In honor of Ethan Hawke’s birthday, here is the wonderfully romantic Ferris wheel scene from 1995’s Before Sunrise. Director Richard Lnklater considered this scene to be an homage to The Third Man.
Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.11 “Two Days To Kill”
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 Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958. The show can be viewed on Tubi!
This week’s episode is really, really good!
Episode 1.11 “Two Days To Kill”
(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on December 23rd, 1957)
Selma Richmond (played by a young Diane Ladd!) is the girlfriend of gangster Johnny Troy (Michael Strong). Johnny is about to go on trial and Selma’s testimony about his crimes is the key piece of evidence against him. Knowing that Johnny wants Selma dead, the police put her up in an apartment. Casey is assigned to protect her.
At first, Casey and Selma seem to become unlikely friends. Selma is flighty and obsessed with Hollywood. Even though she’s testifying against him, she claims that Johnny is just misunderstood. Casey, taking some sympathy on her, tells Selma about the man that she loved. For the first time, we learn something about Casey’s background. We learn that her husband was a cop and he died in a shoot out. It’s a surprising moment and one that’s poignantly played by Beverly Garland. (The camera closes in on her face while she slowly smokes a cigarette.) Not only does it help us understand why Casey sometimes to seems to be emotionally detached but it also shows the friendship between the two women. Casey doesn’t open up for many people but she does for Selma.
However, that friendship ends when Selma realizes that Johnny will be facing the death penalty. Selma manages to sneak a letter Johnny, letting him know where she’s being held. Johnny shows up at the apartment, carrying a knife. Casey is waiting for him with her gun drawn. During the stand-off, Johnny tells Selma that he loves her and Selma believes it. The Johnny uses his foot to unplug the apartment’s lamp. In the darkness, he lunges at Selma and Casey opens fire, killing Johnny. Selma’s response is to shout, “I bet you’re glad you killed him!”
This was an outstanding episode. Director Stuart Rosenberg, taking over from Teddy Sallis, makes good use of the gritty New York locations. Each scene is lit like a film noir, with Johnny literally emerging from the shadows at one point. Rosenberg also gets excellent performances from both Ladd and Garland. This was a strong episode and the best of the series so far.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Madam Satan, Safe In Hell, Rasputin and the Empress, and Search For Beauty
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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
All of the scenes below come from films that were made and released between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the adoption of the infamous Hays Production Code in 1934. This was truly an exciting time for film as an art form. Not only were filmmakers intoxicated with discovering what they could accomplish through the medium but they were also unhindered by censorship or regulation. The end result was some of the most visually imaginative and narratively daring films to ever be released by the major American studios.
There’s a reason why film lovers continue to eagerly seek out pre-code films. And if you want to experience what made the pre-Code era so memorable, you could not do any worse than to start with the four films featured in this post.
Madam Satan (1930, dir by Cecil B. DeMille)
Safe in Hell (1931, dir by William Wellman)
Rasputin and the Empress (1932, dir by Richard Boleslawski)
Search For Beauty (1934, dir by Erle C. Kenton)
Music Video of the Day: Surprise Surprise by Alkaline Trio (2025, dir by Mark Eaton)
This music video brings a little October to November.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.4 “Quarterbacks Tell No Tales”
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, a player’s reputation is on the line. Can he clear his name, even though all the evidence is stacked up against him?
Episode 2.4 “Quarterbacks Tell No Tales”
(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on September 15th, 1986)
T.D. Parker (played by O.J. Simpson) is pissed off! The normally affable former player is angry that someone is dealing cocaine to the Bulls. The press and the commissioner both assume that the dealer is rookie quartebrack Tim Yinessa. (That guy that Yinessa caught searching his room last week? He was a reporter.) T.D. isn’t so sure. He thinks that start quarterback Johnny Valentine (Sam Jones) is responsible for the team’s cocaine problem. T.D. eventually confronts Johnny and tells him to stop with the drugs.
“25% of this league retires injured,” Johnny says, “You’re proof of that.”
T.D. gets so angry that he proceeds to stab Johnny to death punch Johnny in the chest. “Welcome to the 25%,” he says.
No, T.D. Johnny said “retired” players. Johnny’s not retiring yet. Anyway, Johnny was so coked up that he probably didn’t even feel the punch.
As for Yinessa, he nearly gets kicked off the team when the real dealer plants some cocaine in his locker. Luckily, his roommate — Jamie Waldren (Jeff Kaake) — steps forward and confesses that he was the owner of the cocaine that the reporter found in the room. Diana orders Jamie to go to rehab. “Sure, I guess,” Jamie replies.
While that’s going on, Dr. Death and Mad Dog Smears continued to harass the rookies by ordering one of them to fake a suicide attempt as a part of a practical joke. At the bar where they hang out, they also sang a song against urine testing. I’m not really sure why anyone would want to hang out at the bar, as it seems like the whole place only exists so that Dr. Death and Mad Dog can put on painfully unfunny stage shows. Dr. Death and Mad Dog also told Yinessa that they would kill him if he agreed to random urine testing in order to prove his innocence. Personally, I think Dr. Death and Mad Dog should focus on their jobs. Maybe if they did a better job protecting the other players, T.D. wouldn’t have had to retire. I mean, you can tell it’s really cutting T.D. apart that he can’t play anymore.
So, Jamie is off to rehap, Yinessa is still on the team, and T.D. didn’t have to kill anyone. All in all, it was a productive week. To be honest, it’s difficult to judge this show based on traditional standards of good and bad. Technically, every episode is bad. This week, however, was slightly less bad than usual.
Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.25 “The Dog Show: Putting on the Dog/Going to the Dogs/Women’s Best Friend/Whose Dog Is It Anyway?”
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!
Come abroad, we’re expecting you….
Uhmm, maybe not this week, Love Boat.
Episode 6.25 “The Dog Show: Putting on the Dog/Going to the Dogs/Women’s Best Friend/Whose Dog Is It Anyway?”
(Dir by Bob Sweeney, originally aired on March 26th, 1983)
This week’s episode stressed me out.
The cruise line is co-sponsoring a dog show that is going to be held in Mexico. The dog that wins will not only receive $10,000 but will also become the new “face” of Honeycutt Dogfood. All the contestants bring their dogs onboard the ship and take the cruise to Mexico.
Seriously, imagine the scene. Hundreds of dogs on cruise ship, floating in the pool and running through the passageways — YIKES! I will admit that the majority of the dogs were cute. There was a white Samoyed dog named Tundra who was just adorable and who could do all sorts of tricks. But still, I spent the whole episode wondering what would happen if a dog accidentally jumped (or fell — oh my God!) overboard. What if one of the dogs had fleas and now, everyone on the boat had them too? Who was cleaning up after the dogs? And what about a passenger — like me, for instance — who wasn’t really a dog person and who bought a ticket without the knowledge that the ship itself would be home to hundreds of canines?
The storylines also made me anxious, just because none of them made much sense. (It was obvious that the main concern for this episode was getting as much cute dog footage as possible.) So, we had Isaac and Gopher buying Tundra from $8 but not realizing that she was a brilliant dog who could do hundreds of tricks. Isaac and Gopher sold the dog to the Captain and Vicki, just to then realize that Tundra was a sure winner in the dog show. Isaac and Gopher tried to convince the Captain to sell the dog back but it turned out the Captain already knew Tundra was a winner. Of course, as employees of the cruise line, neither Gopher nor Isaac nor Vicky should have been allowed to enter a dog in the show in the first place.
And then we had Isaac’s aunt Tanya (Isabel Sanford) running around with a Chihuahua while her husband (Mel Stewart) got jealous. And we had Pamela (Catherine Bach) realizing that Gary (Dirk Benedict) was the new owner of a dog that she had lost two years before. And then there was boozy Mrs. Honeycutt (Jo Anne Worley) boarding the ship and searching for her husband, not realizing that he wouldn’t be arriving until the ship reached Mexico. For his part, Mr. Honeycutt (Gordon Jump) spent most of this episode in Las Vegas with his secretary.
Finally, Harold Pack (Ray Buktencia), who worked in Honeycutt’s mailroom, boarded the boat with some forms from Mr. Honeycutt and was immediately mistaken for his boss. Pretending to be Mr. Honeycutt, Harold romanced a dog owner named Wendy (Heather Thomas). Imagine Wendy’s surprise when she learned Mrs. Honeycutt was on the boat and looking for her husband….
Oh God, I’m getting stressed just writing about all this.
Things worked out in the end. Mr. Honeycutt, having returned from Vegas, announced that there was a tie and all the dogs were winners! Harold protected Honeycutt’s secret and got promoted to Vice President. Pamela and Gary decided to own the dog together. Vicki got Tundra! Yay! I was happy about that. Tundra was adorable!
This episode was exhausting. Too many dogs, too many half-baked stories, too much overacting on the part of Isabel Sanford, it was just too much.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special New York Edition
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 takes a look at New York. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 New York Films
Taxi Driver (1976, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Chapman)
The Warriors (1979, dir by Walter Hill, DP: Andrew Laszlo)
Escape From New York (1981, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)
1990: Bronx Warriors (1982, dir by Enzo G. Castellari, DP: Sergio Salvati)
Song of the Day: El Chacal by Ola Fresca
There’s always been something very annoying about the cult surrounding Che Guevara. Because his face looked good on a poster and his execution was probably carried out by the CIA, a lot of people have deified a shallow-minded rich kid whose main accomplishment was executing several of his fellow countrymen and then totally failing in his attempts to overthrow the government of Bolivia.
Thankfully, there’s a song that tells the truth. From Ola Fresca, here is El Chacal.
Scenes I Love: The Trial In National Lampoon’s Animal House
I was feeling a bit under-the-weather last night. Some of it was anxiety over the direction of the country. Some of it was just the standard blues that I always feel after Halloween. Horrorthon is such a big project that it always takes me a while to get back to normal once it ends.
Luckily, I’ve got movies to cheer me up. Last night, I watched Happy Gilmore and I was going to share a scene from it today but it occurred to me that I’ve already shared both the fight with Bob Barker and Happy shouting, “You’re going to die, clown!” multiple times. So, instead, I’m going to share another scene from a comedy that always makes me laugh. This film was also a favorite of my father’s.
In 1978’s Animal House, Dean Wormer and the Student Court try to railroad the Delta House. Needless, the Deltas aren’t going to stand for that. When Hoover’s earnest defense fails to sway the Dean, the Deltas don’t hold back. I love this movie and I love this scene.
Music Video of the Day: Radio by Frost Children (feat. Kim Petras) (2025, dir by Ashely Hood)
On the one hand, it sounds like everything else.
On the other hand, it does feature some cool car-in-the-desert action.
Enjoy!
Through the Shattered Lens 