Monthly Archives: September 2024

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb!

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 presents, in memory of James Earl Jones, 1964’s Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb!  Jones made his film debut in this Stanley Kubrick-directed classic.

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.

Dr. Strangelove is available on Prime!  See you there!

Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Gilbert Taylor)

Happy Friday the 13th From The Shattered Lens

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Friday the 13th!

Today is the greatest Friday of the year because today is not only the 13th but it’s also only a month until October 13th!  Some people consider Friday the 13th to be unlucky but those people have obviously never been the only “good girl” at a weekend party up at Camp Crystal Lake.  Ask any of them and they can tell you just how lucky Friday the 13th can be.

To our readers who are currently struggling today, we make the following suggestion: Turn off twitter.  Turn off MSNBC.  Definitely turn off CNN.  Block ABC from your memory.  And why not just sit back and enjoy the antics of those fun-loving kids up at Camp Crystal Lake?

In fact, in case you need help picking which movie to watch, I hve reviewed every single Friday the 13th! here on the Shattered Lens!  I personally recommend that you watch parts 1, 2, and 4 but it’s totally up to you!  Here’s some links to my reviews:

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th Part 2

Friday the 13th Part 3

Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

Friday the 13th: Jason Lives

Friday the 13th Part VII: A New Blood

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday

Jason X

Freddy vs Jason

Friday the 13th: The Pointless Remake

And then be sure to check out: 12 Thing You May Not Have Known About Friday the 13th and my review of Camp Crystal Lake Memories!

The world will still be here when you get back, we promise.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!  Horrorthon ’24 is just a two weeks away!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 2.16 “Keep Smiling”

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 Freevee and several other services!

This week’s episode made me cry.

Episode 2.16 “Keep Smiling”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 5th, 1986)

One night, seven year-old me asked my mom, “After someone dies, will they be able to come back to visit us?”

My mom told me that they would but that we wouldn’t be able to see them.  But we would know that they were there.  We would feel it in our hearts.  And maybe we would see them in our dreams.

I relate this anecdote because I think it’s important to understand my current state of mind as I watch and review this show.  My mom passed away nearly 16 years ago.  My Dad passed away nearly a month ago.  I’m still very much in mourning right now.  My logical side can look at an episode of Highway to Heaven and say that it was an extremely sentimental and, at times, rather manipulative show.  But my emotional side,  the side that leads with my heart and that hopes to see my mom and dad every night in my dreams, that side watches this show in tears.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.  Sometimes, it’s important to cry.  For someone like me, who tends to put up walls whenever I’m upset, watching a show like this can actually be very helpful.

This week’s episode features Jonathan and Mark helping out Jane Thompson (Dorothy McGuire), a lonely widow who has never really gotten over the death of her husband, Arthur.  Arthur died of lung cancer nearly forty years ago.  Now, Jane lives alon in their house.  It’s been a while since even her daughter has come to visit.  Jonathan and Mark stop by the house, looking to rent out Jane’s spare room.  Jane says she would prefer a woman to be her roommate.  Jonathan says he understands and then tells her, “Keep smiling.”  Hearing the phrase causes Jane to change her mind about renting the room to Jonathan and Mark.  “Keep smiling,” was something that Arthur always used to say.

That’s because, before he became an angel, Jonathan was Arthur Thompson!  (Jonathan explains to Mark that angels come back in a “different form” than how they appeared when they died.)  While Jonathan tries to cheer up the depressed Jane and get her to embrace life, Mark tries to convince Jane’s daughter to pay her a visit.  When Mark doesn’t have any luck, Jonathan throws on a white jacket and a pair of ray-bans and, pretending to be a gigolo, he tells his daughter that he’s going to marry Jane for her money.  That may sound a little extreme but hey, it works!

This episode made me cry.  What can I say?  Right now, emotionally, I’m just at a point where anything that is sentimental and well-acted will bring tears to my eyes.  This show may be a tad manipulative but, at its best, there’s an aching sincerity to this show that simply cannot be dismissed.  Sometimes, that type of sincerity is exactly what is needed.

Retro Television Review: Malibu, CA 1.9 “Murray Wear”

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 Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, Jason and Scott do something stupid!

