Vlog #15 4 KEYS TO THE GOOD LIFE

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #165

To get away from their busy lives, the Wilson family takes a vacation to Santa Cruz, California with the plan of spending time with their friends, the Tyler family. On a day at the beach, their young son Jason almost wanders off, causing his mother Adelaide to become protective of her family. That night, four mysterious people break into Adelaide's childhood home where they're staying. The family is shocked to find out that the intruders look like them, only with grotesque appearances. Written by jesusblack-30225 (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

Having seen GET OUT, it excited me for the chance that Jordan Peele would get the opportunity to direct another film. That film was US, seeing the trailer for the first time on Thanksgiving only made the anticipation till it’s release date that much more palpable. Upon seeing it and avoiding many spoilers, I watched almost mesmerized. From all that I had heard the film carried with layers of meaning, and it did, as it is definitely a film to attend at least twice. Not only is it thrilling it comes with moments of comedy as I'd expect from Mr. Peele. In the end, as I left the theater, I sensed the film had more to give, as I have yet done any research to the meaning of the symbols in the movie that would give me a better understanding of US. So, for now, I give US 3.75 stars of 5.

Late Nite LO-FI Freestyle #3

THAT ONE PHOTO

Beth and Marvin had been back from their vacation only a matter of days. Their modest apartment was still in disarray as the vibrant young couple had just unpacked what was needed to start their workweek and get back into the swing of things. 

On one of her breaks from the hospital, as Beth was a registered nurse, she stopped by the local drug store to drop off both disposable cameras to have the photos from their trip developed. On the way home, she stopped and picked them up without really taking a complete look through all of them. Rushing home to show Marvin. As she pulled up into the lot, she received a text from Marvin saying to message him back ASAP. Figuring she'd see him in a matter of minutes as he worked from home she walked up to the apartment and entered. To her surprise, her Mother who had flown all the way from Virginia to surprise them knowing they had just gotten back to the rigmarole of daily life was sitting on their couch. She figured the couple would be supremely grateful for the gesture on her part. 

Marvin didn't look too bent out of shape, but Beth knew how ruthlessly he protected his working hours. Looking at each other they were both caught off guard by the surprise visit. Making Beth's mom feel welcome. Marvin had poured her a drink and was engaging in small talk as Beth walked in. 

Beth settled in answering a barrage of question from her mother about their trip to Jamaica Beth remembered the photos and handed one of the packets to Marvin and the other to her mother. The focus now was on flipping through the pictures and describing what was captured helping Beth and Marvin relived their time in Jamaica, the island his family was from. 

At one point Beth saw Marvin get an expression of shock on his face with no idea why, but she then looked at the photo in his hands to see a buffet table at the resort they had stayed at. This photo jogged up a memory from that night for Marvin that perplexed Beth, but now seeing the shocked face turn to a sheepish expression on Marvin’s face she knew something was up.  

She turned to her mother who exclaimed, "Oh what is that?" turning the long photo ways, then sideways trying to figure it out in bewilderment. Beth herself took up looking at photos peering over the stack of photos in her hand that she was looking at. Beth turned to see her mom with a frown still trying to figure out what the photo was "Mom what is it?" 

"I have no idea,"

"Well then let me see," Beth explained. Her mother continued staring at the photo as if mesmerized by its imagery intent on seeing and knowing what she was looking at. Beth moved closer to her mom on the couch to see what was captured slightly apologizing for any images out of focus. 

Upon getting a look, Beth started to say something and gave it a moment "Oh that looks like your..." turning to Marvin still with a sheepish look turning into a grin. Beth knew what it was she and her mother were starting at in the photo and then snatching it from her hand along with all of the photos. Her mother began exclaiming "What is going on, what was that?!" "Ask Marvin.” Beth replied, "What was that Beth's mother questioning Marvin. Marvin looking at both women fighting off a shit eating grin finally getting the nerve to say it most respectfully and voice. He began with by calling her by her proper name of Mrs. Porter, as Beth held up the photo so he could see. It was a tad blurry, but if you had an idea of what the white spot in the picture was, as Beth did, which was a birthmark Marvin had on his manhood you could place the rest. 

