Trigger Warning: This blog contains content that may be disturbing and upsetting to some readers such as topics of stalking, adult communications with minors that some may deem inappropriate and sexual assault. Yes, and this movie as a whole is a fucking problem. Let's start with Nick Eliot. Nick is a writer who is looking for a new place to live in Washington state for a job at Pique, a magazine. He has gone from place to place looking at subpar apartments, etc. He's single and 28 years old. He happens upon a tree lined street, driving, not looking at the road but trying to read a map which is terrible and ridiculous in itself. What the hell?! He hits the brakes immediately when Adrian Forrester, a 14 year old teenager, rollerblades onto the street. Btw, this is one of the most cinematic scenes I've seen… the introduction to Adrian. How her face looked when Nick pressed the brakes on the car and the staggering/slightly jittery/full stop angle was really dope. The best introduction to a character I've seen, thus far. Anyways, Nick is watching her intently, but I guess the shocked look on his face could be from nearly hitting the girl. However… he looked like he instantly fell in love. Sorry, but he did. Fast forward to when he decides to take the apartment. (I will get back to her parents later) Nick is fixing plumbing under the sink and Adrian's only friend, Cheyenne, walks in at the behest of Adrian. Nick asks if she is a friend or foe without looking up and Cheyenne says, "That depends" or something like that. Nick asks her name and she tells him. This fool asks if her parents are Injun. I'm sorry if anyone takes offense with what I say here but… that is racist. An absolutely, insulting and offensive slur to describe Native Americans (yes, there is a whole history to that friggin' word) and this fool Nick, instead of asking Cheyenne if she was Native American or of Native American descent, uses a foul ass word like that… and HE'S A JOURNALIST! So far, points off for not keeping his eyes on the road, looking at Adrian with "Whoa, she's hot!" eyes, and insulting an entire race of people. All within less than 10 minutes of the movie. NEXT! Cheyenne reports back to Adrian, who was waiting for a "report" from her friend to see what this new tenant was like. Cheyenne tells her that Nick's "Okay and kinda cool" but then delivers the "coup de Grace" by saying… "Oooolllddd". "Old" was the magic word. The trigger. I know it's not that simple but what if Cheyenne said he was young? Btw, Cheyenne had to have known about Adrian's issues and interests in older men because later in the movie she lets Nick know about another guy Adrian had a crush on that was significantly older than her. Question: Did Cheyenne even inform Adrian's parents? How about telling her OWN parents? It was clear Cheyenne was not that close to Adrian. Even Adrian made that clear when speaking to Nick by the lighthouse, the "make-out spot" - ick. Anyways, this fool Nick had the audacity to snap his fingers at Amy, a photographer co-worker of his at Pique who was just walking by. I mean he was just trying to get her attention but… ugh. Sorry, just needed to bring this up adding to his character... flaw. The Infamous Cigar scene… Nope, not the Monica Lewinsky situation. If you're my age or old enough to remember, you know what I'm talking about. Do your internet engine searching. Nick is at home writing one night, smoking a cigar. He notices the pool outside is vacant. Adrian comes by wearing a nightgown (inappropriate). Doesn't matter the length. It's a nightgown, at night. All very suggestive. Where were her fucking parents?! Oh! That's right, they're always working; one is always "in court" and the other one is always spending time at "airports". Adrian needed a nanny an alarm system. I will speak more about this later. Nick starts picking her brain about what he's writing about and Adrian decides she wants to play "sexy seductress" by sitting by Nick in another chair, sitting backwards on it, snagging his cigar and puffing on it. This nasty fucker Nick stares at her, asks her, "Are you sure you're really 14?" Once he comes to his senses he then says, "Isn't it past your bedtime?" Like, bro. Your first mistake already was allowing her to come into your apartment at all at that time of night without her parents or a parent being there - in her nightgown, no less! This does not come off as his first time encountering young teenage girls having a crush on him because he seemed to embrace this behavior WAY too fast and was very comfortable with her too quickly for my liking. He may have taken that place because of her and her only, not because it looked like a "struggling writer's paradise". Especially when you heard how Adrian's mother described the place and what he had to do with it. Nasty man. FINISHED JOGGING/MUST HEAD TO WORK SCENE… More ugh… Nick finishes jogging, I assume the next day or couple of days later. He takes a shower and Adrian just waltzes herself into his apartment and Nick is "annoyed". She says she knocked (yeah right) and even if she did, you hear no one answer, you simply leave. You don't just break into someone's place who is paying for it. But, hey, Adrian is an entitled, spoiled, loner brat who thinks she's smarter than anyone so... Fast forward and Adrian questions Nick about a picture of him and his grandfather. She wants the fucking picture (again, entitled and obsessive). He says no it's the only one he has. Mind you, dude is talking to her while he is still in the bathroom shaving and naked. Plenty of time to tell this meddling stalker to get the hell out, I'm a grown man who needs to get dressed for work. No, foolio doesn't do that, yet. Adrian asked Nick if he always writes on a computer and he said yes. She makes some remark I guess she thinks makes her sound like a grown-up capable of making grown-up jokes and Nick fake laughs and tells her to beat it and half-ass closes the bathroom door (I still think to this day on purpose). Adrian sits down on a chair outside the bathroom door, turns her head and sees the nasty naked butt cheeks of Nick and smiles to herself. What a disgusting POS. First off, teens are impressionable, they will push the envelope when it comes to adults. However, this dipshit Nick didn't even take the time to turn around, make sure Adrian made it to the front fucking door to leave, lock the door, then go back to the bathroom to finish up what he started. AT LEAST THAT! Instead, he decided it was best to tease her or, if you think he didn’t know better and didn't think he was thinking at all, just solely thought of getting ready for work. However, I've pointed out too much that points to the former. Moving on. Adrian gets him some sunglasses and he's smiling, grateful and thanking her. Fine. Foolio should be taking the hint that this is bad and a HUGE slippery slope. It gets MUCH worse. Later that night, Adrian's parents have a party at their home. Nick was invited and Adrian, earlier in the day, begged his funky ass to come and he said he would think about it. Nick that night was at home chillin' and heard the party commotion, looked outside his window and saw all the old dinosaurs going into the house. He decides to go. Why not? He went because Adrian was there. Pure and simple. Sicko. He gets there looking out of place, definitely not within the age bracket of these people. He runs into Adrian's mom and finally meets the father. Obviously the father is laid back and… eagled eye/observant… more so than his lawyer or judge employed wife (I will explain later why I say this). Interestingly the father mentions if a woman got her breasts done. Why would it be any of his business? Like father, like daughter. Nosy. I guess the mother as well. Anyways, Nick winds his way through the crowd and really starts noticing the piano playing and as if the music was summoning him to her, he finds his way to Adrian, faux playing the piano expertly and he is in awe of her. She looks stunning. Adrian gets up and walks away once she finishes the song. Once again, Adrian moves in a way that makes Nick follow her. She shakes the hand of an older, creepy gentleman that also watched her (nasty old pervs) as she walked outside the backdoor. Once outside and knowing this fool was following her, she turned around in dramatic fashion saying, "I knew you would come!" This absolutely fucking, distasteful ass man said to her, "If you were 10 years older…" Adrian said, "You would what?" Good fucking question, YOU P.O.S. PREDATOR!!!!!!! Those words should've never left your maggot filled mouth. Couldn't help it because you're a predator. Well, Adrian asked Nick how his boss liked the article and Nick is not happy about the fact that a 14 year old wrote it. He scolds her lightly. Before this, Adrian was bragging, pretty much pointing out what Nick had trouble with writing the article. So when Nick seems upset with her, she uses this to manipulate him, telling him she only wanted him to like her, which he said he did, and she pounces, saying she wanted to go for a ride in his car. This dumb ass, irresponsible man decides to take her to… well, "the place she wanted to show him" which turned out to be a "make-out" haven for teenagers. This man, who should've said no - HELL NO - should've been like, "Look, unless your parents are with us, I'm not taking you anywhere." But this nasty, horny man does just that! Take a 14 year old teenager in his vehicle without asking her parents who were in the house entertaining their guests, "Hey, can I take your daughter for a ride in my drop top convertible in the dead of night for a ride?" HELL NO! And he knew this. That's why he left with Adrian without a thought, even when he was pretending to be concern. Disgusting. They arrive to this lighthouse - the "make-out" place and Adrian apologizes to Nick for writing the article. That fool, instead of telling her "apology accepted", tells her essentially it's okay. Adrian, because she at least understands human appeasement, gives this "Woe is me" story about herself that, at first you may think isn't genuine but it's one of the only times she let her guard down. I will get back to that later. People think "I'm some kind of freak or something. Like I'm crazy". Well… yeah! You're obsessive, demanding and there are other things about you that rub people the wrong way. You also think you're above others, intellectually. The crazy part is interesting. I wish there was more context to this, like seeing more in the movie, more characters explain Adrian's background or something. We hear Cheyenne speak about Adrian's past. Anyways, after Adrian easily makes this fool Nick feel sorry for her for not having any friends, (side note: I do feel bad Adrian. She's manipulative but she was still a teenager who's developing. I will delve into this later) Nick puts his finger under Adrian's chin and tells her he can be her friend. Buddy, you already went too far now and it's barely 22 minutes into the film. You've been alone with her AT NIGHT twice, once in her nightgown and a few times alone. Although she is being manipulative, she is also being manipulated… by you. You're being too friendly when you should keep your distance, especially when she is giving CLEAR signs she has a crush on you and you know this. Now back to this unfortunate scene. As soon as she lifted his hand to gently kiss it, he, FOR SURE, should have pulled away. LOOK AT HIS FUCKING FACE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! He doesn't look like a man who looks uncomfortable in the slightest. He looks seduced and aroused by a… goddamn it fill in the blanks! I don't care if Alicia Silverstone emancipated herself, Cary Elwes, the man who played Nick Eliot should've made a much better professional decision with this. EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE! She tells him "Don't be afraid of me" or something and kisses him. 4. Long. Excruciating. Seconds. Too long for him to all of a sudden pull back and say, "We gotta go". He didn't say, "This is wrong" or "WTF?!" - No. WE. GOTTA. GO. NASTINESS ASS MAN! WHADAFUCK?! He wanted that. I know people will blame her as people love to do that when it comes to these situations and yes the parents are culpable as well but HE'S THE ADULT WHO SHOULD BACK THE FUCK OFF IMMEDIATELY AND TELL THE PARENTS WHAT'S UP!!!! And now this fool telling this girl to "Come on" in a hush tone, all worried now. Yeah, you should be. Arrives home, downs what looked to be a double shot of vodka (I could be wrong) of possible regret… The next day, Nick is working, smoking a cigar. Suddenly he hears a noise. Well, his nosy ass decides to check it and what do you know… Adrian is sunbathing by the pool and if the camera shot on Adrian is supposed to symbolize Nick, it follows the length of her body, all the way up until she loosens the strap of her bathing suit. Adrian looks up. Smirks. Nick quickly close the blinds and sucks hard on the cigar. Yeah, you're disgusting and you better contemplate hard as to why you were grilling that hard at a 14 year old teenager. BTW, the music that plays during this scene is absolutely disgusting and deplorable and the everyone involved with the movie is fucked up. Producers, writers, directors - everyone. It screamed "ENCOURAGE THIS BEHAVIOUR!!!!" Well, Nick needed to create distance because clearly he has some sort of an addiction (I think he did), so what does he do? Has a BBQ. He invites his co-workers over and among them is Amy, the photographer - a grown ass woman - who also has a crush on him. So when Nick introduces Amy to Adrian (Two "A" names, huh? Okay…) he says, "My landlord's kid." He is trash. Trying to be flippant like he wasn't acting like she was damn near a full ass adult a minute ago. Nasty man. Later after her run-in with Adrian and the wasp hive in the orchard/wooded area, Amy and Nick are talking and Amy asks Nick what's with "your friend" Adrian. First off she said "friend" which was… bad. That's not his "friend" and that shouldn't even be normalized. Nick is taken aback, thinking they were getting along. Amy said, "She gives me the creeps." Nick seems to get a little annoyed and throws the little dishrag to the side and says, "She's just a kid." THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SEE HER! Because if you did, you wouldn't have asked her the questions you asked her earlier. Disgusting. So Amy tells his ass truths he needed to hear. The child has a crush on you. You can't blur the lines. (Sorry Amy, he already has) Nick shrugs off Amy, "Don't be ridiculous," then proceeds to play a message left on the answering machine by Adrian that sounded almost like what a girlfriend would leave for a boyfriend. This fool Nick asks Amy, "Do you think I did something to provoke this?" I love Amy for this. She asks, "Did you?" This fool Nick grins nervously (2nd time he does that, btw) and says "Of course not" and walks away. He knows he has. He's invited the bullshit. Amy should've taken the hint, though. Once he answered in that way, she should've taken a few steps back within HER crush with him and been like, "Is he the right one?" RED FLAGS! RED FLAGS! AMY, don't get too deep into him! In the next scene, Adrian wants Nick to come out and "play" and Nick says he's working. Adrian then tells Nick she received her "monthly visitor" and that she was "definitely not pregnant." This was seriously disturbing now and where Nick should have damn near ran to her parents and spoke to them about their daughter. But what does this man ask her? "Did you take my picture, the one of me and my grandfather?" Yeah, he looked a bit perturbed, but not for the right reason. Of course she denies it. So Nick goes over to Adrian's house, knocks on the door, gets no answer, calls out her name. He goes around to the other side of her home and looks inside. He sees a picture frame, clearly thinking it was the same frame as the one he had. He also decided to just open the door and walk inside. Forget about knocking on the door or walking away and waiting. Ain't no way he was that thirsty for a photo. Well, Eliot the Idiot walks into the house, and even though he says "Hello?", he was not invited in, therefore, breaking and entering - a crime. Not your home and you have no right to be in there, even if Adrian's thieving ass had your photo. Anyways, he makes his way upstairs and into Adrian's bedroom. He looks around, being creepy. Then he does something so fucking disgusting and vile. This nasty ass man sees, what I assume is Adrian's underwear under her bed - he friggin' takes the tip of his foot, drags it from under the bed to look at it for a moment then replaces it back under