Daily Archives: April 7, 2024

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi Junior High 2.12 “He’s Back”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi Junior High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1987 to 1989!  The series can be streamed on YouTube!

Mr. Colby returns!

Episode 2.12 “He’s Back”

(Dir by Clarke Mackey, originally aired on March 21st, 1988)

Mr. Colby (Marcus Bruce) is back, substituting for Ms. Avery.

The last time that Mr. Colby substituted at Degrassi, he ended up sexually harassing Lucy.  Despite the attempts of L.D. and Wheels to convince her otherwise, Lucy decided not to report Mr. Colby.  She just wanted to put the experience in the past and move on.  However, this episode opens with Lucy being woken up by nightmares, in which Colby is the central figure.  When Lucy sees Colby in the office, asking for Ms. Avery’s lesson plans, she freaks out.

Still, she refuses to go to the principal about what happened.  She still just wants to move on.  After her trouble with shoplifting during the first season, Lucy has finished up her community service and is now volunteering at a daycare out of the kindness of her heart.  She’s trying to build a new life for herself but, when it becomes obvious that Colby is now grooming Susie (played by Sarah Charlesworth), Lucy realizes that she can no longer be silent.

“You want to see Mr. Lawrence?” the school secretary says when she sees Lucy, Susie, and every other girl in Colby’s class standing in front of her.  “This better be important.”

It is, Lucy replies.

This is a pivotal episode as far as Lucy’s development is concerned.  In this episode, Lucy shows that she’s gone from being spoiled and self-centered to someone who actually does care about other people and who wants to make the world a better place.  If you know the history of this show and the characters, there’s something a little sad about the scenes in which she goes to Wheels for support.  Those of us who have seen School’s Out (and this is a spoiler for those of you who haven’t so consider yourself warned) know that Wheels is destined to go to prison for killing a kid while driving drunk.  We also know that Lucy is destined to be temporarily blinded and crippled in that same accident.  In this episode, though, both Wheels and Lucy still have their entire future ahead of them.

This episode was a good example of what Degrassi Junior High did so well.  So many teen shows would have wrapped up this storyline in one episode and certainly, they would have never address Lucy’s lingering trauma.  Instead, Lucy would have done gone to the principal on her own, Colby would have been fired, and the entire thing would have never been mentioned again.  Degrassi Junior High, on the other hand, understands that it’s not always easy to do the right thing, especially when you just want to put it all behind you and get on with your life.  With its portrayal of Lucy’s lingering trauma and her reaction to seeing Mr. Colby back in the school, Degrassi Junior High proves itself to be one of the most honest shows about growing up.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 4/1/24 — 4/7/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I want to wish a Happy Eclipse Day to all who plan to celebrate!  Supposedly, it’s going to be cloudy and rainy down here while the eclipse is going on.  That’s okay.  I’ve seen an eclipse before.  When I was six years old, I looked straight at an eclipse.  And now, I wear contact lenses.  Draw your own conclusions!

Anyway, here’s what I watched and listened to this week!

Films I Watched:

  1. Against Their Will (2012)
  2. The Barbarians (1987)
  3. Curse of the Demon (1957)
  4. A Big Hand For The Little Lady (1966)
  5. Blood on the Moon (1948)
  6. Come Before Winter (2016)
  7. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
  8. Devil Worship: Exposing Satan’s Underground (1988)
  9. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
  10. Exists (2014)
  11. Get Christie Love (1974)
  12. Getting Away From It All (1972)
  13. Hitler — Beast of Berlin (1939)
  14. Hitler — Dead or Alive (1942)
  15. The Hunted Lady (1977)
  16. If Tomorrow Comes (1971)
  17. The Man In The Glass Booth (1975)
  18. Playmates (1972)
  19. Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2006)
  20. Underground (1941)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Baywatch Nights
  2. Beane’s of Boston
  3. Check It Out!
  4. Degrassi Junior High
  5. Dirty Pair Flash
  6. Dr. Phil
  7. Fantasy Island
  8. Friday the 13th: The Series
  9. Geraldo
  10. Highway to Heaven
  11. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
  12. Law & Order
  13. The Love Boat
  14. Monsters
  15. Night Court
  16. T and T
  17. Welcome Back, Kotter

