone waved a magic wand and your life is changed forever,” says Liu in an exclusive interview with the Star, his first since the announcement was made Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Hollywood’s first big-budget superhero film with an Asian lead. It will also star Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) and Tony Leung (In The Mood For Love). The film is set to debut in February of 2021.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2019/07/21/canadian-actor-simu-liu-on-his-groundbreaking-role-as-marvel-superhero-shang-chi.html

Jul. 24, 2019 Detective Pikachu: I was watching a bit of The Social and it mentioned about how Danny DeVito was considered the voice of Pikachu before it was given to Ryan Reynolds.

Here is Danny DeVito's voice and you can imagine it as Pikachu:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4nu2C--8ck

It then led me to listen to my brother's PokĂ©mon TV soundtrack.  I do like the song "Misty's Song":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_6f6DWp7Nk&list=PL9A8150883BEC9033&index=8

Alberta real- estate sellers get safety app after Calgary agent assaulted: I read this in the Star Metro:

The Alberta Real Estate Association is including a subscription to the LifeLine Response app at no additional cost to its membership dues.

The not-for-profit association has more than 10,500 members.

The app allows Realtors to alert their personal support network or summon emergency responders to their GPS location.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/real-estate-sellers-get-safety-app-1.5221868

My opinion: That reminds me of a Criminal Minds ep where Alex O' Laughlin (Hawaii Five- 0) guest-starred.  I had to look up the ep where a real estate agent was murdered:


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1256099/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5





 Jul. 25, 2019 "Advocate's tales of child abuse proven to be false": Today I found this article by Megan Flynn in the Star Metro. Here's an excerpt:




The story was fantastical but horrifying, told by a man known only as “Nick.”

When he was a boy, Nick told police and the press, he was “handed over” by his abusive stepfather to a powerful group of men who repeatedly raped and tortured him, traumatizing him and countless other boys for life. Some of the most powerful men in British Parliament and the military — including the former prime minister and chief of the armed forces — were part of the ominous gang, operating from 1975 to 1984, Nick remembered. How could he forget? he said.


Nick appealed to the public too, appearing in videotaped interviews as a black silhouette with a disguised voice, saying to the other abused boys he hoped were listening, “It’s important that they come forward too. It’s something that stays with you forever.”


But month after month — as the sensational allegations remained under investigation by police, as the accused high-ranking former government officials watched their reputations disintegrate into scandalous tabloid fare — no other boys came forward. In fact, nobody did.

For years, the public would have no idea who “Nick” was — until finally, after a 12 week trial that ended this week, the full picture has emerged. Nick was Carl Beech, a fabulist who invented the entire story, a jury concluded on Monday — and a pedophile masquerading as a child sex-abuse advocate and charity volunteer, managing to fool police and captivate Britain.

All the while, Beech was hoarding as many as 350 indecent images of children, dozens of which were classified as the most serious types.

My opinion: This is crazy.  I always say this: Do not make false police reports and waste the police's time, effort, money and resources.  They could be helping people who actually need help.


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