Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Big Top Pee Wee!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  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, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got 1988’s Big Top Pee Wee, starring Paul Reubens!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Big Top Pee Wee is available on Prime!  See you there!

Retro Television Review: City Guys 5.19 “Model Behavior” and 5.20 “Almost Fatal”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing City Guys, which ran on NBC from 1997 to 2001.  Almost the entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Seriously, how have we not reached the final episode yet?

Episode 5.19 “Model Behavior”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 17th, 2001)

I have to admit that, with each week, it gets harder and harder for me to watch and review this stupid show.  I’m currently on the final season and there’s only a few more episodes left to go but, every Thursday, I literally have to force myself to sit through whatever episodes are available on YouTube.  City Guys was never a particularly original show to begin with.  I mean, the only thing that distinguishes it from every other show that Peter Engel produced for NBC was that the cast was a bit more diverse than usual.  But, by the fifth season, it was obvious that the writers were out of ideas and the cast was ready to move on.  I’m at the point that, whenever I hear Al call his ex-girlfriend “Dawny Dawn,” I want to throw something across the room.  Whenever Ms. Noble starts to talk down to her students, I want to scream.  Whenever Chris say something dorky or Jamal asks someone to “Help a brother out,” I silently groan.  It’s all so predictable that I feel like I could probably just guess what happened in each episode and be correct.

As for this episode, Jamal has a girlfriend!  Now, because so much of Season 5 is not streaming online, I don’t know if this episode is the first time that we’ve seen Rosie (Jenna Watson) but apparently, she and Jamal are very much an established couple.  Rosie gets an opportunity to be a model and Jamal throws a fit because he doesn’t want other guys checking out his girlfriend, even though Jamal was earlier doing the same thing to Rosie’s fellow models.  When Rosie calls him out on it, Jamal learns an important lessons about double standards.  Personally, I’m amazed that a successful model like Rosie would waste her time with someone who can barely handle running the cash register at the Manhattan Diner.

Meanwhile, Dawn is organizing a week-long trip to Florida and one of the students who was meant to be a part of the group has to drop out after she gets mono.  Ms. Noble tells Dawn that it’s up to her to select who will be the replacement.  Al and L-Train suck up to Dawn and try to convince her to take them to Florida.  Dawn picks some guy named Jason instead and Ms. Noble gives Al and L-Train a week of detention.  In the past, this is the type of B-plot that would have been saved by the comic timing of Steven Daniel but, at this point, I’m even tired of L-Train.  To be honest, I don’t know why Dawn didn’t just pick her best friend Cassidy.

This episode just felt tired.  The Florida trip made no sense whatsoever while the model storyline just made me think about how much better California Dreams would have handled the whole thing.  I’ve been reviewing City Guys for nearly a year now and I’m definitely ready to move on.

Episode 5.20 “Almost Fatal”

(Dir by Frank Bonner, originally aired on November 17th, 2001)

Here’s the plot description for Wikipedia:

After Chris, Jamal, and El-Train survive a car crash, they start going through some changes as they now view life in a whole new perspective. The three friends begin live to their lives on the edge by doing certain activities to the extreme.

This is one of the many season 5 episodes that is not currently streaming anywhere.  That’s kind of a shame because the plot description makes it sound like this episode could have been interesting or, at the very least, memorably bad.  That said, if I had to guess, I’d say that this was probably just another episode where everyone spent too much time hanging out on the roof and getting a stern talking to from Ms. Noble.

Next week, I’ll be more another episode closer to being done with this show!

Retro Television Reviews: The Love Boat 2.26 “April’s Return/Super Mom/I’ll See You Again”

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’s cruise features Cyd Charisse!

Episode 2.26 “April’s Return/Super Mom/I’ll See You Again”

(Dir by George Tyne, originally aired on May 5th, 1979)

This episode’s writers would want us to believe that the most important thing that happens during this cruise is that April Lopez (played by Charo) returns to the ship.  During the first season, April was introduced as a stowaway who managed to charm the entire crew despite traveling illegally.  With the help of Captain Stubing, April has gone on to become the cruise line’s most popular entertainer and this week, she’s returns to the Love Boat!

