#Matthew Lillard makes such a good mark

[polythene-enby]

Sophie: "Are we being suspicious enough?"

*Eliot hands over an axe"

Sophie: "Nevermind"

[storiesforallfandoms]

Masterlist 3!

Here’s the third masterlist for all of my works! If you want to check out more of my work, here’s the links for masterlist one and masterlist two Imagines marked * are smutty imagines! Imagines marked ` are requests! Imagines marked ⭐ are personal favorites!

IMAGINES

STRANGER THINGS small ~ jim hopper` dance with me ~ eddie munson ⭐ starry night ~ steve harrington* (part five) ⭐ at the hip ~ steve harrington` ⭐ triple date ~ steve harrington (part six) ⭐ the freak ~ steve harrington (part seven) ⭐ oblivious ~ eddie munson ⭐ jason doesn’t know ~ eddie munson ⭐ this is music ~ eddie munson` ⭐

SUPERNATURAL strange human feelings ~ castiel` cleaning ~ dean winchester`

HANNIBAL into fiction` sob story ~ hannibal lecter

THE BOYS obsession ~ billy butcher* ⭐ herogasm ~ soldier boy* ⭐ alone on christmas ~ billy butcher can’t get too close ~ billy butcher ⭐ change in a heartbeat ~ billy butcher ⭐ the bad room ~ homelander ⭐

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY life father ~ diego hargreeves` rescue mission ~ klaus hargreeves’ ⭐

THE LAST OF US (HBO) friendly neighbors ~ joel miller ⭐ too sweet ~ joel miller

BARRY attraction ~ barry berkman` treat him better ~ barry berkman

AMERICAN HORROR STORY late night sins ~ xavier plympton (1984)*`

VICTORIOUS lost dog ~ tori vega` junker ~ beck oliver

HEMLOCK GROVE i don’t ever wanna see you with him ~ roman godfrey ⭐

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES roses are red ~ damon salvatore` ⭐

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH captive ~ blackbeard/ed teach ⭐

PEAKY BLINDERS moved on ~ thomas shelby

FUTURE MAN winner ~ josh futturman* ⭐

GAME OF THRONES littlest lion ~ oberyn martell (part one) ⭐ freedom ~ oberyn martell (part two) ⭐

THE WITCHER destiny ~ geralt of rivia

DOCTOR WHO looks of a princess ~ eleventh doctor ⭐

BRIDGERTON by the lake ~ benedict bridgerton

HEMLOCK GROVE important buisness ~ roman godfrey* ⭐

THE GENTLEMEN the assistant ~ raymond smith ⭐

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN spirit of nature ~ jack sparrow`

THE MAZE RUNNER i’ll keep you safe ~ newt`

MARVEL how things are now ~ marc spector and steven grant` ⭐ kneel ~ loki* the most wonderful time ~ bucky barnes fast ~ pietro maximoff ⭐ shared trauma ~ logan howlett making amends ~ bucky barnes

1917 early morning ~ will schofield*`

THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT happy birthday ~ javi gutierrez ⭐

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S i need someone older ~ william afton ⭐ the ice cream girl ~ mike schmidt

SALTBURN new toy ~ felix catton ⭐ partners ~ oliver quick ⭐

THE SANTA CLAUSE santa’s sister-in-law ~ bernard the elf

8 MILE one of the guys ~ jimmy smith jr ⭐

THE FALL GUY the space cowboy and the pa ~ tom ryder

A QUIET PLACE i’d find you in any life ~ eric ⭐

GLADIATOR II betrothed ~ emperor geta ⭐

DON’T WORRY DARLING a perfect world ~ jack chambers ⭐

PETE DAVIDSON your gift` favoritism`

HARRY STYLES the perfect tree a star in the making` sleepy head`

MACHINE GUN KELLY baby mama` ⭐ my queen*` getting your attention*` all the mistakes` not what it looks like` can’t keep doing this*`

EMINEM may the best artist win*` too close for comfort` ⭐ when it’s wrong but it feels right` in the dressing room*` he’s acting different` we have to stop meeting like this` every inch*` let’s surprise the world` i’m sorry i let you down` public service announcement`

GOODGUYFITZ wake up call*`

CORPSE HUSBAND letting go` they forgot` ⭐

ASHTON IRWIN home life` cover me*`

CONAN GRAY pushing`

MATTHEW LILLARD accidental drunk confessions` an out there request (w/ skeet ulrich)*`

JOHNNY KNOXVILLE feeling good*`

ALEX TURNER more than a song*` ⭐

BO BURNHAM can’t handle this right now ⭐ look at me*`

KRISTEN STEWART special customer`

TARON EGERTON he already has my approval ⭐

ROBERT PATTINSON my favorite superhero

GERARD WAY good girl*`

GWILYM LEE history repeats itself`

RYAN GOSLING play date`

JOSEPH QUINN bad idea, right? ⭐ icdiwabh ⭐

RANBOO fluffy haired gamer boy`

JACOB ELORDI height advantage`

MOTLEY CRUE she is mine ~ mick mars`

CHRIS EVANS not used to normal` ⭐

SWAGGERSOULS our next step`

JSCHLATT too far ⭐ the hotel room* ⭐ a winter night at rockefeller

JOHNNY DEPP just for us`

TRAVIS BARKER the parent trap`

SKEET ULRICH an out there request (w/ matthew lillard)*`

DAMIEN HAAS our own after party

SHIPS

family reunion ~ hermione granger x draco malfoy` another man in a red suit ~ deadpool x spider-man ⭐

HEADCANONS

showing pedro pascal fan edits ⭐ sitting on jschlatt’s lap ⭐ surprising ted and tucker during chuckle sandwich (jschlatt) billy butcher’s secret pleasure ⭐

NSFW ALPHABET

rook (jp capellette)*` eddie munson* ⭐ billy butcher* ⭐

[floor-a]

Just finished watching the Five Nights At Freddy’s Movie. I can say that i was pleasantly surprised, and i enjoyed myself for the most part. Anyone who doesn’t want to be spoiled should stop reading here and just know that the movie is not the pile of garbage some people are saying it to be. I’m sure there’s lots people don’t like, but overall i don’t mind a lot of that stuff.

Spoilers beyond this point! Do not read if you do not want to know stuff about the movie! (I do not know how to mark something as a spoiler)

Okay, firstly, the MatPat cameo was a very welcome surprise. I didn’t expect to see him in it, and his lines were a funny reference.

The aunt was awful, i hope she is dead, that will only raise my rating of the movie.

I’d love to have seen an entire night from the perspective of that other security guard, really get more of a look at how terrifying the animatronics are.

The Living Tombstone being the end credits song was a brilliant choice, out of all the options to chose from that song was definitely the right call. It is still a bop almost a decade later, and i will stand by that opinion.

Matthew Lillard was fantastic, i only wish we saw more of him. (Maybe have shown Mike around the pizzeria, or had it be him in the training tapes, just a bit bigger of a presence in the movie. Still no complaints about it though). This isnt surprising though considering how great of an actor he is and how well he pulls of murderous individuals. Can’t wait to see him in any future fnaf movies (hopefully).

I want one of those security guard badges, who do i have to bribe/kill for one?

All of the animatronics looked brilliant, and the yellow bonnie suit looked especially fantastic. My only gripe is that we did t get to see the empty, white eyes of the animatronics, but that’s a minor thing, and makes sense given how they were technically being controlled.

The murderous animatronics were great, i only wish we got a better view of what was done to the guys who broke in, because seeing a cupcake mauling a guy to death was hilarious and i could only wish to see more. Also, loved that bonnie was in the supply closet, fun detail. Most of all, the scene where the babysitter got bitten in half was awesome and unexpected, loved it.

The springlock scene was good, would have maybe preferred a few more and faster snaps of the suit to really show the violence of the machine, and a bit more blood like how it happened in the games, but eh, it was definitely good either way. Naughty rabbits get put in the pain cupboard.

The robotic voice at the end was a great touch.

Balloon boy is creepy as fuck and definitely warrants the reaction he gets, even if he’s smaller. I would punt that asshole so far.

The fort scene felt a little out of place but it wasn’t as bad as I’ve heard some people say it was. They’re kids, and they’ve just met their friend for the first time, they’re gonna want to do kids stuff. Was it a odd? Sure, but it’s fine.

I feel like all the roles were well cast, and enjoyed their performances. Could have definitely been a lot worse.

Overall I’d give this a solid 7-8/10. While there were aspects I’d have liked to be different it was in no way a disappointment as some have said. As much as i can understand that, i don’t agree with it. Maybe it’s just that my expectations were a bit low to begin with, but i was pleasantly surprised.

[ponds-of-ink]

Just remembered that I’m supposed to be keeping a distance from the FNAF fandom to avoid movie spoilers soon, so here’s my takes on @angeygirl’s two bingo cards with what I can infer.

Red is “Yep”, Orange is “Maybe?”

The bad news is that there’s so many red marks because of what I understand from random tidbits. The good news is that some of these feel so unlikely that I’m unable to get a bingo. Yay?

Anyway, onto the Good Ending. Same system as last time, but Green means “Yup” and there’s two extra notes in pale gray.

To clarify a few things on both sides:

(1) While I would personally love a William with some proper emotion outside of his Steve disguise, I just can’t bring myself to say that it’s a definitive “Yup” or a “Maybe?”. It’s probably the side that’s wrecked by the Dittophobia story taking, but I just can’t do it.

(2) To add to that, I don’t think the trailers are lying about The Bite of ‘83 not being a thing here (not yet, at least). There was that one thing that sounds like the Bite mentioned in some film warnings from the UK, but that could be anything. It could be what happens when Max encounters Freddy or the poor first night-guard getting wrecked off-camera. Better safe than sorry here.

(2.5) Which means, yes, I’m thinking they’ll only reference the actual Bite of 87 just to keep the film simpler.

(3) Also, yes, I am under the firm impression that Mike is a red herring. Everything that I’ve seen points towards Mike having issues due to the MCI and Garrett’s disappearance more so than The Bite. It would be spectacular if I was wrong for both that and William getting characterization outside of his goal, but I gotta keep my expectations lower than dirt af this point.

(4) Hank is just a guy who takes pleasure in wrecking the place, if that new footage was anything to go by. He’s not going to last long.

(5) They are seriously only showing William as Spring Bonnie and Dave Steve, so I have no clue if he’s going to have screen-time other than being those two disguises. If anything, we might get hints about how he is/was to save for the next film.

(Bonus) Yes. The writers are 100% going to keep William as un-simper-worthy as possible. Matthew Lillard, on the other hand, will not make it that easy.

TL;DR: It’s probably going to be good, but not for reasons listed in the Good Ending bingo… Unless the trailers and hints played me like an absolute kazoo.

[adamwatchesmovies]

He’s All That (2021)

Attempting the gender-swap reboot thing with She’s All That was a bad idea. It’s even less memorable than its predecessor - itself a vanilla version of My Fair Lady - and squanders every opportunity it might’ve had to update the story.

Instagram influencer Padgett Sawyer (played by TikTok superstar Addison Rae) is devastated when she catches her boyfriend Jordan (Peyton Meyer) cheating while live streaming. Their breakup causes her to lose followers and sponsorships in droves. To win them back, she takes on a challenge to turn loser Cameron Kweller (Tanner Buchanan) into prom king.

