Here’s The Trailer For The Covenant

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s the trailer for Guy Ritchie’s latest film, The Covenant.

In this film, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a veteran who returns to Afghanistan to rescue his interpreter from the Taliban. This seems like the type of film that critics are going to hate but which will be better appreciated by audiences. Considering the number of allies that the U.S. abandoned in Afghanistan and the fact that everyone knows that the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was hardly our greatest hour, I have a feeling that we’re going to see a lot more films like The Covenant. Just as how the 80s and the 90s were full of films about vets who returned to Vietnam to “finish the job” and rescue POWS, there’s undoubtedly going to be a lot of films about vets returning to Afghanistan and saving those who helped them from the Taliban. For many people, the movies are going to provide the second chance that we’ll never get in a real life.

The Covenant will be released on April 21st, 2023.

Retro Television Reviews: City Guys 3.11 “El-Train In The Sky With Geena” and 3.12 “Miracle 134th Street and Lexington Avenue”

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

Are the neat guys still smart and streetwise? Were they ever? Let’s find out!

Episode 3.11 “El-Train In The Sky With Geena”

(dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 27th, 1999)

Jamal is still dating Ashley (Trina McGee), the manipulative girl with the thick Southern accent. However, Jamal is concerned when her ex-boyfriend Roger comes to visit “from the South.” After lying to Roger about Ashley having to serve detention, Jamal and Chris take Roger on a tour of New York City, one that is meant to make him hate the city so much that he’ll never want to return. At one point, they take him to — cringe! — the Twin Towers and make him walk all the way to the top, via the stairs. They tell him to think of World Trade Center as being a “Stairmaster with a gift shop on the top floor.” UGH!

Now, in all fairness, the creative team behind City Guys had no idea what would happen 20 months in the future. At the time this episode aired, the World Trade Center was a popular New York tourist attraction and it made sense that Jamal and Chris would take a visitor to see it. Still, watching this scene today is all sorts of cringey. “Why do we have to take the stairs?” Roger asks. “Because the elevators are broken,” is the reply.

Seriously, let’s just move on to the A-plot of this episode.

The students have raised $200 to buy Ms. Nobel a gift. (What is the deal with these people and their pathological obsession with their principal?) They give the money to L-Train, the class president. Unfortunately, L-Train has a new girlfriend named Geena and Geena is hooked on …. MARIJUANA! She’s so addicted that she even lights up at the movies. She’s so addicted that, when she finds out L-Train has $200 in his locker, she steals it so that she can buy more weed. She promises to pay L-Train back but the next time that L-Train sees her, she’s staring at her hand and talking about how she can’t feel her face. What exactly has she been smoking?

Anyway, L-Train is forced to buy a cheap chair for Ms. Nobel’s gift. Ms. Nobel is disappointed in him. JUST BE GRATEFUL YOUR KISS-ASS STUDENTS GOT YOU A GIFT! Anyway, Ms. Nobel encourages L-Train to give Geena a second chance and to get her in drug rehab.

Anyway, this was a dumb episode. It turns out that Roger and Ashley only dated in the 2nd grade and Geena agrees to get help. And I guess Ms. Nobel eventually gets a better chair. Steven Daniel gave a typically empathetic performance but everyone else was definitely an autopilot.

Let’s move on!

Episode 3.12 “Miraclce on 134th Street and Lexington Avenue)

(dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 27th, 1999)

It’s a Christmas episode!

The gang is still working at the New York Toy Company, where Al and Jamal try to make extra money and from which Chris and Dawn are regularly delivering toys to the local community center. After discovering that Allison, one of the kids at the center, wants to meet her father for the first time, Chris and Dawn track him down and reunite the family. Ms. Nobel praised everyone for doing a good job. No one mentions anything about the fact that Chris, Jamal, Dawn, Cassidy, Al, and L-Train would rather spend their holidays with Ms. Nobel instead of their own families. Seriously, high school only lasts four years. How are these people going to survive adulthood without having Ms. Nobel around 24/7?

