ross-bob Reviews

Angel Blade (2002)

Amanda Righetti

[7/10 · 22 July 2015]

I watched the prim and proper Amanda Righetti for seven years on "The Mentalist" playing CBI agent Van Pelt, where she always played second fiddle to CBI agent Theresa Lisbon, which annoyed me because one could tell Amanda is a far better actress than the show let her demonstrate. Then, almost by accident on the porn site, Mr. Skin, I discovered "Angel Blade." I was correct all along. She's terrific and beautiful.

And for those who believe prostitutes being beaten and murdered is sleaze, Baltimore, Maryland, near where I live, has a near-epidemic of this tragedy today. "Angel Blade" is as relevant today as it was back in 2002.

Love & Mercy (2014)

Uncomfortable to sit through ...

[7/10 · 9 July 2015]

I saw it three times.

How do you pay the salaries of Hollywood A-Listers such as John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti when your movie only earns ten million dollars at the box office nationally?

Why did "Love and Mercy" earn so little money? American movie goers don't want to see their illusions about famous people ruined by indies such as this one. They also have read too much about Brian Wilson's mental problems in media reports.

If Paul Giamatti doesn't get an Oscar nomination for his part in this film, I will be surprised. The movie doesn't tell you that after Dr. Landy (Giamatti) was fired, Brian Wilson collapsed again, and Dr. Landy had to be re-hired at a salary of almost half-a-million dollars per year. (See Wikipedia.)

To my mind, this is a great movie, however uncomfortable to sit through.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

An indie well worth seeing

[7/10 · 9 July 2015]

I saw it three times. Yes,it was painful because we were all that kid -- geek, awkward, nowhere with girls.

The movie is honest, funny, and I will see Olivia Cooke's unreal face in front of me for months. (And she did shave her head; I wondered about that.) R.J. Cyler gave perfect balance to the lead actor's awkward role.

The best thing about this movie is the writing; it crackles at times with insight into the outsider's life.

I am much aggrieved that it only earned four million at the box office nationally. It's worth a lot more.

The Life (2004)

"The Life": A substantive, disturbing film.

[10/10 · 22 September 2013]

I watched this film three times yesterday. The first time for the sex, but the next two times increasingly aware that these sex workers were not actors (except for Mss. Hannah and Richards). Having to sit close to the TV screen to read the translation sub-titles was annoying, but what they were saying was must-read material. Wow. They don't mince any words. A sense of danger permeates all interviews, even the guys who try to pretend it's all in good fun. The strongest point of the film for me was the number of countries in Europe in which the action takes place. So many! And the girls who were sex-trafficked from Eastern Europe were the scariest witnesses. The deep connection between drug addiction and sex-working mirrored exactly the law-enforcement problems we're having here in Maryland, where the sex-trafficking trade is breaking out into the open. I loved this film, and not just for the sex. $6,000.000.00 well spent to inform us that prostitution has got to be legalized and regulated in the USA.