the bed. WTF?!!!!?! THIS GUY IS JUST....TRASH!!!!!!!!!! He then sees a heart shaped pillow Adrian made that had their initials on it. I could have sworn this fucker had a small smirk on his face. Anyways, all of a sudden Nick hears the shower come on and sneaks into Adrian's closet once he sees she was preparing herself for a bath. Adrian goes to her room and starts to undress. When she gets close to her birthday suit Nick's sick ass flinches hard enough to be heard by hitting some hangers in the closet. Adrian isn't dumb. She stops for a moment. Now she puts on a show which is so unfortunate but she's young and she has a crush on this dumb, disgusting ass man and thinks she's an adult. So, birthday suit on, she turns and faces the closet, smiling at him and this man watches it all, eyes widening. Nick has sunk below depths of shite-y hell. When Adrian walks away, can you believe this POS, nasty ass man comes out of the closet sweating?! I'm sorry, he was not in there long enough for it to be that hot. His sick ass was turned on by what he saw and when she left he tried to get out of there as fast as he could. And it didn't work. Cliff, the father, was just coming home with bunch of shit in his hands, surprised that Nick was all up in his house and he didn't look too pleased. Nick was caught and acted like it. He acted like a boyfriend who wasn't supposed to be alone with the girlfriend and was caught by the girlfriend's father. Cliff read the situation very quickly. So when Nick tried to scurry out of there quickly he was like, "I need help with these boxes, my back isn't gonna make it" excuse after he asked Eliot the Idiot why he was there and he said he was there to return a book he borrowed from Adrian. Cliff wasn't buying it. Nick follows Cliff to the attic where Cliff partly explains why Adrian acts like a grown-up. He builds her a carousel, hopes the attic turned into a playroom, she never took to it. Cliff watches Nick and says that Adrian is a special girl and foolio Nick agrees saying, "She's very bright." Then Cliff says, "This past year she really has blossomed… physically, I mean -" Eliot the Idiot says, "Mmm, I've noticed." Pause. The father paused. I paused. WTF?! The father smiled and it didn't reach his eyes. So Cliff starts talking about dreading the day a guy comes to see Adrian and… well… uses colorful words, but makes an idle threat while playing with pliers that I think was more towards Nick than it was toward the imaginary young fellas he hinted toward. Then laugh maniacally which prompts Nick to laugh as well. If he only knew. He probably did. Well, Adrian drops by the attic saying she was scared and didn't know who was up there. Nick looked worried. Nick tries to leave and Cliff, who was suspicious of Nick, asks Adrian what book Nick borrowed. HAHAHAHAHHAAAA!!!! Adrian really was no help because she gives it away by sounding confused saying, "Book?" then saying, "Oh, you mean Wuthering Heights" or something like that and the father, who I think was not buying their shit, said, "Wuthering Heights, huh? Sounds a little femme to me!" Yeah, he wasn't buying that story. Eliot the Idiot literally tells Cliff he was returning a book and Adrian was upstairs, acting clearly guilty. Then Adrian, instead of putting on some clothes, purposely goes to the attic in a robe, freshly bathed implying to her father that something may have happened especially the way she answered Nick and Nick's stupid, disgusting ass answered in the most guilty way possible. Anyways, the next scene the director and/or whomever greenlit/wrote this part are purely fucking disgusting. There was no need to see Adrian on the swing from that angle. NOT AT ALL. If you've watched the movie you know what I'm talking about. Moving along. On this same scene, Nick is once again being a weirdo, peeping through his blinds watching Adrian. Then he decides to go and confront her. Adrian continues to swing even when he asks her to stop so they can speak. He tells her he likes her and she tells him she like him as well. But, of course, Eliot the Idiot creep can't help but be creepy saying he likes her but as a friend and that "…let's face it, your 14, I'm 28…" Couldn't just stop at "just as a friend" huh? And even that's a no-no at this point. Weirdo, pervert. Ugh. So Adrian isn't hearing it, she's like whatever and he's being serious. He turns to walk away and she reminds him about what happened at the lighthouse or the "make-out" spot and Nick saying the kiss was a mistake (bro, you allowed it just like you allowed her to somehow get you to drive y'all to the lighthouse). Then she reminds him about being in her bedroom and he couldn't even answer her. Guilty as charged. Nick's nasty ass is furious and starts barking at Adrian saying she's too young for him and she is, at this point, seeing him as a joke and, of course, low key hurt and rejected. Dumbass Nick should've told her parents everything… with a lawyer at this point but I guess this fool was in too deep. So after Adrian done scratched up Nick's ho ass vehicle, Adrian's friend, Cheyenne, informs Nick she had something to tell him about Adrian and to meet her in the orchard later that night and she runs off. Clearly Nick has not learned anything. Another teenager you need not to meet ALONE anywhere without their parents. Yo ass can't stay away, can't you, Nick? Besides the BBQ and Amy, have we seen Nick with any adult friends? Male friends? SICKO, WEIRDO!!!! Since Adrian rigged Cheyenne's horse and was injured, Adrian ends up being at the orchard waiting, jealous and pissed that Nick was there waiting for her friend. She tells him why he wasn't going to see Cheyenne and tells him, "You can never be too careful…" So in the next scene Nick is driving up with Amy. I laugh because bro is using Amy at this point. He didn't seem very interested in her in any romantic way and she had to make the 1st move when they finally did kiss. THEY were more like friends, if anything. Amy was the one with the crush on him. But Nick is obviously trying to distance himself from Adrian… and his urges. Nick purposely hands Amy the keys knowing Adrian's nosy ass was always lurking and her parents were mostly never around, so he wanted Adrian to know he had a "girlfriend" now - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!! Adrian was indeed sitting on the steps of Nick's apartment and Amy walks up the steps. Adrian asks Amy if she ever been to the lighthouse. Amy said, "Shelter Point?" Adrian's like, "Yeah, make-out place." Amy said, "Not since high school." Adrian then says, reminiscing, "Nick took me… maybe he'll take you sometime." Amy took her sunglasses off on that one. RED FLAGS! RED FLAGS! AMY! Your crush is trash! Adrian may have severe issues but she wasn't lying. Even you knew that was a make out place. To make it worse, in the beginning you told that man about Adrian and he shrugged it off and what does he do? Plays a voicemail where Adrian left a message like a goddamn girlfriend he just started dating. I digress. Amy turns and runs inside and Nick walks up and pretty much ignores Adrian until Adrian says, "Hi." Nick turns and looks at her like she was shit, like he didn't know her. Fuel to the fire. So what does Adrian do? Fuck up Nick's super important article - deleting the file completely. What a MORON!!! How does this man not have a back-up… AT WORK? Even back then you can have back up floppy disks to back up your work files at work and home. He was already sloppy and not punctual, which he showed throughout the movie. What's interesting is - man, fuck him and his article. Only reason why he even got anywhere with the subject he wrote about is because Adrian wrote the first one and no matter what, since he never disclosed anything to his editor - his boss, regarding who wrote the article, he would be in violation of plagiarism. Nick should be fired. I'm actually surprised in the end Adrian didn't show proof to Pique magazine that she wrote the article, which would have ruined Nick's career. Anyways, he calls Amy all pissed off expecting her to know who screwed him over right away, snapping at her (RED FLAG AGAIN, AMY!) and then after he tells her to help him keep their boss, Michael, at bay, he then says to her he was going to move out once he finishes the article. "Smart move, Eliot!", Amy retorts. I find that funny. At least she knew, with her dry humor, that her crush was dumb and that he FINALLY saw that Adrian was a problem. Once Nick hangs up the phone with Amy, he notices a floppy disk on the ground and under it is a whole other room, sort of a basement, and he finds an obsessive love shrine that Adrian created with candles all over and a picture of Nick sitting outside that Adrian clearly took. (Madness to have lighted candles everywhere in place that is mostly made of wood… that would freak me out) Nick is even more pissed. It's on. So now Nick nails down the door of the room he was in and then works on the article and Adrian continues to call and call and call Eliot… over 99 times, possibly more because in those days, answering machines - not all - showed over 99 missed calls. He picked up and put the phone down. Eventually he stopped answering. He changes the lock on the door. And Adrian is spinning, frustrated. Nick completes the article, gets to work, interrupts his boss, which is quite bold, btw, and places the finished article down next to him and sits down, fully satisfied that was out of the way. Nick goes apartment shopping and this time doesn't care for aesthetics. The first time around he did… clearly, as he went from place to place and took his time. This time around we don't see that. The landlord isn't an attractive career woman with a young daughter living on the premises. The landlord is an older woman with an adult son who may or may not live on the premises. Furthermore, the place isn't attractive looking on the outside. The man wants out of what he now considers a hindrance to his life. Nick drives back "home" and looks up at the Forrester house. When he initially saw the house prior to moving in, he smiled. This time, he doesn't. Next scene he's packing and Amy comes over, bearing a gift, a bottle of wine. She's glad that he's moving but she seems nervous. She asks him to be her date to their boss' benefit and he's like, "You mean on a date?" Gee dude… you didn't give much flack to a fuckin' teenager who asked you to take her driving at the dead of night without the permission of her parents… where you mutually kissed her... you… Creep. I digress. Poor Amy, who should've not asked this creep-o out anyways, stood up to leave and foolio brought her back, was only worried about dating someone who works with him at the job. Amy explains she didn't want him slow dancing with their co-worker Samantha or a 13 year old. This fuckin' guy corrected her and says 14 year old. RED FLAG! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! Really?!?! That's the concern? Amy, a grown-up, grown-ass woman that has a crush on you is telling you how she feels and is super aware of these individuals in your life. She also really likes you which tells me, which is a bit presumptuous of me because it's only 1 man we see her crushing on but her judgment skills is sharp on everything BUT NICK! I don't know why this comes to mind but he looks a fuckin' penile implant. Anyways, after he corrects her, he kisses her. NOT A ROMANTIC SCENE! NO AMY!!!!!!!!! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!! And even with the so-called changes to the locks, Adrian was able to get in, see the after-sexed Amy and Nick and was hurt. Beyond obsession. Where are her parents? Btw, Amy, spooning Nick is telling. She is so much into him than he is of her. But we already know this. Anyways, so as all the noise was being made at the Forrester house, Nick couldn't wait to run over to check. There was no need to. As soon as he got close and saw her acting a fool, he should've turned the fuck around and called her parents. That's it, that's all. He can't help but interact with her. I like Amy, btw. The next day when she runs into Adrian and Adrian, who already knew what Nick and Amy did at Nick's apartment the night before, starts asking personal-assed questions, keeps it real with Adrian. She basically tells her, "When you grow up and get into a real relationship you'll realize Nick was a crush and you've completely forgotten about him." Sad thing is, I want this for you, Amy. Leave Nick, NOW! Adrian, thinking she is so much smarter and adult than everyone is doing what she did to Nick earlier, acting like she is taking the advice but in a condescending/mocking way. I don't blame Amy for shading her in the nicest way possible and driving off. Who needs that shit? Besides… Amy never even saw or met her parents which should've been… RED FLAG! RED FLAG! RED FLAG! So it sucks that Adrian did what she did to Amy in her darkroom… unleashing all those wasps on her because she didn't like that she told the truth. Btw, I'm still trying to figure out how Adrian was able to get her black and white photographic paper/print in Amy's darkroom. Maybe this happened days later and Adrian was able to obtain a copy of a key to Amy's lock? That usually doesn't happen. The paper/prints was within the other paper/prints that Amy dipped in the stop bath. Then again, the paper/print that Amy pulled out first was of Nick at the BBQ. I think Adrian may have infiltrated Amy's darkroom or have been watching Amy ever since after the BBQ at Nick's apartment so that she could put her own paper/print in the batch and waited to catch Amy slippin', possibly leaving the darkroom unattended. And since she knew Amy didn't care for the wasps... well... Next you see Adrian buttering up to Nick who was on the phone receiving news about Amy. First off, so rude once again walking up in there and starts talking about her upcoming horse whatever competition which I would have to say he probably didn't hear one word she said because HE WAS ON THE PHONE! She literally invited herself in. I will be nitpicky here. So smart she is but she asks "Can I come in?" Can you? Sorry, it's the smart ass-ness she displays. Everyone is dumb and she is a genius. I am by no means a literary genius but "May I?" is the appropriate way if you are seeking permission. Sigh, but once again, as frustrated as I can be with Adrian, this needs to be towards her parents for the most part, which I will get to. Nick states Amy is in the hospital and Adrian tries to be sympathetic, putting her hand on his and Nick snatches his hand away. The next scene poor Cheyenne's arm is in a sling and Adrian is lying to Cheyenne saying Nick was crying on her shoulder, which I'm sure her "friend" didn't believe. Adrian walks away, snobbery in full display. Adrian is on her horse looking for Eliot the Idiot in the crowd and can't find him. Her parents are smiling in the stands, supporting her but being nosy as the father, Cliff, had binoculars and was checking out the stands and the mother was reaching out a hand to Cliff to take them from him, but Adrian doesn't care, she only wants Nick. So what does she do? Takes a cab to the Nick's boss' benefit (I wonder how she knew he was there? Called his job? Tapped into his computer? Broke into his apartment? Probably the latter) and rushes towards Nick who is ironically standing next to Samantha (interesting… poor Amy) and comes right up to him in front of everyone and kisses him. Samantha, with eyes of daggers! ALL BAD. He asks her what she was doing there and she said she missed him at the show and he mutters go on and get out of here (I'm sorry but when he says that to her, I laughed). Adrian gives him one of the most nastiest slaps during that decade in cinema at the time. My goodness. ALL BAD. Everyone looks at him now and she is talking shit, making up a bunch of crap. This man proceeds to grab her arm and damn near drags her out of there and these people just stared, which is crazy. She looks like a teenager compared to them and they are staring. Dude on the right looks like a relative of Mitch McConnell... When they are out of everyone's sightlines, she starts acting more crazy. He tells her to stay away from him and she says she loves him and "You love me!" and tries to kiss him. She starts screaming and again she tries to kiss him and she succeeds and he slams her against the wall. He then says, "You're pathetic," and walks away, wiping the kiss off of his mouth. Sorry but I'm not convinced he wasn't into any of it. He was. He should've called the cops instead hiding the way he did. To make this all so terrible, not one of those adults called the authorities. Adrian screamed. Even