Cheezwiz

I've been watching the new Season 3 "Extra Sweet" edition. It was incredibly weird and sad to see Naya Rivera as one of the guest judges shortly after her death. I've also been (guilty pleasure, shut up! don't judge!) watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, so it was nice to see Garcelle Beauvais turn up as a judge - she looked fab. Sometimes I'm a bit mystified as to who the guest judges are. It's the inverse version of "Nailed It" where you get to see competent experienced people really push themselves. The format is repetitive, but the different themes the bakers have to follow each week are kind of fun. I enjoy the flavour combos that the teams come up with. I loved the blackout episode where the final two had to devise cakes that had spooky glow-in-the-dark elements. I just watched the tropical themed episode, which was colourful and fun. It made me realize how much I love certain tropical flavours and it was making my mouth water. I love that one team used calmansi as a flavouring - a co-worker introduced me to those little citrus gems years ago, and if you like citrus, they are HEAVENLY. Hunter is cute and all, but I'm more transfixed by the desserts. It's hard for me to watch an episode and not develop a fierce craving for something cup-cakey by the end. I find myself coveting Candace's outfits - she wears very pretty dresses.

Yep, she's one or two procedures away from looking exactly like Jocelyn Wildenstein. A shame because she was once naturally pretty. Maybe her outsides are starting to match her insides, because she's an awful dumpster fire of a person.

Dammit Dorit! Quit being reasonable! Don't make me like you! Your designer wear is still beyond absurd. Seriously, do these women have ANY inkling of how ridiculous they look? Their outfits are NOT flattering or attractive. Shame about the CAP-ri room. I mean, marginally better than the wall-to-wall kitsch everywhere else in the restaurant, but It sort of looked like Dorit just went to Michael's and hung a bunch of fake flowers and lemons from the ceiling. I was disappointed that Garcelle kept backtracking and apologizing after her awesome call-outs on Rinna. And she's absolutely right about Rinna's "own it" nonsense. It's exhausting. And only seems to apply to people other than Rinna. I really liked the way Garcelle's house looked once it was all decorated, and I enjoyed seeing her interact alone with Denise. I wouldn't mind hanging out with those two. I am so sick of this nonsense between Denise & Brandy. I really wish Denise would have just shrugged and said "yeah, and?" when confronted with what Brandy said. Brandy is just crude and gross. And I'm so, so tired of Lisa and her lips and her stupid hair, and her spoiled do-nothing daughters. I'd be hiding out in another country too if I were Harry Hamlin.

Just watched this and whew! It was a bit of a slow start, but holy smokes, that final 10 minutes was intense! I had been meaning to read this book for ages, but just didn't get around to it. I do remember when I first saw it in the bookstore just after its release, thinking that Jordan Peele would be an ideal person to make a movie version. Lo and behold, he wound up being involved! I think its great that the main characters are sci-fi/horror novel aficionados. The cinematography, sets and costumes are all beautiful, and it seems to be very well cast - love the three main actors so far. I didn't read too much into the opening scene, as it seemed to me that it was meant to be a jumbled dream sequence, but I'm sure there will be relevant details that can be picked out upon revisiting at the end of the series. I initially assumed that Tic was a WWII veteran, but it seems that he was in Korea instead? That tracks better with his young age. Leticia is indeed a badass - loved the flight from the diner scene. I wonder if we will get a bit more backstory on her, as her character is a bit vague. Uncle George is already a favourite character of mine so I was relieved he survived this episode - I thought he was a goner for sure. I thought the monsters were both fun and scary (even if they were a bit CGI cheesy), but it's already clear that the truly terrifying element is the human characters in sundown towns. The show did an excellent job of capturing the undercurrent of menace in entering an unfamiliar small town. How sad that this story is as relevant as ever today.

It was all anyone was talking about when it first aired, but it does seem like this show was a million years ago now, doesn't it? Mercifully I can barely remember anyone other than the two main adversaries, and I'm happy at least one is now in jail.

