Movie: The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

Came out; 2013

Time; 3 hours

Watched: Paramount Plus

Rated: R for sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout and for some violence

IMDB Rating; 8.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 79%

Popcorn Meter 83%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort

Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff

Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia

Matthew McConaugh as Mark Hanna

Kyle Chandler as Agent Patrick Denham

Rob Reiner as Max Belfort

Jon Bernthal as Brad

Jon Favreau as Manny Riskin

Jean Dujardin as Jean Jacques Saurel

Joanna Lumley as Aunt Emma

Cristin Millioti as Teresa Petrillo

Story Line;

Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is Long Island penny stockbroker who serves almost two years in prison for refusing to co-operate in a huge 1990s securities fraud case that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration.

Thoughts:

We didn't watch this movie way back when it came out. We were so busy between like 2007-2015 with kids that we missed a lot. We've decided to go backwards and watch movies we didn't see when they came out. We started with this one. It wasn't great

There are a ton of famous people in this, it's way too long and there's so much going on all the time that you sometimes forget what the actual story line is.

I understand this is about stock trading that's a “Pump & Dump” but I don't really understand what that means. What I do know, is this wouldn't be the life I'd want to get in and there were so many unanswered questions

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

Jordan Belfort, at 25 years old, worked as a Wall Street stockbroker for L.F. Rothschild in 1987, working under Mark Hanna. The drug-fueled stockbroker atmosphere and Hanna's conviction that a broker's sole objective is to enrich himself swiftly draw him in. After Black Monday, the worst one-day stock market decline since the 1929 stock market crash, Jordan quits his job and accepts a position at Investor's Center, a Long Island boiler room brokerage business that specialized in pink sheet penny stocks. His aggressive pitching skills and large commissions earn him a tiny fortune.

Jordan and Donnie Azoff, his neighbor, become friends and launch their own boiler room brokerage firm. After training local drug dealer Brad Bonick in the technique of the "hard sell," they enlist Jordan's boyhood pals Robbie Feinberg, Alden Kupferburg, Nicky Koskoff, Chester Ming, and Toby Welch. They also establish the business in an abandoned auto repair shop. Jordan's pump and dump strategy, which inflates a stock's price by false, positive claims in order to sell it at an artificially high price, is generally successful due to his strategies and salesmanship. The price falls as the scheme's perpetrators sell their inflated securities, leaving those who were duped into purchasing them with stock that is abruptly worth a lot less than what they originally bought for it. In 1989, Jordan disguises this by renaming the company Stratton Oakmont, which sounds respectable. Jordan develops a sharper sales script for his team and they quickly gain a large client pool.

The business soon achieves great success and expands into a larger office after leaving the car repair shop. Hundreds of ambitious young financiers rush to the business after an expose in Forbes dubbed Jordan "The Wolf of Wall Street" -- "a sort of twisted Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to himself and his merry band of brokers"-and they relocate into even larger offices.

As all this is happening, Jordan becomes immensely successful and slides into a decadent lifestyle of prostitutes and drugs that spills over into his firm where having sex and doing drugs in the office is acceptable. He has an affair with lingerie designer Naomi Lapaglia, and when his wife Teresa finds out, Jordan divorces her and marries Naomi in 1991. Meanwhile, the SEC and the FBI begin investigating Stratton Oakmont.

In 1993, Jordan illegally made $22 million in three hours after securing the IPO of Donnie's childhood friend and women's shoe designer Steve Madden, bringing him and his firm further FBI attention. To hide his money, Jordan opens a Swiss bank account with corrupt banker Jean-Jacques Saurel in the name of Naomi's aunt Emma, who lives in London and thus remains outside the immediate reach of American authorities. He uses Brad's Swiss-Slovenian wife Chantalle and her family, who have European passports, to smuggle the cash into Switzerland.

Donnie and Brad soon get into a heated argument in public during a money exchange, resulting in Brad's arrest as Donnie escapes. Jordan learns from his private investigator, Bo Dietl, that the FBI is wiretapping his phones. Jordan himself is nearly arrested for driving his prized Lamborghini Countach home from a nearby country club while extremely intoxicated on Quaaludes but without proof he was behind the wheel of the wrecked car, the police have nothing on him. However, Donnie had been on the phone at Jordan's home arguing with Sorel in Switzerland, also while high, offering further evidence to the FBI.

