Change Your Image
sarahkleames
Reviews
Ellen Foster (1997)
A lot of creative liberties
In comparison to the book there are a lot of creative liberties, and it feels like they did it due to a time crunch with only so much time to put everything into the movie...only the book was like 100 pages so the creative liberties feel kind of ridiculous.
The acting was superb. The trauma felt from Ellen was very real, along with her father who realized he lost his baby girl when he showed up at the school, regardless if he was drunk, was heartbreaking. Trauma is generational, and they did an amazing job of capturing the essence of what this feels like.
The best examples for Ellen on kindness were all the people who loved her, black and white, it didn't matter, but the hired black people working for her grandmother showed Ellen how to survive trauma on a daily basis when there is no other way of living.
1000-lb Sisters (2020)
Honest Review with Spoilers.
Amy and Tammy are raw in the first few seasons as they battle various addictions. I get the feeling they are emotionally starved and react from that place, settling instead of realizing their worth. More than once TLC had opportunity to step up and help them before situations got out of control, and they wait until the very last minute to intervene. Money is definitely an issue in their lives, as they are living on bulk ground beef. TLC saw an opportunity to help Tammy when she needed access to the pool with transportation and expenses and they just kept letting her complain until she gained so much weight she became a monster. Amy and Tammy if you're reading this please know you are worth more than they are giving you, and they don't want you to know this. Not everyone you've trusted your whole life can be trusted. You are allowed to negotiate your wage, you are allowed to ask for things to help benefit you and the show. The worst they can do is say no. You are allowed to think things over and not feel pressured. You are allowed to trust your gut.
If you need transportation you ask for it. If you need more activities so you're not feeling like a monkey in a cage on display, ask them to pay for vacations. Don't take no for an answer. This is basically a paid commercial from sponsored vendors/companies who want advertising for free products. Same could go for remodeling your home, yard, and new wardrobes as you lose weight. Take advantage of everything you deserve. TLC will continue to capitalize off of you either way.
The Curious Case of Natalia Grace (2023)
May the Barnett's be haunted with guilt. If they even have a conscience.
The only victim's here are Natalia and her birth mother. Natalia for all the horrible abuse she went through at the hands of people who were supposed to care for her, at the agencies supposed to look out for her, at neighbors that should have reported neglect, and given her basic human kindness, and the list goes on. Her birth mother is a victim as well, being told to trust doctor's, and then having your baby placed in hell. The guilt the birth mother lives with, it's absolutely uncalled for, the doctor's should be punished, the doctor's should be held accountable, but unfortunately with the war that will probably never happen.
(I'm not discrediting that the Barnett's other children went through hard stuff- I just don't think they are the focus of this documentary. )
Mr. Barnett is complicit in the harm of that little girl by staying silent. He can call himself a victim all he wants, but he's not better than the people who turned their backs on jews during WWII. Wether it's one life or many, if you see harm being done you need to act on it. You can't tell me he didn't have a job, or didn't go to a grocery store and couldn't have used a pay phone or made a pit stop to the police dept. You might think it's easy as an outsider to say that, but as someone who grew up in a domestically violent household I know my mother should not have stayed silent, that my father was horribly abusive, but if he'd been shut down sooner his behavior would have been stopped. There is nothing worse than adults being bullies to children. The second worse is adults being complicit to adults doing the abuse.
Kudos to the Lafayette police department for thoroughly investigating this case. Not so white trash now huh Kristine!? They seem pretty smart! Are you laughing now Kristine?
Michael noone believes you and your lawyers are only nice to you because you pay them. You overreact on everything. Unbelievable. You are not the victim here. You only got off because the judge put so many stipulations in place on your case. Feel that white man privilege? You may not be in jail, but you shall be forever judged just walking down the street.
I give this documentary 8 stars for being so well made , I may not agree with everyone in it, but overall it's decent. It's lack of showing interviews of Natalia's education/teacher interviews and the most important part, Natalia herself are why I deducted points.
