Blink Twice and My Favorite Scammer
The world is a sad, gun-fueled hellfire so I mentally escaped by watching a lot of TV and movies! I did a double feature movie night (AMC Stubs A-List, babyyyy!) finally saw It Ends With Us and Zoe Kravtiz’s directorial debut, Blink Twice. I also saw Trap. Didn’t care for any of them! I know that’s an oversimplification so I’ll break it down a little more.
What I’m Watching
It Ends With Us
Since I’ve written about it to death, I’ll just saw a few points- also acknowledging that I’m sure the book answers most of my questions (if you’ve read it, please feel free to explain!) :
-It’s absolutely insane that Blake Lively has referred to this movie as “fun” and “funny”. It’s not at all. More Lifetime movie than fun.
-Why were all the flowers/flower shop so ugly? Was there a reason?
-Why was she wearing Carhartt in literally every single scene? Formal gown? Throw a Carhartt coat over it. Cute shirt? Top it with some Carhartt overalls. It was weird and distracting!
-I can 100% tell what Justin Baldoni was trying to do and if it’s true that Blake had power over editing/ghostdirecting and ruined it I can see why that would cause a rift because it really did have a ton of potential.
-It reminded me of Madea’s Family Reunion, which actually is a funny movie about domestic violence. It Ends With Us was sort of like an unfunny white people Madea’s Family Reunion.
Blink Twice
Blink Twice is a movie that if my friend made, I’d be so wildly impressed and if I knew Zoe Kravitz I’d do nothing but praise it because there are a lot of good elements. It’s visually really cool, an interesting take on a story that we’ve otherwise seen 1000 times, and the last 30 minutes is worth watching. But I don’t know Zoe Kravitz and overall I did not enjoy this movie. It’s basically like Promising Young Woman (which I hated) meets Get Out set on Epstein Island. It’s difficult when people who come from wealth make movies about the evils of wealth because it’s like they get so close to doing it right but can’t quite get it to 100% because they’ve never known a life without money. I will say, I enjoyed most of the performances. Adria Arjona is phenomenal in it and any scene she’s in absolutely shines, so when she’s heavily featured near the end it’s a great movie. Another thing is that I was so distracted by Channing Tatum’s giant chompers in this movie that it was honestly hard to pay attention. Afterwards, I sat in the Universal CityWalk parking garage furiously googling to try to find an explanation for the teeth and could find nothing but the day after I saw it this article came out explaining the choice. I haven’t talked to anyone else that’s seen it and would love to hear other opinions though so comment if you have.
Trap
Trap was ridiculous in a way that was more frustrating than fun for me. M. Night Shyamalan really said “Logic?! Don’t know her!” “Plot holes?! Yes please!” But he also said “Full scene where Josh Hartnett is shirtless for no reason? Absolutely!” and for that it’s worth turning on in the background at least. Also, Hayley Mills is in it and I was wondering why she was in a movie for the first time in years but was wildly underutilized and then I heard that she was in the movie because it’s about trapping a parent. Parent Trap. HAYLEY MILLS, STAR OF THE ORIGINAL PARENT TRAP. Brilliant. Bravo, M. Night.
Red Rock West
I watched an older Nicolas Cage movie called Red Rock West. That movie I did really enjoy but it’s a simple little murder-for-hire neo-noir film from 1993 so I have no hot takes on it! Except maybe that it defies logic that Lara Flynn Boyle is that hot with a haircut that I’ve otherwise only ever seen on my grandmother.
Chimp Crazy
I’ll be writing a full review of Chimp Crazy next week after the final episode airs on Sunday but oooooh boy y’all need to tune in. It’s from the same people that did Tiger King but this time it’s about a woman who owns chimpanzees. Trigger warning that the animal abuse stuff is really heavy and difficult to watch, but this crazy lady ya just gotta see. It’s on Max.
What’s in The News
Speaking of Monkeys
The new trailer for Wicked is out!
Dancing with the Scammer
Anna Delvey is going to be on Dancing with the Stars! They announced the cast this week, which includes RHOA icon Phaedra Parks and guy I saw in the back of a convertible at the Hollywood Christmas Parade Eric Roberts, but most importantly Anna Delvey. In the press release they described Anna as “Notorious ankle bracelet fashionista” which is a hilarious way to say she’s a convicted felon who is currently fighting a deportation case and had to get ICE approval to do this show. People are pissed, including my favorite EGOT Whoopi Goldberg who made a good point about why, but I sort of love it. Inventing Anna was great but even more I love the real-life Anna in her interviews- you can Google to find countless iconic lines she’s delivered in them. She scammed her way to the top, if you consider DWTS to be the top.
Icy & Spicy
There’s a lot of drama in the rap world with Ice Spice vs Cleotrapa. Admittedly, I’ve never heard a Cleo song and couldn’t name an Ice Spice one but I did watch the nearly hour-long TikTok saga Cleo posted. If you’re interested in a breakdown of the drama, you can read about it here.
Finally, I Guess
Katy Perry (who in a very It Ends With Us way has a daughter named Daisy Bloom!) was on the Call Her Daddy podcast and finally spoke about choosing to work with Dr. Luke on her most recent album, which included IMO the worst song of the year. Except she sort of didn’t? She spun the question into talking about how amazing it is that she grew a human inside of her and that’s what the album is about and that he was just one of “many collaborators” she worked with. Alex Cooper is not renowned for her interview skills but I wish she had pressed more on why someone would collaborate with someone who has been so publicly called out and sued for abusing a woman, on an album that’s themed around women’s empowerment. Icky!
Can We Not Let Her Rest in Peace?!
Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen are starring in an upcoming JonBenét Ramsey show.Hmmm…Not loving this idea!!
This is Depressing
The Daily Mail published an update on the couples from My Husband’s Not Gay, which I wrote about last week. It’s upsetting to read that all of the couples are still together and are actively working in jobs that allow them to spread their disgusting belief that men can simply choose to not be gay. I hate it!
Thanks for reading!!