Episode 203 - Perfect Stranger: LIVE!

[JulyDiaz 2797]

LIVE from Washington D.C., Paul, June, and Jason discuss the 2007 thriller Perfect Stranger starring Halle Berry and Bruce Willis. They talk about what the title of the movie is referring to, the Victoria’s Secret product placement, and Bruce Willis’ singing career, Giovanni Ribisi recapping the entire movie. Plus, Jason’s baby dream comes true!

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[DanEngler 5249]

 

[pscudese 701]

Hey Paul. I have a really serious question.. 

Why does Halle want to solve this murder and draw more attention to it by writing a huge exposé? As the murderer, wouldn’t she want it to just slip through the cracks???

Sure you could assume she wants to pin it on Harrison Hill to really protect herself, but for all we know, the ONLY piece of evidence that eventually links her to the murder is that she previously visited the wife’s photography site. No cop is ever considering her and Halle was even told by Grace that she and her ex were recently doing “more fighting then fucking.”

So Halle should just give that nugget to the cops and be on her way. Case closed. 

 

PS: Besides Bruce and Halle previously being in other HDTGM films, so to was the Rebook account. That was also the big get for the ad agency in “On the Line.” (The lance bass film... ha.)

[Wil Dride 121]

Both movies have someone landing Raebok as a client, so I'd assume the turkey sandwich Bruce is staring at is the character from On the Line,

[Wil Dride 121]

Subtext of that interview between Bruce and Halle is that he moved out of his house next to hers prematurely so she couldn't keep pressuring him into appearing in any more terrible movies with her.

[pscudese 701]

BTW.... What major paper has a hacker on staff?

In this setting, a news organization, hacking is illegal and any information obtained that lead to a story is subject to lawsuit! 

And as far as Harrison Hill being so recognizable as ad exec, I'd equate him to Donny Deutsch in our world. 

[Crashbangboom 18]

First interaction between Hill and Rowena: 

Hill: "Boo"

Rowena: Surprised, she jumps up, turns, and grabs at her chest. She giggles while she tries to catch her breath.

Hill: "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

You slithered up behind her and without prompting, said "Boo." If you weren't trying to scare her, then what exactly were you trying to do?

 

[Crashbangboom 18]

I have to disagree (although regretfully so) with June, Hill maybe the only character in this film NOT to kill someone.

Evidence:

The way the wife looks at the other women, she totally has killed more than one of Hill's mistresses. 

Chobani Ribisi too creepy not to have killed and flayed a prostitute to wear her skin.

We actually see Halle Berry kill 3 people.

And Gina, Gina knows a little too much about everyone to not have some side hustle extortion going on that got a little messy once or twice.

[Turk71 58]

The only more surprising twist this movie could have had: 

[Crashbangboom 18]

There is a storyline in this movie that is more important and interesting than just Grace’s death.

About ½ way into the movie, Chobani Ribisi mentions that there is a drifter murdering women and throwing them in the river. The plot point that Grace might be one of these victims, I believe, is meant to excuse the total lack of police in this movie. But, in a throwaway line, he also says that the drifter was never caught. Therefore, I submit that Chobani is this serial killer.

Fast forward to the gross jerk shack scene. Chobani has files on several different girls on his desktop. They have names, ages, and dates next to them and pictures of what Rowena describes as “leather and shit.” Consider these photo the “souvenirs” he keeps from his victims and the dates are significant in either the day he met them or the day he killed them.Take the real creep factor, a rough sexual preference, alcoholism, the fact we have no idea what he does at night, and his ability to lure women in on-line and, in the film world, he fits the generally accepted profile of a serial killer. Also, if this scenario is accepted, Grace was his next victim and Rowena beat him to it, which I thought would have been an interesting twist.

Finally, unrelated, who was taking the pictures of Chobani and Grace when they were rolling around on the couch? Some of those pictures were rather close, so who is the creep getting right up in there?

[taylor anne photo 11311]

A comment on whether or not brands expect you to brandish all their shit in your company -

I am not in the Advertising field but I did work for a well known commercial photographer here in Dallas for a bit after college. He told me that once he was photographing a lot of Pepsi stuff for a new ad campaign they were building, and apparently they had forgotten to fill their fridge with Pepsi products and had a lot of Dr Pepper in there instead and let's just say Pepsi was extremely unhappy. After that he said his studio always makes sure they have enough of the actual brand on site to appease the clients. So yeah, if they were photographing Reebok then he definitely wouldn't allow anyone in the studio to wear anything from Nike.

[Geans 193]

I hope you all will subscribe to Paul's new show on Stitcher Premium! 

(Shout out to my BF for making this for my BFF, "that girl" with the question; I was sitting next to her! ) 

 

[DrGuts1003 462]

Loved this episode and felt they did a really good job of pointing out so many of the bonkers things in this film, so I'm not sure how much more I have to add...

I did want some clarification Miles and his IOL accounts.  First of all, it's established to the audience that he can somehow hack in and act as the 'adex' account.  Knowing that makes the scene where Halle Berry needs the picture of Victoria very confusing.  I thought Halle was talking to Miles as 'adex' in which case he could have given her a picture of anybody and it wouldn't matter.  But if it was Bruce talking to her, wouldn't he have found it odd that "Victoria" chooses her ID badge photo as the sexy photo of herself to send him?

Then there's Miles' 'trublue' account.  If he could get Halle to talk sexy to him as 'adex' why did he need that other account?  And from Halle's perspective, does she think 'trublue' is just some random stranger?  If so, she starts flirting, bordering on cybering, with him very quickly.

 

Also, I do not recall any of them mentioning the fact that Halle Berry's neighbor seemingly witnessed her killing Miles.  Are they trying to set up some sort of sequel where Halle now has to murder him?  Or was that their lame attempt to create some sort of 'somebody's always watching' theme?  In which case, why is the title of this movie not eye-related?

