Yearly Archives: 2022

Badlands of Dakota (1941, directed by Alfred E. Green)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This B-western takes place in the legendry frontier town of Deadwood.  It’s a town that’s patrolled by General George Custer (Addison Richards) and which is home to Wild Bill Hickok (Richard Dix) and Calamity Jane (Frances Farmer).  When outlaw Jack McCall (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and his gang start disguising themselves as Sioux and start robbing stagecoaches, young homesteader Jim Holliday (Robert Stack) is appointed town marshal.  Unfortunately, Jim’s older brother, Bob (Broderick Crawford), has gotten involved with McCall and his gang.  Bob has also never forgiven Jim for marrying Anne (Ann Rutherford), the woman that Bob loved.  Jim struggles to get the town to take him seriously.  When Jim tries to put out a fire that’s threatening to burn down several businesses, the citizens laugh at him and shoot a hole in the water hose.  No one said that the people of Deadwood were smart.  Ann wants to leave town but McCall and his gang are growing more brazen in their attacks and when one of Jim’ mentors is murdered, Jim has no choice but to get justice and revenge.  Meanwhile, the real Sioux grow tired of being blamed every time a stagecoach is robbed and they launch their own attack on the town.

Though the plot may be predictable, Badlands of Dakota is memorable for the cast that was assembled to bring its familiar story to life.  Along with those already mentioned, the cast also includes Andy Devine as a saloon owner, Hugh Hubert as the town drunk, Fuzzy Knight as the town’s stagecoach driver, and the folk band, The Jesters, as the town’s entertainment.  They all do their part to bring the town of Deadwood to life.  Frances Farmer steals the film with her tough and unsentimental portrayal of Calamity Jane and Lon Chaney, Jr. is an effectively hard-edged villain.  This was one of Robert Stack’s first films and he’s appropriately stiff and upright as Jim.  Jim is the only honest man in Deadwood, which also means that Jim is fairly boring when compared to everyone else around him.  It’s also difficult to accept him as being Broderick Crawford’s younger brother, though Crawford does a good job of portraying the personal betrayal that Bob feels when he discovers that Jim has married Anne.

Not surprisingly, Badlands of Dakota plays havoc with history.  This is especially true when it comes to Addison Richards’s sober and reasonable portrayal of a middle-aged General Custer.  (The real-life General Custer died when he was only 36 and could reportedly be slightly erratic.  Not to mention, Custer died the same year that Deadwood was founded so it’s doubtful that he ever visited the city, much less had a personal friendship with Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.)  Still, there’s a lot here to entertain fans of B-westerns.  Along with all of the familiar faces in the cast, there’s also a sequence with an out-of-control stage coach that makes good use of rear projection and the film’s final gun battle is exciting and well-directed.  It’s a quick 76 minutes, full of all the action and bad history that a western fan could hope for.

Music Video of the Day: Breakout by Swing Out Sister (1986, directed by Nick Willing)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Some songs and videos just epitomize an era and that is certainly the case with Swing Out Sister’s Breakout.  Both the song and the video, with its fashion theme, are very much a part of the 80s.  The song itself was Swing Out Sister’s biggest hit in the United States.  Because lead singer Corinne Drewery originally moved to London in order to attend Central St. Martins College of Art and Design and initially planned to become a fashion designer, there’s an element of what if to this music video.

This video was directed by Nick Willing, who also did videos for Eurythmics, Bob Geldof, Debbie Gibson, Kirsty MacColl, Kim Appleby, Tony Banks, and Nik Kershaw.  Willing is still directing to this day.  In 2002, long before Stephen King wrote his sequel to the Shining, Willing wrote and directed a film called Doctor Sleep.  Willing’s most recent film was 2019’s Unstoppable. Sean Scully & The Art of Everything, a documentary about abstract painter, Sean Scully.

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 3/28/22 — 4/3/22

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

My heart goes out to Bruce Willis and his family.  Before the announcement was made about his health, a lot of people said a lot of pretty nasty things about Mr. Willis and his latest films.  Hopefully, this will serve as a reminder that one can be honest and, yes, even snarky about a movie without using it as an excuse to personally attack the people involved.  I’m looking at you, all you Razzie voters.

As for the Will Smith/Chris Rock discourse, it was interesting for like three days.

