Lisa Cleans Out Her DVR: Stick It (dir by Jessica Bendinger)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With our look back at Twin Peaks now entering its final week, it’s time for me to get back to trying to clean out my DVR. When last we checked on the DVR, I had about 187 movies that I needed to watch. At the end of March, I started in on them but then I got distracted by a number of things. I put the clean-up on hold for a month and I even recorded some more films.

So, now, as April comes to a close, I have 200 movies on my DVR.

(The writer Derrick Ferguson once asked me just how much space I have on my DVR. To be honest, I’m really not sure. All I know is that I’ve got 200 movies recorded and 20% of the DVR is still free.)

If I’m going to have my DVR cleaned out by the end of May, then I better get back to watching all of this stuff. I got things off to a good start, on Monday night, by watching a film about gymnastics in Texas, Stick It.

I think I may have actually seen Stick It when it was originally released in 2006. I can’t say for sure because I spent most of 2006 in a daze but it seems like the type of movie that I would have gone to see back then. The film itself felt familiar but that could just be because I’ve seen a lot of movies about gymnasts.

Anyway, Stick It is one of those movies that’s set in Texas but was filmed in California. This leads to several unintentional laughs. For instance, the movie opens in Plano, Texas. Plano is a suburb of Dallas. For some reason, Plano seems to show up in a lot of random movies. (When Ed Helms visits his sister and Chris Hemsworth in Vacation, we are specifically told that they live in Plano.) The movies, of course, never get Plano right. Plano is not a rural community nor is it a junior version of the Park Cities. Instead, it’s a typical suburb, one that is somewhat infamous for being home to a lot of people who have moved down to Texas from up north.

In Stick It, Plano is portrayed as being surrounded by mountains. When the action later moves down to Houston, there are even more mountains in the background. Of course, any true Texan knows that there aren’t any mountains near either Dallas or Houston. Dallas sits on the plains. Houston is known as the Bayou City. If you want to make a movie about Texas with mountains, go film in El Paso.

As for the rest of the film, it tells the story of Haley Graham (Missy Peregrym), who was one of the top ranked gymnasts in America until she walked out during the World Gymnastics Championship, costing her team a gold medal and making her one of the most hated people in America. Having abandoned gymnastics, Haley spends her time hanging out with skaters in Plano. (I used to do the same thing. Plano skaters are wild and rich.) One day, Haley and the skaters get caught breaking into an abandoned building. The judge gives Haley a choice. Either go to military school or enroll at the prestigious but tough Vickerman Gymnastics Academy. Haley picks military school so, of course, the judge sends her to VGA.

And here’s the thing. It’s easy to be dismissive of a character like Haley but Missy Peregrym gives such a sincere performance and is so committed to the role that you’re on her side even when she seems like a privileged brat. Haley’s parents are bitterly divorced and, even though they’re presented as being cartoonish caricatures, I could immediately relate to Haley. When my parents got divorced, I acted out too. I even hung out with wild skaters in Plano.

Anyway, Haley ends up in Houston. Her new coach is Burt Veckerman (Jeff Bridges) who convinces her to start competing again, just so she can win enough money to pay off all of that Plano property damage. She agrees, reluctantly. Haley may love gymnastics but she hates all of the little rules that come along with competition. Interestingly enough, that’s the way I’ve always felt about dancing. Haley might as well have just been named Lisa.

Haley returns to the competition world and, while she’s obviously talented, she struggles to prove that she’s better than her reputation. Even worse, she has to deal with judges who are obsessed with minutiae and who are biased towards their pre-determined favorites. It doesn’t matter how talented you are or how well you compete. All that matters is that you follow the rules and that you have the “right” attitude.

The movie ends with Haley taking a stand against the unfair judging system and humiliating the clueless judges. It’s a great moment, even though it would never happen in real life. For one thing, it involves convincing all the other gymnasts to give up their chance to win just so they can do the right thing. Myself, I would never go along with that. I may hate following rules but I love winning trophies.

But still, it’s a nice little fantasy. Stick It is one of those films that got terrible reviews when it was released but it’s a real crowd pleaser. This is a fun movie and, while it doesn’t tell a particularly deep story, it’s message of ignoring rules is one that’s needed in this increasingly authoritarian society. Both Missy Peregrym and Jeff Bridges gave good performances and director Jessica Bendinger did a good job of keeping the action moving quickly. (Bendiner also wrote the greatest of all cheerleading movies, Bring It On.)