Episode 1.9 “Murray Wear”

(DIr by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on December 6th, 1998)

Peter gives Jason and Scott the responsibility of ordering supplies for the restaurant.  Jason and Scott get distracted by a bunch of models who stop by for a bite to eat and, as a result, they order too much of everything and end up costing Peter a lot of money.  It’s tempting to say that this is another example of Jason and Scott being idiots (and it is) but this also an example of Peter being an even bigger idiot for giving them any responsibility to begin with.

Peter wants to be paid back for the money that his son wasted and he threatens to take the money from their paychecks unless they can pay him back in some other way.  Jason and Scott rent out time on the community access channel and attempt to do their own home shopping network.  No one’s interested in buying their kitchen supplies but when Murray wanders on set wearing a paint-splatted, plastic coat, the phones start ringing.

Realizing that everyone wants their own version of Murray’s coat, the boys start up Murraywear and produce their own commercial.  When a buyer from Bloomingdale’s calls and says she’s thinking about stocking Murraywear in the store, Jason and Scott decide it’s time to have a fashion show on the beach….

Of course, if Jason and Scott have the money to 1) produce a television show, 2) produce a commercial, 3) buy ad space, and 4) put on a fashion show, why don’t they have the money to pay back their father?

It turns out that Murraywear has one fatal flaw.  The paint wipes off very easily.  A sudden rainstorm leaves everyone at the fashion show wearing only a transparent coat and their underwear.  Everyone freaks out.  It’s about as racy as a Peter Engel show can get, which is to say that it’s not racy at all and everyone is wearing boring underwear.

Meanwhile, Tracy dates a British snob who is, of course, named Ian (John Paul Saurine).  When Ian and his parents talk about how Malibu is beneath them, Peter reminds them that they lost the Revolutionary War and Tracy realizes that she loves the beach too much to be with someone who hates it.  Good for her!

What a stupid episode.  I mean, it could have been worse.  I actually did like Murray’s paint-splotched coat and I would have ordered one for myself.  But still, Jason and Scott are just too unlikable and, quite frankly, too stupid to really be compelling protagonists.  One could imagine the casts of California Dreams or even Hang Time pulling this episode off but it’s impossible to care about whether or not Jason and Scott get in trouble.  Seriously, they need to head back to New York.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 2.13 “Habitat”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week’s episode is an experiment that doesn’t quite work.

Episode 2.13 “Habitat”

(Dir by Bette Gordon, originally aired on January 14th, 1990)

Jamie Neal (a young Lili Taylor) is 23 years-old and newly single.  She’s been offered an opportunity that could earn her enough money that she will never have to work another day in her life.  She has to spend 9 months in an enclosed space.  She’ll be given food to eat.  She requested to be given a guitar to play.  All she has to do is spend nine months in the room and react every time that she hears an annoying buzzing sound.  Of course, she can’t go outside or have any contact with anyone else.  The entire time, someone will be watching her.

Jamie starts the experiment feeling confident and almost cocky.  She carefully reads over the contract, commenting on how easy it will be to handle all of the requirements, before signing it.  Jamie brags that her ex-boyfriend was an attorney (though he preferred to be called a “litigator,” — hey, I know the type, Jamie!) and she knows exactly how to read a contract as a result.

The story jumps forward a few weeks.  Jamie is in isolation, still reacting to every buzz and eating the pizza that’s randomly sent down to her.  However, she is no longer cocky and confident.  She’s grown tired of being trapped in one room and not even her guitar brings her joy anymore.  She wanders around the room, demanding to be set free.

There’s a twist to this episode and I bet you already guessed it.  That twist is that Jamie is a part of an experiment that is being conducted by a bunch of aliens.  As they watch Jamie lose her mind and eventually her life in the small room, the aliens dispassionately discuss how strange humans are.  They hate to be confined and yet they have no problem confining the animals that live with them.  Jamie may have viewed herself as being a prisoner with no freedom but the aliens viewed her as being a pet.  One alien (and I should note that the rubber alien costumes are absolutely ludicrous) says that he thinks he might be feeling an emotion that humans call “grief.”  Someone was obviously hoping to play a half human/half whatever science offer on a Star Trek spin-off.

(“What is this thing you humans call joy?”  Bleh.)

