Tag Archives: Film

The Films of 2020: The Night Clerk (dir by Michael Cristofer)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Tye Sheridan Is …. THE NIGHT CLERK!”

That’s not how The Night Clerk was advertised, though perhaps it should have been.  This is one of those overheated melodramas that’s so sure that it’s making a bigger statement than it actually is that it becomes somewhat fascinating to watch.  Usually, when we say that a film is fascinating to watch, we mean that it’s either fascinatingly good or fascinatingly bad.  The Night Clerk is fascinatingly middle-of-the-road.  It has opportunities to be good, largely due to the performances of Tye Sheridan and Ana de Armas.  And it has opportunities to be bad, largely due to the direction and script of Michael Cristofer.  Try as it might, the film never becomes truly good and yet it’s never truly bad, either.  It’s just kind of there.

The title character is Bart Bromley (Tye Sheridan), a young man who has Asperger’s syndrome and who works as a night desk clerk at a hotel.  He’s hidden cameras all over the hotel, so that he can observe the guests in their rooms.  He even watches the guests when he returns to the home that he shares with his mother, Ethel (Helen Hunt).  That’s undeniably creepy but we’re not supposed to hold that against Bart because he’s only watching the guests so that he can learn how to talk and communicate with other people.

(To be honest, the film is very lucky that Tye Sheridan was available to play Bart.  As written, Bart is not a particularly sympathetic character.  But Sheridan is such a likable actor and has such an appealing screen presence that you’re willing to overlook a lot of narrative inconsistencies where his character is concerned.)

Anyway, Bart ends up taking an interest in a guest named Karen (Jacque Gray) but, when Karen’s murdered, Bart becomes the number one suspect.  Even though Bart knows that Karen was killed by a mysterious man who had a distinctive tattoo, he can’t reveal how he knows that information.  When Bart is assigned to another hotel, he meets Andrea Riviera (Ana de Armas).  Andrea seems to take an interest in Bart but is she sincere or is she somehow involved with the murderer herself?

Do I really need to answer that question for you?

And again, the film is lucky that Ana de Arams was available to play Andrea because Andrea is another character who wouldn’t be particularly sympathetic if she had been played by a less appealing performer.  The film can never seem to make up its mind whether she’s a calculating femme fatale or a naive victim and it’s somewhat amazing that de Amas is able to give a good performance considering how badly Andrea is written.

The Night Clerk is one of those films that holds your interest while you watch it but it tends to fade from the memory as soon as it ends.  Sheridan and de Armas are appealing actors but the film’s central mystery isn’t a particularly interesting one.  When the mystery is finally solved, I was so underwhelmed that I kept waiting for another twist to suddenly pop up.  Surely, I kept saying, it can’t be that simple.  But yes, it is.  Though the hotels are impressively trashy, the film itself has a rather flat, uninteresting look and director Michael Cristofer never really brings the story together.  It’s a mess of a film but it does work as a testament to the talents of Tye Sheridan and Ana de Armas.

The Films of 2020: John Was Trying To Contact Aliens (dir by Matthew Killip)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

If you were sending music into outer space in the hope of contacting aliens, what songs would you send?

That was the question that I found myself wondering as I watched the short documentary, John Was Trying To Contact Aliens.

John Was Trying To Contact Aliens is about John Shepherd, a Michigan man who became a bit of a local celebrity in the 70s with his attempts to contact extraterrestrials by beaming music into space.  John tried to send spacey music and, as far as we know, the aliens never responded.  It could be that they didn’t hear the music or maybe aliens, like all good people, just hate prog rock.  It could also be that the aliens did try to respond but they just couldn’t locate Michigan.  It happens.

