Category Archives: Film Review

SXSW 2020 Short Film Review: Basic (dir by Chelsea Devantez)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In the introduction that plays before the start of Basic, director and actress Chelsea Devantez describes her film as being a “very, very, very short film” and indeed it is.  It’s only 4 minutes long, which means that this is about to a very, very, very short review.

Anyway, Basic is a film about “the insecure lil’ ho in all of us.”  It open with Gloria (Chelsea Devantez) looking at Kailynn’s (Georgia Mischak) Instagram and talking about how much she hates her.  Why does Gloria hate Kailynn?  Could it be because Kailynn appears to have a perfect and glamorous life?  Or could it be because of the fact that Nick (Nelson Franklin) is in several of the pictures with her.  “Oh, look,” Gloria says, “we go shopping together.”

I’m probably not doing justice to the film but it’s a laugh-out loud hilarious comedy and it’s got a clever little twist at the end and dammit, what else can you really ask from a four-minute comedy?  Many of the laughs comes from Gloria’s snarky comments about Kailynn’s life but even more of the laughs come from the fact that it’s obvious that Gloria would love to be Kailynn.  Finally, this film gives us a lot of Nelson Franklin, who was hilarious on Veep and who deserves to be in many more films and shows.  Nelson Franklin is one of those actors who can make just about any line laugh out loud hilarious.

It’s a short film.  It’s 4 minutes.  Who doesn’t have 4 minutes to spare?  Seriously, you’re going to tell me you don’t have 4 minutes?  Shut up, you’ve got 4 minutes.  Watch it on Prime while you can.

SXSW 2020 Review: Figurant (dir by Jan Vejnar)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Clocking in at just 14 minutes, the French/Czech co-production, Figurant, is about as unsettling of a film as I’ve recently seen.

Trying to explain just what exactly happens in the film is not easy.  It’s not just that I don’t want to spoil the film.  It’s also that the film itself is a bit of a mystery.  It’s a riddle.  It’s an enigma.  It’s a dream of dark and disturbing things and the story doesn’t always lead to the destination that you may be expecting.

It’s the story of a man who is played by Denis Lavant.  We never learn the man’s name, nor do we learn much about his past.  He may be homeless, he may not.  He’s a quiet and withdrawn man, one who mostly communicates in apologetic grunts.  When he sees a group of younger men walking into a warehouse, he follows them.  When two men sitting behind a table give him a scornful look and ask if they’re even supposed to take men like him, he keeps quiet.  He accepts every insult with the quiet resignation of a man who is used to being on the outside looking in.

In a backroom, two women take Lavant’s clothes from him and place them in a garbage bag.  They gave him a military uniform to wear.  Lavant doesn’t seem to know why he’s being asked to dress like a soldier but he does so anyway.  When the other men march down a hallway, he follows.  When they enter a trailer, he follows.  When he’s told to sit in a chair in front of a mirror, he does just that….

Throughout it all, everyone except for Lavant seems to understand what’s going on.  Lavant simply follows along and goes where he is told.  No matter how weird or violent things become around him, Lavant continues to follow….

There are multiple twists towards the end of the film.  I would say that I correctly predicted 50% of the twists and that the other twists took me totally by surprise.  In fact, I’m still fully working out the film in my head.  Figurant is one of those wonderfully surreal and dream-like films that just sticks with you.  It may only be 14 minutes long but you’ll be thinking about it for hours afterwards.

Lavant does a great job and is sympathetic in the lead role.  Director Jan Vejnar creates a perfectly ominous atmosphere, filling the film with images that are sometimes threatening and occasionally surprisingly peaceful.  Figurant is one that will stick with you and. through May 6th, it can be viewed for free on Prime.

SXSW 2020 Review: Lions in the Corner (dir by Paul Hairston)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Lions in the Corner is a 9-minute documentary about a Virginia man who, for most of his life, has been called Scarface.

