Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

"One of us is gonna have to get chopped." -Tommy Sheehan Island of the Idols  gives us another great episode of Survivor with some interesting conversations on gender and an epic Tribal Council.  There was also some complex and interesting gameplay, which is what I'm all about, so let's take a closer look. Who Played Well: We'll start with Lairo where the majority of the tribe voted for Dean, which I think was the right move for all of them (except Kellee), so even though there was an Idol play, I don't hold it against any of them for voting Dean. Janet was really bad at throwing coconuts in the challenge, but I liked that she decided not to play the game on the Island of the Idols.  She put some real thought into it, although it could bite her later on, but with the information she had, I think she made the right move. Kellee was amazing in this episode and I'm really rooting for her to win.  She saved Dean, which is a fant...

"All we have to do is beat the clock by one second." -Father John  A popular new app called Countdown tells you the exact moments of your death.  Nurse Quinn Harris (Elizabeth Lail) downloads the app and discovers she only has three days left to live.  When other people start to die exactly when the app says, Quinn has to find a way to beat the clock before it runs out. What Works: Surprisingly, the acting in this movie is solid.  I usually expect the worst from a movie like this, but I was pleasantly surprised.  Everyone does a good job.  We get a bunch of high-school students in the opener that actually feel like high-school students.   There are two characters that stand out in a very positive way.  First is Derek (Tom Segura), the owner of a phone repair shop.  He is absolutely hilarious and I wish he was in more of the movie. Finally, the other great character is Father Tom (P.J. Byrne), who has an amazi...

"Why'd you spill your beans?" -Thomas Wake Two lighthouse keepers, Thomas (Willem Dafoe) and Ephraim (Robert Pattinson), begin their month-long watch on a remote island.  As the days go on, paranoia and isolation begins to get to both men and they start losing their sanity. Spoilers ahead.  Seriously, don't read beyond this point.  The Lighthouse is one of the best movies of the year and I highly recommend it.  Spoilers ahead!!!  You've been warned. What Works: Pattinson and Dafoe give brilliant performances.  They are the best parts of this movie and I firmly expect them both to be nominated for Oscars.  They are nothing short of incredible and get lost in their characters.  Their interactions are the crux of the movie and they work extremely well together. The Lighthouse is a beautiful film thanks to some exquisite lighting and cinematography.  The use of light and darkness is picturesque and the use of shadow...

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" -Randy Marsh Randy and Towelie create a new strand of marijuana called their Halloween Special.  At the same time, Randy is having a hard time dealing with Shelley because she hates marijuana.  She ends up sabotaging the Halloween Special by adding a mixture to it.  Randy and Towelie sell it anyway and end up hallucinating the return of Winnie the Pooh and the cows they had previously murdered.  Shelley eventually gives them an antidote.  Randy's entire family is mad at him, but he doesn't care because he was his target market for the Halloween Special. Meanwhile, Butters accidentally unleashes the curse of a mummy upon himself.  The mummy gifts Butters a FitBit, which he already has.  The mummy goes on an rampage because Butters seems ungrateful and kills several people  Everyone puts the blame on Butters and he even has to spend some time in jail.  Eventually, Butters apologizes t...

"Murdock, I'm coming for you!" -John Rambo John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has been in prison since the end of the first movie.  His old commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna), approaches him with a mission to get out of prison.  Rambo is sent on a scouting mission in Vietnam to see if there are still American P.O.W.'s.  Rambo parachutes into the jungle, but finds far more danger than he could have expected. What Works: Far and away the best part of the movie is the action.  They do not hold back on the action sequences.  They are extremely over-the-top and a lot of fun.   In the original First Blood , I said the first half of the movie was stronger than the second half due to it being one long chase sequence.  The reverse is true here.  The second half of this movie is one long chase sequence after Rambo escapes captivity.  It's a thrilling-ride with something exciting happening every second. ...

"Shut your face." -Elaine Stott" Wow, what an episode.  This was hands down the best episode of the season with great character moments, riveting gameplay, and an incredible Tribal Council.  You couldn't ask for more from an episode of Survivor .  Hats off to the editors.  They did something truly remarkable here, but was the gameplay remarkable?  Let's take a look! Who Played Well: Starting on the Lairo tribe, we'll kick things off with Dean.  After Noura approached him with the idea to turn on Jack and Jamal, Dean wisely realized Noura is not an ideal alliance partner and he ratted on her to Jamal.  Great move for Dean. Speaking of Jamal, I give him major props for the way he handled the situation with Jack.  He took an opportunity to educate and the way he explained how he felt about the word du-rag was very well handled.  I really respect his level of composure and he used the opportunity to cement a bond with J...

"I'm done eating L's." -Missy Byrd The 5th episode of Island of the Idols was pretty lackluster, I admit.  There was too much time spent on the Reward Challenge and Applebee's.  We got hardly any screentime with the new Vokai tribe and the Lairo vote wasn't overly interesting, but we still have to break down the gameplay, so let's take a closer look. Who Played Well: I only have one person to talk about from the new Lairo tribe and, surprisingly, that is Karishma.  She was awful in the challenges and should have been the person to get voted out, but she did something right to get the original Vokai members to keep her.  I'm not sure what did it, but I liked how open she was with Jack and Janet and she did a good job of pledging her loyalty. Over on Vokai, Aaron and Tommy bonded with each other on a genuine level and plan on looking out for each other at the merge.  It's two meat shields meat shielding each other and I lik...