Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

The Films of 2020: John Henry (dir by Will Forbes)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

John Henry tells the story of a man named …. well, John Henry.  He’s played by Terry Crews and he lives in South Los Angeles with his father, BJ Henry (Ken Foree).  BJ may have to carry an oxygen tank around with him but he still has enough strength to shout, “My dick is legendary,” so good for him.

(Actually, it may sound like I’m being snarky and, to a certain extent, I am.  But having Ken Foree play Terry Crews’s father is actually a brilliant piece of casting.)

John Henry used to be into the gang lifestyle but now he’s gone straight.  We see flashbacks to his former life and how he used to hang out with his cousin, Hell (Ludacris).  When John accidentally shot Hell in the face, he decided to retire from crime and he also swore off carrying a gun.  Hell, on the other hand, just got a fancy gold-plated jaw.  Years later, Hell is a crime lord and John Henry is wandering around with sledgehammer.

When a Honduran refugee named Berta (Jamila Velazquez) show up at John Henry’s house, on the run from Hell’s crew, BJ’s reaction is to kick her out.  But John Henry, being the gentle giant with a sledgehammer, allows her to stay.  When Hell and his crew show up, it leads to violence, death, and …. well, that’s pretty much it.

John Henry is an odd film.  The tone is literally all over the place as the film swerves from being a comic book film to a serious drama to a comedy to a Spaghetti western.  It takes a lot of skill to take that many different tonal shifts and turn them into a coherent movie and unfortunately, that really doesn’t happen with John Henry.  The minute you start to get used to the idea of the film being an over-the-top comic book film, it suddenly tries to be a meditation on violence and guilt.  As soon as you’re getting used to the idea of it being a drama, Ludacris shows up with a huge hunk of medal on his face.  It’s hard to keep track of what exactly the film is saying because the film itself doesn’t seem to know.  I guess that could be forgiven if the film’s action managed to maintain a steady pace but instead, this felt like one of the longest 91-minute films that I’ve ever watched.

However, as our longtime readers should know by now, I’m not a fan of excessive negativity so let’s take a few moments to discuss what did work.  I already mentioned the casting of Terry Crews and Ken Foree.  They’re fun to watch together.  Ludacris’s gold-plated jaw is an amusing detail and it’s unfortunate that the film didn’t have more similarly odd details like that.  I also liked the opening credits, which basically told the film’s story in a comic book form.  The credits were fun and they hinted at what this film could have been if it had been better-paced and had fully embraced its camp potential.

John Henry played in some theaters before the pandemic outbreak.  It later found a home on Netflix and it’s in the process of developing a bit of a cult reputation.  Reportedly, there will be a sequel so I guess it’s not time to take John Henry to the graveyard just yet.

The Films of 2020: Coda (dir by Claude LaLonde)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Coda tells the story of Sir Henry Cole and Helen Morrison.

Sir Henry (Patrick Stewart) is a world-famous pianist who hasn’t played in public since his wife died several years ago.  He’s about to embark on a comeback tour but he finds himself struggling with stage fright.  Some of it is because he still hasn’t recovered from the loss of his wife.  Some of it is because he’s getting older and his memory is no longer as good as it used to be.  And, a lot of it is because he doesn’t know who he can trust.  He fears that the only reason people will come to his recitals is because they want to hear him screw up.

Helen Morrison (Katie Holmes) is a former music student who is now a writer for The New Yorker.  She is a free spirit who desperately wants to interview Sir Henry and write a profile of him.  She is also the film’s narrator, which means that the film opens with her talking about Nietzsche.  That’s never a good sign as Nietzsche is the philosopher who is most likely to be quoted by people who are trying to sounds smart by pretending that they spend their spare time studying philosophy.

I’m tempted to say that Henry and Helen solve crimes but sadly, they don’t.  The film probably would have been a lot more fun if they had.  Instead, Henry struggles to find his confidence and Helen struggles to help Henry find his confidence and there’s a lot of scenes of Henry trying to play the notes while Helen stares off into the distance.  Eventually, it leads to a very mild love story and a few scenes of a bearded Henry walking through the Swiss Alps.  The Alps, as always, are quite impressive.

(I visited Switzerland the summer after I graduated high school.  Beautiful country but don’t even think about trying to leave dinner early.)

This is one of those films that I wanted to like more than I actually did.  I mean, it’s a serious-minded film for adults and there’s no explosions or gunfights and we’re all supposed to be in favor of that, right?  Add to that, it features Patrick Stewart doing what Patrick Stewart does best, revealing the inner humanity of a somewhat imposing character.  And make no mistake about it, Stewart gives a warm and likable performance in the lead role.  It’s impossible not to empathize with Henry when he finds himself staring down at his piano and wondering if he’ll ever again be able to use it to create beautiful music.