The crew is super-excited because April is such a vivacious force of energy.  Or, at least, she was.  When she shows up on the boat, she seems to be feeling a bit down.  As she explains it to Julie, April has discovered that show business is not all that it’s cracked up to be and that it’s full of lecherous men.  (Shocker!)  April has decided that she would rather be a cruise director.  Julie agrees to show April what the job entails and …. well, it turns out that Julie actually has a pretty easy job.  She just goes to Acapulco Lounge at night, spots people who are alone or shy, and offers to dance with them.  I do that on a regular basis.  I should be a cruise director.

Anyway, April eventually realizes that she makes people happy by performing.  Charo was a popular guest star on The Love Boat and, unlike a lot of other actors who appeared in multiple episodes, she always played April.  (In this episode, she sings the show’s theme song.)  In many ways, Charo was the epitome of The Love Boat, in that her act was meant to be both sexy and old-fashioned at the same time.  The Love Boat was a show where everyone on the boat was constantly looking to get laid but the camera still cut away as soon as the cabin door closed and it was understood that sex on the boat would always lead to marriage on dry land.  It was a show with the customs of the 70s and the morals of the 50s.

The episode spends a lot of time on April’s search for happiness.  Personally, I was more excited by the fact that Cyd Charisse was on the boat.  Cyd Charisse is one of my favorite dancers of all time and was one of my personal role models when I was younger.  From the minute that Charisse boards the boat, the cameras are focused on her legs, which were just as spectacular as they were 20 years earlier in Singin’ In The Rain and Silk Stockings.  Charisse plays Eve Mills, a former USO entertainer who, by an amazing coincidence, happens to be on the same cruise as the man that she fell in love with during World War II, Frank Pearse (Craig Stevens).  By another amazing coincidence, Frank just happens to be an old friend of Captain Stubing’s!

Anyway, Frank and Eve recognize each other and they eventually work up the courage to approach each other.  Eve thought Frank was killed in the war.  Frank thought that Eve ignored all the letters that he sent her while he was recovering from being wounded in action.  (It turns out the letters were never mailed because Frank’s nurse was in love with him.)  Frank is still in love with Eve but he sees that she’s accompanied by a handsome young Frenchman named Francois (Stephen Schnetzer).  Eve reveals to Frank that Francois is not her boyfriend.  Instead, Francois is her son!  And guess who Francois’s father is?  (Really, the fact that he was named Francois should have given it away.)

Finally, Bud (Jerry Stiller) and Margaret (Anne Meara) are on their second honeymoon but, unfortunately, they’ve had to bring along their four bratty kids (one whom is played by a very young Corey Feldman).  Bud wants to have a good time.  Margaret keeps worrying about the kids.  Bud gets a dance lesson from April, which leads to Margaret getting jealous.  Don’t worry, they work it out.  Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara were adorable together but this story was stressful for me to watch, just because the kids were so hyperactive and never stopped running around.  Still, the image of Charo teaching Jerry Stiller how to dance feels like it should be enshrined in a museum devoted to the 1970s.

This episode seemed to exist because the show’s producers really liked Charo and it’s hard not to feel that the rest of episode’s storylines were just treated as being afterthoughts.  That said, I enjoyed the Cyd Charisse/Craig Stevens story.  Stevens was stiff and dull but Cyd Charisse was Cyd Charisse and that’s all that really matters!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Wes Craven 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!

84 years ago today, Wes Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio.  Craven started his career as an academic, teaching high school English.  However, realizing that there was more money to be made in the film industry, Craven changed careers.  By his own admission, he started his career directing “hardcore, X-rated films” under a pseudonym and it has been rumored that he was a member of the crew of the first “porno chic” film, Deep Throat.  Eventually, Craven broke into the mainstream with some of the most influential and often controversial horror films ever made.  From being denounced for the original Last House On The Left to changing the face of horror with A Nightmare on Elm Street to becoming something of a revered statesman and a beloved pop cultural institution with the Scream franchise, Wes Craven had a truly fascinating career.