Fearing for his son, Jordan's father Max advises him to leave Stratton Oakmont and lie low while Jordan's lawyer negotiates a deal to keep him out of prison. In the midst of his farewell speech, Jordan cannot bear to quit and talks himself into staying, to the immense support of his friends and employees.

In 1996, Jordan, Donnie, and their wives are on a yacht trip to Italy when they learn that Emma has died of a heart attack. Jordan, suddenly desperate to reach Switzerland to forge her name and save the account before going to London for the funeral, orders his yacht captain to sail to Monaco to bypass customs enforcement, but their ship capsizes in a storm. After their rescue, the plane sent to take them to Geneva is destroyed when a seagull flies into the engine; Jordan takes this as a sign from God to address his worsening drug addiction and attempts to sober up.

In 1998, Saurel and Koskoff are arrested for an unrelated crime, the former informing the FBI about Jordan as a plea bargain. Since the evidence against him is overwhelming, Jordan agrees to gather evidence from the rest of his colleagues in exchange for leniency. After having sex for the last time, Naomi tells Jordan that she is divorcing him and wants full custody of their daughter and infant son. In a cocaine-fueled rage, Jordan punches Naomi and tries to drive away with his daughter, but crashes his car in the driveway. His daughter is unharmed but Jordan seems to recognize he's reached rock bottom.

Later, Jordan wears a wire to work and slips a note to Donnie, warning his old partner not to incriminate himself. However, Donnie betrays Jordan by giving his note to the FBI, who arrest Jordan, before they raid and shut down Stratton Oakmont. Despite breaching his deal, Jordan receives a reduced sentence of 36 months in a minimum security prison for his testimony and is released in 2000 after serving 22 months. After his release, Jordan makes a living hosting seminars on sales techniques. At one in New Zealand, he starts by asking one of the attendees to sell him a pen he has on him. Jordan seems to revel in the failure of several of them to convince him.

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia

Chronic Pain Thoughts: Spinal Cord Stimulator

 

Dear Reader,

Have you or a loved one been duped into getting a Spinal Cord Simulator?

Thankfully I was not nor do I personally know anybody that has.

There is a class action lawsuit, If you have one, please fill out the information

Did you receive a spinal cord stimulator implant within the past 6 years and experience complications? You are not alone, and you may have legal options. To find out if you qualify to join a spinal cord stimulator lawsuit, fill out the form on this page.

While spinal cord stimulators can be a helpful treatment option for some patients, these devices may also carry serious risks. Reports of severe, life-altering complications have raised concerns about the safety of certain spinal cord stimulator implants.

If you or a loved one experienced complications or injuries after receiving a spinal cord stimulator, you may be eligible to pursue compensation through a spinal cord stimulator lawsuit.

Who qualifies for a spinal cord stimulator lawsuit?

You may qualify to pursue a spinal cord stimulator lawsuit if all of the following apply to your situation:

• You received a spinal cord stimulator within the past 6 years

• The device was manufactured by Abbott, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Nevro or St. Jude

• The implant was used to treat chronic pain (not sleep apnea or bladder-related conditions)

• You experienced complications, device malfunction or other injuries after implantation

If you believe you meet all of these criteria or you are unsure, fill out the form on this page to learn more and see whether you may be eligible to join a spinal cord stimulator lawsuit.

Spinal Cord Stimulator Lawsuit Eligibility and Settlement Updates

Resources: Top Class Actions, The Doctor Patient Forum

Movie: Send Help (2026) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

Send Help

Came out; 2026

Time; 1 hours 53 Minutes

Watched: Hulu

Rated: R for strong/bloody violence and language

IMDB Rating; 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 93%

Popcorn Meter 87%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Rachel McAdams as Linda Liddle

Dylan O'Brien as Bradley Preston

Edyll Ismail as Zuri

Dennis Haysbert as Franklin

Xavier Samuel as Donovan

Chris Pang as Chase

Story Line;

An employee and her insufferable boss are stranded on an island. She teaches him how to survive, and his attitude changes somewhat, while he's very interested in returning to civilization, she has other ideas. Things turn darker when their differences collide. This is not a rom-com

Thoughts:

I kept the “This is not a rom-com” in the story line above because that's important. It presents that way in the beginning, although if you've watched the previews, you'd know it's about a plane crash

It gives Castaway vibes when they first end up on the Island, but that's totally ok because it quickly changes to something else.