But, ultimately, the film doesn’t really work.  It’s a bit too slowly paced and the dialogue is full of lines that are meant to be profound but actually feel rather empty.  Katie Holmes does her best but Helen never feels like a fully-realized character.  For the most part, she’s just there to inspire Henry before vanishing from the movie.  Fortunately, once Helen’s gone, other characters show up to continue to inspire Henry.  It really does seem like a full-time job, keeping Henry inspired.

The film did improve a bit when Henry arrived in the Alps, largely because the Alps are lovely and there’s a scene where Henry has a dream about standing next to Beethoven while staring over the edge of a cliff.  The imagery was breath-taking but it’s not enough to save the movie.  That said, if anyone ever makes a documentary about Patrick Stewart hiking through Switzerland, I’ll be the first to watch it.

 

The Films of 2020: I Still Believe (dir by the Erwin Brothers)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I Still Believe is based on the true story of musician Jeremy Camp (played by KJ Apa) and his first wife, Melissa Henning (Britt Robertson).  Jeremy meets Melissa in college.  They become friends.  They try to date but the relationship is complicated by the fact that Jeremy’s mentor, Jean-Luc LaJoie (Nathan Parsons), is also in love with Melissa.  Over the Christmas break, Melissa is taken ill and discovers that she has Stage 3C liver cancer.  Jeremy and Melissa marry and try to find happiness and maintain their faith in the time that Melissa has left.  Though Jeremy grows angry and has his moments of doubts, Melissa remains convinced that, though it may be hard to understand, there is a deeper reason for her suffering and it’s all apart of a bigger plan.

I Still Believe is the type of film that will bring out the cynic in most professional critics.  That said, it’s also the type of film that’s pretty much critic-proof.  It really doesn’t matter how much time or energy one might spend criticizing the film or its script or its belief system, the target audience of I Still Believe will love the film.  I Still Believe is a film that’s either going to inspire snark or it’s going to inspire tears.  It all depends on how you feel about the idea of a terminal illness all being a part of God’s plan.

(As far as that’s concerned, I’ll be keeping my own opinion to myself.)

Unlike a lot of the faith-based films that I’ve reviewed for this site, I Still Believe actually feels like a real movie.  As opposed to the God’s Not Dead films, there are no cardboard atheists standing around and waiting to be shown up by the clever heroes asking how they can be angry at God if God doesn’t exist.  The film, for the most part, avoids the trap of getting preachy and, to its credit, it treats Jeremy’s moments of doubt with respect.  It doesn’t shame him for getting upset over something that, regardless of what you may or may not believe, seems terrible unfair.  KJ Apa and Britt Robertson are both appealing performers and they have a believable chemistry as Jeremy and Melissa.  Finally, the film look gorgeous.  The farmlands of Indiana and the California campus where Jeremy and Melissa meet both feel vibrantly alive in this film.

At the same time, there’s nothing particularly surprising about I Still Believe.  It’s a predictable film and the minute that Jeremy gets that phone call telling him that Melissa has been taken to the hospital, you’ll be able to guess everything that’s going to follow.  If you’re not inclined to view Christian faith sympathetically, the film will not change your mind.  When I was looking over some of the other reviews of this film, the most common complaint I saw was that the film “preaches to the choir.”  It’s a valid complaint but, at the same time, I think it can also be argued that almost every film ever made has preached to one choir or another.  You could say the same thing about the political films of Adam McKay and Jay Roach or, for the matter, the majority of outspokenly anti-religious films.  Most message films tend to appeal to an audience who already agrees with what the film has to say.  Typically. when someone complains that a film preached to the choir, what they’re really saying is, “It didn’t preach to my choir.”

I Still Believe is a well-made film that will probably be best appreciated by people who already share its view of life and religion.  Though production on the film obviously started before the pandemic, it does feel like a film specifically made for these quarantined times.  It’s a film that argues the faith and strength can be found in even the worst of circumstances.  Whether that’s true or not is up to the viewer to decide.

 

 

The Films of 2020: Bad Boys For Life (dir by Adil & Bilall)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Bad Boys For Life came out in January of this year.  It was the first big release of 2020 and despite some skepticism (mostly from people like me, who pointed out that it had been 18 years since the release of the previous Bad Boys film), it went on to become the most financially successful January release of all time.  Not only did audiences love it but critics were surprisingly positive as well.

When I watched the film last week, I occasionally felt as if I had stepped into a time machine.  Even though the movie was just released a few months ago, it really does feel like an artifact from another age.  I mean, here we have a film named after the theme song of Cops, a once inescapable reality show that has largely been memory-holed as its uncritical depiction of the police has fallen out of fashion.  The film even features several scenes of the heroes singing the Bad Boys song, a song that declares that there’s nothing you can do now that the police are coming for you.

