Lamar Reviews - "Blink Twice" (Airdate 9.6.2024)



This is another movie that I went into cold. No expectations, just knowing that Channing Tatum does not look great in a beard, but it marks him as the villain of the movie. The film is the directorial debut of Tatum’s fiancé Zoe Kravitz who started writing this movie in 2017, and she has come out of the gate strong.

Channing Tatum plays Slater King a tech tycoon was forced to leave the helm of his company because he was accused of behavior unbecoming of a CEO and creating hostile work environments. He did the standard “I’m sorry video” and the apology circuit on all the morning news shows and afternoon talk shows. He bought a private island where he could get away and do the therapy so that he could come back and be a changed man. He generously started a foundation. At the annual gala he meets Frida, played by Naomi Ackie. Frida is obsessed with meeting Slater and gets a job as a waitress at the Gala, along with her best friend and roommate Jess, played by Alia Shawkat. Frida has brought evening gowns for her and Jess so they can sneak into the V.I.P section.

She manages to meet Slater, and he spends the evening talking to her. Frida manages to get an invite for both her and Jess to fly on the private jet to his island with his friends. Those friends include Slater’s right-hand man Vic, played by Christian Slater, a professional chef, played by Simon rex, actor Tom, played by Haley Joel Osment, tech-wiz Lucas, played by Levon Hawke, and a few more beautiful women. The island truly is a paradise, except for the huge yellow snakes they are constantly killing. Once everyone arrives all cell phones are confiscated. That is the first Red Flag that says something is not quite right. All the women find perfect fitting clothes in their rooms, and they all are dressed exactly alike. Another Red Flag. They spend the days lounging by the pool, sipping cocktails. Evenings are Michelin-star Dinners. 

Late nights are partying with every drug you can imagine. Mornings are for hangover brunches. Rinse and repeat over and over. Something is not right.

The movie is 1 hour 42 minutes, Rated R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language, with some sexual references.

Zoe Kravitz does a great job building up the tension, while holding her cards close to her vest. We know something is wrong, but we are just not sure what. One small clue at a time brings us closer and closer to the answer. When it hits, it hits.

Channing Tatum is a remarkably good villain. Christian Slater has some really funny moments at the most inappropriate times.

This is a Psychological Mystery Thriller that has lots of twists and turns.



My Score: 5 Ice Cold Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "Blink Twice" (Airdate 9.6.2024)
 
This is another movie that I went into cold. No expectations, just knowing that Channing Tatum does not look great in a beard, but it marks him as the villain of the movie. The film is the directorial debut of Tatum’s fiancé Zoe Kravitz who started writing this movie in 2017, and she has come out of the gate strong.
Channing Tatum plays Slater King a tech tycoon was forced to leave the helm of his company because he was accused of behavior unbecoming of a CEO and creating hostile work environments. He did the standard “I’m sorry video” and the apology circuit on all the morning news shows and afternoon talk shows. He bought a private island where he could get away and do the therapy so that he could come back and be a changed man. He generously started a foundation. At the annual gala he meets Frida, played by Naomi Ackie. Frida is obsessed with meeting Slater and gets a job as a waitress at the Gala, along with her best friend and roommate Jess, played by Alia Shawkat. Frida has brought evening gowns for her and Jess so they can sneak into the V.I.P section.
She manages to meet Slater, and he spends the evening talking to her. Frida manages to get an invite for both her and Jess to fly on the private jet to his island with his friends. Those friends include Slater’s right-hand man Vic, played by Christian Slater, a professional chef, played by Simon rex, actor Tom, played by Haley Joel Osment, tech-wiz Lucas, played by Levon Hawke, and a few more beautiful women. The island truly is a paradise, except for the huge yellow snakes they are constantly killing. Once everyone arrives all cell phones are confiscated. That is the first Red Flag that says something is not quite right. All the women find perfect fitting clothes in their rooms, and they all are dressed exactly alike. Another Red Flag. They spend the days lounging by the pool, sipping cocktails. Evenings are Michelin-star Dinners. 
Late nights are partying with every drug you can imagine. Mornings are for hangover brunches. Rinse and repeat over and over. Something is not right.
The movie is 1 hour 42 minutes, Rated R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language, with some sexual references.
Zoe Kravitz does a great job building up the tension, while holding her cards close to her vest. We know something is wrong, but we are just not sure what. One small clue at a time brings us closer and closer to the answer. When it hits, it hits.
Channing Tatum is a remarkably good villain. Christian Slater has some really funny moments at the most inappropriate times.
This is a Psychological Mystery Thriller that has lots of twists and turns.
 
My Score: 5 Ice Cold Budweisers

How did your favorite movie score on Lamar's scale? Find out!