This episode was pretty dull.  Obviously, Lili Taylor is a talented actress but in this one, she gets stuck with some really less-than-impressive dialogue.  Not even the scenes where she’s losing her mind are particularly interesting.  There’s nothing shocking about discovering that she’s had a breakdown.  One can see that it’s going to happen from the minute that she steps into the chamber.  By that same token, there’s nothing at all surprising about the big twist.  Even though who haven’t read Slaughterhouse-Five will easily guess that Jamie is being put on display.

This was a rather forgettable experiment.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 4.22 “Sally’s Paradise/I Love You, Too, Smith/Mama and Me”

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 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, Gopher finds love!

Episode 4.22 “Sally’s Paradise/I Love You, Too, Smith/Mama and Me”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy, originally aired on March 7th, 1981)

Occasionally, on The Love Boat, a member of the crew would happen to find love.

It seemed to happen most often to Julie.  Having watched three and three-quarters seasons of The Love Boat, I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve seen Julie tear up while saying goodbye to a passenger with whom she had fallen in love.  Isaac also seems to have had his share of shipboard romances.  Doc is almost always seen escorting someone to his cabin.  The Captain is usually busy running the ship but he’s found a few opportunities to fall in love.

And then there’s Gopher.  Poor, goofy Gopher.  He’s had a handful of cruise romances but, compared to his co-workers, they tend to be few and far apart.  This week, however, Gopher finally gets to have another romance.  (Perhaps not coincidentally, the Gopher storyline was co-written by Fred Grandy.)

Angelina Blenderman (Joanna Pettet) is the by-the-book customs agent who always takes her time checking people’s luggage when they disembark from the ship.  Blenderman and Gopher have an antagonistic relationship, with her making fun of him for wearing shorts with his uniform and Gopher complaining that Blenderman is a humorless scold.  But when Blenderman boards the ship and Gopher discovers that her boyfriend, Ray (Christopher Pennock), is a total cad who is cheating on her, Gopher and Blenderman fall in love.

And you know what?  It’s actually really sweet.  Fred Grandy and Joanna Pettet had a lot of chemistry and they made for a cute couple.  Pettet did an especially good job of capturing the insecurity lurking beneath the abrasive surface.  My heart really broke for her when she first discovered Ray cheating on her.  (Grandy himself had a nice moment where he shyly revealed to Blenderman that his little-used first name was actually “Burl.”  “Stick with Smith,” Blenderman replies.)  I was happy to see that Blenderman and Gopher were still together at the end of the cruise.

As for the other (less interesting) stories, Sally (Juliet Mills) is the manager of the ship’s gift shop.  When Julie hears that Sally’s fiancé, Donald (Gary Conway), is boarding the ship, she is excited for Sally.  Then Sally’s other fiancé, Ricardo (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.), unexpectedly boards the ship.  And then Henry (Kenneth Kimmins) boards the ship and Julie learns that Sally has gotten engaged to a third man!  None of the men know about each other.  Sally explains to Julie that she loves something different about all three of them.  When Donald, Ricardo, and Henry all stop by the gift shop at the same time, Sally’s secret is revealed.  Realizing that she has to choose and having been assured by the men that they will respect her choice, Sally decides to remain single and continue to date all three of the men.  Good for Sally!  On the one hand, her actions are very manipulative, regardless of how much she loves each man.  On the other hand, she is right when she says she has the right to explore different things and enjoy her life.  Somehow, Juliet Mills makes Sally into a likable character.  (One can only imagine how cringey this episode would have been if Hayley had played the role.)

Finally, Natalie Corson (Sylvia Sidney) boards the ship with her son, Stanley (Eddie Mekka).  Natalie wants Stanley to marry a woman that he’s not in love with.  Stanley would rather marry his childhood friend, Jill (Joan Prather).  Natalie accuses Jill of being a nudist because she wears a bikini but eventually, Natalie comes to realize that she’s not being fair and her son deserves to be happy.  The problem with this story was that Stanley was such a wimp that you couldn’t help but feel that Jill deserved better.

With the exception of the third story, this was a fun cruise.  I’m glad Gopher found love and Sally found lust.  It was an enjoyable trip on the boat that offers something for everyone.