Mothers Day Movie Review 202

Mothers Day is a 2010 remake of the 1980 movie of the same name.It is a very very loose remake. It stars Rebecca De Mornay and Jaime King. It is directed by Darren Lynn Bousman.

The story begins with a child being snatched from a hospital. Then it cuts to present day with a robbery gone wrong. The three scumbags come upon a house in the middle of nowhere. It turns out that it was their mothers house and they want to hide out there. Unfortunately, the house has been sold and there are a couple living there now. Beth(King) and husband Daniel(Frank Grillo) are there along with their friends. When Daniel and Beth wander upstairs they discover the crooks and get captured. The criminals ask them why they are in their mom's house but Daniel explains that they bought it fair and square. As one of the crims is injured, Beth tells them that there is a doctor in the house called George(Shawn Ashmore). He is brought up to help the youngest scumbag Johnny(Matt O' Leary). The other two are called Ike(Patrick John Flueger) and Addley(Warren Kole).

They take everyone hostage etc and the usual violence ensues. Then they call their mother and she arrives. Mother is well dressed, well spoken woman who seems to love violence too. She makes smart comments and takes delight in helping her scumbag children to murder people. You can see where this  movie is going...It comes to the conclusion where the Addley and Ike are killed and Johnny escapes with Mother and the weird daughter who came along for the ride. So, the movie ends with mother stealing Beth's new baby. Oh ya, Beth was pregnant and the mother knew about it...Hmm. I didn't think that this movie was good at all. I disliked the characters and I had no interest in what happened to them. The criminals were one dimensional and mother was just silly. If you have seen the original movie, then this is pretty different from that story. I didn't like it at all. It gets a paltry 2/10.

Hells Kitchen Season 9 Finale

 So, it has come to the end of Hell's Kitchen for this year and there are four chefs left- Elise, Will, Paul and Tommy. Who will the winner be???Read on...

The final four congratulate each other. Elise is delighted that Will and Paul backed her up last week against Jennifer. She is sure that she is going to win. The contestants get to have their families meet them and chat for a while. Their challenge is to copy a dish of Chef Ramsay's and guess what he used in it. The winner gets to spend the day with their family. Paul wins the challenge. I don't like him much. I think he is a bit of a cocky guy. The others have to move everything in the dorms. They have to clean. Service begins with each of the chefs getting a turn on the pass. Paul goes first. He does well. Next up is Tommy and he isn't good at all. I like Tommy but he isn't great at shouting at people. Someone who is great at shouting and yelling is Elise. She screams at people and annoys everyone.Will takes over and he gets screwed by Elise. She tries to wreck his service. He argues with her and it looks bad. No one talks and his service is terrible, thanks to Elise. So, the time comes to narrow it down to two people and I am delighted to say that Elise gets kicked off, FINALLY!!!!!I was hoping that she would get her ass kicked and she did..Tommy goes home too. He is a good cook, but he has problems with his concentration. So, it is Will and Paul in the final!!!

The two finalists get to cook their food for some judges and there is a huge crowd with both of their families there. Their food is tasted and judged and Will wins the final challenge. Then, they get to pick their teams from the contestants who were kicked off. Will chooses Tommy, Krupa,Natalie and  Jennifer. Paul picks Elise, Carrie, Jonathan and Elizabeth. Will is a little worried about Krupa as she is a bit dizzy.  In Paul's kitchen, Elise starts badly and Paul has to tell her off. Krupa messes up her fish and she is costing Will precious time. Paul is frustrated with Jonathan as he can't cook his meat. He gets pissed off then. Will is really getting annoyed with Krupa. She is screwing everything up for him. Paul is worried about Jonathan and he takes him off the meat station and puts Elise on it. Krupa is replaced on fish by Natalie. Will feels as if he is screwed now.