Just finished binging the third season. Man, this stupid show is like pringles or cocktail peanuts or something! Can't get enough! Who knows why Chrishelle's ex filed (methinks he likely had a side-piece waiting in the wings) but why does Davina think she's owed personal details? She has to be egged on by producers, right? No one could be that stupid or mean-spirited, right? Oh wait. She and Christine clearly just wanted to dig up juicy dirt. I'm not a big fan of Romain, but his undiluted hatred of Davina is hilarious to watch. And Davina continues to remind me of some weirdo character Kristin Wiig would play in a comedy sketch. It's all I can picture now whenever she's onscreen. I hope bad karma comes her way with that asshat developer she's been trying to unload the 75 million dollar house for. And even if some people don't care for Chrishelle, divorce is mega-traumatic, so I can't imagine also going through that under media scrutiny. I thought her new house looked really dumpy when she first moved in, but it got fixed up really nicely, and actually looked appealing and cozy. I was happy to hear that Mary managed to sell that freaking gorgeous house she showed on her wedding day. Those are the kinds of homes I love seeing - I am so sick of looking at glass and concrete boxes, no matter how high-end the finishings are. I still think she's delusional about her French himbo, but, oh well. I like Amanza and was rooting for her this season. She REALLY needs to pull up her socks with the lateness - it's unprofessional and people won't support you when the chips are really down if you're chronically late for trivial reasons. I was happy to see her sell her first home (I quite liked that house as well), and I hope she gets her custody issues sorted out. I don't care if the scene with her two kids was scripted - they were totally adorable. She and Mary are good supportive friends - I'm firmly on their team. Was also surprised that she was able to work well with Heather. Re: Heather - I'm guessing she was contractually obligated to mention veganism at EVERY. SINGLE. GATHERING this season. What a pill. Her little meltdown over the paparazzi teasing was funny. Maya just needs to go move to Miami already. I liked her the first season, but she's aligned too closely with the Team Beyotch for my liking. Christine and her over-the-top wedding? Meh. Her dress actually would have looked much better white (and I'm saying this as someone who usually loves black). Her husband is clearly a mega-nerd. A very loaded mega-nerd who probably thinks he hit the jackpot right now, but is in for a lifetime of woe and sorrow.

Yeah, I felt uncomfortable with those scenes as well. I completely understand how compelling true crime stories can be, and I also totally get their following on podcasts and the internet. But a comic-con style convention with fans getting photos with authors just kind of crosses an icky line for me for some reason. I don't think I'd feel comfortable going to one, even if I were a big fan of a particular author's writing.

A very satisfying and moving conclusion to an excellent docu-series. Seeing all the victims gathered together was very powerful - it put me in mind of the big photo shoot that they did with Bill Cosby's victims. The arrest and sentencing had to have dredged up all kinds of mixed emotions for everyone, so It was good to see that they now have each other to commiserate with. For so long, most of them had no one, even though they lived a stone's throw from each other. My jaw dropped at the beginning of the episode: "Holy shit, that's Bonnie!" Like others mentioned above, I'm curious to know what her father said to D'Angelo to make him go away. Usually people like him stalk relentlessly when they're fixated on someone. From what law enforcement officials who have dealt with him have said, apparently he's a big faker. Yes, he's an old man (just as MIchelle correctly surmised in her letter), but his pitiful presentation is apparently a put-on. Much like Harvey Weinstein showing up for court appearances with his walker. And though she never named him directly, Michelle certainly was bang-on in her profiling theories of who he might be. I was hoping they'd go into a bit more detail about his past and his psychological profile. His family obviously endured some horrible stuff, but I was curious to know if there was something haywire about him prior to the attack on his sister. I'm also still curious to know why he stopped for four years while that young girl was living with him. Especially since having his own wife and daughters did not curtail his activity. The nephew was indeed odd, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, because how fucking horrible would it be to be closely related to someone like THAT?! The story of him as a kid seeing a man in a ski-mask in the window telling him to go back to sleep was chilling. I'm still shuddering thinking about it. Well done Michelle, well done book/investigative team, and Bravo to all those courageous survivors for sharing their stories, and living their lives.

It's a cheesy doofy middle or upper middle-class white-people thing (and I'm saying this as a white-people). As basic as people losing their shit over pumpkin spice lattes every single autumn. People hire photographers to stage their "special moment". Why? I don't know. This, along with gender-reveal parties for pending newborn babies are absolute mysteries to me. I have no idea how they became a thing. Because apart from immediate family and friends, NO ONE CARES. NO ONE. ***Apologies in advance to anyone who has had engagement photos taken or gender reveal parties. This is me at my most cranky and curmudgeonly, and I just have no patience for this nonsense***

Actually scratch my previous comment about needing an eye-roll emoticon. Really what we need is a barf emoticon. Those cheeseball engagement photos. Ugh. I wonder how many hours they took to stage and set up those pics. WHAT A SURPRISE!

Same here - food is my life-long struggle. I'm not doing anything illegal, not hurting anyone else, and it's not interfering with my day-to-day activities, but I know it's an escape for me, and cumulatively is damaging my health over time. Perhaps that's why I empathized with Michelle's story. I think most people have been kind on these boards, but when someone OD's there is sometimes an element of pearl-clutching and subtle dismissal of the good things they accomplished before addiction overcame them. She thought she had it under control, until she didn't.