How entertaining was Stick It?

Entertaining enough to survive mountains in Plano.

Film Review: Free Fire (dir by Ben Wheatley)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I saw Free Fire, the latest film from the visionary British directing-and-screenwriting team of Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump.

Free Fire takes place in Boston in the 1970s. We know it’s the 70s because of all the wide lapels, the flared jeans, and the impressive facial hair. In short, everyone looks like an extra from Thank God, It’s Friday. Note that I said Thank God, It’s Friday and not Saturday Night Fever. None of the characters in Free Fire could pull off John Travolta’s white suit. As much as they try to pretend otherwise, everyone in this film is low rent. No one is as clever or street smart as they believe themselves to be. Even more importantly, no one is as good a shot as they think.

The film takes place in a decrepit warehouse, the type of place that is strewn with rats and hypodermic needles. Chris (Cillian Murphy), Frank (Michael Smiley), Steve-O (Sam Riley), and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) are members of the Irish Republican Army and they’ve come to the U.S. to purchases weapons. Chris and Frank are no-nonsense professionals. Bernie is a well-meaning moron. Steve-O is a drug addict who, the previous night, got beaten up after he smashed a bottle across the face of a 17 year-old girl.

Working as intermediaries are Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer). Justine specializes in keeping jumpy people calm. She and Chris flirt as they wait for the guns to arrive. As for Ord — well, let’s just say that Ord was my favorite character in the film. He’s always calm. He looks really good in a suit. And, whenever things get intense, he’s always quick to light up a joint and make a sarcastic comment. This is probably the best performance of Armie Hammer’s career so far. (Or, at the very least, it’s the best performance of his that I’ve seen. I hear that he gives an excellent performance in the upcoming Call Me By Your Name.) Certainly, this is the first film that I’ve seen, since The Social Network, in which Hammer seemed to be truly worthy of the hype that has surrounded his career.

Finally, there’s the gun dealers themselves. There’s Martin (Babou Ceesay), who seems to be fairly low-key professional. There’s Gordon (Noah Taylor), who is a henchman who looks disconcertingly similar to Chris. And then there’s Vernon, who is from South Africa and who is constantly talking and smiling. Not surprisingly, Vernon is played by Sharlto Copley. Finally, Harry (Jack Reynor) is a driver who desperately wants to impress Ord. Harry loves John Denver and he also loves his cousin. In fact, he loves his cousin so much that, when he recognizes Steve-O as the junkie who smashed a bottle across her face, Harry pulls a gun and starts firing.

The rest of the film deals with the resulting gun fight, which is complicated with two mysterious snipers (Patrick Bergin and Mark Monero) suddenly open fire on both of the groups. Who hired them and why? That’s a mystery that could be solved if everyone stops shooting and yelling at each other. Of course, that’s not going to happen because 1) no one is a good enough shot to actually get the upper hand and 2) almost everyone in the warehouse is an idiot.

At it’s best, Free Fire mercilessly parodies the excessive violence of modern crime cinema. When it comes to crime films, most people just remember the shoot outs so Free Fire takes things to their logical extreme by just being a 90-minute gun fight. At its weakest, Free Fire occasionally becomes exactly what it’s parodying. The film’s structure — one night in one location — proves to be limiting. At times, you find yourself really wishing for a flashback or at least a little exposition to explain who everyone is outside of that warehouse. The cast is full of good actors and they all give good performances but the characters are, at best, thinly drawn. At times, it was difficult to keep track who was who. I especially found myself mixing up Michel Smiley and Sharlto Copely. It was all the facial hair.

About 30 minutes into Free Fire, I was already composing a bad review in my head but, by the final shot (and yes, the double meaning is totally intentional), Free Fire had won me over. It’s an experiment that doesn’t really work but it’s so relentless and dedicated to seeing its story to its conclusion that I couldn’t help but appreciate the film’s efforts. When the guns finally did stop firing and the end credits started, I was shocked to discover that, without even realizing it, I actually had gotten just a little caught up in the film’s story.

Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump previously gave us one of the most memorable films of the decade (so far), A Field in England. Free Fire might not quite work but I’ll always make the time to see the latest from Wheatley and Jump.