Lamar's Reviews

Lamar Reviews - "Blink Twice" (Airdate 9.6.2024)

Lamar Reviews - "Martha" (Airdate 11/8/2024)



Martha Stewart has had one of the most interesting lives I’ve ever heard of. Also, she is one of the strongest, most determined, and definitely most focused women you’ll ever come across. She was a “daddy’s girl” that learned about gardening from a man that demanded perfection. She spent hours in the kitchen with her mother. She became a model at 16 so she could pay for college. She went from 50 cents an hour babysitting, to 50 dollars an hour posing. From there she became the first woman stockbroker on the New York Stock Exchange. She started a catering business, then started writing cookbooks. She developed a new magazine, Martha Stewart Living that sold more than 2 million copies per issue. Turned that into a TV show, and eventually put it all under Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and went public to become the first female self-made billionaire in the United States. She continues to be the majority shareholder. Went to prison for insider trading that saved her $45,673.

She was sentenced to 5 months in prison. Of her trial she said, “Those prosecutors should have been put in a Cuisinart and turned on high.”

She returned to daytime tv with the Martha Stewart Show, which was not her wheelhouse. It was not her brand. She said, “Mark Burnett, the producer, missed the point of “Martha Stewart”, live audience and crummy music, ugh!” That was more like prison than being at Alderson Federal Prison.”

Because she could not be the CEO of her company, it went down the tubes, and she sold it off, losing over a billion dollars. But she has 2 mottos, “Learn something new every day, and “When you are through changing, you’re through.” She said, ‘If you don’t like the garden, change it, rip it out and start all over again.” Which is exactly what she did.

She got invited to Justin Bieber’s roast on Comedy Central. In the introduction Kevin Hart said, “For all the black people that are confused about that old white woman on the couch, that’s Martha Stewart.” Nobody had warned her that she would be roasted too. They all expected her to go soft, she did not! She was the star of the evening. I re-wounded and watched her jokes 3 times. For those of you that don’t understand the term re-wounded, there was this thing called a videotape, that you could re-wind, and if you didn’t before you returned it, you had to pay $2. But that’s another story. She sat beside Snoop Dogg and she said, “For 7 hours he was smoking blunt after blunt and I was just getting higher and higher sitting there.”  Snoop asked her to hang out, and the comeback was on!”

Netflix 1 hour 55 minutes, Rated-R for language.

Oldest Sports Illustrated Cover ever, she is the original Influencer. The is a very interesting, eye-opening, and inspiring documentary. It really is a must see, just to watch how she handles the questions, and how honest and frank she is.

My Score: 5 Ice Cold Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "Martha" (Airdate 11/8/2024)
 
Martha Stewart has had one of the most interesting lives I’ve ever heard of. Also, she is one of the strongest, most determined, and definitely most focused women you’ll ever come across. She was a “daddy’s girl” that learned about gardening from a man that demanded perfection. She spent hours in the kitchen with her mother. She became a model at 16 so she could pay for college. She went from 50 cents an hour babysitting, to 50 dollars an hour posing. From there she became the first woman stockbroker on the New York Stock Exchange. She started a catering business, then started writing cookbooks. She developed a new magazine, Martha Stewart Living that sold more than 2 million copies per issue. Turned that into a TV show, and eventually put it all under Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and went public to become the first female self-made billionaire in the United States. She continues to be the majority shareholder. Went to prison for insider trading that saved her $45,673.
She was sentenced to 5 months in prison. Of her trial she said, “Those prosecutors should have been put in a Cuisinart and turned on high.”
She returned to daytime tv with the Martha Stewart Show, which was not her wheelhouse. It was not her brand. She said, “Mark Burnett, the producer, missed the point of “Martha Stewart”, live audience and crummy music, ugh!” That was more like prison than being at Alderson Federal Prison.”
Because she could not be the CEO of her company, it went down the tubes, and she sold it off, losing over a billion dollars. But she has 2 mottos, “Learn something new every day, and “When you are through changing, you’re through.” She said, ‘If you don’t like the garden, change it, rip it out and start all over again.” Which is exactly what she did.
She got invited to Justin Bieber’s roast on Comedy Central. In the introduction Kevin Hart said, “For all the black people that are confused about that old white woman on the couch, that’s Martha Stewart.” Nobody had warned her that she would be roasted too. They all expected her to go soft, she did not! She was the star of the evening. I re-wounded and watched her jokes 3 times. For those of you that don’t understand the term re-wounded, there was this thing called a videotape, that you could re-wind, and if you didn’t before you returned it, you had to pay $2. But that’s another story. She sat beside Snoop Dogg and she said, “For 7 hours he was smoking blunt after blunt and I was just getting higher and higher sitting there.”  Snoop asked her to hang out, and the comeback was on!”
Netflix 1 hour 55 minutes, Rated-R for language.
Oldest Sports Illustrated Cover ever, she is the original Influencer. The is a very interesting, eye-opening, and inspiring documentary. It really is a must see, just to watch how she handles the questions, and how honest and frank she is.
My Score: 5 Ice Cold Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "Martha" (Airdate 11/8/2024)

