Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Song of the Day: Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) by Phil Collins

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As I mentioned earlier, today is Phil Collins’s birthday so today’s song of the day is one of my favorites.  From the film of the same name, here is Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now).

How can I just let you walk away, just let you leave without a trace
When I stand here taking every breath with you, ooh
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

How can you just walk away from me,
when all I can do is watch you leave
Cos we’ve shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now, oh there’s just an empty space
And there’s nothing left here to remind me,
just the memory of your face
Ooh take a look at me now, well there’s just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against all odds and that’s what I’ve got to face

I wish I could just make you turn around,
turn around and see me cry
There’s so much I need to say to you,
so many reasons why
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now, well there’s just an empty space
And there’s nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face
Now take a look at me now, cos there’s just an empty space

But to wait for you, is all I can do and that’s what I’ve got to face
Take a good look at me now, cos I’ll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
It’s the chance I’ve gotta take

Take a look at me now

lyrics by Phil Collins

Scenes That I Love: The Nightmare From The Conversation

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy 95th birthday to the great actor-turned-writer Gene Hackman!

Today’s scene that I love comes from one of Hackman’s best films, 1974’s The Conversation.  In this scene, Hackman’s surveillance expert has a nightmare inspired by his fear that his latest job may cause two people to be murdered.  Hackman won two Oscars over the course of his career and was nominated several times.  The fact that he was not nominated for The Conversation was a huge oversight on the part of the Academy.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Michael Anderson Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

105 years ago today, Michael Anderson was born in London.  Anderson may have never become a household name but he directed some memorable movies.  Around The World in 80 Days proved that audiences love spectacle and celebrity cameos and it won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1956.  (Though Anderson was nominated for best director, the award went to George Stevens for Giant.)  However, I think that Anderson’s best-remembered film is probably Logan’s Run.  Whenever I shout, “I hate outside!” or I reply to a simple question with, “There is no sanctuary,” people always seem to automatically know which film I’m referencing.  Anderson followed up Logan’s Run with Orca, which is one of the better Jaws rip-offs.

Today, we honor the career and legacy of Michael Anderson with….

4 Shots From 4 Michael Anderson Films

Around The World in 80 Days (dir by Michael Anderson, DP: Lionel Lindon)

Logan’s Run (1976, dir by Michael Anderson, DP: Ernest Laszlo)

Orca (1977, dir by Michael Anderson, DP: J. Barry Herron and Ted Moore)

The Martian Chronicles (1980, directed by Michael Anderson, DP: Ted Moore)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 3.7 “Small Blessing”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

This week, comedians Julie Brown, Kevin Nealon, and David Spade deal with a baby who was born with a lot of very sharp teeth.  Is it a demon or is it just a little blessing?  Let’s find out.

Episode 3.7 “Small Blessing”

(Dir by Roger Nygard, originally aired on November 11th, 1990)

Julie Brown plays the mother of a three-month old baby and, like a lot of new mothers, she is exhausted.  The baby is constantly doing things like crying, crawling out of its crib, and walking on the ceiling.  The baby was also born with over 30 razor sharp teeth and it likes to eat meat.  (I’m going to assume Julie bottle-feeds.)  Julie’s husband (Kevin Nealon) insists that there is nothing wrong with their baby and he gets angry at his wife for constantly being exhausted.  Julie doesn’t know how much longer she can stand being around her carnivorous baby.  When a serial killer (David Spade) shows up at the house, the baby proves its worth.  Julie’s husband comes home to find her holding the baby and talking about how much she loves him.  Awwwww!

This episode was goofy but enjoyable.  It started out as a story about the exhaustion that every mother has felt and then it becomes a comedy in which Julie Brown is the only person who seems to notice that there is anything strange about her baby.  While her husband makes excuses for all of the baby’s odd behavior, Julie knows that it’s not normal for a baby to devour raw meat, climb on a ceiling, and bust its way out of its crib.  But then David Spade shows up with a big knife and the baby proves itself.  Go, Baby!

