sitting

A Netflix documentary has been described as ‘disturbing’ and ‘jaw-dropping’ by viewers, who say it’s ‘impossible to turn off’. Give it a go if you’re struggling to find something to watch

Everyone with a Netflix subscription knows how overwhelming it can be to find something good to watch. And sometimes, they give up altogether, heading to bed without ever making it past the title screen.

But one user claims there’s no need to waste precious time searching on this occasion, as he’s got the ideal documentary recommendation – and believes everyone will soon be discussing it. EccyReviews, who watches and critiques films and television programmes across his social media channels, is encouraging Netflix subscribers to give Tell Me Who I Am a watch.

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What’s the plot?

The 2019 documentary chronicles the story of Alex Lewis, who suffered memory loss after an accident.

Its IMDb description reads: “Alex Lewis trusts his twin brother, Marcus, to tell him about his past only to discover that he’s hiding a dark secret about their childhood.”

Speaking about the documentary, EccyReviews said: “You’re going to be running to Netflix to go and watch this documentary because it is one of the most insane stories you will ever hear.

“Everyone I know who’s seen this documentary cannot stop talking about it. The documentary I’m talking about is called Tell Me Who I Am.

“It follows a young man who after a motorcycle accident, wakes up to find he has lost his complete memory.

“He doesn’t know who his brother is, who his father is or even his own mother. And when he returns home he knows that there is something strange going on in his house.

“After years and years of never really speaking about his past, he meets up with his brother across this table to find out his entire backstory.

“Now it is genuinely disturbing, emotional and jaw dropping once you hear what happened to him. And honestly, if you haven’t seen this documentary you are massively missing out. So get it on your watch list right now.”

Where to watch Tell Me Who I Am?

The documentary is available to stream on Netflix in a single viewing, with a runtime of one hour and 26 minutes.

If you’re more in to reading, the book is also available to purchase, having become a Sunday Times bestseller.

What do people say?

Commenting on the recommendation, one TikTok user said: “I don’t have the patience to watch full documentaries, but this actually had me glued to the tele, it’s so disturbing because it’s true, I’ll ask the question for everyone, would you have told him?”

Another added: “What an incredible story. Heartbreaking. An incredible watch.”

A third user said: “Watched this before and highly recommend… it’s so upsetting in parts but will keep you hooked.”

It’s Thursday night, and sitting at the top of the football bleachers after a two-hour drive from Mission Viejo are JT and Kathy Reis, grandparents of Palos Verdes High twins Christian and Weston Reis.

While one fan shouts criticism at an official’s call at Mira Costa High, Grandma and Grandpa Reis calmly and confidently root for their grandsons, Christian, a running back, and Weston, a linebacker.

“That a way, Christian,” grandma blurts out after a Christian pass reception.

Grandpa is eating popcorn like he’s at a movie and sitting back in his folding chair just taking in the environment.

Weston wears No. 44 because that’s what JT wore playing high school football in Wisconsin.

“We’ve had so much fun,” JT said. “We’re so blessed.”

The Reis twins, Christian (left) and Weston, are junior linebackers for Palos Verdes and Christian plays running back, too.

(Nick Koza)

If you’re fortunate enough to spend time with grandparents at a football game, it feels like going back in time because they offer the most inspiring, educational and illuminating experience of what high school sports are supposed to be about.

They know all the secrets of their grandkids, not to mention their sons and daughters. They are fans no matter whether good or bad things are happening at a game. They are their to supply unconditional positive support — that’s in their mission statement.

Linebacker Weston Reis of Palos Verdes High gets set at his position.

(Nick Koza)

Grandma told me the twins were so identical that not until Weston lost two teeth after hitting his mouth against a car door when he was 3 could they finally figure out a way to identify a difference between the two.

If Weston smiled, they knew it wasn’t Christian.

Now the sons have different uniform numbers, 44 and 42, so it’s easy.

Their son, Matt, played soccer at Santa Margarita High and was inducted into UCLA’s sports Hall of Fame because of his goalkeeping skills. He married Nicole Odom, a South Torrance High grad and softball All-American shortstop at UCLA. Their first son was Jacob, now a backup linebacker at UCLA. Then came the twins.

