Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Elia Kazan Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

114 years ago, on this date, Elia Kazan was born Istanbul.  Kazan would go on to become a groundbreaking director, both for the stage and in movies.  He would play a key role in turning both Marlon Brando and James Dean into stars and he made films, like Gentleman’s Agreement and A Face In The Crowd, that challenged the political pieties of the day.  Of course, he also named names in front of HUAC, a decision that continues to be controversial to this day.  Two of Kazan’s films — Gentleman’s Agreement and On The Waterfront — won the Oscar for Best Picture.  A Streetcar Named Desire was widely expected to win before it was upset by An American In Paris.  A Face In The Crowd is often cited as being one of the most prophetic films ever made.  When Kazan was given an honorary Oscar in 1999, many in the auditorium refused to applaud but his influence as a filmmaker cannot be denied.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Elia Kazan Films

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Harry Stradling)

On The Waterfront (1954, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Boris Kaufman)

East of Eden (1955, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Ted D. McCord)

A Face In The Crowd (1957, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Gayne Rescher and Harry Stradling)

Here’s The Trailer For The Bikeriders!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Bikeriders, the latest film from director Jeff Nichols, made quite a splash when it premiered at Telluride last week, with many critics declaring it to be a surefire Oscar contender.  The film tells the story of fictional motorcycle gang and it features a dream cast of Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, and Tom Hardy.  Nichols, who previously made quite a splash with films like Take Shelter and Mud, seems like one of those directors who is destined to be an awards contender at some point in the very near future.

Here’s the trailer!

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 3.5 “The Scoop/The Audit Couple/My Boyfriend’s Back”

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!

Today, the IRS takes a cruise.  Agck!

Episode 3.5 “The Scoop/The Audit Couple/My Boyfriend’s Back”

(Dir by Jack Arnold, originally aired on October 6th, 1979)

Captain Stubing is being audited!

Damn the IRS!  What a bunch of money-obsessed fascists!

The IRS agent, Viola Penny (Phyllis Diller), has booked a room on the cruise so that she can look through Captain Stubing’s records and….

Wait a minute.  If you’re an IRS agent, you get to go on a luxury cruise and also look through someone’s private information?  That sounds like fun!  Sign me up!

Anyway, Viola originally seems to be tough-minded and determined to toss Capt. Stubing in jail.  But then she gets drunk at dinner and, when she wakes up in the captain’s cabin, she’s convinced that she and Stubing are now lovers.  She decides to go easy on the audit but then she comes across $50,000 hidden in an ice bucket and she becomes convinced that Stubing is cheating the government and that he seduced her to keep her from finding out.  But then she discovers that the money is actually the crew emergency fund and she falls in love with Stubing again….

Yeah, it’s hard to keep track of how Viola feels from scene to scene.  At the end of the episode, she declares her love for the captain and leaves the boat.  Stubing realizes that he forgot to ask her what the results of his audit were but he also orders Gopher not to call her back to the boat.  If there’s a new captain next week, I’ll just assume Stubing’s in USP Marion.

Meanwhile, caddish Jay Cavanaugh (Lyle Waggoner) is really excited when he sees his ex-girlfriend, Patricia Lucas (Jennifer Salt), on the boat.  Jay is determined to get back together with Patricia, despite the fact that Patricia is on her honeymoon with her new husband, Danny (Richard Kline).  Danny is instantly jealous of Jay, who has a perfect smile and a perfect tan.  However, he needn’t be insecure because Patricia is totally in love with him.  Still, Danny keeps walking in on Jay flirting with Patricia and soon, he declares that the marriage is over.

Patricia tricks Jay into stepping up on a stage in the Acapulco Lounge and announcing that he’s in love with Patricia.  Patricia then announces that Jay has no idea what love is and declares, in front of all the crew and passengers, that she’s in love with Danny.  Danny and Patricia’s marriage is saved but seriously, Danny was kind of wimpy about the whole thing.  It seems like Patricia deserved better than both Jay and Danny.

Finally, Simon Scott (Ray Buktenica) is a tabloid reporter who is on the cruise because he’s been assigned to discover who the famous actress, Jackie Landers (Joyce Dewitt), is traveling with.  It turns out that Jackie is not traveling with a romantic partner but instead with her autistic son.  At first, Jackie pretends to be in a relationship with Doc Bricker but eventually, Simon discovers the truth.  However, Simon refuses to write a tabloid-style story about her child so Jackie falls in love with him and hires him to help her write her own non-tabloidy story about her son.