Myself, if I was sending music to aliens, I’d probably send The Chemical Brothers.  Maybe The Crystal Method.  I would definitely send a lot of Britney Spears because I think that the aliens would definitely want to meet Britney.  Taylor Swift’s great but I probably wouldn’t send her music to any aliens because I think the aliens would be like, “Those humans are just going to sing about what jerks we are after we leave.”  I think the aliens would like Saint Motel so I’d probably be sure to broadcast My Type at least three times a day.  I love Big Data but I think Dangerous would scare the aliens off.  I can’t say that I’d have any more luck than John Shepherd did but, to be honest, I don’t know if I would want aliens landing in my backyard.  I’m not really a fan of unexpected guests.

Of course, John Way Trying To Contact Aliens is not really a film about aliens.  Instead, it’s a character study of a man who most people would probably consider to be an eccentric.  John starts the film telling us about why he wanted to contact aliens and what type of music he thought the aliens would like.  He seems like he’s quirky in a likable sort of way.  It’s only as the film goes on that we find out about John’s childhood and his search for extraterrestrial life goes from being quirky to being poignant.

Abandoned by his mother and raised by his grandparents, John knew he was gay from an early age.  Growing up and living in rural Michigan, he was an outsider.  As he explains it, he felt that everyone around him knew that there was something different about him and, as a result, he didn’t feel comfortable with any of them.  He felt like an alien on Earth so it only made sense that he would try to contact real aliens.  His search for aliens had less to do with making his science fiction dreams come true and more about just trying to make some sort of connection with someone who was as “different” as he felt himself to be.

Fortunately, this 16-minute documentary has a happy ending.  Though John may not have found aliens, he did find love.  It’s a sweet documentary and a moving story and it can currently be viewed on Netflix.

The Films of 2020: A Fall From Grace (dir by Tyler Perry)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Let us take a few minutes to praise Tyler Perry.

Seriously, so much time and energy has been devoted to writing about the numerous flaws that can be found in the majority of Perry’s film that I do think we can spare a few minutes to acknowledge all of the goods things about Tyler Perry.

First off, though he undeniably has an ego, Tyler Perry appears to be a decent human being and he frequently puts his money to good use.  At a time when we’ve gotten used to hearing terrible things about some of the richest and most famous men around, Tyler Perry is unique in that we don’t ever seem to hear anything particularly negative about him as a person.

Secondly, Tyler Perry has proven himself to be a far better actor than I think anyone originally gave him credit for being.  Just check out his performance in Gone Girl, for instance.  He took a stock role, the flamboyant attorney, and played it with such wit and intelligence that he become one of the most interesting characters in the film.

Third, Tyler Perry’s films — regardless of what the critics may think of them — have provided roles for a lot of talented black actors and actresses who often don’t get the type of roles that they deserve from Hollywood.

Fourth, Tyler Perry proved that there was a market out there for all sorts of films made for and by black people.  Though many are still loathe to admit, Tyler Perry has played a huge role in changing the way the film industry views black audiences.

With all that in mind, it’s kind of tragic that, for all the good things that you can say about him, he’s still an absolutely terrible director.  There’s nothing wrong with having an ego (and, as my fellow site contributors can tell you, I’ve certainly got a healthy one myself) but I sometimes think that the same ego that has allowed Perry to become a success and do so much good has also prevented him from growing as a director.  How else do you explain that, after having directed over 20 films, Tyler Perry still often seems like a very enthusiastic film student who is just now making his first feature?  How else do you explain that he’s keeps making the same rookie mistakes — i.e., boom mics slipping into the shot, continuity errors, and melodramatic tone changes that often seem to come out of nowhere — even though he’s been doing this for 16 years?

This brings us to A Fall From Grace.

A Fall From Grace was Tyler Perrry’s 21st film as a director.  It was also the first film that he made for Netflix and he also apparently shot it in 5 days.  There aren’t many directors, outside of Roger Corman, who can claim to have shot an entire film in 5 days.  Most directors, of course, would know that you need more than 5 days to shoot a film, especially one that wants to explore a serious issue.  Corman may have spent two days on Little Shop of Horrors but that’s a movie about a talking plant.  A Fall From Grace takes on the criminal justice system.