Incredibly, the family survived tragedy during the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Nicole was running in the marathon. Everyone was there to watch and root her on — Matt, the goalkeeper for the New England Revolution, their three young boys, a brother-in-law and Nicole’s parents, John and Karen. Halfway through the race, Matt sent the twins away. He was with Jacob when they moved closer to the finish line.

Then a bomb went off. Matt gave 6-year-old Jacob to his brother-in-law to seek cover at a hotel and went searching for his father-in-law. He found him near the finish line “in a river of blood” from shrapnel that went through one leg to another. Matt applied a make-shift tourniquet out of clothing to try to stop the bleeding. It probably saved John’s life. Then Matt went looking for his wife, his shirt full of blood. He found her and explained that John was in bad shape.

John survived after many surgeries through the years. The experience remains ingrained in Matt’s memory, the blood, a coin on the ground, the sirens.

Running back Christian Reis of Palos Verdes High tries to split two defenders as he breaks into the secondary.

(Nick Koza)

They moved to Southern California after Matt’s playing career ended. He became the Galaxy goalkeeper coach and now works as the team’s academy goalkeeper director.

Having four grandparents alive to watch and provide emotional support while playing high school football has to be one of the greatest experiences any teenager can have. And if they slip a grandson $1 for every tackle and $2 for every touchdown (just kidding), even better.

“It’s so amazing,” Christian said. “We get so much family at every game. Both grandparents, but also our aunts, uncles and cousins. They’re always cheering loudly.”

Speaking to the Reis grandparents during Palos Verdes’ 34-14 win over Mira Costa provided insight into their wisdom and experiences growing up in the Midwest and being part of the California experience for more than 30 years.

“Be humble. Be a good teammate. Be a leader, not a follower,” JT said when asked what he tells Christian and Weston.

If you’re watching a high school football game this weekend in the bleachers, say hello to a grandmother or grandfather. They need to be cherished for their loyalty and focus on their grandkids, through thick and thin.

They provide unconditional love and comfort, and everyone can use that any day of the week.

SAN FRANCISCO — Nancy Pelosi is, beyond doubt, a figure who will long endure, her name forever pressed into the pages of the nation’s history books.

She is the first — and, so far, only — woman to wield the gavel as speaker of the House. She was indispensable to passage of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. Working with presidents of both parties, she twice helped keep the American economy from tanking.

She played political field marshal through numerous election cycles, raising astronomical sums to help push Democrats into the majority. When a doddering Joe Biden threatened the party’s hold on the White House and foreshadowed a 2024 congressional wipeout, Pelosi used her considerable influence to not so gently ease the president aside as Democrats’ nominee for the White House.

Why, then, with so much at stake in November, would one of Pelosi‘s last acts before retirement be mucking about in the elbow-throwing, bone-crunching race between the two San Francisco Democrats vying to succeed her in January?

Is it a grudge she holds against Scott Wiener, the prolific and prolifically ambitious state senator, who boldly launched his candidacy last fall before Pelosi had even announced her plans to retire?

Is it resentment that Wiener’s years-long maneuvering blocked the ascension of Pelosi’s daughter, Christine, who’d been widely talked about as her mom’s name-brand successor? (Instead, she’s running for Wiener’s seat in 2028, or sooner if he makes it to Congress.)

Is it Pelosi once more leaning into her long-standing role as a champion of women and women in politics, which drew her to support Supervisor Connie Chan?

Perhaps it’s a bit of all three.

Pelosi, for her part, told reporters that “nobody knows Congress better than I do” and she believes, simply enough, that Chan “would be the best member of Congress.”

But maybe there’s something more elemental.

“Pelosi is the daughter of a machine politician,” said Eric Jaye, a strategist who’s spent decades working in and around San Francisco politics. “She moves from Baltimore” — where her father was a congressman and mayor — “and becomes initially a lieutenant in the political machine here and, ultimately, the general of it.

“She’s playing by the classic rules of machine politics,” Jaye said, “which is the machine has the prerogative of choosing the line of succession…. Nancy Pelosi wanted to be able to make that choice.”

Peas in a pod

Chan, a leader of the city’s progressive wing and a favorite of organized labor, was languishing until Pelosi delivered her endorsement in the final stretch of the primary campaign. Her imprimatur sent Chan surging past tech millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti to place second behind Wiener.

