Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the legendary Dustin Hoffman. This scene that I love comes from 1967’s The Graduate and it features Hoffman delivering one of the greatest lines of all time.
Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Music Video of the Day: It’s ok, I’m ok by Tate McRae (2024, dir by Hannah Lux Davis)
Enjoy summer while you can! Here’s another summer-y song for today’s music video of the day!
Enjoy!
Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 2.25 “Big Daddy”
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. Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!
Yes, this is from the first season. I don’t care. I refuse to waste my time looking for a second season advertisement.
This week sounds pretty bad. On the plus side, I’m nearly done with this show.
Episode 2.25 “Big Daddy”
(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on May 13th, 2000)
This episode of Malibu CA is the last episode to not be available on YouTube. Here’s the plot summary from the imdb:
Lisa tells Jason and Traycee about the good feeling she gets from volunteering at the local Community Center and encourages them to do likewise. Traycee is ready to volunteer but Jason isn’t interested until he sees some of the pretty girls from the center, especially Diana. Jason hopes to get some one-on-one time with Diana at the Center but she assigns him to be a “Big Buddy” for a local boy, Kenny. At first the two don’t get along very well, with Kenny insulting Jason every chance he gets. But eventually they warm up to each other and Jason lets Kenny borrow his old guitar, on which he plans to teach the youngster to play.
According to Wikipedia, Scott Whyte (of City Guys “fame”) appears in this episode as Alex’s new boyfriend, who Scott suspects is a thief.
Both plotlines sound pretty dire. It’s interesting that the second season featured guest appearances from people who previously appeared on Hang Time and City Guys. I guess the thinking was that it would help the show’s rating. It must not have worked because there was never a third season.
Next week, we have the series finale and that episode has been uploaded to YouTube so I’ll get to see how this all ended. Even better, I’ll be done with Malibu CA and not a minute to soon, to be honest.
Song of the Day: Overture from King of King by Miklos Rosza
Scenes I Love: A Visit to the Planetarium from Rebel Without A Cause
Since today is Nicholas Ray’s birthday, it seems appropriate to share a scene from Ray’s best-known film, 1955’s Rebel Without A Cause. In this scene, a group of teens who can barely find happiness or peace on their own planet are asked to consider the wonders of the universe.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Nicholas Ray 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!
Director and screenwriter Nicholas Ray was born 114 years ago today, in Galesville, Wisconsin. He would go on to become one of the most influential American directors of all time, making independently-minded films that celebrated rebels and iconoclasts. The directors of the French New Wave loved him and for good reason.
Today, we celebrate the life and legacy of Nicholas Ray with….
4 Shots From 4 Nicholas Ray Films
They Live By Night (1948, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: George E. Diskant)
In A Lonely Place (1950, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Burnett Guffey)
Rebel Without A Cause (1955, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Ernest Haller)
Bigger Than Life (1956, dir by Nicholas Ray, DP: Joseph MacDonald)
Music Video Of The Day: My Own Summer by Deftones (1997, dir by Dean Karr)
In this video, the Deftones perform while standing on shark cages. Which … I don’t know. That, honestly, is something that I would never do. It just seems like you’re inviting trouble and, to prove my point, Chino Moreno does fall into the water while performing. Apparently, Chino survived being attacked by the shark because he’s still around. Maybe he’s like Felix Leiter in the original James Bond novels and he’s bionic now.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 1.4 “The Slump”
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 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.
This week, cocaine comes to the locker room. Actually, cocaine was probably already there. Now, there’s more cocaine. Football, right?
Anyway….
Episode 1.4 “The Slump”
(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on December 16th, 1984)
This week’s episode starts off with some full front nudity as wide receiver Mace Petty (Marshall R. Teague) takes a shower with a blonde woman. Suddenly, a bearded man steps into the shower, accuses Mace of seducing his wife, and points a gun at him. OH MY GOD, IS MACE GOING TO DIE!? (And who is Mace, anyway?)
Oh wait, it’s a prop gun. Ha ha, it’s practical joke. Those crazy Bulls.