Usually, I like Christmas episodes but this one didn’t really work for me. I hate to say this but the performers playing Allison, her mother, and her father weren’t particularly believable in their roles. Plus, it didn’t seem to occur to anyone that maybe there was a good reason why Allison’s father no longer had any contact with his family. Instead, Dawn and Chris just took it upon themselves to tell him where Allison and her mother could be found. I mean, they could have at least done a background check.

The neat guys did not impress me this week. Hopefully, next week will be a bit better.

Music Video of the Day: Winter by The Hatters (2017, dir by ????)

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I am totally predicting that the groundhog is going to see his shadow. Prepare for more winter!

Enjoy!

Film Review: Shotgun Wedding (dir by Jason Moore)

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

A mildly amusing mix of romance, comedy, and action, Shotgun Wedding tells the story of Tom (Josh Duhamel) and Darcy (Jennifer Lopez).

Tom is a washed-up baseball player. Darcy is …. well, I’m not sure if the film ever really made clear what exactly Darcy does for a living. She comes from a wealthy family and she previously worked with the Peace Corps in Bali. After dating for four years, Tom and Darcy are finally getting married. Darcy wanted to have a simple wedding. Tom, however, becomes a groomzilla and plans an elaborate ceremony on a remote island resort. Sure, the island has occasionally been targeted by pirates but the owners of resort assure Tom that it probably won’t happen again.

The night before the wedding is fraught with drama. Darcy’s mother (Sonia Braga) is not happy that her ex-husband (Cheech Marin) has brought his new agey girlfriend (D’Arcy Carden) to the wedding. Tom’s mother (Jennifer Coolidge) insists that Tom and Darcy not sleep together the night before the ceremony. Meanwhile, Tom’s father (Steve Coulter, a genuinely funny actor) wanders about with an old school camcorder, recording everything. Darcy’s sister (Callie Hernandez) hooks up with one of Tom’s friends (Desmin Borges). Finally, Sean Hawkins (Lenny Kravitz) makes a dramatic entrance, even though he wasn’t exactly invited to the wedding. Sean was Darcy’s ex-fiancé, the man that she nearly married before she met Tom. Everyone loves Sean. When morning comes around, Tom and Darcy aren’t even sure they still want to get married.

That’s when the pirates show up.

Because Tom and Darcy were busy arguing, they weren’t present when the pirates took the rest of the wedding party hostage. Now, Tom and Darcy have to make their way through the jungle so that they can defeat the pirates, save the hostages, and work on their relationship problems. Along the way, both Tom and Darcy will discover that they’re capable of doing things that they never would have thought possible, like killing pirates.

Shotgun Wedding feels a bit like a throw back. It’s very easy to imagine Cameron Diaz or Jennifer Aniston or Sandra Bullock (or maybe even Jennifer Lopez) starring in this film in 2003, playing Darcy opposite someone like Ron Livingston, Owen Wilson, or Greg Kinnear. That’s not meant to be a complaint. There’s actually something rather pleasant about the film’s somewhat quaint approach to its story. Much like last year’s Marry Me, it feels like a throw back to a simpler time when everyone was willing to accept that there was no need for ambiguity when it came to portraying gun-toting pirates as being the bad guys.

Unlike Marry Me, in which Owen Wilson was able to hold his own opposite his glamourous co-star, Shotgun Wedding is pretty much dominated by Jennifer Lopez. Josh Duhamel has his moments as the not terribly bright Tom but significantly, those moments almost all occur while Darcy and Tom are separated. Indeed, much as how the studios used to pair Golden Age divas with forgettable leading men, it sometimes feel as if Duhamel was specifically cast because there was no danger of him taking the attention away from the movie’s main star. This is a film that was pretty much designed to show off Jennifer Lopez. With every scene, one can hear the movie whispering, “Isn’t she still funny? Doesn’t she still look good?” Fortunately, Jennifer Lopez is still funny and yes, she does still look good. Even more importantly, she’s more than capable of carrying a film like this and she delivers her lines with just the right amount of comedic exasperation. A running joke about how much she hates her wedding dress pays off in an unexpected way and the scenes in which Darcy confronts her fear of the sight of blood are enjoyably over-the-top. For someone who was once frequently been portrayed as being a diva in the tabloids. Lopez has always had a down-to-Earth screen presence and a talent for physical comedy. At their best, both this film and Jennifer Lopez are enjoyably silly.

