Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/19/24 — 5/25/24

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was wrong. I thought last week was the finale but it turns out, the season finale was this week. And what a finale. Janine threw a party and learned a lesson about not being a control freak. Gregory finally stopped being so annoying and kissed Janine. Yay! And what’s really great is that all of this was due to the wonderful advice of Mr. Johnson, who is one of the best characters on television right now. I had some issues with this season but this finale made up for almost all of them.

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

I watched the first episode of Netflix’s acclaimed stalking drama on Tuesday. It was undoubtedly well-made but it was coming from a bit too dark of a place for me so I haven’t watched any of other episodes yet. I’ll watch the rest of it next week.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Booked: First Day In (Hulu)

I watched a few episodes of this A&E series on Tuesday night. It follows people as they are being booked into jail. As always with these shows, the cops came across as being cocky jerks while the people being booked were far more sympathetic. I felt especially bad for the 70 year-old owner of a used car dealership who was booked for the crime of not putting some tag on the windshield of some of his cars. Seriously, if you didn’t already hate the regulatory state already….

Check It Out! (Tubi)

A mini-review of this week’s episode will be dropping in a few hours.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of Dr. Phil in which Phil interviewed a woman who had coached her 4 year-old son to falsely accuse her ex-husband of being a part of a child porn ring. The man was obviously innocent and easily passed a polygraph test. In what can only be described as being a massive tell, the woman appeared to be upset at the fact that her husband was cleared of a terrible crime.

On Saturday, I watched an episode with a teenage girl who got pregnant because she wanted to be on 16 and Pregnant. Ugh. That entire episode made me want to throw something.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

The Larry Sanders Show (Max)

Jeff and I watched a few episodes of this old HBO show on Thursday night. Rip Torn made me laugh every time he spoke. What a great actor!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I wrote about this terrible show here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, Jeff & I watched an episode that profiled musician Bryan Ferry.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Mini Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter 3.23 “Goodbye, Mr. Kripps”

Posted on May 25, 2024 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve got a sprained wrist so typing is kind of painful. For that reason, today’s review is going to be a quick one. You might even call it a …. MINI REVIEW!

Episode 3.23 “Goodbye, Mr. Kripps”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on February 16th, 1978)

Shop teacher Mr. Kripps (Jack Fletcher) is famous for being cranky and for not liking the Sweathogs. Even when Gabe was a student at the school, Mr. Kripps was a teacher known for his bad temper. When Mr. Kripps drops dead of a heart attack, only Barbarino is shocked. Barbarino also feels guilty because Mr. Kripps was yelling at him when he died.

Woodman, Gabe, and the Sweathogs attends the funeral and then all return to Gabe’s apartment. I get that the Sweathogs are in a co-dependent relationship with Gabe but why is Woodman at the apartment? Gabe and the Sweathogs are depressed. Woodman talks about how July is the best month for a funeral. “August is too hot!”

Barbarino turns himself into the police for murder. Awwwww, poor Barbarino! Seriously, this is an unbelievably dumb thing to do but John Travolta is so crestfallen and child-like as Babarino that your heart still breaks for him. No-nonsense Lt. Eddie Lasky (Norman Alden) comes down to the school to investigate Mr. Kripps’s death. Gabe and Lasky help Barbarino to understand that it’s not his fault that Mr. Kripps had anger problems. And again, it’s kind of dumb but Gabe Kaplan and Norman Alden play off of each other really well and Travolta’s puppy-dog earnestness just makes you want to hug him.

Woodman gets upset when he sees that Lasky parked in his spot. Woodman vandalizes Lasky’s car and gets taken to jail. When he returns to the school, Gabe cheers him up with a joke about Uncle Willie, who was sentenced to a 99-year sentence.

This was a good episode. It felt like a throwback to the humane and sweet-natured episodes of the first season. Travolta once again shows why he’s the Sweathog who ended up with the Oscar nominations.

Here Are The Winners Of The 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Palme d’Or: Anora, Sean Baker

Grand Prix: “All We Imagine as Light”

Director: Miguel Gomes, “Grand Tour”

Actor: Jesse Plemons, “Kinds of Kindness.”

Best Actresses: Selena Gomez, Karla Sofia Gascon, Zoe Saldana “Emilia Pérez”

Jury Prize: “Emilia Pérez”

Special Award (Prix Spécial): Mohammad Rasoulof, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”

Screenplay: Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”

OTHER PRIZES

Camera d’Or: “Armand,” Halfdan Ullman Tondel

Camera d’Or Special Mention: “Mongrel,” Chiang Wei Liang, You Qiao Yin

Short Film Palme d’Or: “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent,” Nebojša Slijepčević

Short Film Special Mention: “Bad for a Moment,” Daniel Soares

Golden Eye Documentary Prize: “Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” and “The Brink of Dreams”

Queer Palm: “Three Kilometers to the End of the World”

Palme Dog: Kodi, “Palm Dog”

FIPRESCI Award (Competition): “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Mohammad Rasoulof

FIPRESCI Award (Un Certain Regard): “The Story of Souleymane,” Boris Lojkine

FIPRESCI Award (Parallel Sections): “Desert of Namibia,” Yoko Yamanaka

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Un Certain Regard Award: “Black Dog,” Guan Hu

Jury Prize: “The Story of Souleymane,” Boris Lojkine

Best Director Prize: (ex aequo) “The Damned,” Roberto Minervini; “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” Rungano Nyoni

Performance Awards: “The Shameless,” Anasuya Sengupta; “The Story of Souleymane,” Abou Sangare

Youth Prize: “Holy Cow! (Vingt Dieux),” Louise Courvoisier

Special Mention: “Norah,” Tawfik Alzaidi

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT

Europa Cinemas Label: “The Other Way Around,” Jonás Trueba

Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: “This Life of Mine,” Sophie Fillières

Audience Choice Award: “Universal Language,” Matthew Rankin

CRITICS’ WEEK

Grand Prize: “Simon of the Mountain,” Federico Luis

French Touch Prize: “Blue Sun Palace,” Constance Tsang

GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Jour2Fête, “Julie Keeps Quiet”

Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Ricardo Teodoro, “Baby”

Leitz Cine Discovery Prize (short film): “Guil Sela,” Montsouris Park

Live Tweet Alert: Watch There’s Something Wrong With The Children with #ScarySocial

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, Deanna Dawn will be hosting 2023’s There’s Something Wrong With The Children!