This was a fantastic movie, every twist and turn was great

The only issues I have: Rachel McAdam's body hair grew while Dylan O'Brien's did not. They were shown wearing different clothes at different points in the movie although they have no luggage.

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

Socially awkward and downtrodden corporate strategist Linda Liddle anticipates a long-promised promotion from Bradley Preston, the son of her former boss, upon his appointment as CEO. Instead, Bradley awards the position to Donovan, a recent hire and former fraternity brother, and plans to sideline Linda in a dead-end role, citing her abrasive manner and lack of charisma.

When Linda confronts him, Bradley is impressed by her boldness and invites her to accompany him, Donovan, and two other executives on a business trip to Bangkok to finalize a company merger. During the flight, Donovan humiliates Linda by playing an audition tape she made for Survivor, highlighting her survival skills. As the plane passes through a storm, it suffers engine failure and rapidly loses altitude. During explosive decompression, Donovan attempts to strangle Linda and take her seat, but she stabs him with a fork. Everyone except Linda and Bradley are sucked from the aircraft before it crashes into the sea and sinks. Linda escapes, swims to the surface, and clings to floating debris.

The next morning, she wakes on a remote island in the Gulf of Thailand and finds Bradley alive but badly injured. With no other survivors, Linda builds shelter and secures food and water. Bradley relies on her but continues to treat her as a subordinate. In response, Linda abandons him for two days. When she returns, he is near collapse from dehydration. Though still resentful, he begins to accept her authority. Linda proves adept at survival, catching fish and killing a wild boar. While exploring the far side of the island, she spots a passing boat. Though tempted, she deliberately avoids signaling it.

As Bradley recovers, Linda teaches him survival skills but warns him to avoid the far side of the island, claiming it is filled with poisonous plants. One night, while drinking homemade fruit wine, she confesses that she was once married to an abusive man and allowed him to drive drunk, leading to his death. Bradley appears sympathetic and offers to cook for her, but secretly poisons her meal with berries before attempting to escape on a makeshift raft. The raft is destroyed by the waves, and Linda, having survived due to his misjudgment of the dosage, rescues him from drowning.

In retaliation, Linda paralyzes Bradley using octopus toxin and pretends to castrate him, asserting control over him and their situation. While harvesting fruit, Linda encounters Bradley's fiancée, Zuri, who arrives by boat after the end of official rescue efforts. Fearing the loss of her new life and purpose, Linda leads Zuri and the boat captain to an unstable cliff, where they fall off. She returns to the camp alone, shaken and withdrawn, allowing Bradley to hunt by himself. While doing so, he discovers Zuri's buried remains.

Confronted, Linda claims the deaths were accidental, but Bradley accuses her of murder and attacks her. In the ensuing fight, Bradley gouges Linda's eye before she stabs him. Bradley escapes and discovers a luxurious beach house on the far side of the island. Linda follows, revealing she had known about the house since seeing the first boat and confessing to causing Zuri and the captain's fatal fall. She threatens Bradley with a shotgun, and he pleads for his life, claiming he loves her and wishes to remain on the island. However, she notices he is concealing a weapon. Bradley seizes the shotgun, but discovers it is unloaded. Linda overpowers and kills him with a golf club.

A year later, Linda has been rescued and reinvented herself as a wealthy and beloved celebrity, capitalizing on public interest in her ordeal as the apparent sole survivor of the crash. At a celebrity golf tournament, she promotes a film adaptation of her best-selling memoir and announces her intention to write a self-help book, saying, "No help is coming, so you'd better start saving yourself."