His physical scars, which he’s carried with him for the majority of his life, are the result of a house fire.  As he explains it, he had to have over a hundred surgeries when he was growing up.  That left him with an addiction to opioids.  Growing up in a poor neighborhood, Scarface fell into a criminal lifestyle.  He ran with gangs.  He did time in prison.  At one point, he nearly died after he was shot.  Scarface says that he’s one of the few men who can tell anyone firsthand what it feels like to die.

After getting out of prison, Scarface turned his life around.  He got married.  He had two children.  And, in his backyard, he set up something that he calls Street Beefs, a boxing ring where people — mostly, judging from the documentary, young men — can settle their disagreements with their fists instead of out on the streets with a gun or a knife.  (At one point, the documentary shows us a pair of boxing gloves, across which has been written, “Glove up or Shut Up.”)

However, it’s about more than just boxing.  Whether they win or lose, each fighter is treated like a champion when they step into the ring and each fighter has people in the audience cheering him on.  That’s not something that a lot of the men who fight in Scarface’s backyard get to experience in their everyday life.

Lions in the Corner is an effective and, ultimately, moving documentary.  It focuses as much on Scarface’s story as it does on the punches being thrown in the ring and, fortunately, the guy is a charismatic storyteller.  By the end of this short documentary, you can’t help but wish the best for not only him but also for everyone who steps into the ring.

Lions in the Corner is currently available on Prime.

SXSW 2020 Review: Still Wylde (dir by Ingrid Haas)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Still Wylde is an 11-minute film about a long-time couple, Gertie (Ingrid Haas) and Sam (Barry Rothbart), and what happens when Gertie gets pregnant with the child that they hope to name Wylde.

It’s a film that, if I may be allowed to indulge in a cliche, made me laugh and then made me cry.  And then it made me briefly laugh again and then it made me cry a lot.  It’s an emotional roller coaster and it’s also a good example of why the short film format can be so powerful.  A lot of time passes in just 11 minutes and you truly feel like you come to know Gertie and Sam over the course of the film.  Because it is a short film, every moment counts.  There is no filler.  Instead, every minute of the film is about getting to know Gerite and Sam and following them on their journey.  You come to care about them.  You share their joy and you share their heartbreak and, in the end, you’re happy that they have one another.

From the minute you see Gertie buying every single pregnancy test at the local convenience store and then pacing in front of a dead plant after getting the results, you feel as if you know who she is.  From the minute that Sam starts stuttering as he tries to figure out the right way to respond to Gertie’s news, you know who Sam is.  It’s kind of impossible not to love Sam and Gertie and to get caught up in their story.

And all it took was 11 minutes!

Through May 6th, Still Wylde and several other films that would have been featured at this year’s SXSW are currently available for free on Prime.  Definitely check them all out.  Let’s do what we can to support brave and honest filmmakers like Ingrid Haas and so many others during this difficult time.

Now, I’m going to go cry for a little bit more….

SXSW 2020 Review: Waffle (dir by Carlyn Hudson)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Can I get a connection?

The 10 minute short film, Waffle, begins with what appears to be a sleep over.  Kerry (Kerry Baker) and Katie (Katie Marovitch) are both sitting on a couch in their pajamas, talking about a time when they hung out with the cutest boys in their class and they all ended up making out in someone’s car.  There’s a lot of giggling and hugging and most viewers won’t buy it for a second.

It’s not just the fact that both of the women appear to be a little bit older than the usual sleep over participants.  In fact, neither one appears to still be in high school.  It’s also hard not to notice that, for two best friends, Katie and Kerry really don’t seem to know each other that well.  When Kerry is trying to tell the story about a night that she and Katie hung out together, Katie keeps interrupting her and telling her to change the details.  Katie is also quite insistent that Kerry will have waffles, despite Kerry’s lack of enthusiasm for the idea.  When Kerry mentions that her friend Rapahel (Raphael Chestang) is coming by, Katie does not react well to the news.

Things only get stranger from that point on.  Katie is someone who is not only used to getting what she wants but who also has the money necessary to make sure that no one ever says no.  Kerry has her own motivations but it doesn’t take long to notice that she doesn’t seem to be particularly enthusiastic about spending too much time with her “best friend.”  The film goes from being a comedy to a drama to back to being a comedy to being …. well, I don’t want to give away too much.  Let’s just say that a lot happens in just ten minutes.

