Having a chronic disease or disability can put a strain on your relationship with your family and friends, and it can also affect your love life. Being single can be depressing enough by itself but can be even worse when you have a medical condition. Hollywood and the media love to glamorize love stories and show us that only people with perfect bodies with zero issues can fall in love. In reality, this isn't true at all. Nobody is perfect, and every one of us has our weaknesses and flaws. We are all human beings, and all of us want to be appreciated and loved.
![[DVD Review] - CHEER! RALLY! KILL! 5-Film Collection](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tz-utGdSbL9-JNQScoyI6DI1BozP326sclXrB2uGcrubtNucajUHFpPOpFUqddgQvNPQW1FqTGKq4yA890ezIP50CEWdF8kT0XtLu6OgLebsXuuw1NLG0fjDh-wFIHy41riGwd09x_s/w510-h640/cheer.png)
It's time to grab your pom-poms, pop some popcorn, and binge-watch CHEER! RALLY! KILL! 5-Film Collection, which is now available to own on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
After reading that, you're probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me because everyone knows I'm a horror movie fanatic. Don't worry. There's nothing clinically wrong with me. Why would I want to review five made-for-Lifetime cheerleader-themed movies? That's a question only my shrink could answer. What I can tell you is my noggin thought these five cheesy-fest flicks would be either entertaining or downright cringe. And I was kinda-sorta right to some degree.
Let's begin with the bad and move our way up to the not-so-bad.
The Wrong Cheerleader (also titled The Wrong Cheerleader: Back In Action) centers on teenager Becky (played by Cristine Prosperi) starting her Senior year at a brand-new school. She quickly makes the cheer squad and lands a handsome boyfriend, Rob (played by David Meza). Sadly, the good luck stops there because it turns out that Rob is a psychopath. Vivica A. Fox costars as the cheerleader coach. (Rating - 1 out of 5)
The Secret Lives of Cheerleaders is a poorly-acted dramedy centering around Ava Scott (played by Savannah May) starting a new life at a new school. (Yep, there's a recurring theme in these movies.) She joins the cheer squad and instantly bunts heads with the cheer captain and Homecoming Queen Katrina (played by Allie DeBerry), who will do anything to stay at the top. Denise Richards costars as Ava's mother. (Rating - 2 out of 5)
Undercover Cheerleader centers on transfer high school student Autumn Bailey (played by Kayla Wallace) joining the cheer squad, but there's a twist - she's an undercover journalist for the school's newspaper. After her first article comes out, a psychopath starts targeting the squad. Maddie Phillips (Netflix's Teenage Bounty Hunters) costars as Autumn's friend Kara. (Rating - 2.5 out of 5)
The Cheerleader Escort is the only one of the five movies to take place in college. The plot involves a freshman student, Cassie (played by Alexandra Beaton), joining the cheer squad. After her mother (played by Cynthia Preston) doesn't have enough money for her tuition, a fellow cheerleader, Gaby (played by Joelle Farrow), helps her to make some extra cash by becoming an escort for rich men. Awful things happen, which leads Cassie to expose the escort ring. (Rating - 2.5 out of 5)
Identity Theft Of A Cheerleader is the dumbest title as it doesn't make any sense. The plot involves a 30-year-old woman, Vicky Patterson (played by Mairara Walsh), losing her retail job. She ends up stealing the photo id of her teenage coworker, signs up for unemployment, and enrolls herself in high school, so she can join the cheerleader squad in an attempt to make her cold-hearted mother proud. (Rating - 3.5 out of 5)
I don't watch very many made-for-TV movies because most of them are cheaply produced with bad acting and horrible directing. Honestly, I don't know why I requested a review copy for CHEER! RALLY! KILL!, as obviously I'm not the right audience for these types of films. Nevertheless, I watched each movie with an open mind and was entertained for the most part.
The Wrong Cheerleader is the only movie I didn't like. Hollywood has done the boyfriend stalker plot to death. The script plays out like a corny soap opera plot from the 1990s, and the acting from the entire cast is hideous, though the latter might have something more to do with the directing.
The other films are more or less the same for me, except for Identity Theft of A Cheerleader, which is the best of the five movies. Cheesy? Hell, yes! But in a fun way.
The picture and sound qualities are decent for the two-disc set. There are no special features or bonus extras.
Overall, if you're into cheesy low-budget cheerleader movies, then you might find some enjoyment watching the CHEER! RALLY! KILL! 5-Film Collection.
|
| Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer! |
What the hell is wrong is wrong with Blogger today? I was getting ready to edit this post, and the platform wouldn't cooperate with me, so I had to sign out and sign back in. And now half of what I had written had disappeared after I had saved everything.
Instead of reading The Queen's Gambit last Monday, I ended up reading Writers of the Future - Volume 36, an ARC that I have had in possession for nearly a year. I had started reading a few times but lost interest in it. I thought it was time to kick my butt into gear and review the damn thing. The link to the review is down below in this post.
Anyway, I started reading The Queen's Gambit late last night. I had watched the Netflix limited series last year, so I already know what happens. However, that didn't stop me from having dreams about Beth Harmon playing chess, which is weird since I don't know how to play the game. I'm currently on page 82 out of 243.
