Avatar: Fire and Ash

 

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" is one of my favorite movies of the series. 

This movie made up for "Avatar: The Way of Water" (which I felt was a rehash of the first). 

I did not think I would love this as much as I did, but Fire and Ash really made me love it from start to finish (3 hours and 18 minutes). 

The characters are back, but it's deeper and more involved. It picks up after The Way of Water, with Quaritch (Stephen Lang) tried to kill everyone with him finding a new tribe (Ash people) that want to destroy Jake and his family as well as take over Pandora. 

Working against Quaritch is General Ardmore who wants to finish the job of getting the RDA to poach the Tulkun. 

Overall, this film is a 4/5. The pacing is great except I feel the final part of the film could've been condensed into one big battle instead of two. But everyone acted their arses off, and the story is so tight and meticulous.

Eternity

 

This is one of the most surprisingly, charming movies I've seen in a long time.

Eternity is a romantic drama about Elizabeth Olsen (Joan) dying. As she goes to choose her eternity (where she will end up forever), she's confronted by her first husband Luke (Callum Turner), who died in the Korean War, and her recently deceased husband Larry (Miles Teller), whom she was married to for 65 years. Here's the kicker...Luke has spent 67 years waiting for Joan to come to the "Junction", an in-between space where he must decide where he wants to spend his eternity. 

It's surprisingly a great movie. When I was about to sigh and give up, a twist happened that made me invested again. That happened about 4 times.

Easily 4/5 stars. Worth seeing in the theaters for a date night.

The Running Man

 

Glen Powell plays Ben Richards, a go right married father who goes on a reality tv show to save his daughter's life and provide for his family...based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.

Set in the near future, Ben hops job to job trying to provide from his family only caveat his firings aren't his fault. From being a whistleblower to not working unsafe conditions, no one wants to keep him on staff. When he sees the advertisement to win $1b by surviving 30 days on the tv show THE RUNNING MAN, he hesitates at first but takes the chance. 

The Running Man is a reality tv real-time survival show where the contestant travels the world while having a target on their back. If they can live past 30 days they win the grand prize, but every day they are alike they get bonus points...even more bonus points if they kill the Hunters from the show hired to track them down.

It's actually a very good movie. 4/5 stars. And now I have to watch the original 1987 version with Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Sean Combs: The Reckoning

 

50 Cent obtained the footage of Diddy's documentary right before he was going on trial. Then 50 interviewed others around the footage.

This is the most disturbing documentary since "the Murder of Gabriel Fernandez." The fact that he got away with this for so long is truly crazy to me...and he assaulted women AND men.

So many revelations came out of this doc. Basically the takeaway was that Diddy made his fortune on the back of others...he's no different than a slave owner. He lied, cheated, and stole from people that trusted and believed in him. THEN made them feel like they did something wrong. But it's the physical, mental, and verbal abuse he did to SO MANY PEOPLE...he needs to be locked away for the rest of his life. 

I agree with 50...this needed to be done. And Aubrey O'Day and others needed to have their voices heard. 4/5 documentary.

Wicked for Good

 

It has taken me a few days to write this because I'm actually very upset...this movie did not live up to the first.

I waited A YEAR! And backstory, I never saw the musical. So I was so in love with the first movie. Saw it 3 times in the theater. And watched it once a week for two months when it came on streaming.

The real problem for me is that it was a repeat of the first. It started off with a song medley remix and just felt so unoriginal. There were parts I loved (the Glinda/Elphie fight, the house drop, and the triangle of Elphaba/Fiyero/Glinda). But Nessarose can GET hit by another house.

Well this gets 3 out of 5 stars.

The Expendables

 

So I just binged the entire "The Expendables" series on Peacock. And actually it wasn't half bad.

An off the books team of experts from hand to hand combat and weapons experts defend and protect the US from crazies. This is the basis of the first one. Over the course of the 4 films you find out more about the background and how the team started & by whom. In that sense, it’s very layered.  

I remember trying to watch the 1st one years ago and not being into it. This time I took it more seriously and liked it alike. The ONE thing it's lacking is heart.

There's brotherhood and bond, but I want heart. I wanna see who these guys are away from each other so their time together MEANS something. That's the only thing missing. 

I love that Stallone assembled the action stars of yesteryear. It's so cool seeing all the faves of the genre come back.

Overall, 3 stars. It's good for it's genre. 

All Her Fault

 

On Peacock is a new limited series called ALL HER FAULT co-starring Dakota Fanning. I am shocked she's not the lead, but Sarah Snook is actually the lead with Jake "SHADY AF" Lacy, Jay Ellis, and Michael Pena...Jake RARELY plays a good guy. Him and Jake Abel always play the sleaziest characters. No spoilers here though.

Although this is a crime show, it's based on Author Andrea Mara's book, which itself was inspired by a moment in 2015 when she arrived to pick up her daughter from a playdate and found the house empty, triggering a brief, terrifying moment of panic that she later used as the foundation for a fictional plot.  

The series begins with Marissa Irvine (Sarah Snook) going to a house to pick up her son from a 

playdate and being told not only is he not there, the homeowner never heard of her or her son 

before. And what's even weirder is that the playdate was asked via text by Jenny (Dakota

Fanning), who was not even in town at the time. So where is her son? And who sent that text?

