Tag Archives: Chip Rossetti

October Positivity: In Gramps’ Shoes (dir by Chip Rossetti)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

2013’s In Gramps’ Shoes opens with Ty (Donald James Parker) praying that his daughter, Amy (Francine Locke), will finally call him.  It’s been 20 years since they last spoke.  Amy felt that Ty — or “Gramps” as he’s eventually known — was too controlling when she was growing up.  He didn’t approve of her music.  He didn’t approve of the man she married.  When she left home, she went to Tennessee and promised herself that she would never look back.

However, Amy is now in some trouble.  Her husband has left her.  Her teenage son, Scott (Andrew Wilson Williams), is a slacker who smokes on the porch with his loser friends and who refuses to even consider getting a part-time job to help pay the bills.  Her daughter, Sally (Brittany Blades), is a bit more responsible but she’s been reading Harry Potter and that could lead to her becoming a witch.  Amy is also nearly broke.  She finally swallows her pride and calls Gramps to ask for help.

Soon, Gramps has moved down to Tennessee.  At first, Scott and his friends are dismissive of Gramps.  But then they watch as Gramps beats Scott in a two-mile race.  They watch as Gramps does pull-ups at a local park.  They all marvel at how athletic Gramps is.  Scott decides that he wants to run just like Gramps.  But first, Scott is going to have to work on his attitude and start going to church….

This film has a lot of problems, from the poor ADR to the bad acting to the script that allows certain scenes to drag on without end.  This film is nearly two hours long and you will definitely feel every one of those 115 minutes.  Even the running scenes are a bit disappointing because no one really looks like they’re in good enough condition to be a track star.  Everyone in the film talks about how good Gramps looks but Gramps actually spends the majority of the film looking like he might collapse at any moment.

The main problem with the film is Gramps is a kind of a jerk.  From the minute he shows up in Tennessee, he’s giving orders and we can tell why his daughter thought he was too controlling.  He moves in and immediately starts to tell Amy how to raise her son.  Because Gramps goes to church, he demands that his grandchildren come with him.  (Keep in mind, he doesn’t ask them to go to a church.  He tells them that they have to come to his church.)  He makes it clear that his grandchildren won’t be watching anything fantasy-related (like a Harry Potter movie) as long as he’s around.  Gramps isn’t just opinionated.  Instead, he comes across as being angry and rather aggressive.  And yet, everyone just loves to be around him.

In this film, Parker appears to be playing the same character that he played in Gramps Goes To College.  However, there’s a plot development that makes it impossible for this to be a prequel to Gamps Goes To College.  At the same time, Gramps first gets his nickname in this film which means that Gramps Goes To College also couldn’t be considered a sequel.  It’s not the film’s biggest problem but it is something that bothers a continuity nerd like me.

Despite all of those problems, this film does end with a priceless final line.  Is Scott going to go prom with his new girlfriend?  Actually, Scott might “lead a protest against Harry Potter …. because it’s what Gramps would have wanted.”  The film is almost worth watching just to hear that one line.

Almost.

October Positivity: Gramps Goes To College (dir by Chip Rossetti)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The title character of 2014’s Gramps Goes To College may be known as Gramps but his actual named Ty Bounds. Played by Donald James Parker, Ty is a sixty-something resident of South Dakota who has recently retired from his job as a computer programmer. Despite being retired, Ty is not ready to fade away. In fact, he’s decided that it’s time to start a new chapter in his life so he enrolls in a college that is located in Tennessee. He hopes to eventually get his Master’s Degree in Biology.

Good luck with that, Gramps!

Gramps, you see, is a Christian and a believer in creationism. No sooner does he step into his Into to Biology class than he finds himself arguing with Professor Tucker (Carol Anderson). Tucker takes pride in turning religious students into atheists. She sees Ty as a challenge. She invites him to lunch. She invites him to dinner. She tries to seduce him. Nothing that she does can convince Ty to believe in evolution. Darwin wasn’t evil, Ty explains at one point. He was just misguided by the Devil.

Ty becomes a hero on campus and he even starts his own team of Christian athletes so that they can compete in the school’s Intramural competition. He becomes a mentor to his roommate, Brad (Rusty Martin). Ty worries that Brad is bein led astray by Stephanie (Courtney Lee Simpson). When Brad comes back to the dorm after a party, Ty demands to know why Brad reeks of alcohol. Can you imagine going away to college and discovering that your new roommate is not only old enough to be your grandfather but that he’s also going to scold you whenever you stay out late? Yikes!

