Here’s The Teaser For Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria!

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Seriously, everyone, I’m trying to keep an open mind here.

On the one hand, I really, really, really hate it when classics are remade. And make no mistake about it, Dario Argento’s Suspiria is a classic. It’s one of the best films ever made and anyone who disagrees with me on that is more than welcome to walk their dog through a plaza in Freiburg. I have a fear that, much as happened when David Fincher and Daniel Craig ruined The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the remake is going to cause people to overlook the original.

And yet, from what I’m hearing from people whose opinions I usually respect, the Suspiria remake my actually be not only effective but also respectful to Argento’s original. Whatever optimism I may have largely comes from the fact that the film is being directed not by an American hack but instead by another Italian, Luca Guadagnino. And the teaser, which you can watch below, is undeniably effective.

So, we’ll see what happens! Out of respect for Guadagnino, I’m forcing myself to keep an open mind. I’m also hoping that the same people who are excited for this version will also take the time to watch Argento’s original as well!

Here’s The Trailer For Steve McQueen’s Widows!

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Widows is one of those films that I’ve been looking forward to seeing since I first read about it. Based on a BBC miniseries and featuring an amazingly talented cast, Widows is also director Steve McQueen’s first film since the Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave.

The film deals with four women whose husbands are all killed during a failed heist. The widows, under the leadership of Viola Davis, join together to pull off the heist themselves. That may not sound like a typical Oscar movie but Widows has got tremendous buzz. Plus, you’ve got a cast that’s full of past Oscar nominees and winners (Viola Davis, Robert Duvall, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Liam Neeson) and actors who seem to be destined to be nominated some day (Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, Andre Holland, Carrie Coon, Garrett Dillahunt). All in all, there’s a lot of reasons to get excited for this one!

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s The Trailer For White Boy Rick!

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s the trailer for White Boy Rick!

Now, White Boy Rick is based on a true story that’s actually pretty interesting. At the age of 14, Richard Wershe, Jr. was the youngest criminal to ever become an informant for the FBI. Of course, once the FBI got what they wanted from him, Wershe was left on his own and, when he was 17, he was arrested for selling cocaine and sentenced to life in prison. Wershe, who was finally paroled in 2017, claims that the harsh sentence was politically motivated and that he basically learned how to become a successful drug dealer through his work for the government.

It’s a great story and, with more and more people questioning both drug prohibition and national law enforcement, a timely one. The film’s got a good cast, with Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bel Powley, Rory Cochrane, Piper Laurie, and Bruce Dern all in supporting roles. The director, Yann Demange, previously directed the great ’71 and is definitely an up-and-coming filmmaker. Rick is played by a Richie Merritt, who will be making his film debut in the leading role.

As for the trailer itself, it’s effective. I had a hard time understanding some of the dialogue and it’s hard to really judge Merritt’s performance based on what’s present here. But I like the look of the trailer and the music is damn near perfect.

Some are saying this movie might be an Oscar contender. We’ll have to see!

Here’s The Trailer For Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

When the trailer for Ralph Breaks The Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 first began, I have to admit that I panicked a little bit.

See, I really enjoyed the first Wreck-It Ralph, even though I’m not totally convinced that it’s a film that really needed a sequel. However, whether needed or not, a sequel to any successful animated film is pretty much a given so my main hope was that the sequel would at least not damage the legacy of the original.

And then this trailer started.

And there’s Wreck-It Ralph entering the internet and we get some quick, cutesy product placement for Twitter and Snapchat and I was just like, “OH MY GOD! EMOJI MOVIE! NOOOOOOO!”

Am I alone in that reaction? I bet not.

But, I stuck with the trailer and actually, it looks like this movie might be a little bit more self-aware than the Emoji Movie. I mean, it basically looks like it’s going to be a commercial for Disney but maybe it’ll actually have a sense of humor about its reason for existing. The scene with all of the princesses would seem to suggest that might be the case.

Plus, Iron Man’s in it and y’all know how much I love iron men…

I’ll give it a shot!

What Lisa Watched Last Night #181: Nightclub Secrets (dir by Joe Menendez)

Posted on June 3, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I watched the latest Lifetime Movie Network premiere, Nightclub Secrets!

Why Was I Watching It?

Because it was on the Lifetime Movie Network, of course!

However, I also have to say that I really liked the title. Usually, whenever the word “secrets” appears in the title of a Lifetime movie, it’s a good sign. And, let us not forget, this title not only promised us secrets but nightclub secrets as well! As anyone who has watched 54 can tell you, nightclubs are full of secrets…

What Was It About?

It’s the story of two sisters and their alcoholic mother. Rachel (Rachel Hendrix) is wild and does mysterious things. Zoe (Kate Mansi) reads mysteries and teaches a creative writing class, in which she encourages her students to be sadists when it comes to coming up with difficulties for their characters to overcome.

It’s also the story of a murder. When Zoe is informed that Rachel’s been murdered, she decides to investigate her sister’s secret life. It leads to the shy and repressed Zoe getting a job as a “bottle girl” at the same nightclub where her sister worked. How many secrets can you fit in a nightclub? It’s time for Zoe to find out!