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia

Movie: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Came out; 2017

Time; 1 hours 55 Minutes

Watched: HBO Max

Rated: R for violence, language throughout and some sexual references

IMDB Rating; 8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 90%

Popcorn Meter 87%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Frances McDormand as Mildred

Woody Harrelson as Willoughby

Sam Rockwell as Dixon

Caleb Landry Jones as Red Welby

Sandy Martin as Momma Dixon

Peter Dinklage as James

Story Line;

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is a dark comedy/crime drama from Academy Award nominee, Martin McDonagh (In Bruges). After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes (Academy Award winner, Frances McDormand) makes a bold move; she rents three billboards leading into her town, each with a controversial message directed at Bill Willoughby (Academy Award nominee, Woody Harrelson), the town's revered chief of police. And when Jason Dixon (Academy Award winner, Sam Rockwell), one of Willoughby's officers--an immature mama's boy with a penchant for alcohol and violence--gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated

Thoughts:

She's credited in the very bottom, but Samara Weaving has a small part in this movie which she nails. She is the reason why this movie was even on our radar

In light of the subject matter this movie was funny and series at the same time.

It had such a “bad thing happened in a small town” feel, where the police aren't great at solving “real” crimes.

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is grieving the sexual assault and murder of her teenage daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton) seven months prior. Angry over the lack of progress in the investigation, she rents three abandoned billboards near her home, which in sequence read "R***D WHILE DYING", "AND STILL NO ARRESTS?", and "HOW COME, CHIEF WILLOUGHBY?" The 3 Billboards are right next to the road as it enters the town of Ebbing, one after the other. It is impossible for anyone entering the town not to see the Billboards or what is written on them. The Billboards had been last rented out in 1986.

Mildred approaches Red, the owner of the Billboards and understands the laws around what can or cannot be said on the Billboards. She rests the Billboards for a year and pays Red $5000 as rent for the first month.

The billboards upset the townspeople, including Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and racist officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell). They attract attention, so Bill Willoughby, the local chief of police, visits Mildred, but is unable to persuade her to take them down, even by revealing he has terminal pancreatic cancer.

Willoughby is a good man, but Mildred is not willing to let the matter slide. Willoughby says that he cannot do anything as the DNA found on Angela's body does not match any known criminal nationwide and there is not even a single eyewitness. Mildred wants the DNA of every person in the town tested to find the killer. Willoughby says that citizen civil rights do not allow for that, and the killer could also simply be passing by the town. He renews his efforts to solve the case but does not get anywhere.

Many townspeople are upset by the billboards, including Jason Dixon. Mildred and her depressed son Robbie (Lucas Hedges) are harassed and threatened, but she stays firm, to Robbie's chagrin. Robbie is subjected to bullying at school on account of the Billboards. Father Montgomery (Nick Searcy) admonishes Mildred for abandoning church and says that the whole town supports her on Angela, but nobody supports her in her campaign against Willoughby. Mildred accuses Montgomery of being culpable for the actions of the Church (including priests having underage sex with boys), and compared the Church to a street gang and a club where the members protect each other.

While Willoughby is sympathetic to Mildred's frustration, he finds the billboards an unfair attack on his character. Angered by Mildred's lack of respect for his authority, Dixon threatens Red (Caleb Landry Jones), who rented her the billboards, and arrests her friend and coworker, Denise (Amanda Warren), on trivial marijuana-possession charges.

The billboards have further strained Mildred's relationship with her son, Robbie, and she recalls that her last interaction with Angela was an argument (during which she lashed back by saying she "hoped she was sexually assaulted"). Her abusive ex-cop ex-husband Charlie ((John Hawkes) confronts her about the billboards and ends up revealing that, shortly before Angela's murder, he had turned down her request to come live with him. Charlie blames Mildred for their daughter's death.

Mildred's dentist is sympathetic to Willoughby and menaces her during an appointment (by trying to extract her tooth without any painkillers), so she drills a hole in his thumbnail. Willoughby brings her in for questioning. Milred maintains that she did not attack the dentist and that his hand slipped and he injured himself. During the interview, Willoughby coughs up blood. He has her released and is hospitalized. He leaves the hospital against medical advice and spends an idyllic day with his wife Anne (Abbie Cornish) and daughters, before committing suicide to spare his family from watching him die slowly.