In honor his films and legacy, it’s time for….

4 Shots from 4 Wes Craven Films

The Last House On The Left (1972, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Victor Hurwitz)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Jacques Haitkin)

New Nightmare (1994, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Mark Irwin)

Scream (1996, dir by Wes Craven, DP: Mark Irwin)

Retro Television Reviews: Fantasy Island 3.8 “The Handyman/Tattoo’s Romance”

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, on Fantasy Island, Tattoo falls in love!

Episode 3.8 “The Handyman/Tattoo’s Romance”

(Dir by Lawrence Dobkin, originally aired on November 10th, 1979)

Following the death of his wife last week, Mr. Roarke is once again back to being his usual cranky, Tattoo-hating self.  And this week, Mr. Roarke has a special reason to be annoyed with his assistant.  Tattoo has gone rogue!

As Mr. Roarke explains it, he has rejected the fantasy of Donna May Calloway (Audrey Landers) twice.  Donna May says that she wants to be a country-western superstar but Mr. Roarke doesn’t feel that she has the talent and he also feel that Donna May is being pushed into it by her aunt, Ellie Simpson (Carolyn Jones).  Ellie had to give up her own musical dreams when she was younger and now she’s forced them onto Donna May.  However, Tattoo takes it upon himself to bring Donna May to the Island and to get her an audition with country-western producer, Colonel Hank Sutton (Richard Paul).  Mr. Roarke correctly perceives that Tattoo is being blinded by his own crush on Donna May.

Col. Sutton is not impressed with Donna May’s audition.  (It doesn’t help that Ellie pressures Donna May to sing a corny song about losing her boyfriend to her best friend.)  Still, Ellie is convinced that Tattoo can somehow talk Col. Sutton into giving Donna May another chance.  Ellie tells Donna May to use Tattoo’s attraction towards her for own purposes.  Though reluctant, Donna May starts to flirt with Tattoo.

Tattoo may be in love but Mr. Roarke is enraged.  He confronts Ellie and Donna May in their cabin and tells them that he will not allow them to manipulate Tattoo.  (Much as with last week, Ricardo Montalban is obviously energized by having the chance to play Mr. Roarke as being something other than just an enigmatic host.)  Ellie goes to Tattoo and lies, claiming that Mr. Roarke told them that Tattoo is not good enough for Donna May.  What a bitch!

This leads to — and I’m not joking here — a sincerely touching scene between Mr. Roarke and Tattoo.  Tattoo tells Mr. Roarke what Ellie said.  Mr. Roarke replies that what worries him more than Ellie saying that is the thought that Tattoo might believe it.  Tattoo says that he doesn’t but that he loves Donna May and that he’s going to leave Fantasy Island to be with her.  By most accounts (including their own), Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize did not get along on the set but you’d never guess it from this wonderfully performed scene.  Both of them deliver their lines with such sincerity and emotional vulnerability that it’s impossible not to be moved by their friendship.

Mr. Roarke confronts Donna May and Ellie in the Fantasy Island recording studio.  (Yes, Fantasy Island has its own recording studio.)  Donna May is stricken with guilt when she hears that Tattoo is giving up Fantasy Island for her.  She tells Ellie that she’s going to live her own life from now on.  After Ellie leaves in a huff, Donna May says that she must find Tattoo and apologize to him.

Suddenly, Tattoo reveals that he’s been in the recording the booth the whole time.  “Apologize to the boss, first,” Tattoo orders, revealing that his first allegiance will always be to Mr. Roarke.  Donna May and Tattoo then sing a country song together.  No, I’m not making that up.  It’s weird but kind of sweet.