Between recovering from Oscar Sunday and dealing with the Texas heat, I was pretty lethargic this week.  Still, I did watch some films:

Films I Watched:

  1. American Siege (2022)
  2. Apollo 10 1/2 (2022)
  3. Billy Madison (1995)
  4. The Bubble (2022)
  5. The Encounter (2010)
  6. Death on the Nile (2022)
  7. Dirty Harry (1971)
  8. Gimme Shelter (1970)
  9. Girls Just Want To Have Fun (1985)
  10. Less Than Zero (1987)
  11. Magnum Force (1973)
  12. Miles Between Us (2017)
  13. The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)
  14. Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King (2022)
  15. Windfall (2022)
  16. Wolves (2014)
  17. Xtro (1982)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Allo Allo
  2. American Idol
  3. Bar Rescue
  4. Baywatch Hawaii
  5. The Brady Bunch
  6. Couples Court With The Cutlers
  7. The Dropout
  8. Full House
  9. The Girl From Plainville
  10. King of the Hill
  11. The Love Boat
  12. Open All Hours
  13. Survivor
  14. Talking Dead
  15. The Walking Dead

Books I Read:

  1. The Dream Team: The Rise and Fall of DreamWorks: Lessons from the New Hollywood (2006) by Daniel M. Kimme;
  2. Mafia: The Government’s Secret File on Organized Crime (2009)

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Amy Winehouse
  2. The Beatles
  3. Big Data
  4. Blanck Mass
  5. Bob Dylan
  6. Britney Spears
  7. The Chemical Brothers
  8. Haim
  9. The Human League
  10. Jefferson Airplane
  11. New Order
  12. Role Model
  13. Rolling Stones
  14. Saint Motel
  15. Swedish House Mafia
  16. Talk Talk

News From Last Week:

  1. Bruce Willis Stepping Away From Acting Following Aphasia Diagnosis
  2. Fears for Bruce Willis date back to 2017 movie ‘Glass,’ say insiders
  3. Kevin Smith Apologizes to Bruce Willis for Past Comments After Aphasia Diagnosis as Razzies Double Down
  4. Razzies rescind award slamming Bruce Willis after backlash over diagnosis: ‘It is not appropriate’
  5. Will Smith sparks Roman Polanski debate
  6. Will Smith apologizes: ‘I was out of line and I was wrong’
  7. Will Smith Faces Potential “Suspension, Expulsion” From Academy; Actor Wouldn’t Leave Oscars After Slapping Chris Rock, Despite Reps Being Asked By Organizers
  8. Will Smith’s Oscars Slap of Chris Rock Prompts One-Liners and Worry From Comedians
  9. Will Smith resigns from the academy amid Oscars slap fallout
  10. Netflix Backs Away from Will Smith Film ‘Fast and Loose’
  11. ‘Convoy’ singer C.W. McCall dead at 93 after cancer battle, son says

Links From Last Week:

  1. We all owe Bruce Willis an apology
  2. Could Will Smith lose his Oscar? Explaining the Academy’s code of conduct
  3. How One of the Most Disastrous Moments in Oscar History Unfolded
  4. Hollywood failed Bruce Willis
  5. And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) — Diary of A Movie Maniac
  6. The World’s Common Tater’s Week in Books, Movies, and TV 4/1/22

Links From the Site:

  1. Jeff reviewed Hot Lead!
  2. Jeff shared music videos from Bruce Willis, Duran Duran, OMD, and They Might Be Giants!
  3. Erin shared We Were Strangers, Manhunt, The Fool Beloved, Magnus The Magnificent, Look Out For That Snake!, Vicki, and Detective Tales!
  4. I shared music videos from Haim, Role Model, and Amy Winehouse!
  5. I reviewed the Oscars, Windfall, The Dropout, The Walking Dead, The Bubble, and The Girl From Plainville!
  6. I shared my week in television, my early Oscar predictions for March, and an AMV of the Day!  I also congratulated you for surviving a very busy Oscar Sunday!
  7. Ryan reviewed Screened in Exile, Once Upon A Time In Tijuana, and Queen of Knives!

More From Us:

  1. Ryan has a patreon!  Consider subcribing!
  2. At Days Without Incident, Leonard wrote about where Will went wrong.
  3. At Pop Politics, Jeff also wrote about The Slap.
  4. At her photography site, Erin shared Frog’s Return, prince, What Do You Want?, Passageway, setting, after, and watching!
  5. At Reality TV Chat Blog, I reviewed the latest episode of Survivor!
  6. At my music site, I shared songs from The Beatles, The Human League, Swedish House Mafia, Britney Spears, Haim, Amy Winehouse, and New Order!

Want to see what I did last week?  Click here!

Music Video of the Day: (She Was A) Hotel Detective by They Might Be Giants (1988, directed by Adam Bernstein)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This was the first in a series of “Hotel Detective” songs to be performed by They Might Be Giants.  The video was popular on MTV, though neither John Linnell nor John Flansburgh were reportedly happy with how it turned out.