Of course, the film itself is about the type of supercops who, up until a few months ago, were popular in films and television.  These are the type of cops who are always quick with a quip and who have no problem trampling all over the Constitution in their pursuit of the bad guys.  The film celebrates the idea of the “super cop” in a way that seems almost unthinkable in our current cultural moment.  Defund the police?  How could you possibly want to do that when the cops are as charming as Will Smith and …. uhmm, Martin Lawrence?

Smith and Lawrence return as Miami Detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett.  Played by Smith, Mike is a confident and cocky playboy whose carefree façade hides a complicated path.  As played by Lawrence, Marcus is a mild-mannered family man who thinks that his partner needs to settle down and perhaps show a little bit more caution with some of his life choices.  Together …. THEY SOLVE CRIMES!

No, this time I’m not joking.  That is literally what they literally do.  They’re famous for solving crimes and Mike is known as being the “bulletproof cop.”  However, they’re both getting older.  Mike’s beard is going gray.  Marcus wants to spend more time at home.  Even their old boss (Joe Pantoliano) is talking about his retirement.  Unfortunately, a man named Armando (Jacob Scipio) is riding around Miami on a motorcycle and murdering anyone who was involved in the arrest and incarceration of an infamous Mexican drug lord.  He’s doing so on the orders of his mother, Isabel (Kate del Castillo), who is also known as La Bruja.  When Armando targets Mike, everyone is forced to reconsider their plans.

That may sounds simple and straight forward but the film complicates things with a third act twist involving Mike and Armando’s relationship.  It’s a twist that really shouldn’t work and yet it does, largely because Will Smith is a strong enough dramatic actor that he makes Mike seem like an actual human being, as opposed to being just an infallible action hero.  Smith gets not only the best dramatic moments but also some of the best comedic ones, especially when he ends up working with a bunch of younger cops who aren’t as impressed with Mike as Mike is with himself.  Martin Lawrence doesn’t get to do as much as Smith but he has a few funny moments and, most importantly, the friendship between Mike and Marcus feels real.  Lawrence and Smith have an undeniable chemistry that works in both comedic and dramatic scenes.  When Marcus says that he can’t stand to see Mike putting his life in danger, you believe him.  When Mike reacts to Marcus’s desire to retire as being some sort of personal betrayal, you understand exactly what’s going through Mike’s head to make him overreact.  You believe that Mike and Marcus really do care about each other and it adds a surprising amount of emotional depth to certain scenes.

Bad Boys For Life is a good action film, one that has a surprisingly big heart.  The action scenes are well-handled.  The chase scenes are exciting.  Will Smith again shows why he’s a movie star.  Though the film may seem like a relic of a bygone era, it’s undoubtedly entertaining.   (Considering the ADD-nature of popular culture nowadays, it’s easy to imagine that supercops will be back in fashion sooner than later.)   Naturally, it ends with the promise of sequel and I imagine that we’ll eventually get one.  The only real question is whether or not Marcus and Mike will still be singing their theme song.  Let’s hope so.

The Films of 2020: Bloodshot (dir by David S. F. Wilson)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 is the first year since 2008 not to feature any new Marvel films.  Despite the fact that Wonder Woman 1984 still has a Christmas release date, it wouldn’t surprise me if it still got moved back into 2021.  With the exception Tenent, 2020 has been the year of the anti-blockbuster.

I have to admit that, at first, it really bothered me that I was going to have to wait to see both Black Widow and the new Wonder Woman film but, as more time has gone by, the less I actually care about either one of them.  I think one reason why comic book films have been so popular over the past few years is because they were relentless.  There was always a new one coming out.  If you were disappointed with Captain Marvel, you could still say that the trailer for Endgame looked really good.  If you were less than thrilled with Batman v Superman, you could at least look forward to Wonder Woman.  Now that we’re no longer being inundated on a daily basis with new MCU trailers and DCEU gossip. it’s a lot easier to realize that a few of those films were surprisingly good (and I stand by my declaration that Guardians of the Galaxy was the best film of 2014) and some of them were notably bad but the majority of them were entertaining without being particularly memorable.

That bring us to Bloodshot.  Depending on whether or not Wonder Woman 1984 holds onto that Christmas release date and if The New Mutants are forgotten about, Bloodshot could down in history as the only major comic book film released in 2020.  It stars Vin Diesel as Ray Garrison, a dead Marine who is revived and turned into an invulnerable super soldier.  Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pearce) sends Ray after the people who previously killed him and his wife, Gina (Talulah Riley).  Ray kills a lot of people over the course of Bloodshot.  He also continually wakes up in that laboratory, with no memory of who he is.  Could Harting just be using Ray to kills own enemies?  It’s possible, if just because I don’t think there’s been a heroic character named Emil in a comic book movie.

