Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films: Hill Number One, East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Giant

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

On this date, 64 years ago, James Dean was killed in a tragic car accident.  At the time of his death, he had already filmed East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, and Giant.  East of Eden would be the only one of his starring roles that Dean would live to see.  Dean went on to be nominated for two posthumous academy awards and, in death, he became an icon that will live forever.

If James Dean were still alive today, he would be 88 years old.  Would he still be acting?  It’s hard to say, of course.  Some actors retire and some don’t.  (Robert Duvall, for instance, is 88 and still doing films.  For that matter, Norman Lloyd is 104 and apparently still reading scripts.)  If Dean were alive today, he wouldn’t be that much older than the stars of The Irishman.

In honor of James Dean’s career and his legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 James Dean Films

Hill Number One (1951, dir by Arthur Pierson)

East of Eden (1955, dir by Elia Kazan)

Rebel Without A Cause (1955, dir by Nicholas Ray)

Giant (1956, dir by George Stevens)

Here’s The Trailer For BBC One’s The War Of The Worlds!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Now, this looks really good!

This is the latest of several adaptations of H.G. Wells’s classic tale about Martians invading Earth.  What sets this one apart from some of the others is that 1) it’s set close to the time period that the novel was originally written (the novel was published in 1898 and the new miniseries takes place during the Edwardian era so it’s only a difference of a few years) and 2) it takes place in the country where the novel is actually set.  In other words, the Martians have arrived and it’s up to the British to save us all!

Well, maybe.  Not to spoil the book but let’s just say that humanity didn’t do a very good job when it came to defending Earth from the Martians.

Anyway, this is a 3-episode miniseries which will air on the BBC sometime in the autumn.  (Hopefully in late November or early December, hint, hint.)  Eventually, I imagine that viewers in the States will get to see it.

For now, here’s the trailer!

Music Video Of The Day: High and Dry by Radiohead (1996, dir by Paul Cunningham)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Saturday was my sister Melissa’s birthday!  This is her favorite Radiohead song and I have to admit that I like it a lot as well.  I’m also a huge fan of this video.

But you know who reportedly does not care much for this song or this video?  Thom Yorke.  The leader singer of Radiohead has called the song “very bad” and apparently, it was only released because the band was being pressured by their label to release something with “commercial appeal.”  And I can understand why Yorke would by annoyed by that.  Certainly, the song is not as complex or enigmatic as other Radiohead songs.  It’s pretty simple by their standards.

But, I still like it.  If it’s a guilty pleasure, so be it.  It’s a song that you can sing along with and it just puts you into a certain mood and …. okay, I’m kind of starting to understand why Thom doesn’t care for the song.  It’s a good song but, outside of the melancholy tone, it doesn’t seem like a song that only could have come from Radiohead.  It’s a little bit generic when compared to some of the band’s other songs but it’s still definitely effective.  So if I ever meet Thom Yorke, I’ll probably keep my feelings about this song to myself.

(Either that or I’ll blurt out, “My sister loves High and Dry!  If I call her, will you sing it to her?!”  And then I’ll probably be escorted outside by security.)

I read that he also didn’t care much for this video.  Again, I have to disagree.  I like all the drama in the diner and I also like the fact that no one seems to notice either the car blowing up or the businessman getting murdered.  Instead, of everyone’s too busy in their own little world.

Happy birthday, Melissa Anne!

Enjoy!

Lisa’s Week In Review — 9/23/19 — 9/29/19

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

Photograph by Erin Nicole

What a week!  Big Brother finally ended, Survivor started, and even better — it’s almost October!  The Annual TSL Horrorthon starts next week on Tuesday!  It’s going to be a blast and I hope you enjoy experiencing it as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it all together!

Just one more day to go….

Films I Watched:

