Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Jim Belushi!
Here he is, in 1987’s The Principal, delivering one of the greatest speeches ever. You tell ’em, Jim!
NO MORE!
Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Music Video of the Day: CPR by Wet Leg (2025, dir by ????)
Jeff and I are on vacation for the next two week and I imagine it’ll be something like this, except with no bearded guys and maybe a nicer car. That said, I love the dream-like feel of this video. It’s like driving into another dimension.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out! 3.18 “Vote For Me”
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 the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and Peacock!
This week, Howard goes for a higher office!
Episode 3.18 “Vote For Me”
(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on January 16th, 1988)
The local Business Owners Association asks Howard to run for city council because …. well, I’m not sure why they would ask Howard. Howard refuses but then he sees his campaign assistant Lila (Heather Smith) and changes his mind.
Howard is shocked to discover that he will be running against a former baseball player and local celebrity named Patrick O’Malley (Bill Lake). Everyone agrees that there is no way that Howard can win and that’s pretty much the entire episode. Howard never has a chance, he screws up every opportunity that he’s given, and he ends up getting 400 votes and running behind a write-in campaign for Edna. (Edna answered some questions in Howard’s place when the latter was late to a campaign forum.) Howard is stunned by his loss. Viker says that he was not one of the people who write in Edna’s name before mentioning, “I voted for O’Malley.” Howard promises to take his employees to the best party in town, the O’Malley victory party.
This was a weird episode. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t work because the idea of a bumbling egomaniac like Howard running for political office definitely had potential and I will admit I did laugh at Howard’s insane explanation of why getting rid of the police would get rid of crime. (To be honest, it really wasn’t that different from the arguments I heard during the Defund protests.) But the show wrote itself into a corner by making Howard such an idiot that there was never any chance of him actually winning. The entire episode was essentially scene after scene of Howard saying something dumb while everyone else rolled their eyes. It got predictable fairly quickly.
I think if Jack Christian had been the one who was recruited to run for city council, the episode could have worked. Christian is as much of a jackass as Howard but Jeff Pustil always manages to give the character a hint of insecurity so you root for him despite your better instincts. Howard, on the other hand, is often portrayed as being so incredibly dumb and clueless that it’s difficult really get involved in his attempts to be something more than just a grocery store manager.
Oh well. I would have voted for O’Malley too.
Retro Television Review: The American Short Story 1.2 “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”
Welcome to 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 The American Short Story, which ran semi-regularly on PBS in 1974 to 1981. The entire show can be purchased on Prime and found on YouTube and Tubi.
This week, we have an adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce short story.
Episode 1.2 “Parker Adderson, Philosopher”
(Dir by Arthur Barron, originally aired on January 8th, 1974)
This adaptation of an Ambrose Bierce short story takes place during the Civil War. Parker Adderson (Harris Yulin) is a Union spy who is captured behind Confederate lines. Brought into the ramshackle Confederate camp, he’s put into a small cabin. He knows that, as a spy, he’s going to be executed in the morning and he seems to be at peace with that. For the most part, his captors treat him humanely. Though they may be at war, there doesn’t seem to be any real animosity between Adderson and the Confederate general (Douglass Watson) who is in charge of the camp. They are two men who have a job to do and they both seem to respect each other. At night, the General and Adderson have a conversation, talking about the war and mortality. Adderson gets a last meal. Everything seems to be strangely peaceful …. until Adderson discovers that he’s not going to be executed the way that he wants to be executed. By the time the morning sun rises, three men are dead. The formerly philosophical Adderson dies in a rage against his captors while the General dies with the peace and grace that Adderson originally envisioned for himself.
This was an effective and melancholy adaptation of Ambrose Bierce’s short story, one that captured both Bierce’s anti-war sentiments and his cynical view of the human condition. For all of his efforts to put himself above the realities of war, Adderson falls apart once the reality of his impending death becomes obvious. Meanwhile, the previously boorish general finds a certain redemption in his death, perhaps because the General, unlike Adderson, never tried to rationalize the violence of war or the cruelty of fate.