So the time comes to announce the winner and to my disappointment, the winner is Paul. I wouldn't have picked him. I think that he is a good cook, but not a nice person. He is arrogant and cocky and that puts me off him. I thought that Will was very strong from day 1 and Krupa wrecked his chances of coming out on top. He just had a lousy team and it cost him the win.... That it all from Hell's Kitchen for this year. Hopefully, it won't be too long before there are a new batch of chefs waiting to become winner of Hell's Kitchen..

The Stranger Beside Me Book Review

The Stranger Beside Me is written by Ann Rule who is well known for her true crime books. It was written in 1980 and it revolves around the serial killer Ted Bundy. Ann Rule worked with him at a crisis centre and she knew him pretty well before she found out that he was a serial killer.

Ted Bundy(pictured above) was a handsome, intelligent, charming young man who was one of the most brutal serial killers in U.S. history. He was cold and calculating and he had no mercy for those women he killed. It is thought that he began his murdering career after his girlfriend jilted him because he was going nowhere. He was devastated and he worked his way up until he became a very successful person and he won her back. But, then he dumped her suddenly as revenge for her dumping him. Then he began to batter and rape and strangle women. He was clever though and he took the women with him and disposed of them elsewhere. Some of the bodies still haven't been recovered. He wanted young pretty women with their long hair parted in the middle as it reminded him of his first girlfriend who had hurt him. They were all smart and they all had a lot to live for.

Bundy  moved around from Washington to Utah to Colorado and to Florida where he committed his final crimes. Bundy had a girlfriend while he was killing women and he had a life away from his crimes. He picked up two women in the same day and neither of them were ever seen alive again. He continued on with his killing spree in Utah and more women disappeared. He would have kept killing if he had not been pulled over by a cop and questioned. The cop found the tools of his trade in the trunk. There was a ski mask, a crow bar, rope and handcuffs. He tried to explain away the find by saying that they were common household items but the cops were suspicious of him and he was kept under 24 hour surveillance after he was released. As Bundy had tried to kidnap a woman called Carol DaRonch, she was able to identify him from a line up. He was charged with the kidnapping. He was also charged with murder.

This began a trial which would last for a long time. While he was in custody, he escaped and jumped out of a window. He headed for Aspen but was soon recaptured. He escaped again a few months later and this time he headed to Florida. He went to the Chi Omega sorority house and he killed two girls and almost killed 2 others. Then he broke into the house of another girl and almost killed her two. A while later, he picked up and killed 12 year old Kimberly Leach and this would turn out to be his last murder.

He was caught once again and he was charged with the Florida murders. His trial dragged on for years and Bundy was representing himself. He loved the attention he got from the media and he was cocky, arrogant and he relished the details of his murders. He was sentenced to death by electric chair and he died in 1989.

The book deals with Ann Rule's(pictured above) relationship with Bundy and how it was hard for her to believe that he was a serial killer. She tells us all about her letters from him and how he felt about his crimes etc. It is a great crime book and it is a must for any true crime fan. It is interesting and well written. I enjoyed it a lot and I really recommend it. It is a great insight into the mind of a killer.

Hells Kitchen, Season 9, Episode 13 and 14

Last week, we lost Natalie and Elizabeth. So, there are the final five left now.

Episode 13 begins with the final five celebrating. Will thinks that it will be okay to work with Elise. Little does he know what will happen once she starts opening her huge mouth. The chefs have to grab a plate with the name of a dish written on it and they have to make that dish appetising. Chef Ramsay brings in some people to judge the dishes(watch first video above) . Will wins the challenge. He is a good cook and I would be surprised if he was not in the final. Will gets to go to some restaurants and he has to choose a chef to go with him. Unbelievably, he chooses toxic Elise. How could you do that???She is horrible. So, that night, they are told that they are competing against some of the past competitors on Hell's Kitchen. Back come Ben,Jillian, Tennille, Trevor and Van. They are all revved up and ready to show the newbies who is boss... They make their menu. The other group are being dominated by Elise. She can't take anyone else's suggestions into account. She just does what she wants. They are seeing her true colours.

