Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

"I never wanted to be the type to think big thoughts about the nature of things.  All I ever wanted was a stack of pancakes and a V-8." -Chief Bill Oswalt The finale of season 1 of Fargo picks up with Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) dealing with the aftermath of his wife's murder.  He gives himself an alibi by going to Lou Solverson's (Keith Carradine) diner, and calling the police discreetly from there.  As Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) and Chief Bill Oswalt (Bob Odenkirk) investigate the murder, Lester arrives and they bring him to the station, where he is uncooperative in their questioning. Molly takes charge of the situation when Bill tells her he plans to quit and wants her to be Chief.  Molly sets a perimeter around the city to hunt down Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton).  Meanwhile, FBI Agents Budge (Keegan-Michael Key) and Pepper (Jordan Peele) escort Lester home, where they stand guard outside. Malvo launches his attack on Le...

"You've got a lot of fight in you.  I respect that." -Howard After a bad car crash, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in an underground doomsday bunker, belonging to Howard (John Goodman), an extremely paranoid and unstable man.  Howard claims to have saved Michelle's life by brining her into the bunker.  He says there has been some sort of chemical attack on the outside world and most of the planet is dead due to the contaminated air.  Michelle adapts to life in the bunker with Howard and Emmet (John Gallagher Jr.) another person Howard saved.  But Michelle is not sure if the real threat is outside, or if it's the bunker, trapped with her. What Works: Unlike the original  Cloverfield, everything works in this movie.  First off, Michelle is an amazing protagonist.  She's clever, tough, resourceful, and resilient.  She doesn't ever trust Howard and is always trying to make an escape plan.  She's really rel...

"Maybe I am as fantastic as I think I am." -Bradley Kleihege Who Played Well: Let's start with the new Malolo tribe.  We'll start with Kellyn, who is my new winner pick since Stephanie is gone.  Somehow, she managed to convince Angela to stay Naviti strong and vote James, someone who previous saved her, out of the game.  I have no idea how she did, but she pulled it off.  Major props. Next, we have Michael.  Since he voted for James, I can only assume he found out the women were all voting for James, and he piled on so as not to piss off Desiree.  With no hope of saving James, this was a good move of self-preservation for Michael. Let's go on over to Naviti.  We'll start with Mr. Fantastic himself, Bradley.  He immediately reignited his connection with Domenick and got some major intel about Libby from him.  He's in a very good spot I think. Speaking of Domenick, I think he may have had his best night so far. ...

"In 2045 there's nowhere left to go.  Nowhere, except The Oasis." -Wade Watts It's 2045 and the world has pretty much gone to crap.  All anybody does is go into the incredible virtual reality simulator, The Oasis; a world where you can do basically anything.  The game's late creator, James Halliday (Mark Rylance) has left ownership and control of The Oasis to the first person who can find the three hidden keys inside of the game.  To do that, they have to beat three extremely difficult challenges.  After Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) beats the first challenge, it becomes a race between Wade and his friends and the maniacal IOI cooperation, lead by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn) to beat the challenges, with the fate of The Oasis, and the future of the world hanging in the balance. What Works: If you love pop culture, I've found the movie for you.  Not since The Lego Movie or South Park's Imaginationland episodes have I seen so many p...

Now, I've seen the America remake of REC, Quarantine, twice, but it's been awhile.  I remember really liking  Quarantine, but most people told me that REC was better.  So I finally caved and decided to check REC out.  Does REC got it going on as much as  Quarantine does?  Let's find out. Reporter Ángela Vidal (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman, Pablo (Pablo Rosso), are doing a story about a typical night at a fire station.  The firemen get a call about an old woman trapped in her apartment, screaming her head off.  Ángela and Pablo join the firefighters and travel to the apartment building.  They, along with some police officers, go upstairs to check on the old woman, who is covered and blood and bites one of the police officers.  They go back downstairs and find they are unable to leave the building because it is now under quarantine.  Ángela, Pablo, and the others trapped in the building are forced to try and figur...

"That's a big Twinkie." -Winston Zeddemore Just after collecting their first evidence of the existence of ghosts, parapsychologists Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd), and Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) lose their jobs at a university and decide to go into business for themselves.  They start a company called Ghostbusters, where they capture ghosts.  While they deal with getting their business off the ground and an interfering EPA agent (William Atherton), they also start investigating a strange case of paranormal activity happening in the apartment of Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver).  This case could lead to the end of the world, unless the Ghostbusters can save the day. What Works: Ghostbusters is widely considered a classic, with good reason.  First and foremost, it's a hilarious comedy.  There are so many one-liners that are not only hilarious, but that have become ingrained in pop culture.   Ghostbuste...