I know forgiveness is important. So is facing what's been done to a victim. Natalia if you're reading this know it's ok to change your mind, it's ok to go to therapy, and it's ok to call out your abusers. It's also ok to remember things at a later date because our memories are not linear. You are a trauma survivor. You went through something hard. Even if you forgive it's ok to say hey this thing happened to me and it's part of my story. You too do not have to be complicit in the silence of your abusers. When you're ready it's ok to say hey you know what, I want to speak out!
It's also ok to never do it, or choose to do it at a later date. You are powerful. You are no longer under Kristine's thumb. You are safe.
Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian (2020)
An underrepresented actress who needs more screen time! Bloody Hilarious!
Amazing Woman, even if opinionated, it shows her being the bigger person many times as she works through situations ( many small-just basic micro aggressions of life- sometimes even menial life experiences ) and allows people to break through her comfort bubble to gain what we're all looking for in life- human connection-an understanding of other cultures-an understanding of life on this planet....
It dosen't just cover Australia. It covers the people who come to Australia and make it their home. It covers people who were here " before Australia " who consider themselves another name.
It's also nice to have more LGBTQ ( Lesbian) and Jewish and Plus Size representation, and all that wisdom of someone who went through such hard times as a queer and made it. She's a pioneering legend. You just know that first episode was homage to some friend begging her to show her knickers on tv and she was like " I'll do you one better and show a little side arse. "
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)
Amazing Cast and Amazing Acting!
Abby Ryder Forstson is at that age where everything is awkward and precious all at once, and she did an amazing job of capturing all of that in this film. She's vivacious and her acting is full of emotion.
Kathy Bates and Rachel McAdams also have empowering female roles that really shine. Especially considering it's the 70's with the women's liberation movement happening, these women pretty much run the show and household.
The film is amazing. I'd give it more than 10 stars if available. Child honoring should be a thing, and I wish all children could be as loved as much as the character Margaret. So many lessons for adults and children both in this film.
Love & Death (2023)
Elizabeth Olsen steals the show because they gave her the most screen time...
Meh. If you've watched Candy than you really don't need to waste your time with this. Candy was spectacular and gave everyone adequate screen time from the beginning. Three episodes in on this remake and I feel dirty watching this, like morally wrong. They glamorize affairs without giving enough screentime to the other actress to explain their story. I realize Elizabeth Olsen is the selling point, but that's about all this show has to offer, a pretty face to look at and the ultimate sexualized fantasy. Elizabeth Olsen is a spectacular actress, but the show could have been made better if they'd given more screen time to other's.
Elizabeth is a phenomenal actress, but not so good that we need a remake made within the same year kind of actress.
Still Missing Morgan (2023)
The Cops need to be retrained, period.
Watching episode 2, and especially episode 3, I keep hearing today's lead detective talk about not throwing previous detectives under the bus for doing their jobs wrong, but that's totally what he did. You get the feeling he'd throw everyone under the bus if it helped him climb to the top, and he'd do it with his well practiced smile on his face.
There's a conference room scene where the leading detective and other coworkers discuss how infuriating people are for coming forth with details years later. They really need sensitivity training. If they knew anything about trauma they'd know trauma survivors don't process life the same way and are in constant survival mode, waking up every morning in a state of alert instead of calmness. ---I for one thought how careless and reckless they were being. Someone with crucial information to a case may have been sitting on it out of fear and these cops words may have a lasting impact. It would make me feel like I wouldn't be believed, and the cops are going to be infuriated. Cops can be scary, and when you see things in the news about cops choking people to death by sitting on them it already makes people apprehensive.
Last but not least the lead detective is the laziest MF on this little girls case, and she deserves better. They had a chance to leave no stone unturned, but decided to leave the shed. Absolutely Ridiculous. Things get moved over time. Don't be so Absolutely sure of everything. Tear that building down and start digging until you are sure. It dosen't matter if she's not underneath, what matters is you checked everywhere and didn't leave an area unchecked and half-assed.