Lifetime Film Review: Mommy, I Didn’t Do It (dir by Richard Gabai)

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

If there’s an Eye Rolling Hall of Fame, the recent Lifetime film Mommy, I Didn’t Do It definitely has earned inclusion.

Seriously, this film was full of some championship-level eye rolling. It’s a courtroom drama and a murder mystery. Ellen Plainview (Danica McKellar) is an attorney whose teenager daughter, Julie (Paige Searcy) is on trail for murdering one of her former teachers. When Julie is first arrested, Ellen rolls her eyes. When Ellen visits Julie in jail and explains that they don’t have the money to bail her out, Julie rolls her eyes and sighs. You can just tell she’s thinking, “My God, mom, you’re so lame!” When Detective Hamer (Jaleel White) explains why all the evidence points to Julie, Ellen again rolls her eyes and Detective Hamer counters her by rolling his own eyes. When Ellen approaches the dead man’s wife (Jamie-Lynn Sigler), the wife not only rolls her eyes but narrows them as well.

It gets even better once the trial begins. The prosecutor, Kimberly Bains (Jen Lilley), rolls her eyes whenever Ellen makes an objection. Whenever a witness testifies that Julie was obsessed with the victim, Ellen rolls her eyes and then Julie rolls her eyes at her mother rolling her eyes and then Kimberly rolls her eyes at both of them. When the weird boy who is obsessed with her tries to save Julie by confessing to the murder, the amount of eye rolling probably sets a world record. In the real world, of course, this type of courtroom behavior gets people cited for contempt but, in the world of Lifetime, it’s just the way that people communicate.

Don’t get me wrong. The film itself did not make me roll my eyes. Yes, it was totally implausible and it was full of silly scenes but it’s a Lifetime film. That’s what we expect Lifetime. Even more importantly, that’s what we want from Lifetime. When it comes to a quality Lifetime film, there’s really only two rules: 1) the more ludicrous, the better and 2) the more melodramatic, the more entertaining.

While the film’s story might be ludicrous, the mother-daughter relationship between Ellen and Julie felt very real and both Danica McKellar and Paige Searcy gave sincere and believable performances as mother and daughter, which went a long way towards explaining all the eye rolling. Seriously, when I was Julie Plainview’s age, I rolled my eyes for 24 hours a day and I wasn’t even accused of murder.

Mommy, I Didn’t Do It is actually a sequel to a previous Lifetime movie, The Wrong Woman. In that one, Ellen was wrongly accused of murder and was arrested by the same idiot detective who arrests her daughter in Mommy, I Didn’t Do It. (If nothing else, these two films show how vindictive authority figures can be.) As long as this is going to be a franchise, I’d like to suggest that the next installment could feature Eric Roberts, recreating his role from Stalked By My Doctor and its sequel. Maybe he could treat Julie while Ellen defend him in court.

Seriously, it sounds like a great idea to me.

Film Review: Jesus Christ Superstar (dir by Norman Jewison)

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The 1973 film, Jesus Christ Superstar, opens with a desert in Israel. All is still. All is quiet. Suddenly, we see a cloud of dust in the distance. A bus is speeding through the desert and the music on the soundtrack explodes with a sudden urgency.

The bus comes to a stop and we notice that there’s a big cross tied to the top of it. The doors open and suddenly — oh my God, it’s hundreds of hippies! American hippies In Israel! They’re climbing off the bus, one after another. Some of them are being tossed sub machine guns. Another gets a whip. One of them puts on a purple robe and looks like he is slightly disturbed. Others are dressed in black. Makeup is applied. Everyone’s having a great time. One heavy-set fellow, with frizzy hair, climbs to the top of the bus and sits down on a throne. He watches as everyone else pulls down the cross. One long-haired man, who was never seen leaving the bus, is suddenly among the hippies. He’s dressed in white and everyone is suddenly bowing before him.

Well, almost everyone. One of the bus’s passengers, a serious-looking man (Carl Anderson), has walked away from the hippies. From a safe distance, he looks back at them and he seems to be as confused by all of this as we are.

Why is everyone in the desert? That’s relatively easy to explain. They’re performing a Passion Play. Carl Anderson is playing Judas. The man in white is Ted Neeley. Whether he is meant to be an actor playing Jesus or Jesus himself is a question that the movie leaves for you to decide. We never see him get off the bus and, perhaps more importantly, we don’t see him get on the bus at the end.