Service begins. Tommy is working with Will who is giving him advice. Elise has to check everything with Paul and it shows her inexperience. Tennille is still not great at cooking and she isn't doing so well.

Her food is coming back to her. Paul's lobster is overcooked. He is battling with Elise who is annoying him. The two teams are very close as they race to finish their service. Jennifer is struggling. She is not performing that well. They finally finish. The winning team is the newbies. They are all delighted.  Jennifer thinks that she is going home and she tells Paul that she has a crush on him.Chef Ramsay tells them that no one deserves to go so they are all safe. When oh when will Elise get her ass kicked out?????

Episode 14 begins with Jennifer being mortified about telling Paul she likes him. He clearly has no interest in her that way and she is embarrassed. The others think that it is a big joke. Their challenge to to cook salmon and the best dish wins. There are some people brought in to judge them. They have to say how much they would pay for the dish and the highest one wins. Paul wins and he gets to have a helicopter ride. He brings Tommy with him. The others have to clean the bar and clean the salmon and prepare it for service. Tommy is helping Jennifer and it is not long before Jennifer crumbles. She cannot communicate at all. She is making Tommy look bad with her blunders. His pasta is raw and it is because Jennifer was rushing him. 

Elise is shouting at Jennifer looking for her times for her dish and Jennifer tells her how long and Elise says no one told her. She is such a liar. Jennifer gives up her risotto in a burnt frying pan which does not go down well. Elise cannot cook her salmon and she ruins piece after piece after piece. She hands it up raw, burnt etc. She is useless. How she is still in Hell's Kitchen amazes me. All the wasted fish is really bad. Tommy asks Jennifer to taste his dish to make sure it is okay and she says it is. She takes it up to the pass and screws Tommy. Tommy tries to help Elise but he gets yelled at by the cow. He can't win.They all get thrown out of the kitchen. Jennifer knows she is going home after her awful performance. Chef Ramsay sends for Paul and Will to come back to the kitchen and leaves the rest. They are pissed. Tommy asks Chef Ramsay why he was kicked out but he gets shouted at.

Bitchy Elise tries to wind Will and Paul around her little finger and it actually works.They are so stupid. She wants them to screw Jennifer and they do. They give Elise exactly what she wants which is a huge mistake. She will screw them just as soon as she can and they will only have themselves to blame. Jennifer is amazed by the backstabbing and she argues with them. Elise makes a smart comment as Jennifer is leaving and Jennifer gives her the finger and tells her to f**k herself(watch second video above). Jennifer did deserve to go home, but Elise is the one who messed up loads of salmon and got another free pass. I am disappointed with this..

Iconic Scenes in Movies:Texas Chainsaw Massacre(1974)

If you are talking about iconic horror movies, then it doesn't get better than this one. Texas Chainsaw Massacre changed the face of horror movies by introducing a horrible family of cannibals to an unsuspecting public. People had never seen anything like it before and it was groundbreaking in its own way. I love this movie and feel that it should be considered a horror classic. As for iconic scenes, there are a couple in this movie that I feel make it a cut above the rest.

The first scene that I like is when one of the kids, Kirk(William Vail) wanders into a house which they have found in the countryside. The group are looking for a place to swim and they come by the house. Poor Kirk is the first one to walk inside. His gal pal Pam(Teri McMinn) is waiting outside for him. Kirk sees a doorway and he is intrigued. He hears a strange noise coming from it so he walks over to it. Suddenly, he is confronted by a grotesque figure wearing some sort of mask and he is killed by the creature. His body jerks and spasms as he dies. The horrible figure drags him away like an animal and pulls across the door. Pam waits outside.She eventually tires of waiting for him and she enters the house. She stumbles into a weird room filled with human bones which have been made into a bed and other furniture. She runs out only to collide with Leatherface who grabs her and hangs her on a meat hook in his workshop. He starts up his chainsaw and begins to dismember Kirk. This scene is so horrible and it looks so realistic that it has to be iconic. Watch Part 4 video above to see it.