I've just watched the latest film in the Leprechaun series, Leprechaun Returns, so it seemed appropriate to do an update of my rankings.  I hate most of these movies, but did Returns end up being the first film in the series I can actually recommend or is it the worst of the bunch?  Let's find out! We'll do this from best to worst to keep it interesting. #1. Leprechaun Returns (2018) They did it.  They actually did it.  Returns is easily the best movie in this series and I actually liked the film.  It has a solid main protagonist, by far the best gore, and some legitimately good acting from Mark Holton in a return from the original movie,  The supporting characters still suck and Leprechaun himself is still intolerable, but I would definitely recommend this movie.   7/10: Good  #2: Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood (2003) Like the 5th film in the series, Back 2 that Hood features the Leprechaun hunting for his gold in th...

"That's quite a pickle." -Lou Solverson "A Fox, a Rabbit, and a Cabbage" gives us some insight into what Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) has been up to since he left Duluth.  He spends six months integrating himself into the life of Burt Canton (Stephen Root), a dentist, in order to gain access to Burt's brother, who has bounty on his head and is in the witness protection program.  Malvo gets a job as a dentist in the same office, becomes engaged to a woman named Jemma (Helena Mattson), and they become good friends with Bert and his wife.  The night before Bert is going to take them to spend some time with his brother, Lester Nygaard spots him in the Las Vegas hotel.  When Lester tries to talk to him, Malvo brushes him off.  But this is a new Lester, who doesn't back down.  They get into a confrontation in an elevator, and when Lester refuses to back down, Malvo shoots and kills Jemma, Bert, and his wife.  Lester flees with his new wife, L...

"I must be insane." - Sawyer Valentini Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) has just moved from Boston to Pennsylvania to escape from her stalker, David Strine (Joshua Leonard).  But Sawyer still sees David everywhere she goes.  Rationally, she knows it can't be him, but she stills sees him everywhere.  When she goes to a councilor for support, she ends up committed in a mental institution, and they won't let her leave.  Things become more insane when she discovers David is an employee of the institution.  Sawyer begins questioning her own sanity.  Is she really crazy, or is there some sort of conspiracy to keep her locked up?  And is that really David? What Works: This movie is a nightmarish work of art.  Being locked up against your free will.  Having to questions your own sanity.  Being trapped with someone you are terrified of, who is obsessed with you.  I don't think I'll ever sleep again. But not only is the story...

"You're gonna die." -Doll-face The Strangers  follows dating couple Kristen McKay (Liv Tyler) and James Hoyt (Scott Speedman), as they arrive at James' family's summer home after attending a wedding.  The night is already awkward as James proposed to Kristen at the wedding and she declined.  But the night turns from awkward to deadly as three mysterious strangers wearing masks appear at the remote house.  Kristen and James are forced to fight for their lives as the strangers toy with them and get gradually more and more violent. What Works: I'll come clean and say I am a huge fan of this movie.  One of the main reasons it works is because it feels so real.  The story is something that could absolutely happen.  The hyper-realism scares the crap out of me. I also like the characters.  They make decisions that the audience would most likely make, of the most part.  There are definitely a few questionable choices near the...

"I guess it's fair to say; I was pretty hot today; You see me glow; This ain't pay-per-view; It's a free show." -Chris Noble This was a much slower paced episode of Ghost Island  then we've had before.  It was different, but a little predictable.  Let's take a look at how everyone did this episode. Who Played Well: We'll start on the Malolo tribe with Jenna.  I was really hoping she would be the one to go, as I find Jessica and Michael far more compelling television.  Alas, it was not to be.  But I think she did a good job flirting with Sebastian and I think that helped sway him to keep her in the game. Next we have Michael.  He is the one I think should have gone home from a logical point of view, but  he did a good job pitching to the Naviti 5 why he should stay and saving himself. Moving on to the Naviti 5.  First off, good on them for sticking together and focusing on taking out the Malolo.  But...

"Stop talking to her.  That girl is your enemy." -LaVona Golden I, Tonya is a black comedic telling of the life of figure skater Tonya Harding (Margo Robbie).  It's the story of her growing up poor with an abusive mother, LaVona (Allison Janney), making it in figure skating against all odds, her abusive relationship with her ex-husband, Jeff (Stan Sebastian), all leading up to the attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver).  Based on conflicting interviews of everyone involved, I, Tonya shows the events of the film from everyone's different perspectives, but it also examines Tonya herself, and why she is the way she is. What Works: Everything.  Straight up.  This movie is incredible.  I'll start with the acting.  Everybody does amazing here.  Allison Janney is 100% deserving of her Oscar.  She was insanely good at being awful.  Sebastian Stan was great at being likable one second, and the next ...