before that, they witnessed her slapping HIM! Very nasty culture. Humans love watching drama. Listen to the song "Vicarious" from a band called, Tool, and you'll understand why I say that. Now that Adrian has embarrassed him in front of his colleagues and his boss at a job function, he needs to move now, so he goes back to the apartment he was supposed to move into within a week - at Mrs. Tinkerman's (I didn't mention her name earlier) and she was like, "Fuck off, the apartment's taken, I don’t rent to drug dealers." Of course who else could've told her that? You guessed it. Nick isn't taking no for an answer so he keeps banging on Mrs. Tinkerman's door until her son opens it and threatens him. Nick leaves. For all we know, Adrian may have done Mrs. Tinkerman a favor. Well, Nick heads back to the dreaded apartment he lives at but as he's driving… Nick stops at a red light or something. This weirdo watches kids play, 2 girls and a boy. He watches them long enough that the driver behind him honks their horn. RED FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG! Listen, no harm in watching kids play, man or woman, depending. However, we have collected enough evidence that show the grossness that is Nick Eliot. Nick drives up to the residence and there's police. Uh-oh. Nick asks what's going on and the policeman tells Nick to step out of the car. Nick asks again and the policeman, who becomes a little rough with Nick says, "sexual assault on a minor." Nick starts denying it and asks the policeman to wait and gets a look at Adrian and her parents, while handcuffed. Cliff sees Nick and starts running over to him while calling him an animal and attacks Nick which the cops let Cliff get a few shots in. The mom yelling, "Cliff!" in the most half-hearted, non-concerned way had me cracking up. No urgency in it. They throw Nick's dumb ass in the back seat and he gets a good look at Adrian who smirks at him. When Adrian lies and explains the "sexual assault", it's sad. Adrian says she and Nick went swimming and hung out a couple of times. There should be frickin' child protection services there just by that statement alone. Why was your daughter EVER ALONE WITH THAT MAN WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE? Even though these are lies, all the other events were not made up. She WAS alone with him more than a couple of times. They've kissed. He's been in her home without permission, played peekaboo with her underwear and saw her naked. Now, the cops are with Nick and Nick is trying to explain everything Adrian has done to him. Of course they don't believe him. THE IDIOT NEVER REPORTED ANYTHING!!!!!! He never told her parents anything until his car was scratched up and when they didn't believe him with that, he never told them anything afterwards which is stupid that, 1. He didn't continue documenting Adrian's bullshit and 2. He didn't start looking for an apartment right after the car incident. He didn't take Adrian seriously because he didn't want to. He also had a crush on Adrian. YES, I am saying that. He did, which makes him a putrid, piece of shite. Amy warned him but Amy didn't know he already went too far with Adrian at the point. And here he is caught the fuck up, yelling at the cops at the top of his lungs (imagine if my black ass was in there yelling like that? No need to roll your eyes because I'm making it a race thing but the climate we're in - whaddya gonna do?) because his horny ass didn't know how to ignore a teenager and report her to her parents and if that didn't work - MOVE! The cops calmly bring the hammer down. They found, um, cement, in her. Read between the lines. Nick's pathetic ass is bailed out by his boss and attorney. They clearly don't believe him and I don't blame his boss only because of what he witnessed at his own benefit (although, um, he didn't call the authorities as well so…) They tell him the "cement" matched his DNA and pretty much kick rocks from that apartment as they, the parents, took Adrian out of town. They could barely look at this fool. Later that night Nick is packing and Cheyenne visits him, not believing he did the things he was accused of. Cheyenne, he has done some nasty things. Believe me. Nick, although he tells Cheyenne to kick rocks, decides he needs a little liquor. Besides, he's in the company of the demographic he's comfortable with. Nick drinks a lot. Always sweating. Seems to be the only person sweating. Btw, Cheyenne knew where the key was located for Adrian's backdoor. Now here's what's really interesting. Adrian starts playing the piano and Nick hears it at his place. Why is this interesting? If we go back near to the beginning when he came to the party, he decided to go to the party mostly because he heard the music playing but within the music was the piano playing as well. Adrian was the one playing. Kind of Pied Piper-ish. I'm assuming that was what this director/writer was alluding to. The reality is, at this point, her ass isn't supposed to be there. She's supposed to be "down the coast somewhere" with the parents so that Nick can finish moving out. Nick races over to Adrian's house looking for Cheyenne but finds another weird shrine dedicated to Nick and this time the picture of him and grandfather is found, but Nick's face is scratched out. Adrian appears behind him, jealous, thinking Nick wants Cheyenne now. Nick ignores Adrian's crazy talk and keeps calling out for Cheyenne and Adrian attacks him. When Adrian was about to kill, Nick, Cliff arrives home. Eventually everyone gets to the attic. Nick sees that Cheyenne is tied to the carousel that Adrian turns on. When Nick tries to rescue Cheyenne, Adrian attacks Nick and then turns into a victim once Nick gets the upper hand. Cliff attacks Nick but then his own daughter tells Cliff to "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" and clocks him over the head, knocking him out. Nick gets up and Adrian runs full speed at Nick screaming like a lunatic and Nick… quick jabs her in the face sending Adrian flying into linens, pillows and stuffed animals. Go figure. Nick is now living with Amy (NOOOOOOO AMY!!!), which is where I think he was moving to before all the craziness happened at the end with Cheyenne, Cliff and Adrian. He was napping or sleeping on the sofa… I'm trying to figure that one out, but I thought that was interesting. It might be that Amy is taking the relationship slowly and although they are living together, she isn't rushing to have him in her bed and/or bedroom yet. If that's the case, good on her. Amy tells him he missed a meeting and throws a stack of mail at him. He thumbs through it and it's mail from Adrian that was sent to Pique, Nick's employer's office. Okay. First off, his employer should be all over this shit. They should be suing Adrian's parents and/or ceasing any further harassing contact toward their employee. Because this is harassment still. At this point, it's been proven Adrian has mental health issues as you see her being put in a non-padded cell sans a straightjacket. It doesn't matter if this is "homework" from a doctor. First off, the doctor would know that you're not supposed to actually send the letters to the person who was actually harassed! That's insane. Well, Nick and his dirty thumb nail go through the mail and that's the last you see of him. Looking confused. Looking like Eliot the Idiot. Adrian moves on to her next crush, which is another dummy who is being finessed in every way and is as questionable as Nick. Interesting that the doctor has a brunette for a wife. These dudes have a thing for young blondes. Sickos. And the cycle continues. Final Thoughts: There is a specific co-worker, a guy I think that didn't like Nick very much. Y'all be the judge of that. I believe it was the case. He seemed to always had the same stank face every time he is seen around Nick. I thought he was at the BBQ Nick had with his co-workers but it wasn't the same guy. Dude definitely not feeling Nick and I don't blame him. Adrian was menace but she clearly, clearly had mental issues. Although I want to sit and get on her for so many things, I'm unable to. I think she grew up a loner that actually needed her family and somewhere along the way she stopped needing/wanting them and decided to attach herself to adult men. Which brings me to her love for Wuthering Heights. Adrian has Wuthering Heights plastered all over her room. She seems obsessed with a book that's partly about obsession, toxicity and revenge. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë is a Gothic novel about obsessive love and revenge on the Yorkshire moors. Below is a loose summary of what the book is about that I obtained froma search engine. Read it, don't read it, up to you. The Frame Story 1801: Mr. Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange and visits his landlord, Heathcliff, at the gloomy Wuthering Heights. The Ghost: A snowstorm traps Lockwood. He has a nightmare where the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw tries to enter through a window. The Tale: Lockwood's housekeeper, Nelly Dean, tells him the dark history of the two families. Rise and Betrayal The Foundling: Mr. Earnshaw brings home a homeless orphan named Heathcliff to Wuthering Heights. The Bond: Earnshaw's son Hindley hates Heathcliff, but daughter Catherine falls deeply in love with him. The Split: After Earnshaw dies, Hindley reduces Heathcliff to a servant. Catherine loves Heathcliff, but chooses to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton for social status. Heathcliff overhears part of this and runs away. Revenge The Return: Heathcliff returns years later as a wealthy gentleman, bent on total revenge. The Destruction: He ruins Hindley through gambling to take Wuthering Heights, and marries Edgar’s sister Isabella just to be cruel. Catherine's Death: Catherine falls ill and dies after giving birth to a daughter named Cathy. Heathcliff begs her ghost to haunt him. Resolution The Next Generation: Heathcliff forces young Cathy to marry his sickly son, Linton, seizing control of both estates. The End of Malice: Exhausted by his obsession and visions of Catherine's ghost, Heathcliff stops eating and dies. Peace: Young Cathy and Hindley's son, Hareton, fall in love and plan to marry, ending the cycle of hatred So with that explained (thank you search engines), it makes me wonder if Adrian is the biological daughter to the Forrester's and if they tried to have more children and couldn't. Adrian is more likely than not their biological child. I digress, though. Adrian raised herself and that became the problem in the end. Showed up with his shirt all dirty and breath probably humming... Inside Nick's car... ugh... Nick. This moron walked himself into the pit when he didn't have to. Movie would've ended in 5 minutes, probably, unless she didn't take "No" for an answer. Several people needed to run several background checks on Nick. He sounds like he's from England. Who knows how long and how many times he's been out there playing these weird games with young'uns. He didn't come off like a novice and when Amy questioned him he became defensive and weird. Nick didn't alert her parents right away and warned them that if Adrian did that shit again, coming up into his apartment without him knowing or whatever, he was moving and he wanted his goddamn deposit back. Nick had his own compulsions, unfortunately. Once it started to fuck with his life, and too many people can see INTO his personal life, including Amy, he didn't want them to see that side, he didn't like it and wanted… out. Had he been caught with Adrian, he would've been charged with child molestation. Nick is nasty. The parents. Sadly, in this scenario, the parents have to share in the blame for Adrian's mental health. It seems their careers came first. Some children are self-sufficient, independent, and well-rounded, as long as they are supported, heard and financially stable. Then there are some children who need their parents presence. I think Adrian may have been that type of child who needed their parents presence and verbal support. So fast forward to when both parents explain the personality of Adrian. Her mother called her, "Headstrong" and her dad still saw her as a little girl that he didn't want to grow up. The mother saw her more as an independent person, which can be dangerous. When Nick and Adrian were at the lighthouse and Adrian apologized for writing the article and explained it wasn't okay regarding what she did, she further explained her parents made her skip 2 grades in school. For some children that's isolating, because they don't get to be with the friends they may have grown up with but instead now be with older classmates while being the youngest and they may or may not relate to you because of age and your ability to learn and/or absorb information more quickly and/or efficiently than other children. So her explanation about Cheyenne being "forced" to be her friend may be correct but I think Cheyenne, who comes off as a sympathetic character, may have felt pity for Adrian and was willing to keep her secrets...up until the end. Once Adrian's mental state opened up Cheyenne's eyes even more with her own horse riding accident, she needed to spring into action and could no longer be a bystander/witness to Adrian's instability and descent into madness. Adrian's parents, sadly, saw Adrian as a trophy child, a creation they made that exalted them into a higher social status amongst the mummies in their social circle and that's even sadder. Never once was there a scene showing them as a family seated together having a conversation and Adrian expressing some sort of feeling/emotion and the only time she did well...I will mention this when her mom tucks her in bed for the night in a moment. Let's move back to when Adrian explains the fake assault to the cops and her parents: The thing is, when Adrian reported that Nick assaulted her, the cops and DA would also have to follow up with an investigation into the parents because… why was the 14 year old left alone with a 28 year old man on their property? The mother was clearly some sort of lawyer or judge as she spent her time in "courts" so she would know the law better than anyone and should have known not to leave her child with some random ass man, even if she vetted him…right? Another thing that was interesting was, after Nick and Adrian came back from the "make out" spot, and Adrian's mother was tucking her in for the night with a kiss, Adrian said, "I love you, mommy". The mother turned off the light, got up (Adrian's smile disappearing from behind her back, btw), gave Adrian a look, then closed the door. That scene was telling. It made me think her mom knew her daughter very well and probably saw her more as an adult than daughter so the childish act Adrian was putting on wasn't lost on her. And she never told her daughter "I love you," back. So maybe the mom's lack of "mothering", made Adrian respond to her father, who continued to see her as a child still, like an adult, saying things like, "I ride real horses, now." Also, the lack of mothering is partly why Adrian acted like a grown woman and her father's treatment of her, like she was still a child under 12 and like his princess, is why she liked older men and wanted their absolute attention and adoration from them. Her parents mixed messaging fucked her up. Very Sad. Alicia Silverstone emancipated herself so she could play the role of Adrian in this movie. I'm speechless. I won't even bother going further into this one but go ahead and do some research. Easy to find her talking about this. Can you friggin' believe this story is based on events that happened in the writer/director's life? The person whom he based Adrian on sued for using her real name, so Adrian was used. Alan Shapiro - Write/Director of The Crush First off… how brazen, how foul, how- we live in a fucked up world. We truly do. Because this writer/director Alan Shapiro found absolutely nothing wrong with putting a movie out regarding statutory rape or even the flirtation of it - oh, and letting people know based on the events of his life and that "I'm such an asshole and don't even use a completely different name for the teen, I use a name dangerously similar." THIS WAS OKAY IN 1993. And still in this day and age we still blame the children, the teenagers. The ones who are still figuring out their bodies, dealing with new and changing hormones - both boys and girls. The adults get away with it. And continue to get away with it. Thanks for dropping by! Like, share, comment, subscribe and donate (link is on the main page) if you can. Thanks for your patience and support!