As for the other fantasy, it’s far less interesting.  Holly Ryan (Future Congressman Sonny Bono, who was a bit of a regular on both this show and The Love Boat) is an accountant who witnessed a murder committed by a gangster named Spider Sloat (Joey Forman).  Holly’s fantasy is to hide out from Spider and, when Spider and his men suddenly show up on the Island, Holly ends up doing just that at an orphanage run by Emily Perkins (Shelley Fabares).  Holly falls in love with Emily, takes care of the orphans, and puts on a dress when Spider comes looking for him.  It’s a thoroughly lightweight fantasy that largely serves to remind us that no one nicknamed Spider can be convincingly intimidating.

As silly as the second fantasy may be, the first fantasy makes up for it.  Much as with last week’s episode, both Ricardo Montalban and Herve Villechaize give such strong performances that this silly little show actually brought a tear to my mismatched eyes.

Will next week be as good?  We’ll find out!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special J. Lee Thompson 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!

109 years ago today, the director J. Lee Thompson was born in Bristol, England.  Though he never quite got the respect that he deserved while he was alive (though he did receive an Oscar nomination for The Guns of Navarone and later won fame as one of the few directors that Charles Bronson actually liked), J. Lee Thompson has since been recognized as a master of genre filmmaking and as someone who was not afraid to add a little subversive subtext to his films.  From The Guns of Navarone to the later sequels of Planet of the Apes to working with Charles Bronson and Robert Mitchum, Thompson was one of the best.

In honor of the man and his legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 J. Lee Thompson Films

Cape Fear (1962, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Sam Leavitt)

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Bruce Surtees)

Happy Birthday To Me (1981, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Miklos Lente)

10 To Midnight (1983, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Adam Greenberg)

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For July

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s that time of the month again!  Here are my Oscar predictions for July!

Probably the biggest development in the race is that both Barbie and Oppenheimer opened with a bang and established themselves as bona fide contenders, along with Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.  I think people were expecting that as far as Oppenheimer was concerned whereas the critical acclaim (and criticism) received by Barbie was a bit more of a surprise.  At this point, the debate over whether or not Barbie has a message can only work to the film’s advantage.  Working against it is the same thing that kept the Lego movies from showing up in the Best Animated Feature category.  For all the discussion about what Barbie means, there’s still the risk of certain members of the Academy viewing it as being an extended commercial.  Still, for now, I think both films have to be considered strong contenders.

(What about Sound of Freedom? some may be asking.  Regardless of the film’s box office success and what other qualities the film may or may nor have, there’s no way the Academy is going to consider a film about and starring an outspoken Trump supporter.)

If there’s anything that could truly upend the Oscar race, it’s how the studios are going to deal with the SAG/AFTRA strike.  For instance, there’s been speculation that some contenders — like The Color Purple — will be pushed back until the strike is settled so that their casts will be able to do publicity for them.  It’s totally possible that some of the big contenders that we’re expecting to see in November and December could instead be pushed back to 2024.  We’ll see what happens.

Below are my predictions for July.  Be sure to also check out my predictions for March and April and May and June!!

Best Picture 

Air

Barbie

The Color Purple

Dune: Part Two

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

The Zone of Interest

Best Director

Greta Gerwig for Barbie

Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest

Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne for The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper in Maestro

Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon

Colman Domingo in Rustin

Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer

Best Actress

Greta Lee in Past Lives

Helen Mirren in Golda

Natalie Portman in May December

Margot Robbie in Barbie

Emma Stone in Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Willem DaFoe in Poor Things

Matt Damon in Oppenheimer

Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey, Jr. in Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling in Barbie

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer

Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

Taraji P. Henson in The Color Purple

Julianne Moore in May December

Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers

Retro Television Reviews: Hang Time 6.1 “www.eugene.trouble.com” and 6.2 “That 60s Show”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Hang Time, which ran on NBC from 1995 to 2000.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

Finally!  We have reached the final season of Hang Time!  While watching this season, it’s important to remember that seasons 5 and 6 were filmed at the same time and were originally meant to be one season.  Just as they did with Saved By The Bell: The New Class, NBC decided to split the final season into two seasons and they also decided to air the episodes out of order.  In other words, I imagine that it’s going to be a lot of fun trying to find any sort of consistent continuity over the final 12 episodes of Hang Time!

