Monthly Archives: November 2023

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Universal Soldier!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1992’s Universal Soldier, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Universal Soldier is available on Prime!  See you there!

Scene That I Love: Jordan Meets The Government In The Wolf Of Wall Street

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Martin Scorsese’s birthday, it only makes sense that today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films.

In this scene from 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) hosts a meeting with two federal agents on his yacht.  Jordan knows that the agents want to put him in prison but that they don’t have enough evidence as of yet.  The main agent (played by Kyle Chandler) knows that Jordan’s arrogance is his greatest weakness.

This scene, with its faux friendly banter and it’s iconic shot of Jordan throwing money to the wind, is one of Scorsese’s best “confrontation” scenes.  DiCaprio and Chandler perfectly play the two adversaries.  Jordan knows that the agent is determined to catch him but Jordan also knows the agent will never be rich and there’s no way Jordan’s not going to remind him of that every chance that he gets.  The passive aggressiveness of it all is truly a wonder to watch and, in its way, just as intimidating as the conversations between the gangsters who populate many of Scorsese’s other films.

From The Wolf of Wall Street:

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Martin Scorsese Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Martin Scorsese!  It’s time for….

6 Shots From 6 Martin Scorsese Films

Taxi Driver (1976, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Chapman)

Goodfellas (1990, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)

Casino (1995, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

Shutter Island (2010, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

Hugo (2011, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

The Irishman (2019, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Rodrigo Prieto)

 

 

Music Video of the Day: Bad by Michael Jackson (1987, directed by Martin Scorsese)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

I was going to pick another heavy metal video for today but then Lisa told me that today is Martin Scorsese’s birthday and I realized which video I had to pick.  I was actually surprised to see that no one had ever picked Bad for music video of the day in the past.  This is one of those videos that epitomized an era and it was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Here’s the long version, which was rarely played on MTV.

Here’s the shorter version for the Too Long, Didn’t Watch crowd.

You can’t fault Scorsese’s gritty direction, especially in the early black-and-white half of the video.  Michael Jackson is not really convincing as someone who was ever considered to be “bad,” especially when he’s going up against Wesley Snipes, but there’s not much Scorsese could have done about that.  Snipes is not the only familiar actor to appear in this video.  The drug dealer is played by Paul Calderon, who played the bartender in Pulp Fiction.  The voice of Michael Jackson’s mother is supplied by Roberta Flack.  Cinematographer Michael Chapman and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, two regular Scorsese collaborators, also worked on this video.  The script was written by novelist Richard Price.

I can’t hear this song without thinking about Weird Al Yankovic.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Highway to Heaven 1.8 “A Divine Madness”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, things get a bit silly on the highway.

Episode 1.8 “A Divine Madness”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on November 7th, 1984)

Oh, this episode.

Years ago, a ruthless land developer named Arthur Krock (Ron Moody) built a castle for his beloved wife.  Tragically, his wife passed away and Arthur had a nervous breakdown.  Now, he spends all of his time in his castle and he believes that he actually is King Arthur.  He says that he’s waiting for the return of his Guinevere.  Only Marian (Helen Kleeb), his loyal maid, has remained with him over the years.  He, of course, calls her Maid Marian even though that’s a Robin Hood reference and not anything from the Arthurian legends.

Though the elder Arthur Krock is still the head of his company, the day-to-day business is handled by his son, Arthur Krock, Jr. (played by a young and beardless Jonathan Frakes).  Bitter over his unhappy childhood, Arthur, Jr. is just as ruthless as his father once was.  Arthur, Jr. has a 12 million dollar deal to force a woman named Gwen (Jean Allison) off of her land and he’s determined to get it done, even if it means displacing all of the dogs that she and her veterinarian son (Scott Stevenson) look after.

Arthur, Sr.’s daughter, Linda (Ellen Maxted), hires two new handyman and you can probably already guess that they’re going to be Jonathan and Mark.  Working around the castle, Jonathan arranges for Arthur, Sr. to meet Gwen.  When Arthur, Sr. discovers that Gwen is short for Gweneviere, he announces that she can stay on her land.  Arthur, Jr. goes to court to get his father declared incompetent.

Can you guess what happens?  Well, if you think that Arthur, Sr. hires Jonathan to be his lawyer and then announces in court that he has not been the father that he should have been …. you’re absolutely correct!

