Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 8/28/23 — 9/3/23

The ultimate Labor Day scene comes from one of my favorite movies, Office Space. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you can relate to this scene. Be sure to sing along!

Happy (early) Labor Day!

Retro Television Reviews: Class of ’63 (dir by John Korty)

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay. Today’s film is 1973’s Class of ’63! It can be viewed on YouTube!

It’s college reunion time! Alumni of all ages and from all over the country are returning to the place where they became adults and spent the best years of their lives.

Joe Hart (James Brolin), of the Class of ’63, returns to the campus but he immediately feels like a bit like an outsider. As opposed to his former classmates, many of whom are desperately trying to recapture their fading youth, Joe is quiet and sensitive and he’s aware of the passage of time. He hasn’t come back to college so that he can relive his carefree fraternity days. Instead, his main interest is whether or not his former fiancée will be there.

And it turns out that Louise Swerner (Joan Hackett) is there! She’s accompanied by her husband and fellow member of the Class 0f 63, Mickey Swerner (Cliff Gorman). From the minute that Mickey appears, it’s obvious that he has both a chip on his shoulder and a lot of insecurity. He is visibly annoyed when people fail to immediately recognize him. He and Louise have a strained marriage and he’s not particularly happy with how excited she is to see Joe again. While Mickey tries to convince everyone that he’s grown up to be a winner, Louise and Joe get reacquainted and it becomes obvious that they still love each other. Will Louise and Joe leave the reunion together and should they be more concerned with the fact that Mickey just happens to have a sniper rifle in his luggage? And what to make of Dave McKay (Ed Lauter), the former classmate who seems to be just a little bit too excited to see everyone?

It’s an interesting film and I have to say that it didn’t quite go the direction that I was expecting it to. Despite the presence of the rifle and Mickey’s obvious instability, the film is less a thriller and more a look at what it means to grow up and the difficulty of letting go of the past. None of the characters are caricatures. Joe and Louise may seem perfect together but the film makes clear that they’re also idealizing their time together. With neither one of them really happy with their current life, they’ve both fallen into the trap of wondering, “What if?” Meanwhile, Mickey may be flawed but it’s impossible not to have some sympathy for him. As hostile as Cliff can be, it’s obvious that the person that he hates the most is himself and Cliff Gorman does a good job of capturing Mickey’s raging insecurity. Gorman’s intensity provides a good balance to Brolin’s more laid back performance and, by the end of the film, one can understand why and how Louise was able to fall in love with two men who superficially seem to be so different.

Class of ’63 is a good drama, one that requires a little patience but which ultimately rewards the audience for sticking with it.

Cleaning Out The DVR: To Kill A Stepfather (dir by Peter Sullivan)

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As with so many Lifetime films, To Kill A Stepfather opens with a murder.

Matthew (Dan Golden) is a pillar of his small town’s community. He’s well-liked by all and he’s renowned for the way his voice sounds whenever he sings with the choir. His wife, Kate (Elyse Mirto), is a bit less popular with the community but everyone agrees that Matthew has been good as stepfather to her daughter, Riley (Kelly McCart).

Of course, Riley is not Kate’s only daughter. Nicole (Alex Camacho) is a high-priced defense attorney who left home a long time ago and who has never really made peace with her memories of her mother being an alcoholic. Nicole barely knows Matthew. She’s been too busy pursuing her career to keep up with what’s happening at her former home. Nicole is one of those lawyers who gets yelled at by strangers because so many of her clients are guilty. Now, of course, Nicole’s job is to defend her clients. Guilty or not, anyone accused of a crime is entitled to representation and the job of a defense attorney is to serve as their client’s advocate and help them make their way through the complexities of the American legal system. In other words, Nicole is doing her job. Get off her back, people!

One night, Matthew and Kate’s neighbors hear an argument coming from their house. Inside the house, someone shoves Matthew down a flight of stairs and kills him. When the police arrest Kate for the crime, Riley calls the only attorney that she knows, her older sister Nicole. Nicole returns to her hometown and discovers that, even in jail and desperately needing an attorney, her mother still isn’t happy to see her. Indeed, Kate even says that she would prefer a different lawyer but Nicole takes one look at the ambulance chaser who has been assigned to the case and declares that she’s taking over her mother’s defense.

Apparently, this film was inspired by a true story but it plays out like a typical Lifetime courtroom drama. That’s not a complaint, of course. The familiarity is one of the things that people love about Lifetime movies. From the minute that Nicole meets Kate in prison, the viewer will suspect that they know where the story is heading but that’s okay. The destination is less important than the journey and the journey is enjoyably melodramatic. Alex Camacho and Kelly McCart are instantly believable as sisters and Elyse Mirto gives a good performance as the mother who wants to hold onto her secrets, even if they mean possibly going to prison. In the end, the important thing is that the film embraces the melodrama. That’s really the main thing that we ask from our Lifetime films.

That said, I was kind of amused by how “slick” all of the attorneys in the film were. I’ve worked as an administrative assistant in a law office. I’ve known a few lawyers. I’ve been to the courthouses. Attorneys are usually the most shabbily-dressed people in the courthouse and, usually, they’re juggling way too much to have time to stand around and exchange snarky bon mots. But again, one doesn’t watch a legal drama on Lifetime because they’re looking for a realistic portrait of the American legal system. On Lifetime, all lawyers are perfectly dressed and have not a hair out of place and that’s more than alright.

A Blast From The Past: How To Keep A Job

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Just in time for the Labor Day, here’s a short film from 1949 about How To Keep A Job!

Edward is kind of a dummy. He goes to a job interview and spends the whole time not only trashing his former employer but also trying to avoid admitting that he was fired from his previous job. Fortunately, the man interviewing him can tell that Edward still has potential, despite the fact that he’s kind of a squirmy idiot.

The interviewer tells Edward the story of twin brothers who worked in shipping. One brother was smart and responsible and always a good worker. That bother is now on the verge of being promoted. The other brother, Walter, was irresponsible and more concerned with getting ready for a date than actually doing his job. The message would seem to be that Edward is running the risk of turning into Walter but wait a minute! There’s a twist!

This is certainly an earnest short film. Of course, when seen today, it’s more goofy than educational. I have to admit that films like this always used to make me feel guilty because they’re like, “You must follow these exact steps to get and keep a job,” and I’m over here like, “Or you can just wait for a friend of your mom’s to give you a job!” But anyway, here’s How To Keep A Job!

Here’s The Latest Trailer For The Nun II!

Posted on September 3, 2023 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here is the latest trailer for The Nun II, which will be opening at the end of this upcoming week. Try to control your excitement as we get a second chapter in the least interesting of the various Conjuring spin-offs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLR-jfPcsv4