What Worked?

I liked the sibling relationship between Rachel and Zoe. It rang true and it’s authenticity provided some needed depth to the film’s plot. Kate Mansi, who played Zoe, has done a quite a few Lifetime films and always does a good job of striking the right balance between emotional honesty and melodramatic fun. As well, I thought Gigi Rice did a good job playing the alcoholic mother.

Towards the end of the film, there was an enjoyably absurd twist. I won’t spoil it in this review but it was still fun, even if it did demand quite a suspension of disbelief.

What Did Not Work?

For a movie that was called Nightclub Secrets, the film really didn’t feature enough secrets about the nightclub. I was hoping for something that would be a little bit more fun and sordid like Confessions of a Go Go Girl or maybe Babysitter’s Black Book. Instead, this movie was a pretty much a standard Lifetime murder mystery that just happened to feature a nightclub.

“Oh my God! Just like me!” Moments

I related to both of the sisters. I can be wild like Rachel. I can be shy like Zoe. Zoe and I both love solving a mystery. That said, I don’t know if I’d ever want to work in a nightclub, if just because I’m not a huge fan of crowds, drunks, or, for that matter, working. So, if I got a job in a nightclub, I supposed it would have to be one of those struggling nightclubs that no one ever goes to. Of course, those nightclubs always go out of business after a few weeks so it probably really wouldn’t be worth the trouble to even apply for the job.

On an unrelated note, I used to live near a nightclub where you were required to bring your tax return if you wanted to get inside. If you didn’t make a certain amount of money, you weren’t allowed to enter. Needless to say, on any given night, you could find the least likable people in the world standing in line outside of the place. If any business was ever begging to be the target of a wacky, Ocean’s 11-style heist, it was that place. Of course, the last time I drove by there, it had been turned into a Gold’s Gym.

Lessons Learned

It’s not easy being a bottle girl.

4 Shots From 4 Marilyn Monroe Films: All About Eve, Don’t Bother To Knock, Bus Stop, The Misfits

Posted on June 1, 2018 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!

If only she hadn’t been destroyed by the Kennedys, Marilyn Monroe would be 92 years old today. Though Marilyn died in 1962, her performances will live forever. This is…

4 Shots From 4 Marilyn Monroe Films

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

Don’t Bother To Knock (1952, dir by Roy Ward Baker)

Bus Stop (1956, dir by Joshua Logan)

The Misfits (1961, dir by John Huston)

Film Review: This Island Earth (dir by Joseph M. Newman and Jack Arnold)

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh, those poor aliens!

Ever since the 1950s, intergalactic diplomats, soldiers, and explorers have come to Earth looking for help. Some of them have come from planets that orbit dying stars. Some represent civilizations that have been destroyed by war or pollution. Some of them have come here looking to inspire us to be more peaceful and less destructive. Others were just looking for something to eat.

What they all have in common is that they all came to Earth and things really didn’t work out that well. Occasionally, they ran into humans who, due to cynicism and skepticism, simply weren’t willing to help. Often, the aliens arrived just to discover that the humans had no interest in being conquered. Remember what Eros yelled at the Plan 9 From Outer Space? “Your stupid, stupid minds!” Oh yeah? Well, our menfolk kicked your ass and blew up your flying saucer. So there.

Consider the sad case of Exeter (Jeff Morrow), the alien at the center of 1955’s This Island Earth. Exeter has come to Earth with his associates and disguised himself as a human. Despite the fact that they all have remarkably high foreheads and a total inability to relate to actual humans, no one seems to suspect that Exeter and his friends are from outer space. Even when he starts recruiting leading scientists to come hang out at his isolated headquarters, it doesn’t seem to occur to anyone that they should be too concerned. Exeter’s just a little bit weird. Why worry?

Well, Dr. Carl Meacham (Rex Reason) is worried! He’s a pilot and a scientist and he’s got a square jaw and one of those deep, 1950s American male voices. Everything that Dr. Meacham says sounds authoritative. When you hear that confident, take-no-prisoners voice, you have no doubt that Eisenhower’s in the White House and everything’s going to be alright. Carl doesn’t trust Exeter and he suspicions are proven correct when he and Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue) are taken to Exeter’s war-ravaged planet. Not only is the planet on the verge of blowing up but the whole place is crawling with mutants!

Unfortunately, it takes a while for Carl, Ruth, and Exeter to reach the planet. This Island Earth is an oddly structured film. The first third of the film deals with Carl and his squirmy associate, Joe (Robert Nichols), building something called an interocitor. Once Carl has shown that he can follow the alien instruction booklet, Carl is allowed to meet Exeter. (For some reason Joe is left behind.) Once Carl arrives at Exeter HQ, it’s another lengthy wait before he, Ruth, and Exeter are launched into space.

Still, on the plus side, one of the scientists gets to drive this really cool car:

(Unfortunately, the car doesn’t make it to the end of the movie.)