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. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Bob Gale Edition

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 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 wishes a happy birthday to screenwriter Bob Gale! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Films Written By Bob Gale

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Donald M. Morgan)

1941 (directed by Steven Spielberg, DP: William A. Fraker)

Used Cars (1980, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Donald M. Morgan)

Back to the Future (1986, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Dean Cundey)

Scenes That I Love: Cillian Murphy in Dunkirk

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy birthday to the most recent winner of the Oscar for Best Actor, Cillian Murphy!

While Murphy won for his lead role in Oppenheimer, he’s been an intriguing cinematic presence for over two decades and, of course, he’s been a long-time favorite of director Christopher Nolan’s. In 2017’s Dunkirk he had a small but pivotal role as a shell-shocked soldier. Murphy’s haunting performance serves as a reminder that even the most heroic moments of a war often come at great cost to the soldiers involved.

Mini Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 2.5 “Symphony in B Sharp”

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new 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 show can be found on YouTube!

Hi, everyone! I sprained my wrist yesterday and today, it still hurts to type so, just as with T and T, today’s review is going to be a quick one. You might even call it a mini-review!

Episode 2.5 “Symphony In B Sharp”

(Dir by Francis Delia, originally aired on October 31st, 1988)

Oh, Ryan!

You would think that, by this point, Ryan would know better than to fall in love with anyone, seeing as how he had to leave one girlfriend behind in a Mennonite village and he lost another girlfriend to an insane news anchorman. Add to that, Ryan has also seen Micki repeatedly lose the people with which she has fallen in love. But, once again, the episode finds Ryan falling in love.

This time, his lover is Leslie Reins (Ely Pouget), who plays violin in the local symphony. Her former boyfriend, Janos Korda (James Russo), was believed to have been killed in a car accident but instead, he’s alive but terribly scarred. He hangs out in the rafters and the basement of the symphony hall and kills anyone who get too close to Leslie. He has a cursed violin that is slowly healing his disfigured appearance in return for Janos using a sharpened bow to kill people. Janos’s newest target is Ryan.

Yep, it’s Phantom of the Opera all over again, with Leslie Reins’s last name deliberately invoking the name of a past actor who played the Phantom, Claude Rains. It’s not a bad episode. There’s plenty of atmosphere and James Russo makes for a good villain. That said, the cursed antique is not that interesting and the whole episode leans a bit too much into the Phantom of the Opera story. It was a bit predictable, right down Janos accidentally killing Leslie before taking his own life and Ryan ending yet another episode in tears, with a concerned Jack and Micki watching from a distance. Ryan listens to a recording of Leslie playing her violin and swears that he’ll never fall in love again. We know that’s not true, Ryan. I guess we should be glad that Ryan is no longer looking to hook up with his cousin but still, it’s hard to feel that the guy just can’t get a break!

Next week, hopefully, things will look up for Ryan. (It would seem that they certainly couldn’t get any worse.) We’ll find out soon enough.

Scenes that I love: Angels Live In My Town From Boogie Nights (Happy Birthday, John C. Reilly)

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is John C. Reilly’s 59th birthday. This provides me with a great reason to share a scene that I love from 1997’s Boogie Nights. In this scene, John C. Reilly and Mark Wahlberg star in one of the best films never actually made, Angels Live In My Town.

Brock Landers and Chest Rockwell were quite a team.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Roger Deakins Edition

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is the birthday of our greatest living cinematographer, Roger Deakins! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Roger Deakins Films

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984, dir by Michael Radford, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Fargo (1996, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

No Country For Old Men (2007, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017, dir by Denis Villeneuve, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Mini Retro Television Review: T and T 3.10 “Silent Witness”

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on Tubi!

Hi, everyone! I sprained my wrist yesterday and today, it still hurts to type so today’s review is going to be a quick one. You might even call it a mini-review!

Episode 3.10 “Silent Witness”

(Dir by Alan Simmonds, originally aired on March 10th, 1990)

When a bank is robbed, a young deaf boy named Vito (Daniel DeSanto) is the only witness to catch sight of one of the robbers without his mask on. The police bring in T.S. to keep an eye on the kid until it is time to testify.

This was a sweet episode. Mr. T, who has occasionally seemed a bit bored with the third season of this show, really brightened up when he was acting opposite DeSanto. One gets the feeling that both T.S. and Mr. T are naturally protective of kids. It was nice to see Mr. T being warm-hearted instead of grumpy and annoyed. It felt like a flashback to the first season, when T.S. Turner was still an earnest idealist.

Proving that everyone has to start somewhere, the great character actor Henry Czerny shows up here as a corrupt cop.

This episode suffered a bit due to its short running time. Stuffing an hour’s worth of plot led to things occasionally feeling a bit rushed.

The episode ended with Vito watching Turner argue with a detective (Richard Fitzpatrick) and finally speaking, for the first time in the episode. “Stop!” Vito says. It was a nice note to end on. Stop arguing and just be happy that the case has been solved.

And that seems like a good place to stop this review.