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Adi Ulmansky
  2. Barry Adamson
  3. The Black Keys
  4. Britney Spears
  5. Camila Cabello
  6. The Clash
  7. Coldplay
  8. The Cure
  9. David Bowie
  10. ELO
  11. HRDZA
  12. The Human League
  13. I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
  14. Jessica Pratt
  15. Jesus and Mary Chain
  16. Kylie Minogue
  17. Madness
  18. Moby
  19. Pink Floyd
  20. Public Service Broadcasting
  21. Rich White
  22. Rita Ora
  23. Robert Koch
  24. Saint Motel
  25. Shawn Mendes
  26. Sia
  27. The Smiths
  28. Tears for Fears
  29. Til Tuesday
  30. Upsahl
  31. Walkman
  32. The White Stripes

Live Tweets:

  1. Starship Troopers 3
  2. Desperately Seeking Susan
  3. The Barbarians
  4. Exists

Trailers:

  1. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

News From Last Week:

  1. Comedic Actor Joe Flaherty Dies At 82
  2. Playwright Christopher Durang Dies At 75
  3. Poet John Sinclair Dies At 82

Links From Last Week:

  1. Desert Bloom (1986)
  2. WRITE, WRITE AND WRITE SOME MORE…
  3. Dove Love
  4. Visiting Seinfeld’s Infamous “Soup Kitchen” In New York – With The VERY Testy Chef!
  5. Tater’s Week in Review 4/5/24

Links From The Site:

  1. I reviewed Degrassi Junior High, Miami Vice, CHiPs, Fantasy Island, Baywatch Nights, The Love Boat, Monsters, Beane’s of Boston, Highway to Heaven, T and T, Friday the 13th, Welcome Back Kotter, and Check it Out!
  2. I reviewed ABBA: The Movie, Conspiracy, Hitler: Beast of Berlin, Hitler: Dead or Alive, Against Their Will, The Man In The Glass Booth, The Hunted Lady, and Underground!
  3. I shared my Oscar predictions for April and my week in television!
  4. I paid tribute to Marlon Brando, Andrei Tarkovsky, Roger Corman, and Francis Ford Coppola!
  5. I shared scenes from Singin In The Rain, Bridge on the River Kwai, The Godfather, Less Than Zero, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Conversation!
  6. I shared a music video from Walkman.
  7. Jeff shared music videos from Madness, Poison, Metallica, Anthrax, Styx, and Ratt!
  8. Jeff reviewed Deputy Marshal, Bonanza Town, Top Gun, Idaho Kid, Four Fast Guns, Diner, and Marshal of Heldorado!
  9. Jeff paid tribute to Toshiro Mifune and Barry Levinson!
  10. Erin shared Joker In The Deck, Hero’s Lust, Road Show, King Rat, Apartment Party, Army Mistress, and The Eager Beavers!
  11. Erin shared Survive April Fools Day With The Pulps!
  12. Erin shared a moment about watchers and followers!
  13. Erin reviewed The Man From Left Field!

More From Us:

  1. At her photography site, Erin shared The World Is Ending, Clouds in Black-and-White, Another Bird, Just A Picture of a Park In The Rain, Hawk, Country Road, and Tree in the Park!
  2. At my Dream Journal, I shared No Dreams Last Night, Last Night’s Hit Man Dream, Last Night’s Speech Tournament Dream, Zero Dreams Last Night, and Last Night’s Hourglass Dream!
  3. For SyFy Designs, I wrote about the worst day of the year!
  4. At my music site, I shared songs from The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Camila Cabello, Rita Ora, Sia, Jessica Pratt, and HRDZA!

Want to check out last week?  Click here!

Film Review: Underground (dir by Vincent Sherman)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1941’s Underground tells the story of two brothers on opposite sides in Nazi Germany.

Kurt Franken (Jeffrey Lynn) is a patriotic German who believes that the country got a raw deal at the end of World War I and who is a strong supporter of the Nazis.  He served in the army, fighting on the front.  When he returns home to Berlin, he’s missing an arm.  Whenever his friends and his family say that they’re sorry that he lost his arm, he replies that he was happy to make the sacrifice for his country.  When someone starts to mourn for his son who was killed in the fighting, Kurt accuses the man of being a traitor for doubting the wisdom of the government.  Kurt is a true believer, just the type to be recruited by the SS and tasked with helping to investigate who is behind a series of anti-Nazi radio broadcasts.  Kurt believes that, if the government says it, it must be right.  Laws must be obeyed and orders followed without question.  Kurt, in other words, is a very familiar type.

