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!
Today, the Shattered Lens celebrates what would have been the 96th birthday of Hal Ashby, one of the most important (and, sadly, one of the most overlooked) directors of the 1970s. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Hal Ashby Films
Harold and Maude (1971, dir by Hal Ashby, DP: John A. Alonzo)
The Last Detail (1973, dir by Hal Ashby, DP: Michael Chapman)
Bound for Glory (1976, dir by Hal Ashby, DP: Haskell Wexler)
Being There (1979, dir by Hal Ashby, DP: Caleb Deschanel)
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983. The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!
This week, Ponch fixes everything.
Episode 4.11 “11-99: Officer Need Help”
(Dir by Phil Bondelli, originally aired on January 18th, 1981)
Three criminals are stealing trucks from a trucking company. One of the criminals works for the company but he gets fired, not for his thievery but because he accidentally put a cate of corrosive chemicals on the wrong truck. Now, the highway patrol has to track down the chemicals and also stop the criminals.
It’s a typical episode of CHiPs. A man loses his job after he’s wrongly accused of being the thief. The man’s son (Greg Bradford) helps Jon and Ponch catch the real criminals. There’s a subplot about all of the members of the high patrol carrying a new device that sends out of a signal whenever an officer’s down. Grossman accidentally pushes the button while chasing a lost dog. The emphasis here is on everyone working together and the Highway Patrol going out of their way to always have the best equipment to do their job. In the end, this is such a typical episode that the whole thing is kind of boring.
Really, for me, the only interesting thing about this episode is that it featured a subplot about a new police dispatcher who spoke with a stammer and who had trouble sending out instructions over the radio. I had a lot of sympathy for Kathie Lark (Katherine Moffat) because I had a pretty pronounced stammer up until I was about twelve years old. (It now only comes out if I’m extremely tired or stressed.) That said, considering just how important the dispatchers are when it comes to the Highway Patrol, I was a bit surprised that Kathie got the job in the first place. Kathie mentioned that she had previously been a dispatcher in a small town and again, I wondered how she got that job. To me, it seemed like the Highway Patrol was basically setting Kathie up for failure.
The good thing is that eventually someone gives Kathie some advice that helps her to overcome her nervousness and become an excellent dispatcher. Do you want to guess who gave her the advice? Seriously, I dare you to guess who, out of the show’s cast of characters, magically knew exactly the right thing to say to help Kathie out. If you’re thinking that Ponch was responsible for Kathie becoming a badass on the airwaves, you are exactly right! Is there no problem that Ponch can’t solve? Ponch’s advice, by the way, was that Kathie should always imagine that she was speaking directly to him. The next time that I find myself tripping over a word that starts with B, I’ll try the same thing.
It’s the Ponch Show! Seriously, there’s nothing that Ponch can’t do! Beyond that, this was a boring episode. The California scenery was nice to look at but otherwise, this episode felt like CHiPs on autopilot.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show can be purchased on Prime!
This week, Crockett and Tubbs battle some corrupt cops.
Episode 4.18 “Badge of Dishonor”
(Dir by Richard Compton, originally aired on March 18th, 1988)
Badge of Dishonor opens with Underworld’s Glory, Glory playing on the soundtrack. It’s an early electronic tune, one that isn’t quite EDM but still definitely shows hints of what Underworld and a lot of other synth-pop bands would eventually become. Usually, that would be pretty cool but, unfortunately, the song also has a gospel music feel and I personally gospel music to be excruciatingly dull.
That’s certainly the case here, where the music is played over the opening teaser and the gospel sounds robs it of whatever momentum it might have had. The episode opens with a drug deal gone wrong. Tubbs is working undercover when he and his contacts are suddenly busted by four cops, who kill the real dealers and then steal the drugs and the money. Tubbs barely manages to escape with his life. It should have been an exciting opening but it had a “been there, done that” sort of feel to it. This isn’t the first Miami Vice episode to feature an drug deal gone wrong and it’s not even the first to feature corrupt cops.
The cops in question are all originally from Cuba. Back in Castro’s Hellhole, they were all members of the same street gang. After coming to Miami and building up lengthy juvenile records, the four men were subsequently hired after a race riot (a real-life event that Castillo discusses in his terse manner) led to demands for a more racially-balanced police force. Because the force desperately needed some non-redneck cops, no one bothered to do an extensive background check on the four men when they applied to be cops. Tubbs comments that the corrupt cops are setting “minority hiring back 400 years.”