The video is split between animated sequences and live action shots of Linnell and Flansburgh performing in a hotel room.  The performance clips were directed by Adam Bernstein, who also directed music videos for Public Enemy and Barenaked Ladies (now there’s a double bill) and who is a frequent television director.  (He also directed one of the worst SNL films, It’s Pat.  We won’t hold that against him because it’s doubtful anyone could have made a good It’s Pat film.)  The animated sequences were done by Joey Ahlbum.

According to this interview with Adam Bernstein, the video had a budget of $7,500.

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 3/27/22 — 4/2/22

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week passed out, to be honest.  Oscar Sunday took a lot out of me.  Here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch:

The Academy Awards (Sunday Night, ABC)

I wrote about the Oscars here.

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

Could the British airmen escape from floating down a canal and meeting a submarine?  It sounds like a good idea but …. no, of course it’s not going to work.  Good moaning, indeed!

American Idol (Monday Night, ABC)

Hollywood week!  The genre challenge!  It was boring.  The indie folk group had some of the most annoying singers that I’ve ever seen.  I’m really hoping that the girl who keeps bragging about how “weird” she is will get eliminated early.  If you’re truly weird, you don’t have to beg people to notice.

Baywatch Hawaii (Hulu)

On Wednesday, I finally watched episode two of the second and final season of Baywatch Hawaii.  JD wasn’t being a team player so Sean briefly suspended him and then asked him to help with a rescue.  JD learned an important lesson about putting aside your own concerns and taking one for the team.  Bleh.  Meanwhile, the father of an injured jet skier tried to sue Baywatch Hawaii but then he met the couple who was nearly killed by his son’s carelessness and he dropped his lawsuit.  Yay!  Lessons were learned all around.

On Thursday, I watched episode three.  Jenna was determined to shut down Baywatch and sell the property to the Mafia.  Sean was determined to raise the money necessary to pay his bills.  Fortunately, Jason and Zack saved the gangsters from drowning and, as a result, Baywatch lived to see another day.  You can’t put someone out of business after they save your life.  It’s the Mafia code.

The Brady Bunch (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

All four of Sunday’s episodes centered around the kids playing baseball.  Greg wanted to drop out of school to pursue a career in the majors so Mike used a baseball bat to break his kneecaps.  That seems a little extreme to me but the important thing is that Greg stayed in school.

Couples Court With The Cutlers (Weekdays, OWN)

I watched two episodes on Monday afternoon.  I was too busy making jokes about Will and Jada Smith someday appearing on the show to actually pay that much attention.

The Dropout (Hulu)

I reviewed the latest episode of The Dropout here!

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Personally, I don’t see what was so bad about Danny Tanner wanting to have a clean house.  In all four the episodes that aired last Sunday on MeTV, people gave him a hard time for being compulsively neat but seriously, who would want to live in a dirty house?  For instance, while I was watching Full House, I stepped outside for a few minutes and accident stepped on a rock while barefoot.  Once I came back in, I discovered that the den floor had a trail of bloody footprints on it, much like a totally horrific crime scene.  Needless to say, I was not happy about this turn of events so, once I managed to step bleeding, I spent a few hours scrubbing the floor.  It was just the right thing to do.

The Girl From Plainville (Hulu)

I wrote about the first three episodes of Hulu’s latest miniseries here!

King of the Hill (Weekday Afternoons, FXX)

I watched one episode on Monday.  Desperate to make money so that he could afford some nicer clothes, Bobby first tried to get a legitimate job but eventually, he turned to panhandling.  Hank, needless to say, did not approve of his own son being a bum for fun.  He also didn’t approve of the other panhandlers, who were all basically rich kids just pretending to need the money.  They even forced Hank’s favorite homeless man, Spongey, to move to a different spot!  Fortunately, it all worked out in the end and Spongey hopefully got the money he needed.

Last Man Standing (Sunday, Newsnation)

I swear, this show is inescapable.  It’s on at least one channel every hour of every day.  I guess it kind of makes sense.  It’s a sitcom that didn’t really require too much focus on the part of the viewer and, as a result, it makes for nicely acceptable and inoffensive background noise.  Myself, whenever I see this show, I find myself relating to the middle daughter, the one who pretends to be self-centered but is secretly nicer than everyone else.  Anyway, I watched three episodes on Sunday and I don’t remember a thing about any of them, other than one featured the mom and the older sisters trying on wedding dresses and talking about how silly the world was.  That’s just the type of show that Last Man Standing was.

The Love Boat (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

Debbie Reynolds boarded the ship and briefly pretended to be Dr. Bricker’s nurse.  I’m not sure it’s a good idea for a doctor to agree to allow anyone to “pretend to be a nurse.”  I mean, a nurse still has a lot of real responsibility.  I assume everything worked out in the end.  To be honest, I was busy getting ready for the Oscars so I didn’t pay much attention to the show this week.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Arkwright somewhat desperately tried to convince Nurse Gladys Emmanuel that he wasn’t a monster who is holding Granville hostage.  The nurse (a real one, this time!) was too clever for him.