What Kurt doesn’t realize is that the man behind the broadcasts is his own brother, Eric (Phillip Dorn).  As Kurt investigates, he falls in love with Sylvia (Kaaren Verne) without realizing that she is also a part of the resistance.  While Kurt tries to discover who is behind the underground radio station, Eric and his fellow resistance members attempt to stay one step ahead of the Gestapo.

For a film made in 1941, the film’s doesn’t flinch from showing the brutality of the Gestapo.  Like all authoritarian dictatorships, The Third Reich is determined to quash any and all signs of dissent and they investigate the underground radio station with a ruthlessness that even takes Kurt by surprise.  Witnessing first hand the brutality and sadism of the government for which he gave his arm, Kurt starts to doubt his previous beliefs.  But will Kurt’s doubts come in time to save the lives of Eric and his fellow resistance members?

Made at a time when the United States was still officially neutral in the violent conflict that was sweeping the rest of the world and released just a few months before the U.S. officially declared war on the Axis Powers, Underground is a powerful look at life under a dictatorship.  Shot in a noir style, the film’s black-and-white imagery perfectly captures the harshness of life in Germany while the shadows in the background perfectly capture the paranoia of knowing that saying the wrong word could lead to arrest, torture, and death.  The film’s final minutes involve a guillotine sitting ominously in the background, a reminder that Nazi Germany was not the first authoritarian regime and that it would not be the last.

The film is well-acted, with Jeffrey Lynn epitomizing the otherwise intelligent people who allow themselves to get caught up in the madness of the majority.  His discovery of the truth about Germany was obviously meant to mirror the awakening of the Americans who previously supported a policy of neutrality.  By the end of the film, both Karl Franken and the audience understand that the time for neutrality has passed.

Marshal of Heldorado (1950, directed by Thomas Carr)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Heldorado, Arizona is a frontier town with a problem.  The Tullivers, led by Mike (Tom Tyler), keep robbing the bank and running off anyone who agrees to be the town’s marshal.

The Colonel (Raymond Hatton) and the Mayor (Fuzzy Knight) are at their wits end until a bison hunter named Lucky (Russell Hayden) comes riding into town in search of work.  They hire Lucky to be their new marshal, paying him $200 a week and allowing him three free drinks a day.

They also give Lucky a cabin to stay in but when Shamrock Ellison (James Ellison), a dandy from up north, rides into town on a donkey, Lucky decides to rent him the cabin.  When Ellison arrives at the cabin, he finds two Tulliver brothers looking for the stolen money that they hid in the fireplace.  The brothers try to shoot Ellison but accidentally end up shooting themselves instead.

When Ellison says that he wants to keep a low profile, Lucky takes credit for killing the two Tullivers.  When Mike shows up looking for revenge, Lucky has a change of heart and gives all the credit for Ellison.  Lucky makes Ellison his deputy but what he doesn’t know is that Ellison is actually a government agent who has been sent to Heldorado to clean the town up.

This B-western does a good job of mixing comedy with action.  It was one of many films that Ellison and Hayden made together and Hayden’s bluster plays off well against Ellison’s more serious performance.  Much of the humor comes from Ellison having to keep the other townspeople from realizing that he’s a crack shot who knows how ride a horse as well as anyone in town.  As well, Fuzzy Knight has his moments as the always drinking mayor.  The action scenes are well-choreographed and there’s even a suspenseful scene where Ellison gets a shave from a barber who is actually a relative of the Tullivers.  As always, the beautiful Julia Adams is a welcome addition to the cast as the Colonel’s daughter, who falls for Ellison.  For fans of the genre, there’s plenty of entertainment to be found in this brisk, 50-minute western.

Retro Television Review: The Hunted Lady (dir by Richard Lang)

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1977’s The Hunted Lady!  It  can be viewed on YouTube.

Detective Susan Reilly (Donna Mills) reluctantly teams up with a chauvinistic cop named Sgt. Arizzio (Alan Feinstein) to investigate a United States senator who has presidential ambitions.  Arizzio believes that the senator is being back by the Mafia and that it would be disastrous for the country if a mob-connected politician ended up in the White House.  (Being mob-connected didn’t seem to hurt John F. Kennedy but still….)

