Actually, I don’t know if Tom Hanks really saves America in Steven Spielberg’s latest film. But it does sound like something that Tom Hanks would do, doesn’t it?
Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Here’s the latest trailer for Southpaw!
Will Southpaw get Jake Gyllenhaal the Oscar nomination that he deserved for Nightcrawler?
Hmmm…it’s hard to say. The Academy definitely owes Gyllenhaal for snubbing him earlier this year. But Southpaw doesn’t necessarily look like an Oscar nominee. Instead, it looks like … well, it looks like every other melodramatic boxing film that’s ever been made.
But, still — I’ll see it when it’s released on July 24th. At this point, I’ll watch Jake Gyllenhaal in just about anything…
(Except for Love and Other Drugs. Don’t even get me started on that…)
Anyway, here’s the latest trailer for Southpaw!
Oh my God! It’s the trailer for Goosebumps!
Somehow, I had totally missed the fact that they were even making a Goosebumps movie. But apparently they are because a trailer was released earlier today!
And guess what?
Jack Black is playing R.L. Stine!
Check out the trailer below….
4 Shots From 4 Films: The Iron Rose, Fascination, Night of the Hunted, Lost in New York
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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
All of the shots in my latest entry in 4 Shots From 4 Films come from movies that were directed by the great (and sadly underappreciated) French director Jean Rollin. Several of Rollin’s films are available for viewing on Netflix. Track them down and, when you get the chance, be sure to read my review of Rollin’s Night of The Hunted!
4 Shots From 4 Films
The Iron Rose (1973, dir by Jean Rollin)
Fascination (1979, dir by Jean Rollin)
Night of the Hunted (1980, dir by Jean Rollin)
Lost in New York (1989, dir by Jean Rollin)
Film Review: All The Wilderness (dir by Michael Johnson)
I recently watched an excellent little film called All The Wilderness.
James Charm (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a shy and withdrawn teenager who is still struggling to deal with the recent death of his father. He spends his time wandering around the forest surrounding the house where he lives with his mother (Virginia Madsen). Occasionally, he makes his way into the nearby city and aimlessly wanders through the desolate streets. In his spare time, he sketches pictures of dead animals and tells people that he can predict when they are going to die. When he informs the local bully that he’s going to die in just a few more days, the bully responds by punching James in the face.
Sometimes, James visits a therapist (Danny DeVito) who seems to alternate between concern and indifference. One day, while sitting in the waiting room, James meets Val (Isabelle Fuhrman), who is dealing with her parents’ divorce and spends her time making and selling eccentric doughnuts. James likes Val but he’s too scared to open up to her. Some of that may have to do with the mysterious, hooded figures who occasionally materialize out of thin air and pursue him through the streets.
After sneaking out of one unproductive therapy session, James discovers a mysterious man named Harmon (Evan Ross) playing a piano in a courtyard. Later, after his hamster mysteriously dies, a distraught James sneaks out of his house, makes his way down to the city, and gets on a bus. Sitting across from him is none other than Harmon.
Harmon invites James to follow him on a trip into the hidden corners of the city. Soon, James is discovering that the wilderness is not only limited to the countryside surrounding his mother’s house. There’s also an urban wilderness and, with Harmon as his guide, James starts to discover it. And yet, even as James starts to find happiness, those hooded figures continue to follow him…
All The Wilderness reminded me a lot of last year’s underappreciated California Scheming, another atmospheric look at alienation that was full of existential dread. All The Wilderness is probably not a film for everyone. Not only is it extremely stylized but it’s also a bit too short. All The Wilderness is one of the few films that could actually benefit from an additional 30 minutes added to its running time.
And yet, flaws and all, All The Wilderness is a great film and one that everyone should take the time to see. It is perched so precariously between being insightful and being pretentious that it becomes oddly compelling to watch the film’s valiantly struggle to maintain its balance. Visually, this is an incredible film just to look at, with the constantly moving camera capturing images of ominous yet undeniably beautiful urban decay. In small roles, both Danny DeVito and Virginia Madsen are well-cast while Evan Ross is appropriately charismatic as Harmon. Finally, Kodi Smit-McPhee — all grown up from his heartbreaking performances in The Road and Let Me In — gives a wonderful and versatile performance in the lead role.
All The Wilderness is a film that deserves to be seen.
A Superfast Review of Superfast!
A typical scene from Superfast!
Superfast! tells the story of an incredibly stupid undercover cop named Lucas White (Alex Ashbaugh). Despite the fact that he’s so white that he regularly freezes mayonnaise so that he can then lick it like a popsicle (or so he tells us), White is assigned to infiltrate a group of multi-ethnic Los Angeles street racers. Led by the bald and imposing Vin Serento (Dale Pavinski), these street racers spend their time doing vaguely defined illegal stuff. Lucas soon wins Vin’s trust and finds himself torn between his job and his new friends.
When it looks like Vin and his crew are going to have to flee the country, they plot to rip-off crime lord Juan Carlos de la Sol (Omar Chaparro). In order to do this, Vin recruits a crew that includes characters with names like Rapper Cameo, Cool Asian Guy, and Model Turned Actress. Pursuing Vin and his crew is the ultra intense Detective Rock Johnson (Dio Johnson).
If all this sounds familiar, that’s because Superfast! is a spoof of the Fast and the Furious franchise. As far as spoof movies go, Superfast! is not bad. The actors do a good job of imitating the hypermasculine style of the Fast and Furious franchise and I actually found myself laughing at a few of the jokes. Considering that this film was directed by the infamous duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, a few laughs were still more laughs than I was expecting. Superfast! deserves some credit for being consistently amusing, even if the overall film was pretty uneven.