Unfortunately, the film itself starts drag after the first hour and the film’s humor starts to wear thin. There’s only so many times you can listen to someone say something stupid while a pirate points a gun in their face before the joke starts to get stale. I still laughed at quite a few of the lines. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an amusing film. But it’s not a particularly memorable one. It’s the type of movie that mildly entertains you for 100 minutes and then it quickly leaves your mind afterwards. In many ways, it’s ideal for the streaming era. If you left the house and paid money to sit in a theater and watch the film with a bunch of strangers, you might be more likely to get annoyed at how slight the film is. But, when watched in the safety of your own home, it’s a perfectly pleasant experience.

Scenes I Love: “Print The Legend” From The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The legendary director John Ford was born 129 years ago today, in Maine. As I sit here writing this, you can go see The Fabelmans, which ends with a scene in which a young Steven Spielberg (or Sammy Fabelman, whatever) meets John Ford (played by David Lynch). The meeting is based on a meeting that a young Spielberg actually had with Ford shortly before Ford’s death in 1971.

However, long before John Ford met Steven Spielberg, he directed one of my favorite films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Today’s scene that I love comes from the end of that 1962 film and it features a line that would become a classic. “Print the legend.” That was a line that Ford understood and I imagine it’s one that Spielberg eventually came to understand as well.

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 1.23 “Musical Cabins”

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

Let’s hear it for life’s sweetest reward!

Episode 1.23 “Musical Cabins”

(Dir by Allen Baron, originally aired on May 6th, 1978)

This week’s episode of The Love Boat opened with …. a commercial!

Actually, if you’re watching the show on Paramount Plus like me, every episode opens with a commercial and occasionally the commercial freezes and you have to start all over again. This week, though, was significant because it was a new commercial from Pfizer. The commercial opened with P!nk holding a rubber germ.

“If I was holding COVID-19,” P!nk says, “I would be in trouble …. because I have asthma.”

Plus, she would be in trouble because that’s the biggest goddamn germ I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong. I have asthma too and I am more than aware of the dangers of getting an aggressive respiratory illness. But I’m just not sure that having a bunch of celebrities passing around a big rubber germ is the best way to advertise the vaccine. As soon as P!nk threw the germ at Michael Phelps and ?uestlove, the commercial started to lose me. It felt cheap, like one of those ICDC commercials that Master P forced Romeo Miller to do. Don’t throw germs at your friends.

Speaking of which, this week’s episode of The Love Boat is all about friendships and relationships. Ms. O’Roarke (Marica Wallace) is a gossip reporter who has heard that the Pacific Princess is a notorious hotbed of lust and hedonism on the high seas. She books a ticket and then sneaks around the boat with her notepad, watching as people go in and out of different cabins. She thinks that she’s uncovering evidence of an orgy on the high seas but actually, she’s just witnessing a bunch of misunderstandings.

For instance, Didi (Barbara Rhoades) is so disgusted by Curt (Dick Gautier), her chauvinistic boyfriend, that she refuses to stay in their cabin. When Gopher informs her that the cruise is sold out and there are no other cabins available, Doc immediately volunteers his cabin. Judging from the look on Gopher’s face, he’s just about had it with Doc hitting on every single passenger on the boat. An HR report is about to be filed.

Doc, for his part, assumes that Didi is looking for more than just a place to sleep. Being the swinger that he is, Doc slips into his pajamas and offers to help Didi unwind.

Didi is scandalized and kicks Doc out of his own cabin. Doc ends up asking Julie if he can crash in her cabin. Julie agrees but then wonders why Doc has never tried to hit on her. Doc replies that he thinks of Julie as being a “kid sister.”