*****CAUTION: SPOILER ALERT! PROFANITY LADEN AND GRAPHIC CONTENT!!!***** I will say it right off the bat. The movie “Casino” is one of my favorite movies of all time. I feel that all 3 main characters should’ve won an Oscar for their prospective roles. They made the story believable even though the real story is different from the movie. Sam "Ace" Rothstein Ginger McKenna Nicky Santoro I digress. What will this be about? Oh yeah, the characters - specifically the main ones who left us captivated the entire movie. For one, many people laude Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Robert DeNiro's character), a serious, highly intelligent, precise gambling expert handicapper as the hero and wronged. However, I will, I guess "break down" why he is no better than Nicky Santoro and Ginger McKenna who were made to look like the only bad people in the movie. And this is the genius behind Martin Scorsese films; the character development is amazing and layered. You must watch out for the signs, words and actions. Nicky Santoro So Mister Sticky Fingers Nicky is a “made” man from the Chicago Outfit mafia. A crude, snarky, disrespectful and extremely tough guy who’s married with a son. He adores his son a great deal. His wife, Jennifer, seems to be a ride or die but I don't get the sense that Nicky loves her as much as he loves his son with her. Her responsibilities seem to be to take care of the son and whatever bullshit Nicky wants her to do that's illegal. Anywho, Nicky was nothing but drama. He was sent to Las Vegas, which he wanted because it was where all the action was… and he also loved the showgirls. He really wanted to be his own boss, knowing that the mafia outfit couldn't "see" what he was doing in Vegas. So, besides watching Ace's back to make sure no one fucked with the "Golden Jew", he started making it known in Vegas, to everyone, who he was, and he was not to be fucked with. Now I want to start with Nicky because some would say he is easily the "baddest" of bad guys in this film. He is also the easiest one to talk about in terms of character. Let's start with his wife. Jennifer Santoro It's clear his wife was a rock; very loyal. It's quite sad though, because she helped smuggled in diamonds for him in her hair, which she could've gotten caught up by security at the airport and been arrested for his BS. She had to befriend Ginger (she probably didn't care to) due to Nicky's connection to Ace, just so they got the lay of the Vegas land. She probably had to deal with Nicky's volatile attitude, abuse and stubbornness which can't be easy. (I wish they explored a little character development with her, btw) She also had to chat on the phone with Ginger a certain way since the phones were tapped, just so Ace and Nicky can quickly speak to each other and/or meet. Ew. Nicky didn't seem to take her anywhere. He was having a good ol' fucking time, creating his restaurants, fucking showgirls, meeting and greeting Las Vegas elites, and gambling. Wifey was nowhere in the picture during these "fun times" sans his fuckering with showgirls. Mind you, his wife is gorgeous! But, you know, Nicky is a greedy fucker and a cheater. Frank... I don't think Frank liked Nicky. Why do I say this? Well, Nicky flexed his muscle with Frank, although I understand in some ways why he did so. You're a gangster/"made" mobster who had to make sure his people are in line and let them know that he's with the shits and not the type you should ever "go over his head" or fuck with. Nicky telling Frank he would have "ratted by now" and saying the shit he said prior to that when they were torturing Tony Doggs, to try to get him to tell them who ordered the hit to Remo Gaggi's bar (the mafia boss from the Chicago Outfit). Ugh. What a dick! No real faith in Frank. Even if he was joking, Frank didn't respond like it was a joke, "Yeah…thanks". When Nicky decided to start sleeping with Ginger and Ginger wanted Ace "terminated permanently" Frank didn't seem at all happy about it but just went along with the program. And who could blame him? He was asked directly by Remo if "the little guy was sleeping with the Jew's wife" and he flat out lied and said he hadn't heard anything. He protected them all - what I'm calling the 3 bad main characters in the movie - by lying to the top boss, which could've gotten him killed (and for all we know, it probably did. Remo could have sent Frank and others to take care of Nicky and his brother Dominick out in the cornfields to face his homeboy and take his ass out… then once he got back to where-ever, was killed by the same dudes who put Nicky and Dominick in the ground - just for lying to him. It was telling when Remo stressed him to tell the truth. We saw Frank alive in the end, but I think had the movie went on or if it was in the scripts at some point, Frank was killed as well. I got the sense Scorsese sympathized with Frank a little bit) all because Nicky needed to stick his ick with a d inside of Ginger. Even when Frank was beating Dominick to death, you can hear the frustration from Frank, like he was holding back how he really felt until that very end of Nicky's and Dominick's life. He was sick of them both. Speaking of Ginger… Nicky’s scazzy ass sees Ginger for the first time when Ace introduced her to Nicky and Jennifer and he was in awe when he saw her. You can damn near see him plotting like, "Me nuh getting she from he, forreal!" What a dirtbag. So once Ace starts having problems with Ginger, getting her pimp boyfriend Lester beat up by Nicky's guys, Ginger runs to Nicky to complain (I will get back to this scene later). Instead of Nicky saying, "Ay, let's discuss this with your husband together or - better yet - leave me out of this. I'm a married man," something to that effect, he relishes in the fact that she runs to him, like he's a savior and yet, he was the one who was behind Lester getting his ass whooped. He didn't bother to advise her that he was there, and it was his guys, just only telling her that Ace may not have known who Lester was - and Ginger quickly corrects him. Nicky just sits there, listening to her bad mouthing HIS SO-CALLED BEST FRIEND, and watching her. After her rants, he acts like this concerned "friend", telling her to ease up with the drinking and told her she was beautiful. So, miss thang hugs him, then gives Nicky soft pecks on the lips at least 2 or 3 times. And Nicky does nothing… but has a strange smirk on his face, almost like he was restraining himself and uncomfortable at the same time but reveling in the faux adoration Ginger was giving him. (Great friggin' acting by Joe Pesci here. To get across emotions on screen with the body language he showed was incredible to me). Nicky could've backed off immediately if his friendship with Ace was really that important to him, if he truly cared about him, but he didn't (I will get into this later). Later, he would come to regret "fucking with this broad" after she made it obvious to Ace she was plotting something nefarious (offing him) with Nicky (although Nicky made it obvious as well by even entertaining and being around Ginger). The fact that in the opening of the movie Nicky mentions Ace and then Ginger (I understand, they were the main characters) and not his ride or die wife as a part of him and his life speaks volumes. Envy, power, greed, violence and Ginger were the center of it all. Nicky really wanted everything Ace had. I think he wanted to BE Ace. The mafia bosses adored Ace because of what he could do for them that really no one else could all the time. He was always going to be protected as long as he kept "winning" and making them money. I feel Nicky wanted that talent, that gift Ace had since it was the best insurance policy in the mafia world. Nicky didn't have that; he was just the muscle and thief who followed orders. There's a high percentage of people who can be “a muscle" but there is a low percentage of people who are like Ace. It's rare. I also think Nicky wanted Ace's calmness to a certain extent. Nicky was impulsive, hot-headed, hard-headed and stubborn. He always acted like he was the smartest man in the room (Ace as well) but he was also quick to violence, which can be perceived as a weakness. Ace didn't have to be violent to be “respected”. People flocked around him because of his personality and probably his style. Plus, he was running a casino, which Nicky WISHED he had that option. Now back to the hard-headedness of Nicky. Nicky barely listened to anything Ace said. Ace warned him about the local cops and the "Black Book", which was filled with dangerous criminals that, in essence, can get you banned from entering certain states and/or premises. He warned him a few times but - no - never heeded the warnings. He just did whatever the fuck he wanted and then complained when shit hits the fan, leaving Ace basically like, "I told you so". So, Nicky continues to double down on trash behavior because he still needed to "earn". Nicky then started to turn his back on the Chicago Outfit, mostly because he wanted to do what he wanted and was tired of taking orders from them when Ace only had one order to comply with and that was to keep making money from the casinos so they could benefit from it. Other than that, he was his "own man". Nicky wanted to be a boss and seeing Ace come off like a leader in his own world - being rewarded, running a casino the way he saw fit and was in contact with super elite individuals - he wanted that but more. Another thing that is interesting about Nicky is, for as much bravado he has, he carried guilt. Case in point, when he volunteered to go on some heists with his crew, he didn't like the people he was stealing from looking at him, so he turned the picture frames he saw in their homes upside down so he didn't have to see them. It could be that he's religious, most likely Catholic. However, I think if any of his crew saw this action, they would've thought of him as weak. I sure the fuck would have! Especially when he told that "beaut" of a casino dealer at the Tangiers that "if he had any heart he would've been robbing for a living" or something like that. Yet, yo ass can't rob a place with people's family photos staring at you? Ugh. Punk behavior. When Ace and Nicky started falling out, Ace clearly was able to keep it moving as he had other friends he could hang out with. He didn't need the company of Nicky. Besides, he had his own life there before Nicky even arrived in Las Vegas. But to see the jealousy and clear attention seeking behavior from Nicky was childish. Like, bro, you pretty much threaten the man's life in the middle of the desert which YOU told him to go to, and you think he was going to look at you with warm eyes and greet you with glee? No way. Ace clocked you from that moment on and never trusted you again. (I always told my guy, some Gems only need you to do some fuck shit once and you're never trusted again) Side note: The coolness to which we move on comes off mean and cold, but what the fuck are we supposed to do? Let people continue to treat you like shit? I'm not one of them. However, not all Gemini’s are like this. If you even believe in that kind of thing. Sherbert getting hit with a phone by Nicky And what does Nicky do? He goes to the Tangiers Casino, which he wasn't supposed to be there at that point since he was banned, decides to play "21" table game and wanted his money, yadda, yadda, yadda but he was really there to get Ace's attention, since the "night" before Ace didn't acknowledge him and his crew at a nightclub. "Love Bruises" on Ginger. Then we have Nicky fucking with Ginger and Ginger wanted Ace to be "deleted". Nicky also wanted Ace erased. His life was spiraling out of control with the drugs and booze, and he wasn't the same "Nicky" anymore, not as strong and was becoming sloppy and part of that sloppiness was following pussy he desired which was Ginger. He wanted to have her, and it inflated his ego so much that she ran to him for assistance. He felt like a hero. So now he has the "affection" and attention from Ace's wife, he wasn't going to let that go. So, these 2 coked up mofos decide to fuck with Ace and Ace immediately understood what was happening. And, again, Nicky realizing his mistake, after sleeping with Ginger a few times, that Ace knows what they're up to and, after kicking Ginger out of his restaurant establishment for being demanding and then hitting him, he may be in a world of trouble with the Chicago Outfit for sleeping with "the Jew's wife". Once shit hit the fan, feds knowing what was going on (partly because of Piscano) and start raiding Tangiers, his crew and more, Nicky skips town to wait for the "heat" to die down. It's crazy that he left his crew hanging and didn't have them with him, especially his right-hand man, Frank. Nicky showed how selfish he was, and I found it telling that Scorsese made sure (or whomever wrote the movie) you saw who got rolled up (arrested) from Nicky's crew. Nicky fittingly saw his demise at the hand of the one person who had to deal with his volatile, dangerous shit - that put him in danger most of the time - which was Frank. That was no mistake by the writers. Lastly, Nicky blowing up Ace's car, essentially trying to kill his so-called, "best friend" was ridiculous. He allowed his jealousy, greediness and paranoia to ruin his friendship even more and he knew if he killed Ace, the Chicago Outfit would lose a substantial amount of money. He tried to kill 2 birds with one stone, then have the audacity to come back from skipping town, thinking everything would be okay - all would be forgiven, even after everything he did. Surveillance of him kissing Ginger, trying to kill Ace, not listening to the boss' "back home" anymore and not asking for permission to make moves. The Chicago Outfit realized their "made muscle" had to go. Nicky was not a savvy gambler, and his hustle game was only good when he acted as the muscle, but not as someone with a crew that knew how to properly hustle a casino without the sheriffs noticing. You must be pretty bad for the sheriffs to notice and yet many hustlers come in, do their shit and leave. Hell, even the dudes Ace caught were doing their crap for years at the Tangiers Hotel and Casino. However, Nicky was a great thief, like I said. Nicky sucked, for the most part, but he wasn't wrong on a few occasions. Miss Ginger… Ginger is the most misunderstood character in the movie. Just like Nicky, she was made out to be the "bad guy/girl" but there are things I feel people should've understood about her and, honestly, it says so much about our society and why some women deal with shit internally and act out later in life, etc, etc. and how most people view women when they are not at their strongest and so on. "Ginger's mission in life is money…" - Sam "Ace" Rothstein Let's talk about Ginger and why she is misunderstood before talking about all the horrific shit she's done. Ginger clearly had trauma. Yes, she is beautiful, statuesque and smart woman. However, she was damaged. Very damaged. Lester Diamond. Yeah. Someone named that name is most likely some sort of hustler and/or pimp, which he was both. He was a "mooch" and another selfish individual whose priority in life was to make money by any means… through girls and women, specifically Ginger. As he said on the phone with her when she just got married, he remembered seeing her as a 14-year-old with long legs… just gross. He was manipulative and wanted her to continue the grift within