When people talk about Highway to Heaven being a campy or cheesy show, it’s usually episodes like this that they’re talking about.  Unabashedly sentimental in its approach, this episode suffers from the fact that Arthur, Jr. has a point.  Arthur, Sr. is clearly mentally ill and allowing him to run the company is totally unfair to his employees and the people who have invested in his business.  Just because Arthur, Jr. isn’t particularly likable, that doesn’t make him incorrect.  If the episode had merely portrayed Arthur, Sr. as an eccentric who didn’t want to have to deal with the pain of the real world, that would be one thing.  But this episode has Arthur, Sr. living in a literal castle, sitting on an actual throne, and referring to his son as being Lancelot.  It’s all just a bit too much and Ron Moody’s over-the-top performance doesn’t particularly help.  To the show’s credit, it does eventually acknowledge that Arthur, Sr. needs some help but still, the whole thing just feels a bit …. well, silly.

Next week, Jonathan and Mark help a movie star become a better father!  Hopefully, he doesn’t think that he’s Prester John or Robin Hood or anyone like that.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.7 “Trading Faces”

Posted on 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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Jennifer Slept Here, which aired on NBC in 1983 and 1984.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, Jennifer discovers that she can possess people!

Episode 1.7 “Trading Faces”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on December 2nd, 1983)

While watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Joey suggests that Jennifer may be capable of possessing people.  Joey’s theory is that, just as Jennifer can walk through walls, she can also step into people’s bodies and control them.  This seems like an odd theory for Joey to just come up with.  Personally, I think Joey has been obsessing on this for a while.

Still, Jennifer says, “It’s worth a try!” so she crouches down and steps into the body of Joey’s bratty little sister, Marilyn (Mya Akerling).  And, it works!  Jennifer is able to possess Marilyn!  It’s a good thing that worked, I guess.  I mean, what if Marilyn died as a result of Jennifer trying to walk through her?  How would Joey have explained that?

Jennifer is so excited about possessing Marilyn that she then proceeds to possess Joey’s best friend, Marc (Glenn Scarpelli).  “Joey,” Jennifer-as-Marc says, “you have such beautiful eyes.”  Joey freaks out but Jennifer is having a ball.  The audience thinks its hilarious because this show is from the 80s.

The next morning, as the family eats breakfast, father George (Brandon Maggart) announces that he has a special guest coming by the house, a Spanish film producer (Henry Darrow) who is also an ex-boyfriend of Jennifer’s!  (“Jennifer,” George announces, “was like Will Rogers.  She never meet a man she didn’t like!”)  George tells Joey to act normal and not yell at any invisible people during the producer’s visit.

Of course, it’s not Joey that George should be worried about.  That night, when the producer shows up, Jennifer possesses George’s wife, Susan (Georgia Engel), and she flirts with the producer!  Uh-oh, what if George finds out?  What if this leads to divorce?  What if Joey is sent back to New York and suddenly, Jennifer no longer has anyone to harass?

Jennifer really didn’t think this through.  Or maybe she did and realized that George is the worst person in the world so who cares about destroying his career, marriage, and family?

Anyway, while possessing Susan, Jennifer kisses the producer.  When George witnesses this, Jennifer hops out of Susan’s body, leaving Susan totally clueless as to why George is so upset.  This leads to Jennifer once again possessing Susan so that she can declare her love for George and say that the producer was actually the one who put the moves on her and then George decides to punch out the producer but then the producer says that women are always throwing themselves at his feet and Jennifer realizes that the producer wasn’t that hot after all and then she steps into George’s body so that she can tell off the producer and….

AGGGGGGH!

Sorry.  As you may have guesses, this whole episode was a bit too frantic for its own good but, to give credit where credit is due, both Georgia Engel and Brandon Maggart did credible Ann Jillian impersonations when their characters were possessed.  Still, in the end, the sleazy producer decided to hire George as his lawyer and George accepted his offer because George is the worst person in the world and doesn’t have the self-respect necessary to kick the misogynistic old lech out of his house.  Wow, that’s kind of depressing.  Jennifer’s dead, everyone thinks that Joey is crazy, and George is so desperate for money that he’ll even take it from a guy who just tried to break up his marriage.  This show is dark!

Next week, Jennifer helps Joey beat up the school bully!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Allison Anders Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the great director Allison Anders!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Allison Anders Films

Border Radio (1987, dir by Allison Anders, Dean Lent, and Kurt Voss, DP: Dean Lent)

Gas Food Lodging (1992, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Dean Lent)

Mi Vida Loca (1993, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Rodrigo Garcia)

Grace Of My Heart (1996, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Jean-Yves Escoffier)

Music Video of the Day: True Love Pt. #2 by X (1983, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

This song appeared on X’s fourth studio album, More Fun In The New World.  That was the last of X’s albums to be produced by Ray Manzarek, formerly of The Doors.  This was also the band’s final album before the divorce of John Doe and Exene Cervenka.  Even after splitting up and marrying other people, John and Exene continued to make wonderful music together.

This video features John and Exene singing the song while Billy Zoom plays guitar and flashes his trademark smile.  X was about as positive as any punk band ever would be.

Enjoy!