  1. Aladdin (2019)
  2. The Best of Enemies (2019)
  3. Chattahoochee (1989)
  4. Deadly Detention (2017)
  5. Deliverance (1972)
  6. End of the World (1977)
  7. From Justin to Kelly (2003)
  8. The Ghastly Ones (1968)
  9. Goldeneye (1995)
  10. Henry V (1989)
  11. House (1977)
  12. The Invisible (2007)
  13. John Wick 3: Parabellum (2019)
  14. Judy (2019)
  15. Licence to Kill (1985)
  16. Little Man Tate (1991)
  17. The Living Daylights (1987)
  18. The Madam of Purity Falls (2019)
  19. Richard III (1995)
  20. The Screaming Woman (1972)
  21. The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019)
  22. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
  23. Underworld (2003)
  24. The World Is Not Enough (1999)
  25. Zombie Tidal Wave (2019)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. 60 Days In Narcoland
  2. 9-1-1
  3. The Affair
  4. All Rise
  5. American Horror Story 1984
  6. Big Brother 21
  7. Bluff City Law
  8. Bob Hearts Abishola
  9. Couples Court with the Cutlers
  10. Dancing With The Stars
  11. The Deuce
  12. Emergence
  13. Fear the Walking Dead
  14. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
  15. Judge Jerry
  16. Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court
  17. Mixed-Ish
  18. Prodigal Son
  19. Protection Court
  20. Saved By The Bell
  21. South Park
  22. Stumptown
  23. Survivor 39
  24. The Terror: Infamy
  25. True Crime Files
  26. The Voice

Books I Read:

  1. The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America (2019) by Karen Abbott
  2. Haunted Heartland (1985) by Beth Scott and Michael Norman

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. The Chemical Brothers
  2. Chromatics
  3. The Comet is Coming
  4. Goblin
  5. Hrdza
  6. HTRK
  7. Jakalope
  8. John Carpenter
  9. Kedr Livansky
  10. Magdalena Bay
  11. Mindless Self-Indulgence
  12. Miss World
  13. Phantogram
  14. Rachel Foxx
  15. Radiohead
  16. Rolling Stones
  17. Skott

Links From Last Week:

  1. Ryan has a patreon!  Please consider subscribing!
  2. At Days Without Incident, Leonard wrote about Deadly Valentine!
  3. At Pop Politics, Jeff wrote about Sid Haig, impeachment, transcripts, regrets, and William Shatner!
  4. I finished up the latest season if Big Brother for the Big Brother Blog!
  5. I wrote about Survivor at Reality TV Chat Blog!
  6. For my Dream Journal, I shared a dream about going to the movies!
  7. At my music site, I shared music from Rachel Foxx, Skott, HTRK, Phantogram, Hrdza, Radiohead, and Avicii!
  8. On her photography site, Erin shared Ducks, Lamp, Light It Up, Broken, Wrong Way, Danger, and Neon!

Links From The Site:

  1. Erin shared Counterspy Express, The Joy Wheel, For I Have Sinned, No Time At All, The Paper Palace, The Motel, and Male Ward!
  2. Gary paid tribute to Sid Haig and reviewed Man With The Gun!
  3. Jeff shared music videos from Journey and Journey again!  He also shared videos from Extreme and Whitesnake!
  4. I reviewed the Monday night premieres and shared the trailers for The Irishman and Uncut Gems!  I shared my monthly Oscar predictions and videos from Magdalena Bay, Miss World, and The Comet Is Coming!
  5. Ryan reviewed I Couldn’t Stop, Open Molar, Neverending Race, Elemental Stars, Bonkers, Plant Power, Bad Ball, The Call of Cthulhu, and Shadowplay!

Want to see what I did last week?  Click here!

Lisa’s Oscar Predictions For September

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the help of the festivals, the Oscar picture became a bit clearer this month.  Perhaps the biggest news is that the initial response to Harriet, which many people expected to be this year’s front runner, was decidedly lukewarm.  The other big news?  The Irishman, according to those who have seen it, may be Scorsese’s best yet.

Below, you’ll find my Oscar predictions for September.  If you want to see how my thinking has evolved over the course of this year, be sure to check out my predictions for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, and August!

Now, admittedly, there’s still an element of wishful thinking in some of the predictions below.  For instance, it would be an interesting narrative development if Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy were both nominated for best actor.  That doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen but both of them have received a lot of early acclaim for their yet-to-be released films this year.  They’re contenders, even if their reputations may make them long shots.  What’s the point of making predictions if you can’t have a little fun?

Joker is going to get big Oscar punch.  I do think it’s going to probably be a bit too controversial to pick up a Best Picture nomination but I’m still going to go ahead and put down Joaquin Phoenix as a best actor nominee.

Bombshell is the new title of Jay Roach’s Fox News film.  To me, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be that good and, quite frankly, Jay Roach’s films usually prove that just being obsessed with politics doesn’t necessarily mean that you have anything interesting to say about the topic.  That said, if Vice (a film that even leftist film critics criticized as being heavy handed and cartoonish) could pick up a best picture nomination last year, then I’m going to assume Bombshell could do the same.  With both the presidential election and possible impeachment trial looming, it’s reasonable assume that certain Academy members will be even more obsessed with politics than usual.