Crockett and Tubbs’s investigation at first centers on a lieutenant (Reni Santoni) who they think is crooked because he lives on a yacht. The lieutenant explains that he married well and that he suspects the same four cops as Crockett and Tubbs. The lieutenant is subsequently murdered by the cops. It turns out that the corrupt cops are getting their information from an undercover detective named Madison Stone (Michele Shay). Stone has spent the past few years deep undercover, living in a homeless community on the riverfront. Stone is not herself corrupt. She’s just been manipulated and is now in an impossible situation. At least, that’s the way Tubbs views it. Myself, I just felt that Madison Stone appeared to be as bad at working undercover as Sonny Crockett.
Technically, this was a well-made episode. The main problem is that the plot itself just felt so familiar and the four corrupt cops were not particularly interesting. Compared to the usual flamboyant Miami Vice criminals, the cops were pretty bland. In typical Miami Vice fashion, it ended on a dark note. The corrupt cops were defeated but both Madison Stone and their lieutenant were dead. There’s no happy endings in Miami.
In The Alto Knights, I’m pretty sure that Robert De Niro sets the record for saying “What’s the mater with you!?” the most times in one movie.
I don’t know for sure, of course. While I was watching the movie last night, I didn’t keep an exact count and, for that, shame on me. That said, when you consider that The Alto Knights features Robert De Niro playing not just one but two old school Italian gangsters, you can be sure that there were a lot of scenes of either Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro) or Frank Costello (De Niro, again) demanding to know what was the matter. When Genovese watches Costello testifying in front of a Congressional hearing, the “What’s the matter with you!?” count truly goes haywire.
The Alto Knights was directed by Barry Levinson, who has directed some great films. It tells the relatively true story of the rivalry between Costello and Genovese. Both Costello and Genovese were present when the modern Mafia was first created. The diplomatic and negotiation-minded Costello was known as the “Prime Minister of the Underworld.” Genovese was a much more violent gangster and he became one of the most powerful members of the New York Mafia by basically killing anyone who stood in his way. Costello and Genovese started out as weary friends before coming mortal enemies. Costello retired from the rackets after Genovese ordered one of his men to shoot Costello in the head. Meanwhile, Genovese ended up involving the Mafia in the drug trade and died in prison. In the film, Costello narrates their story. There’s a lot of shots of an elderly Costello sitting in what appears to be a park as he speaks directly to the camera. Interestingly enough, Gottitried to do the same thing, with Travolta’s John Gotti speaking directly to the audience while standing in front of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Alto Knights pretty much features all of the usual Mafia tropes. All the usual points are hit. Albert Anastasia (played by Michael Rispoli) is assassinated while getting a haircut and some viewers will remember that, before De Niro played the man who ordered Anastasia’s assassination, he also played the man who claimed to have shot Anastasia in The Irishman. Personally, I love Mafia films but The Alto Knights felt a bit too recycled to be truly effective. Barry Levison does the usual thing of dropping real-life newspaper headlines and photographs into the middle of the film and it doesn’t so much add verisimilitude as much as it just reminds one of David DeCoteau’s film about Bonnie and Clyde.
The film’s main selling point is that it features Robert De Niro playing two gangsters but there’s really not much gained from casting De Niro in both roles. We get a few scenes of De Niro acting opposite of himself and it’s hard not to notice that Genovese’s reactions often don’t seem to match whatever it is that Costello’s saying. As an actor, De Niro has the ability to be believable as both the cerebral Costello and the hot-headed Genovese but ultimately, the double casting just feels like a distraction. Watching De Niro acting opposite himself, I found myself thinking how much more entertaining it would have been if Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, or even John Travolta had played Genovese. To be honest, if Levinson really had any courage, he would have given the role to James Woods and given us the Once Upon A Time In America/Casino reunion that we all deserve.
The film did win me over a bit towards the end with a recreation of the Apalachin meeting. That was when Genovese invited every mob boss in the country to come to a meeting in upstate New York, just for the feds to suddenly show up and send everyone scattering. For most of the film, it was hard not to feel that Barry Levinson was past his prime as a director but he actually did a good job with the Apalachin scenes. I genuinely laughed when Genovese got into a pointless argument with his driver. I loved the way the film captured the real-life absurdity of a bunch of mob bosses fleeing into the woods, all of their bravado suddenly dissipating as they scrambled into the wilderness. If the entire film had just been about the Apalachin meeting, this review would probably be a lot of different. As it is, one good sequence can’t save the film as a whole.
