MovieLoverMan Reviews

The Life and Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson (2024– )

Well Done, Touching, & Exposes True Evil

[9/10 · 2 June 2024]

In Birmingham, Alabama during summer of 1970, I saw O. J. Simpson (The Juice) and Joe Namath (Broadway Joe) play in an exhibition game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. Later I saw him as the smiling, personable star of some movies plus TV commercials for Hertz car rentals.

So it was a huge shock to see him in 1994 accused of a vicious double murder committed with two of his children nearby in the same home. Then O. J. ran away to Chicago where he magically cut his hands on a glass!

Next we saw on live national TV the interminable slow-moving white Ford Bronco pursuit. Then came the trial with all the testimony plus the blood scene evidence, which was still overwhelming beyond the nit-picking chain of custody objections. Then we saw the murder gloves, which would have fit O. J. if not for him wearing protective gloves before donning the murder gloves. Then came the ultimate shock as O. J. was found not quilty.

Next O. J. had the gall and absolute arrogance to make money by writing his book about how he "would have" committed the murders "if" it had been him!

Personally, I'm surprised he was never killed by other inmates in prison like child murderers are sometimes killed by other inmates. I'm also surprised the Goldman family or some friend of Ron or Nicole never hired a hit man to take care of O. J.

The only justice O. J. ever got is being served eternally in the next life, the one after death.

This Lifetime special with Nicole's sisters is finally, 30 years later, letting us hear fully from them about how the horror of O. J. 's actions forever changed their lives with unimaginable grief. The shows are well done, empathetic, yet tasteful without being maudlin.

The sisters, the Brown family, the Goldman family, O. J.'s two children who heard and maybe saw the murders, and all the people whose lives were forever tragically changed by O. J., they all deserve our prayers and compassion. May they somehow find peace.

Columbo: The Most Crucial Game (1972) Season 2, Episode 3

Some Unrealistic Parts but Clever Episode & Fine Acting

[7/10 · 2 June 2024]

Overall, I loved the Columbo episodes from the 1970s. It was a totally different kind of detective show back then to have a "backwards plot": reveal the killer and then show how he or she were caught.

Yet I believe this episode had some glaring, hard-to-believe holes. Without revealing the plot, I will point out a few totally unrealistic parts. First, when Robert Culp pulled over the ice cream truck and made the phone call from the pay phone on a suburban road, seems to me in real life a car would have driven by, or a car might have honked its horn, or the kid might have run up a few seconds sooner and wanted to buy some ice cream. Any of these events would have made background sounds and thereby proven Culp was not in his office. Yet the writers want us to believe Culp was incredibly lucky that none of these things occurred?! Come on; get real !!

Second, why would Columbo have felt motivated to wipe the concrete around the pool with his finger and taste the liquid? It's so unusual, and he seemingly had no reason to do that !

In spite of these unrealistic events, overall this is a clever episode and the actors were great.

Archie (2023)

I Actually Talked with Cary Grant !

[7/10 · 23 December 2023]

I was in the audience at Grant's 1984 Clearwater, FL show, "A Conversation with Cary Grant." He sat on a 3-legged stool with no back, not a high chair like in this miniseries. After showing clips from his films, he took questions from the audience. You could tell he'd been asked the same questions in previous shows because he had instant answers for everything.

Then I said to him, "Mr. Grant in my opinion, you are the epitome of true class." He thanked me as the audience applauded. I asked, "Mr. Grant, in your lifetime you've been blessed in many ways, both financially and emotionally. What I would like to know is, what is the one thing you always wanted in life but never got?"

He instantly jolted backwards like somebody had punched him in his chest. The audience was deadly silent. He frowned and stared at me for a good 10 to 15 seconds. I thought I had upset him!

Then he relaxed and said, "As you know I came from a large family. I have one child, a daughter." I said "Yes, Jennifer who's in her senior year at UCLA." He smiled and seemed pleased and said, "Oh you know about her? The one thing I always wanted but never got was a very large family. Nobody's ever asked me that before. Thank you for asking!"

At that moment, I felt I'd made a true connection with the man. I also felt bad for his wife, Barbara Harris Grant, who was 33 and sitting in the audience, because he never had any children with her. I will never forget that night and my time with him !