It's like Indiana Jones meets National Treasure.   Sign me up! Seven years after her father's disappearance, Lara Croft (Alicia Vikander) discovers her father's secret research office.  Lara discovers Richard Croft (Dominic West) was hunting for the tomb of a an ancient queen of Japan, Himiko, who was said to command power over life and death.  Lara decides to follow her father's trail, which leads her to the island of Yamatai, in the middle of the dangerous Devil's Sea.  Lara ends up shipwrecked on the island, where she is rescued by Mathias Vogel (Walton Goggins), who is also looking for the tomb of Himiko.  Vogel uses Lara, and everyone else who ends up on Yamatai, as slave labor to excavate the island for the tomb.  Lara manages to escape Vogel and is forced to fight his men and survive the elements to free the slaves, escape the island, and stop Vogel from taking the power over life and death from Himiko. What Works: As far as vide...

"In this situation here, you're probably thinking, "Maybe I could save the day.  Maybe I could be the hero."  But I say...don't do that." -Mogadorian Commander When the planet of Lorien was invaded by the murderous race of Mogadorians, nine children with superhuman abilities, were sent to Earth to escape, each child assigned a protector.  The children were split up and went into hiding around the Earth.  But the Mogadorians did not give up and started hunting the children.  They can only be killed in numerical order, which means the children are basically immortal, unless their number is up.  Many years later,  Number Three (Greg Townley) is murdered by the leader of the Mogadorians (Kevin Durand), and now they are after Number Four (Alex Pettier).  Four and his protector, Henri (Timothy Olyphant) are forced to flee to a new town and start their lives over, and hope they can stay hidden from the ruthless Mogadorians.   What...

Holy crap!  We saw Chelsea tonight.  She isn't a ghost! Who Played Well: Well, let's start over at Malolo tribe.  We can lump Chelsea, Desiree, and Sebastian together here.  They made the right move by staying the course and voting out Brendan.  Michael made it easy for them, but I'll get to that later.  The point is, the original Naviti all played this correctly and none of them fell for Michael's plan. Next up we have Kellyn, who as I said above, made the correct move in going after Brendan.  But she also made the right call on Ghost Island.  I'm sure the producers weren't happy, but Kellyn deciding not to play the game and hold on to her vote was absolutely the correct decision.  I'm really liking her gameplay.  Kellyn isn't about the big, flashy move.  She's about the smart move.   Now, moving over the the Naviti tribe, both Donathan and Laurel did a good job of keeping their options open by strengthe...

"How can you lose a kid from Africa in freakin' Minnesota!?" -Bill Oswalt "The Heap" picks up with Lester Nygaard (Martin Frreman) who has successfully framed his brother for murder and moves on with his life with newfound confidence. Meanwhile, Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) returns to Duluth, where he murders a police officer to gain access to Mr. Wrench (Russell Harvard).  Malvo taunts him about the death of his partner and the rest of the Fargo mob, before giving him some respect for how close he got to killing him.  He gives Wrench the key to his handcuffs and tells him if he ever wants to finish this, to come find him. FBI Agents Budge (Keegan-Michael Key) and Pepper (Jordan Peele) are both demoted to the file room after the massacre of the Fargo mob happened right under their noses. Finally, Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) and Officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) decide to go on a date to the Bemidji Lumberjack Festival. ...

"Were they sent to hell?"  - Bethany Sloane "Worse.  Wisconsin.  For the entire span of human history."  - Metatron Two fallen angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck), who have been banished to Wisconsin by God for insubordination, discover a loophole to get back into heaven.  They have to turn themselves into humans by cutting off their wings and be forgiven for their sins, and then die with clean souls.  Unfortunately, while this will get them into heaven, it will end all of existence immediately after.  Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angel and the voice of God recruits a Catholic, abortion clinic worker, Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino), to stop Loki and Bartleby.  She is joined by two prophets, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), as well as the unknown 13th Apostle, Rufus (Chris Rock), and a former muse turned stripper, Serendipity (Salam Hayek).  The group journey to New Jersey to stop the fallen...

Anyone who knows me can tell you there is nothing I love more than a good, bad movie.  If a movie is bad, but still fun and entertaining, than I'll probably love it.  So, when I saw the trailer for The Hurricane Heist, I knew I had to see it.  The potential this movie has for so-bad-it's-good-ness, is incredibly high.  So, did it live up to its potential?  Let's find out. Just as a massive hurricane hits a small, coastal town in Alabama, a team of thieves manage to take over a U.S. Treasury facility to steal millions of dollars.  But, when one of the agents protecting the money, Casey (Maggie Grace) gets a strange feeling, she changes the code to the vault.  The thieves realize that they need Casey to accomplish their plans.  They chase after her into the storm as she gets help from Will (Toby Kebbell), a meteorologist, and his ex-Marine brother, Breeze (Ryan Kwanten).  They are forced to not only survive the thieves, but also the ...