Of course, the main problem with Superfast! is that the Fast and the Furious films already do a pretty good job of spoofing themselves. One of the main reasons why that franchise has not only survived but prospered is because the films themselves are full of a winking self-awareness. The franchise itself has consistently, and with good humor, acknowledged just how over-the-top things can get. (Indeed, the franchise is populated by actors — like Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel — who have made a career out of poking gentle fun at their images.) There’s really not a single joke to be found in Superfast! that hasn’t already been made in a previous Fast and the Furious film.
But, with all that in mind, Superfast! is an amusing enough way to waste 90 minutes. Dale Pavisnki especially deserves some credit for the commitment that he brings to the role of Vin Diesel Serento.
Superfast! was released on the same day as Furious Seven. Needless to say, Furious Seven did just a little bit better with audiences and critics. Superfast! can currently be viewed on Netflix.
What Lisa Watched Last Night #126: Trigger Point (dir by Philippe Gagnon)
Yesterday, I watched the Canadian film Trigger Point on the Lifetime Movie Network.
Why Was I Watching It?
Oh, why not? It was Sunday, I was still recovering from a very active Independence Day, and it was on the Lifetime Movie Network. You know me. I can’t resist Lifetime.
What Was It About?
College student Callie Banner (Jordan Hinson) blames a Big Evil Corporation for her father losing his job and becoming an alcoholic. So, she gets involved in a campus protest group. Soon, she is ignoring all of her old, apolitical friends and spending all of her time chanting slogans and raising her fist in solidarity. She breaks up with her old boyfriend and is soon dating the charismatic Jared Church (Yanni Gellman).
However, something strange is happening. Former members of the protest group are dying and their wealthy parents are being blown up. The cops call it murder/suicide but could it just be murder/murder? That’s what Callie has to find out, while still also finding time to paint signs, hang banners, and come up with catchy slogans.
What Worked?
Trigger Point confirmed all of my long-held suspicions about political activists. Good work, Trigger Point.
What Did Not Work?
I was about to complain about the fact that Callie came across as being a humorless scold but then again, that aspect of her character worked as far as the film’s plot was concerned. If Callie wasn’t a humorless scold, she never would have gotten involved with the protesters in the first place. And while it can be argued that the film suffered because Callie is such an unlikable character, I would suggest that Callie being so unlikable actually worked to the film’s advantage. If she had been likable, you would have actually been worried about her well-being and the film would not have been as much fun. But since she wasn’t likable, you never really cared how many terrible things happened to her.
So, though it may not have been due to the intentions of the filmmakers, the entire film works.
“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments
I imagine if I was the type to get involved in a political protest, I’d probably act a lot like Callie. I would totally throw myself into it, I’d flirt with the leaders, I would be judgmental towards anyone who didn’t want to protest, and, in the end, I would discover that everyone around me was a murderer. That’s one reason why I never got involved with the Occupy movement, no matter how many times I was invited.
Lessons Learned
Don’t get involved in any student protests. Seriously, they always seem to lead to murder.
The Things You Find On Netflix: Austin to Boston
Austin to Boston is a documentary about a group of mostly British folk musicians who, in 2012, toured the United States. The group included a few familiar names (Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons, for example) and several up-and-comers (Ben Howard, The Staves). Traveling across America in five VW campers, the bands went from Austin to Boston in two weeks. Along the way, they stopped and played at everywhere from Nashville to Woodstock. The documentary, which is narrated in a memorably grizzled fashion by driver Gill Landry, follows them as they discover America, deal with shows that are both good and bad, and, most of all, make music. Make no mistake, this is a musical documentary. While the musicians do occasionally talk about their lives, for the most part, we get to know them through their music.
I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised by how much I enjoyed Austin to Boston. My taste in music tends to run the gamut from EDM to more EDM so, to be perfectly honest, spending 70 minutes watching a bunch of folk acts should have been pure misery for me. (Someday, I’m going to write an article about the Tyranny of Acoustic Harmonizing.) But, even if it wasn’t my type of music, I could still appreciate that the musicians traveling from Austin to Boston were damn talented and had beautiful voices. Could I have done without that gospel song that seemed to go on forever? I certainly could have. But, if that’s your type music, you’ll probably really enjoy hearing it because it’s being performed by some seriously talented people.
And even if it isn’t your type of music, Austin to Boston is such an intensely likable documentary that it really doesn’t matter. There’s something really sweet and special about watching these British musicians discover and, to a certain extent, fall in love with America. And, speaking as an American, Austin to Boston made me better appreciate my frustrating home country as well. Over the course of this short but achingly sincere film, we get to see a lot of American scenery and it reminds us of just how beautiful it all can be. When you live here, you tend to take it for granted and sometimes, I think it’s good to take another look through non-native eyes.
Did Austin to Boston awaken any sort of dormant love that I may have for folk music? No, it did not. To a certain extent, I wish it had because it really is such a heartfelt documentary. But, in the end, The Staves all have beautiful voices but it’s just not my type of music. But it did make me better appreciate both my home country and the way that music — regardless of style or genre — can bring us all together.
And you know what? If this is your type of music, you’ll freaking love this documentary. You’ll watch Austin to Boston and you’ll say, “What the Hell was that EDM-loving redhead talking about? THIS IS GREAT!”
Austin to Boston can currently be viewed on Netflix.
Extender Trailer: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Now, I asked that question on July 1st and you know what? Obama has yet to give me an answer, which I guess means that I now know how I’ll be voting in 2016. Maybe our President will reconsider his position after watching the latest trailer for Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Trailer: Queen of the Desert
I’m a huge fan of Werner Herzog and Nicole Kidman is a fellow members of the 2% so I’m really hoping that the early negative word on Queen of The Desert will turn out to be incorrect. Check out the latest trailer below:
