Tag Archives: Film

Film Review: All The Wilderness (dir by Michael Johnson)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

All the Wilderness

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James Charm (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a shy and withdrawn teenager who is still struggling to deal with the recent death of his father.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!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

A typical scene from 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)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, I watched the Canadian film Trigger Point on the Lifetime Movie Network.

Trigger Point

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

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Austin to BostonAustin 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!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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: London Has Fallen

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

London Has Fallen, the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, will not be opening until 2016.  But, until then, we can enjoy this trailer!  It’s fun and exciting in the way that action film trailers often are, promising us a world of thrills that the actual film will probably not deliver.

But until the disillusionment sets in, enjoy this trailer for London Has Fallen!

Trailer: Steve Jobs

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

To be honest, I’m really only interesting in seeing Steve Jobs because it stars Michael Fassbender and it was directed by Danny Boyle.  I do, however, think it will be interesting to see Seth Rogen in a dramatic role and I’m also curious to see if Kate Winslet can overcome the fact that screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is incapable of writing strong female characters.

(And for those of you about to go, “What about C.J. on The West Wing!?,” don’t.  Just don’t.  First off, everyone always cites C.J. as a strong female character in a Sorkin-penned melodrama and it’s gotten just a little bit boring.  Secondly, I never watched The West Wing because I had and continue to have a life.)

Here’s the latest trailer for the very Oscar baitish Steve Jobs.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Madam Satan, Safe In Hell, Rasputin and the Empress, and Search For Beauty

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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

All of the scenes below come from films that were made and released between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the adoption of the infamous Hays Production Code in 1934.  This was truly an exciting time for film as an art form.  Not only were filmmakers intoxicated with discovering what they could accomplish through the medium but they were also unhindered by censorship or regulation.  The end result was some of the most visually imaginative and narratively daring films to ever be released by the major American studios.

There’s a reason why film lovers continue to eagerly seek out pre-code films.  And if you want to experience what made the pre-Code era so memorable, you could not do any worse than to start with the four films featured in this post.

Madam Satan (1930, dir by Cecil B. DeMille)

Madam Satan (1930, dir by Cecil B. DeMille)

Safe in Hell (1931)

Safe in Hell (1931, dir by William Wellman)

Rasputin and the Empress (1932, dir by Richard Boleslawski)

Rasputin and the Empress (1932, dir by Richard Boleslawski)

Search For Beauty (1934, dir by Erle C. Kenton)

Search For Beauty (1934, dir by Erle C. Kenton)

Coogler, Jordan, and Stallone return with Creed!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The first trailer for Creed was released earlier today!  Now, I have to admit that I’m not a huge fan of boxing.  Nor did I exactly love Rocky when I watched it on TCM.   (That said, I’ve always secretly felt that I was a bit too glibly dismissive of it in my review.)

But you know what film I did really admire?  Fruitvale Station.  Ryan Coogler’s directorial debut was a powerful and disturbing look at race relations in America.  It had its flaws but overall, Coogler crafted one of the best films of the decade.  Equally impressive was the film’s star, Michael B. Jordan.

So for me, my interesting has been piqued because Creed is another chapter in the careers of both Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan and I can not wait to see where they go.

However, I think a lot more people will want to see the film because it is another chapter in the story of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky.  So, before seeing Creed, be sure to check out our own Jedadiah Leland’s look back at the history of the Rocky franchise!

And watch the trailer for Creed below!