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

12 minutes ago, DrGuts1003 said:

And from Halle's perspective, does she think 'trublue' is just some random stranger?  If so, she starts flirting, bordering on cybering, with him very quickly.

I could be totally wrong, because this movie was nonsense, but I think she thought 'trublue' was Bruce Willis and that she was bringing him down for extramarital sexting

[DrGuts1003 462]

2 minutes ago, AlmostAGhost said:

I could be totally wrong, because this movie was nonsense, but I think she thought 'trublue' was Bruce Willis and that she was bringing him down for extramarital sexting

She thought he was 'adex' - as in advertising executive.

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

1 minute ago, DrGuts1003 said:

She thought he was 'adex' - as in advertising executive.

Oh gotcha, mixing up the names.  I think I thought she knew Trublue was Miles?  They did have a semi-flirty relationship to start with.

[joshg 207]

6 hours ago, Crashbangboom said:

Finally, unrelated, who was taking the pictures of Chobani and Grace when they were rolling around on the couch? Some of those pictures were rather close, so who is the creep getting right up in there?

I assumed those were from a self-timer. It's already established that journalists are expert hackers, so to show they are also gifted at self-portrait photography isn't too much of a stretch.

[joshg 207]

3 hours ago, DrGuts1003 said:

Or was that their lame attempt to create some sort of 'somebody's always watching' theme? 

Yes.  Yes it was.

[joshg 207]

The thing that jumped out at me was why Halle Berry would leave her cell phone in her coat when she went to the bathroom.

We've already established that she's super devious, able to entrap a senator and catch him on tape. And gain entry into a job as a covert employee with a fake identity. And, as we learn at the end, elaborately frame the wealthiest and most powerful man in the city with a murder that she committed.

So why is she so dumb as to get her ass drunk on a crucial sting operation and leave her phone in the pocket of her coat at the restaurant table?

These days, no one ever leaves their cell phone outside of their possession. You go to the bathroom, you take your phone with you. Wasn't that always a thing? Especially if you're trying to frame your boss for murder? 

[muttnik 476]

The gang seemed to have an issue with how Ro acted at the medical examiner’s office, but it made sense to me. Seeing a dead body, especially one you were formerly acquainted with, can be a harrowing experience even for those responsible for the death. Many murders faced with the evidence of their wrongdoing have had intense physical reactions: tears, outbursts, begging a higher power or the victim for forgiveness. And even if the movie was trying to portray her as a stone cold calculated killer who was putting on a show for the medical examiner, there are sights and smells that come off the dead that you just can’t prepare yourself -or your weak, alcohol filled stomach- for. Grace had been submerged and then found floating; waterlogged bodies are pretty dang gross. If anything seemed off to me about the whole thing it was her bright red vomit. The heck was she eating/drinking before she rolled down there?

So many of the characters in this movie are self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, sex, risky behavior. This whole movie probably could have been avoided with therapy.

[muttnik 476]

Also, throwing a hissy fit for not being able to publically out a gay man in the media: not a good look.

[gigi-tastic 2322]

Medieval Times Woman is my hero. I want her life.

[gigi-tastic 2322]

10 hours ago, pscudese said:

BTW.... What major paper has a hacker on staff?

In this setting, a news organization, hacking is illegal and any information obtained that lead to a story is subject to lawsuit! 

And as far as Harrison Hill being so recognizable as ad exec, I'd equate him to Donny Deutsch in our world. 

Ok so this movie actually came out around the time that News International newspapers in the U.K  WERE being investigated for hacking into people 's shit.  It's a really fucked up the shit they did including hacking into a murdered(then missing) child's voicemail, Milly Dowler, and erasing voicemails because her inbox was full which made her parents think she was still alive. From the Wikipedia on  the scandal: 

"The News International phone-hacking scandal was a controversy involving the now defunct News of the World and other British newspapers published by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Whilst investigations conducted from 2005 to 2007 appeared to show that the paper's phone hacking activities were limited to celebrities, politicians, and members of the British Royal Family, in July 2011 it was revealed that the phones of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings had also been hacked. The resulting public outcry against News Corporation and its owner Rupert Murdoch led to several high-profile resignations, including that of Murdoch as News Corporation director, Murdoch's son James as executive chairman, Dow Jones chief executive Les Hinton, News International legal manager Tom Crone, and chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), Sir Paul Stephenson, also resigned. Advertiser boycotts led to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011, after 168 years of publication. Public pressure shortly forced News Corporation to cancel its proposed takeover of the British satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

The prime minister David Cameron announced on 6 July 2011 that a public inquiry, known as the Leveson Inquiry, would look into phone hacking and police bribery by the News of the World, consider the wider culture and ethics of the British newspaper industry and that the Press Complaints Commissionwould be replaced "entirely".A number of arrests and convictions followed, most notably of the former News of the World managing editor Andy Coulson."

 

[DrGuts1003 462]

Is it common for people in New York City apartments to leave a spare key for their apartment right outside their door?  I found it odd and unsafe that both Ro and Miles had a key to their place easily accessible for anyone in the building to find.

[PollyDarton 1807]

5 hours ago, AlmostAGhost said:

Oh gotcha, mixing up the names.  I think I thought she knew Trublue was Miles?  They did have a semi-flirty relationship to start with.

It's so confusing... she just happened to think that trublu was some random person IMing her the first moment she's online. They text for hours (there's a clock time fade) and we learn later that it is Miles, but Miles had another IM username.  But WHY? What point does any of that serve?

My thing was how they treated IMing as a sexual act... like just the simple act of IMing was some sort of foreplay in and of itself. She had barely spoken to Adex before he says "Are you turned on?"... Turned on? From WHUT?