Meryl Streep for The Laundromat?  Why not?  They’ll nominate Meryl for anything, regardless of how bad the movie is.

Here are the predictions for this month!

Best Picture

1917

Bombshell

The Farewell

A Hidden Life

The Irishman

JoJo Rabbit

Marriage Story

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Parasite

Waves

Best Director

Bong Joon-ho for Parasite

Terrence Malick for A Hidden Life

Martin Scorsese for The Irishman

Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Taika Waititi for JoJo Rabbit

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas in Pain & Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo in Harriet

Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story

Charlize Theron in Bombshell

Alfre Woodard in Clemency

Renee Zellweger in Judy

Best Supporting Actor

Sterling K. Brown in Waves

Jamie Foxx in Just Mercy

Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes

Al Pacino in The Irishman

Brad Pitt in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress

Annette Bening in The Report

Scarlett Johansson in JoJo Rabbit

Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers

Zhao Shuzhen in The Farewell

Meryl Streep in The Laundromat

Music Video Of The Day: Good Intentions by Magdalena Bay (2019, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions and perhaps that’s true.  Actually, I’m totally sure that’s true.  That’s one reason why I don’t ever assign any sort of moral judgment to my intentions.  I just intend and hopefully, things work out.

Anyway, that doesn’t have much to do with this video, which is actually kinda trippy and hypnotic.  What would you do if a brain ever floated near you.  I’d probably freak out a little.  Brains are very strange looking and it kind of disturbs me that apparently, everything about us is collected in something that looks like an alien.  For that reason, I’m definitely happy that people have both heads and skulls because really, you don’t want to see anyone’s brain.  That would just be disturbing.

Enjoy!

Here’s The Trailer For Uncut Gems!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I’m a few days late in sharing this but no matter!  Here’s the trailer for Uncut Gems!

I’ve said this in the past but it bears repeating.  If you only knew Adam Sandler from his dramatic performances (in films like The Meyerowitz Stories, Punch Drunk Love, Reign Over Me, Men Women & Children, The Cobbler, and Funny People), you would be totally justified in thinking that he was one of our most acclaimed performers.  I mean, as strange as it may seem to say about the star of Jack and Jill and That’s My Boy, Adam Sandler is a surprisingly cable and versatile actor.

(In fact, I think one reason why we tend to get more annoyed with Sandler’s dumb films — as opposed to the dumb films of so many other comedic actors — is because we actually have evidence that Sandler’s capable of a lot more.  I mean, if you’ve just seen Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, it makes total sense that then seeing Sandler in commercials for Grown Ups 2 is going to piss you off just a little.)

Anyway, Adam Sandler deserved an Oscar nomination for The Meyerowitz Stories.  The early buzz is that he deserves one for Uncut Gems.  Standing in his way, of course, is the fact that he’s Adam Sandler.  But, we’ll see what happens.  The trailer looks intense and the film, which has already gotten some early acclaim, is directed by the up-and-coming Safdie Brothers.

Uncut Gems will be released on December 13th.

Here’s The New Trailer For The Irishman!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The second trailer for Martin Scorsese’s upcoming gangster epic, The Irishman, dropped today and …. wow.

Now, admittedly, the reaction online has been kind of mixed.  Some people are a little bit concerned that the de-aging technology is just going to be too distracting, especially considering that this is a four-hour movie.  I will admit that both Al Pacino and Joe Pesci looked a bit …. well, off.  I mean, all the CGI in the world can’t change the fact that this is a film that will feature elderly actors playing youngish gangsters.

Still, the story that The Irishman is telling is a fascinating one and, since Robert De Niro’s character claimed to be both a hitman and a participant in the JFK assassination, the film seems like it will appeal to both mafia afficianadoes and conspiracy theorists.

Add to that, is a Scorsese film and how can you not be excited about that?

That said, the main reaction to this latest trailer seems to be shock that Ray Romano is apparently holding his own opposite actors like De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, and Harvey Keitel.  But, believe it or not, Romano actually has developed into a pretty dependable character actor.  Anyone who has seen The Big Sick can attest to that.

Anyway, The Irishman is expected to be a major Oscar contender.  Of course, they said the same thing about Silence.  We’ll see what happens!

The Irishman will be released on November 1st in select theaters and will then drop on Netflix on November 27th.

Here’s the trailer!