Before his death, Willoughby wrote several letters, including one to Mildred. Anne delivers it, interrupting an unknown man who was menacing Mildred at work. In the letter, Willoughby tells Mildred that she was not a factor in his suicide, asserts he was dedicated to finding Angela's killer and reveals he secretly paid to keep the billboards up another month.

Dixon reacts to the news of Willoughby's death by assaulting Red Welby and his assistant. This is witnessed by Willoughby's replacement, Abercrombie (Clarke Peters), who fires him.

The billboards are destroyed by arson. Mildred retaliates by tossing Molotov cocktails at the police station, which she believes is unoccupied for the night. However, Dixon is there to read a letter left for him by Willoughby, advising him to let go of hate and learn to love as the only way to realize his wish to become a detective. Dixon escapes with Angela's case files, suffering severe burns.

Mildred's acquaintance James (Peter Dinklage) witnesses the incident and provides Mildred with an alibi, claiming they were on a date. Dixon is put in the same hospital room as Red, to whom he apologizes.

Discharged from the hospital, Dixon overhears the man who threatened Mildred bragging in a bar of an incident similar to Angela's murder. He notes the Idaho license plate number of the man's vehicle, then scratches the man's face to get a DNA sample, passively accepting the resulting beating. At home, he removes a sample of the man's DNA.

Meanwhile, Mildred goes on a date to thank James for the alibi. Charlie enters with his 19-year old girlfriend Penelope (Samara Weaving), and admits to burning the billboards. Mildred instructs Charlie to treat Penelope well and leaves. Unnerved that she retaliated against the wrong target, Mildred abruptly calls off the date, but James misinterprets her decision as embarrassment to be seen with him and leaves the restaurant incensed.

Abercrombie informs Dixon that the DNA sample is not a match and the man was overseas on military duty at the time of Angela's death. Dixon gives Mildred the disappointing news and, believing the man to be guilty of some other sexual assault, the pair plan a trip to Idaho to kill him. As they set out, Mildred confesses that she set the police station on fire, which Dixon had already assumed. They both express uncertainty about their mission, but Mildred says they can decide what to do along the way

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia

Movie: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

The Fantastic Four: Final Steps

Came out; 2025

Time; 1 hours 55 Minutes

Watched: Disney Plus

Rated: PG-13 for action/violence and some language

IMDB Rating; 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 86%

Popcorn Meter 90%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards

Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm

Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm

Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm

Ralph Ineson as Galactus

Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal ~ Silver Surfer

Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman

Story Line;

Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic herald, then Silver Surfer. And if Galactus' plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren't bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal

Thoughts:

I really liked the Gothic, Tim Burton style feels of this one

It also reminded me of the movie The Incredible s with the superhero's cast out

It was both original movies in one with some different story lines mixed in

It wasn't bad, the graphics were good but the CGI for Ben looked weird

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

On Earth-828 in 1964, the world celebrates the fourth anniversary of astronauts Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm becoming the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four after they gained superhuman abilities from exposure to cosmic rays during a space mission. Since then, the team have become celebrities and fought supervillains, while Reed's inventions have progressed technology and Sue's diplomacy via the Future Foundation has led to demilitarization and peace for much of the world. When Reed and Sue reveal that they are expecting a child, the world prepares for the new arrival and questions whether the child will also have superpowers.

Months later, the Silver Surfer comes to Earth and declares that it has been marked for destruction by Galactus, a planet-devouring cosmic being. Reed studies the disappearance of other planets and verifies this claim, and the team decides to return to space to stop Galactus from coming to Earth. They track the Silver Surfer's energy signature and, using faster-than-light (FTL) travel, arrive at a new planet just as it is destroyed by Galactus's ship. The team is captured and brought to Galactus, who reveals that he has an insatiable hunger that has driven him to consume planets for eons. Galactus senses that Reed and Sue's unborn child has an immense cosmic power and could take on his hunger, freeing himself from it. He offers to spare Earth in exchange for the child, and induces Sue to go into labor. The team refuses the offer and escapes from the ship. Using the gravity from a neutron star, which destroys their FTL system, the team delays the chasing Silver Surfer and propels themselves back to Earth. Sue gives birth to a boy, Franklin, on the way.

