rwilder0603-411-211949 Reviews

Twilight (I) (2008)

An Amusing Wreck

[6/10 · 7 October 2023]

I've read the books, and seen the movies, and as another reviewer said "it's so bad it's almost good". To the point that I find myself watching it again every few years. For very few reasons other than Billy Burke, Gil Birmingham (a favorite), to a small degree Robert Pattinson, and the silly humor of Kellan Lutz. There's also something darkly appealing about Cam Gidganet's performance. That said there's a lot to be annoyed by. Taylor Lautner was such a rookie back then, and I just can't with Anna Kendrick's constant Valley Girl tone and inflection. The hardest of all for me is Kristin Stewart, who grunts before EVERY SINGLE LINE, I swear. Ugh! And yet I keep coming back.

Parkland: Inside Building 12 (2018)

Moving But in Poor Taste

[4/10 · 7 October 2023]

I'm glad the stories of all of these babies were told, and there lives remembered, and the heroes inside the school - the faculty and other students - were told. And the young person who speaks at the very end is incredibly powerful. And im glad they gave zero time to the story, name or face of the shooter. He deserves ZERO screen time. That's the positive. The negative? So many exploitative questions, and shame on them for repeatedly showing the shot children still in the classroom. It did NOTHING but exploit the children harmed and torment the survivors and families. As a journalism major myself, it makes me sad what this production did with total and complete lack of journalistic integrity, and worse, lack of compassion.

The Menu (2022)

I'm torn

[6/10 · 4 October 2023]

This was a real dichotomy for me. I couldn't stop watching, but it was also dark and a lot of ways, not compelling, and weirdly , compelling. I'm not sure a movie should get high marks for good acting and a demented plot, but here we are. I'm surprised it got past a 5.0 rating. It's like a car accident you can't look away from. Good casting, good acting by its lead actors (most not all) and a very weird and twisted plot, even for a horror movie fan like myself. Just hoping that after this review, I'm not next on the menu. I am a foodie and a horror movie fan, but no. Revenge definitely got served cold in this one. Meh.

Florian's Knights (2021)

Eye Opening Injustice for Our Heroes

[10/10 · 31 December 2022]

As a family member growing up around first responders this immediately caught my attention. My brother was a 30 year firefighter and ten year chief. His boys followed in his shoes. Watching the movie, and it's quickly apparent that we have let a huge travesty happen to these men and women... not only see what happened to the firefighters who were essentially punished for being in the club, but it's also a glaring reality check to see how our first responders have been epically failed in terms of having the proper support resources for all they go through in order to protect the rest of us. The movie shows a very honest, raw reality of the sad tragedies these people see fail, and the systemic lack of help for them. Enter the Florian Knights brotherhood, a healthy, safe place to cope, grieve and heal when there was no other opportunity to do so. And it was a healing that radiated to not only the firefighters, but their families and others who love them. Until for some, it didn't, because of narrow minds.

The FK members found a huge source of healing, understanding and support in one another. And for some, including it's founder to have that taken away because of "appearances" is tragic and sad. The FK Club is a huge source of healing and support for people in the trenches, FROM people in the trenches. Shame on the powers that be for dismantling that for some of these people who have so much.

This movie is an eye opening story of the enduring impact of every call first responders answer, and the continued failure of our system to recognize the ravaging effects of PTSD, and complete failure of our system to fix something severely broken. In the years after 9-11, when we as a nation and a world hailed these people as heroes, it's shocking to see how we have failed them. It's a story that will stay with you, resonate deeply, and make it increasingly obvious why it's a struggle to get more people to become first responders today. My hat is off to the creators of this movie for their honesty, vulnerability and willingness to call out a very broken system.

A League of Their Own (2022)

It's More

[9/10 · 26 August 2022]

If you're expecting the movie, no, it's not the movie. There are definitely parallels. It is very good. There's a lot of depth to the Backstories of the players, and it digs into a lot of social issues that were happening back then, sadly some that we are still dealing with today. It definitely makes you care about players, and it makes you want to keep watching. Highly recommend.

Return to Zero (2014)

For Christy above

[6/10 · 15 October 2015]

Christy - I am a mother of a stillborn child, having lost my son 12 years ago. I can honestly say in all my years of my own experience and helping TONS of other parents, I have NEVER heard of taking the stillborn child home for a night! Wow! It was brutally hard to leave the hospital without my son, but I think it would've been 1000x harder to try and take him home. I may be wrong, if this loss has taught me anything it's that you really can't say for sure about anything unless you've lived it, but I just can't fathom it. In a bereaved parent's shoes, I will say I don't find it morbid. Before my loss I probably would have, but you see it differently when you love that child with a mom's heart. I do know hospitals try and give you as much of a "normal" experience as possible. They will bathe, dress, swaddle, take pics, etc. It really is healing in an odd way. But taking them home? I can't imagine.