La La Anthony Archives

Review: ‘9 Bullets,’ starring Lena Headey and Sam Worthington

May 11, 2022

by Carla Hay

Dean Scott Vazquez and Lena Headey in “9 Bullets” (Photo courtesy of Screen Media Films)

Directed by Gigi Gaston

Culture Representation: Taking place in various parts of the West Coast and Midwest of the United States, the dramatic film “9 Bullets” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people, Latinos, Asians and multiracial people) representing the working-class, middle-class and criminal underground.

Culture Clash: A former burlesque dancer goes on the run with an orphaned 11-year-old boy, whose family was killed by gangsters.

Culture Audience: “9 Bullets” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching poorly made and implausible crime dramas.

Sam Worthington in “9 Bullets” (Photo courtesy of Screen Media Films)

Fans of the 1980 crime drama “Gloria” (starring Gena Rowlands in the title role) might be repulsed if they have the misfortune of wasting time watching “9 Bullets,” which is a sloppy and pathetic imitation of that classic movie. It’s not an official remake of “Gloria,” but “9 Bullets” copies so many things about “Gloria,” it’s essentially a rehash of the same story, with names and locations changed. It’s truly unfortunate that “9 Bullets” star Lena Headey has gone from the glory of starring in the Emmy-winning “Game of Thrones” series to diminishing her talent by starring in bottom-of-the-barrel trash such as “9 Bullets.”

Written and directed by Gigi Gaston, “9 Bullets” rips off “Gloria” by having this concept: A “tough woman” with a shady past goes on the run with an orphaned boy, whose family was killed by gangsters because his father betrayed the gang. “Gloria” (written and directed by John Cassavetes) takes place on the East Coast of the U.S., mostly in New York City and briefly in Pittsburgh. “9 Bullets” takes place in the Midwest and West Coast regions of the U.S., with a road trip that goes from California to Utah, Montana and North Dakota. The woman on the run in each movie keeps repeating how much she doesn’t like kids, which is supposed to be the irony when she inevitably develops maternal feelings for the boy who unexpectedly ends up in her care.

In “9 Bullets” (which was formerly titled “Gypsy Moon”), Headey portrays a very jaded and abrasive dancer-turned-author named Gypsy (no explanation is given if that’s her real name or an alias), who lives in Santa Clarita, California. She’s a soon-to-be-retired burlesque dancer because she’s gotten a book deal to write her memoir, tentatively titled “Another Dance.” Throughout the movie, while she’s running for her life, Gypsy keeps her laptop computer with her so she can work on her memoir in between dodging bullets.

The movie’s opening scene shows Gypsy on her house’s front porch while she’s reading the book publishing contract that she’s received in the mail. She looks up at the sky and says, “I promise not to fuck it up this time.” It’s at this point in the movie that you know a loved one in Gypsy’s life has passed away, and she feels a lot of guilt when it comes to that person.

Because “9 Bullets” also tries to make Gypsy look sexy, the movie has her doing “one last performance” at the seedy bar where she works. The movie’s depiction of Gypsy’s burlesque dancing is showing some slow-motion shots of a woman’s barely clad rear end (it could have been a body double) and Headey doing some lackluster walking on a stage in a tacky-looking, tight-fitting outfit. Gypsy thinks that after this last performance, she’ll be leaving behind her life of working in sleazy bars and dealing with criminal losers, so that she can start a new life as a successful author who goes on vacation cruises. But there would be no “9 Bullets” movie if that happened.

On the night of this last performance, Gypsy gets a call from a friend named Ralph Stein (played by Zachary Mooren), who at the moment is frantically speeding down a street in his car, with his widowed mother (played by Marlene Forte) and young adult daughter Caroline (played by Stephanie Arcila) as passengers. Ralph is terrified because he has stolen money from a vengeful gangster named Jack (played by Sam Worthington), who has sent some of his goons to kill Ralph and Ralph’s family. Someone who’s not in the car is Ralph’s 11-year-old son Sam (played by Dean Scott Vazquez), who minutes earlier, got a call from Ralph to start doing the emergency plan that they talked about, in case they need to run for their lives.

