Daily Archives: June 18, 2025

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.21 “Talk Nice To Me”

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, someone won’t stop calling!

Episode 3.21 “Talk Nice To Me”

(Dir by Ernest Farino, originally aired on February 17th, 1991)

A sexist newspaper columnist named Martin (Ed Marinaro) starts receiving phone calls from a woman (Tina Louise) with a sultry voice.  She continually calls him, leaving message after message.  She refuses to reveal her name or how she got Martin’s unlisted “private” number.  (This episode aired during the landline era, before you could block numbers.)  Martin tries everything to get her to stop calling.  He disconnects his phone for two days but, as soon as he reconnects, she calls again.  Martin can’t work.  He can’t write.  When he invites Linda (Teri Ann Lind) over to his apartment, his paranoia prove to be a real turn-off.  He becomes convinced that the stalker has somehow entered his apartment.  The truth is even more twisted….

This episode had potential but it was let down by a rather cartoonish performance by Ed Marinaro.  I could buy Marinaro as a misogynist.  I could even buy Marinaro as a womanizer.  I couldn’t buy him as a successful newspaper columnist and, as a result, the whole “you’re going to lose your column!” subplot fell flat for me.  That said, Martin’s apartment was an appropriately claustrophobic location and the idea of the nonstop caller was suitably creepy.  This was not necessarily bad episode.  It’s just an episode that could have been better than it was.

Only three more episode to go and we will have finished up with Monsters.  Though uneven, the third season has still been a marked improvement over the first two.  Even the third season episodes that don’t work quite as well as they should, like this one, are watchable.

Brad’s Song of the Day – “Ballad of Paladin” from HAVE GUN – WILL TRAVEL!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Actor Richard Boone was born on this day, June 18th, in 1917. While he was in some great movies in his day, he’ll probably always be remembered for the iconic role of Paladin in HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL. The first time I ever heard this song was when the boys were walking down that train track and singing it in the movie STAND BY ME (1984). Since then I’ve seen many episodes, and I can certainly understand how Paladin became an icon.

Happy Birthday in cinema heaven, Richard Boone! Enjoy the “Ballad of Paladin!”

Brad reviews 10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983), starring Charles Bronson!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Charles Bronson is Leo Kessler, a veteran detective who’s seen it all and has grown sick of a system of justice that he thinks favors criminals over their victims. When girls start getting murdered, he immediately suspects the arrogant Warren Stacy, played by Gene Davis in the best role of his career. When Kessler and his partner Paul McCann (Andrew Stevens) start putting the pressure on Stacy, the killer responds by going after Kessler’s daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher). Needless to say, our hero will do anything to stop the madman, ANYTHING!

10 TO MIDNIGHT is a special movie in my house because it’s my wife’s favorite Charles Bronson film, even when she didn’t have any overall appreciation for Bronson as an actor. Luckily for her, she had me to introduce her to the rest of the iconic actor’s voluminous catalog of movies. I saw 10 TO MIDNIGHT myself when I was pretty young, probably 13 or so. I remember being scared that first night after I watched the movie when I was trying to go to sleep. My wife and I watched it today on my old VHS tape that I’ve owned going back to the late 1980’s. 

There are several elements that elevate 10 TO MIDNIGHT above the average cop / slasher thrillers of the 1980’s. First, it’s Charles Bronson in the lead role. Bronson has such a strong presence on screen that his presence alone elevates almost any material. He looks great in the film, and the role gives him some good opportunities, as both a mentor to the young cop, and even more importantly, as a dad who wants to do better for his daughter. It’s a solid role that seems to fit Bronson like a glove. Second, we know from the very beginning of the movie that Warren Stacy is in fact the killer. We also know that the law seems to be working in his favor. And because of that, we’re on Kessler’s side as he goes to extreme lengths to stop his reign of terror. Finally, the script and director J. Lee Thompson go all in on the sex and violence. Examples include Stacy killing his often naked victims while he himself is in the nude. There is much talk in the film about items of a sexual nature and Stacy even has a sexual release device that almost has to be seen to be believed. It definitely adds a decadent and voyeuristic feel to the proceedings. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that it has one of the very best endings of any Bronson film, second only to THE MECHANIC, in my humble opinion.

I highly recommend 10 TO MIDNIGHT!

For a more detailed review of 10 TO MIDNIGHT, check out Lisa’s review from a couple of years back below:

Film Review: 10 to Midnight (dir by J. Lee Thompson)

So, I Watched Mickey (2004, Dir. by Hugh Wilson)

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Tripp Spence (Harry Connick, Jr.) is a lawyer who cheated on his taxes.  He goes on the run with his 13 year-old son, Derrick (Shawn Salinas).  They settle in Las Vegas with new identities.  Tripp now goes by Glenn Ryan and Derrick’s new name is Mickey.  Because Derrick was given the identity of someone who was a year young than him, he is still eligible to play one more season of Little League baseball.  Mickey leads his team to victory after victory and that’s no surprise.  He’s a year older and a head taller than all the other players.  Eventually, Mickey takes his team to the Little League World Series, where he plays a team from Cuba.  Glenn knows that, with all of the publicity, the IRS is going to catch him but all that matters is that his son get to play in the big game.