On their return to Earth a month later, Reed reveals the details of their encounter during a press conference. Their decision to save one child over the billions of other people on Earth leads to a public outcry, with many calling for Franklin to be sacrificed to Galactus. Johnny begins to decipher the Silver Surfer's native language using his interactions with her and some deep space transmissions Reed intercepted from her planet. They also have transmissions from planets that Galactus destroyed. As Galactus draws near and protests against the Fantastic Four escalate, Sue takes Franklin to meet with protesters. She explains that they will not sacrifice their child, but they will also not give up on the rest of humanity, regaining public trust. Using a teleportation system that he has been working on, Reed devises a plan to build large teleportation bridges across Earth so they can transport the entire planet to another solar system where Galactus cannot reach them. Through the Future Foundation, Sue organizes the world's nations to build the bridges and conserve the energy needed to use them.

As the bridges are being activated, the Silver Surfer returns and begins destroying them. Johnny stops her from destroying the last bridge in Times Square and reveals what he learned from the transmissions: her name is Shalla-Bal and she became Galactus's herald to spare her world, Zenn-La. Hearing transmissions from planets she helped destroy, Shalla-Bal expresses remorse but refuses to help and flees. Using Franklin as bait, the team plans to lure Galactus to the last bridge and teleport him away. Sue negotiates with Harvey Elder to evacuate New York City's citizens to Subterranea, his underground city. Galactus makes his way through the city and captures Franklin, avoiding the trap. Sue uses all of her power to push him towards the portal with a force field while Reed rescues Franklin. Johnny attempts to sacrifice himself to give Galactus a final push into the portal, but is stopped by Shalla-Bal. She pushes Galactus into the portal herself and it closes behind them. Sue dies from her efforts, but is revived by Franklin. The team later goes on a new mission as the world celebrates their fifth anniversary.

In a mid-credits scene set four years later, Sue is reading to Franklin at home and goes to get a different book. She returns to see him interacting with a man in a green cloak who is holding a metal mask

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia

Movie: The Running Man (2025) Caution Spoiler Alert

 

The Running Man

Came out; 2025

Time; 2 hours 13 Minutes

Watched: Amazon

Rated: R for strong violence, some gore and language

IMDB Rating; 6.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes:

Tomato Meter 61%

Popcorn Meter 77%

Caution; Spoiler Alert

Staring;

Glen Powell as Ben Richards

Alyssa & Sienna Benn as Cathy Richards

David Zayas as Richard Manuel

Grey Townley as Decker

Karl Glusman as Frank

Story Line;

A desperate contestant enters a globally broadcast death game where hired killers track participants across international borders. Cameras document every chase, every near miss, every kill. Audiences vote, sponsors intervene, and survival becomes performance art. The hunted runs while the world watches, entertains itself, and waits for the inevitable collapse of flesh against choreography

Thoughts:

This was ok. It wasn't my favorite

Quit different than the original and the book, but it turned out to be decent

CAUTION; Spoiler Alert

In the near future, the United States is ruled by the Network, an authoritarian media network. Most viewers live in poverty with little access to healthcare, and the Network placates the masses with trashy, violent game shows and reality television. The most popular program is The Running Man, hosted by Bobby Thompson, in which "runners" can win $1 billion by surviving 30 days while being hunted down by the Network's five hunters, led by the mysterious Evan McCone, as well as ordinary citizens. Given $1,000 and a 12-hour head start, runners are required to film themselves every day, or else forfeit their earnings but still be hunted.

Ben Richards, a blue-collar worker in the slums of Co-Op City, is unable to afford flu medicine for his two-year-old daughter, Cathy, after being blacklisted for union activism. Ben tries out for the Network, intending to join a less dangerous show, but is unexpectedly chosen for The Running Man along with Tim Jansky and Jenni Laughlin. Executive producer Dan Killian convinces Ben to join by offering him a safe house for his family and an advance for Cathy's medication. As the hunt begins, Ben acquires disguises and travels to New York City. Checking into a hotel in disguise, Ben watches the live feed of hunters killing Tim. As he flees to Boston, Ben begins to experience paranoia that gradually gets worse as the hunt continues.