Ralph tells Gypsy over the phone that he “messed up” with Jack, and he begs Gypsy to protect Sam if anything happens to the family. As Ralph and his family race to their house to pick up Sam, who is home alone, the car is stopped on a residential street by Jack’s thugs, who shoot and kill everyone in the car. Sam is hiding outside nearby with the family’s pet dog Moses (a Chihuahua mixed breed), so Sam witnesses his family being murdered.

Jack’s murderous henchman are looking for a computer tablet, but they can only find a laptop in the car, so they steal it before driving away. A terrified and sobbing Sam goes back to his house, where Gypsy finds him. Sam tells her what he saw, and they go on the run, with the dog coming along for the ride. (In “Gloria,” the murdered family had a pet cat, but the orphaned boys in both movies have a physical resemblance with dark, curly hair. In “Gloria,” John Adames played the role of the orphaned boy, who was named Phil.)

At first, Gypsy wants nothing to do with taking care of this kid. Sam has a clergyman uncle in North Dakota named Rabbi Stein (played by John Ales), who is resistant to take custody of Sam, because the rabbi says he’s overwhelmed with the responsibility of taking care of his own kids. And then there’s the fact that the gang is looking to kill Sam too. Rabbi Stein reluctantly agrees to take custody of Sam, but the rabbi says he needs more time to prepare for Sam’s arrival.

It’s just an excuse for this movie to have a prolonged road trip. Gypsy lies to Sam and says that his uncle wants Sam to live with him, but Sam senses that she’s being dishonest. Sam then proceeds to cry, whine and pout for much of the road trip. Gypsy does hardly anything to comfort him because, as she tells Sam repeatedly, she’s not good with kids. But when Sam mentions that he’s a cryptocurrency whiz, suddenly Gypsy finds that this kid can be useful.

This poorly written movie has an odd detour where Gypsy goes to Jack’s mansion, with the intention of seducing him to back off from killing Sam. Gypsy leaves Sam behind in a motel, but she illogically takes Moses the dog with her on this visit. She wants to convince Jack that she doesn’t know where Sam is. This “seduction” is just a thinly veiled reason for “9 Bullets” to have a not-very-sexy sex scene, where Gypsy has nudity, but Jack doesn’t. Typical sexist double standard in a trashy movie.

Jack and Gypsy were in a relationship years ago, but she dumped him because he constantly cheated on Gypsy and was too possessive of her. Jack now tells Gypsy that he wants to get back together with her, but she refuses. It makes absolutely no sense for Gypsy to have the dog with her during this visit. The dog is only there so the movie can have a heinous scene where Jack threatens to steal the dog and kill it after Gypsy rejects him.

Jack is a stereotypical American gang boss in a movie, but Worthington (who’s Australian in real life) struggles with having a convincing American accent. Jack lounges around his house, barks orders at his underlings, and he has at least one female lover who’s willing to do whatever he wants her to do. Her name is Lisa (played by Emma Holzer), who helps take care of Jack’s horses. Later in the story, Lisa has one of the worst-delivered lines in the movie, when she smirks, “Never send a man to do a woman’s job,” after she commits a violent act.

Jack has three main goons doing the dirty work for this assassination. Mike (played by Chris Mullinax), the bossiest one, can be as ruthless as Jack. Tommy (played by Cam Gigandet) is dimwitted and cruel. Eddie (played by Martin Sensmeier) is loyal and has the most compassion out of all the thugs. There’s a scene in the movie where Eddie could’ve easily murdered someone, but he doesn’t. Eventually, Jack goes on the road with his thugs to look for Gypsy and Sam too, because Jack suddenly shows up in a few scenes where he’s with his henchmen in chasing after these two targets.

La La Anthony has an embarrassing and idiotic role in the movie, and her questionable acting skills don’t do much to help. She plays a sassy stripper named Tasmin, who was taking a nap in the back seat of a Porsche SUV when it gets stolen by Gypsy, who foolishly did not see Tasmin when Gypsy stole the car. Tasmin eventually figures out that Gypsy and Sam are in deadly trouble, but Tasmin acts as if it’s completely normal to tag along with these two strangers who have assassins looking for them.

Barbara Hershey has a thankless role as a former Princeton University professor named Lacey, who offers her Utah home as a place for Gypsy and Sam to temporarily hide. How does Gypsy know Lacey? Years ago, Gypsy was a Princeton student until she dropped out for reasons explained when bitter and emotionally damaged Gypsy ends up telling Sam her sob story.

Of course, in a silly movie like “9 Bullets,” Lacey is not quite the mild-mannered retired professor that she first appears to be. Headey and Hershey are accomplished actresses who deserve much better than this dreck, which is filled with plot holes, nonsensical scenes (including one where Jack and his thugs easily let Gypsy get away), horrendous editing, and acting that ranges from mediocre to truly unwatchable. Headey seems to be doing her best to commit to her role as Gypsy, but it’s a lost cause because of the movie’s low-quality screenplay and direction.

And why is this movie called “9 Bullets?” There’s a scene where Sam lectures Gypsy, by saying: “You better let someone love you before it’s too late.” Gypsy replies, “I’m a cat with nine lives. I’ll be fine.” Sam asks, “What does that mean?” Gypsy replies, “It takes nine bullets to kill me.” At 91 minutes long, it takes “9 Bullets” this amount of time to kill any hope of being entertained by a movie that amounts to nothing more than awful and pointless garbage.

Screen Media Films released “9 Bullets” in select U.S. cinemas, on digital and VOD on April 22, 2022. The movie is set for release on Blu-ray and DVD on June 7, 2022.

Review: ‘Instaband,’ starring Sam Tinnesz, Paul McDonald, Phangs, Charlotte Sands, Ray Wimley, Farrah Boulé and Amber Stoneman

August 6, 2020

by Carla Hay

“Instaband”

Directed by Bob Rose

Culture Representation: The documentary “Instaband” interviews a predominantly white group of people (with some African Americans and Latinos) in the music industry about how independent and unsigned artists are making money in the era of digital technology.

Culture Clash: The pros and cons of signing to a major label are discussed in the film, as well as artists’ ongoing battle to get paid more money for their work.

Culture Audience: “Instaband” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in what relatively unknown independent and unsigned artists have to go through to get money and recognition; therefore, people looking for celebrity gossip will not find it in this documentary.

The Ries Brothers in “Instaband” (Photo courtesy of Gravitas Ventures)

The documentary “Instaband” (directed by Bob Rose) gives a practical and informative look at what it takes for unsigned and independent artists to make money in an industry where album sales aren’t what they used to be, but opportunities to release homemade music have grown exponentially, thanks to technology and the Internet. The good news is that it’s a lot easier and less expensive to record and release music than it ever has been before. The bad news is that this increased accessibility has resulted in a more crowded marketplace for consumer choices, making it harder for new and emerging artists to stand out and rise to the top.

All the artists interviewed in the documentary are unsigned or independent American artists. There’s some footage of artists performing live or in the studio, but the majority of screen time for this documentary is for interviews with artists sharing their experiences of working in the music business in an era where digital technology rules. Even though the title of the documentary is “Instaband,” Instagram marketing is not the focus of this documentary.

Watching “Instaband” can be a little irritating at first because most of these artists have very little or no name recognition to the average music listener. Therefore, people watching this movie might wonder why these artists are worth listening to for advice, when most of them admit in the documentary that they still have day jobs. In other words, most of these artists don’t earn enough money doing music to be able to do it as full-time professionals, which is the reality for most people who are music artists.

The artists interviewed in the documentary are Sam Tinnesz, Paul McDonald, the Ries Brothers, Ray Wimley, True Villains, Future Thieves, the Aquaducks, Kid Politics, Jeremy Claudio (Tiger Drive, Sensor the Artist), Charlotte Sands, Svrcina, Nappy Roots, Adara, Stealing Oceans, Ray Wimley, A.J., Phangs, Infamous Her, Farrah Boulé, Forest Fire Gospel Choir, Mahlleh, Salt Salt and Rellraw. The documentary even interviews the Naked Cowboy, who’s famous for singing and playing guitar in his underwear in New York City’s Times Square, because he sells his own music and merchandise.

Other people from the music industry who are interviewed in the movie are Wendy Duffy, president of Resin8 Music; former MTV personality La La Anthony; and Amber Stoneman, who is CEO of music media/promotion company Nashville Unsigned. The independent retailers featured in the documentary include Bananas Music owner John Allen, Bananas Music employee Jennifer Trunbull and Ernest Tubbs Record Shop’s David McCormick.

Most music artists make the majority of their money through performing live, merchandise, sponsorship deals, product endorsement and/or licensing their songs. Even top superstar artists can’t really get rich anymore from selling new recorded music (albums and singles), because a lot of people expect to get recorded music for free and because the percentages that the artists gets for recorded music are very low, after record companies and distributors take their large cuts of the revenue.

However, having recorded music available is still essential for music artists who want to be taken seriously. People can record music on their computers or phones with sound quality that’s almost as good as an expensive recording studio. And there are numerous options for artists to make their music available for sale or for streaming online, other than their own websites. Spotify is currently the top site for independent artists to sell and stream their music. Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube Music and Amazon Music are also popular choices for independent artists.

Artists also have to decide which formats they want for their recorded music. Many artists (such as indie pop singer Phangs) say that they only want to release music digitally because their fans only ask for digital music. Phangs comments, “I’ve never had physical music. What’s wild is that no one asks for it … because it doesn’t matter anymore, unfortunately.”

However, the retailers interviewed in this documentary say that vinyl is making a big comeback and should be considered a viable option for artists who have the type of fans who are inclined to buy vinyl. The biggest drawback to vinyl releases is that a lot of music consumers don’t have and don’t want turntables. As for cassettes and CDs, demands for those formats have been decreasing for years, but CDs are still fairly popular with people who want artwork packaging but don’t want the size of a vinyl album.

Songwriting publishing is a type of revenue that’s separate and different from money made through record sales. A record company handles the money made through sales of the music. A music publishing company handles the money made through licensing songs—for example, if a song is recorded by another artist or is used in visual media. And a performing rights society (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC are the three biggest ones in the U.S.) handles the money made through songs being played on the radio, in nightclubs or wherever recorded music is played. “Instaband” makes the assumption that the artists watching this documentary already know this information.

While some unsigned artists want a major record label to sign them, the vast majority of the artists in this documentary say that major labels (and the major labels’ “indentured servant” type of contracts) only benefit the artists who are on the superstar level, because those artists can afford to pay back the debts that the major label collects as part of the contract. A lot of artists know this already (but many artists still don’t know) that major labels and large independent labels have a contract system where the record company acts as a loan institution to artists.

Whatever money the record company spends to promote an artist is really a “recoupable cost” (or loan) that the artist has to pay back. Furthermore, most contracts for major labels and large independent labels require that the artists sign over the rights to the master recordings of any songs that the artists record under the contract. The record company then has the right to decide when, if or how the recordings will be released.

Considering all the control that artists give up when they sign to a record company, “Instaband” asks the question: Is it worth it? The answer is “It depends.” The general consensus is that artists who want complete control over their music and higher percentages of payments from their music sales generally shouldn’t sign to a major label. The down side is that independent or unsigned artists have to find a way to pay for everything, since they won’t have a major record company to finance tours and do marketing and promotion.

Now that it’s become easier for artists to record their own music (instead of having a record company pay for a recording studio), signing to a record company isn’t the coveted prize that it used to be. It’s why more artists are choosing to bypass record companies and release their music themselves, so that they not only have control over how and when to release music but they also have the rights to own the music. Record companies still have most of the power in getting radio airplay for artists, but a lot of artists don’t need radio airplay to promote themselves and make a living from their music.

In the documentary, Infamous Her (lead singer of the country rock band Her & Kings County) shares her experience of when she and her band were signed to Warner Music Nashville in 2010. She says that the record company demanded that the band spend $250,000 to record an album, even though the band wanted to record the album for a small fraction of that price. Warner Music Nashville threatened not to release the album unless it was done the record label’s way, according to Infamous Her.

Warner Music Nashville released Her & Kings County’s self-titled album in 2011, but the band ended up parting ways with the record company. Looking back on the experience, Infamous Her says that she probably won’t sign with a major label again because she’s learned firsthand how much control an artist gives up to the label for a long-shot hope of making it big.

Tinnesz, who works as a solo artist and as a member of the pop band Wave & Rome, has also gone through the experience of being signed to a major label. He was signed to Curb Records early in his career. According to Tinnesz, being an independent artist is financially harder in the short-term, but the financial rewards can benefit the artist in the long-term. He comments on his experience of being an artist signed to a major label: “The more we learned about the music business, the more we realized that we were never going to recoup. The system was made to keep us in this financial slavery thing.”

In the documentary, Tinnesz says that he makes most of his money as a musician by licensing his songs to visual media. His songs have appeared in a Samsung commercial and on TV shows such as NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior,” ABC’s “The Rookie” and “The CW’s “Riverdale,” “Batwoman” and “Charmed.”

Tinnesz states, “When I started owning my own master [recordings], it changed the game. I can put out music whenever I want, wherever I want.” He comments on the type of royalty payments he receives as an independent artist, compared to being an artist on a major label: “Maybe it’s less, but it’s all mine, and that’s better.”

Claudio mentions that writing songs for other visual-media projects has its own set of challenges: “I think the hard part of this is that you can easily get stuck in writing music that doesn’t mean anything. You can get stuck in writing music about whatever the pitch is or whatever the movie is about. I think where you have to find a happy medium [is] always be yourself and [by] refusing to write music that is not you.”

The Music Modernization Act, signed in 2018, aims to update copyright issues by taking into account digital/streaming music, and giving artists better payment for their music. And although music streaming services such as Spotify have a lot of clout in the music industry, they still can’t completely replace the financial support that artists can get through a record deal.

“A [record] label is a bank,” comments Nashville Unsigned’s Stoneman. “Is Spotify a bank yet? No. But do they help dictate if an artist is successful in streaming? Absolutely.”

Some people in the documentary say that the Music Modernization Act is a step in the right direction for artists getting paid more for their digital music. However, almost everyone in the documentary says that there’s still a long way to go before music artists get the same level of fair-paying labor contracts that other artists (such as actors) get in the entertainment industry. Stealing Oceans comments: “Music is so powerful, but it’s so undervalued … I don’t think songwriters, creators, artists are getting paid what you deserve.”

Many people interviewed in the documentary mention social media as a perfect example of how technology has given artists more control over how they are marketed. Some artists (such as Phangs and rock duo the Riess Brothers) are heavily involved in social media, to the point where fans know the artists’ daily activities off-stage. Other artists, such as pop/ rock singer Paul McDonald (who was a Top 10 “American Idol” finalist in 2011) say that they’re comfortable using social media to only promote their music, not as a way to show a lot of what’s going on their personal lives.

And there are some artists who end up having a viral video that leads to opportunities that most artists don’t get. That’s what happened to rapper Ray Wimley, who makes money as a street busker in New Orleans. When famous rapper/actor Common happened to join in with Wimley for an impromptu, freestyle street performance in July 2019, the video went viral with millions of views on YouTube. A month after the video was filmed, Wimley and Common appeared as guests together on NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” It remains to be seen if Wimley will become a well-known hit artist or if that viral video was just his 15 minutes of fame.

While some artists (like Tinnesz) make most of their money through licensing songs, and others (such as Phangs) say that they make most of their money through selling their own branded merchandise, the vast majority of music artists still make most of their money through live performances. (This documentary was filmed before the coronavirus pandemic.) For independent artists, that usually means bars and nightclubs, while those who develop a large-enough fan base can be booked at larger venues and at major festivals.

And for some independent artists, corporate gigs are the way to go. Boulé, who is a New Age R&B artist, says that performing at company events has been a “lucrative” way that she makes money. She comments that it’s allowed her to find “people who are aligned with me,” because she says it’s important to her to only book gigs with companies that are in line with her spiritual values. Boulé also notes that it’s easier to network with important contacts at a corporate event than it is at a regular nightclub show. “It’s all about aligning and being true to yourself,” she says of corporate gigging.

Although making money in the music industry can be more difficult in an oversaturated marketplace, Stealing Oceans has this optimistic view: “It just blows my mind when people choose to complain where we’re at today. Because really, we are so lucky, and there’s so much at our disposal.”

“Instaband” doesn’t really reveal anything new for people who are very familiar with the music industry. But it’s a fairly good introduction for independent music artists who might be looking for ideas to take their careers to the next level. The documentary assumes that people should know that having good representation and getting good legal advice are essential before signing any contracts, because lawyers, managers and agents basically aren’t mentioned at all in the film.

“Instaband” leans heavily toward artists based in Southern states (there are many people from the Nashville music scene in this documentary), so “Instaband” could have used more variety in interviewing people from other parts of the United States. Because technology and the music industry keep changing, “Instaband” will probably be outdated in about five years, but the documentary has some valuable lessons that can stand the test of time.

Gravitas Ventures released “Instaband” on digital and VOD on July 28, 2020.