(As I watched this movie, I was reminded of how, when I was in college, there was a student who was in her forties and who lived in the dorms. I always felt a little bit sorry for her. She was given a private room and people treated her respectfully — certainly more respectfully than they treat Gramps in this film — but I always wondered what it was like to be an adult, trying to finally get a degree, and finding yourself living in a dorm occupied by brats like …. well, like me. I’ve always told myself that if I ever run into her again, I’ll apologize for all those nights I played my music too loud. I’m older now so I understand why that would be annoying.)

Eventually, Stephanie dies of alcohol poisoning but she’s revived. She talks about how, while she was dead, all she saw were the flames of Hell. Well, that’s one way to get someone convert.

Gramps Goes To College is a fairly amateurish film. That’s not really a surprise. If anything did surprise me, it was how wrathful Gramps came across as being. To be honest, I was expecting a corny “old person” comedy. Instead, Gramps spent a lot of time suggesting that different people and ideas had been sent by the Devil. In the film, Gramps becomes a beloved celebrity on campus. He even gets Professor Tucker to doubt her atheism, despite the fact that none of his arguments seem to be anything that Tucker would not have heard before. To be honest, Gramps kind of comes across as being kind of a crank. His intentions may have been benevolent but he was so preachy and so frequently angry that he was often more intimidating than inspiring.

Myself, I’m just glad that I went to a party school and I didn’t actually have to pay attention in any of my classes. That’s the best way to do the college!

October Positivity: The 3 (dir by Chip Rossetti)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

You don’t have to be a gun control fanatic to be horrified by the school shootings that seem to be a regular occurrence nowadays.

I mean, the thing with school is that, at a certain age, you’re pretty much forced to be there.  If you skip school, you could potentially get into a lot of trouble and, depending on where you live, your parents could get in a lot of trouble as well.  You’re not really given a choice about going to school so it’s not unreasonable to feel that you should at least be able to go to school without feeling like you’re going to die as a result.  Instead, children are now regularly subjected to active shooter drills and encouraged to snitch on any classmates who seem to be troubled.  Many are expected to start each day stepping through metal detectors while being eyeballed by security guards.  While I support the second amendment, I’m not particularly a huge fan of the idea of teachers being told to come to school armed so they can gun down any potential threats.  (Then again, when we have cops like the cowards in Uvalde, what choice do people have than to arm themselves?)  School shootings are a terrifying thing but what is even more terrifying is that people are starting to get used to type this violence.  It’s no longer an automatic shock to hear that there’s been a shooting at a school.  Often times, the incidents are in and out of the news within days.

2019’s The 3 is a film that deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.  One day, divorced dad Jimmy Collins (Jeff Armstrong) sends his daughter, Brittany (Kate Kilcoyne), out of the house and to school.  He barely even says goodbye to her.  A few hours later, Jimmy gets a call from ex-wife, Susan (Jessica Bell).  Jimmy thinks that Susan is calling to yell at him about a late alimony check but instead, she tells him to turn on the news.  There’s been a shooting at the school and, as we soon learn, Brittany is dead.

After the funeral, Jimmy wants to lock himself away from the world and basically drink himself into unconsciousness.  (He refuses the comfort of the local pastor, despite the fact that the pastor’s wife is played by Tina Wesson, the winner of the second season of Survivor.)  Instead, Jimmy is visited by three spirits.  The first spirit is Jimmy’s Dad (Darryl Worley), who talks about the events that led to him committing suicide and who essentially dares Jimmy to follow the same path.  The third spirit is …. well, he doesn’t give his name but the fact that he’s played by Jefferson Moore, the star of the Perfect Stranger series, should give the audience a clue as to who he is.  And, appearing in between these two, is Brittany.  Brittany talks about her short life and shares memories, both good and bad, with her father.  She also tells her father that he has to let go of her but, of course, neither Jimmy nor Susan can bring themselves to do that.

It’s a well-acted and effective film.  It’s certainly far more sensitive than you might expect from a film directed by the same guy who did Right to Believe.  It’s a film that explores the horror of everyday violence and which makes its theological case without coming across as being overly preachy.  That said, the film cheats a bit at the end, giving Jimmy an opportunity that doesn’t quite seem to go along with the film’s theme.  It allows the film to have a happy ending but it still feels a bit like a cop out.  That said, though, The 3 turned out to be far better than I was expecting.

Is This The Worst Film Ever?: Right To Believe (dir by Chip Rossetti)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

(To be honest, if any film has ever been worthy of being ripped apart and destroyed by the rhetorical fury of the Trashfilm Guru, it’s the one that I’m about to review below.  But I don’t want to force this movie on Ryan so I’ll do my best….)

