Shark Week Review: Bikini Shark (dir by EJ Marshall)


If you were walking along the beach and you noticed that several bikinis had washed up on shore, what would you do?

Me, I would probably think to myself, “That’s weird. Maybe I should get off this beach because it seems like there’s something strange happening here.” What I would not do, under any circumstances, would be to pick up a bikini and decide to wear one of them.

I mean, that just seems like common sense. You don’t wear bikinis that randomly show up on the beach for much the same reason you don’t dumpster-dive for new underwear. It’s gross. And seriously, if you’re going to the beach, you should have bought and packed a bikini before you left. It may be cheaper to just wear whatever you find buried in the sand, but sometimes it’s worth spending a little money to look good.

Like I said …. IT’S COMMON SENSE!

Unfortunately, none of the characters in 2025’s Bikini Shark have a shred of common sense. When two women come across some bikinis on the beach, they promptly put them on. Later, when another group of women happens to find some bikinis in an isolated house, they also put them on. Soon they’re breaking out into terrible rashes and, even worse, they’re being pursued by sharks that somehow have the power to live and move on land. For all the time everyone spends talking about how sick they’re feeling, it never seems to occur to anyone to just take the cursed bikinis off. Then again, no one seems to think it’s odd that there are sharks somehow making their way into the kitchen.

The villain here is Truman Sullivan (Tyler Winchcombe), a wealthy man who owns a company that makes bikinis. For reasons that are never really that clear, Truman has lost his mind and is convinced that the only way to save the world from destruction is to sacrifice women to sharks. So Truman designed some bikinis specifically to attract sharks. But why did he also design the bikinis to cause the wearer to break into a terrible rash and start throwing up? How does that fit into saving the world? Truman is one of those villains who insists that the sacrifices have to happen quickly but who, at the same time, kidnaps one potential victim and then spends what seems like an eternity monologuing. Hey, Truman, are you trying to save the world or not?

Bikini Shark is a British shark film. It takes place in Essex and features one of the most depressing beaches that I’ve ever seen. The acting is subpar. In the role of Truman’s mother, Kathi deCuoto often appears as if she’s struggling to deliver her dialogue without laughing. If there is some charm to be found in this film, it’s due to the CGI sharks. They’re cute in their way, and it’s hard not to smile at the sight of them “swimming” over dry land. Otherwise, the best that can be said about this film is that it lives up to its name. There are bikinis and there are sharks.

Seriously, though, don’t wear clothes that you just happen to find on the ground. If there’s any lesson that I hope you take from this review, it’s that.

Join #MondayMania For Til Ex Do Us Part!


Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania!  Join us for Til Ex Do Us Part!

You can find the movie on Prime and then you can join us on twitter at 9 pm central time!  (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.)  See you then!

Song of the Day: Changes by David Bowie


Here’s David Bowie with Changes!

Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet

So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Don’t want to be a richer man)

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Just gonna have to be a different man)

Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Don’t tell them to grow up and out of it)

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Where’s your shame, you’ve left us up to our necks in it)

Time may change me
But you can’t trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Ah changes are taking the pace I’m going through

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers)

Ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
(Pretty soon now you’re gonna get older)

Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time

Songwriters: David Bowie

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Enzo G. Castellari Edition


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!

We’re jus two days away from the birthday of the legendary Italian director, Enzo G. Castellari!  Here are….

4 Shots From 4 Enzo G. Castellari Films

Keoma (1976, dir by Enzo G. Castellari, DP: Aaice Parolin)

The Last Shark (1981, dir by Enzo G. Castellari, P: Alberto Spagnoli)

1990: Bronx Warriors (1982, dir by Enzo G. Castellari, DP: Sergio Salvati)

Escape From The Bronx (1983, dir by Enzo G. Castellari, DP: Blasco Giurato)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Laserhawk!


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

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1997’s Laserhawk!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, find the movie on YouTube and hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  The  watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

See you soon!

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life On The Street 5.18 “Double Blind”


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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

This week, Bayliss and Pembleton are partners again and again, they find themselves on two different sides of the same case.

Episode 5.18 “Double Blind”

(Dir by Uli Edel, originally aired on April 11th, 1997)

Where do I put my hate? Tim Bayliss asks his Uncle George (Robert Bornarth) at the end of this week’s episode.

Uncle George is the man who abused Bayliss when he was younger.  The final few minutes of this episode features Bayliss tracking down George to the decrepit house that George calls home.  Stepping aside, Bayliss sees that George is now an old man with a persistent cough.  The messy house is full of empty liquor bottles.  George is a pathetic, frightened old man and it’s obvious that he doesn’t have much longer to live.