It’s a nicely-done episode, featuring good performances from both Watson and Yulin. I’ve gotten so used to seeing Yulin cast as corporate and government villains that it was really eye-opening to see him playing a complicated character for once. Clocking in at a little over 30 minutes, Parker Adderson, Philosopher is a thought-provoking look at war and the men who fight it.
Song of the Day: Atomic by Blondie
Our song of the day is my favorite of Blondie song (and, believe me, there were many to choose from), Atomic! This song, which was subsequently covered for Trainspotting by Sleeper, is one that I often find myself not only quoting but also hearing in my head.
Uh huh, make me tonightTonight, make me rightUh huh, make me tonightTonightTonight
Oh, uh-huh, make it magnificentTonightRight
Oh, your hair is beautifulOh, tonightAtomic
Uh huh, make me tonightTonight, tonight
Oh, your hair is beautifulOh, tonightAtomic
Tonight, make it magnificentTonightMake me tonight
Your hair is beautifulOh, tonight
AtomicOh, atomicOh
Oh, atomicOh, atomicOh
Live Tweet Alert: Watch Tourist Trap With #ScarySocial!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. 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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting Tourist Trap!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime and Tubi! I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1983 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!
Today, we pay tribute to a classic year in film. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 1983 Films
Scarface (1983, dir by Brian De Palma, DP: John A. Alonzo)
Star 80 (1983, dir by Bob Fosse, DP: Sven Nyvkist)
Flashdance (1983, dir by Adrian Lyne, DP: Donald Peterman)
10 To Midnight (1983, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Adam Greenberg)
Scenes I Love: The Toga Party From National Lampoon’s Animal House
Toga! Toga! Toga!
No one threw a better party than Delta House, as proven by today’s scene that I love from 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House!
Music Video of the Day: Manchild by Sabrina Carpenter (2025, dir by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia)
Jeff and I start our first vacation of the year tomorrow and this video feels like a vacation video. Hopefully, our vacation will feature less desert hitchhiking.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 3.15 “The Long Road Home”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!
This week …. ugh.
Episode 3.15 “The Long Road Home”
(Dir by Allan Kroeker, originally aired on February 12th, 1990)
This week’s episode starts where most episodes end. Micki and Johnny retrieve the cursed antique. In this case, it’s a yin-yang charm that allows the owner to swap minds with a recently deceased person. That sounds like a really cool antique and I have to admit that I’m kind of annoyed that this is one of those shows where the antique is recovered early. I would have enjoyed seeing the entire search.
I certainly would have enjoyed it more than having to spend the next 40-something minutes listening to Micki and Johnny discuss whether or not to start a relationship while, at the same time, being pursued by an inbred redneck and his brother. This episode goes off the rails as soon as Micki and Johnny step into a roadside diner that is owned by a family of homicidal hillbillies. In order to save their lives, Johnny had to use the cursed antique himself so that he could enter the body of one of the brothers. That went against everything that the show previously established about the cursed antiques. You’re not supposed to use a cursed antique, not even once. Johnny uses it and everything works out fine for him. It feels like cheating and it was something that Ryan would never have done. God, I miss Ryan.
But I want to get back to this relationship nonsense. Since when is Micki attracted to Johnny? Johnny’s been hitting on Micki since his first appearance and she’s never been interested in the past. Now, suddenly, they’re having a relationship talk? It comes out of nowhere. In the end, Micki and Johnny agree not to have a relationship as long as there are still cursed antiques that need to be found and that’s a good idea. Still, the whole thing just felt tacked on.
This episode was dull. Chris Wiggins wasn’t in it and that’s a shame because this episode needed his steady, no-nonsense presence.
Oh well. Not every Friday can be a great one!
Through the Shattered Lens 