Wrong answer, Doc!

Fortunately, Julie is soon approached by Nelson Hoag (Paul Williams), who has been asking every woman on the cruise if she’ll consider marrying him. Everyone turns Nelson down but what they don’t know is that Nelson is going to inherit a good deal of money but only if he gets married before his next birthday!

Julie and Nelson spend the night talking and Julie is actually charmed by Nelson. However, just as she learns in to kiss him, Gopher shows up and puts the kibosh on it. Gopher is going to have a lot of HR reports to write.

Since Doc is sleeping in her cabin, Julie ends up staying in Nelson’s cabin. Meanwhile, Nelson meets Irene (Michele Lee), a widow who is pretending to be an heiress. Irene allows Nelson to stay in her cabin and then she spends some time with an entirely smitten Captain Stubing. Is anyone on the boat actually doing their job?

Eventually, as O’Roarke hides behind the corner and takes notes, everyone meets in one cabin to work out their feelings. Curt wants Didi back but Didi actually prefers the company of the gentle Nelson. For her part, Irene likes men who take what they want and say whatever pops into their mind and that certainly describes Curt. By the end of the cruise, Julie and Doc are friends again, Didi is married to Nelson, and Irene is dating Curt. And O’Roarke realizes that she doesn’t have a story so she tears up all of her notes.

Usually, I can’t stand shows (or movies) where the plot hinges on a series of misunderstandings that could all easily be cleared up by people just not being stupid but I actually found this episode of The Love Boat to be rather charming, as the show made good use of the cast’s natural chemistry and the guest stars actually brought some much needed emotional depth to characters who were otherwise rather thinly written. Yes, Nelson was a little weirdo but, oddly, he and Didi made for a really sweet couple. Add to that Michele Lee brought a sense of genuine sadness to her role as the lonely widow. Watching the show, I found myself hoping that things would work out for her and they did!

Yay!

I hope next week is this good!

Here Are The 2022 Eddie Nominations!

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The American Cinema Editors have announced their nominations for the Eddie Awards, which will celebrate the best in film editing for 2022. The winners will be announced March 5th, 2023.

I’m not really sure why any organization would wait until after the Oscar nominations to announce their own nominations but whatever. There’s no need to be judgey, right? Here are the nominees!

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Drama, Theatrical)
All Quiet on the Western Front – Sven Budelmann, BFS
Elvis – Matt Villa, ACE ASE & Jonathan Redmond
Tár – Monika Willi
Top Gun: Maverick – Eddie Hamilton, ACE
The Woman King – Terilyn A. Shropshire, ACE

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical)
The Banshees of Inisherin – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, ACE
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogers
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Bob Ducsay, ACE
The Menu – Christopher Tellefsen, ACE
Triangle of Sadness – Ruben Östlund & Mikel Cee Karlsson

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM (Theatrical or Non-Theatrical)
The Bad Guys – John Venzon, ACE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Ken Schretzmann, ACE & Holly Klein
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Dean Fleischer-Camp & Nick Paley
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – James Ryan, ACE
Turning Red – Nicholas C. Smith, ACE

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (Theatrical)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Amy Foote, Joe Bini & Brian A. Kates, ACE
Fire of Love – Erin Casper & Jocelyne Chaput
Good Night Oppy – Helen Kearns, ACE & Rejh Cabrera
Moonage Daydream – Brett Morgen
Navalny – Langdon Page & Maya Hawke

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (Non-Theatrical)
The Andy Warhol Diaries: “Collab: Andy & Basquiat” – Steve Ross
George Carlin’s American Dream – Joe Beshenkovsky, ACE
The Last Movie Stars: “Luck is an Art” – Barry Poltermann
Lucy and Desi – Robert A. Martinez
Pelosi in the House – Geof Bartz, ACE

BEST EDITED MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
The Conners: “Of Missing Minds and Missing Fries” – Brian Schnuckel, ACE
How I Met Your Father: “Timing Is Everything” – Susan Federman, ACE
The Neighborhood: “Welcome to the Art of Negotiation” – Chris Poulos