Now, Detective Reilly and Sgt. Arizzio working together to take down a corrupt senator sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, right?  Well, oddly enough, that’s not what this movie is actually about.  Instead, it’s about Susan going on the run after she’s framed for Arizzio’s murder.  She escapes from police custody with the help of her father.  Though she’s still recovering from being shot earlier in the film, Susan makes her way to Reno and attempts to hide out from both the cops and the Mafia assassin that has been sent to kill her.

Susan hiding out in Reno.  Hmmm …. sound like an intriguing premise for a movie, right?  Well, don’t get to attached to Susan pretending to be a professional gambler because it turns out that bullet wound was more serious than she realized and she ends up passing out from blood loss.  When she awakens, she’s in a free clinic that is run by Dr. Arthur Sills (Robert Reed).  Dr. Sills doesn’t ask Susan too many questions about her past and even hires Susan on as a nurse.  Susan and Dr. Sills fall in love and try to clear the name of a Native American who has been accused of blowing stuff up.

Doing some research, I was not surprised to discover that The Hunted Lady was originally developed as a possible television show.  The show would have played out like a combination of Charlie’s Angels and The Fugitive, with Susan moving from town to town and getting involved with a new set of guest stars each week.  With both the police and the mob trying to track her down, Susan would try to clear her name while also helping out strangers.  Unfortunately, The Hunted Lady wasn’t exactly a hit in the ratings and Susan’s further adventures went untold.

The main problem with The Hunted Lady is an obvious one.  The idea of the Mafia trying to install one of their guys in the White House is considerably more intriguing that Susan falling in love with Dr. Sills while working at a free clinic.  The whole time that Susan was helping the doctor’s patients, I was thinking, “But what about the senator?”  Donna Mills was surprisingly convincing as a tough cop but she had next to no chemistry with Robert Reed.  If anything, Reed looked annoyed at just having to be there.

Anyway, here’s hoping that Susan cleared her name eventually.  You can only run for so long.

Scenes That I Love: Harry’s Nightmare from The Conversation

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1974 was a very good year for Francis Ford Coppola.  Not only did he direct the Oscar-winning Godfather Part II but he also directed another film that was nominated for Best Picture, an intense study of paranoia called The Conversation. 

Today’s scene that I love comes from The Conversation.  Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman, giving one of his best performances) fears that his work may lead to murder.  In this scene, he has a nightmare in which he tries, in vain, to talk to one of the people who he has been surveilling.  This scene perfectly captures the horrific logic and helpless feeling of a nightmare.  Harry, who is not the most open or emotional of men, can only be his true self in his dreams.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Francis Ford Coppola 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 is Francis Ford Coppola’s birthday! Coppola is a bit of a controversial figure among some film scholars. While everyone agrees that, with the first two Godfathers, he directed two of the greatest films of all time (and some people would include Apocalypse Now on that list as well) and that he was one of the most important directors of the 70s, his post-Apocalypse Now career is often held up as a cautionary tale. Some say that Coppola’s career suffered because of his own excessive behavior and spending. Others argue that he was treated unfairly by a film industry that resented his refusal to compromise his vision and ambitions. Personally, my natural instinct is to always side with the artist over the executives and that’s certainly the case with Coppola. Coppola has only completed four films since the start of this current century and three of them were not widely released. Say what you will about the films themselves, that still doesn’t seem right. This year will bring us a new Coppola film, Megapolis. I know that we’re all hoping the best.

Regardless of how one views his latter career, Coppola is responsible for some of the best and most important films ever made. And today, on his birthday, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Francis Ford Coppola Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
The Conversation (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Bill Butler)
The Godfather, Part II (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)
Apocalypse Now (1979, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Vittorio Storaro)

Music Video of the Day: Slip of the Lip by Ratt (1987, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

With this music video of the day, you can follow the adventures of Kitty Galore as she tries to get pictures of Ratt.  Not even a professional journalist doing her job can resist the sound of Ratt’s music.  If this video had come out earlier, Tawny Kitaen would have played Kitty Galore but, by the time this song was recorded, Tawny had moved onto David Coverdale and Whitesnake.

The scenes at the hotel were filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana.  The concert scenes were filmed at a show in Nashville.  For the video, the band performed the song twice during the concert.

Enjoy!