This episode was a mixed bag.  The IRS storyline was frustrating, largely because it featured a lot of complications that could have been prevented by people just not jumping to conclusions.  The newlyweds story felt anticlimactic because there was never any question about who Patricia would choose to be with.  But the storyline with Jackie, Simon, and Jackie’s son was actually pretty sweet.  Ultimately, this was a pleasant but forgettable cruise.

Here’s The Trailer For Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

23 years after the first escape, the chickens are back with Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget!  (Not returning is Mel Gibson.  Zachary Levi provides the voice of Rocky for the sequel.)  Last time, they broke out.  This time they’re breaking in!

The film is scheduled to be released on December 15th.  Here’s the trailer for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget!

Retro Television Reviews: Fantasy Island 3.13 “The Inventor/On The Other Side”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing the original Fantasy Island, which ran on ABC from 1977 to 1986.  Almost entire show is currently streaming is on Youtube!

This week’s trip to Fantasy Island is sadly forgettable.  Let’s find out why.

Episode 3.13 “The Inventor/On The Other Side”

(Dir by Earl Bellamy, originally aired on December 15th, 1979)

This week, there is no banter between Tattoo and Mr. Roarke before they head off to meet their guests.  In fact, Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize barely look at each other.  It’s a shame because this is actually a pretty dire episode.  It could have used some passive-aggressive Tattoo/Roarke interaction.

The first fantasy features Arte Johnson as Professor Dwayne Clebe and Marcia Wallace as his assistant, Martha Meeks.  Professor Clebe is tying to develop a solution that, when sprayed on metal, will make it impervious to damage.  When he first arrives at Fantasy Island, the solution is called 2X76409, with the 9 signifying the 9 labs that have been blow up by Clebe’s experiments.  By the time he and Martha perfect the solution, it has become the 2X76411.  Fear not, no one is injured when the labs blow up.  Even though Clebe and Martha are both standing in the middle of these explosions, they always just end up with soot on their face.

Anyway, once the formula is perfected, leaders of both industry and the world’s trade unions travel to Fantasy Island to try to destroy it.  The industrialists think that it will drive down prices.  The unionists think that it will put people out of work.  Eventually, the Russians show up because they want the formula for themselves.  It all leads to a big chase and Prof. Clebe realizing that he loves Martha.

The whole fantasy was way too cartoonish and overwritten for its own good and it featured some of the worst acting that I’ve ever seen on Fantasy Island.  Let’s move on!

Unfortunately, the other fantasy really isn’t that great either.  Irma Gideon (Jeanette Nolan) was the wife of a medium.  When he died, he promised that he would contact her from the other side.  He hasn’t done so and Irma’s fantasy is to go to the other side, see her husband, and then return.  Mr. Roarke arranges for a séance but, when he suspects that Irma is planning on just going to the other side and staying there, he cancels the fantasy.  After Irma swears that she won’t stay in “the other side,” Mr. Roarke allows her to enter a death-like trance in a Fantasy Island laboratory.  When Irma goes to the Other Side and is tempted to cross a bridge and stay permanently, her grandson (Keith Gordon) enters into a trance of his own so that he can beg her to come back.

It all sounds like it should be interesting but the execution is lacking, with one scene featuring a painting of Irma’s husband speaking to her being so badly done that it makes it impossible to take the rest of the fantasy seriously.  Jeanette Nolan and Keith Gordon both give marginally better performances that Arte Johnson and Marcia Wallace did in the other fantasy but, in the end, the whole thing just falls flat.

Well, not every trip to Fantasy Island can be a winner.

Scenes That I Love: Aguirre Declares Himself To Be The Wrath of God

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In honor of Werner Herzog’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films.  1972’s Aguirre, The Wrath of God not only established Herzog as a major filmmaker but it also showed that he was the director who could get the best out of the notoriously difficult Klaus Kinski.

In this scene, Kinski plays the mad conquistador, Aguirre.  Lost with his men in the Amazon, Aguirre establishes control over the dwindling expedition.