Like in She’s All That, you can foresee just about everything in this story. I won’t criticize the movie for this too because it’s what you came to see. I will criticize writer R. Lee Fleming Jr. for the flaccid attempts to utilize social media in the story. Catching your boyfriend cheating on you isn't going to cost you followers. If anything, you’d gain some… they’d just be subscribing for the wrong reasons. There are so many ways this tale could use new-age technology to its advantage. Cameron could learn about the deception through an overly personal video or a text message she accidentally sends to the wrong contact, for example. As is, this feels like a whole lot of "How do you do, fellow kids?"

By far, the movie's biggest flaw is Addison Rae. She proves you can be badly cast even when "playing yourself". Every scene with her and Tanner Buchanan is unconvincing. It reinforces the feeling that this whole thing... really wouldn't play out this way in real life. Even with his antisocial attitude and long hair, eight-pack sporting Cameron would be beating the ladies off with a stick. He also wouldn't care about being tricked, not with his raging teenage hormones. If you think those makeovers of the past where all the lady needed was to put her hair down and take off her glasses were ridiculous, check out how little effort is needed to turn this hunk into prom king candidate.

This Pygmalion tale has never been flimsier thanks to the non-existent stakes. On top of the jeopardized sponsorship, Padgett is also remodeling Cameron because of a bet, a bet that means NOTHING. Firstly, it’s a wager between kids. Secondly, the whole thing should be null and void because of interference. Finally, there's no reason for Padgett to keep going with it, certainly not once she develops true feelings for her mark.

The story is made more modern by giving both Cameron and Padgett lesbian besties, both of which are played by visual minorities... but they’re completely superfluous to the story, so let’s not get too excited. There’s a message somewhere about experiencing life outside of your phone. Otherwise, nothing except for the casting (which includes non-actress Kourtney Kardashian) makes this story any better than She’s All That, which was at least semi-original.

In theory, this should’ve been a good idea. Don’t remake good movies; remake movies that had potential they never lived up to. For fans, throw in some Easter eggs in the form of Matthew Lillard and Rachael Leigh Cook, a pointless dance scene and a remix of Sixpence None the Richer’s Kiss Me. Instead, He’s All That will make you look back fondly on a mediocre movie as it struggles to validate its existence. (September 17, 2021)

[cellsshapedlikestars]

Scream Anon* Thank you so much for sharing that!! I'll have to read it (and def not also add it to my lonnnnng list of marked for later fics. I feel you bb ) Also yay Scream fans! The original is the best - but have you liked all the sequels too?

Oh man ok I'm a little tipsy and eating a full sheet cake in bed like a little gremlin and now I'm going to talk about the Scream franchise.

The first one is obviously the best, I am obsessed with Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard, they were absolutely perfect. I loved that it was funny without being dumb (do not get me started on those parody movies? blah). Like everything about it is great except for the parts where Sydney is made to feel guilty for not having sex  (its the line about her being sexually anorexic that always makes me cringe). But like UGH the part in the kitchen at the end? I genuinely think that's where my men covered in blood kink started, with Billy. Have I ever shared that here? (Btw it's like my dream to be in a horror movie and just be DOUSED with fake blood. Also when I was a kid I used to get nose bleeds really bad and instead of trying to stop them with a tissue, I'd just lean over the sink and watch the blood drip into it and make patterns? no? Just me? I definitely shouldn't have typed this, you're saying?)

The second one was mediocre. It was fine, but it definitely felt like any other 90's teen slasher movie (which is a genre I ADORE, so I still enjoyed it). Her bf singing in the lunch room though, GOD what a terrible scene. And they went too hard on the meta with the scenes in the classroom. But I still like all the characters, plus Buffy! The villain was nowhere near as good, but how could they be?

The third... well, it's the one I've watched the least (of the original trilogy). There are definitely good parts, but man was it overwritten with her mom's backstory and the secret brother? And then the random cop love interest? Sure. I did like the way it ended though, with her finding some sort of peace.

When the fourth came out, I was not expecting to like it because I loved the series so much and I was like they're gonna ruin it, but OH MAN did I enjoy it. I've only seen it like twice but I remember thinking it was my second favorite, right after the first movie. So my official ranking is 1, 4, 2, 3. I think I mostly just really appreciated the villain, because 2 & 3 felt really bland.

Obvs these are just my opinions I feel like I need to add?

[dukereviewsxtra]

Duke's Monsterween: Scoob

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Duke Reviews Xtra Where We're Continuing Duke's Monsterween By Talking About The Final Scooby Doo Movie On This Year's Monsterween, Scoob...

No Synopsis Today, Let's Dive On Into Scoob..

The Film Starts With A Flashback That Answers Questions That Most Us Have Had For Decades Like How Did Scooby And Shaggy Meet And Become Friends?, How Did Scooby And Shaggy Meet Fred, Velma And Daphne? And How Was Mystery Inc Formed?...

Before Cutting Back To Now Where They're Grown Ups The Gang Attempts To Turn Mystery Inc Into A Business By Getting A Benefactor In The Form Of Simon Cowell...

Really? Of All The People You Had To Have Cameo In This Movie? You Had To Have Simon Cowell? I Mean Having One Of The Shark Tank Guys Would Have Made More Sense Than Having Simon In This Movie...

Anyway, Simon Basically Says He Loves Everything About Them Except For Shaggy And Scooby Who He Believes To Be The Gang's Weakest Links And Are..

Not Liking What Simon Is Saying Despite Fred (Played By Troy Bolton)

You Can Try To Outrun High School Musical, Zac But You'll Never Escape It!...

Velma (Played By Jane The Virgin) And Daphne (Played By Cosette? Sophie? I Don't Know What I See Amanda Seyfried As Anymore!) Defending Them, Shaggy (Played By Will Forte And Not Matthew Lillard)

And Scooby (Played By One Of The Men Of 1,000 Voices, Frank Welker) Leave Saying That They Know When They're Not Welcome...

They Go To A Nearby Bowling Alley To Let Off Some Steam While Bowling But When The Bowling Balls And Pins Turn Into Robots But They're Soon Saved By Their Childhood Heroes, The Blue Falcon (Played By Marky Mark Of The Funky Bunch) Who Is The Son Of The Son Of The Original Blue Falcon Who Has Retired

And Dynomutt (Played By Deep Wang) Who Is Having A Hard Time With His Partner's Replacement. Meeting Their Pilot, Dee Dee (Played By Kiersey Clemons)...

Not That Dee Dee, Focus!

Anyway, She Tells The 2 That The Robots Were Sent By A Supervillain Named Dick Dastardly (Played By Lucius Malfoy And Not Paul Winchell)...

And Yes, I Know I That Winchell Passed A Few Years Ago, It's Just Hard To See Another Actor Voice A Character That He Voiced Because He Was Such A Legend...

Hell, Despite How Good He Is I Still Have A Hard Time With Jim Cumming Voicing Tigger As Let's Face It He Was Tigger

Anyway, They Believe That Dastardly Is Out To Kill Them For Some Unbeknownst Reason And They Want Their Help To Stop Dastardly From Collecting The Skulls That Will Open The Door To The Underworld...

Shaggy Refuses At First But With Scooby In, Shaggy Decides To Follow...

With The Bowling Attendant Telling Fred, Velma And Daphne What Happened, She Gives Them One Of The Destroyed Robots To Analyze And When They Do They Discover A Mustache Hair Which Leads Them To Dastardly ...

Who Is Revealed To Have The First Skull Already...

But As They Drive To Him, The Robot Reactivates And Relays It's Location To Dastardly, Who It Turns Out Was Only After Scooby Who When All The Heads Are Put Together Can Open The Door To The Underworld...

Meanwhile, Shaggy And Scooby Help Dee Dee Discover The Location Of The Second Skull In The Gobi Desert But Blue Falcon Decides To Take The Advice Of One Of His Twitter Followers And Goes To Romania...

Back In The Mystery Machine, Velma Does An Information Search On Dastardly's Work And Discovers That Scooby Is The Last Descendant Of Alexander The Great's Dog, Peritas As The Blue Falcon, Dynomutt And Shaggy And Scooby Arrive In Romania Only To Discover That...

Set By Dastardly...

Who Already Has The Second Freaking Skull From The Gobi Desert?!?

Anyway, After Telling Shaggy That It's Scooby He's After, Dastardly Chases Scooby To The House Of Mirrors Where He Tries To Sway Scooby To His Side

But After Scooby's Pronouncement Of His Name Pisses Dastardly Off And One Minor Scene, Scooby And The Others Escape On The Blue Falcon's Ship As Dastardly Crashes In A Bumper Cart...

Telling The Others About What Dastardly Said, The Team Starts Paying More Attention To Scooby Which Leads To Shaggy Getting A Little Jealous Of Scooby Being More Important Than Him...

Blue Falcon Tries To Help Shaggy But This Leads Shaggy To Try And Help Falcon By Saying That He Understands The Pressure He's Under As His Father Left Big Shoes For Him To Fill But Unfortunately Falcon Doesn't Really Know What To Say To That And Leaves...Wow!...You Could Have Had A Moment There But Instead You Blew It By Having Silence, You Freaking Morons!

Back In The Mystery Machine, The Gang Start To Miss Shaggy And Scooby Only To Be Stopped By A Police Officer Who Is Actually Dick Dastardly In Disguise..

Taking Fred, Velma And Daphne Captive, They Manage To Escape Their Cell With The Help Of A Robot Whose Head Dastardly Replaced With A Mini Vac When He Believed Him To Be A Suck Up...

Searching Dastardly's Ship They Watch As Dastardly Discovers The Location Of The Final Skull Head

Before They Go Into A Room To Use A Communication Device To Tell Dee Dee About Dastardly, The Location Of The Final Skull And To Oh, I Don't Know Save Them?!? ...

But While In Said Room, They Discover Dastardly's Reason For Doing All This And It Has To Do With...

Turns Out That They Found A Backdoor To The Underworld And Attempted To Get The Treasure Of The Underworld But When Muttley Went In, He Didn't Come Out Stating That It Was A One Way Trip Because He Wasn't The Chosen One..

As Dastardly Sends The 3 Friends Back To Their Cell, Team Falcon Arrives At The Location Of The 3rd Skull, Messick Mountain (Named After Scooby's Original Voice Actor, Don Messick) Which They Enter To Discover A Mesozoic Island, Where The Skull Is Really At...

Once They Land, Shaggy's Jealousy Comes To A Head, Saying That He Wasn't Okay With Him Taking Off His Collar, Despite Giving Him The Nod For Him To Do So!

This Leads Shaggy To Give Scooby An Ultimatum, Stay With Him On Board The Ship Or Going With Team Falcon, Ending Their Friendship...

So, He Decides To Go With Team Falcon Because He Feels That It's The Right Thing To Do...

Going Through The Woods Looking For The Skull, They End Up Meeting A Native Named Captain Caveman Played By...(Sighs) Tracy Morgan...

Yeah, I Don't Know If He Was The Best Choice To Play This Character...

Don't Get Me Wrong, I Like Tracy Morgan On SNL And The Few Episodes Of 30 Rock I Saw But I Just Don't Think That His Type Of Comedy Would Work Well For This Character...