(Just you watch. I’ll mention that Jesus gets crucified at the end of this movie and someone will pop up in the comments and say, “How about a spoiler alert?”)

Hmmm…religion and hippies. Those are two things that, in the past, I have definitely had issues with. In fact, you would totally be justified in assuming that I would hate Jesus Christ Superstar. And yet, I don’t. I actually rather like it.

True, there are some things that make me cringe. The sound of all the disciples singing, “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happening?” always makes me shudder and say, “Oh my God, this is so 1973!” A scene where Judas suddenly finds himself being chased through the desert by a modern tank is just a bit too on-the-nose. Finally, I understand that Ted Neeley’s stage performance as Jesus is highly acclaimed but, to me, his performance in this film will always be known as the Screaming Jesus. Too often, it’s obvious that Neeley is still performing as if he’s on stage and has to project to the back row. It’s interesting to compare him to Carl Anderson, who also played Judas on stage but who, in the movie, gives a performance that is powerful specifically because it’s a cinematic performance, as opposed to a stage performance.

But, even with all that in mind, there’s so much about this movie that works. Based on the rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar is definitely a product of its time, serving as a time machine for amateur historians like me. (Then again, I guess you could say that about any movie the opens with hippies driving a school bus across Israel.) Sometimes, the lyrics are a bit obvious but the songs still stick around in your head. And it’s not just Carl Anderson who gives a good performance. Yvonne Elliman, Josh Mostel, Bob Bingham, Larry Marshall, Barry Dennen — they all contribute strong work, both musically and otherwise.

And then there’s the big Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem production number:

There’s several reasons I love this scene but mostly it just comes down to the fact that it captures the explosive energy that comes from watching a live performance. Larry Marshall (who plays Simon Zealotes) has one of the most fascinating faces that I’ve ever seen in a film and when he performs, he performs as if the fate of the entire world depends on it. As previously stated, I’ve never been sold on Ted Neely’s performance as Jesus but Carl Anderson burns with charisma in the role of Judas.

Mostly, however, I just love the choreography and watching the dancers. I guess that’s not that surprising considering just how important dance was (and still is, even if I’m now just dancing for fun) in my life but, to be honest, I’m probably one of the most hyper critical people out there when it comes to dance in film, regarding both the way that it’s often choreographed and usually filmed. But this scene is probably about as close to perfect in both regards as I’ve ever seen. It goes beyond the fact that the dancers obviously have a lot of energy and enthusiasm and that they all look good while dancing. The great thing about the choreography in this scene is that it all feels so spontaneous. There’s less emphasis on technical perfection and more emphasis on capturing emotion and thought through movement. What I love is that the number is choreographed to make it appear as if not all of the dancers in this scene are on the exact same beat. Some of them appear to come in a second or two late, which is something that would have made a lot of my former teachers and choreographers scream and curse because, far too often, people become so obsessed with technical perfection that they forget that passion is just as important as perfect technique. (I’m biased, of course, because I’ve always been more passionate than perfect.) The dancers in this scene have a lot of passion and it’s thrilling to watch.

Beyond that, there’s the insane burlesque of Josh Mostel’s performance as Herod and Barry Dennen’s neurotic interpretation of Pilate. There’s Yvonne Elliman’s performance of I Don’t Know How To Love Him. There’s that famous closing shot, a happy accident that was achieved when a shepherd just happened to wander past the camera.

And, of course, there’s this:

The performance above pretty much sums up the appeal of Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s both ludicrous and powerful at the same time.

I know there’s some debate as to whether Jesus Christ Superstar is sincere or sacrilegious. In college, there was this girl in my dorm who started the semester as a pagan, spent a month as an evangelical, and then ended the semester as a pagan again. When she was going through her evangelical phase, she would listen to the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack constantly. Seriously. 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. After three days, I was sick of hearing it. I found myself wondering if anyone had ever been driven to murder over having to listen to Heaven On Their Minds one too many times. Fortunately, something happened to cause her to once again lose her faith and she went back to listening to Fall Out Boy.