The main problem is that the baby looked really bad.  It wasn’t a real baby, of course.  It was obviously a puppet and, when I say obviously, I mean it was so clearly a fake baby that it actually worked against the show’s effectiveness.  There was a lot of good things about this episode, including the performances of Julie Brown, Kevin Nealon, and David Spade.  But that fake baby was just too fake to be as effective as it could have been.

Still, this episode proves that even mutant babies deserve love.

 

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 5.15 “I Don’t Play Anymore/Gopher’s Roommate/Crazy For You”

Posted on 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 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, Gopher thinks that he recognizes a passenger!

Episode 5.15 “I Don’t Play Anymore/Gopher’s Roommate/Crazy For You”

(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on January 23rd, 1982)

When Rachel (Mackenzie Phillips) boards the ship, Gopher is sure that they’ve met before.  Rachel tells Gopher that he must be mistaken and, in fact, she goes out of her way to avoid him.  Since no one on this ship has ever stopped to consider that getting the cruise line sued would be bad for their career, Gopher continues to follow Rachel around.  Rachel finally tells Gopher the truth.

She does know him.

In fact, they were once quite close.

In college, Rachel was Gopher’s roommate and she played for the football team.  However, after graduating college, she had gender-affirmation surgery and now, she goes by the name of Rachel.  Gopher is stunned and I know what you’re probably thinking.  You’re probably looking at the 1982 air date and assuming that the whole storyline becomes consumed with gay panic as Gopher grapples with having been attracted to his former roommate.  (Doc also hits on her but then again, Doc hits on anyone.)  Well, believe it or not, The Love Boat handles this storyline with a surprising amount of sensitivity.  Yes, Gopher is stunned at first.  But he soon comes to respect and support Rachel’s decision, even if he doesn’t fully understand it.  Physically, the rather slight Mackenzie Phillips is not particularly believable as a former football player but still, both she and Fred Grandy gave good performance in the story.  This week was a case of The Love Boat really taking me by surprise.

Meanwhile, psychiatrist Lisa Lessing (Joanna Cassidy) boards the boat to observe David Jackson (Dick Shawn), an exec who is asking for worker’s compensation because he claims to be mentally ill.  Lisa (hey!) is on board to check on David’s sanity.  Lisa comes to believe that David is not faking but — surprise! — David actually is faking and now he feels bad because he and Lisa have fallen in love.  Lisa decides to pretend to be crazy too.  Uhmmm, okay.

Pianist Paul Krakauer (James MacArthur) has retired from playing because of the crippling arthritis in his hands.  When he meets Irene (Donna Pescow), a maid on the ship, he falls in love and decides to give one last performance so that he can make a quick $25,000 and give it to Irene so she can get an operation to fix her ankle.  Turns out that Doc has some ‘medicine” that allows Paul to play the piano but it takes several hours to take it effect so Paul misses a date that he previously set up with Irene.  Irene is ready to dump David until she finds out why he stood her up.

So, this episode had one surprisingly sensitive and two kind of bland storylines.  (The pianist storyline was ultimately saved by Donna Pescow’s performance as Irene.)  And I’ve got a massive headache and a cold.  Bleh.  That said, this was actually an above-average cruise, featuring some good performances on the part of the passengers and the cruise.  This week’s trip on The Love Boat was worth it.

Scenes That I Love: Meet Rick Deckard in Blade Runner

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing our theme of dystopian noir, today’s scene of the day comes from 1982’s Blade Runner.  In this scene, we not only meet Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) but we also get a look at the future of Los Angeles, from both the sky and the ground.

(Of course, the film takes place in 2019 so its future is our past!)

This is one of the best world-building scenes that I’ve ever seen, one that works because it takes place in a world we can recognize but which has obviously developed and changed over the years.  Plus, I just like Harrison Ford wearing a trench coat and looking grumpy.  He should have done more noirs.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Dystopia Noir Edition

Posted on 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!

I have a headache and it’s raining outside.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Dystopian Film Noirs

Blade Runner (1982, dir by Ridley Scott, DP: Jordan Cronenweth)

Streets of Fire (1984, dir by Walter Hill, DP: Andrew Laszlo)

Inland Empire (2006, dir by David Lynch, DP: David Lynch)

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