This was a photo Marvin had taken in fun the night they had feasted at the buffet. As Marvin explained and Mrs. Porter began to understand what she was so closely examining began to blush trying not to make eye contact with either Marvin or her daughter. She soon began to crack a smile as one could see the calculations going off in her head and all she could say was "Oh my!" Beth and Marvin burst out in laughter at her mother's clearly embarrassed reply.  

Vlog #14 INDECISION​...

Late Nite LO-FI Freestyle #2

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #164

Sawyer Valentini is a troubled woman who moves away from home to escape a stalker. Sawyer finds she is still triggered by interactions with men as a result of her experiences. She makes an appointment with a counselor at Highland Creek Behavioral Center. At her appointment, she unknowingly signs a release voluntarily committing herself to a 24-hour stay. She calls the police but they do nothing when they see the signed release. After physical altercations with a patient and a staff member, Dr. Hawthorne says she is being kept for seven more days. Another patient, Nate Hoffman, gives Sawyer an introduction to the place. Highland Creek is running a scheme to milk health insurance claims for profit. They trick people into voluntarily committing themselves as long as the patients' insurance companies continue to pay; when insurance claims run out, the patient is "cured". One day, Sawyer sees David Strine, her stalker, working as an orderly under the assumed name George Shaw. She has an ... (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

I had been waiting to see UNSANE since the moment I heard Steven Soderbergh was set to direct and that the film was shot entirely on an iPhone. I didn’t quite know how the impact of being shot with an iPhone would affect the entire project or the look of the film, but even outside of that fact the story premise seemed intriguing. As I started to watch I could see how the shots were developed to use the best elements an iPhone with an adapted lens could create. As for the story I could see how one could easily get lost in the system for a mental health lapse, which made the film more than just an exercise in alternative filming methods. In the end I gave UNSANE 3.25 stars of 5.

ART SHARE

Welcome back with a new Able Abe Studios Art Share. This piece is entitled "Not a plaything" ...GO!!!

For more from Able Able studios make sure to check out these great links ableabestudios.com , Able Abe photography , Able Abe Z store , Able abe fan page , YouTube Channel.

GIRLFRIEND'S DIARY

Traffic was steady all the way up from Santa Barbara, but as Tory looked at his watch, he saw he had made some perfect time on the trip up to the city of Chico where his girlfriend Rose was staying for a summer internship. They had been together for several months and had been planning on this internship in the middle of their dating. Tory knew this and still perused her laboriously knowing they'd be apart from the entire summer as he had a full-time job at a film studio in Santa Barbara. The last time they were together they had an incredible night out, which ended back at his apartment and had Rose staying overnight. 

Tory turned down the street to Rose's apartment happy to see her as the texting, and phone conversations helped only so much and never would suffice over being in person. He parked his car not seeing Rose's white Jetta assuming she had yet to make it home. Grabbing his bags and heading up to her apartment. She left a key for him under the hide a key outside her door, and he got access.

Upon stepping inside he saw that either someone ransacked the place, or she had yet to tidy up the area for his arrival. The place looked lived in she had magazines piled up, books and papers were strewn about the situation. Tory set down his bags and took advantage of her absence and did a little cleaning up for her and himself as well, as he was the type of guy who liked his place a certain way. 

Not knowing how she was grouping things he tried to place items so as she could find them. He continued on into the kitchen and washed a few dishes that were in the sink. He then came upon a black book resembling a bible, but with no such markings on the cover sitting next to the microwave not knowing what it was, he took a look wondering if in her time in Northern California Rose had picked up some form of religion. 

Upon reading, he realized he had stumbled onto Rose's diary seeing that each page came with a new date or entry date. Some of the stuff he read was rather mundane. He read an entry talking about her boss at the internship, some girl who she had run into which reminded her of someone she once knew. 

To his mind, this was all innocent stuff so he flipped to the date that they had last seen each other just wondering, by chance if she'd have anything provocative at all to say knowing what had gone down during that visit. When he found it thinking to himself that he shouldn't be reading it, but more to the fact that maybe what he'd learned would change his mind about her. Still,, he pressed on and continued to read. The entry documented the night they had commenting about the dinner and how she felt about how he looked at the waitress, which showed she was a little jealous. She said on the night out and how she was regretting in some way still going on with the internship. Then she dropped it as the rest of the entry went on about how they made out and how he performed. Tory stopped cold knowing what may lie ahead how it could affect how he acted with her in the future. The suspense was killing him knowing was one thing, but now knowing wasn't at this point expectable. 