With less than two weeks until election day, the November runoff appears too close to call, though many give Wiener the edge.

There is little that substantively divides the two candidates, both liberals in good standing. Wiener is considered the more moderate of the two, graded on San Francisco’s very-left curve.

“Connie Chan and Scott Wiener are going to vote the same way 99.9% of the time,” said Jim Ross, another longtime San Francisco political strategist. Further, he noted, it’s going to be years before either acquires the clout needed to be a significant force on Capitol Hill. “That’s just the reality of how Congress works.”

Which makes Pelosi’s heavy involvement in their fratricidal fight all the more striking.

She’s put her hefty fundraising muscle behind Chan, helping narrow Wiener’s financial advantage. She’s appeared in pro-Chan advertising — striding in her trademark stilettos — and lent her Washington communications director to the campaign.

She’s also collared Chan a list of glossy endorsements, including Sen. Adam Schiff, former Sen. Barbara Boxer and San José Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the chair of California’s Democratic congressional delegation. Wiener has Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and several Democratic House members in his corner.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor and longtime Pelosi ally, has not endorsed either candidate.

A house divided

San Francisco politics have long been personal, nasty and brutish. The city’s close quarters and intraparty rivalries help make it so, and Pelosi’s intervention has further frayed old ties and strained deep-seated alliances.

Susie Tompkins Buell, a San Francisco philanthropist and one of the Democratic Party’s most influential donors, told Politico she couldn’t understand why Pelosi would use her final months in office to torpedo Wiener’s campaign. She’s spoken to other prominent Democrats, Buell said, who felt pressured to endorse Chan because the speaker emerita hit them up.

“All you do is say, ‘Why, why is this happening?’ ” Buell wondered aloud.

It’s been nearly 40 years — going back to when Pelosi was first elected in 1987 — since San Francisco had an open congressional seat. Winning here is tantamount to a lifetime appointment; since 1964, just three people have held the seat Pelosi is vacating.

Both Wiener, who is gay, and Chan, who immigrated to San Francisco from Hong Kong, are bidding to write their own bit of history. Wiener, 56, would be the first out LGBTQ+ person to represent San Francisco in Congress. Chan, 48, would be the first Asian American.

As for Pelosi, her aggressive intervention in the contest won’t even merit “a footnote in her biography,” Jaye said.

Her place in posterity is sealed, regardless of who wins or loses Nov. 3.

What else you should be reading

Get smart: Becerra’s muted gubernatorial campaign comes to life in home stretch
The deep dive: In tight Texas Senate race, Trump’s immigration crackdown tests Republicans’ hold on voters
The L.A. Times Special: California residents accused by feds of voter fraud react with shock, confusion and anger

Until next time,
mzb
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MILWAUKEE —  Mookie Betts slapped his bat with his free hand after tipping a slider from Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe back into catcher William Contreras’ mitt.

Betts had been setting the tone for the Dodgers from the leadoff spot all postseason, taking good at-bats against some of MLB’s best starting pitchers. But there wasn’t much he could do against a sinker-slider mix like Uribe’s.

Uribe shuffled off the mound, and the crowd at American Family Field roared.

Then, with left-handed-hitting Freddie Freeman coming to the plate, Milwaukee had an answer for him too. Manager Pat Murphy signaled to the bullpen, left-hander Aaron Ashby emerged and struck out Freeman on four pitches, only one of which touched the strike zone.

“They all throw 100 [mph] from different angles,” Freeman said after the Dodgers’ 7-4 loss in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series on Monday.

Those back-to-back strikeouts in the eighth inning were part of five perfect innings thrown by the Brewers’ bullpen — a postseason record. And the Dodgers’ inability to rally against the Brewers’ relievers, paired with the shortest start in Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s postseason career, sunk their chances of evening the series.

The NLCS heads to Los Angeles with the Brewers leading 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

The Dodgers’ performance against the Brewers’ bullpen on Monday magnified how much the star-powered lineup hasn’t been clicking with Shohei Ohtani struggling at the plate. He went 0 for 4 in the cleanup spot in Game 2, bringing his postseason total to three hits, all singles, in 20 at-bats.