the marriage. Ginger clearly has been controlled by Lester since she was a child… CHILD. We know nothing about her parents. However, I do feel there was a hint of pain (more than a hint) when Ace proposed to her and she asked Ace if he knew anyone who had a happy marriage because she didn't. She looked on the verge of tears when she said that. It makes you wonder if her parents had an unsuccessful marriage or that they were in unsuccessful marriages. Whatever it was, being married frightened her. Let's stay in the scene of Ace proposing to Ginger. Ginger was direct and honest with Ace that she wasn't in love with him but she cared for him and apologized. However, Ace convinced her by using money and "security" so she can say yes to him. What's sad about that is, it was mostly what she knew - all she knew. Be a hustler, use her feminine wiles and get money any way she could. Lester, in essence, "raised" her and now the man who promised marriage to her, Ace, the guy who acted damn near "holier than thou" was running damn near the same play on Ginger. What do I mean by this? Well, Ace knew her background. For all his intelligence, he didn't invest in getting her mental health before having a child with her (who happened to be a girl). Ace just wanted her to be his "trophy wife", parade her around in expensive clothes and have her looking presentable and "coiffed" - all to make HIM look good. For all of Ace's posturing, he pimped Ginger out his own way. I will get back to his ass in a second. Ginger did everything Ace asked for; hustling high rollers, making sure the staff received huge tips so they can get specific drugs, etc that's needed to make the high rollers happy and stay pretty. Ginger was a little girl trapped in a grown woman's body. It didn’t help that the man who supposedly loved her - men - used her. Not to say she wasn't manipulative (Ace was as well) but she truly needed help and I think she probably would've respected Ace more if he focused on that. I think she really needed someone to see behind the beauty, brawn and "talent" and try to get to know the real Ginger. Who she really was. However, no one cared to learn. There was a moment she was happy to be Mrs. Rothstein, because of the status she obtained from it. However, she knew it was all a farce and that she could never really escape her past. He said that with a straight face, btw. I have to say this was hilarious! If you know, you know... And she was right that Ace didn't love her…HER. He only loved the idea of her and what she outwardly represented to him and for the rest of the city of Vegas. In some ways, he had her more under lock and key than Lester, which I will explain later. Now for the fucked up-ness of Ginger. Just like Ace and Nicky, she was stubborn, greedy and liked to have her way. No, not by trying to get her jewels and money that Ace promised her. I will get back to that later, but by, again, using her allure and body to get what she wanted. Ginger knew - KNEW that Nicky had a crush on her, which is specifically why she sought him out to complain about Ace after Ace asked Nicky to “sic” his goons after Lester. She didn't go to her dear "friend" Jennifer to complain because… what could she have done in the long run? The long con started with Nicky, because she knew she was going to eventually leave Ace and get what she was owed by him. Nicky was the "right" person to help her with what she wanted and was happy to do it… well because like I explained, he also wanted Ace gone. I'll say they used each other, but one of them REALLY wanted to get in that puzz and desired her way more than she would ever desire Nicky. (Btw, I wanted to point out names here: Nicky and Dominick. That's all.) Anyways, super fucked up that Ginger cared so little about her "friendship" with Jennifer and starts sleeping with her husband. Bad enough the man was rarely home and was sleeping around but for Ginger to be that manipulative and selfish is unfortunate. I would like to think Jennifer went on to have a wonderful life without the abusive and controlling fuck that is Nicky. I digress. Ginger doesn't trust Ace (for good reason in some ways) but then says, "He's a Gemini. Triple Gemini. A snake", something like that, and you see Nicky's face looking amused and low key agreeing with her. I mean, the real-life Nicky and Ginger were the sign of Taurus. Not surprised they shared the same sentiment. I laughed at the scene and always do. Why? Because these 2 were the biggest, gotdam snakes in the movie! The shit they were doing behind Ace's back, fucking each other and plotting to kill the man was insane. The nerve of these 2. Plus, what's interesting is when they introduced Lester, Ginger was wearing a snake printed robe dress. She also wore an Emilio Pucci abstract snake dress when she walked away from a “mark” she provided pills to while he was in the bathroom. In fact, Ginger wore a lot of animal/snake print clothing! So, I guess her clothing told us a story about her if you catch my drift. Eww. Look up Dale Evans and understand why I said that. And to top it off, Ginger attempted to kidnap their daughter, Amy, which is beyond foul. Horrible fuckin' mother, btw. It wasn't just the kidnapping, it was the fact that Ginger would have her daughter around Lester the Molester, who has been pimping her for years, since SHE was a kid. Unfortunately, she didn't see Lester as a bad guy, more like a fucked up "parental figure." And yet, they checked in to some hotel/motel under the name, "Mr. and Mrs. Rothstein" so she was acting and probably hoping that her life would be rich and plentiful… with Lester and not with Sam "Ace" Rothstein. Sadly, Ginger couldn't see that Lester was the bigger scammer in her life and didn't care about her at all, only cared about what she could DO for HIM. During this messed up kidnapping plot, Ginger is chopping and snorting coke in front Amy, which no child should ever see, and decided to tell her daughter, "Don't do this" was responsible parenting. Wild and disgusting. Super infuriating! I think Ginger envied her daughter a little, which is why she exploited her the way she did. Her daughter came into the world with money and a father, Ace, who purely loved her. Ginger clearly didn't care for her daughter's well-being and went as far as tying her daughter up in their home and leaving her alone. Drugs and alcohol were also the problem. Now let me go back a second. I get the sense that Ginger and Lester would've tried to do what Lester did to Ginger when she was kid to Amy. Read between the lines. Even how Lester was speaking about Amy was telling but the writers were careful not to be too obvious. Ransom but also, if Ace didn’t pay up… I will leave it at the that. After tying her poor daughter up and leaving her alone, she heads to Nicky's restaurant. Their plot was so bad. Because, at this point, Ginger was numbing herself with alcohol, Nicky was getting sloppy and both didn't think Ace would figure out they were in cahoots with each other at this point and not just in a sexual way. Ginger hid behind Nicky, essentially, while a furious Ace reems down at her as quietly as he could. Once they had their short argument when he finally got her home, which I will get back to later, she leaves again, goes back to Nicky's restaurant to let him know what happened. Nicky knew all of this was bad and it wasn't going the way he thought it would and Ginger is like, "Just kill him already". When Nicky doesn't comply with what she wants, she attacks him, he smacks her and throws her out of the restaurant. Now, at this point she's ruined both relationships and she knew Ace would never look at her the same or forgive her. Now she wants her money and whatever else so she can go. Finally free. She didn't even bother trying to get custody of Amy at that point. She was smart enough to know she would've lost that fight. That “child” within no longer had to answer to her other "father". She had her money (and more) and was gone. Unfortunately, with that freedom came even more moochers, addicts and users, that ran through everything she left with and her meeting her maker. And you know what? Never heard from Lester again. By then he probably didn't need her. To him, she fucked up the biggest score they would ever have by leaving and divorcing Ace. Also, Lester may have seen her as washed up at that point due to the booze and narcotics. Yes, Ginger was a grown woman and could've gotten help for herself. It's just unfortunate she couldn't and wouldn't get away from the same cycle and same type of people. She struggled to stay on a path filled with rules. She never met anyone who truly trusted and loved her… the former sadly for good reason. The cycle. Sam "Ace" Rothstein… Yeah I left him for last. Like I hinted earlier, Ace was also a bad fella in this. Many people see him as a victim; just a caring guy who just wanted to run a "square place" and have his life "nice and quiet". Pfft! Bro, you work for the fucking mob! Square place? They were skimming! You were a part of the shenanigans! Hell, you were ripping off motherfuckers all day and night because seeing anyone really "win" was like losing a million bucks! Mr. Rothstein, sir, you didn't like the "whales" that came through, betting vast amounts of money and winning. So, what do you do, create a scheme where they are forced to come back to the casino and bet again… and again… and again until they lose all of what they played. YOU DIDN'T EVEN LIKE WHEN THEY TOOK FREE SOAPS AND TOWELS! Back then that wasn't an anomaly, you were allowed to take these items. However, you're so cheap as well as needing to make sure all the money lost would go into the greedy pockets of YOU and the fucking mob. Ugh. And yes, the point of a casino is to keep people spending. The house always wins. However, people have brains and if they aren't gambling addicts, some would stay away from casinos that are straight losers and won't go back to the establishment and will go to the casinos that have a higher winning output. Ok, let's start a bit from the beginning. Sorry, I have a lot to say about him. Didn't mean to jump in and lose it a bit. Ace is an interesting character. You're supposed to love him. Seems solid. He had the right to be irritated with Nicky, but everything wasn't Nicky's fault - or Ginger's. Ace suffered from OCD. Not fun if you’re diagnosed with it. I know. There are many degrees of OCD and Ace was up there in high level category. Wait - you know what? OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder) is what he had, with some sprinkling of OCD. He needed to be in control. Hell, he told Stone he didn't want interference and wanted to run the casino "his way". On top of that the dice had to be right, the chips stacked correctly, etc. To make it more interesting, not one hair or clothing was out of place (down to his home). In some ways, he needed someone in his life to disorder his orderly life, a challenge… and saw someone who was not too different from him, which was Ginger. (Oooh I will get back to her) And somewhat because of this diagnosis that he may or may not have known he had, this is all the messery this dude did. Let's start with Tangiers Hotel and Casino. Ward was an idiot but was also scamming for the very people who wanted the mob out of the casino business and out of their city. When some slots machines provided people with the chance to win at a high probability, Ace lost his shit. I laughed because Ward said something even I said, even though I knew he was scamming the Tangiers and Ace. My boy said, "People have to win sometimes…" Pure GOLD! Hahahahahahahahaa!!!!!!! Yes, that was funny and true. As I said before, Ace needed people to come to that casino to keep losing. This is why he continued to watch the casino even at home, frickin' CCTV for crying out loud in his gotdamn bedroom to make sure "people weren't robbing him blind". Bro… you lost your shit on someone scamming from the casino, yet you were literally doing the same. Ace thought because he was this incredible handicapper in betting where he rarely, if ever, lost a bet - got this shit down to a science - that he was better than many and of higher morale ground… and he wasn't! (Btw, I will be saying that last part a few times regarding Ace. Watch out) Did I say this man said in the beginning of the movie that he was "given" a casino that was "legitimate" and that as a bookie and gambler he had to always look over his shoulder due to being hassled by the cops? You weren't "given" anything. Your job was to "run" the casino. You couldn't even say you were the boss! You had to keep changing titles every blessed week. And that casino was not legitimate! Ok, if you mean legitimate as it's an actual friggin' casino and not some faux shite, ok, you're right. However, nothing done at the Tangiers was legitimate. Yes, you're not wrong for getting the cheaters out, which kind of includes Ward but Ward was tricky. He leaves; everything dies. Anyways, I understand all of that - the job you had to do was to make sure money in, a lot less money out - all for the "bosses". However, the hypocrisy is hilarious and, again, you act as if you're above the cheaters, crooks and skanks. Hell, you were under the control of the mob. You're there to make that money and not let the money make you! (If you watched Player's Club, y'all should know who said that hahahahaaaa!) You were no different from Ginger. You were being pimped, Ace, just not sexually. You told Nicky, if anything happened to the casino it was "his ass" not Nicky's. Yeah, glorified "hoe" who had no choice but to make sure yo' pimps were fat and happy and not given any trouble. Let's add more onto the OCPD diagnosis. Yes, super gross of the "cowboy" sitting at the poker table with his nasty ass feet resting on it. For Ace, this was him wanting to remind Mr. Cowboy that he was running a high-end casino and trashy, nasty habits and actions was not going to be tolerated. Absolutely agree. Then him weighing the European dancers who were off a couple or so pounds during weigh ins. Oof. He was exacting in every way. And yes, I know it's not an anomaly that dancers usually must weigh in, be measured, etc to maintain a svelte look. How about Ace sitting behind his desk and, so that his pants aren't wrinkled and to keep the seams crispy, he has his pants hanging up in the closet, with a few other items of clothes just in case he needs them? The infamous muffins hahahahaaaa! Absolutely didn't blame him for his irritation here. The muffin he received while speaking with Phillip Green looked dry, barely any blueberries in them. Obviously, something was wrong in the kitchen. Could've been that the batter was uneven. But the chef's facial expression and single question was hilarious, then looking at Ace like he was crazy. Another thing was he was so obsessive and fixated with his work, especially when the issue of not having a gaming license came to fruition. He continued to watch the news about it in his "John Barrymore" robe at night. Then in the daytime, he's seen in the same attire, smoking, and watching it again. I do find it crazy that he thought he would have a fair trial. At the time and with all the heat coming down on him and Nicky and the mob, that wasn't going to happen EVER, even if he never got into it with the racist Commissioner Pat Webb after firing Ward. They were looking for a reason to get someone who was working and/or affiliated with the mob and super sketchy past