With that in my mind, I’m ready to finally move on from this show so let’s get started on season 6!

Episode 6.1 “www.eugene.trouble.com”

(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on September 23rd, 2000)

When I talk about how showing episodes out of order can lead to continuity issues, I’m talking about an episode like this one.  Season 5 ended with the Tornadoes going to the championship tournament and losing to Muncie, despite the fact that they were favored to defeat Muncie.  In fact, the team had been named “Team of the Decade,” which seemed like a bit of overkill on the part of the press.  Obviously, the Tornadoes were a good team but it still seemed strange that they got as cocky as they did last season.

If all of the episode had been aired in the order in which they were meant to have been aired, the viewers would have understood that the Tornadoes were not only favored to win the tournament but that, until their loss to Muncie, they had been undefeated for the entire season.  That would have explained why they were such heavy favorites, why they got so cocky, and why their loss truly was such an upset.  Instead, the majority of the “undefeated season” episodes were moved to season 6.  So now, the undefeated season happened the year after their loss to Muncie, when the players themselves were in their sixth year of high school.  And, because the episode were aired out-of-order, the first episode of the sixth season features the Tornadoes already deep into their undefeated season and on the verge of making the playoffs.

In this episode, the undefeated season is briefly threatened by Eugene’s gambling problem.  When Eugene loses a lot of money playing video poker, he makes the mistake of putting $500 on the Pacers game.  When he loses that bet, evil bookie Bill (Kevin Sage) demands that Eugene throw his next game.  Instead, Eugene puts his team first, wins the game (and yes, the Tornadoes win by one point), and then nearly gets killed in the hallway by Bill.  Fortunately, Coach K comes running around a corner and tosses Bill against some lockers.  I’m convinced the look of fear on Bill’s face was real because Dick Butkus may have been a retired football player but it was obvious that he could still break some bones if he wanted to.  Eugene learns an important lesson and Coach K declines to kick Eugene off the team, despite the fact that Eugene violated the contract that he signed the previous season.

While this was going on, Kristy had an interview with Stanford but, after an emergency dental appointment left her unable to talk, Mary Beth took her place.  Why Kristy didn’t just reschedule the meeting, I have no idea.  It was dumb but Megan Parlen and Amber Barretto were always a good comedy team and I laughed every time Mary Beth said that Kristy had a “hump” (due to Kristy wearing an ice pack on her back) and Kristy shouted back, “It wasn’t a hump!”

This episode felt like a strange way to start the season.  Again, that’s because of the way that NBC split the final season in two.  Usually, Hang Time would start each season with the beginning of the school year.  This time, Hang Time jumped into the middle of the season, with the team already talking about making the playoffs.  It just didn’t feel right but at least Mary Beth and Kristy are finally, after six years of high school, thinking about college.

Episode 6.2 “That 60s Show”

(Dir by Miguel Higuera, originally aired on September 30th, 2000)

The students at Deering High are upset over the new dress code.  I don’t blame them!  Look at this:

I would refuse to wear that uniform too!

Pompous ex-Yippie teacher Mr. McHenry (Alan Young) tells them that they should protest the same way that Mr. McHenry protested at Chicago in 1968.  (So, they should get hit with tear gas and beaten up by the cops?)  The protest rally is a success.  The school board drops the uniform requirement but they also fire Mr. McHenry.  So, the students decide to protest that as well….

GET TO CLASS, YOU BRATS!

Anyway, the Deering basketball team sits down on the court and refuses to start their next game unless Mr. McHenry is reinstated, which puts their undefeated season at risk.  Seriously, though, wouldn’t they just be ordered to forfeit the game if they refused to play?

Anyway, Mr. McHenry is reinstated, even though he’s like 80 and probably would have enjoyed his retirement.

This episode annoyed me.  Let us never speak of it again.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman and Jackie Brown!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1987’s The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman!

Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet!  We will be watching 1997’s Jackie Brown, starring Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, and Diana Uribe!  The film is on Prime!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!  Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Jackie Brown, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag!  The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.   

Enjoy!