Anyway, They Tell Captain Caveman What They're Looking For So, He Take Them To The Skull While Shaggy Somehow Reunites With Fred Who Wants Shaggy To Take Him To Scooby Because He's In Danger From Dastardly...

I Think You Know Where This Is Going, Everyone Say It With Me!...

Fred Is Dastardly!

Yep, The Real Fred Is Still On-Board Dastardly's Ship And He Made A Costume Of Him So He Could Not Only Get The Final Skull But Scooby Too..

However, On The Bright Side He Gives Them Fred, Velma And Daphne Back In Return...

While Also Destroying Team Falcon's Jet In The Process...

As Team Falcon And Mystery Inc Fight About Who's Fault This Is, Shaggy Eventually Gets Everyone To Come Together And Use Whatever Parts They Can Scalvage To Get The Mystery Machine To Fly To Athens...

But When They Arrive, It's Too Late, Dastardly Has Opened The Portal And All Hell Has Been Unleashed Along With Cerberus Himself...

As Team Falcon And Mystery Inc Deal With Cerberus, Dastardly Gets Muttley From Hell And Makes A Run For It , Falcon And Dynomutt Work Out Their Differences And Fred And Velma Discover That The Only Way To Close The Portal Is For Master To Be On One Side And Dog To Be The Other...

Meaning That In Order For It To Close, Shaggy Has To Be In The Underworld And Scooby Has To Be On The Outside...

It's Honestly A Sad Scene, I Literally Almost Cried At It...

I Said...Almost...

Because Once It Happens And Everything Is Another Portal Appears With Shaggy Getting Kicked Out Of Hell...

I Guess Mephisto Didn't Care For Shaggy And Scooby's Friendship As Much As He Cared For Spider-Man And Mary Jane's Marriage...

Anyway, Dastardly And Muttley Are Arrested By Their Own Robots Who Are Now On The Side Of Good, And Mystery Inc Finally Open Their Business Without Simon Cowell,,.

This Film Is Pretty Good, It May Not Be As Memorable As The Live Action Scooby Movies But It Is Pretty Funny And It Does Have Some Good Moments, So For That I Say See It...

Next Week We Start Our Halloween Look At Disney, So Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

[agentnico]

Scoob! (2020) Review

Simon Cowell has a cameo in this film as himself. A simple question of “why?” lingers for a while at the tip of my tongue, and then drops without receiving an adequate answer.

Plot: Scooby and the gang face their most challenging mystery ever: a plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this dogpocalypse, the gang discovers that Scooby has an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.

I was never really the biggest fan of Scooby Doo. I watched some episodes, but I never really gravitated to that show and characters. There are also the two James Gunn directed live-action movies, that are ideal stoner viewing, but they speak for themselves really. Now Warner Bros. set out to make the first full feature length theatrical animated movie of Scooby Doo, only now not theatrical due to cinema closure and a virus outbreak currently in the midst. With the lack of other films being released I decided to give it a go. However, even with the minor experience I have from watching a couple of episodes of the classic series, you can tell this new movie is very different from the cartoon. It doesn't feel like Scooby Doo. There aren't any mysteries or haunted houses (minus in the movie’s opening). This is in fact a superhero movie straight and foremost, only featuring Scooby Doo characters. It’s like the writers thought “hey, ‘dem Marvel films are doing way big on the dollar dollar bill! We want some of that dollar dollar bill yo too!” so they did it. They made an animated superhero flick, and threw in Scooby Doo characters for good measure. Did it pan out well?

The biggest problem for me is that this is just a generic kids movie. It follows the same formula as all kids movies. Set-up a relationship with two characters, separates them and makes them reconcile, earn the power of friendship and save the day. On top of that, add a bunch of pop songs. The movie is afraid to take risks and shake things up. Because of that, it doesn't add anything new to the genre, it doesn't add anything new to the Scooby Doo characters and it's just forgettable. If I'm in a mood for Scooby Doo, I won't watch this. I will watch the original cartoon. If I'm in a mood for a 21st century kids movie, I won't watch this. I will just go watch The Lego Movie. My point is that this movie doesn't stand out in any way. Everything is not awesome here.

The movie also tries way too hard to be funny. I get that it is a kids movie and kids will laugh at basically anything on planet earth, but for a biased adult like me this becomes excruciatingly annoying. So many times a character would say a joke and turn to the audience as if saying “see, I did a funny!” when in fact nothing funny has been put forward to sustain this point. You can also tell that the voice cast is trying their upmost best to bring out some energy from a very lacklustre script. The likes of Zac Efron, Jason Isaacs, Ken Jeong and Mark Wahlberg are in no way terrible, they do their best to brighten up the uninspiring dialogue, but are left meandering with not much to work with. Frank Welker voices Scooby Doo, finding his inner Nick Nolte, and what is it lately with actors impersonating Nolte’s groggy voice in their performances? Very recently I watched the new Capone movie and Tom Hardy was on it with the Nick Nolte imitation. How peculiar. Also, what’s happened to Nick Nolte? It’s been ages since I’ve seen him in anything. Is he even alive? *considers Googling this only to realise he doesn’t really care that much* I also wonder why they didn’t just have Matthew Lillard reprise the role of Shaggy, as he has the voice down to a solid. He even expressed his interest multiple times in interviews and social media about wanting to voice the character in this movie. I understand the producers wanting to have bigger names voicing the characters in this feature so as to create interest from viewers who are not so acquainted with the source material, but it’s not like Will Forte who voices Shaggy in this new movie is that much bigger or recognisable of a celebrity than Matthew Lillard. Look, my motivations here clearly lie upon Lillard’s meme power, but that’s enough of a dynamic for me to complain about it! 

All in all, Scoob! is perfectly digestible for young children and families, however if you’re seeking some proper Scooby Doo entertainment, I’d say look elsewhere, as this is just a generic animated kids flick featuring the over-saturated superhero genre.

Overall score: 4/10

[beautifulfearhorrorblog]

Top 10 Horror Movie Guilty Pleasures:

In no particular order.

1) Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers (1992) - Okay so maybe the graphics don’t quite hold up nowadays, but they’re still the perfect amount of cheesiness. Sleepwalkers follows the mother-son duo Mary and Charles Brady, who are the aforementioned Sleepwalkers, an ancient species who prey on virginal females, needing to consume their life force. There’s a lot of weird sexual energy between the two and there is incest abound. Charles sets his sights on Tanya, one of his classmates, and while he does charm her, he doesn’t count on her being a formidable foe to the two of them. If you love cats, I’d highly recommend this film, seeing as how the Sleepwalkers find themselves enemies in the furry little creatures. It’s also slammed full of fun cameos, including King himself, amongst others like: Tobe Hooper, Clive Barker, Mark Hamill, and more. 

2) Thirteen Ghosts AKA Thir13en Ghosts (2001)- How do you improve upon the gimmicky style of horror icon William Castle? Easy answer, you don’t. But that doesn’t mean that the remake to Castle’s 13 Ghosts (1960) is bad by any means. It’s one of my guiltiest pleasures. After a house fire takes the life of his wife, Arthur and his children are told by his late-uncle’s lawyer that he has inherited a beautiful house. The only problem? The house actually contains multiple spirits, spirits who, more often than not, are out for blood. Thirteen Ghosts is a fun reimagining, it even takes Castle’s original gimmick of Illusion-O (glasses that the audience could use, if they were brave enough to want to view the ghosts) and gives the glasses to the characters themselves, which honestly, is probably even more frightening for those poor souls. It’s the perfect amount of early 2000′s cheese and honestly, any movie starring Matthew Lillard is worth a view from me. 

3&4) The Mummy & The Mummy Returns (1999 & 2001) - While 1999’s The Mummy is technically a remake/reboot of 1932’s The Mummy, it is more of an action film, rather than the horror that is the 1932 version. There are many purists who insist that the original is the very best, but I’m here to just say, I absolutely love and cherish the ‘99 version and its sequel The Mummy Returns. The films follow Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan and an assortment of other characters as they accidentally resurrect ancient evils that they should’ve known better about. There are bits of horrific imagery scattered throughout the films and that’s enough for me to count them amongst some of my favorite horror films. Even with those though, they are light-hearted films with such interesting subject matter. 

5) Van Helsing (2004) - No one will claim Van Helsing is a masterpiece, and they aren’t wrong. But the movie is wonderful for what it is: an action-packed love letter to the horror monsters of our past. It’s no wonder that this movie holds a special place in my heart, it was directed by Stephen Sommers, the same man who directed both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It stars Hugh Jackman as the titular character, Abraham Van Helsing, as he hunts down Dracula. Along the way, Van Helsing comes across Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein’s Monster, and even a werewolf. The story is full of love for the characters and the Gothic aesthetic and, in my opinion, gives the monsters the respect they deserve. It is a must-watch for anyone who loves the monsters who came before us. 

6) Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) -  Fun fact! Urban Legends: Bloody Mary was directed by Mary Lambert. Who’s Mary Lambert, you may ask? Only the director behind one of my favorite Stephen King adaptations, Pet Semetary (1989)! While this film does not have as much of a following, it still does right by me. The movie follows Sam and her brother David as they try to solve the mystery of Mary Banner, while the children of those responsible for Banner’s untimely death are killed off one-by-one. Being the third movie in the Urban Legend film series, this movie forgoes the slasher premise of the first two films, instead opting to go full supernatural. Some of the deaths have been used before in other films, but it doesn’t make them less effective, i.e; burning to death in a tanning bed will ALWAYS be terrifying. I also absolutely love the song heard throughout each death, “I Will Always Be There,’ performed to perfection by Niki Harris. It completely embodies the time period in which Mary’s innocence and life was lost, and it’s so bone-chillingly amazing. 

7) 5ive Girls (2006) - 5ive Girls is a lesser known supernatural horror film helming from Canada. The only actor in it that is particularly well known is Ron Perlman. For that to be the case honestly sucks, because the acting is so criminally underrated in this film. 5ive Girls takes place at an all-girls Catholic school and follows five different girls along as they all discover they are powered and then immediately begin being possessed. There’s even a sweet romance that buds between two of the girls, Mara and Alex, but seeing as this is a horror movie, long-lasting love is never a guarantee. The film is a neat hidden gem and deserves more praise for the acting of all the young women, who nailed all of their characters wholly. 

8) Stay Alive (2006) - A video game centered movie where if you die in the game, you die in real life? Sign me up. A movie loosely based upon one of the most prolific female serial killers ever known in history? Sign me up even more! Stay Alive never got the credit it deserved and to a degree that’s understandable; for a horror movie based around a group of gamers playing a game, none of them truly feel like they realistically game. The concept is there though and its villain is none other than the Blood Countess herself, Elizabeth Bathory, though her backstory was changed for the film. Bathory in real life was a Countess who was thought to have murdered up to 650 young girls to use their blood as a way of staying young, the movie sets her as a headmistress who murdered 30+ of her students for their youth. The change does not make much sense, but whatever works for the screenwriters works for me, because I still enjoy this movie so much. Sophia Bush’s, October, is a standout character in particular; she’s a take-no-crap type of woman who fights until her bitter end and she provides the rest of the characters with the keys in which to survive Bathory’s depraved game.   

