Breach (2020)

Breach (2020). Another movie I found and watched via scrolling through Amazon Prime today.

I've seen this movie show up on Redbox and was tempted once or twice to take a chance on it. I only gave it an inkling of a thought because it had Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane. I mean I know that Bruce hasn't been in the best of movies these days. It's almost like he's got so much money that he's like "Sure, what the hell, I'll do your shitty movie for a thousand million bucks" or he's in need of money but unless he's totally fucked up his finances, I'm leaning towards the former. Thomas on the otherhand probably needs money.

The story line of this movie is like many movies these days and, in fact, probably over the past decade: been there, done that.

Turns out Thomas's screen time was very limited. I think he probably got his 15 minutes of 'fame' spread over the course of the movie. Bruce, on the otherhand, was present almost nonstop although his character was fairly lame.

The graphics and CGI were circa 2000s or even earlier. And as mentioned, the plot has been done many times before in the same AND different ways so therefore was very predictable. Even though the story line has been done before, it initially seemed like it would be a decent movie. WRONG!

FINAL VERDICT: This movie is highly passable. I watched it because it was 'free'. I would have been very disappointed if I had rented it from Redbox for $1.80+tax and even more so if I wasted my Redbox points on it to make it a 'free' rental. It just wasn't written well, filmed well or acted well.

Smiley Face Killers (2020)

Smiley Face Killers (2020). Watched this movie today on Amazon Prime. I thought it might be at least an okay movie because in the description it said, "From writer Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, Less Than Zero)...". I don't know of the writer specifically, but those two movies were fairly good and interesting so that's where my assumption came from.

Well, my assumption was wrong.

The movie is loosley based on real events. If those real events had feelings, they'd be hurt, disappointed and embarrassed.

This is defintely one of the worst movies I've watched...and I've watched a shit ton of movies.

There are many facets to this movie that sucked: the acting, the directing, the filming, the story line, the lack of a clear story line. I could probably find more but why? It just wasn't good or even okay.

One known name in the movie is Crispin Glover. I guess you could call his character a central character but he doesn't have a lot of screen time. You also can't tell it's him because he's wearing a mask or just has a jacked up face.

FINAL VERDICT: The lowest I usually rate a movie in my own rating system is 'dislike'. I do have a rating of 'hate' and I'm sorry to say that this movie fits that rating perfectly. It was a waste of time, effort and money by the writers/directors. Just stay away from this one. Trust me!

Last Days in the Desert (2015)

Last Days in the Desert (2015). Ran across this movie while browsing the Redbox Free on Demand movies. I read the brief synopsis and thought it sounded somewhat interesting. Also, I saw Ewan MacGregor and Ciaran Hinds were in it so thought it couldn't be too bad.

I was wrong.

The movie was boring and just dragged on. I thought it would get better the more I watched but it didn't. It just dragged and dragged and...dragged.

I don't really know what the point of this movie is/was or how it even got made. Well, actually, I've seen quite a bit of movies that got made but I have no idea how or why. Just add this one to the long list.

FINAL VERDICT: I would pass on this movie. It's just another waste of time. You'll never say that you enjoyed this movie or recommend it to another person.

1 Night in San Diego (2020)

1 Night in San Diego (2020). Watched this movie via Hulu. After reading the synopsis, it seemed like it would be a funny movie.

The two main characters are played Jenna Ushkowitz and Laura Ahsley Samuels. Jenna I recognizee from being in Glee and...that's about it. Laura seems to have had parts in a few movies and TV shows but nothing I recall seeing her.

I thought this movie would be similar to those like Road Trip but I was wrong. Well, there were some (very few) similarities and there were a few (very few) very funny parts and some funny parts but mostly the movie didn't keep my funny bone tingling or my interest piqued.

FINAL VERDICT: You can definitely pass on this movie. Sometimes the trailer shows all the good parts of a movie and people would say, "Just watch the trailer and you've seen the best parts of the movie." As far as this movie, the trailer can't even save it.

Tuscany Condos of Dallas (Dallas, TX)

I lived in The Tuscany Condos of Dallas for about two years. We signed a two-year lease to get a 'better' monthly rental rate. It wasn't too bad a deal at the time and we wanted some stability in our living quarters as the past two we were only there for a year each because the owners decided to sell when our lease ended.

The image to the left is a stock photo from their website. This is what they call the "gym". It looks way, way better in this photo than it does in reality.