As a film, Bloodshot is …. well, it’s okay.  If you’re going to make a movie about a relentless super soldier who can’t be killed, Vin Diesel is probably the best actor that you could get to star in it.  (Yes, Dwayne Johnson could play the physical aspect of the role but his natural likability would go against the whole relentless killer thing.  Diesel, on the other hand, can actually convince you that he’s planning on murdering everyone that he sees.)  And if you need someone to play a smarmy mad scientist named Emil Harting, Guy Pearce seems like the obvious choice.  The action scenes are well-done, even if they do go a bit overboard on the slow motion.  The CGI is convincing.  When Ray gets a bit of his face blown off, it legitimately looks like a chunk of his face is breaking off of him.  (Fear not, Ray has super healing.)  Much like Ray, the film has a job to do and it doesn’t let much get in the way of doing that job.

And yet, the film itself is never exactly memorable.  There’s none of the little quirks or unexpected moments that distinguish the better comic book films.  Instead, Bloodshot feels like a throwback to the days before comic book films became a big deal.  We know that Guy Pearce is evil from the minute he shows up, just as we know that the film is going to end with a battle the involves a lot of flashy CGI.  No effort is really made to take anyone by surprise.  Bloodshot goes through the paces and hits all of the expected notes but it’s never really lively enough to be engaging on anything more than a “Hey, did you just see Vin Diesel kill that guy!?” sort of way.  Bloodshot is a film that’s just there.  Occasionally, it’s entertaining but ultimately, it’s rather forgettable.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 9/21/20 — 9/27/20

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

October’s nearly here and, with it, our annual Horrorthon!  Just a few more days to go.

Along with getting ready for October, what else did I do this week?  Uhmmm …. not much.  That sucks.  I really hate having to admit that.  Oh well!  I’ll definitely be making it up for it next week.  For now, here’s what I did watch and read and listen to:

Films I Watched:

  1. Bad Boys For Life (2020)
  2. The Beginning of the End (1957)
  3. Bloodshot (2020)
  4. Coda (2020)
  5. Empire Records (1995)
  6. Errementari (2017)
  7. Go For It! (2011)
  8. Her Deadly Sugar Daddy (2020)
  9. I Still Believe (2020)
  10. John Henry (2020)
  11. Murder to Mercy: The Cyntonia Brown (2020)
  12. Slice (2018)
  13. Soul Surfer (2011)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Bar Rescue
  2. Baywatch Nights
  3. Big Brother 22
  4. Cold Case Files
  5. Dancing With The Stars
  6. Filthy Rich
  7. Love Island
  8. The Office
  9. The Powers of Matthew Star
  10. Seinfeld
  11. South Park
  12. The Third Day
  13. The Vow

Books I Read:

  1. Made Men: The Story of Goodellas (2020) by Glenn Kenny

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Above & Beyond
  2. Aimee Mann
  3. Big Data
  4. Boh Doran
  5. David Bowie
  6. The Killers
  7. Kylie Minogue
  8. Lindey Stirling
  9. Lysandra
  10. Muse
  11. Phantogram
  12. Pixies
  13. Saint Motel
  14. SALEM
  15. Talking Heads
  16. Tiesto
  17. The Verve

Links From Last Week:

  1. Turner Classic Movies October 2020 Schedule
  2. Film Historian Seeks to Make Chaplin Keaton Lloyd Alley an “International Destination”

Links From The Site:

  1. I reviewed Filthy Rich and The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate.  I shared music videos from SALEM, Boh Doran, Lindsey Stirling, Lysandra, Above & Beyond, Pixies, and Kylie Minogue!  I guess I slept a lot too.
  2. Erin shared the Many Adventures of Dan Turner along with Killing Quarry, Secret Agent of Terra, The Colorado Kid, The Pursuit of Agent M, You Asked For it, The Secret of Zi, and Brothers Keeper!
  3. Jeff reviewed Four Rode Out, High Noon Part II, A Town Called Bastard, The Lonesome Trail, Young Nurses In Love, Daddy-O, and Fever Pitch!
  4. Ryan reviewed Cabra Cabra, The Lie of the Land, Scribbles, and Sticky Sweets!

More From Us:

  1. I wrote about Big Brother for the Big Brother Blog!
  2. Ryan has a patreon!  You should consider subscribing!
  3. On her photography site, Erin shared Creek and Clouds, Brick Path, Deserted Campus, Even Dolls Need Pets, Lights, Danger Sign, and Wrong Way!
  4. On my music site, I shared songs from Saint Motel, The Verve, Aimee Mann, David Bowie, Tiesto, The Killers, and Saint Motel again!

Want to see what went on last week?  Click here!