Waffle is a clever look at the struggle to make a connection in an increasingly isolated community.  Katie Marovitch alternates between being menacing and being almost sympathetic in the role of Katie while Kerry Cook’s performance keeps the story grounded in an identifiable reality.

It’s on Prime, at least through May 6th so, if you’ve got ten minutes to spare, be sure to check it out.

SXSW 2020: The Voice In Your Head (dir by Graham Parkes)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Poor Dan!

As played by Lewis Pullman, Dan seems like a decent enough guy.  He’s a little bit on the dorky side and he seems to be kind of shy.  He’s one of those people who you always see kind of shuffling along with head down.  When he speaks, it’s in such a soft voice that it can be a struggle to hear him.  He’s insecure and anxious and really, it’s understandable once you see what he has to live with.

The thing you have to understand about Dan is that he wakes up every morning and has to deal with the voice of his anxiety (played by Mat Wright), a loud and obnoxious bully who follows him everywhere that he goes and who constantly tells him that everything he’s doing is wrong.  Dan can’t even have a friendly conversation with his co-worker, Julia (Trian Long Smith), without the voice taunting him and telling him that he’s useless.  The voice is everything that Dan is not.  The voice is loud and flashy and obnoxious and totally unconcerned with any feelings that he may hurt.  The voice is every moment of anxiety that anyone in the world has ever felt.  He’s every insecure thought and lingering regret.  He’s ….

Well, there’s actually a bit more to the voice but I’m not going to spoil this short film but revealing all of its secrets.  About halfway through this film’s 13-minute running time, there’s a huge twist and I can’t reveal the details.  I will say that it’s a very clever little twist and it’s one that will take you by surprise.

The Voice In Your Head is a well-directed comedy about anxiety.  Lewis Pullman is sympathetic as Dan while Mat Wright is brilliantly obnoxious in the role of the Voice.  I don’t personally know the director, Graham Parkes, so I won’t speculate on what may or may not have inspired this film but, just from watching, he seems to be someone who not only understands anxiety but who also understands a good deal about human nature.  The things that cause us the greatest anxiety often appear totally different once we actually confront them and that’s something that this film certainly understands.

It’s on Prime, at least through May 6th.  So, be sure to check it out.

SXSW 2020 Review: Affurmative Action (dir by Travis Woods)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, South By Southwest has been canceled this year but fortunately, you can still go over to Amazon Prime and watch some of the feature films, documentaries, and shorts that were scheduled to be featured this year.  That’s what I’m going to be doing tonight and tomorrow.

I started things off by watching Affurmative Action, which is a 5-minute short film that is largely made up with shots of various “Meet the Team” pages.  Those are the pages that appear on almost every business’s website, where you see smiling pictures of all of the people who are in leadership positions.  This is especially true of small businesses, where the idea is that you look at all of the smiling, cheerful, hip faces and you say to yourself, “These are people who I want to work with!”

The majority of the “meet the team” pages that are featured in Affurmative Action come from advertising, media, and other creative companies that are located in either New York or Los Angeles, which are two very diverse cities with reputations for being culturally liberal.  Director Travis Woods points two things out to us over the course of five minutes:

First off, it’s very common to see a dog (and, in one, case a cat) listed as being a part of the team.  Sometimes, they’re listed as being “mascot.”  One lucky dog was a Vice President of Barking or something like that.

Secondly, it’s very rare to see any black faces on the Meet The Team pages.  In fact, the film makes the argument that you’re more likely to see a dog on the Meet The Team page than you are a black person.