What he read blew his mind as she enjoyed his tenderness in foreplay while at the same time his ability to get rough with her in the middle, but what she liked most was how he ate her ass calling it her "Boom booty." She went on to explain how the tongue twirls and gentle nibbling and sucking got her so wet. Tory figured this read like a dirty romance novel if he had ever read one, but she didn't stop there as she delved into how depraved it was of him to even venture that way while he was there. A bit of accomplishment welled up in his manhood as he continued to read more about what he could have done more of leading up to the one thing she'd hope he'd do the next time they met up. 

He read with intense intrigue wanting to know what it was she was so desperately wanted from him when the front door of the apartment door opened revealing his girlfriend Rose home from her internship duties. Tory flung the diary across the room landing in the corner behind a shelf. He froze thinking he was caught, but she was awestruck that he was there and had tidied the place up a bit. They then embraced kissing like a couple that hadn't seen each other in months. 

Vlog #13 MY 1st 100 DAYS

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #163

Despite being no saint herself, Julia Cody has shielded her seventeen-year-old son, Joshua "J" Cody, from her Melbourne-based criminal relatives who they have not seen in years. After Julia dies in front of J's eyes from a self-inflicted heroin overdose, J, who is slightly detached from life, feels he has no choice but to contact his maternal grandmother, Janine "Smurf" Cody, the family matriarch, for a place to live. Smurf rules the family with a borderline incestuous love over her three sons, the quietly menacing Andrew "Pope" Cody, the hyperactive Craig Cody, and the barely of age Darren Cody. Pope and his best friend, Barry "Baz" Brown, are armed robbers, with Darren their up and coming apprentice, while Craig is a mid-level drug dealer. Melbourne's Armed Robbery Squad is after specifically Pope, who is hiding out. But when the standoff between the Cody’s and the Armed Robbery Squad is brought up a notch, all-out war ensues, with some casualties and J caught in the middle. The ... Written by Huggo  (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

I am not one afraid to screen a film that may be off of critic’s radar, although it is my hope that when I do I am rewarded with a great film experience. In the case of ANIMAL KINGDOM a film that from the trailer would be more of a film about a heist than a film about a dysfunctional family, moves at a methodical pace having you believe everything will work out well leading you to a heart-wrenching twist. I would also have to say Jacki Weaver who played Janine “Smurf" Cody had an outstanding performance. So for ANIMAL KINGDOM, I give it 3.2 stats of 5.

Late Nite LO-FI Freestyle #1

THE CONFESSION

She had been distraught all day she told him. She didn't know whom else to turn to, all along apologizing for bothering him at this hour. He was gracious. Letting her know his phone and door was open to her at any hour. She walked into his darkened apartment, it was the wee hours of the morning, and she smelt like she had just chain-smoked a pack of cigarettes and tried to cover the smell with an inexpensive perfume. They sat on his sofa; she sat at one end while he sat at the other still in his boxer briefs and a white tee. 

She let him know the root of her anguish, which was being past over for an internship that she had been looking forward to since the previous year. The interviewer made it sound like her acceptance would be a sure thing. As it turned out, she was qualified, but there just wasn't enough openings to get her in this go round. He watched her with caring tired eyes, as she continued to tell him how set her mind was. It's hard to say what goes on in one's heart and soul daily, but it was 3:33 am, and he had to be at work that morning yet he found it within himself to hear her out. 

They had dated in the past. This young woman at his doorstep, soon calling it off feeling she had met her soul mate Estaban, a transplant from Peru with a sexy accent, and was ready to move in together and marry him after only 5 months. The reality of her lousy decision eventually hit hard, and everything blew up in her face as she caught Estaban cheating in their bed with their downstairs neighbor. Even at that time whom did she seek out to console her aching heart, it was he. He also listened then, biting his tongue not to curse her out knowing she had a deceptive way of turning it around on him making it his fault. 