Agreed - if I had a kid who was keen, on acting, I would definitely support them in extracurricular activities, like drama classes, theatre workshops & camps etc. But I would want them to prioritize finishing high-school.

Agree - this kind of investigation was a team effort & I absolutely think she would have given credit where credit was due. I guess it's arguable how big a role she had in the case finally being solved, but I definitely think some of the connections she was making would have undoubtedly been helpful. It also seems she may have been one of the first to float the idea of using a DNA ancestry service as an investigative avenue. How bizarre that the group who pulled her book together found out about D'Angelo's arrest the night after a big book release event. I felt so sad for Patton when he said he wished the cameras were pointing at Michelle rather than him after word of the arrest got out. So many sad things in this episode, it was clear that Michelle was struggling not just the completion of the book, but with long-term depression and addiction issues that may have had some basis in her family's genetics. Incredibly sad that her friend Melanie wasn't aware that Michelle had become so dependent on opiates, as she had also had overcome similar struggles and may have been able to help. They seemed like they were a great team together. It also sounded like some of the drugs she had obtained may have been cut with fentanyl, rather than her obtaining fentanyl on its own? This episode may not have been up the alley of true crime enthusiasts, but I thought it was a moving exploration of grief, and the terrible shock everyone endured. I highly recommend Patton's comedy special "Annihilation" on Netflix for those who haven't seen it. He truly spun gold out of a terrible tragedy, (and yes it's actually both incredibly funny and sad). Something that's been on my. mind while watching this series was expressed (I think) by the host of My Favourite Murder: that people had a hard time grappling with the fact that addiction played a part in Michelle's death, but that most of us seek escape in some form or another. I've sensed kind of a judgemental tone in a some of the previous comments that has been irking me. The reality is that pretty much everyone has some sort of addiction. Whether it's drugs, alcohol, food, shopping online, playing video games, etc. It may be somewhere on a continuum, and may never reach a level of harmfulness to one's self or family, and may never interfere with a person's work life. But under the right circumstances, and specific stressors I believe many people may find the balance tipping off kilter. Everyone has something as a potential pitfall. Everyone.

Same! I'm already anxious for more! MORE!!! Can't get enough! But they aren't saying when the next six will be released - just sometime this year.

Too bad there's no eye-roll emoticon on these threads!

I enjoyed Lisa in Housewives context, but I don't think I'd be entertained by a show about her dog "rescue". As much as I adore dogs, I'm not fond of the tiny yappers she seems to favour exclusively, and I certainly wouldn't be interested in the human element either. Hard pass.

Michelle's death was incredibly sad, but sensitively handled in this episode. I can only imagine what kind of nightmares she must have been having from reviewing all those boxes of police files. It must have been terribly difficult for Patton to relive all of this in order to produce the show. That sounded like a recording of his actual 911 call. Just gut-wrenching. Loved her "Letter to An Old Man". So much trauma for the victims - the cop's story about cleaning up the murder scene and earlier in his career being inadvertently being shown his father's suicide scene photos. Unbelievable. That poor man and his family. I found it uncomfortable to watch the interview with the surviving couple. They clearly loved each other, and managed to build a life together, but the husband was just so shut down, and still didn't seem to have any way of processing his trauma. And it was interesting that the haunting story of the last victim provided an entry point for both Melanie & Michelle to reveal that they had both been assaulted. I initially misunderstood the beginning of the episode, and thought Michelle had simply had a regrettable one night stand with her boss that caused her to return home. And I think what Melanie was getting at in their conversation had some truth - those who commit assault seem to have a sixth sense for particularly vulnerable people who have already been victimized. Because I wanted to finish watching the series, I haven't delved into the details of the case yet. I'm curious to know if the GSK was the Visalia Ransacker, and am also curious to know why he seemed to stop for a few years before his final victim. Was he jailed? Operating elsewhere? I'm hoping the show will return to these questions again.