Jasmine (Bresha Webb) is a public defender who doesn’t get emotionally involved with her clients and who almost always makes a plea deal.  Her husband (Matthew Law) is a cop who is haunted by a recent suicide.  Jasmine’s latest client is Grace Walters (Crystal Fox), who has been arrested for murdering her husband (Mehcad Brooks).  Grace wants to plead guilty but Jasmine suspects that there might be more to the case than anyone realizes.  Why Jasmine suddenly takes an interest in taking Grace’s case to trial is never really that clear but it does lead to a lot of melodrama and a lot of rather clumsy flashbacks.  Eventually, Jasmine just kind of stumbles onto the truth and has to fight to reveal what really happened.

The story is nearly impossible to follow and the film’s action often seems to drag.  Probably the best thing about the film is that Perry himself plays Jasmine’s sarcastic boss.  Perry has a truly impressive beard and he seems to be having fun with the character.  Crystal Fox gives an effective performance as Grace and Phylicia Rashad has some good moments as Crystal’s friend.  Even Mehcad Brooks is convincing, even if he does get stuck with the film’s worst lines.  But Bresha Webb and Matthew Law are boring as the main couple and the story gets bogged down with flashbacks.  It’s just not a very good film.

Still, the film was reportedly one of the most viewed movies on Netflix during the weekend of its release.  The critics may not have embraced the film but Perry has shown repeatedly that you don’t need the critics on your side to be a success.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Brian De Palma Edition

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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we wish a happy 80th birthday to director Brian De Palma with….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Carrie (1976, dir by Brian De Palma)

Scarface (1983, dir by Brian De Palma)

Body Double (1984, dir by Brian De Palma)

The Untouchables (1987, dir by Brian De Palma)

Here’s The Teaser For Nomadland!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Back in 2018, director Chloe Zhao was quite rightfully acclaimed for her quietly beautiful film, The Rider.

Full of haunting images of the western landscape, The Rider was a character study of a rodeo rider struggling to recover after a serious accident.  It was a poignant and affecting film, one that made you cry while steering clear of all of the usual cliches.  Though the film was ignored at the Oscars, it still picked up several awards from the critics groups.

When 2020 began, Chloe Zhao had two movie scheduled to be released.  One was Marvel’s Eternals, a big-budget MCU film that sounds like it’s basically the antithesis of The Rider.  The other is Nomadland, which stars Frances McDormand as a woman who, having lost her job and her home, travels the country in search of employment.  Based on a nonfiction book, Nomadland sounds like it will continue to explore the themes that Zhao first examined in The Rider.

As a result of COVID-19, both films were briefly in limbo.  Eternals was eventually rescheduled for February of next year.  Nomadland is set to premiere at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals this Friday.  It’s scheduled to get a theatrical release on December 4th and Searchlight Film is expected to push the film for Oscar consideration.

Here’s the teaser, which features Frances McDormand doing a lot of walking:

Here’s The Trailer For Ben Wheatley’s Rebecca!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ben Wheatley is one of the most interesting directors working today.  As I’ve stated many times, I consider A Field In England to be one of the best films of the last ten years.

Wheatley’s next film is going to be an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s classic gothic tale, Rebecca!  Alfred Hitchcock adaptation of du Maurier’s novel was named the Best Picture of 1940.  Wheatley’s version has been described as a “modern” updating of the classic story.

Rebecca will be released on Netflix on October 21st and it will star Lily James, Armie Hammer, and Kristin Scott Thomas in the roles that were previously played by Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson.  Here’s the trailer:

Scenes That I Love: The Opening of Four Flies On Grey Velvet (Happy Birthday, Dario Argento)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Dario Argento’s 80th birthday, I’m going to share a scene that I love that he directed.