gone from "their town". Mind you, this is a man, Ace, who pretty much enjoyed what he did (I think he thought he was some sort of comic book hero, a character with special powers), worked 18 hour days, so he says, while Ginger enjoyed the best things in life… I will get back to this soon. No wonder the man had ulcers. Him gurgling his Mylanta. The smoking didn't help. So, let's give Ace a break here. He was right about so many things. The number of warnings he gave Nicky was ridiculous. Nicky did say, "Do I have your permission?" when asking about moving out to Las Vegas, even if he was being sarcastic. I think he said it that way knowing Ace likes to think of himself as the boss in damn near every situation. Nicky never wanted to truly listen to Ace because also in Nicky's mind he was "over" Ace. He was a made-man, legit. Ace was just a gambler/impressive ass handicapper. Ace has some paranoia, for sure, but for good reasons. So, when he was providing Nicky those warnings, he cared… but also knew his friend very well and knew he wasn't going to listen to him. Reverse psychology probably worked. I think Ace wanted to keep Ginger safe. Yeah, that's as far as I will go with how he felt about her. He called her a "good fuckin' actress". He was a good fuckin' actor himself. With mostly everyone. He was, for the most part, honest with Nicky. Break over. Let's move to the "jag-off" Nicky stabbed multiple times with a pen. You see Ace walk in and while the "jag-off" was speaking to the women at the bar, Ace and the women exchange "Hellos" and he walks over to Nicky. You see the jag-off say "Who's that guy?" and Ace, seeing a pen on the bar counter, taps the guy on his back and asks him if the pen was his. Mr. Jag-Off disrespects Ace, and Ace stands there acting confused and innocent when, of course, as a muscle, Nicky hears what was said to Ace, takes the pen in question and goes to town on the Mr. Jag-Off's neck. So why is this scene important? A couple of reasons. Even though the interaction was… innocent enough, Ace cuts in while the women are talking to Mr. Jag-Off to say hi to them. It wasn't just a walk past kind of "Hi". He interrupted their conversation (and not saying excuse me) long enough to look at the women with his body slightly in between the women and Mr. Jag-Off, looks at Mr. Jag-Off and walks away. All brief but definitely temp checking and establishing dominance. Then he's all surprised that Mr. Jag-Off snapped off at him. And yeah, it got him stabbed up but, for Ace to then say what he said after Nicky did what he did to him was hilarious! He was questioning why Mr. Jag-Off became so upset. Ace loves the innocent act. He knew his homeboy was going to lose his shit and he didn't mind it at all. Standing there trying to faux stop Nicky at the end from beating the guy up further. Now fast forward to when Ace won an award and Ginger was all dressed in gold (the symbolism is insane here. Such a trophy wife). He's standing in another room with Ginger and they're talking and smiling at each other. A young dude comes over and interrupts their conversation to say congratz to Ace. He then looks to Ginger, grabs her hand, gives it a kiss in a "polite" gesture and compliments Ginger for her beauty and Ace for being… lucky. You can see Ace was not happy about that and once the dude walks away, Ace says, "What balls on this guy," and fires dude the next day. Ace may not have done the hand kissing gesture to the women at the bar who knew him and was wordy with them. However, it was damn near the same situation. The difference is Ace wasn't as obvious as the young dude. Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal - The real "Sam "Ace" Rothstein"... I also think, because the real "Ace" was not much of a looker (DeNiro is very handsome to me) that he didn't care for any man getting close to Ginger, which included Nicky (can't really say I blame him) . DeNiro, in the film was, supposed to be "unattractive" in a sense. Let's continue with his Ginger issues. As I said before, he worked long hours, 18 to be specific, while Ginger enjoyed the perks. I feel this is why his ass never got to truly know his girlfriend/wife. How the hell was the relationship ever going to survive - bump that - how was she ever going to "grow" to love him as he said before, when you are never there and when you show that you didn't trust her by questioning everything she did? Huh? And, yes, money going to Lester? Trash behavior no matter what. However, he already knew she still in contact with that man and once again, remember, Ace knew how Ginger felt and pretty much "bought" her, which is fucked up. Let's go to the beginning a bit. Mr. Rothstein, sir, you fell for Ginger when you saw her on those security cameras hustling/stealing from her "mark". First thought was, "What a move" and instead of doing what you have been doing for a while, getting security to kick her ass out or confront her about what you witnessed, ban her from the casino and then kicking her out, you stare at her and "fell in love". You, Mr. Rothstein, sir, saw how beautiful she was, then her hustling ways, then she became "your mark". Yes, I said "your mark". Ginger didn't care about you or the Tangiers at that moment. She was going to keep it pushing. You chased her. Some would say YOU were the mark, but she didn't know you, your tastes in women, etc. You chased her because she reminded you of YOU. Then you found out a little bit about her. Then in barely 3 months you wanna marry her. Even she was thrown off. As she said you barely knew her and you said pretty much you knew all you needed to know… which is horrible, btw. You didn't care to know more about her because her aesthetics and charming personality were more important than getting to REALLY know and love her. Ginger told you the truth, telling you she cared about you but was not in love. But just like you kept narrating about Nicky, saying "He didn't care" and "He just didn't care", apply that to yourself. Even the way you proposed to Ginger was not special and it centered around you. "I do one better. I'm trying to marry you," or some lame bullshit he said. Really? Ginger is clearly a "grand gesture" kind of woman and proposing by sitting next to her on a sofa, which isn't the problem, but it's you saying, "I'm 43 and I'm not getting any younger, I wanna have a family, settle down", something like that. No real mention of her and/or caring for her feelings. She even asked, while choking back tears, if he knew anyone in happy marriages because she didn't (Interesting since she met Jennifer, hung out with her and Jennifer was married. Ginger probably knew Jennifer and Nicky weren’t a happy couple). It seemed clear she was triggered by her past, probably her parents, and you sat there talking about trust and all this other shit - pretty much salesman your way into her heart. When she told you she was not in love with you, you then started explaining to her about what "love" is and then you pretty much threw money in her face when her next question was how she was going to be taken care of if they divorced - RED FLAG BTW - and you got her to marry you by throwing money and jewels in her face. Ace, you - were - THIRSTY!!!!!!!! The little you learned about Ginger, you used it against her when you were upset, or she did something fucked up. Yes, she deserved ALL the smoke when it came down to kidnapping your daughter and having her around Lester, tying her up later and then leaving her by herself, then wanting to have you killed, but YOU CHOSE HER! YOU DECIDED TO PROCREATE WITH HER knowing full and well she was impulsive – I will say somewhat spontaneous! Right when you first saw her you saw her hustling in full sight, then made the guy lose all the rest of his money. You would think that was a HUGE red flag, that she was who she was and made no apologies for it, unfortunately. Her past wasn't a problem as long as she kept it cute, schmooze with your antique-looking elites, players, movers and shakers in town and kept you abreast of everything she was going to do and was doing. Ginger was a frickin' trophy wife. The scene where she was in that beautiful gold dress was no damn accident by Scorsese. Then you saw the spotlight close in on Ace, which was really interesting because, to me, it made me think at the moment it was all about him and yet what he says about Ginger is SUPPOSED to be sweet and beautiful when it wasn't at all. He liked the way she "worked" the room. If I decoded what he meant by everything he said, it was "I love the way she makes ME look. Successful, rich with phenomenal taste and I can bag women like her. I'm a catch!" No. Mr. Rothstein you're controlling and boring. The best wife for him would probably be Elvira Hancock hahahahhahaaa! Or maybe not considering what I just said. So Ace takes Ginger to banks with him depositing "shakedown" money, jewels, etc, to show her he trusts her "completely" because somehow that shows "love", you know, giving her the ONLY key that would get him back alive. (Btw, where was her "shakedown money" in case SHE was kidnapped?) When she had jewels btw, he asks her, "Do I keep my promises?" No, sir, you do not. Near the end of the marriage, when Ginger wanted to leave, you - Mr. Rothstein – sir - flat out denied her what she was promised. At this point she didn't do those crazy things to Amy, their daughter and wasn't sleeping with Nicky yet. So, a lot of shit could've been avoided, and you would've won custody of Amy had you just divorced her, gave her the shit you promised her and let her go. At this point, she was overdoing it with the drinking and prescription drugs. Once she cut her hair, she became a full-blown coke, pill-popping alcoholic and was becoming even more crazy, like someone who was trying to escape a stalker. Money kept her with you, not love and you knew that and that's why you didn't want to give anything of value to her unless she continued to pretend “love” you. The charade was important. The guy at the bank even asked you if you trusted your wife. You hesitated! Then you said yes and asked why. You spouted all that shit about trust, even going as far as asking her a few times, "Can I trust you?" and yet you didn't trust her AT ALL. There was no trust in the relationship. Some may roll their eyes at me seeming to make Ginger into a victim… Like I explained earlier, she was someone who desperately needed therapy and, I think, most importantly, someone who cared to truly listen to her and get to know her. When Ginger was laid out on their bed after the Lester Diamond beatdown from Nicky's crew, Ace was questioning her about his meds, which she is foul for taking his medication, and she lays there defending nasty ass Lester, saying he didn't have to have him beaten up. When Ace tried to comfort her, she had every right to snap at him seeing she didn't give shit and that he didn't care. Why? This fool said the wrong shit to her, saying, "People look up to you in this town". If he knew her, he would've known that didn't matter. Ginger seemed to want genuine, "see me beyond my looks and get to know me" love. Since every man she seemed to encounter saw her for just her physical attractiveness, she just continued to use it. Then Ace said, which was the infuriating part, "I know you better than you know yourself". Wow. YOU DON'T KNOW HER!!!!!!!!!!!!! Down to when you straight up told her after she was on the phone whispering to someone that she wanted to have you deleted, you screamed "You never loved me in the first place!" YOU GASLIT AND LIED TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!! Ginger already told you she wasn't in love with you AND she never said she loved you! She said she cared about you. You literally thought throwing money at her, which she didn't have much control of, was going to cure her of whatever trauma she was going through?! That status and "respect" in town would be the end all, be all?! NO!!! She was already making money on her own and had more freedom but not by a large margin (being with Lester). Hell, you brought over HER CLOTHES to the house YOU bought for y'all (so controlling you didn't find a home WITH HER). She had her own and somehow her being with you seemed like she was in jail. Then you and your homie Nicky said to her that she was "a tiger" and “a toughy" when, again, you both didn't know her. You can't bullshit a bullshit-er and Ginger was the queen of knowing how to make other people feel good. She saw manipulation and fraud around her. She was a part of it. What was telling was that Ginger never agreed with what they said. Yes, Ginger was street smart, but she wasn't tough. She seemed to be in pain and did her best to self-protect herself but wasn't very good at it by continuing to attract the same type of men. Even when she threatened to go to the FBI, she didn't bother to snitch. All that yelling, threats, hitting cars and such and… nothing. She even came back to Ace after the attempted kidnapping because she's been tricked in her mind that Ace was "safe" but also unpredictable and she couldn't read him. She also came back after wishing Ace was deleted. The reason she left for good in the end was because she knew she fucked up so bad, messing with a mobster and all the irreparable damage she caused with Ace. She had no choice. Sam - excuse me - Mr. Rothstein, sir, you said to Ginger at the restaurant, who was sitting there either drugged up and/or drunk out of her mind after she tied up Amy, "…and let you disgrace me!" He made it very clear their marriage was more for him and, as I said before, to make him look good in the Las Vegas community. He truly didn't think his shit stank. But it did. You have a past - as you said before - and Ginger had a past and… let's be forreal. Do you think the movers, shakers and elites didn’t already know who the hell you and Ginger were? OF COURSE THEY DID!!!!!!!!!!!! You both were like animals in a zoo; on display for people to observe, learn and look at. Same with Nicky and those types of people going to his restaurant. It made them feel hip, important and marveling at the fact they were so close to "danger". Y'all were the bottom of the barrel of society, no matter how y'all tried to present yourselves. Sadly, I'm not done here, Mr. Rothstein. Let's go back to when Ginger asked for the $25k and you questioned her about it. Then she gets annoyed, heads to the bank to get the money, then she goes to meet Lester. You show up, berate nasty as Lester, which is fine, but then you tell him, "If you ever come around to take her money again, bring a pistol…" Wait - HER MONEY? Not too long ago you were damn near making her beg for the money - YOUR MONEY. Once again, it's all about the front; making it seem like the marriage was a joint, equal affair rather than one-sided. Ace, you held all the cards. Remember, she couldn't get her money and jewels when she simply requested it at the divorce lawyer's office. Ginger literally had to go to the extreme. Once you gifted these things, it was hers and she could do whatever she wanted with them, unfortunately. In the end, you saw her for what she was by throwing her past in her face. Yet, you hated it when you were rejected for a gaming license knowing that the County Commissioner and others in the town didn't like you and who you were. Besides, the "books" you brought to the hearing were cooked to perfection. YOU WORKED AT A CASINO THAT WAS SKIMMING!! You thought you were the elite and you even threw demeaning