Hi, everyone! Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting the debut of the newest social media watch party, #MondayMania! We’re getting things started with 2015’s Stalked By My Doctor, starring the great one himself, Eric Roberts!
You can find the movie on Prime or Tubi 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!
Whenever I watch 2010’s Birdemic, I wonder how the birds could possibly want to destroy a civilization that is capable of something like Hanging Out With My Family.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director James Nguyen! Today’s scene that I love comes from Nguyen’s masterpiece, 2010’s Birdemic: Shock and Terror!
Those who claim that Brian De Palma stole too much from Hitchcock obviously never met James Nguyen.
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!
Happy birthday to director James Nguyen! It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special James Nguyen Edition
Julie and Jack (2003, dir by James Nguyen)
Replica (2005, dir by James Nguyen)
Birdemic (2010, dir by James Nguyen)
Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013, dir James Nguyen)
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 1970’s AngelUnchained!I picked it so you know it’ll be good.
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, 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.
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: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
It’s the first day of school!
Episode 1.3 “Family Politics”
(Dir by Anthony Browne, originally aired on April 1st , 2002)
It’s the first day of school at Degrassi Community School and — hey! There’s all the folks we know.
Spinner (Shane Kippel) and Jimmy (Drake, then known as Aubrey Graham) make their first Degrassi appearance, demanding that Emma and Manny show them their hall passes and then laughing about how “Grade Sevens are such geeks.” Emma and Manny are soon referring to Spinner as being “the jerk,” little aware that — in the far future — Emma will end up marrying Spinner. As for Jimmy, he’s walking. That’ll change in another few seasons.
There’s Liberty Van Zandt (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer), already showing herself to be one of the most annoying characters in Degrassi history by zealously running for student council secretary.
There’s Ms. Kwan (LinLyn Lue), the first of many English teachers who are destined to torment Spinner.
There’s Mr. Raditch (Dan Woods), promoted to principal!
There’s Paige (Lauren Collins), bragging about her clothes and her plans to start a school spirit squad. Eventually, Spirit Squad drama will become one of the most enduring parts of Degrassi: The Next Generation. In this episode, Paige is presented as being fashionable and shallow and nothing like the complex character she would become in later seasons.
Finally, we meet Toby’s stepsister, Ashley Kerwin (Melissa McIntyre) and Ashley’s loyal friend, the insecure Terri (Christina Schmidt). Ashley is running for class president and struggling to get along with her new stepbrother. I don’t have any brothers to compare him to but I still imagine that I would struggle to get along with Toby too. At the start of the episode, Toby spots Ashley’s bra hanging in the bathroom and proceeds to put it on and run around the house. “MOM!” Ashley yells as the episode segues into “Whatever it takes, I know I can make it through…..”
Annoyed with the fact that no one is running against Ashley for school president, Toby convinces JT to run a joke campaign. “I’ll do what real politicians do,” JT says, “nothing!” The students love him! A poll comes out that shows JT beating Ashley. Who conducted the poll? Seriously, who polls a student election? Degrassi never tells us and that’s the kind of thing that’s going to keep me up at night.
Ashley finally bribes JT to drop out of the election. When Toby hears about the bribe, he threatens to expose Ashley to the school but, in the end, he doesn’t. Ashley wins the election and she and Toby agree to try to get along.
Watching this episode, I was struck by two things. First off, it was a less trampy remake of the first episode of Degrassi Junior High, with Ashley and Toby stepping into the roles previously filled by Stephanie Kaye and Arthur. Secondly, it’s easy to forget how much the first season revolved around Ashley and Toby. Much as happened with Stephanie and Arthur on Degrassi Junior High, both Ashley and Toby would become significantly less important after the first season as Degrassi shifted its attention to characters like Paige and Spinner. This episode, however, is all Toby and Ashley.
Seen today, this episode is a good example of an episode that does what it needed to. It introduced us to the main characters. It had a few moments of humor that indicated Degrassi was going to be slightly more clever than the average teen show. It established the hierarchy of the school. That’s really all the episode had to do. The entire student election subplot was pretty silly, as most student council storylines tend to be, regardless of which show might feature them. On television, student councils are always absurdly powerful. In real life, they’re just busy work.
Through the Shattered Lens 