Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by L.J. Lowery
Review - Freud's Last Session - Geeks Under Grace
Sometimes a movie comes out and I can only assume it was made for me specifically. This might sound like a strange presupposition, but sometimes it’s the best conclusion when a movie fits so perfectly to your tastes. As an amateur expert on CS Lewis adaptations — both on stage and in print — I cannot help but get excited with a low-budget CS Lewis film sneaking into theaters.
Review - The Beekeeper
One of my favorite works of film criticism, which is no longer online, was published by Birth Movies Death about the career of Jason Statham — wherein the author discussed how the somewhat less-than-stellar actor’s filmography has been a consistent and comforting presence in his chaotic life. With things being difficult, these movies were a presence in his life as he regularly turned to them as he dealt with years of addiction and employment issues.
Review – Master Gardener - Geeks Under Grace
I must admit I was a little off-put by the most recent movie in Paul Schrader’s new trilogy of films. The great one-time screenwriter and Martin Scorsese collaborator has really reinvented himself in recent years by going back to the well of his original inspiration for films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. First Reformed is a modern masterpiece (depending on how you interpret it), but his most recent film The Card Counter lost me for its raw, unrefined approach to its filmmaking.
Review – The Flash - Geeks Under Grace
In October 2014, Warner Bros. laid out its map of the DC Extended Universe to compete against the rival Marvel Cinematic Universe, announcing solo films for Suicide Squad, Aquaman, Shazam, Cyborg, Green Lantern, two Justice League films, and The Flash. Several of these films did not come to pass and the original DC slate was canceled following Zack Snyder’s 2017 departure from Warner Bros. and the negative critical reception and poor box office performance of Batman vs. Superman.
Review – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Geeks Under Grace
There is a lot of talk nowadays about the decline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—and it is not hard to see why. With the notable popular exception of Spider-Man: No Way Home, the recent MCU films have felt like half measures, compromises, or underdeveloped ideas. Black Widow, The Eternals, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania were all met negatively, and with Chadwick Boseman sadly passing, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever felt tragically kneecapped.
Review - Andor: Season 1
Happy May the Fourth! Stars Wars, as ever, remains complicated, controversial, and disagreeable. After eight years of Disney Star Wars, this is not new. The recent dustup over the creative failures in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi have only stood to continuously sour fans of Star Wars who felt put off by the sequel trilogy, to the point where it can feel somewhat hard to publicly celebrate even the original Star Wars films anymore.
Review – Top Gun: Maverick - Geeks Under Grace
Top Gun: Maverick was one of the largest victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was originally slated for release in the summer of 2019 before being delayed to rework some of the flight sequences. Then it was delayed again once COVID-19 set back the entire film industry, and delayed several more times until May 2022, when it is finally being released to theaters. During that time, entire movie franchises have run their lifecycle. Sonic the Hedgehog has had two movies released in that window.
Interview: Don Winslow – Author of City on Fire - Geeks Under Grace
I had the opportunity the last week of April 2022 to see author Don Winslow in person at Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee. It was an interesting experience; different than I was expecting, but certainly enlightening. The author has become a social media firebrand in the past few years as a commenter on contemporary politics and an advocate for progressive political causes.
Review – Firestarter (2022) - Geeks Under Grace
If nothing else, I can take solace that the worst movie I’m likely to see in 2022 has already passed. That might sound harsh. Firestarter certainly isn’t as mind-numbing and excruciatingly awful as the greats of modern bad filmmaking — X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Morbius, etc. What it is though is a critic’s worst nightmare: vapid, bland, and superficially clean.
Review – Everything Everywhere All At Once - Geeks Under Grace
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, colloquially known as “Daniels”, have earned themselves a unique position in modern filmmaking. They first came to prominence directing the music video for Turn Down For What, before working with A24 on their first film, Swiss Army Man (2016). Scheinert then went off on his own to direct the incredible dark comedy The Death of Dick Long (2019). Now they’re finally back together for their sophomore film together, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022).
Boom, Bust, or Meh – April 2022 - Geeks Under Grace
Welcome to Boom, Bust, or Meh, ladies and gentlemen! This is where we focus on five films released during the month and have some fun predicting their success! As with every BBoM article, each film receives one of the following scores from each participating GUG film critic: Boom: A film you’ll remember for the rest of the year. Bust: A film you’ll regret watching. Meh: A film that entertains during the moment, but has no lasting impact.
Review – Morbius - Geeks Under Grace
The latest in Sony Pictures’ efforts to forbade its eventual shuttering and corporate failures is its tedious attempt to try and turn the Spider-Man franchise into a multi-media franchise with spin-offs, sequels, and crossovers with the MCU. They tried this once with the Amazing Spider-Man movies and it failed to take off following the financial disaster of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Now they’re actually having some success getting movies off the ground.
Review – Compartment No. 6 - Geeks Under Grace
The Finnish contribution to the upcoming Academy Awards this weekend is a small-scale romantic drama set against a train trip between two Russian cities. The film comes to us from director Juho Kuosmanen, a Finnish director whose previous film The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki was selected for the 2016 Cannes Festival. Compartment No. 6 won the Grand Prix at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Content Guide Violence/Scary Images: None. Language/Crude Humor: Some crude language.
Review – The Lost City - Geeks Under Grace
Whatever happened to the Hollywood comedy? The age of Hollywood producing culturally significant and omnipresent comedies has waned. The genre has always been personality-driven, and as the comedy landscape changed so too has those films. Nowadays, Hollywood makes comedies the same way it makes blockbusters: huge special effects, huge actors, and broad appeal to social media trends.
Interview – Max McLean - Founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts and Writer of The Most Reluctant Convert - Geeks Under Grace
Max McLean has been a very busy man for the past year and a half! The founder of the Fellowship for Performing Arts was faced with a dilemma when COVID-19 started as he was unable to tour any of his stage productions across the United States. His popular adaptations of the works of C.S. Lewis—The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and The Most Reluctant Convert—couldn’t be toured during a plague when audiences felt unsafe.
Review – The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis - Geeks Under Grace
Max McLean has been a forceful Christian and an actor for decades. He founded the Fellowship for Performing Arts in 1992, recorded The Listener’s Bible which is available free online, and has performed multiple stage plays across the United States including adaptations of the Gospel of Mark, classic Christian plays like A Man for All Seasons, and original plays based on the novels of C.S. Lewis.
Review - Cherry - Geeks Under Grace
The first of the Russo Brothers’ directorial projects following Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) has reached theaters and streaming devices near you! Cherry (2021) is the first film they’ve worked on following them becoming the most financially successful directors in cinematic history.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with L.J.
Contact L.J., search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack