
by Ed Emshwiller
Happy Dinosaur Day!
by Ed Emshwiller
Happy Dinosaur Day!
Sure, Oppenheimer might have the biggest cast in the history of the movies but does it have its own music video?
Greta Gerwig is not only the director of Barbie but she also directed the movie’s music video, as well!
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!
This week, The Love Boat sets sail for a thoroughly pleasant cruise. Come on board, they’re expecting you!
Episode 2.16 “Gopher’s Opportunity / The Switch / Home Sweet Home”
(Directed by Roger Duchowny and Allen Baron, originally aired on January 20th, 1979)
I’ve been watching these old episodes of The Love Boat for a while now and I have to say that I’m still not totally sure what it is that Gopher actually does on the ship. Merrill Stubing is the captain and is responsible for the safety of all of the passengers. Julie McCoy is the cruise director and is responsible for making sure everyone is entertained. Adam Bricker is the doctor and is probably responsible for the cruise line getting sued by every patient that he hits on. Isaac Washington is the bartender and is responsible for getting everyone so drunk that they’ll go back to their cabin with the first person who asks. But what does Gopher do?
I know that Gopher is the purser but the show has never really made clear what that means. I know I could look it up on Wikipedia but that’s not really the point. The point is that, while Fred Grandy was certainly likable in the role, the show often seemed to be unsure of what to do with Gopher. His cabin was decorated with posters of old movies but Gopher rarely spoke of being a fan. Instead, while the other crew members fell in love with passengers and got involved in each other’s lives, Gopher was often left as a mere observer.
This episode is unique because it actually allows Gopher to do something. When his old friends, Melody (Elayne Joyce) and Phil (Bobby Van), board the ship, they tell Gopher that they need a manager for their hotel and that they’re offering him the job. Normally, Gopher would never think of leaving his friends on the Pacific Princess but this episode finds him getting on Stubing’s nerves by leaving too many suggestions in the suggestion box. (One suggestion, which Stubing finds to be particularly egregious, is that the boat should have a designated “no smoking” area, which today just sounds like common sense, Can you even smoke on a cruise ship anymore?) Gopher, feeling underappreciated by the Captain, takes the hotel job. But, after he realizes that there’s an attraction between him and Melody, Gopher decides to stay on the boat and instead, he encourages Phil to give the position to Melody. It’s a pretty simple story but it does allow Fred Grandy to do something more than just make wisecracks in the corner. To be honest, the main theme of this story seemed to be that Captain Stubing is an insensitive jerk who doesn’t really appreciate his crew until they threaten to quit.
While Gopher is trying to decide whether to pursue a new career, magician Al Breyer (Ron Palillo, co-star of the latest addition to Retro Television Reviews, Welcome Back, Kotter) comes to the ship as a last-minute replacement for his older brother, Ken (Michael Gregory). Ken’s assistant, Maggie (Melinda Naud), is already on the boat and she’s disappointed when Al shows up instead of Ken. It turns out that Maggie was more than just Ken’s assistant. At first, she refuses to work with Al but she comes around when she discovers that Al is sensitive and nice and basically the opposite of Ken. When Ken does finally show up on the ship, he’s such a sleazeball that you have to kind of wonder what Maggie ever saw in him to begin with. Al responds to Ken’s arrival by locking him in a closet and then he and Maggie leave the boat, arm-in-arm. Hopefully, someone found Ken before he suffocated because, otherwise, Al’s magic career might come to an abrupt end.
Meanwhile, Hetty Waterhouse (Nancy Walker) decides that she’s going to live on the ship. She can do this because she’s a wealthy widow. She books her cabin for the next five years. Oddly, even though the audience has never seen or heard about her before, everyone else on the crew seems to know her and treats her like an old friend. That always bothers me a little, when we’re told that a previously unknown character is apparently everyone’s best friend. Anyway, the main reason that Hetty wants to live on the boat is because she’s in love with Charlie (Abe Vigoda), a cabin steward who has apparently been on the boat for years but who, again, the audience has never seen or hear about before. Charlie is retiring but he wants to get an apartment on dry land. He’s tired of the sea. Hetty gives up her cabin so that she can move into Charlie’s apartment. Awwwww!
This was actually a pretty sweet episode. Gopher finally felt appreciated by the captain. Al and Maggie realized that they were both better than Ken. Hetty and Tessio Charlie found late-in-life happiness together. This was a perfectly charming cruise!
Here are my Oscar predictions for May!
Well, for once, Cannes has helped the Oscar picture to come into focus. The triumphant premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon not only cemented the film’s status as an early front runner but it also confirmed that Leonardo DiCaprio will be in the running for Best Actor and Lily Gladstone for either Best Actress or Supporting Actress. It also sound like Robert De Niro could receive another nomination. (Despite the importance of his role, Jesse Plemons’s screen time is apparently limited.)
The other Oscar contender to come out of Cannes would appear to be Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. There is some talk that the film itself could be a bit too chilly for the Academy and, being familiar with Glazer’s work, that would not necessarily surprise me. But, for now, The Zone of Interest is among my predicated Best Picture nominee. I’m also going to continue to predict that Oppenheimer will be nominated and, after seeing the trailer, I’m a bit more confident that The Color Purple will be nominated as well. And I’m still going to toss in Barbie because why not?
That said, the year isn’t even halfway over yet and there’s a lot of films to come. It’s entirely possible that the majority of the best picture nominees are going to be films that haven’t even shown up on anyone’s radar yet.
Below are my predictions for May. Be sure to also check out my predictions for March and April!
Best Picture
Barbie
The Color Purple
Dune: Part Two
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best Director
Blitz Bazawule for The Color Purple
Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest
Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Alexander Payne for The Holdovers
Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper in Maestro
Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon
Colman Domingo in Rustin
Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers
Andre Holland in The Actor
Best Actress
Emily Blunt in Pain Brokers
Greta Lee in Past Lives
Natalie Portman in May December
Margot Robbie in Barbie
Emma Stone in Poor Things
Best Supporting Actor
Willem DaFoe in Poor Things
Matt Damon in Oppenheimer
Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon
Ryan Gosling in Barbie
Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis in Air
Jodie Foster in Nyad
Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon
Taraji P. Henson in The Color Purple
Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers
Today, we wish a happy 93rd birthday to Clint Eastwood!
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1971’s Dirty Harry, in which Clint finally confronts the the Scorpio Killer (Andy Robinson) and asks him if he feels lucky. Eastwood himself later said that Callahan’s badge must have been attached to a rubber band because he was somehow able to get it back in time for Magnum Force.
An early winter sounds nice but, of course, we have to deal with the summer first. Bleh.
By the way, that is Steelo Vasquez playing Gwen’s boyfriend in this video. He was a dancer on The Sweet Escape Tour.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, the Island plays hosts to both a bowling tournament and a circus reunion!
Episode 2.24 “Bowling/Command Performance”
(Dir by Michael Vejar, originally aired on May 12th, 1979)
This week, after spotting the approaching plane, Tattoo attempts to show off the new rocket fuel he’s invented. Unfortunately, the fuel doesn’t work and the rocket doesn’t take off. I guess that’s actually a good thing, considering that there’s a plane flying over the island.
“Let’s greet our guests,” a visibly annoyed Roarke says.
This week, Fantasy Island is playing host to two big events. First, there’s the Fantasy Island Bowling Tournament, in which three of the world’s greatest bowlers will face off against Lou Fielding (Al Molinaro). Lou is not a bowling champion. In fact, he’s not even a very good bowler. I don’t know much about bowling but even I know that the goal is not to get the ball in the gutter. However, Lou’s fantasy is to win the championship. Mr. Roarke plants stories in the local press that Lou has been causing a stir on the European bowling circuit and, at the tournament, Lou discovers that strikes are all that he can roll. Unfortunately, Lou’s fantasy is due to end at midnight and, because of an electrical short, the championship game is delayed until the final morning. Can Lou get the three strikes that he needs, even though he no longer has the benefit of the Island’s magic?
While this is going on, Naomi Gittings (Joan Blondell) is hosting a reunion of all of the people who used to perform in her circus. That’s right …. the Island is crawling with acrobats, lion tamers, and clowns! There’s especially a lot of clowns. But I think most viewers will be more interested in Roddy McDowall, playing the role of a former tight-rope walker named Richard Simmons. Richard used to be on the best but then he lost his balance, fell off his rope, and smashed his leg. Now, he’s a drunk who walks with a limp and is forced to beg his old friends for money. When members of the circus start to get murdered, Richard is the natural suspect. But, as Mr. Roarke reveals, there’s more to this mystery than meets the eye….
I liked this episode. Both of the stories were entertaining and, after last week’s children’s episode, it was kind of nice to once again be dealing with adults. The bowling fantasy had the potential to be too silly for its own good but Al Molinaro and, in the role of his wife, Rue McClanahan played their roles with surprising conviction. The highlight of the episode was Roddy McDowall, giving a serious performance as poor Richard. All in all, this was a good trip to Fantasy Island.
Next week, the second season comes to an end with a second visit to …. ugh …. “the other side of the Island.”
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More 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!
127 years ago, on this date, the great American filmmaker Howard Hawks was born in Indiana. Over a career that spanned several decades, Hawks proved himself to be a master of every genre. He made great crime films, great noirs, great comedies, and great westerns. His influence continues to be felt to this day. In honor of his legacy, it’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Howard Hawks Films