Lamar Reviews - "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" (Airdate 11/1/2024)



The first thing I look at on Netflix is documentaries. I was slow on the uptake of documentaries but I quickly discovered that the majority of them are very interesting, and really good. Just the title alone drew my interest. When I first started to hear about the “Catfishing” thing I was very skeptical as to why anybody would fall for that. I do understand it a lot better now that I’m familiar with more and more stories. I still look at these stories and immediately see tons of moments that in my opinion the person should have suspected what was happening. But I have to remind myself that I’m not emotionally connected to what was happening, and the victim is.

In the Sweet Bobby story, Kirat, a young Indian woman who is feeling the pressure to be married. In that culture to be of a certain age and not be married is looked down upon. She is contacted by this handsome, well to do man that is interested in her.They started an online relationship that lasted 10 years. 10 years without ever having sat down and seen each other face to face. How do you have a 10 year relationship without ever physically meeting? That really is the question. In this situation the desperation she feels in not letting down her parents in front of their community is enormous. I think that is the main reason she did not see the red flags in this relationship that were constantly popping up. It is very easy to judge her and blame her, while seeing all of this in hindsight. But, you have to put yourself in her place. 

There is also a second victim, Bobby. The real Bobby who did absolutely nothing to get involved in this situation. His images were taken and used one hundred percent without his knowledge. He knew nothing until an unknown woman showed up at his door, hysterical and accusing him of stuff.

This is on Netflix, the movie is 1 hour 22 minutes, Rated -TV14.



While I was watching this I was yelling at the TV, “how are you falling for this? Can’t you see this doesn’t make any sense? Well, if you are believing this, I can’t feel sorry for you!” But I did feel sorry for her. She truly did not do anything wrong. She just trusted someone who loved her, someone she was prepared to spend the rest of her life with. The only person in this situation to be mad at is the “Catfisher”, not the catfish, or the bait. And I honestly don’t get what that person got out of all of this. In some catfishing stories there is a scam for money, but there was no money involved in this story. The only commodity given or lost was love. And in Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, love can be a cruel and dangerous thing.



My Score: 4 Buds

Lamar Reviews - "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" (Airdate 11/1/2024)
 
The first thing I look at on Netflix is documentaries. I was slow on the uptake of documentaries but I quickly discovered that the majority of them are very interesting, and really good. Just the title alone drew my interest. When I first started to hear about the “Catfishing” thing I was very skeptical as to why anybody would fall for that. I do understand it a lot better now that I’m familiar with more and more stories. I still look at these stories and immediately see tons of moments that in my opinion the person should have suspected what was happening. But I have to remind myself that I’m not emotionally connected to what was happening, and the victim is.
In the Sweet Bobby story, Kirat, a young Indian woman who is feeling the pressure to be married. In that culture to be of a certain age and not be married is looked down upon. She is contacted by this handsome, well to do man that is interested in her.They started an online relationship that lasted 10 years. 10 years without ever having sat down and seen each other face to face. How do you have a 10 year relationship without ever physically meeting? That really is the question. In this situation the desperation she feels in not letting down her parents in front of their community is enormous. I think that is the main reason she did not see the red flags in this relationship that were constantly popping up. It is very easy to judge her and blame her, while seeing all of this in hindsight. But, you have to put yourself in her place. 
There is also a second victim, Bobby. The real Bobby who did absolutely nothing to get involved in this situation. His images were taken and used one hundred percent without his knowledge. He knew nothing until an unknown woman showed up at his door, hysterical and accusing him of stuff.
This is on Netflix, the movie is 1 hour 22 minutes, Rated -TV14.
 
While I was watching this I was yelling at the TV, “how are you falling for this? Can’t you see this doesn’t make any sense? Well, if you are believing this, I can’t feel sorry for you!” But I did feel sorry for her. She truly did not do anything wrong. She just trusted someone who loved her, someone she was prepared to spend the rest of her life with. The only person in this situation to be mad at is the “Catfisher”, not the catfish, or the bait. And I honestly don’t get what that person got out of all of this. In some catfishing stories there is a scam for money, but there was no money involved in this story. The only commodity given or lost was love. And in Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, love can be a cruel and dangerous thing.
 