9) Final Destination 3 (2006) - The Final Destination series had a good run, mostly producing great films. One stands above the rest though, and that is Final Destination 3. The plot follows the same layout as the rest of the films, hot young people cheating death and then immediately learning the hard way that death doesn’t allow that sort of nonsense. FD 3 centers around Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, Wendy, having the standard vision of a deadly accident, this one being a rollercoaster flying off of its tracks. Winstead portrays Wendy as a somewhat prissy character, but honestly, the girl is smart and does stave off death for quite a while. The DVD for the film also offers one of the coolest bonus features: Choose Your Fate, which allows the viewer to help save lives and in some cases, end the film almost as soon as it starts, allowing the main characters to survive unscathed, though their fates later on aren’t exactly desirable either.  

10) Beyond the Gates (2016) - An innovative and more recent horror film staring horror icon Barbara Crampton? Why isn’t this getting all of the praise it deserves? The film follows two brothers as they are clearing out their father’s video store, seeing as how he has been missing for over half a year. While there, they discover an old interactive VCR game entitled Beyond the Gates and are drawn to playing it. The game is more than it appears though and eventually the brothers find that it is much more than they bargained for. They must then go “beyond the gates” to save their father’s soul and themselves before it is too late. Crampton stars as the games guide, growing more menacing as the film progresses. The film is gorgeous with its retro aesthetic and fun neon colors. You’d be a fool to miss out on this piece.

[johnnymundano]

Kolobos (AKA Haunted House) (1999)

Directed by Daniel Liatowitsch and David Todd Ocvirk

Screenplay by Nne Ebong, Daniel Liatowitsch and David Todd Ocvirk

Music by William Kidd

Country: United States

Running Time: 84 minutes

CAST

Amy Weber as Kyra

Donny Terranova as Tom

Nichole Pelerine as Erica

John Fairlie as Gary

Promise LaMarco as Tina

Ilia Volok as Faceless

Simms Thomas as Dr. Waldman

Todd Beadle as Dr. Jurgen

Mari Weiss as Lucille

Jonathan Rone as Carl

Linnea Quigley as Dorothy

Ivan Battee as Det. Byers

Kolobos may sound like the name of one of those aliens in The Simpsons but it’s actually a low budget horror movie from 1999. Like most of the characters in it, Kolobos is doomed. Unfortunately for the viewer it is a doomed attempt to fill 84 minutes with something interesting. Unfortunately for the characters involved Kolobos’ booby-trapped kitchen is more interesting than any of them. The mention of said killer kitchen allows me to segue seamlessly into a poorly thought through food metaphor. Like some particularly  unsatisfactory cinematic sandwich, in Kolobos the less than fresh meat of the matter turns out to be mostly gristle, slapped between a prologue and epilogue, which if they were bread would be the cheap kind mostly composed of air and sugar. Right from the needlessly protracted start, the frantic desperation to reach a respectable running time infects every second of Kolobos’ meagre 84 minutes.

A mutilated young woman is run down on a rainy night-time street and finds herself in a hospital bed being asked questions by the police. Unfortunately no matter the question, the only answer she can give is – “Kolobos”, which is less than helpful (unless you are Greek). The movie flashbacks to a few days prior to a group of extroverted young adults meeting at a house to take part in an experimental film, which will record their interpersonal shenanigans over the next few months. Everything is fizzy pop fun, pizzas and video marathons until nightfall, when the house suddenly becomes a prison and booby traps start picking off the discombobulated goofballs. The line between life and death is starkly marked even as the line between reality and nightmare blurs. Unfortunately Kolobos remains intractably stranded on the wrong side of a third line, the line between good and bad.

The group are made up of loud jackasses, but that’s not really the problem; that’s exactly the kind of people who would be chosen for a reality nonsense show. See: every Reality TV show ever. Points to Kolobos there, but lose points, Kolobos, because it’s hard to root for anyone out of a group that resemble nothing more than the antic spirit of Matthew Lillard inhabiting a number of different masks.  Kyra (Amy Weber) is the hypersensitive self-harmer on release from an institution, who draws sub-Clive Barker pictures and hallucinates violently unless she takes her special pills.  Tom (Donny Terranova; fantastic surname, Donny) is a terrible stand-up comedian with terrible stand-up comedian’s hair, who has worse delivery than a comatose postman. Erica (Nichole Pelerine) is a terrible actress who dresses like a ‘90s Republican mother of two. Gary (John Fairlie) is a pretentious berk who mistakes overthinking things for intelligence. Tina (Promise LaMarco) is an alarmingly bubbly bundle of “fun” who is the most terrifying thing about Kolobos, as she is physically and temperamentally a dead ringer for someone my mate knocked about with back in the ‘90s. Admittedly, this reaction may not be shared by every viewer of Kolobos (unless she really got about). Linnea Quigley turns up for approximately 2 fully dressed minutes as a woman who can’t smile convincingly; Kolobos is definitely one for die-hard Linnea Quigley completists then.

With the characters essentially being nails-down-a-chalkboard it’s down to their deaths to lift the viewers’ spirits. And they are...okay. There’s a fair level of imagination and a keen desire to gross you out; unfortunately there’s not enough spondoolicks, so the impact depends a lot on your goodwill. There was some imagination at play so I was happy to roll with it. The most affecting sequences were probably the cheapest: some cool visuals of silhouettes distorted by cloth/glass and backlit by lurid colours. These were really creepy bits, but this is unsurprising as these were also really creepy bits when they were in in Suspiria (1977), which is where Kolobos got the idea. Kolobos does not come out of the unavoidable comparison well. Reflected glory is always booby trapped. If you say you knew Elvis, yes, people will pay you more attention, but only to ask about Elvis rather than you. Kolobos never learns this lesson and insists on actively prodding comparisons to other, better movies out of the viewer. Worse it insists on doing it to other, terrible movies and still comes off worst.

The initial group activity is to watch every movie in the series of slasher knock-offs starring terrible actress Erica. These are shoddiness incarnate, but they are supposed to be; the joke being that Kolobos, the horror movie they inhabit, is so much better. Or that would be the joke if the movie they inhabit wasn’t just as bad, if not worse. I was pining for a good slasher. A decent slasher, even. Or even a mediocre slasher. By the end of Kolobos even a shit slasher would have done. I doubt this was the desired effect. Unintentional upset may also occur among modern viewers, as the whole mental health aspect is treated with all the seriousness and tact you would expect of a ‘90s horror movie featuring a booby trapped kitchen. But if we’re going after unedifying representations of the mentally ill in horror movies, well, there’s a lot more famous movies that need to answer a few questions before we get to poor old Kolobos.

Kolobos is an optimistic stab at making a horror movie by people who have a vision but just don’t have enough money to get anywhere near realising it. Nor, weirdly, do they have enough script. Since that’s the cheap bit, maybe Kolobos’ true value is in demonstrating to nascent filmmakers that stinting on the script can prove as fatal to your dreams as a buzzsaw fired from a toaster.

[livehealthynewsusa]

Can The Boomers Finally Bring Home A Medal?

In Rio, the team only came close to a podium. They have fallen in the bronze medal game on three other occasions. Why should it be any different this time?

For one, this is likely the last chance the golden generation of Boomers of Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, and Aaron Baynes have to make their mark on history. That alone could help create the intensity and determination the team needs to overcome their medal throat. As a rule, the latter chances have an electroplating effect.

Of course, the absence of Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons naturally hurts.

The strange case of Ben Simmons

After a high profile meltdown in the NBA final, Simmons decided to skip the Olympics to work on his game, though that didn’t stop him from walking around at Wimbledon with renewed pressure, BBC presenter Maya Jama.

You can’t help but feel that the Boomers’ famous team culture would have been good for him.

As it is, they will have to do it without him and so far all signs have been positive. The team went through 3-0 in the preliminary rounds, including a rare win against Team USA.

The presence of Simmons’ 76ers teammate Matisse Thybulle, one of the best defenders in the NBA, also adds to the excitement. Thybulle made an impression in the show games and if the team is to get on the podium, their D will be a determining factor.

If you’re being offensive, look no further than Mills. ‘Olympic Patty’ is a real thing. When MH Mills was featured on our cover in April 2020, we asked him about the transformation that seems to happen when he goes from being a banker at the San Antonio Spurs to being FIBA ​​world champion when he puts on the Boomers jersey.

“I’m a different beast when I go green and gold,” he told us at the time, comparing his Olympic mindset to Kobe Bryant’s famous “Mamba mentality”.

Other players to watch out for include 18-year-old sensation Josh Giddey, a 6’8 ” point guard who is likely to go into the first round NBA draft of the year and veteran NBL sniper Chris Goulding, a Boomers tribe who will be scoring punch from the bench. And let’s not forget Dante Exum, the Houston Rockets star-crossed shooting guard, whose career has so far been overshadowed by injuries. At 6’5 inches, Exum is the length and athleticism to imprison smaller guards. Who knows, maybe a successful tournament in Tokyo could trigger the former # 5 draft pick turn his career around?

The path to the podium will not be easy but the Boomers should be preferred to get out of the group stage, with games against Nigeria, Italy and Germany they should win. From then on, it depends on when you meet Team USA how far you go.

Which brings us to the sleeping giant of the Olympic tournament. One of the main reasons for optimism among all opposing teams is currently the weak form of the USA in the preliminary round games, which both the Boomers and Nigeria suffered embarrassing defeats. They have also been hampered by the loss of Bradley Beal to COVID and the fact that three of their stars – Devin Booker, Kris Middleton and Jrue Holiday – are only joining the team now after the NBA finals have concluded. With minimal practice to create a semblance of chemistry and togetherness on the pitch, they look as vulnerable as they have for years.

But let’s not get carried away. A team with Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum and Damian Lillard, among others, can get by on their own with talent, especially since they will likely get in shape as the tournament progresses. The Boomers managed to terrify them as hell in Rio and only lost 10 points in the group stage. The margin could be even tighter this time.

Other international teams to watch out for are consistently strong Spain, which are currently in second placend in the world, Argentina, which the Boomers also defeated in the exhibition tournament, and Serbia, led by recently crowned MVP Nikola Jokic.

So can the boomers finally claim Olympic bling for themselves? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure, with Mills now 32 this is probably his last chance, at least in his prime. He and the Boomers may not get a better chance.