The movie gets a lot better once the action moves to Exeter’s home planet. The planet was a gloriously realized world, a pop art masterpiece:

And then there were the mutants! Look at this thing:

Anyway, despite the slow start, This Island Earth is a classic of 1950s science fiction, one that manages to maintain a perfect balance between the sublime and the ludicrous. Rex Reason and Faith Domergue are inoffensively bland as Carl and Ruth but Jeff Morrow brings a weary and even tragic dignity to the role of Exeter. If nothing else, it lives up to its title by suggesting that Earth actually is just one insignificant island in the vast ocean of the universe and that both humans and aliens are mere slaves to fate. For all of his deep-voiced authority, Carl really doesn’t accomplish much over the course of the film. By that same token, for all of his efforts and his integrity, there’s little that Exeter can do to alter the destiny of his planet. At times, This Island Earth is almost existential in its portrayal of both human and extraterrestrial inability to alter the whims of fate. Of course, it’s also a frequently silly film that will be a lot of fun for anyone who appreciates a good B-movie.

On Saturday night, I watched This Island Earth with my friends in the Late Night Movie Gang. After last week’s experience with Disco Beaver From Outer Space, I decided to play it safe this week. We had a lot of fun with This Island Earth. In case you want to learn how to make an interocitor of your very own, the film is available on YouTube.

4 Shots From 4 Vincent Price Films: The Last Man on Earth, The Masque of the Red Death, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, The Witchfinder General

Posted on May 27, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Vincent Price’s birthday! This edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films is dedicated to him, his memory, and his career!

4 Shots From 4 Vincent Price Films

The Last Man on Earth (1964, dir by Ubaldo Ragona)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964, dir by Roger Corman)

Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966, dir by Mario Bava)

The Witchfinder General (1968, dir by Matthew Reeves)

Cleaning Out The DVR: Mommy’s Little Angel (dir by Curtis Crawford)

Posted on May 26, 2018 by Lisa Marie Bowman

(I recorded Mommy’s Little Angel off of Lifetime on March 17th.)

Katie Porters (Morgan Nuendorf) may only be 12 years old but she’s already had to deal with a lot.

Her mother, Shawna (Kimberly Laferriere), loves her and swears that she would do anything to protect Katie but she’s also a pill-popping drug addict who is constantly on the verge of losing control. It doesn’t help, of course, that Katie keeps hiding her mother’s pills. It’s almost as if Kate is trying to get her mother in trouble…

Her father, Darren (Peter Michael Dillon), just spent three years in jail for physically abusing Shawna. Darren says that he just wants to be with his daughter but Shawna wants nothing to do with him and moves to a different town to get away from him. Of course, Darren always manages to track Katie and Shawna down. That probably has something to do with the fact that Katie is always letting him know where she and her mother are hiding.

Katie’s a bad kid with bad thoughts but no one realizes it, largely because she’s only 12 years old and she always knows how to smile and be charming. For instance, Shawn’s cousin, Nikki (Amanda Clayton), thinks that Katie’s the best! And Katie likes Nikki, too! Of course, what’s not to like? Nikki has a nice big house and, because she’s desperate to be a mother herself, spoils Katie. In fact, Katie even tells Shawna that she doesn’t care if anything bad ever happens to Shawna. “I’ll go live with Aunt Nikki,” Katie says.

What a little brat!

Anyway, something bad does eventually happen to Shawna. She ends up getting tossed off of the top level of a parking garage. The police and everyone else assume that Shawna committed suicide. Of course, what they don’t know is that 1) Darren murdered Shawna and 2) Katie arranged for Shawna to be murdered.

So now, Katie is finally living with her Aunt Nikki! And you would think that Katie would be happy about this! But no, Katie’s never happy. As soon as she moves in, Katie comes to realize that there’s all sorts of things competing for Nikki’s attention. Whether it’s her job or even her husband, Nikki always seems to be putting other things ahead of Katie.

And then, Nikki discovers that she’s pregnant!

Guess how Katie responds to that?

In recent years, Lifetime has shown a surprisingly large number of psycho kid films. They really do tap into feelings and fears to which all women can relate. What if your child does grow up to be a psycho? Also, what if your friend or cousin does a terrible job parenting and then dies and suddenly, you find yourself obligated to take care of their murderous children? It’s a concern because, deep down, we’re always convinced that most people have no idea how to raise children.

The thing that distinguishes Mommy’s Little Angel from other Lifetime movie about killer kids is just how efficient Katie is in her villainy. I mean, Katie doesn’t mess around. When she decides to set a house on fire, it’s obvious that she knows exactly what she’s doing. When it’s time for Katie to try to convince Nikki to kill for her, Katie chants, “Kill him, Nikki. Kill him…” It’s not just that little Katie is evil. It’s that Katie’s so happy about it! It all leads to a film that’s enjoyably melodramatic and over-the-top, even by the wonderful standards of Lifetime.

Seriously, don’t turn your back on Katie…