Manager Dave Roberts told the Athletic after the game that he would “have a conversation” with Ohtani on Tuesday to determine “what’s best for him, what’s best for [the team].”

Factoring into the decision of whether to bench Ohtani is an understanding that he likely is not completely healthy, according to a person with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.

Ohtani has dealt with left knee and right biceps issues for much of the season. But it’s been difficult since he returned from the injured list to determine whether health, bad swing habits caused by earlier injuries, or some combination of the two has been to blame for his poor performance.

Ohtani hasn’t addressed the media since the day before Game 1 of the division series.

“It’s tough,” Teoscar Hernández said. “We obviously need his help. He’s a big, big part of this team, and it’s really important. And I feel bad for him. I know what he’s capable of. He’s been dealing with some stuff in the past. We don’t know if it’s still there. But it’s Shohei. Any moment he can come through.”

The game wasn’t doomed, per se, when Yamamoto exited after 2⅔ innings, but it was clear it would be an uphill battle for the Dodgers.

Yamamoto stood on the same mound where a year ago he’d thrown a complete game and was pummeled by Brewers fans’ chants:

“Yel-li! Yel-li!”

As the fans celebrated Brewers captain Christian Yelich’s two-run single for an early lead, Roberts emerged from the visiting dugout, ready to take the ball from the starter who’d made himself a household name with his postseason heroics.

“He just didn’t have it tonight, which is very rare,” Roberts said.

The two walks Yamamoto issued in the inning set up Yelich for a big at-bat. The first walk, to Brice Turang, included a borderline ball-four call. Yamamoto’s hand flew up to the back of his hat like he was contemplating an ABS challenge, but neither he nor catcher Will Smith pulled the trigger. And the second, to Jake Bauers, lasted 12 pitches.

The other run Yamamoto gave up, in the first inning, also included a missed opportunity for a challenge.

Yamamoto struck out Jackson Chourio — whose leadoff home run last year was the lone run in Yamamoto’s NLCS complete game — to open the frame.

Then Turang worked a full count — although the first ball caught most of the low and outside corner — before he hit an opposite-field double.

“It was kind of early in the game, we kind of had him on the ropes where we could just get him out there,” Smith said. “The walk one was a bummer but I guess it happens. It’s baseball.”

The next batter, William Contreras, fought off a low slider, poking it into shallow left field to tie the score.

Against Brewers starter Logan Henderson, the Dodgers capitalized on a couple of errant throws by the pitcher, on a pickoff attempt and a sacrifice bunt, to contribute to two unearned runs, on a day when he gave up four runs in all.

Hernández and Freeman hit sacrifice flies in the first and fifth innings, respectively. Freeman’s came off former Dodger Dustin May, driving in a runner inherited from Henderson. And that was the most the Dodgers accomplished against the same relief corps that held them off the day before. They finished with three hits, their fewest in a playoff game since 2020.

“If there is a positive, you can say that a lot of our guys are starting to get looks at their back-end guys,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “But when they’re as good as they are, I don’t know how much that helps. Unfortunately, that’s the issue with that.”

If the Dodgers are going to bounce back, they’ll either have to figure out how to score against the Brewers’ suffocating bullpen, or build early leads and maintain them.

The Dodgers were forced to throw seven relievers behind Yamamoto. In the fifth inning, with the Dodgers up 4-3, Roberts brought in left-hander Kris Bubic — replacing right-hander Roki Sasaki after a hitless inning — to face the left-handed-heavy heart of the order. But Bubic missed down the middle to the right-handed-hitting Contreras, who gave the fastball a ride over the center field wall, tying the score.

In the sixth, against Dodgers right-hander Brock Stewart, Contreras drove in the go-ahead run in a traffic-filled inning that included a Freeman error on a muffed pickoff attempt. Left-hander Tanner Scott came to the rescue and struck out Bauers and Yelich to end the inning and Garrett Mitchell to kick off the seventh.

The Brewers added insurance runs in the eighth inning with RBI singles by Turang off hard-throwing right-hander Edgardo Henriquez and Bauers against left-hander Justin Wrobleski.

“The guys in here are really good at staying together,” Betts said. “I don’t think there’s much doubt going on. I think we just need to regroup and figure out what we need to do individually. But there’s no doubt.”