The Boomer Schedule:

Sunday, July 25th: Australia vs. Nigeria, 6:20 p.m., AEST

Wednesday, July 28th: ​​Australia vs. Italy, 6:20 p.m., AEST

Saturday, July 31: Australia vs. Germany, 6:20 p.m., AEST

source https://livehealthynews.com/can-the-boomers-finally-bring-home-a-medal/

[hypermania]

Court can you rec some shows? I need something to get into.

ummmm. i mean it really depends on what sort of thing you’re looking for. let me just give you a list of things i’ve watched over the past year. bolded are ones i will just flat-out recommend to anyone, no matter what.

ozark- slow and not at all original but you just keep watching anyway for some reason

mindhunter- to be perfectly honest i think this show is severely overrated but it’s entertaining

anne with an e- it’s anne of green gables. either you want to see that or you don’t.

manhunt: unabomber- another show about a white dude who thinks he’s right about everything and ruins his career/family over it and we’re supposed to feel sorry for him. entertaining though.

shot in the dark- reality series about the people who shoot the footage you see on the news

the end of the f***ing world- honestly i still don’t fucking know. 

lovesick- easy. entertaining. has a surprising amount of heart. watch it.

girlboss- has br*tt r*bertson ever played one likable character? no. this show does not ruin that streak.

la casa de papel- about a very well thought/planned out bank robbery, the people involved (the robbers, the hostages, the police), and the mastermind behind it all. 

on my block- cute but also these characters are supposed to be 14/15 and there is way more focus on sex than i am comfortable with. 

mozart in the jungle- amazon prime original show about what is basically a fictional version of the new york philharmonic which sounds really boring but this show is amazing and hilarious and everybody should watch it

shooter- i mean it’s ryan phillippe as a retired military dude and he’s shooting people. you can decide if that interests you or not. 

the handmaid’s tale- i think i’m the only person here who hated this. i mean it was really close/true to the book but for me, watching it instead of reading it just made it drag on and on and on forever.

trial & error- so stupid. good if you need something to like fall asleep to.

imposters- plays right into the evil bisexual trope but i don’t even care. it’s entertaining as hell. about a con artist and three of the people she conned by making them fall in love with/marry her.

the bold type- girls supporting each other. miraculously steers clear of a lot of dumb tropes about women. 

this is us- i think at this point you’re either already watching it or know you’re not going to

the good place- top tier. watch it.

superstore- i love this show with my whole heart and i don’t understand why more people don’t watch it. it took some time to find its rhythm but its hilarious. i love it.

good girls- we’re only like five or so episodes in so i don’t really have much to say on whether the things that bother me are going to be resolved in a satisfying way but for now it’s entertaining and it’s got rhetta, mae whitman, manny montana, and zach gilford who are all people i’m absolutely thrilled to have back in my tv world. christina hendricks and matthew lillard are also there.

riverdale- season 1 was surprisingly sweet and entertaining. season 2 is a dumpster fire that i stopped watching less than halfway through

pitch- it got cancelled after one season because, well frankly because the world often gets these things wrong. so there’s no resolution or closure to any of the storylines but watch it anyway. kylie bunbury, mark paul gosselaar, mark consuelos, ali larter, tyler hilton, seriously how did this show get cancelled???

broadchurch- if you enjoy shows like true detective, the killing, the fall, etc then you will enjoy this.

the sinner- jessica biel can act!! who knew!! this show is not at all what you think it’s gonna be. it’s got an undercurrent of like possible ~horror~ throughout most of it (so if that’s gonna mess you up, don’t watch it) but it gets resolved in a way that is not horror-y at all and it’s so good??

the five- same idea as broadchurch. if you like those types of shows, you’ll probably enjoy this.

alias grace- a mini series from margaret atwood. in my opinion this is the one everybody should be raving about.

the newsroom- i know this has been over for awhile now but i rewatched it twice this past year and it is just as good every single time. if i’m the kind of blog you’re following, i just cannot imagine any possible way you won’t love this show.

la mante- one of those things that starts out really strong and then just completely falls apart at the end. also, massively transphobic. don’t watch it. i’m really only including it so that i can warn you away from it.

[junker-town]

TITLELESS: 16 overachieving NBA teams who fell short of a title

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant never won a title on the Thunder.

Some great non-champion NBA teams weren’t supposed to be great teams until they showed off in the playoffs. Here are 16 near-miss playoff runs defined by outperforming their talent, seed, or both.

Some great non-champion NBA teams weren’t supposed to be great teams until they showed off in the playoffs. Here are 16 near-miss playoff runs defined by outperforming their talent, seed, or both. Meet the Overachiever Division.

We begin with the ultimate NBA Finals Cinderella and end with a more recent contender that broke up in the summer, though not by choice.

16. 1975-76 Phoenix Suns

ERA: John MacLeod’s Suns

RECORD: 42-40

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +0.6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in Finals to Boston Celtics (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Paul Westphal

COACH: John MacLeod

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Alvan Adams, Gar Heart, Dick Van Arsdale, Curtis Perry, Ricky Sobers, Keith Erickson, John Shumate

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1982-83

The most unlikely Finals participant in NBA history was this close to pulling off an improbable championship. After winning Game 7 on the home floor of the defending champion Warriors in the conference Finals, Phoenix split the first four games with a Celtics team that didn’t take them seriously.

That brings us to Game 5, often referred to as the greatest game in NBA history. Boston won in triple overtime and took the Finals in Game 6, but some truly wild shit happened in that game. Boston took a 20-point first-quarter lead, but the Suns chipped away. Led by Paul Westphal, who was traded by the Celtics for Charlie Scott in one of those now-for-future moves that benefitted both teams, the Suns came back from nine down in the final three minutes to force overtime.

With the score tied at 101 and three seconds left in the first overtime, Boston veteran Paul Silas grabbed a rebound and visibly signaled to call timeout despite Boston having none left. It should have resulted in a technical foul and a free throw. But referee Richie Powers ignored Silas’ request, allowing the game to go to double overtime.

Powers later admitted he “did not want Boston to lose like that,” according to Bob Ryan’s book Scribe: My Life in Sports. (Probably not coincidentally, then-Celtics coach Tommy Heinsohn called Powers “my favorite referee” in a 2016 Boston Globe interview). Years later, even Silas admitted he called timeout and Powers “didn’t see me or didn’t want to see me.”

The Suns then scored four straight points at the end of double overtime to take a one-point lead with four seconds left. Boston inbounded to ageless legend John Havlicek, who was playing through a torn plantar fascia. He banked what appeared to be the game-winner off the glass and in. As Celtics fans stormed the court and the players rushed to the locker room, Powers, perhaps in an attempt to atone for his previous mistake, ruled there was still one second left in the game. (An angry Celtics fan apparently tackled and pinned Powers to the floor during the ensuing melee. Imagine if that happened today.)

But wait, there’s more! Westphal knew of a loophole in the league’s technical foul rules and exploited it for Phoenix’s benefit. He called timeout, knowing Phoenix had none left and would receive a technical foul. (Funny how Powers saw this one, but not Silas’ unintentional gaffe).

Boston hit the free throw to lead by two, but Phoenix retained the ball and actually got to inbound it at half court. The Suns threw it to Gar Heard, who turned and nailed a 20-foot jumper to force triple overtime.

Relive all of that here. It’s WILD.

The Suns finally fell short in the third overtime when little-used Boston reserve Glenn McDonald ran circles around their dead legs. They stayed in the mix for the next half decade, but never came that close again.

15. 2013-14 Portland Trail Blazers

ERA: Dame Time

RECORD: 54-28

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3.9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to San Antonio Spurs (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge

COACH: Terry Stotts

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez, Mo Williams, Dorell Wright, C.J. McCollum

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2014-15, 2018-19

Like the early-2010s Pacers, these Blazers hit their peak in the middle of the following season. Portland’s well-balanced starting lineup was in the thick of the West title race by the middle of the 2014-15 year, but lost all momentum when Wesley Matthews, the team’s heartbeat, tore his Achilles.

The Blazers fell apart thereafter and chose to break up the team the following summer after LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the Spurs.

14. 2001-02 Boston Celtics

ERA: Pierce and ‘Toine

RECORD: 49-33

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to New Jersey Nets (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker

COACH: Jim O’Brien

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kenny Anderson, Tony Battie, Eric Williams, Tony Delk, Rodney Rodgers, Erick Strickland, Vitaly Potapenko, Walter McCarty

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

What a strange team. After taking over for Rick Pitino late in the previous season, coach Jim O’Brien fashioned a wacky style of play that encouraged players to shoot tons of threes even if they weren’t especially good at them. Antoine Walker took a whopping 645 attempts while making just 34 percent. Nowadays, that’s less weird. Back then, it was wild. But it all somehow worked because Paul Pierce was incredible and Walker’s versatility eased the burden on the rest of the team.

Nobody took these Celtics seriously, which nearly worked to their advantage after they staged a memorable 26-point comeback to take a 2-1 series lead over the Nets in the East Finals.

But the Nets won the next three games, including two in Boston, to earn the right to be the Lakers’ sacrificial lamb. Boston faltered the next few seasons and nearly traded Pierce, but got bailed out when Timberwolves general manager and Celtics legend Kevin McHale relented on trading Kevin Garnett to Boston.

(Celtics Blog did a wonderful tribute to the 2001-02 team that’s well worth your time).

13. 2012-13 Memphis Grizzlies

ERA: Grit ‘N Grind

RECORD: 56-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to San Antonio Spurs (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Zach Randolph

COACH: Lionel Hollins

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Tony Allen, Tayshaun Prince, Jerryd Bayless, Quincy Pondexter, Wayne Ellington, Ed Davis, Darrell Arthur

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2010-11, 2014-15

I won’t argue if you’d rather include Dave Joerger’s 2014-15 Grit ‘N Grind team that took a 2-1 lead on the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in the second round. That team briefly appeared to solve its longtime shooting problem before the Warriors unveiled their Andrew Bogut-on-Tony-Allen defense. (Grizzly Bear Blues, SB Nation’s Grizzlies community, would also take the 2014-15 club)

But I chose the 2012-13 team that reached the conference finals despite (or because of?) trading Rudy Gay in midseason in a money-saving move that angered coach Lionel Hollins. Marc Gasol was at the peak of his defensive powers, Zach Randolph was still a force, and Quincy Pondexter looked like the 3-and-D wing that could have completed the Grizzlies’ core.

12. 2012-13 Golden State Warriors

ERA: Pre-Kerr Steph

RECORD: 47-35

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +0.9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to San Antonio Spurs (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Stephen Curry

COACH: Mark Jackson

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: David Lee, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Jarrett Jack, Carl Landry, Festus Ezeli, Draymond Green

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 13-14

No Overachievers Division is complete without a Stephen Curry Cinderella team. The 2012-13 team was decent, but didn’t take off until Curry went en fuego in the playoffs. (David Lee’s injury, which forced Mark Jackson to go small, also helped.)

The cagey Spurs ended the Warriors’ run, but Curry lit them up twice on the road in the first two games before re-injuring his ankle in Game 3. That limited him the rest of the series and made the Warriors’ Game 1 collapse that ended with horrible, botched coverage on a game-winning Manu Ginobili three loom larger.

The decision to pick the 12-13 team instead of the 51-win outfit the next year was an easy one considering the dysfunction surrounding Jackson’s final season in charge.

11. 1989-90 Phoenix Suns

ERA: Pre-Barkley Suns

RECORD: 54-28

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Portland Trail Blazers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Kevin Johnson

COACH: Cotton Fitzsimmons

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Tom Chambers, Jeff Hornacek, Dan Majerle, Mark West, Eddie Johnson, Kurt Rambis, Andrew Lang

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1988-89, 1990-91, 1991-92

The pre-Charles Barkley Suns were a wonderful story and might have been even better than their more well-known counterparts. After an embarrassing drug scandal rocked the team in 1987, new owner Jerry Colangelo held a fire sale. The most controversial move was trading Larry Nance, the team’s best player and a model citizen who wasn’t involved in the scandal, for a package that included little-used big man Mark West, a future first-round pick that turned into a Central Michigan guard named Dan Majerle, and a backup point guard named Kevin Johnson who was stuck behind young all-star Mark Price.