insults at Ginger like she was beneath you, which was telling. Btw, I think you were seeing Trudy, the host of the Tangiers show you had. Another woman… working for you. They were smart in how they did that, not making it obvious in the film. Which reminds me… the Chicago mobsters wanted Ace to do things "nice and quiet" after the fallout of the gaming license. Well, because Ace felt like a big part of his power was taken from him, he decided to do that boring ass "Ace's High" show. Ace is not much of a talker, which was clear. Ace's ego, however, was horrible. The reason he really wanted to be on TV was because of control and needing that back. Also, he needed adoration and respect again. It was slipping at this point. So, Nicky was right about him at the desert. And, yes, Ace wanted Nicky to be gone, and yes, Nicky was a nuisance. However, Ward was fired and that's when everything went downhill for Ace and the Tangiers. Ace’s real love was the casino. It was not Ginger. Ace set himself up as a victim; made an "all-in" gamble and lost big with Ginger, already knowing who and what she was from the very beginning and expecting anyone to feel sorry for you on that end is hilarious. Now we move on to some last thoughts and observations. I found it very interesting that Ace set Little Nicky Boy up to little league with a coach who was a Metro Intelligence cop. Nicky shrugged it away, but I always thought it was Ace, in some ways, wanting Nicky to get caught up or be watched. I can see it another way as well. The front. Make it look like Nicky was an upstanding member of the community and just wanted to show these cops that Nicky - well, they as a whole - were just good people that wanted normal and "square and quiet lives". I do understand to a small point why Ace didn't want to give Ginger what he promised. After all the horrible fuck shit she did - I get it. However, that man didn't inform the sheriffs that Ginger's scazzy ass left their daughter by herself, tied up in the dark. He did nothing like that. We also didn't see him go back to the lawyers. The crazy thing is, if they did go to divorce court, Ace most likely would have had to provide Ginger what he promised. Nevada, at that time in the 1980s had a "No Blame" kind of clause, which spouses don't have to prove cruel acts or adultery, which Ginger was guilty of. Also, marital property and debts were equally split up. To make it worse for him, he already had money hidden, which forensic accountants - if hired by Ginger and no doubt she would've done it - would've found not only the money, who knows what legal/tax problems it would've created for him if she wanted to be even more despicable. He should've just gave her the jewels and the million dollars that he promised her and be done… and make sure there were witnesses to that so she couldn't come back for more. Side note: Nas, the rapper if you don't already know who he is, seemed to be a fan of the movie Casino. He released a music video for the song, "Street Dreams" from his album "It Was Written" released in 1996. The music video had some usually suspects from the movie itself, such as Frank Vincent who played Frank. Frank is supposed to be "Nicky" in the video. Hype Williams, the director of the video really was going for that cinematic feel and look. He is considered one of the best music video directors in modern history. Recently, Nas has partnered with Resorts World New York City in his home borough of Queens and the commercial for it once again pays homage to the movie "Casino". Nas is one of my favorite lyricists. I digress. I bring this up because, if I could have a word with Nas, I would tell him this: Nas and the casino he is partnered with Being inspired by Sam "Ace" Rothstein is not a flex as Ace was not cool or a "good" guy. I used to think he was cool when I was younger but then as I continued to watch the movie over and over again for years, yeah, the revelation came to me. Martin Scorcese and everyone behind the movie were genius' for the character development and the small details that can be easily missed. I really hope Nas doesn't see himself as Ace but, hey, he's the only one that knows himself. I will just chuckle if I continue to see more Ace Rothstein inspirations from him. Lastly, the overt racism by Nicky and Ace. Nicky's name calling of Ace plus middle easterners, etc was purely disgusting. Ace calling Ginger an "Irish B&%$#" when he was furious regarding the tying up of Amy and leaving her alone. The irony of Nicky holding "snake eyes" - rolling a total of 2 on a pair of standard six-sided dice, where both dice land on 1. Listen, they were all terrible people and abusive in their own ways. Like I said in the beginning, they were greedy and selfish but, hey, that's what Vegas can do to you. There were no goodfellas here. Thank you so much for hanging in there with me! Like, comment, subscribe (donate if you can) and please share! Thank you so much!

The song “Die Hard” on Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is overlooked lyrically but not musically. It’s very catchy and you bounce your shoulders and dance as the syrupy voice of Amanda Reifer sweetly sings the chorus, Blxst, as a matter of factly, simply blazes through the bridges – both singers, in essence, balance of masculine and feminine – and duality. Then Kendrick, who doesn’t hide the emotions of what he is singing about, channels and connects to the masculine and feminine so effortlessly, as the song is serious, playful, sad, reflective, confident and… coded. Rarely anyone converses about the lyrics because it seems surface level. However, NOTHING on MM&TBS is surface level. It’s intensely layered, quite possibly the most layered album Kendrick ever released. So, I am going to peel back, to some extent, a layer on the song “Die Hard”. (WARNING! SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD!) It Hit Me: I was watching the friggin’ movie… “Die Hard” as I was working. The first movie from the installment came out in 1988. I needed a distraction. Let me tell you a story: (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!) John McClane The Anti-Hero and... Ladies Man In 1988, John McClane, a humble, insanely observant and smart mouth NYC cop, a man who effortlessly attracts women by doing absolutely…well…nothing, and a man of few words, decided to visit his estranged wife, Holly and family for the holidays. Holly and their children live in LA. After a rather entertaining limo ride with his young, cool and somewhat astute limo driver, Argyle, who offered him a lil’ “flavor” to his usual holiday music to chill John out a bit since he seemed tensed and was low-key pre-judging Argyle’s green and youthfulness. Holly Gennaro McClane Anyways, they arrive at Nakatomi Plaza in Downtown LA, where Holly is working and her co-workers are celebrating a Christmas Eve party. John arrives there and meets with her boss, Joseph Takagi, and a pricky, coked up co-worker who’s vying for her position named Harry Ellis in her office. John and Holly saw each for the first time in a while and it was super, friggin’ sweet. They greeted each other, lovingly, but it’s stiff. The boss and coworker leave to head back to the party and soon after John mentions, while freshening up, that wifey is going by her maiden name, Gennaro, and not McClane. Before this realization there’s a mild flirtation while he freshens up after a long trip from NYC to LA and she wants him to stay at the house with her and the children, clearly wanting some of that “thang thang” with him because she missed her man, albeit it in the spare bedroom. He missed his lady. But that gets shot to shite…thanks to John. John wants her to be a married woman for everyone there at Nakatomi… and in day-to-day life. Holly thought more of her position at the company considering the company she worked for was Japanese and if you’re married you may have “one foot out the door” philosophy and she took the opportunity. John is like “so you know what this decision could do to our marriage, right?” to which Holly responds back with “It didn’t do dick to the marriage other than change wtf you think our marriage supposed to be!!” Now John says, “You don’t know what my idea of our marriage should be!” and Holly claps back, “I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK OUR MARRIAGE SHOULD BE!!” Holly’s pregnant assistant interrupts their argument to let her know Mr. Takagi needs her to make a speech and backs the fuck out of that tension-filled ass room. Holly said she would be back in a few minutes and leaves John, banging his head against the side of the wall a few times, annoyed – at himself – for starting an argument with Holly. RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!! Hans Gruber and his goons Hans Gruber and his goons wreck shop and then some to get into the building. Hans said he was there for a “cause”, when his greedy ass only wanted $640 million in bearer bonds. So now it’s up to John McClane to save his wife, the hostages, the money, the building and whatever else these whackos had up their sleeves. And he did. His marriage was saved. Until the next time… And the next time… And the next time… Kenny and family Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers… Die Hard… Lyrics I pop the pain away, I slide the pain away I pop the pain away, I slide the pain away Okay, before I get into the lyrics you’re probably wondering where this is going and I will explain. Mr. Duckworth, like many of us, is influenced by pop culture. In this instance, he has incorporated it in full view, and no one has clocked it until now (unless I’m wrong, of course) . It's one of my theories. Die Hard is one of my fave movie franchises of all time. Especially “Die Hard with A Vengeance”. I was watching it for the umpteenth time just like I was listening to MM&TBS for the umpteenth time, and it clicked hard (pun intended) that Dot drew parallels of the John McClane character to himself. So, with that being said… The lyrics above… The Dot. Our dear Kenny was going through it, wasn’t he? And like many with the weight of many worlds, burdens, tasks, goals and obligations, it’s heavy. Numbing can sometimes be the only way to deal when you have no choice but you have to keep going because… who else is going to do it? He may not have been “literally popping” anything, but there was unresolved pain. I think this was another entendre… for Drake. Kenny is the master of entendres. In Die Hard with a Vengeance in the beginning of the movie, after the big explosion in Midtown Manhattan, in the next scene you see all of John McClane’s co-workers looking down at him. Why? He looks “like shit” pretty much what Inspector Cobb said to him. John is sitting on the ground of a police van as they all make their way to Harlem and his hair is disheveled – HE’S disheveled – and needs aspirin – more than one, btw, cigarettes, and coffee. The man has a hangover. Inspector Cobb is asking about the kids. John says, “I hear they’re ok…” and Cobb presses on by asking John if has spoken to Holly, and he said he didn’t speak to her. Well, once John understands the request of the bad guy, “Simon” wants them to do (and be) in Harlem, John makes a remark saying something like, “It’s nice to be needed” and Cobb jumps in saying, “Frankly, you haven’t been much-” John cuts him off and barks, “Mind your fuckin’ business about Holly!” (This is all going somewhere. Trust me.) Throughout the movie, John is running around all over the city with a goddamn headache and hangover with Zeus Carver a.k.a the G.O.A.T. Samuel L. Jackson (ironic, huh? Cough *Superbowl* cough), and needing aspirin from supervillain Simon, who turns out to be Hans Gruber’s brother from the 1st movie. But John can’t be too emotional when dealing with this shit, with saving the world. Too dangerous. Especially in this movie here. “Popping” the pain away. Moving on. Lyrics I hope I'm not too late To set my demons straight I know I made you wait But how much can you take? I hope you see the God in me I hope you can see And if it's up, stay down for me Yeah In Die Hard with a Vengeance again, near the end of the movie, John and Zeus are tied to a huge ass bomb. John looks to Simon and asks him one last question after calling him “Fuckhead”. “You got any aspirins? I’ve had a bad fuckin’ headache all day long”. Simon laughs, tells him it must be his lucky day, throws the bottle at him and tells him to keep it (that part always makes me laugh) and runs away. John and Zeus get to talking while tied to this bomb. While Zeus is trying to get the cuffs off he asks McClane if he has a wife and he said they were sort of separated and explained she lives in LA, he lives in NY, they had a fight on the phone, she hung up and he didn’t call her back and it’s been… a year since they spoke. Ridiculous. Zeus laughs and John says his wife’s “a stubborn woman”. John and Zeus managed to escape. John goes to call Holly via collect call (IYKYK) at the phone booth. He takes the aspirin from the bottle Simon gave him. While waiting for Holly to get on the phone, John realizes the location on the bottom of the aspirin bottle given to him by Simon, at this point knowing where the bad guys are at and runs away, dropping the phone and now needing to complete the fucking mission, the day. (Btw, I find it interesting that John, an NYC cop, needed to find Simon in... Nova Scotia, Canada. Interesting, eh?) Anyways, poor Holly comes to the phone yelling John’s name and once again she's not the priority. Yes, we know for the most part – HUGE part – Kenny is very private about himself, his life and family as he should. I will tread lightly. What I take from these lyrics and how they connect into some of the characteristics of John McClane are the possible vices and linear focus Whitney probably had to deal with with Kenny from time to time. Patience wasn’t a practice; she may have mastered the art and the evils that were chasing and plaguing Kenny. He had to get them aligned, face them and out of the way to unburden his loved ones. Lyrics Do you love me? Do you trust me? Can I trust you? Don't judge me I'ma die hard, it gets ugly Too passionate, it gets ugly First, I must point out that Kendrick makes fun of Drake by using his own melody/how he sings from the song “In My Feelings” from the album “Scorpion”. Such a whiny guy, my goodness. Anyways, Kendrick may have been conveying to Whitney and/or loved ones, that what he was about to embark on will have some rough waters – very rough waters – and it will be bad before it gets better and implores his loved one(s) to understand him, and that what he’s going to do is going to be pretty nasty… albeit it will be roughly 4 years later. Lyrics: I got some regrets I-I-I-I-I-I-I But my past won't keep me from my best I-I-I-I-I-I-I Subtle mistakes felt like life or death I-I-I-I-I-I-I John, like Kenny, with all the regrets they had, big or small, no matter what, they will always be the best at their work. John, for one, was in dangerous situations where one wrong move and/or a small mistake damn near could have killed him. Kenny may have gone through the same situations but possibly not as literal as John. Lyrics: The world be reminding me it's danger I'll still risk it all for a stranger Kenny has seen and knows things, and I won’t say what I think they are. Some of it has already been said in his music, some information is out there already (DarkKenny, for example). And like John McClane, Kenny had a mission