The 2014 film Right to Believe is currently on Amazon Prime.  The plot description said that it’s about a reporter who is forced to “take a stand for his beliefs.”  Seeing as how the film was distributed by a faith-based production company, I assumed that this would be one of those tribulation films where one man refuses to accept the “mark of the beast,” which is why I watched.  It turned out to be something very different and something much worse.

Tony Morris (Christopher Hunt) is a local reporter who has somehow become the best-known person in his entire town.  Strangers literally walk up to him and say, “Hey, you’re Tony Morris from the paper!”  Tony, however, has been accused of fabricating a quote by the town’s corrupt mayor and, as a result, he’s been pulled off of the “Wilcox Trial” and assigned to write about the upcoming Gay Pride Day celebrations.  Tony’s also a Christian who thinks being gay is a sin.  (Of course, Hunt gives such a stiff performance that, when he first said that he had religious objections to the story, I assumed he was lying just to get out of writing it.)

Markus Fry (Timothy Paul Taylor) is organizing the Gay Pride parade.  He’s a former Catholic who appears to be perpetually hung over and who responds to every disagreement by theatrically burying his face in his hands.  Markus is also a friend of the mayor’s and maybe he can get the mayor to stop trying to ruin Tony’s career which means that Tony could go back to covering …. “THE WILCOX TRIAL!”

(What is the Wilcox Trial?  I have no idea but Tony never stops whining about not being allowed to cover it.)

Together, Tony and Markus solve crimes!

No, actually, they don’t.  Instead, they meet in a coffee shop called Abbey Road.  (Yes, the walls are decorated with posters of the Beatles.)  One would think that Tony could just interview Markus and then write up an impartial story about when the parade is going to be held, why Markus thinks the parade is important, and maybe include a comment or two from the people who Markus says are trying to get the parade canceled.  That’s what most professional journalists would do.  However, Tony is a Christian and his wife, April (Jenn Gotzon Chandler), insists that God wants Tony to interview Markus so that he can show Markus the error of his ways….

Now, at this point, there’s a lot of different directions that the film could go.  It could become a creepy horror film, with Tony and his wife stalking Markus.  It could become a thoughtful discussion about the role of religion in a changing world.  It could become a character study of two men who both have strongly held beliefs.  To be honest, I was half-expecting the film to end with Tony finally coming out and admitting that he was gay himself because, seriously, his reaction to having to interview a gay man was just a bit too overboard.

Here’s the thing, though.  Yes, Tony and April are judgmental, self-righteous, and bigoted.  I mean, they’re portrayed as being so holier-than-thou that they reminded me of Steve and Sarah Newlin, the corrupt televangelists from True Blood.  Unfortunately, the film is totally on their side.  It takes a while for it to sink in because both of them just come across as being absolutely terrible people but, about halfway through this movie, a little light bulb turned on over my head and I said, “Oh My God, we’re supposed to like these people.  What.  The.  Fuck?”

Over the course of three days, Tony and Markus meet in that Beatles-themed coffee shop.  Markus sets up strawmen arguments.  Tony knocks them down.  Markus argues for science.  Tony does the whole, “But who do you think invented gravity?” thing.  Markus cites Kinsey.  Tony yells that Kinsey and Darwin ruined the world.  Markus asks Tony if he thinks the world is flat, because obviously that’s the only possible response that someone could have to someone attacking the theory of evolution.  Finally, Markus talks about being molested by a priest and Tony suggests that Markus look into gay conversion therapy.  At this point, you really want Markus to just punch the living shit out of Tony but instead, Markus thanks Tony for speaking to him respectfully.

But we’re not done yet!  Suddenly, a man pulls a gun in the middle of the coffeeshop and threatens to kill Markus.  Tony talks him out of it.  (If this movie took place in the 50s, Tony would be the segregationist bragging about not being a member of the KKK.)  What’s amazing is that, during the whole scene with the gun, everyone else in the coffeeshop just keeps drinking their coffee as if nothing’s happening.  I mean, it’s not that big of a coffeeshop.

And then Tony is approached by a woman who, because she’s wearing a leather jacket, we’re meant to assume is a lesbian.  She asks about conversion therapy….

I mean, my God!   As I’ve written on this site before, I have a weakness for low-budget, semi-amateur films and I’ve certainly never been the type to dismiss a film just because it has a “faith-based” theme.  But, seriously, Right To Believe is one of the worst and most thoroughly offensive films that I’ve ever seen.  From the terrible acting to the non-existent camera movement to the clumsy script, nothing works from a technical standpoint.  And that’s not even considering the film’s deeply homophobic message.

Being gay is not a sin.  Making a film this bad should be.