The turnaround was swift. Johnson turned out to be a superstar, teaming with the undrafted Jeff Hornacek to form the “KJ and Horny” backcourt. (Great name.) Along with marquee free agent signing Tom Chambers, the Suns stormed into the West’s elite. They ended the Lakers’ dynasty with a stunning 4-1 win in the West semifinals, with Johnson blowing by Byron Scott repeatedly and Hornacek making Magic Johnson pay for his defensive roaming. After winning the decisive fifth game in LA, Kevin Johnson declared his desire to make the Suns the “team of the 90s.”

But that didn’t happen. Phoenix blew it in a six-game conference finals loss to Portland, coughing up fourth-quarter leads in the first two games in Portland and blowing a six-point advantage in the final few minutes of a Game 6 defeat. Johnson missed the second half of that decisive loss with one of the many nagging injuries that defined the rest of his career.

By the time Barkley arrived in 1992, Johnson was a more muted version of himself and Chambers was nearing his last legs. Barkley and Johnson never fit seamlessly, and the Suns never quite got the most out of their on-paper talent. What might’ve happened if Barkley arrived in 1989 instead of 1992? We’ll never know.

10. 2007-08 New Orleans Hornets

ERA: Young CP3

RECORD: 56-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West semifinals to San Antonio Spurs (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Chris Paul

COACH: Byron Scott

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: David West, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, Morris Peterson, Bobby Jackson, Bonzi Well, Jannero Pargo, Rasual Butler

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

Another long-forgotten cult classic I loved during my college days. Chris Paul was robbed of the MVP because the collective media decided to give Kobe Bryant a lifetime achievement award. Yeah, I said it. Those Paul/Tyson Chandler lobs were things of beauty. I’m still mad at Jannero Pargo for shooting the Hornets out of that Game 7 against the Spurs. They would have put up a better fight against the Lakers in the next round.

That was the only real moment of glory for Paul in New Orleans.

9. 2002-03 New Jersey Nets

ERA: Kidd’s Nets

RECORD: 49-33

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in Finals to San Antonio Spurs (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Jason Kidd

COACH: Byron Scott

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kenyon Martin, Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles, Dikembe Mutombo, Jason Collins, Lucious Harris, Rodney Rodgers, Aaron Williams

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2001-02, 2003-04

The 2001-02 Nets had the novelty factor and won more games, but the 2002-03 version was much stronger. The big offseason trade of Keith Van Horn for Dikembe Mutombo was a bit of a flop, but it did allow second-year forward Richard Jefferson to step into Van Horn’s spot and emerge as an all-star talent. New Jersey had the mighty Spurs on the ropes in the Finals, but they blew Game 5 at home and succumbed to Tim Duncan’s near-quadruple-double in Game 6.

It all fell apart from there.

8. 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks

ERA: Bud’s Hawks

RECORD: 60-22

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Cleveland Cavaliers (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): None

COACH: Mike Budenholzer

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll, Dennis Schroder, Thabo Sefolosha, Kent Bazemore, Pero Antic, Mike Scott

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

I loved this team. They had five quality players whose talents blended perfectly, all working together to create one of the prettiest offenses of the modern era. Their regular-season win over the eventual champion Warriors in Atlanta is still one of the highest-skill basketball games I’ve ever seen.

But deep down, we all knew they didn’t have enough to win a title or maintain their flash of success. They were wobbling before LeBron James and the Cavaliers unceremoniously finished them off in the conference finals.

Still would’ve been nice if Kyle Korver and DeMarre Carroll were fully healthy and the NYPD didn’t break Thabo Sefolosha’s leg.

7. 1963-64 Cincinnati Royals

ERA: Prime Oscar Robertson

RECORD: 55-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Boston Celtics (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Oscar Robertson

COACH: Jack McMahon

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Jerry Lucas, Wayne Embry, Jack Twyman, Tom Hawkins, Bucky Bockhorn, Adrian Smith, Bob Boozer

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1962-63, 1964-65

This was Oscar Robertson’s best team during his heyday, though it wasn’t the team that got closest to the Finals or the one that featured Robertson’s famous triple-double season. It was the year Oscar won league MVP, earning the crown in a landslide over Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell.

But Oscar had nothing left by the time the East Finals with Boston began, and he was locked up by the combination of K.C. Jones on ball and Russell on the backside.

6. 2012-13 Indiana Pacers

ERA: Paul George and Frank Vogel

RECORD: 49-32

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Miami Heat (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Paul George

COACH: Frank Vogel

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Roy Hibbert, David West, Lance Stephenson, George Hill, Gerald Green, Ian Mahinmi, Tyler Hansbrough, Sam Young, D.J. Augustin

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2013-14

These Pacers were an NBA powerhouse for a calendar year that took place over two NBA seasons. During the second half of 2012-13, Paul George emerged from the injured Danny Granger’s shadow to push the Heatles to the brink. (I’ll defend the decision to bench Roy Hibbert at the end of Game 1 until the end of time). Then, the Pacers built one of the game’s stingiest defenses and went 33-7 during the first half of the 2013-14 season. Let’s not speak of what happened thereafter.

So pay no attention to the Pacers’ mediocre 2012-13 full season record. They’re ranked this high because of their play from January 2013 to January 2014.

5. 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers

ERA: Iverson

RECORD: 56-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-1. Stepover game)

KEY STAR(S): Allen Iverson

COACH: Larry Brown

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Dikembe Mutombo, Eric Snow, George Lynch, Tyrone Hill, Aaron McKie, Matt Geiger, Kevin Ollie, Raja Bell

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

These 76ers are iconic because of one small man and one memorable stepover after a made shot. They were — or rather, Allen Iverson was — David going up against a Goliath in the apex Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant Lakers. Every NBC promo highlighted that theme.

But the story of the 2000-01 76ers is more complex, as SB Nation’s Rewinder series beautifully illustrates.

To wit:

Iverson was nearly traded to the Pistons before the season in a massive four-team deal. The trade, which was agreed upon by all parties, would’ve sent Eddie Jones, Glen Rice, an ancient Dale Ellis, and Jerome Williams to Philly. Yuck. Iverson was told the trade was happening. But it fell apart because backup center Matt Geiger refused to waive his 15 percent trade kicker, which he needed to do to make the salaries make up.

Dikembe Mutombo wasn’t the midseason acquisition that pushed the 76ers over the top, as you might expect given his name recognition. It’s more accurate to say he was an emergency replacement acquired by necessity. Philly was 36-13 at the NBA All-Star Game break thanks to Iverson and shot-blocking dynamo Theo Ratliff, who rode a career season to an all-star nod. But Ratliff broke his wrist in the final game before the break, jeopardizing Philly’s run. Rather than wait things out, the 76ers made him the centerpiece of a trade with the Hawks for the disgruntled Mutombo, with Toni Kukoc also heading to Atlanta. After that 36-13 start, Philly went just 20-13 down the stretch and had to endure two Game 7s before reaching the Finals.

Ask a Bucks fan about the officiating in that 2001 conference finals. Just do it.

The 76ers’ victory was still an amazing feat considering their injury situation. Starting small forward George Lynch broke his foot in the second round and didn’t play again. Point guard Eric Snow fractured his foot in the next round and played through it. Sixth Man of the Year Aaron McKie broke his foot in Game 1 of the Finals and played through it, too. Also, Mutombo was playing through a broken finger. I’m surprised those dudes could even walk.

4. 2008-09 Orlando Magic

ERA: Dwight and Stan

RECORD: 59-23

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Dwight Howard

COACH: Stan Van Gundy

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Rafer Alston, Courney Lee, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, J.J. Redick, Marcin Gortat, Anthony Johnson

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2009-10

The story of the NBA’s three-point revolution isn’t complete without mentioning the Stan Van Gundy-Dwight Howard Magic. Desperate for answers after starting power forward Tony Battie got injured in the 2007 preseason, Van Gundy made the bold decision to slide marquee free agent acquisition Rashard Lewis up to power forward to make room for the enigmatic Hedo Turkoglu. With Lewis spacing the floor for Howard, Turkoglu, and Jameer Nelson, Orlando spent the next three seasons shattering three-point records while maintaining one of the league’s best defenses.

The 2009-10 version, with Vince Carter instead of Turkoglu, was stronger in the regular season and favored in the East Finals after LeBron James’ Cavaliers lost to the Celtics. But I prefer the 2008-09 version because it advanced further in the playoffs, scored the most impressive series victory of the era over a better LeBron team, and had two giant “what if” moments — Nelson’s midseason injury and Courtney Lee’s blown layup that would’ve won Game 2 of the Finals against the Lakers — that could have made them champions.

3. 1997-98 Los Angeles Lakers

ERA: Shaq, Pre-Phil

RECORD: 61-21

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Utah Jazz (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Shaquille O’Neal

COACH: Del Harris

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, Rick Fox, Kobe Bryant, Robert Horry, Elden Campbell, Derek Fisher

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 96-97

I wasn’t sure where to put the pre-Phil Jackson Lakers in this tournament. Maybe it’s a stretch to call them “overachievers” considering they were one of the preseason favorites, won 61 games with a ton of talent, and got schooled by the veteran Jazz in four straight games in the conference Finals. By that logic, they belong in the flameout region. (Speaking of flameouts, hoo boy the Nick Van Exel-Del Harris relationship was ugly by this point.)

Here’s my case for them belonging as overachievers:

They went 61-21 despite Shaquille O’Neal missing 22 games early in the year. In fact, they were destroying everyone before that untimely injury and never got a chance to return to that level.

Van Exel’s ongoing feud with Harris, combined with a midseason injury, forced the Lakers to rely on a little-known second-year guard out of Arkansas Little-Rock named Derek Fisher to run the point.

Kobe Bryant wasn’t Kobe Bryant yet. He made the All-Star team due to his popularity, but was still a moderately efficient sixth man that played behind Eddie Jones.

The Lakers were not favored in their second-round series with a resurgent Sonics team that had swapped the disgruntled Shawn Kemp for the in-shape (at the time) Vin Baker. Yet after Seattle won the first game at home, the Lakers crushed them in the next four, winning each by double-digits. It was a stunning display at the time.

In hindsight, that 97-98 Jazz team was a couple plays away from winning the title. Was it really a huge shame to lose to them?

The worst of the pre-Jackson Lakers drama occurred the following season after the lockout. Van Exel got traded, Jones was moved for Glen Rice, Harris lost his job, and the bizarre Dennis Rodman experience threw everything off. That’s the season they really underachieved. I’m not sure the 97-98 edition qualifies.

Thus, they’re here.

2. 1981-82 Philadelphia 76ers

ERA: Dr. J, pre-Moses

RECORD: 58-24

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Julius Erving

COACH: Billy Cunningham

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Caldwell Jones, Lionel Hollins, Bobby Jones, Darryl Dawkins, Steve Mix, Mike Bantom

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1976-77, 1977-78, 1979-80, 1980-81

Julius Erving did win one title with the 76ers, but that was only after getting MVP Moses Malone as a running mate in the summer of 1982. Based on the rules of this game, all of Dr. J’s Philly clubs prior to then are eligible for this tournament.

The 1976-77 club had the most star power and the 1980-81 version had the best regular season, but we’re going with the 1981-82 edition because they were the ones to slay the Boston Garden dragon. Andrew Toney really was a forgotten legend.

That was the game the legendary “BEAT LA” chant was born. Alas, the 76ers did not heed the call of their strange bedfellows in Boston. They got blown out at home in Game 1 and fell to the Lakers in six games.

