Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

 "From Slumdog to Survivor, baby!" -Bhanu Gopal Survivor is back, baby!  This was a fun premiere with a unusual first boot.  Going in, I never would have correctly guessed who was going first.  I loved the Andy Griffith alliance and the geckos used in the Immunity Challenge were adorable.  I want one!  Maybe they'll auction them off after the season!  Anyway, let's take a look at who played well and who sucked! Who Played Well: Let's start on the Nami tribe.  Hunter and Tevin formed the Andy Griffith alliance.  I'm hoping this alliance lasts because they seem like a fun pair.  Tevin also managed to get himself an Extra Vote on the Journey. Soda also seems like she is in a good spot.  She was given information from several people on her tribe and created a wedge between Randen and Venus. Moving over to Siga, Maria, Jem, Moriah, and Charlie all got into the Charlie's Angels alliance.  Plus Maria and Tim have a side, parents allia...

 "AS HAPPY AS THIS NEWS MAKES US, ALBERT, WE CAN'T PUT THIS ON THE RADIO!" -FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole Part 3 of The Return picks up with Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) falling through space and landing on a structure looking out on a purple sea.  He goes inside and meets Naido (Nae Yuuki), a woman with no eyes.  She leads Cooper up a ladder onto a structure floating in space.  She pulls a lever on a mechanism on the roof and gets an electric shock.  She falls off of the structure and into space.  As Cooper watches her fall, the head of Major Briggs (Don S. Davis) floats by and says "Blue Rose." Cooper goes back inside and finds another woman, American Girl (Phoebe Augustine).  A nearby mechanism starts pulling Cooper towards it.  At the same time, Mr. C (Kyle MacLachlan) starts being pulled back into the Black Lodge as he drives across South Dakota. In the Rancho Rosa Estates, a development near Las Vegas, we meet Dougie Jones (Kyle MacLachla...

 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This mo...

It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if another was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award! This time we'll be taking a look at the 2001 Oscars, which was a strong selection of movies.  I liked all of them and this was one of the most consistent years of nominees in terms of quality.  The nominees were:  Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, and Traffic  with the winner being  Gladiator .  Did  Gladiator  deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Let's find out! #5. Chocolat Chocolat feels very much like a fairy tale.  It's the story of a chocolatier and her daughter who move to a small, conservative village in France and shake up the lives of the villagers.  I haven't seen Wonka yet, but this feels like a subtle...

 "Is it future?  Or is it past?" -Mike Part 2 begins with Bill Hastings (Matthew Lillard) being visited by his wife, Phyllis (Cornelia Guest), in jail.  Bill tries to claim that he was never in Ruth Davenport's (Mary Stofle) apartment, but dreamt he was there the night of her murder.  Phyllis doesn't buy it and reveals she knows they he and Ruth were having an affair.  Bill reveals he knows she has been having an affair with their lawyer, George (Neil Dickson).  Phyllis leaves Bill in jail, but neither of them notice a Woodsman (Stewart Strauss) in a nearby cell, who disappears soon after Phyllis leaves.  She gets home to find Mr. C (Kyle MacLachlan) waiting for her and he shoots and kills Phyllis with George's gun. Mr. C sends Ray Monroe (George Griffith) to gain information from Bill' secretary, but Ray never comes back.  Mr. C heads to the motel where he is staying with Darya (Nicole LaLiberte) and gets back as Darya hangs up the phone and clai...

 "That's really weird, Lisa." -Taffy Lisa (Kathryn Newton), a social outcast, accidentally brings the corpse of a young man (Cole Sprouse) from the Victorian Era back to life.  As Lisa helps put him back together, the re-animated creature falls in love with her and is willing to kill to prove it. What Works: This movie is an absolute vibe.  The music, lighting, and general style of the film are very specific and right up my alley.  Not everyone is going to appreciate the look and feel of this movie, but I'm one of the few that absolutely do.  The performances are pretty bat-shit insane across the board.  You can tell from the trailer that Kathryn Newton gives a crazy performance, and she's really great, but it's not just her.  Even the "normal" characters are strange.  The dialogue choices are pretty wild.  That can probably be attributed to screenwriter Diablo Cody.  It's par for the course for her, but it helps make all of the characte...

 "R-E-S-P-E-C-T." -Ben Horne Twin Peaks: The Return picks up with Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) having a surreal conversation with the Fireman (Carel Struycken), who may or not be the same individual as the Giant. Dr. Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) now lives in the forest and receives a delivery of shovels. In New York City, Sam Colby (Benjamin Rosenfield) is at work.  His job is to watch a glass box with a tube the leads outside the building.  The box is constantly being recorded and Sam has to change out SD cards when necessary.  He gets a coffee delivery from Tracey (Madeline Zima), who wants to see where he works, but the security guard won't let her in.  The next night,  Tracey arrives with another coffee delivery and the security guard is nowhere to be seen.  Sam lets her in to see the glass box.  Sam tells her he has never seen anything in the box, but his predecessor did.  They kiss and start to have sex until the Experiment (Er...

 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaG...

It's that time again: The Snubby Awards!  For those of you who don't know, the Snubby Awards take a look at all of the Best Picture nominees from a given year and determine if the best film won or if another was snubbed.  If that's the case, they win the coveted Snubby Award! This time we'll be taking a look at the 2023 Oscars, which was a strong selection of movies.  I liked all of them even if there's at least one that I think had no business being nominated for Best Picture.  The nominees were: All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking  with the winner being  Everything Everywhere All at Once .  Did  Everything Everywhere All at Once  deserve to win or did another movie get snubbed?  Let's find out! #10. Avatar: The Way of Water This long awaited sequel is the weakest of the Best Picture nominees and I don't ...