Now, I have to admit that, when I first watched the documentary, I had what is probably a very stereotypical white girl reaction to it.  “Awwwww!” I said, “those dogs are so cute!”  (I’ll also admit right now that I was the one who suggested to Arleigh that Doc Bowman should become a contributor to the Shattered Lens.)  But, once I got over the cuteness of the dogs, I also realized that the documentary was making a very valid and important point about the lack of diversity in many companies, especially when it comes to upper management.  The dogs may be cute but they’re not the ones who are being shut out of leadership positions and who aren’t being given the same opportunity to advance in their careers.  If nothing else, Affurmative Action is a film that I will remember every time that I look at a “Meet The Team” page.

As I said, it’s a short film.  It’s only five minutes long.  The dogs are cute.  The film’s point is serious and will make you think.

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989, directed by Peter Bonerz)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The sixth Police Academy film opens with another crime wave.  Considering that the Police Academy Class of 1984 was supposedly the best to ever graduate, they don’t seem to have done much to clean up the city.  This time, a series of robberies are being committed in the Wilson Heights neighborhood.  Since Captain Harris (G.W. Bailey) and Lt. Proctor (Lance Kinsey) don’t seem to be capable of upholding the law in their precinct, the Mayor (Kenneth Mars) orders Harris to work with Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) and the usual gang of Police Academy graduates.

Carey Mahoney is still missing in action but Nick Lassard (Matt McCoy) has transferred up from Miami and has taken Mahoney’s place as the resident smartass.  Also returning are Sound Effects Man (Michael Winslow), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), Callahan (Leslie Easterbrook), Tackleberry (David Graf), and, after having been absent for the previous two films, Sgt. Fackler (Bruce Mahler)!

I cannot believe I’m saying this but Police Academy 6 turned out to be better than I remembered.  It’s just as stupid as all of the other Police Academy films but everyone seems to be having a good time and Matt McCoy no longer feels out of place as Mahoney’s replacement.  Bruce Mahler’s return as Fackler also means a return to the physical comedy that he excelled at in the first two films and the total incompetence of Harris and Proctor is handled better here than it was in the previous few films.  A welcome addition to the cast is Gerrit Graham, as the childish head of the robbers.  (Whereas the previous few films at least tried to pretend like the criminals were a potentially serious threat, City Under Siege presents them as being as clownish as everyone else in the film.  It’s a better approach because it’s not as if anyone watches a Police Academy film expecting to see something like The French Connection or Fort Apache, The Bronx.)  Police Academy 6 is a stupid, stupid movie and the jokes are as juvenile as ever but, along with Part 3, it’s still one of the better sequels.

Police Academy 6 was the first Police Academy film to not be a box office hit.  It would be followed by one final sequel, Mission to Moscow, which I’ll take a look at on Saturday.

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988, directed by Alan Myerson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Police Academy 5 starts as so many Police Academy films have started.  Commandant Lassard (George Gaynes) is getting progressively more loopy and Captain Harris (G.W. Bailey) is plotting to take over the Academy.  This time, Harris thinks that he has come up with the perfect plan when he discovers that Lassard has reached the mandatory retirement age.

With retirement looming, Lassard attends one final law enforcement convention in Miami.  At the convention, Lassard is to be honored as “Police Officer of the Decade” because it was apparently a very slow decade.  Lassard decides to bring along his favorite academy graduates so that they can celebrate with him and meet his nephew, Sgt. Nick Lassard (Matt McCoy, who you may recognize as Seinfeld’s Lloyd Braun or maybe as the spokesman for Hartford Insurance).   The commandant invites Sound Effects Guy (Michael Winslow), Tackleberry (David Graf), Hightower (Bubba Smith), Hooks (Marion Ramsey), Callhan (Leslie Easterbrook), and House (Tab Thacker).  Notice who isn’t there?  This was the first Police Academy film without Steve Guttenberg’s Carey Mahoney and Commandant Lassard celebrating his career without inviting his most loyal graduate doesn’t seem right.

Once what is left of the old gang arrives in Miami, they get caught up in the usual Police Academy shenanigans.  Rene Auberjonois plays a jewel thief who accidentally switches bags with the Commandant and who has 24 hours to retrieve the stolen diamonds.  It’s Florida so there are women in bikinis and an Everglades boat chase.  Harris gets humiliated in every way possible.  The jokes are even more juvenile than usual.  Nick Lassard uses sunscreen to permanently label Harris as being a “dork” so everyone on the beach calls Harris a “dork.”  That’s as sophisticated as things get.