1. 2015-16 Oklahoma City Thunder

ERA: Post-James Harden trade

RECORD: 55-27

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +7.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to No. 1 Golden State Warriors (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook

COACH: Billy Donovan

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, Randy Foye, Kyle Singler

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2012-13, 2013-14

This was the worst regular-season team of the post-James Harden, pre-My Next Chapter Thunder, but the most terrifying at full power. After sleepwalking through the regular season under new coach Billy Donovan, the Thunder beat a 67-win Spurs team in the second round and made the 73-win Warriors look like a junior varsity team during the first four games of the next round. They then lost Game 5, got blitzed by an unconscious Klay Thompson in a thrilling Game 6, and lost in Game 7 after Stephen Curry rediscovered his form.

That series was the start of a budding Western Conference rivalry featuring two of the greatest of this era and tons of other … ah, nevermind.

[lauraramargosian]

Good Girls series on Netflix is an unpredictable hit!

Good Girls series on Netflix is an unpredictable hit!

GOOD GIRLS — “Find Your Beach” Episode 301 — Pictured: (l-r) Retta as Ruby Hill, Christina Hendricks as Beth Boland, Mae Whitman as Annie Marks — (Photo by: Jordin Althaus/NBC)

Positive Celebrity rating:

The Good Girls series is an excellent show, worth viewing multiple times not only for enjoyment but cinematic effects as well (4.5/5). In fact, Good Girls was renewed for a third season of 16 total episodes, which will premiere February 16, 2020!

Netflix seems to be killing it with their current content the genres all have some great line-ups including Good Girls, The Witcher, You, Messiah, Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, Eli, Ghosts of Sugar Land, Before I Wake, etc.

In fact, we have been watching the first seasons of new films and shows on Netflix.

That being the case, one show, Good Girls, stood out to us because it brings forth a lot of positivity, emotionally draws the audience in and never fails to make us rapidly hit the “I’m still here,” button.

Yes, The Good Girls is that unique of a show.

The new series has brought forth a lot of the things people face daily with a dramatic and comedic twist.

“Three suburban mothers suddenly find themselves in desperate circumstances and decide to stop playing it safe and risk everything to take their power back.”

Isn’t it true there are good people, who make bad decisions at times in life?

90 Day fiancé: Happily Ever after is real talk.

With that in mind, you can see why their friendship is strong.

Yes, they have support for one another due to bad choices.

Regardless, from a mental perspective, it shows how important it is to have healthy friendships.

You never know what a person might be facing in silence, be a good friend and reach out.

At the beginning of the “Good Girls,” I kept thinking about “How there could be so much money in a grocery store?”

Then it all made sense…

Cinematography and transitions were amazing, the whole crew did an amazing job.

I cannot stress this enough, transition means so much in film and done right it can pull on two different emotions.

MAIN CAST OF GOOD GIRLS

Christina Hendricks as Elizabeth “Beth” Boland. Retta as Ruby Hill, Beth’s best friend, a waitress who is struggling to pay for her daughter Sara’s kidney disease. Mae Whitman as Annie Marks, Beth’s younger sister and mother of Sadie. Sadie was born when Annie was still a teenager. She works at a grocery store called Fine and Frugal. Reno Wilson as Stanley Hill, Ruby’s mall-cop-turned-actual-cop husband. Manny Montana as Christopher, also known as Rio, a high ranking criminal who has a money laundering business. He supports his business through wrapping paper, pills, cars and other creative ways. Lidya Jewett as Sara Hill, Ruby’s and Stan’s daughter who has kidney disease. Isaiah Stannard as Sadie Marks. Matthew Lillard as Dean Boland, Beth’s cheating car salesman husband. Due to his decisions, the plot took the turns it did to make a captivating show.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Jerzy Zieliński

Darren Genet

Robert Reed Altman

Tim Bellen

EDITORS

Brad Katz

Todd Gerlinger

Shoshanah Tanzer

Kenneth LaMere

Maura Corey

FAVORITE SCENE – NO SPOILERS

Man, this scene crushed, it happens and it goes to show how corrupt our government can be in order to merely “solve a case.”

“You know what I have been thinking about, how you sat at our table and said we were the same.”

Detective: “Not so much, huh?”

“Not at all, brother.”

How many people do you think are in jail or prison when they shouldn’t be?

Further, how many stories have you read about x person getting out after 50+ years after they were finally found not guilty.

FUNNY FACTS ABOUT THE GOOD GIRLS SERIES

It brought to my attention how bad it is to eat those banquet beef meals from the frozen section at the supermarket.

The Good Girls episode called “One Last Time,” was absolutely hilarious, we loved the loan guy’s personality, that was the perfect mesh into the storyline.

You can’t deny we all have that one friend who wants a damn burrito.

With that in mind, it was Chelsea Handler who said:

“If you can make someone laugh, you can make someone listen,” and they nailed it, especially in those scenes of “crime and drama,” but a dash of “comedy.”

Then the girls feeding him in the back of the car holding him until the morning hours to finish “the job,” absolutely hilarious, the script for these scenes is excellent.

To end, if you haven’t had the chance to watch the Good Girls series on Netflix, give it a go, you won’t regret it but make sure to do it on a binge day, unless of course, you can run on little to no sleep.

Currently, the Good Girls series on Netflix has two successful seasons.

Amazing production, a phenomenal cast, and crew.

We noticed the show started as a short on IMDB and soon grew it’s own empire, truly deserved, can’t wait for more episodes.

The Good Girls new series on Netflix official trailer

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[lynchgirl90]

10 Things We Learned at the #TwinPeaks Comic-Con Panel

by Maureen Ryan Chief TV Critic Variety 

At the San Diego Comic-Con panel for Showtime’s revival of “Twin Peaks” on Friday, things got a little weird at times, but the love for the strange soap opera — among the cast and fans assembled in Hall H — was palpable.

Cast members Kyle MacLachlan, Tim Roth, Dana Ashbrook, Kimmy Robertson, Everett McGill, Matthew Lillard, James Marshall, Don Murray, and Naomi Watts were joined by moderator Damon Lindelof. Here are some highlights from the hourlong discussion of the drama:

1. There would be no “Lost” without “Twin Peaks.” Lindelof said that when the show first premiered in 1990, when he was 16, it completely rocked his world. “I was lonely,” Lindelof said. “The world was scary and confusing and I felt like it didn’t understand me.” But then, after the drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost arrived, “suddenly I was no longer alone — I was in ‘Twin Peaks.’” Lindelof said he couldn’t describe what it felt like to meet the array of characters, but “I can tell you this; I loved every single one of them because they were all weirdos.” After citing just a few of the shows influenced by “Twin Peaks” — including “The Sopranos,” “Stranger Things,” and “Fargo” — Lindelof said, “I owe my entire career to this show, and I can think of no better place to say that than Hall H at Comic Con, in a room full of weirdos like me.”

2. Mastermind Lynch was present — in spirit and on film. Though Frost and Lynch did not make it to San Diego, Lindelof kicked things off with a film from Lynch. It was a short, strange piece that kept cutting out and piling on the strange developments. Lynch began by saying hello, but then he started yelling at someone off-camera. At that point, it sounded like a man fell from a great height. Lynch came back and said, “I’ve got to show you something” — and lifted up what looked like a dead hand. There was something in the hand: “This supposedly is the last golf ball O.J. Simpson hit before going into prison.” The film cut out again and then Lynch was back: “Today you’re going to meet some great actresses and actors …” Lynch began, but then, off-camera, it sounded like total chaos was breaking out. Lynch: “You can’t bring a horse in here. Manuel, take that gun away.” Fans packed into Hall H heard the sound of a horse whinnying. And then the film finally abruptly cut out. “That was even more than I could have hoped for,” said Lindelof, who said he was seeing that Lynch video for the first time.

3. Matthew Lillard has still not seen the original “Twin Peaks.” “I’m going to watch it tonight!” he joked. “I think it’s weird. Anyone else? If you’re not a ‘Twin Peaks’ dude and you come in, it’s a little strange.” Even the casting process was offbeat, Lillard said. “His casting process is very interesting,” he said. “They put a video camera on your face and you just talk about life in general. Then they invite the actor to come over and read pages.” And once he was on board, he was always wondering what was coming next. “When you’re reading a David Lynch script, you have no idea where it’s going to go,” Lillard said. “I got to this scene in Episode 9, and it’s the scariest thing I’ve ever read as an actor. In the middle, the character breaks down hysterically, sobbing. And you sort of know, being a fan of David’s movies and shows, what that looks like. It was intimidating. In his world, you get two takes. So you want to be really good really fast.”

4. Naomi Watts only saw her scenes with Dougie before cameras rolled. She didn’t see anything else from the scripts. But she had certainly hoped to work with Lynch again, after their experiences working together on “Mulholland Drive” years ago. “I had actually gone up [to Lynch’s house] more than a year ago with Laura Dern,” Watts said. “We were trying to coax him into some ideas and to get something going. That’s what you do with David — ‘Come on, hire me again.’ It’s just so good to be on a set with him or just in a room. He was talking about some ideas as he smoked, and smiling a lot, but not really saying yes or no. Finally I heard the rumor that ‘Twin Peaks’ was happening. I wasn’t part of that original team, so it would be wrong for me to be pushy about it. But I did drop some hints. I got a call.” Watts said Lynch “sat me in his chair that he built next to a table he built. I sat there for a good hour or so and read these pages. I don’t know anything about what happened before my part or after.” Did she know that Kyle would play Dougie? “It was not told to me, but I certainly posed that question, which he did not clarify,” Watts said.

5. Even getting the phone call to come back to “Twin Peaks” was unnerving, but also thrilling. While talking to Lynch, “I slid off the bed, which was really high at the time,” Robertson said. By the end of the call, “I was was looking at the bottom of my bed — I had somehow crawled under my bed. Because it was just so unexpected.” McGill said he was worried about being able to access “the emotions and vulnerability” of his character again. “But seeing everybody on the set, seeing how warm David was — it was great.” “Everybody gets exactly the same respect” on Lynch’s sets, and that creates a very creative atmosphere among the cast and crew, James Marshall said.

6. A few of the actors haven’t watched the new series on TV, but they hope to do so soon.“I’m going to wait until it’s done and watch everything from the first series [and the new episodes], all the way through, with my kids. I don’t know what that’s going to do to us,” Roth said.

7. His work can go into dark and strange areas, but working with Lynch is nothing but pleasurable. “He has this peace about him that is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Lillard said. “His belief in his process and his vision and his point of view is so profound and focus, and he inspires me that way,” MacLachlan added. “He follows this dream in his mind and I find that inspirational in my life, to go after the thing I believe in.” “He really shows great appreciation for other people’s work,” cast member Murray said. “And he never fails to do that. You go home from a day’s work with David and you feel good about it and about the world because you’ve had that experience.” “He knows how to get a performance, he digs deep,” McGill noted.

8. Asked for “a hot take” about Dougie, many members of the cast were a bit stumped.Eventually Robertson gave her opinion: “It’s very easy, if you ever meet any families who live out in the suburbs and work [there], it’s very easy to slip through the cracks and say one word a month without anyone noticing. And what wife wouldn’t like that?”