And why?

And this leads into the most trippy show I've seen recently. It's so good and easily 4 stars! 

Definitely worth binging.

the other one about my absence

 Hi, friends!

It's been FOREVER AND A DAY (giggle - I'll explain later) since I posted. A crap ton has happened since. But I will be back to posting.

First, I can explain Forever and A Day...from December 2020 to December 2024, I was Co-Writer (and eventual Co-Executive Producer and Co-Star) of a podcast soap opera of the same name (scroll to the bottom to listen from the beginning). I joined as a part-time writer Season 2 and also did one episode as a nurse, in season 3 I became a full-time cast member and writer, then seasons 4-5 I was full-time erthang lol I became lifelong friends with Casey Hutchison and Candice Mack! They truly are two of the greatest humans I've ever met.

Then in 2022, Casey and I created Everyday Women, which was a podcast series basically the West Coast LGBTQ+ version of "Sex and the City"  (scroll to the bottom to listen from the beginning).

Also Brandon recruited me and his bestie Gabby to help get kitty off the ground. Not only am I a Consulting Producer on this project, but he allowed me to add my story notes to the script. Before we can get it filmed as a full length feature, 17 minutes have been cut as a short film. We worked with the fabulous Rafi S. Perez as Baby Girl and Luke Bucaro, who happened to be real-life friends which added a beautiful layer to their on-screen friendship. Check out the 1 minute trailer here. 

I also celebrated 11 years with my company!!!! Woohoo haha 

And of course I have kept writing. I'm still pretty terrible at promotion so my books really haven't gone anywhere, BUT I might have something in the works *rubs hands together and gives a sly smile* I don't want to talk about it fully yet; I have this thing that I feel I jinx stuff when I talk about things I want or working towards before they are a reality. Like the Universe takes it away because I'm bragging. So that one is close to the vest for now.

But I am active on Tiktok, Instagram, Threads, and Snap (MsEmmyMorgan). I left Twitter because Elon Musk allows hate and dissention to live there...since he took it over it's truly gone downhill. People love to be mean-spirited and evil to each other simply for likes or requotes. Threads is such a great alternative. You can not only block them, but before you do you can hide their responses from EVERYONE if it's under your comment. It's fabulous. I don't mind disagreeing with people, but I will never speak to anyone who's disrespectful. EVER!

Other than that I do need y'all to pray for my family. There was a gofundme out there so it's not a secret, in March 2025 one of my sister's brother-in-law took his own life (I am still shocked to be honest - Rest in Peace Kenny), but if that wasn't bad enough his wife had terminal cancer and has passed this Sunday, leaving behind 3 kids that my sister has taken in. So now she is responsible for 6 kids. My other sisters are dealing with health issues.

OH!!! The latest with my blood relatives! Well, I have decided that my half-brother and mother have been designated as blood relatives as well as anyone I am blood related to that has shown me contempt, hate, and disrespect. Those that I love related by blood or not are my family. Having said that, I have a half-sister and TWO half-brothers I found through Ancestry DNA and 23 & Me. I wish I were kidding. But I love with my whole heart, truly! They are not half anything to me. 

The saddest updates about my life have been my love life and my Tiktok family. I was pretty scarred by my last ex. He said some pretty unforgivable things that I just cannot shake. I've tried to forgive him, but I can't. And it's clouded how I interact with other guys even if I'm actually interested in them. What really sucks is I was part of a Tiktok family that I loved for 2 years. Unfortunately, one outsider came into the group, did the EXACT same thing that my ex did and that group is forever fractured. FOREVER AND A DAY hahaha see how I circled back haha I don't regret meeting them though. Not only did I learn so many important lessons about people and myself, but I did walk away with some amazing friendships I will preserve for the rest of my life. A handful of bad apples don't ruin a bushel. 

That's my life update. I will be back here posting my reviews and commentary on things. As always thank you for listening to me rant.

xoxo

Em

Murdaugh: Death in the Family

 

I binged the Hulu/Disney+ series, "Murdaugh: Death in the Family." 

For those of you not familiar, it's the true crime story of the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, a mother and son, allegedly by the hands of Alex Murdaugh their husband and father respectively. But it goes deeper than these two murders. Their maid/nanny Gloria had a life altering accident on their property, Alex was accused of embezzling from his clients, Paul "Paw Paw" was involved in the death of his high school friend while boating. Just SO MUCH happened in this. 

I've seen the documentaries, the two part miniseries, and other things about the once most powerful family in South Carolina. But this goes into expert detail (taking some liberties of course). This was a deep dive.

This limited mini-series fills in gaps and updates timelines (their maid/nanny passed two years before the series starts, but the producers/writers wanted to include her as a way to honor her family). 

Based on the details of the show, I do believe this may have been what happened. Although I am still unsure about Alex's motive.

I would give this (no spoilers) 4 out of 5 stars. Well-acted and written. I will say Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette are CLEARLY brilliant as Alex and Maggie, but Johnny Berthold as Paul "Paw Paw," Gerald McRaney as Randolph, Will Harrison as Buster, Kathleen Wilhoite as Gloria, and J. Smith-Cameron as Marian were my faves. Brittany Snow as Mandy, the reporter who reported every detail of the Murdaughs to the press was SEVERELY underused.