Next, I'll be reading The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, an eBook I purchased on Kindle yesterday. I've been watching a six-part limited series adaptation on Starz. The plot is confusing as hell with all the flashbacks, so I thought reading the book would help me understand the series.
Shout Factory! had a huge Blu-ray sale around Valentine's Day, and I ended up ordering The Fly Collection, Frankenstein Created Woman, and Dracula: Princes of Darkness. I had forgotten about the movies until I received them in the mail on Wednesday. I've been on a Hammer Horror kick for a while now, so it's a no-brainer why I wanted the Dracula and Frankenstein movies. Walmart stores started carrying selective Scream Factory! (Shout Factory!'s horror label) sets last year, and I've been keeping my eye out for The Fly Collection. All the stores in my area would have a shelf tag for it but would never have it in stock. Luckily for me, the Valentine's Day sale had the set at around the same price, so it all worked out.
FYI: The Fly Collection contains The Fly (1958), Return of the Fly (1959), The Curse of the Fly (1965), The Fly (1986), and The Fly II (1989).
On Wednesday, I received the books Goosebumps SlappyWorld: Monster Blood Is Back from R.L. Stine, and Later by Stephen King. I'll be reading these two sooner than later.
Note - Typically, Scholastic sends me a review copy for each new Goosebumps title. However, after sending an ARC request, I never heard back from Scholastic's publicist. I'm wondering if my contact is no longer employed there. It was odd not to receive either a yay or nay.
On Thursday afternoon, I received a text message from my mother stating she was shopping at a new Family Dollar/Dollar Tree hybrid store in another county, and there were many $1 books there. She sent a snapshot of the book section and asked if I wanted anything. I zoomed in the image and picked out three titles that looked interesting - Crimson Death by Laurel K. Hamilton, The Forgotten Book by Mechthild Glaser, and The Dead Girl In 2A by Carter Wilson.
I visited the Family Dollar/Dollar Tree hybrid for myself on Saturday morning. I picked three more titles - Four Dominions by Eric Van Lustbader, A Piece of the World by Christine Baker Kline, and Sweet Black Wave by Kristina Perez.
Since I was out and about yesterday, I stopped by the local thrift store and picked three more books - Waking Lazarus by T.L. Hines, Double Feature by Donald E. Westlake, and Never Tell A Lie by Hallie Ephron.
How have books changed you the most?
![[Review] - WRITERS OF THE FUTURE - VOLUME 36](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinh7-YQ-9_5dqMgpmWvIi-wrtZnu87OCGeGnOdDOYkj7rF1fWl3NjSf4Htlt4Pf4DVTtFw9rZs8raFdCkGfuBq3ITPM5BPFD0Cq20SgjbNUTpvjK1_JQCCD8dAMIO8jrtEmA11N5DYrK8/w426-h640/writers+of+the+future.jpg)
Available on Paperback and Kindle.
It's taken me nearly a year to read the anthology WRITERS OF THE FUTURE - VOLUME 36 by Galaxy Press. Why did it take me so long to finish it? There are many reasons why, including procrastination, depression, stress, allergies, and the pandemic. Then again, maybe part of me wasn't in the mood to read an anthology.
Writers of the Future is a yearly science fiction and fantasy writing contest. It was founded in the early 1980s by the late pulp author L. Ron Hubbard. The contest Illustrations of the Future started in 1988. The winning stories and illustrations appear in the annual L. Ron Hubbard presents Writers of the Future.
The stories included in VOLUME 36 are by C. Winspear, Michael Gardner, Andy Dibble, J. L. George, F. J. Bergmann, Leah Ning, Katie Livingston, David A. Elsensohn, Storm Humbert, Mike Perkins, Zack Be, Tim Boiteau, and Sonny Zae. Included with each short story is an illustration by one of the artist winners. The illustrators are Arthur Bowling, Aidin Andrews, Heather A. Laurence, Kaitlyn Goldberg, Ben Hill, Irmak Cavun, John Dale Javier, Mason Matak, Anh Le, Brock Aguirre, Daniel Bitton, and Phoebe Rothfield.
Also, there's an introduction by editor David Farland and art & writing tips by Echo Chernik, Mike Perkins, and Sean Williams. There are three bonus stories by Katherine Kurtz, Jody Lynn Nye, and Nnedi Okorafor. Last but not least are two reprinted writings by L. Ron Hubbard - the essay "Steps in the Right Direction" and the short story "Borrowed Glory."
The short stories were a mixed bag for me. A few were well-written, such as Stolen Sky by Storm Humbert, A Price in Every Box by F. J. Bergmann, and Catching My Breath by J. L. George, and the others were more on the dull side. Don't get me wrong - it's not like the stories are bad. I just didn't connect with the narrations and characters. The biggest issue I have with anthologies is that some stories keep my interest and the others don't.
The illustrations throughout the anthology are all exceptionally crafted by talented artists. I didn't have a favorite because all are equally beautiful.
Overall, I'm rating WRITERS OF THE FUTURE - VOLUME 36 a three out of five. Yes, that might seem low to science fiction readers, but as a whole, this anthology was lackluster at best. Here's hoping VOLUME 37 (set to be released this Fall) will be better.