9. The Black Lodge set is very different from anywhere else in the “Twin Peaks” world. “It feels very focused and like electricity is buzzing around,” MacLachlan said. “It is a very unusual environment. That [black and white] floor gives you a very different state of being.”

10. An audience member who had never seen “Twin Peaks” asked the cast to “describe it in a nutshell.” “Just throw the nut away,” MacLachlan said. “Keep the shell,” Watts added.

Link (TP)

[alexanderwrites]

Thoughts Roundup - Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 11

“There’s Fire Where You’re Going”

Here is an episode that i’ve heard a lot of people describing as the point where this season “hits its stride”. What i’d say is that, while each episode has been nothing less than great (for me), there has been a certain scattershot style to the season which has displeased some. This scattershot style is not detrimental, but certainly is different to what we expect from narrative, serialised television. So far, the season has been like a closeup of a patchwork made of smaller segments, and with this episode, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of what the patchwork will look like when viewed as a whole. Will we really see the big picture by season’s end? Maybe not. But by “hits its stride”, what I believe people mean is it is satisfying to see the threads pulled tighter and the picture look a bit clearer, as it does in tonight’s episode. There is a narrative flow in Part 11, as well as what feels like quite a bit of progress. Adding to this is the episode’s crafty blending of all the elements that make Twin Peaks Twin Peaks. The show’s deadpan humour, jarring violence, abstract nightmare segments and small-town drama were all present tonight in an episode that felt cohesive, tight and covered a lot of bases that people wanted covered. 

. Miriam ISN’T DEAD!!! If last week’s episode punished by presenting women without agency, this one gave them a bit more to do. Miriam, thank the lord (or lords David and Mark) is alive, and her crawling out the bushes is a relieving but nightmarish image, and really reminded me of Ronette Pulaski. This Miriam’s a fighter and a good person, and I hope she helps to put an end to Richard’s reign of terror.

. Becky is Laura, right? I mean, not literally Laura. But she is sort of Laura? The shots of her looking skyward while riding in her boyfriend’s car a while back visually recalled Laura, and her scream tonight was Laura all over. Pained and furious. Even if her actions differ from Laura’s, I think she is supposed to remind us of her. Violence is cyclical, people don’t change, and what has been will always be. That’s what the show is about for better or worse, so echoes from the past reverberate as Laura’s ghost looms heavily on the town, and on Becky. I liked seeing Becky intent on revenge, and part of me really hoped she’d kill her sleazebag boyfriend. But then again, I’m glad she didn’t, because I wouldn’t want to see her locked away so soon. I found her super interesting tonight and can’t wait to see where her character goes, and what a lovely surprise it was that she’s Bobby’s daughter.

. Seeing Bobby and Shelley together was surreal. I kept remembering how they looked when partying around Leo’s comatose body, and thinking “shit, that’s actually them”. It’s a shame they never made it work, but it’s an even bigger shame that Shelley has found an even bigger sleazeball (sleazebag? There are too many Sleazes in this show. I’m not sure what comes after Sleazebag and Ball. Sleazecar? Sleazehouse?) in Balthazar Getty, who’s name i’ve forgotten and won’t look up because I prefer writing the name Balthazar Getty. Shelley hasn’t made a good choice in hooking up with this guy who we know is a drug importer, and it seems that Becky is following a similar path. I love Shelley, and will always sympathise with her. She brings out the protectiveness of the audience, and Becky does the same. I really, deeply hope to god that history doesn’t repeat itself, and that Shelley and Becky won’t get hurt. 

. Did anyone else think of the little kid with the gun as a lodge spirit? You could say that about anyone on the fucking show (James Hurley is a lodge spirit! The pie they serve at the Double R is a lodge spirit!), but he reminded me of little Lynch Jr as little Tremond (who turned out to be a lodge spirit in Fire, Walk With Me). Maybe it’s because of his creepily defiant stance, his silence, and that he’s dressed exactly like his dad, but it felt like a surreal moment and that something more sinister is happening there. Then something even MORE surreal happens, and it’s the hardest i’ve laughed at something that’s scared me in the show yet. Yes, i’m talking about the slime puking teenager and the screaming woman. The scream was so repetitive and strange sounding, and the longer it went on, the more funny yet disturbing it sounded. I put my hands to my cheeks Kevin Macallister style and could only offer up a big, loud “WHAT THE FUCK”. I love that Bobby simply watches like we do. Utterly bizarre - and what do we think of the Woman’s dialogue? Did it remind anyone else of “Around the dinner table, the conversation is lively”? It did for me, but it might mean nothing which is totally fine with me. I’m here for individual moments, and if by episode 18 i’m saying “Wait - what the fuck happened to the slime puking teen?”, that’ll be fine with me. 

. Elsewhere in town, Hawk and Frank are planning their field trip to the black lodge. I hadn’t thought before of electricity being the modern version of fire because i’m a dumb asshole, but when Hawk says so it makes a lot of sense. Fire and Electricity seems to be the Uber of the spirit world. They use it to travel, as well as way that they harness their power. The thing we really want to know is the thing that Hawk tells Frank he doesn’t ever want to know about: that weird symbol that was on Doppelcoop’s playing card, and is on the top of Hawk’s map. Why does nobody ever say ‘actually, I really DO please’ when told ‘you don’t want to know’? I want to know!! And we get another touching call from Margaret, who tells us her log is afraid of fire (i’m still keen on the theory that her log contains the spirit of her husband - a logger who died in a fire) and that there is a fire where they’re going (hey! that’s the name of the show!). Her warnings are to be taken very seriously, and with how bleak this season can and has been, we should start preparing ourselves now for something bad to happen out in those woods to Hawk, Bobby and to a lesser extent, Frank. I am so excited about this storyline because I just want any excuse to see more of the woods and more of the black lodge.

. Let’s raise a toast to Matthew Fucking Lillard. Matthew Fucking Lillard. The longer I think about it, the more certain I am that he’s been my favourite performer this year so far, and I was saddened to see his head...uh...smashed off(?) tonight - in a manner that recalls how the heads of those lovers were smashed off by the box monster all those weeks ago. In an ensemble of hundreds, he truly stood out and made every moment he was on screen utterly riveting. And this scene is the most memorable of the night for me, while Cole’s deadpan of “He’s Dead” is the funniest line of the night. 

There’s so much to unpack, but the image of Cole staring into a portal to another place is absolutely a standout moment. This place in South Dakota is another Glastonbury Grove (if we weren’t sure enough, it’s on Sycamore Street), and seeing Gordon begin to fade as he stands in the path of the portal really reminded me of Cooper descending into the Black Lodge at the end of Season 2. Also at the scene, we get a couple of woodsmen spirits standing on some stairs (which reminded me of the stairs in the Palmer household) inside the portal, as well as one very real woodsman who gives Bill Hastings’ head a cheeky little burst. It’s such a simple effect, but the fading in and out of the woodsmen deeply scares me. It’s so uncomfortable and dreamlike, and a neat way of hammering home that these things are not from our world. I don’t like how they sneak! And then they find Ruth Davenport’s corpse (Ruth, we hardly knew ye) with coordinates on her arm which will doubtlessly lead right back to Twin Peaks. It’s beginning to become clearer how the FBI will end up back in our favourite town, and Diane loses the trust of both us and Albert even more when she clearly mouths and memorises the co-ordinates written on Ruth’s arm. It’s hard to figure out at this stage just what is going on with her, but whatever the answer is, we’re likely to find out that she is in cahoots with some really bad eggs. This might lead her and the FBI on the path back to town, but it’s still vague as to how Coop will find himself back there. Speaking of Coop....

. I was really, really pleased with how his story developed tonight. He seemed a lot more lucid in this part, and seemed affected by his gentle knock-on-the-chin by his boss. And his final scene is monumental, but before I get to that let’s tackle...

. Those darn Mitchum brothers (a spinoff sitcom produced by Chuck Lorre?). Last week, I wrote that they weren’t my favourites and that i’d like their story to move at a pace quicker than Dougie eating pie. Tonight, perhaps because of the makeup of the episode, I enjoyed every moment with them and, yes, the story moves swiftly along. They make a really fun unit to watch bounce of each other, even if it is hard to reconcile that i’m praising the work of Jim Belushi and T-Bag from Prison Break (for the record, Robert Knepper is a great actor. Prison Break is not a great anything). Their scenes tonight developed their chemistry and personalities, and I liked seeing Brother Jim talking about his dreams (the work of someone in the black lodge?) - and the fact that he doesn’t want to kill Dougie if he “isn’t our enemy” was a nice touch. It highlights that there is an intelligence and even a tiny bit of humanity in him, and that he’s not as simple as a ruthless thug who’ll kill anyone he feels like. They may be a couple of bastards, but tonight I found them interesting and of a different breed to the typical tough-guy gangsters. Coop has brought them a cherry pie, as instructed by Mike via the Black Lodge. Brother Jim had a dream about a box with a cherry pie in it, and if its in there, ‘Dougie’ is not their enemy and they can’t kill him, he insists. And so Black Lodge spirits save Coop again! Again the question arises of why they want him alive, and why they need him to wake up. I’m still betting that it’s because they need Doppelcoop back in the black lodge, and that Coop waking up has something to do with Doppelcoop being sent back. We’re edging closer and closer, and it’s getting pretty damn exciting.

. And then the Mitchum brothers and Coop go for cherry pie! There are plentiful allusions to the past, and who Coop used to be, but he can’t get back. And in a sense, the show Twin Peaks cannot get back to what it used to be - and why should it need to? People have aged, actors have died, times have changed and the world is different now. The 1950′s aesthetics of chrome diners and cherry pies and colourful fashion were always a veneer that the show hid under. It was never about that, but instead about how a surface of gloss is wrapped over the ugliest crimes of humanity to make them more palatable. It is entirely possible to enjoy the aesthetics of the show (and honestly, everyone who loves Twin Peaks, me included, enjoys it), but it is important to remember that that’s not what the show is about. If anything it’s a pretty vicious critique of how false this aesthetic is, and about the damage done by ugliness being wrapped in a pretty package. And now, that pretty image isn’t as strong as it used to be. It’s not there because it never really was. Coop can (loudly) eat his cherry pie, he can even call it “Damn good”, but he’s been through too much now. He’s seen too much, and we have too. We can’t get back to the idealised version of Twin Peaks because Lynch and Frost have shown us that it isn’t real. Nostalgia might call us back to it, and we can fawn over images of the past and try to get that feeling back - the feeling Coop gets when he hears a pretty song, or sees a pair of red shoes - but it isn’t there for us anymore, and I think that’s what The Return has all been about. It’s not about going back and finding that everything is beautiful and exactly how you left it, but about the fruitless struggle of trying to recreate the past. Who knows - maybe by season’s end we’ll have a beautiful moment of Coop waking up, of order being restored and him enjoying a meal at the Double R. And if we get that, it will doubtlessly be stunning, and moving and haunting - because we will have the knowledge of what has happened. The pull between an idealised past and a cold, stark present is a powerful one, and the final scene of tonight’s episode conveys this masterfully. The song the pianist plays - which sounds quite a bit like Laura Palmer’s theme - is the past calling out to Coop, and he responds, as does the viewer on hearing it. Where it goes from here is impossible to predict, but this is a moment of real beauty that summarises the entire run thus far. 

“If you put these two symbols together, you get this”

“Black Fire”

“Correct”