I don’t think that, as conceived by Rice and Lloyd Webber, Jesus Christ Superstar is in any way sacrilegious. At the same time, it does have a potentially subversive streak to it. This is especially true of the film version. At times, director Norman Jewison seems to be almost deliberately parodying the excesses of more conventional religious films. Instead of spending millions to recreate the ancient world, Jesus Christ Superstar uses ruins and desert. Instead of featuring ornate costumes, Jesus Christ Superstar features Roman soldiers who wear pink tank tops. Ultimately, Jesus Christ Superstar reveres Jesus but dismisses the conventions of both organized Christianity and epic filmmaking. Judah Ben-Hur would not have known what to do with himself if he wandered onto the set of Jesus Christ Superstar.

It’s over the top, silly, ludicrous, and ultimately rather powerful. Jesus Christ Superstar is a film that shouldn’t work and yet it does.

Here’s The First Trailer For An Obscure Art Film Called Star Wars: The Last Jedi!

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!

Well, here’s the teaser for an obscure little art film called Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone takes the time to discover this little film. Hopefully, it’ll make its way to Alamo Drafthouse at some point because the trailer is actually pretty intriguing. It looks like it might be kind of exciting and there’s a voice over that suggests that there’s actually more going on in this film than just pure spectacle for the sake of spectacle.

“I know only one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

That doesn’t sound good.

(By the way, Mark Hamill actually speaks in this trailer. So, all of you who thought the ending of Force Awakens indicated that Luke Skywalker had been rendered mute — well, you’re wrong! Or, actually, it might be more correct to see that I’m wrong since I think I was the only one who thought that.)

The Last Jedi comes out on December 15th. I get the feeling that Arleigh and most of the TSL staff have already bought their tickets.

Here Are Two New Teasers From The MCU: Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2!

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, so I’ll admit that I’m really excited about the trailer for Lady Bloodfight.

But, just from glancing at twitter, it appears that most of y’all are more excited about two other trailers that dropped today!

It’s kind of a tradition to complain that the Thor movies are the weakest part of the MCU. Of course, I would never say that because … well, you know. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston. I mean, c’mon!

But anyway, there always has been kind of an inherent silliness to Thor and that silliness certainly seems to be present in the first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok.

Silliness, thy name is Jeff Goldblum.

Also, it appears that only Cate Blanchett can destroy Thor’s hammer. Well, that kinda makes sense. Cate Blanchett can do anything.

(I just like the music. Hey, Arleigh, is that Led Zeppelin?)

And then there’s this fun new teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2! Have I mentioned how much I’m looking forward to this movie?

(Hmmm….Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, there’s a lot of Chris in the MCU. But where’s Christopher Walken?)

Here Are The Trailers For Two Biopics, Lady Bloodfight and All Eyez On Me!

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi everyone!

Excuse the brevity of this post. I’m currently running from one place to another, as I do every Monday. But there a few new trailers that I need to share with y’all!

For instance, here’s the new trailer for my upcoming biopic, Lady Bloodfight!

Speaking of biopics, here’s the latest trailer for the Tupac Shakur movie, All Eyez On Me! A lot of us thought this movie would be an Oscar contender. Then we watched this trailer.

(If All Eyez On Me is nominated for a bunch of Oscars, this post will, of course, be edited to remove all snark.)

Lisa’s Too Early Oscar Predictions For April

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Check out my previous predictions for March, February, and January!

Best Picture

Battles of the Sexes

Call Me By Your Name

Darkest Hour

Downsizing

Dunkirk

The Glass Castle

The Leisure Seeker

Logan

Mudbound

Wonderstruck

Best Director

James Mangold for Logan

Luca Guadagnino for Call Me By Your Name

Alexander Payne for Downsizing

Dee Rees for Mudbound

Joe Wright for Darkest Hour

Best Actor

Chadwick Boseman in Marshall

Tom Cruise in American Made

Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour

Miles Teller in Thank You For Your Service

Donald Sutherland in The Leisure Seeker

Best Actress

Judi Dench in Victoria and Abdul

Brie Larson in The Glass Castle

Helen Mirren in The Leisure Seeker

Carey Mulligan in Mudbound

Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes

Best Supporting Actor

James Franco in The Masterpiece

Armie Hammer in Call Me By Your Name

Woody Harrelson in The Glass Castle

John Hurt in Darkest Hour

Patrick Stewart in Logan

Best Supporting Actress

Holly Hunter in The Big Sick

Melissa Leo in Novitiate

Julianne Moore in Wonderstruck

Kristin Scott Thomas in Darkest Hour

Naomi Watts in The Glass Castle

Film Review: Ghost in the Shell (dir by Rupert Sanders)

Posted on April 9, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I finally saw Ghost in the Shell.