BEST EDITED SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
Atlanta: “Andrew Wyeth. Alfred’s World.” – Kyle Reiter, ACE & Isaac Hagy, ACE
Barry: “710N” – Franky Guttman
Barry: “Starting Now” – Ali Greer
The Bear: “System” – Joanna Naugle
Only Murders in the Building: “I Know Who Did It” – Shelly Westerman, ACE & Payton Koch

BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES
Andor: “One Way Out” – Simon Smith
Euphoria: “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” – Aaron I. Butler, ACE & Julio Perez IV, ACE
Euphoria: “The Theater and Its Double” – Laura Zempel, Julio Perez IV, ACE & Nikola Boyanov
Severance: “In Perpetuity” – Geoffrey Richman, ACE & Erica Freed Marker, ACE
Severance: “The We We Are” – Geoffrey Richman, ACE

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL)
Fire Island – Brian A. Kates, ACE
Hocus Pocus 2 – Julia Wong, ACE
A Jazzman’s Blues – Maysie Hoy, ACE
Prey – Angela M. Catanzaro, ACE & Claudia Castello
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story – Jamie Kennedy

BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES
Gaslit: “Year of the Rat” – Joe Leonard, ACE
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “Part VI” – Kelley Dixon, ACE & Josh Earl, ACE
Station Eleven: “Unbroken Circle” – Anna Hauger, ACE, David Eisenberg, Yoni Reiss & Anthony McAfee
The White Lotus: “Abduction” – Heather Persons, ACE
The White Lotus: “Arrivederci” – John M. Valerio ACE

BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
Deadliest Catch: “Sailor’s Delight” – Isaiah Camp, ACE, Joe Mikan, ACE & Alexander Rubinow, ACE
Formula 1: Drive to Survive: “Hard Racing” – Cassie Bennitt, Matt Rudge, Duncan Moir, Nic Zimmermann, Jack Foxton & Neil Clarkson
Vice: “Killing for Success & Marcos Returns” – Paula Salhany, Brandon Kieffer, Andrew Pattison. Catherine Lee & Victoria Lesiw

BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL
A Black Lady Sketch Show: “Save My Edges, I’m A Donor!” – Stephanie Filo, ACE, Bradinn French, Taylor Mason & S. Robyn Wilson
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: “Police Interrogations” – Anthony Miale, ACE & Ryan Barger
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: “Volodymyr Zelenskyy Special” – Cori Wapnowska & Jon Higgins

BEST EDITED ANIMATED SERIES
Big Mouth: “Dadda Dia!” – Felipe Salazar
Bob’s Burgers: “Some Like It Bot Part 1: Eighth Grade Runner” – Jeremy Reuben, ACE
Love, Death & Robots: “Bad Travelling” – Kirk Baxter, ACE

ANNE V. COATES AWARD FOR STUDENT EDITING
Adriana Guevara – New York University
Jazmin Jamias – American Film Institute
Tianze Sun – American Film Institute

2022 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Favorite Novels

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Again, as with my non-fiction list, I just wish I had read more last year. Fortunately, this year, I plan to do just that!

The It Girl by Ruth Ware
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perotta
The Maid by Nita Prose
The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
Heat 2 by Meg Gardiner and Michael Mann
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
Electric Idol by Katee Robert
It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Be sure to check out my picks for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011!

Lisa Marie’s 2022 In Review:

2022 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Top 10 Non-Fiction Books

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As always, I wish I had read more. Hopefully, that’s something that I’ll accomplish in 2023!

Be sure to check out my previous picks for 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013

American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower
Gangsters vs Nazis by Michael Benson
Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman
Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan
Mean Baby by Selma Blair
Cimino: The Deer Hunter, Heaven’s Gate, and the Price of Ambition by Charles Elton
The Book of Broadway Musical Debates, Disputes, and Disagreements by Peter Filichia
The Office BFFs: Tales of the Office From Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey
Everybody Thought We Were Crazy by Mark Rozzo
Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters by Graham Skipper