to carry out in 2024 and was one of the only ones, next to Pusha T, that was ready to take down Drake. The difference is, Kenny made sure to plan everything to a T so that Drake couldn’t get away with what he got away with when it came to his beef with Pusha T. John risks his life for strangers all day and night. We all know the “stranger(s)” Kenny is talking about. Observations and Parallels (other than what I initially pointed out): Die Hard (1st Movie) Lucy and Jack (A.K.A John McClane Jr.) So, one that isn’t planned, of course, is that McClane has 2 children: Lucy and Jack (John McClane Jr.) Lucy is the oldest. Dot has 2 children and Uzi is the oldest. I wonder if Dot thought about this in terms of incorporating Die Hard themes in the song. You never know. The Cowboy… John McClane was first called a “cowboy” by Hans (in the first movie), and it seems to be somewhat a moniker for McClane and/or people like him. Rogue, tough, independent, innovative with a whole lot of heart and almost fearless. Cowboys also have a code of being loyal, honest, with emphasis on working hard and hospitality. Nat Love And speaking of cowboys, let’s not forget some of the original cowboys who were African American such as Nat Love. Nat (Nate is the pronunciation) Love was one of the 1st known black cowboys (and a Gemini) who, at the time, taught himself how to read and write when he was a kid, although it was prohibited. His father helped him. Nat started off working at a farm and since he was good at horse training, he hustled and then left his hometown at 16 years old. Once he arrived in Kansas, he found work as a cowboy and fought cattle rustlers. He trained himself to be a marksman and, of course, a cowboy which garnered him the nickname “Red River Dick” (he had other interesting monikers like Deadwood Dick). Love, not his last name, is what caused his retirement from being a cowboy. Kendrick was inspired by the Compton Cowboys, who have their own line of clothing. I wouldn’t be surprised history also played a part. Is there any other reason why Kendrick calls himself, “Compton Cowboy”? Dot adopted another alias which is “The Compton Cowboy” and he and Baby Keem have called themselves, “The Hillbillies”. Look at them fits!!! Dot is very much a cowboy. Of course, not in the literal sense like vaccinating animals and tending cattle… unless there is something we don’t know about yet hahahahaa! A Good Day To Die Hard's Komarov - main bad guy in the last Die Hard movie. Difference in expression on the face Another observation from the OG Die Hard movie I noticed was when Hans fell from Nakatomi Tower at the end of the movie. I remember when I was younger this scene was super cool to me, the cinematics of it; drama and reaction. Well, the Compton Cowboy utilized this in the music video, “Swimming Pools (Drank)”. Of course, Dot isn’t always super literal with what inspires him and, in this instance, he may have thought that scene was cool in Die Hard and was inspired to capture the dramatics of that scene and match it to the theme of the song in a different way. John has a sister. I'm not sure if the sister is younger or older. Kendrick has a little sister who he has spoken about and referenced in his songs. The other thing that is on some fandom wiki’s, John McClane was born on May 23rd, 1955, making him a Gemini. I saw some birthdates online that said March 13th and March 19th, 1955. When I rewatched “Live Free and Die Hard”, Thomas Gabriel, one of the bad guys, dug into John McClane’s background, I saw John’s I.D. and it does indeed say May 23rd, as the date of birth, although the year is a bit difficult to see. And yes, Dot is a Gem, himself. Die Hard 2 In the 2nd installment of the series, we learn more that John is not a fan of technology. In the OG movie he looked for Holly’s name in what appeared to be a touchscreen, and you can see the slight grimace on his face, and of course his further displeasure of seeing his wife’s maiden and not married name logged into the system of Nakatomi Towers. In the 2nd movie, Holly mentions to the older lady next to her on the plane that was heading to Washington, D.C., that John wasn’t a fan of technology and when she gets on the phone with him on the plane, he mentions that technology stopped when they created microwave dinners. Even Al Powell, the twinkie-eating cop that was a huge help to John in the 1st movie, chuckled at John for using a fax machine to fax some fingerprints from a bad guy who was killed by John. In the 3rd Die Hard movie, John becomes angry at a cell phone in the car that he was using to contact Inspector Cobb that goes out when he drives through a tunnel. He screamed, “Goddamn cellular fucking phones!!!” Kendrick, I think, likes certain aspects of technology. However, he may dislike the way it’s been used. Tech connects to social media and many other things. So, for example you have Drake who has used social media to troll or to be petty, etc. Many people are guilty of this plus talking too much and showing too much of themselves and life. The other thing to note is how Kendrick communicates online and how he takes pictures, with some saying he’s like an old man who hasn’t or doesn’t know how to use a phone to take pictures ever in his life (which I love that he does this). On the social media accounts we know of, he rarely posts anything. Moving on. John had to deal with a jealous cop, Captain Carmine Lorenzo, who refused to listen to him when it came to John’s concerns about the nefarious shit going on at the airport. Carmine mentions that he knew who John was, called him a “hot shot L.A. cop” – all this hater-aid because John saved hostages, which included his wife, from Nakatomi Tower and he was labeled a hero. Reminds me of all the people that have been jealous of Kendrick, up until now. Especially when it comes to the Great Rap Battle of 2024, the way Dot demolished Drake has made some of these rappers feel a certain way about themselves. Some of them wanted to be the ones to oust Drake from the music scene themselves and some were enamored by the skills and strategy of Dot in the battle. Very few applauded Kendrick for what he did, and many showed their envy by downplaying the battle/beef. Die Hard with a Vengeance Samuel L. Jackson. Yes, one of the most obvious connections to Kendrick is Uncle Sam… the Uncle Sam who opened the Super Bowl 2025 Half Time Show. As I said before, Samuel L. Jackson’s character’s name is Zeus Carver and he is largely the reason John McClane is alive because he would’ve either been severely injured or dead had Zeus not thought fast enough to have John act as a mental patient (and snatching the gun taped on McClane’s back) in front of the group of guys not at all liking the sign he wore (IYKYK). Yippee-Ki-Yay, Motherf**ker! Oh yes, the famous line John says at the end after he kills the villain or right before doing so. The one word he uses is “motherfucker”. Well, Dot has been using “Motherfucker” as of late; he uses this word at the end of “Man at the Garden” and on the Clipse’s stellar album, “Let God Sort ‘Em Out” on “Chains and Whips”. I still feel Dot will drop an East Coast type album (I mention this on my video, “Kendrick Lamar may be dropping an…East Coast album”. Go check that out that video or read it on the blog to see why I think he might do so. I appreciate it and the support!) because of the little signs he’s left since the rap beef (Mr. Morale and possibly before that) and now the “Die Hard” series makes it a little more potent. John McClane is a NYC lieutenant, but I think he was born in New Jersey. On the Grand National tour in 2025, Dot and company made a stop in NJ (I went to the 1st show) and Dot not only brought out Baby Keem on the 2nd night, but the red GNX was revealed (Also check out my theory of the red GNX which is on my blog and YouTube which is called “Was Kendrick Lamar inspired by Knight Rider and… Transformers for GNX album?”). This, of course, didn’t happen in any other city or country they visited. Totality of it all… K-Dot probably didn’t want to be the one who upended Drake in a battle where he’s pointing out the many disgusting flaws of Drake and things he may have done. No one else was stepping up to the plate. Instead, they continue to exchange subliminals to each other and that becomes tedious and…boring. However, Kendrick stepping up to knock that bitch down is what saved hip-hop, contrary to what some naysayers are saying from the beginning of the battle and as of recently. John McClane was not on a mission to save everyone from these horrible thieves and terrorists. He was always at the wrong place at the wrong time… although I would say not really, as his ex-wife Holly was twice saved by John (I will come back to these movies for an in-depth analysis). John, in his mind, had no choice. “Serve and Protect”. This is what he swore to once he became a cop. In “Live Free and Die Hard”, Matt Farrell, the young guy John had to save from the tech terrorists, said that he couldn’t handle anymore people trying to kill him and John said, “You get used to it” as he walked away from Matt. I wonder if Dot had similar thoughts, possibly being questioned about the plethora of subliminals from Drake and other rap artists. There was also Matt and John referencing each other as “that guy”. Let’s see, Kendrick called himself, “That ni**a” and Tyler the Creator called himself “That Guy” in the song titled as the same over Kendrick’s “Hey Now” production from GNX. All the villains - Hans Gruber Colonel Stuart Simon Gruber Thomas Gabriel Komarov The baby. Btw, the bad guys are a bunch of greedy, stealing bastards who pretend that what they are doing is for the greater good when it’s absolutely not. Everything is for them at the end of the day and if people must die for it, so be it. It’s all about their bottom line. Drake is a seriously greedy person who only cares about himself and has tried to pretend that some of his actions, like the recent court case he has against UMG, are for independent artists and artists alike. Him passing out money, mimicking XXXTentacion in 2017 with “God’s Plan” music video when he knew full and well, he was making a killing off of the song and the album, “Scorpion” and nothing he did came from the heart. Putting artists “on” but then they end up in the OVO sweatshop. Dude taking songs from independent artists like from SoundCloud and other places, purportedly, and using that music for his own albums and Eps/LPs and mixtapes. There’s more. Selfishness to the core. In the end, Kendrick, like John McClane, takes his career very, very seriously. As Kenny said before he would die for this shit. It’s his love, the love of his life and even in the song “Gloria” he speaks of the ups and downs of the love for his “pen”. Just like John McClane was a born police officer and defender of innocent people, Kenny was born a musician. “McClane is a man who does not like himself much but is doing the best he can in a bad situation”. Bruce Willis also said, “Even though he's a hero, he is just a regular guy. He's an ordinary guy who's been thrown into extraordinary circumstances.” He didn’t want to be a hero, just like Dot isn’t anyone’s “savior”. John’s a man who needed desperately to work through his issues. Unfortunately, whatever happened caused Holly and him to divorce. Dot did the work and has been doing the work to be a better and healthier person for himself and his family. Dot doesn’t want to end up like John McClane in his faux personal life. However, Dot has his heart and that’s what makes him… that guy. THE END!!!!!!!! Thanks for all of the support! I appreciate you all!

Bajan-American, Brooklyn-born music producer Welch Concannon is now beginning a path in expressing herself creatively via music production in her own style, creating various instrumentals from Hip-Hop, Avant Garde style music, to R&B, etc. Welchless Thinking... the name of her blog is unpredictable which may contain current, future and past events that will talk about music, books, movies, TV shows. Get everyone to start reading more, again. This blog can be a start.

Bajan - American, Brooklyn-born music producer Welch Concannon is now beginning a path in expressing herself creatively via music production in her own style, creating various instrumentals from Hip-Hop, Avant Garde style music, to R&B, etc. Welchless Thinking... the name of her blog is unpredictable which may contain current, future and past events that will talk about music, books, movies, TV shows. Get everyone to start reading more, again. This blog can be a start. Music/Beats Check below new musical releases Interested in singing over one of my instrumentals? Contact me (located at the bottom of webpage) New Halloween themed EP is out now and it's called "DeadLuck". Available for purchase in Bandcamp (full EP) or purchase individual singles. Thanks for the support! A special shoutout to the person who buys my first EP will be posted on the site, their name! Some music made can be use for commercials, TV programs, movies, video games, etc. Follow my blog for latest music updates, music I'm a fan of, random thoughts that drift in and out of my mind, my travels, pop culture, etc. Still updating some things on the site. Don't be surprise by changes! Bio Welch Concannon is an up and coming music producer from BKLYN New York. Coming from the wild 1980's/1990's era, growing up in different areas of Brooklyn, New York and hanging in Manhattan's East and West Village in the 90's and early 2000's, I was heavily influenced by everything artistic. As a Bajan-American , growing up with West Indians but also hanging around all races and cultures, I've listened to all kinds of music and listened to music that wasn't played around me at all. I listen to music without bias, always. The music I provide will range from being innovative to relatable , thoughtful to exciting . It is and will be a never-ending rollercoaster of different genres and some music that may not fit in any category at all. As a music producer, this party is now getting started. News/Updates!!! August 31, 2026 Blog News : Hey Thinkers! Long time no news but life happens to us all. The next one will be on the movie "The Crush". Watch it if you haven't because there will be spoilers. It's also disturbing. I also have thoughts on the Tupac Shakur Murder trial that will come later on. It will be a part of a big piece that includes many artists, artists we know... Thanks for being here, being patient and supportive and I appreciate you all! Be safe and healthy and stay tuned. Process incoming information and... keep thinking😉🧠 I posted a new video, the topic is "Casino: Who Was The Goodfella Here? " , which I talk about one of the most iconic, violent movies of all time... and sort of based on a true story. I delve into the personalities of each character and what makes them... well, horrible. Enjoy! Click on the YouTube icon at the top of the page. You can also read it as well via my blog, the link is near the header. Music news : "DeadLuck - A Holloween EP " is now completed! Check out the preview below. Thanks for the support! Working on an 80's inspired EP at the moment among other things. Please be safe out there!!!! Welch's Music Check out my newest release below. Contact YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR? Reach out with any questions and I will get back to you as soon as possible. First Name Last Name Company Email Subject Message Submit Thanks for submitting!