I love the opening of Argento’s 1971 giallo, Four Flies On Grey Velvet.  This was Argento’s third film as a director and it tells the story of an American drummer who gets caught up in a gruesome murder.  In the opening credits, we watch as Michael Brandon drums away and finds time to take care of a distracting fly.  In just a matter of minutes, Argento tells us everything we need to know about our hero and the role that he’ll be playing in this film.  Like the best drummers, he holds everything together and that’s a good skill to have because, in typical Argento fashion, his entire life is about to fall apart.

From Four Flies on Grey Velvet:

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Dario Argento Edition

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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is not just Labor Day!  Today is also Dario Argento’s birthday!

The maestro of Italian horror is 80 years old today!  Needless to say, we’re going to celebrate with 4 Shots From 4 Films.  It was a real struggle narrowing it down to only 4 shots.  Argento is one of the most visually impressive directors of all time.

You’ll notice that, with one exception, the four shots below are from the first half of Argento’s career.  Don’t read anything into that.  I’m a fan of Argento’s work, period.  There’s a tendency among some cultural critics to be dismissive of Argento’s post-Tenebrae films and I think that’s a bit unfair.  In fact, it’s so unfair that I think I’ll devote at least a bit of our upcoming October horrorthon to defending the later works of Dario Argento.

Finally, do you remember that movie Juno?  Most people were shocked when Jason Bateman’s character turned out to be a sleaze but I knew it was going to happen as soon as he said that he thought Herschell Gordon Lewis was a better director than Dario Argento.  I mean, Herschell Gordon Lewis was great but c’mon …. ARGENTO!

For now, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Dario Argento Films

Suspiria (1977, dir by Dario Argento)

Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento)

Tenebrae (1982, dir by Dario Argento)

The Stendhal Syndrome (1996, dir by Dario Argento)

Lifetime Film Review: Psycho Escort (dir by Monika Lynn Wesley)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Psycho Escort is a film that epitomizes the concept of “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Put yourself in the shoes of Diane (Victoria Barabas).  She’s a widow and she’s still misses her husband so much that she can’t even bring herself to sleep in the master bedroom.  Instead, she sleeps in the guest bedroom, an exile in her own house.  She’s a single mother, trying to raise a young son who regularly comes home from school with a black eye.  On top of all that, she’s got a job that demands a lot of her time and she works with a bunch of people who are just waiting to stab her in the back.

But, it’ll all be worth it if she gets the big promotion and becomes a partner in the firm.  With a promotion, she’ll finally be making enough money to provide a little bit of security for her son.  And if that means that she has to miss an occasional soccer game and that she doesn’t get a chance to date much, so be it.

The only problem is that, in order to get that promotion, she’s going to have to suck up to the boss and that means going to company parties.  And showing up at those parties without a date would totally make her look like a boring loser.  Her sister has a helpful suggestion, though.  Why not hire an escort!?

No, not that type of escort!  Apparently, there’s a rent-a-date firm.  You send them some money and they send you a handsome man who will pretend to be your date or your boyfriend and who will basically charm everyone in your social circle and totally make all of your friends jealous.  Even though Diane is skeptical, she finally agrees to give them a call.  I mean, it seems like a good idea at the time.  They send over Miles (Nick Ballard).

At first, Miles seems perfect.  He’s charming.  He’s handsome.  Diane’s boss likes him and even invites him to play a round of golf.  In fact, Miles is such a hit that, when Diane has to go to another party, she calls the firm and requests Miles a second time.  Diane starts to open to Miles about her husband’s death.  Miles starts to open up about his wife’s death.  Soon, Miles is becoming more than just an escort.  Soon, he’s becoming a real boyfriend….

The only problem of course is that …. well, it’s right there in the title.  Miles is a psycho escort!  And soon, Miles is becoming just a bit obsessed with Diane, to the point that he’s willing to commit murder to prove his love….