He continued to listen. Still, with visions of his early morning visitor nude, she shed her black leather biker jacket unbuttoning her white blouse and sitting on her side of the sofa having kicked off her heels and removed her jeans sitting in black lace panties in an attempt to get comfortable. The two sat talking as rays of early morning light crept through the splits in the blinds. He had been here before with her, yet he wondered why she was back now. They hadn't spoken in a while, having only seen her in passing as they worked in the same office building. He was wondering why him and why now? He wasn't entirely over her, dreaming of a moment like this where she'd grovel asking him to take her back, but he wasn't a pushover.  He was a changed man, much more adept at handling her intense mood swings and passive-aggressive personality granted he'd get the chance.

She got up from the sofa and began to make coffee; still familiar with his apartment layout she knew where everything was. He watched her from the couch in the adjacent living room admiring her allure. She was a beautiful woman well endowed with smoky, exotic features that spoke to her middle eastern decent. Maybe he did still want her, but he'd never say it as she was the type with a blunt tongue fearing she'd say something that would again send him to counseling. 

Maybe he was a pushover? If he was, well then she was crazy making the good times great, something romance novels were made of and the bad times a pit of despair. Living and loving her was a rollercoaster ride that deep down he missed. Yet again, having grown from the experience, he couldn't let her know that she needed to realize what she had given up and honestly ask for it back hoping she had learned from the experience. Through her pale blue and sparkling grey eyes, she looked at him from across the room asking him if he wanted a cup of coffee. He nodded and began to get up. She told him to sit down she'd bring it to him. "Two scopes of brown sugar?' She questioned, remembering from their time in the past. She poured the hot coffee into matching black coffee mugs from Denny's, a reminder from an incredible night out together having picked them up on a whim. 

She brought him the cup of coffee and then he admired the sensual switch in her walk as she moved back to the kitchen. He smiled with the first hot sip. She stared at him then proclaimed he was the best thing she ever had and threw it away.  Not getting the internship really made her realize that. As without someone to share in the good and the bad times she saw the importance of what she had let go of. She had grown too finding stability and understanding more attractive than good looks and an accent. She loved and missed how she could fly off the handle, and he'd still be there waiting to comfort her. Within herself, she found how to deal with her swings of emotion and if she got the chance she'd find a way to not be so volatile. 

His heart jumped, he wasn't expecting that revelation. She then repeated it. He heard her the first time, yet the second time was even sweeter. She stood at the side of the kitchen counter holding sensually looking down bashfully waiting for what he'd say. Gradually becoming aroused his insides sparked with desire. "Why are you telling me this?" He questioned. She looked up from the floor at him "Cause I want you back, how can I get you back?" Feeling she needed to explain more she nervously rephrased. Then he stopped her. 

The glorious early morning light backlit her from the kitchen window causing her skin to glow. She stood there on her tiptoes biting her lip exposing herself enticingly dreadfully anticipating the answer.  The guy with work in the morning hadn't taken his eyes off her since she had said what she said. He set his coffee on the coffee table next to the sofa. He got up and at an unsure pace understanding what he was about to embark on having gotten the hallelujah sign from her walked to his room leaving her alone in the kitchen. She then set down her coffee on the kitchen counter taking a beat understanding what she had set in motion. Her emotions high and on the verge, her newly mature self then took the reigns guiding her to follow him pushing the door to his room closed behind her as she entered.

Vlog #12 HOW TO DEAL

MY NETFLIX MOVIE REVIEWS #162

A supernatural force sets out to exact revenge against art profiteers attempting to exploit a series of paintings by an unknown artist. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)

Having seen the first film from the director Dan Gilroy NIGHT CRAWLER my anticipation to see VELVET BUZZSAW, his second film, was high. Through the trailer, I got that this film was also a thriller, but venturing on horror, a genre that I don’t venture into often, but for this, I made an exception. I enjoyed seeing Jake Gyllenhaal take a role in this film, as he was in the first film, to which I felt that performance was also better. The genius of the film though was its take on how the art world could transform into a horror story. I don’t know if I’d ever seen anything like this, which makes this film memorable as well as entertaining. So for VELVET BUZZSAW, I give it 3.5 stars.

ART SHARE

And another one Able Abe Studios Art Share. Today's piece is entitled "Congratulations" ...GO!!!

For more from Able Able studios make sure to check out these great links ableabestudios.com , Able Abe photography , Able Abe Z store , Able abe fan page , YouTube Channel.

Vlog #11 BUILDING MOMENTUM