This was a bit of a meandering documentary, but interesting to get perspective from child actors of many different generations. My takeaway from this and from watching entertainment media in general is that usually nothing good comes from involving young kids in showbiz. If I were a director or casting agent in the business, I think I'd feel pretty conflicted about casting kids in my production. It sounds as if people's experiences range from rote workplace mistreatment to horrific abuse. And the sexual abuse is so much more prevalent than anyone imagined. After seeing the scandals involving people like Kevin Spacey, and Bryan Singer blow up. I now understand that the narrative I grew up with - that kid actors were spoiled, didn't know how to handle success, and blew everything on drugs - had something much more sinister going on underneath. From what I've heard networks like Disney & Nickelodeon are magnets for pedophiles, and abuse is still swept under the rug. Horrifying. I have no idea who Evan Rachel Wood was referring to when she was at the Golden Globes (they briefly flashed on Bryan Singer), but I could feel her distress coming through the screen. And even if the kid somehow dodges bullets and escapes mistreatment and abuse, if they're successful and work steadily, they don't develop proper life skills. It seems like a no-win situation. Kids should just be kids. I had no idea Henry Thomas had such a difficult time as a kid, and I didn't understand why he didn't become a big star like his co-star Drew Barrymore. He was recently in The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, and is very talented - hopefully he will find his way back to work he enjoys - I've always liked him. I was really impressed with how intelligent Mara Wilson & the silent actress who played Baby Peggy were. Milla Jovovich was (and still is) incredibly beautiful. She released an album when she was still a teenager, and I really liked it. She definitely could have pursued music instead of acting had she chosen that path instead. I really did not care for the present-day kid they were following around on the audition circuit with his Mom. He seemed to be always "on" and was straight-up unappealing because of it. I thought it was very telling when he was filmed with just the acting coach - he did not seem anywhere near as enthused as he had previously claimed. It seemed this was Mama's dream he was living out.

That was kinda jaw-dropping. It just went on and on and on... I'm curious to know what the actual storyline of Garcelle's project was supposed to be, because it was obvious that whatever convoluted thing that director was pitching had absolutely nothing to do with script. Utterly bizarre.

Party episodes are fun for people watching. It was interesting seeing Paul Nassif with his new young wife. Good for him. Adrienne was horrible to him during their marriage. And she is one tuck away from looking like that Wildenstein Catwoman in New York. And speaking of plastic surgery, holy melted barbie doll Brandi! She's awful, but was once genuinely beautiful - a total ruin now. It was nice seeing Eileen - I miss her. I never saw her final seasons, so I don't know what the beef between her and LVP was about. Not good times at the party for Camille - I think she was batting 0. Still laughing at Erika's talking head make-up - someone went to town with the blusher and bronzer! Malibu has never looked like an appealing place at all to me for that reason. The beaches themselves are of course, beautiful, but all the houses are crammed together seemingly inches apart, and are all shades of hideous custom-built ugly. There are much prettier beach-side communities with nicer architecture.

The hole could very well be a red herring!

For some people, creative pursuits are a complicated intertwining of enjoyment and abject terror. It sounded like she was a very self-critical person, and a perfectionist which can make consistent output difficult at times. I also can't help but wonder that the praise heaped upon her LA Magazine article may have placed an added layer of pressure on her. And then factor in the horrific subject matter she was dealing with and the psychological effects it would have on a person. She wasn't just banging out an extended re-tread of her article - it sounded like the investigation was a constantly changing series of new rabbit holes. As someone who is a notorious procrastinator, I feel like I understand where she was coming from 100%. It's often when you're at about the half-way mark or just past it that you feel like you're losing your way, you second-guess everything and it seems like you will never get to the finish line. You just want it OVER, but completion feels a million miles away. So much sad stuff in this episode, but it was so well done. I've been most impressed with this series so far.

Colour me shocked at her behaviour (in a good way). I generally loathe Dorit and her uber creepy husband, but outside of her ridiculous custom closet, she actually seemed halfway human this episode.

That little corner of Georgia certainly seemed to be serial killer central at that point in time didn't it? And frankly, I think I'd lump Rob in with them, 'cause he's just THAT creepy!

Both Kyle and Kim have always been completely delusional about their mother. The speak about her in reverential tones as if she were a saint, when in fact she was an alcoholic who spent her life using and discarding men for money. She trained her daughters to follow in her footsteps & snag wealthy husbands. When Kim was still a kid, she used to have to go searching for her Mom and fish her out of The Beverly Hills Hotel Bar. Man this was a boring return from hiatus or whatever that break was. I'm not fond of Aaron - he's a weirdo, but I'm still firmly on Team Denise. Man these crazy women will NOT let it go. I wish Denise would quit running away from them, but I can also sort of understand why, because nothing she says will ever satisfy them. I have seriously lost track of how many procedures I've seen Kim have - why do producers think OR scenes with plastic surgeons are interesting to viewers? Although I don't think Sutton necessarily picks the most flattering outfits for herself, her store did look quite nice. And much as I loathe Rinna, that dress she tried on did look amazing on her. Her rant about Chicago seemed completely unhinged. I also can't stand Erika, but I completely understood the look on her face watching Rinna yammer away in that moment. I wonder who Garcelle's date was?