My other scene is at the end of the movie. Sally(Marilyn Burns)has been caught and tormented by the utterly deranged family of weirdos. She knows that she has not much time left before they kill her. As they try and get their grandpa to hit her with a hammer, he fails and she manages to get away and jump out of a window. She is terrifed as Leatherface and the hitchiker creep try and catch up to her. Hitchhiker gets killed by a truck, but Leatherface is still after her. She calls after a truck which is passing while Leatherface chases her with his chainsaw buzzing. The driver tries to help her but Leatherface attacks them both and they run. The driver hits Leatherface with a wrench which slows him down a bit but then he chases them again. Sally stops a pick up truck and gets a lift while the driver runs off. Leatherface is left with his chainsaw dancing around while Sally laughs.Watch Part 8 video above to see it.

This movie has inspired many others, but  the original, as always, is the best so do yourself a favour- if you haven't see this movie, grab it now and enjoy the many great scenes and classic horror brought to us by Tobe Hooper. It is in the top ten of any horror movie lover and rightly so. It is cheap,full of great horror scenes and it has a chainsaw in it! What more could you ask for??

To Catch A Killer Movie Review 201

 To Catch A Killer is a 1992 made-for-TV movie about the serial killer John Wayne Gacy and it stars 

Brian Dennehy, Michael Riley, Margot Kidder and Meg Foster.

The movie starts with a young man called Chris Gant who disappears in 1978 at a local pharmacy after going outside to meet a guy who is offering him a job. His mother was waiting inside the store and she is very worried when he does not come back. The investigation is headed by Lieutenant Joe Konzenczak who suspects a local businessman and pillar of the society, John Wayne Gacy played by Dennehy. Gacy denies meeting the young man and there is no evidence that he did. The other cops think that the Lieutenant is clutching at straws as Gacy is so well respected but he perseveres with his case. He meets with Gant's parents and looks through his room. He finds a camera but not much else. The cops get a warrant to search Gacy's house, but they find nothing that would incriminate him, though he has men's underwear, dirty magazines, men's jewellery, handcuffs and they find a board with handcuffs attached to it and a pharmacy receipt for photographs.Konzenczak is disappointed there is no concrete evidence. Gacy is cocky, self- assured and very arrogant. He even plays Pogo the clown for kids in hospital! The cops even consult a psychic played by Margot Kidder and she gives them some clues.

The cops get information that Gacy sodomised a young boy and went to prison for it. They put surveillance guys on him and he teases them at every opportunity. He laughs and jokes with them and he is really cool about the whole thing which makes Konzenczak angry. To make it worse, Gacy brings a lawsuit against the Lieutenant for harassment. Things start to go wrong for Gacy when the cops talk to his pal. He tells them that Gacy liked young men and that he had them in his house on more than one occasion. He also tells them that the car he has was sold to him by Gacy and he doesn't know where Gacy got it. It happens to be identical to one belonging to a missing young man. Gacy is linked to missing young men and his world comes crumbling down. Konzenczak remembers the pharmacy receipt in Gacy's house and he talks to the young girl who was working there the night Gant disappeared. She tells him that she put it into the pocket of his jacket so he wouldn't forget it. That is proof that Gant was at Gacy's house and that links him to the murder.

The friend of Gacy's tells the cops that Gacy made him dig holes in the crawlspace under his house. He told him that it was for drainage. The cops get another search warrant for Gacy's house and this time they look in the crawlspace. They find human remains buried there. By the time they are finished digging, they have found 26 bodies and 3 more around his house. He killed others and disposed of them near the river, bringing his total murders to 33. They find Chris Gant's body and Konzenczak is finally happy to be able to bring the news to his parents. Now, they can bury their son. The movie ends with the cops unearthing more bodies in the crawlspace.

