Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

 "It's like a cult with cars." -Aimes When a mission in Rome goes horribly wrong, Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) team is framed as terrorists.  They are forced to split up and go into hiding.  Dom decides to go after the man behind it all, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who wants revenge on Dom's family after Dom destroyed his family. Spoilers below. What Works: I love when the Fast & Furious movies embrace the dumb and have just ridiculously over-the-top action sequences.  Most of the time, it's fun and I'm happy to turn my brain off and go along for the ride.  The Rome action sequence fits that bill.  It's a lot of fun as the team chases a giant rolling bomb around Rome.  It's very silly, but it's exciting and well shot.  Plus the way it ends is hysterically funny. The 3rd act action sequence is also a lot of fun.  It's got the same energy as kids playing with Hot Wheels.  They keep making up something more insane to top what they've ...

 "It's a piece of wood, guys" -Yam Yam Arocho  Now, that is more like it.  Season 44 is my favorite of the post-Covid seasons.  While there was a little bit of garbage from production around the merge, most of the post-merge was nice and clean, as was the finale, with the exception being the fire-making challenge.  But I think the same person would have gone had it been fire or a vote.  Plus we ended up with an excellent winner who was not only a great character, but his edit showed me why he won.  That's what I want from Survivor and it's good to have it again.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked and we'll start with the Final 5! Who Played Well: The vote against Lauren was a good move for both Carson and Yam Yam.  Carson also won Immunity and I liked that Yam Yam played the defensive vote against Heidi in case of an Idol.  Plus Yam Yam survived the vote when it should have been him going home. Who Sucked: Caroly...

 "COOPER, YOU REMIND ME TODAY OF A SMALL MEXICAN CHIHUAHUA!" -Gordon Cole "Demons" picks up with James Hurley (James Marshall) bursting into Harold Smith's (Lenny Von Dohlen) house to get Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) and Maddy Ferguson (Sheryl Lee) out of the house.  They fail to get ahold of Laura Palmer's (Sheryl Lee) diary.  Donna and James repair their relationship.  Donna tells Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) about the diary, while Maddy tells James that she is going to go home to Montana.  Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) gets Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) to the Bookhouse to recover from being drugged with heroin.  The Sheriff figures out that Jean Renault (Michael Parks) is behind all of this and that Cooper was his true target.  Later, Cooper returns the money to Ben Horne (Richard Beymer) and they take Audrey home. Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) and Shelly Johnson (Mädcheb Amick) bring Leo (Eric Da Re) home, but learn their insurance money is...

 "Can you burp in my mouth?" -Carolyn Wiger This was another really fun episode of Survivor.  We got good gameplay, bad gameplay, and some absolute insanity from Carolyn.  This episode also set up the potential conflict of the finale nicely and I'm very hyped to see how it plays out.  In the meantime, let's take a look at who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: I think the Tika 3 would have been fine turning on each other this episode, but I also don't mind them voting out Jaime either.  It's a good enough move for them.  I especially loved Yam Yam's performance at Tribal Council.  I'm guessing he was hamming it up to make Jaime feel comfortable in case of an Idol. Who Sucked: While I don't mind that Carolyn voted out Jaime, I don't love that she revealed all of her tricks about the Idol and fake Idol.  Save that stuff for the Final Tribal Council.  She revealed too much and it nearly got her voted out. Lauren did manage to win Immun...

 "Are you mad at me, now?" -Jeff Probst The hits keep on coming in Survivor 44 .  This was another fun episode, even if some of the gameplay didn't make much sense.  I'm starting to suspect Carolyn might win this game.  If you had told me that after episode 1, I wouldn't have believed you.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: I'll give a lot of credit to Carson and Yam Yam for managing to get Carolyn back on board with them, even if she probably shouldn't have.  They handled her very well.  Yam Yam also won Immunity and Carson managed to get Jaime and Lauren to join Tika in splitting votes between Danny and Heidi.  Plus Carson got Carolyn to play her Idol on him. Who Sucked: As for Carolyn, I don't love her meltdown after Tribal Council, but at least she patched things up with Carson and Yam Yam the next day.  My issue is that she technically wasted her Idol.  Carson wasn't actually going home.  S...

 "You're lying on a floor, so your name is Floor?" -Lylla When Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is seriously injured in an attack by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), the rest of the Guardians attempt to save their friend.  But to do that, they have to delve into Rocket's past and they uncover the horrifying nightmare that Rocket endured at the hands of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwjui). What Works: The first Guardians of the Galaxy movie is my favorite film in the MCU and I love the second movie as well.  I enjoy the MCU the most when it gets weird and the Guardians movies do that the best.  That holds true with the 3rd film as well.  Director James Gunn made this movie strange and gross and I love it.  The characters are strange, the locations are strange, the movie as a whole is strange, and certainly interesting.  This movie does have some problems, but I'll take the flawed, weird entries in the MCU over the standard superhero movies every single time. The ...

 "Are you looking for secrets?" -Harold Smith "The Orchid's Curse" picks up with Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) discovering the letter Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) left for him in his room.  He realizes she is probably being held at One Eyed Jack's.  He lets Sheriff Truman (Michal Ontkean) know, which changes their plan. Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) takes some time off and tells everyone she is going to visit her sister.  Andy (Harry Goaz) takes over her responsibilities.  He is informed that his sperm count is back to normal and he tries to call Lucy at the number where she is staying, only to discover it's an abortion clinic. Judge Sternwood (Royal Dano) releases Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) without bail.  He also decides Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re) is not competent to stand trial and allows him to be sent home as soo as he is healthy enough. Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) offers to tell Harold Smith (Lenny Von Dohlen) her life story if she can read Laura Palmer's (S...

 "I love being honest." -Jaime Lynn Ruiz Man, this was another fun episode of Survivor .  We had four different names thrown out before Tribal Council, all with solid reasons to be voted out.  Going into Tribal Council, I had no idea who was going home and the only advantage that mattered was the ghost of a fake Idol.  I loved it!  Takes notes, Jeff!  Anyway, let's take a look at who played well and who sucked. Who Played Well: I only have Lauren and Jaime in this section.  Taking out Frannie is great for them.  Frannie was the biggest threat on the board, but more importantly, another Ratu didn't go home.  Now, nobody believed Jaime's true story about what happened to her Idol, but I don't blame her too much for that.  I don't know what a better option for her would have been.  She was just dealt a very bad hand. Who Sucked: I like the move for Carson and Yam Yam to get rid of Frannie here.  Their Tika group stays together and...

 "He just refuses to die." -Aino A gold prospector (Jorma Tommila) in war-torn Finland strikes the motherload and sets off to sell his gold. However, he runs into a squad of Nazis who want the gold for themselves.  Unfortunately for the Nazis, the prospector is a former commando who worked as a one-man death squad and won't give up his gold so easily. What Works: The bad guys in this movie are Nazis.  That's an easy way for an audience to get into the film and root for your hero.  It's great watching a group of Nazis get absolutely destroyed.  We don't get much to connect to our hero, but it's very easy to hate the villains and it's an absolute blast watching them all horribly die. This movie is wildly over-the-top and very gory.  I appreciate that the film dials everything up to 11.  It's a ridiculous movie, but it works most of the time.  It's especially awesome watching bloody explosions of Nazis. The 3rd act is the best part of the film. ...