I love baseball and I can get pretty sentimental when it comes to watching a Little League game.  I tear up at both version of The Bad News Bears.  I also like Harry Connick, Jr.  What I don’t like is cheating and it bothered me that this whole movie was built around a father encouraging his son to cheat.  There wasn’t any reason why Mikey had to be thirteen.  It wouldn’t have changed the plot that much if he had actually been twelve and still eligible to play.  It’s one thing when major leaguers cheat by corking their bat or wiping something on their pitches.  They’re adults and everyone knows that it’s a part of the game.  But to encourage your son to cheat at Little League?  That’s low.

Mickey was written by John Grisham, who loves baseball but who still should have known better.

Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story (1992, directed by Charles Braverman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Hank Gathers is one of the most intriguing “what if?” stories of modern basketball.  Growing up in the Raymond Rosen Projects of Philadelphia, Hank stayed out of trouble by playing basketball.  An outstanding high school player, he went first to USC before transferring to Loyola Marymount.  Along with his friend Bo Kimble, he was a stand-out player at Loyola.  However, on March 4th, 1990, the 23 year-old Gathers collapsed during a game with Portland and died on the court, the victim of an abnormal heartbeat.  His last recorded words were, “I don’t want to lay down!”  Gathers set records in college.  Would he have done the same in the NBA?  Sadly, we’ll never know but he definitely had the talent and the ability to be one of the best.

Final Shot is a by-the-numbers biopic of Hank Gathers, focusing on his life in the projects and his friendship with Bo Kimble.  Victor Love plays Gathers while Kimble is played by Duane Davis and they both give good performances.  Their friendship feels real and when Hank helps Bo recover from a broken leg and when Bo worries about Hank’s recently diagnosed heart condition, the scenes are sincere in a way that lifts the film above the normal biopic clichés.  Nell Carter and George Kennedy both have good roles as well, Carter as Hank’s mother and Kennedy as Hank’s high school coach and mentor.  This is the type of role that Kennedy could have played in his sleep so I appreciated that he actually gave a believable performance.

Final Shot is a made-for-TV movie so it doesn’t dig too deeply into Gathers’s life outside of basketball, the way that college treat their athletes, or the systems that made playing basketball Hank’s only way of escaping the projects.  For what it is, though, it’s a fitting tribute.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.3 “The Anniversary Gift/Honey Bee Mine/Bewigged, Bothered and Bewildered”

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!

It’s time so set sail for adventure, your mind on a new romance….

Episode 6.3 “The Anniversary Gift/Honey Bee Mine/Bewigged, Bothered and Bewildered”

(Dir by Ted Lange, originally aired on October 16th, 1982)

Oh my God, what did Julie do to her hair!?  I mean, I understand that it was the 80s and everything but Julie’s short, spiky look in this episode is not a good decision.  No wonder she’s so worried that she’s going to lose her boyfriend (Richard Bergman) to her old college friend, Honey Bee Harknest (Randi Oakes, taking a break from appearing on CHiPs to do The Love Boat).  Honey Bee has always stolen Julie’s boyfriends so, for this cruise, Julie lies and says that she’s dating Gopher.  Normally, Gopher would be happy about this but he’s already got a girlfriend to whom he’s trying to stay loyal.

(I’m going to guess that we’ll never see Julie’s boyfriend or Gopher’s girlfriend again after this episode.)

In other cruise news, Lynn Redgrave and Robert Mandan are taking a vacation to celebrate 20 years of wedded bliss.  Mandan is looking forward to traveling.  Redgrave wants to have another child.  You’ve probably already guessed where this storyline is heading.  Lynn Redgrave and Robert Mandan made for a surprisingly believable couple.  Redgrave was, of course, an Oscar nominee while Mandan was the best of the celebrity skaters to appear on the Roller Disco episode of CHiPs.

(There’s our second CHiPs reference of the review!  Woo hoo!)

Finally, Phyllis Diller plays an old classmate of Captain Stubing’s.  When Diller compliments Stubing on still looking young, Stubing starts to worry about how she’ll react when he removes his captain’s cap and reveals that he’s bald.  So, he starts wearing a toupee.  Oh, Captain Stubing!  To be honest, I do like episodes that allow Stubing to be emotionally vulnerable.  Gavin MacLeod always did a good job of suggesting the insecurity that lay underneath the commanding presence and that’s certainly the case with this episode.  That said, Stubing could take a lesson from Sgt. Getraer, who still manages to run things on CHiPs despite his thinning hair.

(Boom!  Three references to CHiPs in one review of The Love Boat.  That’s got to be a record.)

This was a pleasant cruise and it was directed by Isaac himself, Ted Lange!  Lange keeps the action moving and, as a director, he obviously knew how to get good performances out of his castmates.  Julia’s terrible hairstyle aside, this was a good trip on The Love Boat.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Celebrating Rain

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

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

Here are four classic shots, all featuring rain.

4 Rainy Shots From 4 Films

My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Dir. by Hayao Miyazaki)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994, Dir. by Frank Darabont)

Prisoners (2013, Dir. by Denis Villeneuve)

Toy Story 4 (2019, Dir. by Josh Cooley)