Well, you know how it goes.  This is a Lifetime movie and, as I’ve said countless times, the fact that these films all follow a certain formula is one of the most likable things about them.  There’s something comforting about watching these films and knowing that someone is making a huge mistake that you would never make (except, of course, you totally would if you were in Diane’s situation).  Psycho Escort is elevated by the performance of Nick Ballard, who is dangerously likable in the role of Miles.  It’s easy to see how someone could fall for Miles and, as a result, Diane doesn’t come across as being as naive or willfully blind as one might expect.  Victoria Barabas also gives a very good performance as Diane and is especially effective when she’s talking about the death of her husband.  The trauma is obviously still with her and has left her vulnerable to someone like Miles.  As a result, you don’t quite roll your eyes as much at Diane as you might at some people who let a total stranger into their life.  There’s a reality to her situation that elevates the story.

Psycho Escort.  Watch it the next time you’re tempted to rent a date.

 

Lifetime Film Review: Sinister Stalker (dir by Michael Feifer)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Also known as Sinister Savior, this film tells the story of Karen (Marci Miller), an emergency room doctor and a recovering alcoholic.  One night, as she’s leaving an AA meeting, she’s attacked by an apparent mugger.  Fortunately, for her, Daniel (Kelly Blatz), just happens to be walking by the scene.  He steps forward and fights off Karen’s attacker, probably saving her life in the process.  However, during the fight, Daniel’s arm gets slashed with a knife.

Being a doctor (and, according to her best friend, also being way too trusting), Karen takes Daniel back to her house so that she can take a look at his wounded arm.  Daniel seems friendly-enough.  He says that he’s in real estate and that the reason he was in the neighborhood was because he was checking out potential properties to buy and sell.  Daniel also tells Karen that he’s never been in a real fight before.

Daniel, it turns out, already has several scars.  When Karen notices them and asks about them, Daniel says that he got them in a bar fight.  But …. uhmm, Daniel ….. you said you’d never been in a real fight before.  Daniel quickly explains that he wasn’t actually in the fight, he just got stabbed accidentally.  That may make sense but, even if Daniel isn’t lying about his past history, why does he have pictures of Karen’s house on his phone?

For those of us watching, red flags start to go up as soon as Daniel shows up.  That’s because this is a Lifetime film and, if you’ve seen enough of these films, you know better than to trust any good Samaritans.  The fact that this movie is called Sinister Stalker gives us another reason not trust Daniel.  When Daniel starts to talk about how much he and Karen have in common and makes a rather awkward joke about how they must have a connection, those of us in the audience are like, “Get out of there!”

But, of course, if Karen did that, there wouldn’t be a movie.  So, instead, Karen does stuff like take a shower while there’s a complete stranger hanging out in her home.  Meanwhile, Daniel is walking around the house and basically invading her space.  Various friends of Karen come by to check on her and Daniel tries to send them all away.  We know that there’s something not right about Daniel.  It’s just a question of how long it’s going to take Karen to figure that out as well.

Though the story may be familiar, Sinister Stalker does experiment a little with the typical Lifetime format.  As opposed to most Lifetime films, which usually take place over several days and typically feature a lot of visits to the neighborhood coffeeshop and at least one yoga class, the action in Sinister Stalker takes place in one location and over the course of just one night.  The film almost seems to play out in real time, which actually pays off surprisingly well.  The film actually does a petty good job of generating some suspense as to how long it’s going to take Karen to figure out that Daniel’s motives are not exactly pure.

Kelly Blatz is perhaps a little bit too obviously sinister as Daniel but Marci Miller does a great job in the role of Karen.  She plays up Karen’s hesitation just enough to suggest that she had her doubts about Daniel from the beginning but, at the same time, she also feels that she has an obligation — as both a doctor and someone whose life was saved by Daniel — to check out the wound on his arm.  In the small but important role of an alcoholic who keeps calling Karen for help, Lew Temple makes a good and sympathetic impression.

Sinister Stalker plays with the typical Lifetime format and, for the most part, it pays off.  Watch it the next time you’re tempted to let a complete stranger hang out in your house for a few hours.