In Boston, the hunters and soldiers track Ben to a hostel and shoot at him, leading to an explosion that kills eight soldiers. Anti-Network activist Bradley Throckmorton shelters Ben at his home, attempting to expose the Network's propaganda and deceit. Ben sends a video denouncing their action, but the broadcast content is replaced with a foul-mouthed deepfake of Ben, angering the public including Bradley's mother, who kicks him out of the house.

Bradley sends Ben to Derry, Maine, to meet Elton Parrakis, a fellow activist who prepares to lead Ben to a bunker for the remainder of his run. Ben stops Elton's mother from alerting the authorities, but Elton does so anyway, dispatching them with booby traps to avenge his father. Ben and Elton flee in a buggy, but McCone kills Elton. Ben crashes the buggy into another Hunter on a bridge and escapes into the river below. Jenni is killed, leaving Ben as the sole remaining contestant, while his survival has earned the support of the poor and working class.

Traveling north, Ben discovers that a land development has paved over the bunker. Escaping surveillance drones, he commandeers a passing car and takes the wealthy driver, Amelia Williams, hostage. Amelia realizes the truth about the Network's propaganda after seeing televised deepfakes of herself and agrees to help Ben. Reaching an airfield, they take off in a jet to Canada, guarded by McCone. Killian calls to offer Ben his own show as the Network's newest hunter if he kills McCone and the remaining hunters, broadcasting footage of them murdering Sheila and Cathy to drum up support for Ben.

Enraged, Ben kills the hunters posing as the flight crew, and McCone reveals himself as a former runner who took Killian's deal after nearly winning the first season. Killing McCone, Ben sends Amelia to safety with a parachute and Elton's revolutionary pamphlets. Killian gives Ben the chance to accept his new show on live TV, but Ben instead pleads for viewers to hunt down Killian and his fellow executives. The Network redirects the jet to their headquarters, airing a deepfake of Ben threatening to crash into the building, and the plane is shot down.

Sometime later, Bradley posts a video disputing the network's story, revealing that the plane's black box was recovered with an unaltered recording of Ben's conversations with Killian, inciting a rebellion against the network. Ben, who survived due to the plane's auto-eject function, has become the face of the revolution and reunites with his family, whose deaths were faked by Killian. As the next season of The Running Man begins, Bobby senses the audience's hostility and quits, leaving Killian to host. As a riot breaks out, Ben emerges from the crowd and shoots Killian.

Sources

IMBD

Rotten Tomatoes

Wikipedia

Lady Gaga & Mall of America (MOA)

 Has there ever been that one artist that you just have to see?

That's been Lady Gaga for me. I just love everything about her. She talented as a triple threat: She can sing, dance, play instruments and act! Ok, so that's more than triple but you get the idea. 

I didn't actively follow her. We were having a conversation at the bar one night and I was asked who my bucket list concert was: That was easy for me, Lady Gaga

A google search found The Mayhem Ball Tour in St Paul Minnesota, which is 4 hours away and from there, tickets were purchased and a plan was made for April 9, 2026. 

The drive there was like nothing, we spent hours at the MOA and checked into our VBRO house. From there my daughter and I were dropped off at The Grand Casino

Our show was set to start at 8, we were a little nervous since she had cancelled her last day in Montreal Canada due to being sick. The show started at 830 and went on as planned

The feeling of being there was absolutely amazing and literally brought tears to my eyes. We had "cheap seats" so we were side stage in the nosebleeds, but I don't regret a thing about that. This was high energy from the jump and Lady Gaga proved that age is just a number!

My phone wasn't working right in the dark, but please enjoy my pictures!

Here are some MOA Pictures: Mostly from Sea Life

The super funny rules from our VBRO House

Hopefully my video's will add. My phone kept giving me issues (probably because it's an IPhone 13 lol) if you'd like to watch the actual concert from someone much closer, please check out: Live Music - YouTube