Now, before I start in on this review, I should admit that I’m hardly an expert on the manga on which Ghost in the Shell was based. (In fact, as soon as I wrote that previous sentence, I called my boyfriend over and had him read it, just to make sure that I was using the term manga correctly.) A few years ago, I did watch Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 film version. And while I don’t remember a whole lot about the animated Ghost in the Shell, I do remember that I was never bored while watching it. I wish I could say the same about the live action Ghost in the Shell.

Don’t get me wrong. The live action, Westernized Ghost In The Shell is truly a visually impressive film. It takes place in the near future, in the fictional Japanese city of New Port City. New Port City basically looks like the city from Blade Runner, just with a somewhat more colorful visual scheme. Everywhere you look, there are gigantic holographic advertisements and sleek, neon buildings. But, as advanced as New Port City may look at first sight, it’s also full of dark allies, cramped apartments, and gray cemeteries. Visually, it’s a perfect mix of outlandish science fiction and brooding film noir.

Or, at least, it is the first time that you see it. Unfortunately, director Rupert Sanders has a habit of using the visuals as a crutch. It seemed as if, every time a new plot point was clumsily introduced, we would suddenly cut to another shot of New Port City at night, as if the film was saying, “Don’t worry about narrative coherence! Look at the city!”

After about 15 minutes, I decided to take the film up on its suggestion. I stopped paying attention to the slow-moving story and I focused almost exclusively on the visuals. That’s a shame really because, from what I understand, both the manga and the original film are deeply philosophical works that balance style with thematic depth. Unfortunately, since there’s no real depth to the live action Ghost in the Shell, you really have no choice but to focus almost exclusively on the style.

Ghost in the Shell takes place in a world where the line between human and machine has become blurred. Everyone is getting cybernetic upgrades done. One character, Batou (Pilou Asbæk), even gets new eyes halfway through the film. Major (Scarlett Johansson) is unique because, while her brain is human, her body is totally cybernetic. She is a member of Section 9, an anti-terrorism task force. Major has only vague flashes of memory of who she used to be. She’s been told that her parents were killed by terrorists but she doesn’t know if that’s true or if that’s just more manipulation from Cutter (Peter Ferdinando). (It’s no spoiler to say that Cutter turns out to be a not nice guy. He’s the CEO of a Hanka Robotics and when was the last time you saw a movie where a robotics CEO didn’t turn out to be a not nice guy?) After Section 9 thwarts a cyberterrorist attack against Hanka Robotics, Major starts to wonder who she is and who she can trust. Everyone tells her that, because she has a human brain, she’s also a human. But Major still feels lost and without an identity. When she starts to get too close to discovering her past, Cutter sets out to not only destroy her but all of Section 9 as well…

There’s a really good movie in which Scarlett Johansson plays a lost soul looking for her identity in Japan. It’s called Lost in Translation. Or, if you just want to see Scarlett playing someone who is learning more and more about herself and what she’s capable of, you could go watch Lucy. (I don’t care much for that movie but some people seemed to like it.) Or, if you want to see Scarlett play an enigmatic being who explores the world while hiding her true form in a human shell, you can always go watch Under the Skin.

(I highly recommend Under the Skin, which is as thought-provoking as Ghost in the Shell is shallow.)

This is what’s frustrating. Scarlett Johansson gives a really good performance in Ghost in the Shell but she’s continually let down by a script that refuses to take the time to really explore anything. We get a scene or two of Major wondering what it means to be truly human but the movie is always more interested in getting to the next action scene. There’s a lot of talk about what it means to be human but there’s no real exploration. Ghost in the Shell has all the depth of one of those old sci-fi shows where aliens (and, occasionally, androids) approach bemused humans and ask, “What is this thing that you call laughter?”

Ghost in the Shell ends with the hint of more films to come. Personally, I’d rather see Scarlett Johansson in a Black Widow solo film. When is that going to happen, Marvel Studios!? Let’s get to it! As for the live action Ghost in the Shell, it’s just frustrating and forgettable.

But the city looks really good!