Timing is everything in life; being in the right place at the right time could mean great fortune. Of course the other side of that coin is that being in the wrong place at the wrong time could mean great misfortune; want to guess on which side the coin landed in Stand Off? (Hopefully you guessed misfortune; otherwise stop reading now.) Brendan Fraser leads the comedy about a botched robbery which eventually transformed to an even bigger mess. I’ve been a Brendan Fraser fan dating all the way back to Encino Man, and I was especially excited when he achieved action hero status with the The Mummy franchise (the final film excluded of course), but every now and then, it’s nice to see an actor return to familiar territory.

Fraser stars as Joe Maguire, a South Boston antique seller hiding out overseas after a hit is put out on his life by his mob boss father-in-law. While hiding out, Joe meets Sophie (YaYa DaCosta, Tron: Legacy), the store owner across the street from his cousin’s shop, and the two strike up a relationship. As a romantic gesture, Joe decides to make dinner for Sophie. Upon returning to from the market Joe witnesses the same suspicious character who has been lurking around the store going inside. Unsure whether the man plans to rob the store or collect on the contract out on his life, Joe brandishes a firearm and prepares to enter unaware that a copper (how they refer to policemen or policewomen across the pond; doesn’t that sound cool) has seen him remove the weapon, but we’ll come back to that.

“People will always put themselves and money first.”

What do a yuppie business student, an escaped prisoner, and an enforcer for the Serbian mob have in common? They all want Easy Money, and the lives of these three very different men intersect in very unpredictable ways. Unfortunately, this Swedish crime film from director Daniél Espinosa (Safe House) is hard to follow for reasons that go beyond me not understanding a word they’re saying.

It's hard to believe that CBS didn't want The Carol Burnett Show. Not only didn't they want it, but they fought hard to keep it from ever happening. It was the result of a 5-year contract the actress had with the network. She had been a popular member of The Gary Moore Show, and they wanted to hold on to her services. So they made her an offer she just couldn't refuse. They gave her a not-so-standard 5-year contract that gave her the right to activate a special clause at any time in the five years. The clause gave her the right to produce her own variety show, and the network would be obligated to air at least 31 episodes of the show. Carol activated the clause with just one week remaining to do so.

The network called out the lawyers looking for loopholes that could get them out of the deal. They tried to intimidate her into believing that a variety show hosted by a woman was doomed to failure. They tried to bribe her with new perks and a sit-com of her own. Carol stood her ground, and with the help of her producer husband Joe Hamilton, they put together an ace writing staff and assembled a cast. CBS had no choice. They were forced to air the show. It was a costly duty. They only ended up with the number-one-rated variety show for over ten years.

It seems that to survive in today’s world everyone has to be at least a little tech-savvy; even grandma has to learn how to text and download images if she cares to see her grandchildren.  Unfortunately even stalking has evolved with the times; with social media more and more becoming the way we communicate, the days of peeping toms outside the bedroom window are gone and have moved on to webcam.  To some degree I think this should bring a sigh of relief, but then again stalking seems to have gotten easier, allowing more anonymity, and this is what Cyberstalker attempts to delve into.  Though the story boasts to be inspired by true events, the only truth here I believe is that at some point some woman was stalked by a man.

The story kicks off in 1999 when Aiden Ashley (Mischa Barton) has her home invaded by an unknown stalker.  In the process both her mother and father are killed.  The stalker manages to get away without leaving a single trace to his identity, only leaving Aiden behind to become a reclusive orphan.  And by reclusive I mean she becomes a virtual shut-in with a variety of deadbolts on doors and alarms in place.  Thirteen years later Aiden has become a neurotic artist who appears be afraid of doing anything that involves interaction beyond completing a transaction with the food delivery guy.  All these years of therapy clearly have only helped her to develop two relationships, one with her therapist and the other with her art dealer, who has also taken up the role as a surrogate father.