Bayliss has just finished investigating the case of a chef who was found shot to death in his home.  It quickly became obvious that the chef was abusive and that he was shot and killed by his teenage daughter (Monica Keena).  Pembleton sees it as justifiable homicide but Bayliss says that it doesn’t matter that the victim was a terrible person.  The fact that he was shot three times (twice after he was already on the ground) proves that it was a deliberate execution.  For once, Bayliss is the one saying that the law is the law while Pembleton is the one worried about the human cost of their investigation.  It’s such a reversal in their usual pattern that Pembleton has to laugh.  And yet, it works.  Having found his previously lost faith, Pembleton now believes that there is more to existence than the letter of the law.  Pembleton also realizes that Bayliss wants to call it a murder because, deep down, he wishes he had done the same thing to his uncle.  The victim’s daughter did what Bayliss could never bring himself to do.

It’s an interesting storyline, featuring great work from Andre Braugher and especially Kyle Secor.  Unfortunately, this episode had a few other plotlines that weren’t quite as interesting.  Kellerman and Cox continued their tentative, emotionally-damaged romance, with Kellerman finally confessing that he was suicidal when Cox last visited him on his boat.  Meanwhile, Lewis supported former patrolman Chris Thormann (Lee Tergesen) when the man who blinded him came up for parole.  The Lewis storyline was a sequel to a first season episode and I appreciated that the show made an effort to maintain continuity.  That said, it just wasn’t that interesting of a story.

Still, that final scene with Bayliss and his uncle was undeniably powerful.  Seriously, what is Bayliss going to do with all of his hate?  There are no easy answers.

Scenes That I Love: Danny Meets The Girls In Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining


Today’s scene that I love comes from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. 

Stephen King can whine about this film all that he wants.  It’s one of the few adaptations of his novels that can still scare the view even after numerous rewatches.

These two still freak me out.

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Stanley Kubrick Edition


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!

On this date, 97 years ago, Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City.  The rest, as they say, is history.

In honor of one of the world’s greatest directors, here are….

6 Shots From 6 Stanley Kubrick Films

The Killing (1956, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Lucien Ballard)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick, DP: Gilbert Taylor)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)

Barry Lyndon (1975, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)

The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)

Full Metal Jacket (1987, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Douglas Milsome)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.11 “1-800-Crushed”


Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Zack becomes Nitro!

Episode 2.11 “1-800 Crushed”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 17th, 1990)

“Hello, mate.  It’s me, Nitro!”

Uhmm …. hi, Nitro.  Why do you sound like Zack Morris?

Because Zack is Nitro!

In this episode, Zack decides that the best way to become a millionaire would be to wait for his parents to die so he can inherit their money…. no, actually, he decides to start a teen advice line and charge everyone $2.00 per call.  He recruits Lisa to provide advice and Screech to …. hang out.  I don’t know what Screech is doing there, to be honest.

Lisa takes most of the calls but, whenever she gets wrapped up (“Not now, Zack, I’m talking to a girl who hates shopping!”), Zack mans the lines.  Because he doesn’t want anyone to know that he came up with the stupid idea of starting the Teenline, he calls himself Nitro and speaks with what I guess is meant to be an Australian accent.

Unfortunately, Lisa solves everyone’s problems and the phones strop ringing.  Zack fires her and then he and Screech proceed to give everyone bad advice.  Soon, the entire school is on edge.  Even worse, Zack tells Kelly’s never-before seen little sister Nikki (Laura Mooney-Hubbert) that she should do whatever it takes to win the man of her dreams.

“Mrs. Zack Morris,” Nikki dreamingly responds.

Later, when both Kelly and Nikki call the Teenline at the same time, Zack gets confused as to who is on which line and he tells Kelly to dump her boyfriend and he tells Nikki that she’s the only girl for him.

Bayside is in chaos and only Mr. Belding can fix things.  After an art class descends into chaos, Belding tells Zack, “My school will be a happy school or else.”  Bye bye, Teenline!

But what about Nikki?  Zack dresses up like a nerd and meets her at the Max.  He says that he likes insects.  Nikki likes them too!  Finally, Zack confesses that he likes Kelly.  Nikki tells Zack that he’s a loser for not being honest to begin with and she has a point.  Kelly, wearing a blonde wig, overhears the whole conversation and takes Zack back.  Nothing’s more romantic than dating a pathological liar, I guess.

This episode …. actually, I like this episode.  It’s a good example of what Saved By The Bell occasionally got right.  It’s a silly story that focuses on the chemistry between Zack & Kelly and Slater & Jessie and it does so without getting too preachy.  This episode is lightweight and cheerfully shallow and exactly what you want from Saved By The Bell.