Pacific Standard Time

How can I put this? It's terrible. Almost halfway through and NOTHING has happened. NOTHING. Look we all know where this is going. Guy and girl get an unplanned visit from an 'old friend'. He's sketchy. We get it he's vaguely Hispanic and talks black. He's sketchy. We know there's going to be a love triangle we know the two guys have a past that's going to come back to haunt one of them. We know the girl is going to get sexually involved with the sketchy guy. We know there's going to be some criminal activity with even sketchier dudes. We know the girl is going to get or almost gets raped by the even sketchier dudes. We know there's going to be a fight slash gun battle slash drowning between the first guy and the sketchy guy. We know sketchy guy is on a revenge trip. We know the cop who shows up at the beginning in a brilliant white linen suit isn't a cop. We know the guy and the girl are too dumb to know that. We know no one will ask how the sketchy guy even knew they were living there. We know that with Airbnb no one would rent out their top 5 most amazing homes in all of LA for $150,000 a week for the whole summer because their step daughter and her do nothing boyfriend should use it for free for their summer vacation in their mid 20s.

And that's what we know will happen. Problem is nothing happens. SLOW burn is not a synonym. It's a style. It's a tease where you spin out a shaggy dog story in a TV series so that you can stretch 3 episodes into 13. In a movie its just wasted time and film. I can't tell you how many movies now are "the first 75 minutes are terrible but the the last 15 are good. Just make those 15 and skip the rest. Just because you call your little movie a neo noir something or other doesn't mean you can get away with awful cheesy dialog terrible direction a boilerplate script cookie cutter characters and bad acting. And why is almost every actor South African? Do they come as a package deal with the house?

Blood in the Water is a sexy independent thriller starring Willa Holland and Alex Russell as Veronica and Percy, respectively. The young couple in love spend the summer house sitting a beautiful home on Hollywood Hills overlooking the Los Angeles skyline. All is well until their old college friend, Veronica's ex-boyfriend Freedgood, played by Miguel Gomez, shows up and pulls them into his shady drug business. The film had me engaged from beginning to end with the suspense of what was going to happen next, but also with the incredible cinematography. The shots perfectly captured the Los Angeles lifestyle including the skyline in the background in many scenes and highlighting the lavish production design in upscale home they are in. Filmmakers Ben and Orson Cummings really know how to capture the beauty of Hollywood Hills, while still telling a compelling story about about love, greed and deception.

After watching the Blood in the Water film, I was thrilled by the mysterious nature of the film that pushed the audience to question the character's motives and left me on the edge of my seat awaiting for the next unexpected plot twist. This meticulously crafted dramatic thriller set in the striking location of a Los Angeles modern mansion paints a sleek and sexy scenery for the chaos that ensues as a shady and suspicious friend named Freedgood pays an unexpected visit on couple Veronica and Percy's (played by Willa Holland and Alex Russell respectively) ordinary summer vacation. Not only do the three become entangled in a manipulative love triangle, but also their greed and desire cause them to betray those who they always trusted. I was completely captivated by the excellent cast of characters, since their chemistry with one another was apparent, and I was seriously impressed with the well-written dialogue that allowed me to be completely immersed in the scene as if I was alongside the characters as their lives are flipped upside down. I absolutely recommend watching this incredible film!

First of all the main character in this which is trying to be film noir is the home. The view of the city of Los Angeles is spectacular. IMHO I could not believe these two ever went to the same college. Freegood just doesn't seem like a guy who would ever sit in a classroom. Freegood, what kind of name is that. He's obviously Hispanic. Football scholarship? Give me a break. Most love the plot twist. What plot twist? Most say it's unpredictable. This waste of 90 minutes was totally predictable. If you're on Netflix you're much better off watching "Midsomer Murders".

Although he has a degree in chemistry, "Percy" (Alex Russell) wants to be a blues musician and spends most of his time strumming on his guitar while house-sitting for a wealthy friend in Los Angeles. On the other hand, his girlfriend, "Veronica" (Willa Holland), is a bit more ambitious and even has a job lined up in New York once Percy relinquishes the house back to his friend. However, she is content to live in the beautiful home with Percy and enjoy the peace and solitude. Things take an immediate turn for the worse when Veronica's ex-boyfriend, "Freedgood" (Miguel Cortez), shows up at the door after serving time in prison and insists that Percy return a favor he has owed for several years. Yet even though Percy reluctantly agrees to help him, he remains suspicious that Freedgood wants something more than what he's asking for. Now, rather than revealing any more, I will just say that this film progressed slowly and, despite its unrealistic plot, it still managed to maintain my interest, mainly due to the ominous overtones and suspense. I also liked the suspenseful turn at the end. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a great film by any means, it kept my attention for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.