Saved By The Bell (Sunday Morning, MeTV)

I woke up on Sunday morning and I watched the Christmas episode!  That was the one where Zack and his mom allowed a homeless man and his daughter to move in and then they never mentioned them ever again.  Kind of a strange episode.  I’ve always been worried about what happened to the man and his daughter after the final credits.  It just seems like having two strangers living in the house is something that would have come up again in a future episode.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, ABC)

I wrote about the latest episode of Survivor here!

Talking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

Chris did his best to make this week’s episode of The Walking Dead more interesting than it actually was.  Good for him.

The Walking Dead (Sunday Night, AMC)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Walking Dead here!

TV Review: The Girl From Plainville Episodes 1-3 (dir by Lisa Cholodenko and Zetna Fuentes)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

With The Dropout scheduled to air its final episode next week, Hulu is moving on to another 8-hour miniseries about another young blonde woman who was at the center of a media firestorm.  The Girl From Plainville stars Elle Fannie as Michelle Carter, a teenager who was convicted of more or less goading her “boyfriend,” Conrad Roy (played by Colton Ryan, who was one of the few good things about Dear Evan Hansen) into killing himself.

It was a case that got a lot of attention and Michelle was, for a few months, everyone’s favorite heartless villain.  She was eventually convicted of manslaughter and, after several appeals, was eventually sentenced to 15 months in prison.  She served 11 and is currently free.  She’s 25 years old and has already experienced not only prison but also being briefly the most hated person in the country.  And yet, for all the attention that she received, no one has ever been able to determine just why exactly she told Conrad Roy that he should kill himself or why she went as far as to order him to do so, even after he said he had changed his mind.  There was a lot of speculation that Conrad perhaps thought that he and Michelle had a suicide pact, one that Michelle didn’t follow through on.  It’s also undeniable that, after Conrad’s suicide, Michelle made herself the center of attention.  Before her final text messages to Conrad were discovered, Michelle organized a charity softball game in his memory.  Of course, she held the game in her hometown instead of Conrad’s and apparently, she went out of her way not to involve any of Conrad’s friends or family in her efforts.  Could Michelle have pressured Conrad to kill himself just so she could use his death to be the center of everyone’s attention?

The first three episodes of The Girl From Plainville dropped on Hulu earlier this week and they certainly suggest that Michelle could be capable of doing it all for the attention.  At the same time, they also suggest that Michelle herself probably didn’t truly understand what she did or why she did it.  As played by Elle Fanning and Colton Ryan, both Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy come across as two people who didn’t have much of a connection with reality.  Conrad, or Coco as his friends and family call him, wants to escape a home life that is dominated by the constant bickering between his divorced parents.  He’s at his happiest when he gets a summer job working on a fishing boat and he’s miserable when he has to return to the “real” world, where he’s anxious around people his own age and he’s constantly being used as a pawn in his mother and father’s never ending battles.  Meanwhile, Michelle is so detached that she has to watch an episode of Glee in order to come up with something to say after Conrad’s suicide.  Conrad’s family is earthy, loud, and working class while Michelle’s family is reserved and wealthy but both families have raised children who feel like permanent outsiders.  Indeed, it seems almost preordained that they would eventually find each other and both Colton Ryan and Elle Fanning do a good job of bringing Conrad and Michelle to life.

That said, as I watched the first three episodes of The Girl from Plainville, I did find myself wondering if there was anything more to say about this case.  After the endless news coverage, one Lifetime movie, one HBO special, and countless “ripped from the headlines” episodes of Law & Order: SVU, are there any new insights left to be gleaned from the story of Michelle and Conrad?  With a story this terrible, one’s natural tendency is to search for a deeper meaning but is there really one there?  What if, for all the speculation, Michelle really was just a heartless monster who manipulated Conrad into suicide because she knew she could?  In short, is there enough here to really justify spending 8 hours with someone like Michelle Carter?

I guess we’ll find out over the upcoming few weeks.

Music Video of the Day: (Forever) Live and Die by Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark (1986, directed by Leslie Libman and Larry Williams)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is the video for one of OMD’s most underrated songs, (Forever) Live and Die.  It’s a performance clip, along with a few shots that incorporate the city and the beach.  The 80s were a good time for videos that featured the members of New Wave bands walking through seemingly deserted European cities.  A few years after the release of this video, INXS perfected the style with their video for Never Tear Us Apart.

There are two directors credited for this director.  Leslie Libman is still directing, though mostly for television shows like NCIS and Bull.  Larry Williams also directed the video for OMD’s Shame.

Enjoy!