Author Archives: Dazzling Erin

4 Shots From 4 Films: Celebrating Rain

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Here are four classic shots, all featuring rain.

4 Rainy Shots From 4 Films

My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Dir. by Hayao Miyazaki)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Dir. by Frank Darabont)

Prisoners (2013, Dir. by Denis Villeneuve)

Toy Story 4 (2019, Dir. by Josh Cooley)

Music Video of the Day: Ugly Heart by G.R.L. (2014, Dir. by Chris Marrs Piliero)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Do you remember G.R.L.?  They were the girl group that Robin Antin put together that was not the Pussycat Dolls.

This song is about a man who is beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside.  The members of G.R.L. tattoo “ugly” all over his face as way to let the world know.  They get arrested but they regret nothing, which they prove by turning the police station into a dance party.

Do not try this at home.

Enjoy!

I Watched Last County (2024, Dir. by Barret Mulholland)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Abby (Kaelen Ohm) has been through a lot.  A recovering alcoholic, Abby is struggling with the guilt of having caused a car accident while her young daughter was in the backseat.  Her daughter’s okay but her husband cannot forgive Abby for putting their child in harm’s way.  Needing to clear her head, Abby heads to the farmhouse where she grew up.  She hopes that her husband and her daughter will eventually join her there.  Instead, she finds herself trapped in the middle of a battle between two drug mules and a corrupt sheriff (Nicholas Campbell).

I liked Last County more than I thought it would.  It’s a straightforward thriller that doesn’t waste any time getting to the action.  Kaelen Ohm was great as Abby and I really found myself getting caught up in her story.  I wasn’t just worried about whether or not she would survive the siege led by the sheriff.  I was also really worried about what would happen with her as far as her family was concerned.  Would her marriage be saved or would she fall in love with the more sensitive of the two drug mules?  Along with good performance and direction, Last County also really captured the feel of being isolated out in the middle of the country.

Far better than I thought it would, Last County took me by surprise.  It’s on Tubi.

Music Video of the Day: Coming Of Age by Cassandra Coleman (2025, Dir. by Miles Murphy)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

At first, I didn’t think I was going to like this video because, at first, the song sounded like every other song that’s been released nowadays.  Sometimes, I feel like every up-and-coming female singer works with same committee of songwriters and every song ends up sounding the same as a result.  Luckily, around the two-minute mark, the song finally got interesting and it won me over.

The video was filmed in the country and it’s pretty to look at.  These are the type of locations that I love to visit with my camera to see if maybe I can capture some of that rural beauty before it goes away.  Going for a nice walk is something that I suggest to anyone who finds themselves away from the city.  Sometimes, you really do find some strikingly beautiful locations if you’re willing to look for them.  Here’s one of my favorite pictures, which I took at a country cemetery in Arkansas.  I was lucky enough to turn around just in time to see a deer making a visit.

by Erin Nicole

Enjoy!

 

I Watched Fatal Exposure (2025, Dir. by Sam Coyle)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Red flags, girls!  You need to know how and when to spot them!

Photographer Ariel (Sofia Masson) is the victim of a violent home invasion and her sex buddy Derek (Stephen Huszar) just happens to show up a minute later?  Red flag!

The only photograph from Ariel’s exhibit that sells is an erotic selife called “No Daddy Issues” and then Derek suddenly wants to be called “daddy” while in the bedroom?  Guess what?  That’s a red flag!

Derek invites Ariel to his estate for the summer without telling her that he’s a widower and that he has a stepdaughter named Chloe (Jasmine Vaga)?  You better believe that’s a red flag!

Chloe is the same age as Ariel and physically resembles Ariel and calls her stepfather “daddy?”  Red flag, red flag, red flag!

I watched this movie because it was about a photographer and there really aren’t that many non-documentaries about photographers.  I didn’t think that the selfie that Ariel sold was that impressive but some of her other photographs showed a hint of talent.  But a photographer has to be aware of the world around her and she has to be able to see the things that other people miss.  That’s what distinguishes a photographer from someone who just has a camera.  How could any photographer miss all the red flags and all the strange atmosphere inside of Derek’s estate?

(I did like that Ariel had somehow developed a system to allow her to develop film and make prints within seconds.  I’d love to know how she did that.)

Fatal Exposure requires a big suspension of disbelief.  If you can do it, then the film itself is enjoyably trashy.  Derek’s gothic mansion is a great location and the acting wasn’t bad at all.  But you just have to be willing to accept that someone could miss all of those red flags.  Derek was too obviously evil from the start but he did give Ariel a nice studio to work in.  Maybe he wasn’t all bad.

 

I Watched Day of Reckoning (2025, Dir. by Shaun Silva)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

In this modern day western, Billy Zane plays a U.S. Marshal who recruits a down on his luck sheriff (Zach Roerig) to help him capture a banker robber (Scott Adkins).  Zane goes out to Adkins’s ranch and holds Adkins’s wife (Cara Jade Myers) hostage.  Roerig is not okay with this, especially since he thinks that Zane and his men have ulterior motives for wanting to track Adkins.  Eventually, some other yahoos show up, all wanting to join Zane’s posse, setting up a final violent showdown and Roerig having to decide which side he’s on.

Day of Reckoning had the right, dusty look and the acting was decent but it took forever for the action to actually start.  Instead, there were way too many scenes of Roerig bonding with Myers, who spent nearly the entire running time handcuffed in a bathtub.  Scott Adkins is a martial artist who has a huge online following but he didn’t get to show off any of his skills in the movie so I’m not sure what the point of casting him was.  Trace Adkins (no relation to Scott) and Mike Wolfe (from American Pickers) are also in the movie and I’m always happy to see them.  Rapper Yelawolf, who was supposed to be the next big thing 15 years ago, is also in Day of Reckoning.  He plays the imaginatively named Wolf.  I liked Billy Zane’s performance but it was mostly just because he was Billy Zane.  (I even liked him in Titanic because it’s impossible not to like Billy Zane.)  There’s nothing that interesting or surprising about his character.  It’s obvious that he’s going to turn out to be bad from the first moment he shows up.

Once the action does start up, it’s decent.  I just wish there had been more of it and less scenes of everyone standing around giving each other the evil eye.

 

Song of the Day: Ode To The Texas Rangers by Mark Singletary Band

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

I was searching for something on YouTube when I came across this song.  From 1975 to 1980, this song was played before every Rangers home game and also after every Rangers victory!  I listened to it and I loved it.  I wish they still played it.

As for my Rangers this season, they’ve currently got a 36-36 record and they’re in third place in the AL West.  Luckily, there’s still a lot of baseball to be played and the Astros are only leading by five games.  That’s one thing I love about baseball.  You’re never really out of contention, unless you’re the White Sox.

Go Rangers!