This was a very entertaining and well-acted movie. Dennehy is very good as the serial killer Gacy. He plays the part to perfection. He is arrogant, cocky and evil. It is a really great performance. Everyone in this movie was very good and it is faithful to the true story of Gacy. I would highly recommend this as it is suspenseful and interesting. I am going to give it an 8/10.

Hells Kitchen, Season 9, Episode 11 and 12

Last week, we said goodbye to Jamie and Carrie and Elise lived to see another day surprisingly. We are down to 7 chefs now.

Episode 11 begins with Chef Ramsay giving them a pep talk. He tells them that they are going to NYC to BLT Steak to see the restaurant.When they arrive, they have to go to all different ethnic restaurants and taste the food. It ends up at BLT Steak and they get to see the kitchen etc. Their challenge is to make an ethnic cuisine. Each person gets one dish to make. The red team wins and they go to the beach. The blue team are pissed that they lost once again. That night, Service begins and Natalie is the first to irritate Chef Ramsay. She can't cook her scallops again!!!He is not impressed with her. Elizabeth starts to have a meltdown in the kitchen and her team try to help her.

Tommy doesn't cook his onion rings properly and gets yelled at(watch video above). Elizabeth continues on her downward spiral and she hands up food which is below par. She gets frazzled and she needs to calm down. She comes back and the others moan about her. Elise hands up her meat and she tries to blame Tommy for her mistake. It is shown on the tape that she lied and Chef Ramsay is not impressed. The blue kitchen are pissed at her for coming over into Tommy's face. She is a liar and a bitch. Natalie is going downhill.All of her fish is returned by the customers. Elisabeth can't cook her fish and she is holding everything up. Elise hands up overcooked and dry meet and she still can't accept responsibility. Elise and Elizabeth are thrown out and Jennifer has to finish up on her own. There is no winner tonight. Each team has to pick one person to leave. The red team pick Elise and the blue team choose Natalie. Natalie gets the boot and rightly so. She started very strongly and she went downhill from there.

Episode 12 begins with Elizabeth telling everyone that she will not have a meltdown again. The others do not believe her. I just can't understand how she is still in the competition.Their challenge is to make a 30,20 and 10 minute entree. Each chef has to pick one. The men win and Elise starts bawling which is really silly. The men go shopping while the ladies have to set up the dining room etc. There is going to be a charity event that night and they have to be on their best behaviour for the v.i.p's who will be coming to stuff their faces. That night, each chef will be in charge of two dishes. They all have to make sure that their plates all go out together and that the food will be perfect.

Paul is first up and he goes mad at Tommy when he doesn't make the salad properly. Elizabeth is first in the red kitchen, but she needs a lot of help from the others. Tommy is making his risotto and Will intervenes and tries to help him. Tommy is not pleased. He has to show them to Chef Ramsay and he has to do them again. He eventually gets it right. Jennifer is doing her dish and Elise is helping by standing around and doing nothing and when she does, she messes it up. They argue and Jennifer tells her she doesn't need her. The men are doing well. Elizabeth has her course ready to early and she annoys Chef Ramsay. Elise is doing her dish and she is acting like a complete cow. She is so bossy.

Tommy is in his own world and he suddenly steps up and gives his team direction for his dish. Chef Ramsay is impressed. Elise is annoyed when her mashed potatoes are tasted by Chef Ramsay and they are not seasoned properly. She blames the other members of her team. So when Jennifer is making her dessert, Elise doesn't cook the fruit properly and Jennifer gets screwed up. She thinks that Elise did it on purpose. Everyone is up for elimination and there are five black jackets for the finalists. Elizabeth gets sent home(watch video above) and I have to agree with that decision as she was not up to the challenge anymore.There are only five left and I am really hoping that Elise will get kicked out very soon!!!