Unfortunately, there’s a Steve Guttenberg-shaped hole at the center of Police Academy 5 and not even as formidable a thespian as Matt McCoy can fill it.  Even though Guttenberg always seemed like he was miscast as both a cop and a former juvenile delinquent, Police Academy 5 shows how important he really was to the franchise.  Mahoney was the closest thing that the Police Academy films had to a fully developed character and, without him around, it’s even more obvious how thinly drawn all of the other characters were.  (Guttenberg was filming Three Man And A Baby while Police Academy 5 was in production though, in an A.V. Club interview a few years ago, Guttenberg said the real reason he wasn’t invited to Miami Beach was because the producers couldn’t afford to pay his salary.  “You’ve got to get paid!” Guttenberg explained.)

I will, however, give Police Academy 5 some credit.  Rene Auberjonois does what he can with his bumbling jewel thief and the scene where Tackleberry pulls a gun on a shark made me laugh.  Otherwise, Police Academy 5 is no Police Academy 3.

Tomorrow, it’s time for … you guessed it! …. Police Academy 6!

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987, directed by Jim Drake)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Long before the end credits of 22 Jump Street imagined Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum going to culinary school, the flight academy, and into outer space, the Police Academy films bravely tested just how far one already thin premise could already be stretched.

In Police Academy 4, Commandant Eric Lassard (George Gaynes) comes up with another plan to make the city safer.  (Since Lassard has been coming up with plans for three years without any success, it may be time to let the old man retire peacefully.)  This time, he wants to institute Citizens on Patrol, which would mean training citizens to act like cops.  It sounds like the type of terrible idea that could get a city sued into bankruptcy but considering that this is a city where a human sound effects machine and the former head of the 16 precinct’s biggest gang can become decorated police officers, I guess it’s as good an idea as any.

As usual, Carey Mahoney (Steve Guttenberg) and the gang are ready to help Lassard.  Bruce Mahler’s Fackler is no longer a part of the ensemble but Bubba Smith, Bobcat Goldthwait, Michael Winslow, David Graf, Tim Kazurinsky, Marion Ramsey, and Brian Toschi are all back.  Also returning, after skipping out on the first two sequels, is Capt. Harris (G.W. Bailey).  Harris wants to see Lassard fail so that he can take over the police academy.  It’s the same thing as the first three films.  As in previous Police Academy films, there’s a visit to the Blue Oyster leather bar and a last minute crime wave to give the Citizens on Patrol a chance to prove they belong in the program.  The Citizens on Patrol include Billie Bird, Brian Backer, David Spade, wrestler Tab Thacker, and Corrine Bohrer as a love interest for Bobcat Goldthwait.  Sharon Stone also makes an appearance, playing a journalist and improbably falling for Steve Guttenberg.  Watching the film, it is obvious that the idea was that, in future Police Academy films, the Citizens on Patrol could replace any of the regular cast members who wanted too much money to return.  As a result, almost every veteran of the cast has a doppelganger in the Citizens on Patrol.  Brian Backer could replace Steve Guttenberg.  Tab Thacker is there to put Bubba Smith on notice that no one is irreplaceable.  Is Bobcat Goldthwait being difficult?  Just remind him that David Spade can play a crazy eccentric too.

Police Academy 4 is the most crowded of the Police Academy films and, even by the franchise’s undemanding standards, most of the jokes fall flat.  Jim Drake took over as director after the director of the previous two films, Jerry Paris, died of a brain tumor and Drake struggles to balance low comedy with police action.  Guttenberg and company don’t have the same energy in this installment as they had in the previous three and the new cast members all feel as if they’re out place sharing scenes with the veterans, like a group of underclassmen who have been invited on the senior trip.

This would be the final Police Academy film for Steve Guttenberg.  Would the franchise be able to survive without him?  Check here tomorrow to find out with my review of Police Academy 5!