With the required HBO nudity out of the way, the plot kicks off. The Bulls are in a slump. They’ve lost their past two games! In order to turn things around, Diane makes a trade for a talented wide receiver. (Ha! TAKE THAT, MACE!) Butch Cassidy (Michael Toland) may be a good athlete but guess who has a cocaine addiction!? Butch is soon snorting in the men’s room. When he has to take a drug test, he uses a groupie’s urine instead. When the results come back, it’s announced that Butch is pregnant. Butch is kicked off the team. Maybe the Sundance Kid can take his place….
The good news is that The Bulls still win their next game, breaking the slump. And Bob Dorsey earns Diana’s trust by telling her that Butch has a drug problem. And the Arcola Brothers attempt to keep the Bulls from serving beer at the stadium is thwarted when Diana has a bunch of helicopter fly in the beer. (That way, no one has to cross the picket line that the Arcolas have set up outside the stadium.) Finally, Carl Witherspoon gets a new contract and the rest of the team gets jealous because Carl is now a “millionaire” but then Carl points out that he’s a terrible negotiator and he actually got screwed over on the contract. He then agrees to take the team to Hawaii. No wonder they won that game!
This episode was actually better than the previous three. That doesn’t mean it was particularly good but still it wasn’t terrible. (And that’s what we mean by “damning by faint praise.”) If nothing else, Michael Toland gave a good performance as the cocky but self-destructive Butch Cassidy. I also kind of like the chemistry between Geoffrey Scott and Delta Burke. They’re good together. As far as episodes of bad shows go, this was a good one.
Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.11 “The Tomorrow Lady/Father, Dear Father/Still Life”
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, a man tells a terrible lie, Greer Garson can see the future, and Isaac is losing his hearing! Come aboard, we’re expecting you….
Episode 6.11 “The Tomorrow Lady/Father, Dear Father/Still Life”
(Dir by Richard A. Wells, originally aired on December 4th, 1992)
This episode of The Love Boat features one of the worst stories ever. Ken Miller (Lawrence Pressman) wants to date Sarah Curtis (Kim Darby). However, Sarah is on the cruise as a member of the Single Parents Group and, when Sarah first sees Ken, she assumes that Ken is a single father because he’s standing with Libby McDonald (played by the one-named Louanne), who is the daughter of Ken’s friend, Tom (Jim Stafford). So, Ken just decides to lie about being a father.
Eventually, Sarah finds out. When she notices that Libby is spending all of her time with Tom, the gig is up. Sarah, however, FORGIVES Ken and accepts his marriage proposal! (“Looks like I won’t be a member of Single Parents anymore….”) Lady, he lied to you about having a daughter! He recruited a little girl to pretend to be his daughter! THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO START A MARRIAGE!
The other two stories were better. One featured Greer Garson (in her final screen performance before retiring) as a woman who was a self-described “good guesser.” She met a struggling businessman (Howard Duff) who wanted to use her power to play the stock market but eventually, he fell in love with her for her and not her powers. Howard Duff’s character was not particularly likable but Greer Garson seemed to be having fun.
The other story featured Isaac struggling with a double ear infection and fearing that he would permanently lose his hearing. He didn’t, which is good considering that he’s the ship’s head bartender and he’s the guy who everyone comes to with their problems. (It always amuses me how a passenger will just automatically start talking to Isaac as if they’re best friends when they’ve only been on the boat for a couple of hours.) What made this story work, though, was the performance of Ted Lange. He was so believably scared of losing his hearing that you just wanted someone to hug him and reassure him that it would all be okay. When his hearing finally came back, I breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, playing Isaac was probably not the most challenging roll of Ted Lange’s career. I mean, the man has played Othello! Still, Lange gave a really good and honest performance in this episode. He didn’t use the fact that he was acting on The Love Boat as an excuse to just coast.
This cruise …. it was kind of forgettable. Still, at least Ted Lange got a chance to shine!
Song of the Day: Andy Warhol from David Bowie
Today’s song of the day comes from David Bowie and it’s about Bowie’s fascination with Andy Warhol. Warhol himself apparently didn’t care for this song but Bowie meant it as a tribute.
This song came out in 1971. 25 years later, Bowie would play Andy Warhol in Basquiat.
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