It is essentially the bottom floor of a smallish two story building in the gated parking lot. It smells a bit dank and stale. They did seem to make some "improvements" to the place since we moved out but it's still kind of sketch feeling. Even though there is a keypad to open the door, I would not feel comfortable with any female working out in this 'facility' alone and most definitely not alone in the evening/night. It just really didn't feel safe being detached from the facility itself so was rarely used after dark if at all.

Overall, the condo we rented wasn't too bad. It was three bedrooms and two bath on the first floor. It was fairly spacious although it lacked any kind of real storage. The pantry was a smallish closet. The bathrooms had no storage other than the under-sink cabinet. The bedroom closets weren't too bad but not very deep. Essentially, the layout and structure of it felt like a condo one would rent on a beach or something where the point was temporary living for like a few days to a max couple of weeks. 

Our landlords were dicks when we had to move out. We were painless tenants and hardly needed anything or complained. But they were so focused on getting someone into our place within days of our exit because they didn't want to lose ANY money that we had some "conversations" that weren't so pleasant at the end. This is not a ding on the overall property, as each 'condo' is privately owned. Just something to know in case other owners are little cock-sucking money-grubbing bitches!

Anyway, some other's experiences may be better or worse but our ex-landlords had three different tenants within three years after we left. To me, that speaks volumes of what kind of landlords they are/were.

FINAL VERDICT: The Tuscany Condos property at large was fine and fairly decent. Just be aware of the landlords, ask around if you can but just know that you could get pieces of shit like we did!

Finding Ohana (2021)

Finding Ohana (2021). Watched this today as I saw it was newly released on Netflix. I also read someone said it was kind of like The Goonies so it had my interest piqued.

After watching, I would say it had some similarities to The Goonies like there is a map, a secret treasure, possibly cursed treasure, puzzles and traps to solve to obtain treasure, and along the way a bond between family and friends is built.

The film stars Kelly Hu who many might recall seeing as the sorceress in The Scorpion King opposite Dwayne Johnson or as Lady Deathstrike in X2: X-Men United. She plays the mother of two of the children who find adventure.

Branscombe Richmond plays her father. He's played minor roles in many movies and TV shows as well as mabye a couple of lead or co-lead roles. I recognize him as Bobby Sixkiller in the TV show Renegade. He's playing a Native Hawaiian in 'Ohana' but he's actually Native American and I believe I've seen him play Mexican characters who are usually bad guys.

Anyway, the 'main' characters are the 'kids' played by what I would consider unknowns or up-and-comers...at least to me they are.

One of the lead female kids is Pili and the actress who plays here is a little over the top with her portrayal and mannerisms. It just seemed a little overdone. One of the lead male kids is her brother, Ioane, and although his acting is not as overdone, it doesn't always seem genuine...like I felt like he was acting and not actually feeling his character, if that makes sense. The other two kid actors playing Hana and Casper came across with more ease in portraying their characters.

One surprise actor who had a bit part but is very recognizable (to me anyway) is Ke Huy QUan who I can still see as the little Asian kid from The Goonies and Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom.

Overall the movie was a good, family-type movie. It had some fun, comedy, sadness and rejoicing. Although much of it was predictable, I didn't feel like I wasted my time watching.

FINAL VERDICT: If you already have Netflix or a family/friend does, this movie is a good, quick watch for a bit of fun.

Zacurate Pro Series 500DL Pulse Oximeter

Zacurate Pro Series 500 Pulse Oximeter from Amazon while the link lasts.

Not much to write about this. I purchased from Amazon after seeing on CNET (I think) as one of their recommended products. I think it was like $20 total.

I ordered the product and in about four days, it was delivered.

I opened the box. It had the oximeter, a small instruction booklet, a silicon cover, a lanyard, and two AAA batteries.

I put the batteries in the oximeter then the oximeter in the silicone cover. I attached the lanyard and turned on the oximeter. I put it on my finger and it gave me a readout that I can only assume was fairly accurate. I did it a few more times to see if there was any measurement variation. My pulse and oxiygen levels varied by 0 to 3 points but that was it. There were no extreme differences readings.

FINAL VERDICT: Although I've only tested it around ten times, it seems to be doing the required job. For the price of close $20 and being recommended by one of the review websites I 'trust', I'd say it was worth it for now as only time will tell for sure of it's longevity.