My Score: 4 Buds

Lamar Reviews - "Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare" (Airdate 11/1/2024) 

Lamar Reviews - Woman of the Hour (Airdate 10/25/2024)



Anna Kendrick is one of those actors who every time you watch her you wonder, “Why is she not a more Bonafide movie star?” She is memorable in every role she takes. She got a lot of exposure in the Twilight movies, but her claim to fame at this point is the Pitch Perfect movies. She gets to show off not only her razor sharp wit, but also her acting talent, and the fact that she can really sing. She was really good in 50\50 as a therapist treating a cancer patient played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The most critically acclaimed movie on her resume is Up In The Air with George Clooney back in 2009.

This time she is directing the movie she is in. It is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala who managed to stay under the radar until he was convicted of killing seven women and girls in 1980. He is suspected of killing more than 100.

Over the course of every woman’s life, she can tell you times that a stranger asked them uncomfortable questions or followed them down a lonely street. Of a first date that just didn’t seem right, and there was not a second. Or maybe a lot of dates with a guy that seemed great, but he turned out to be an obsessive jerk that frightened her, or worse. This is the subject that “Woman of the Hour” tackles.

Most movies about serial killers show the extreme violence and horrible death of the victims, forcing you to deal with the emotions of not wanting to see it, but being unable to look away. Kendricks doesn’t put us through that. It is not that she doesn’t shock the audience with the horrific thing these women go through, quite the opposite, she shows how easy it is to wind up in that position and shows the outcome. This allows our imagination to fill in the gap without having the opportunity to turn away. She doesn’t downplay the violent thing that has happened, she just doesn’t make the violence the star of what happened.

You have to pay attention because the film is full of time jumps and shifts in perspective. The movie starts with Rodney, played by Daniel Zovatto, murdering a woman. We skip ahead and see Sheryl, played by Kendricks, a struggling actress, in the middle of an audition where she is being objectified by casting directors. Then we go back to Rodney picking another victim. Then we go back to Sheryl getting put on the Dating Game by her agent. Then we are back to Rodney hunting victims. Then we are on the Dating Game where Rodney has become a contestant.

The movie is 1 hour 35 minutes, Rated-R for language, violence, and subject matter.

I think Ann Kendrick has done a great job with the first film she has directed. This is just another arrow in her quiver of talents. I hope she gets the career she deserves.

Women especially will be drawn to this film, it is from a woman’s perspective. We men need to watch it because we can never truly understand a woman’s perspective.

My Score: 5 Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - Woman of the Hour (Airdate 10/25/2024)
 
Anna Kendrick is one of those actors who every time you watch her you wonder, “Why is she not a more Bonafide movie star?” She is memorable in every role she takes. She got a lot of exposure in the Twilight movies, but her claim to fame at this point is the Pitch Perfect movies. She gets to show off not only her razor sharp wit, but also her acting talent, and the fact that she can really sing. She was really good in 50\50 as a therapist treating a cancer patient played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The most critically acclaimed movie on her resume is Up In The Air with George Clooney back in 2009.
This time she is directing the movie she is in. It is based on the true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala who managed to stay under the radar until he was convicted of killing seven women and girls in 1980. He is suspected of killing more than 100.
Over the course of every woman’s life, she can tell you times that a stranger asked them uncomfortable questions or followed them down a lonely street. Of a first date that just didn’t seem right, and there was not a second. Or maybe a lot of dates with a guy that seemed great, but he turned out to be an obsessive jerk that frightened her, or worse. This is the subject that “Woman of the Hour” tackles.
Most movies about serial killers show the extreme violence and horrible death of the victims, forcing you to deal with the emotions of not wanting to see it, but being unable to look away. Kendricks doesn’t put us through that. It is not that she doesn’t shock the audience with the horrific thing these women go through, quite the opposite, she shows how easy it is to wind up in that position and shows the outcome. This allows our imagination to fill in the gap without having the opportunity to turn away. She doesn’t downplay the violent thing that has happened, she just doesn’t make the violence the star of what happened.
You have to pay attention because the film is full of time jumps and shifts in perspective. The movie starts with Rodney, played by Daniel Zovatto, murdering a woman. We skip ahead and see Sheryl, played by Kendricks, a struggling actress, in the middle of an audition where she is being objectified by casting directors. Then we go back to Rodney picking another victim. Then we go back to Sheryl getting put on the Dating Game by her agent. Then we are back to Rodney hunting victims. Then we are on the Dating Game where Rodney has become a contestant.
The movie is 1 hour 35 minutes, Rated-R for language, violence, and subject matter.
I think Ann Kendrick has done a great job with the first film she has directed. This is just another arrow in her quiver of talents. I hope she gets the career she deserves.
Women especially will be drawn to this film, it is from a woman’s perspective. We men need to watch it because we can never truly understand a woman’s perspective.
My Score: 5 Budweisers

Lamar Reviews - "Blink Twice" (Airdate 9.6.2024)

In 1 playlist(s)

Lamar's Reviews

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips