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Author Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Scenes I Love: Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt In Twister
Bill Paxton would have been 71 years old today. As a lover of both films and eccentric Texans, I still miss Bill Paxton.
Today’s scene that I love comes from Twister and it features Bill Paxton showing off some wonderful chemistry with Helen Hunt. One of the great things about Bill Paxton is that he was equally at home in both big blockbusters like Twister and Titanic and low-budget indies like Near Dark. He was an artist who also happened to be a star.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Dennis Hopper Edition
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.
90 years ago, Dennis Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas.
It seems rather appropriate that one of America’s greatest cinematic outlaws was born in a town that will be forever associated with the old west. Dennis Hopper was a rebel, back when there were actual consequences for being one. He started out acting in the 50s, appearing in films like Rebel Without A Cause and Giant and developing a reputation for being a disciple of James Dean. He also developed a reputation for eccentricity and for being difficult on set and he probably would have gotten completely kicked out of Hollywood if not for a somewhat improbable friendship with John Wayne. (Wayne thought Hopper was a communist but he liked him anyways. Interestingly enough, Hopper later became a Republican.) Somehow, Hopper managed to survive both a raging drug addiction and an obsession with guns and, after a mid-80s trip to rehab, he eventually became an almost universally beloved and busy character actor.
Hopper, however, always wanted to direct. He made his directorial debut with 1969’s Easy Rider, a film that became a huge success despite being an infamously chaotic shoot. The success of Easy Rider led to the Hollywood studios briefly trying to produce counter-culture films of their own. Hopper was given several million dollars and sent to Peru to make one of them, the somewhat dangerously titled The Last Movie. Unfortunately, The Last Movie, was such a bomb that it not only temporarily derailed Hopper’s career but it also turned Hollywood off of financing counter culture films. Hopper spent a decade in the Hollywood wilderness, giving acclaimed performances in independent films like Tracks and The American Friend, even while continuing to increase his reputation for drug-fueled instability. Hopper would eventually return to directing with his masterpiece, 1980’s Out of the Blue. (Out of the Blue was so controversial that, when it played at Cannes, Canada refused to acknowledge that it was a Canadian production. It played as a film without a country. Out of the Blue, however, is a film that has stood the test of time.) Unfortunately, even after a newly cleaned-up Hopper was re-embraced by the mainstream, his directorial career never really took off. He directed 7 films, of which only Easy Rider and Colors were financially successful. Contemporary critics often didn’t seem to know what to make of Dennis Hopper as a director. In recent years, however, Hopper’s directorial efforts have been reevaluated. Even The Last Movie has won over some new fans.
Today, on his birthday, we honor Dennis Hopper’s directorial career with….
4 Shots From 4 Dennis Hopper Films
Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.3 “Save The Max”
Welcome to Late Night 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 Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Bayside Radio is on the air!
Episode 2.3 “Save The Max”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 22nd, 1990)
Uh-oh! Max is about to lose The Max! The land that the Max is sitting on belongs to the school board and, if Max the owner can’t come up with $10,000 in back rent, he’s going to lose the restaurant. As Jessie puts it, “our favorite hang-out is going to become a parking lot!”
Here’s the thing — so what? I mean, seriously, is it that hard to find a place to get a hamburger in California? For the most part, the Max has always come across as being a fairly tacky place. It’s hard for me to imagine anyone over the age of eleven thinking that Max’s magic tricks were worth watching. Even more importantly, why didn’t Max pay his rent? Max is an adult. He’s a grown man. Why does it fallon a group of teenagers to take care of Max’s problems? Pay your own damn bills, Max!
Fortunately (I guess), Zack has recently re-launched the school radio station. This is the episode where Zack and Screech discover the radio station in the school basement and Mr. Belding appears in a flashback as a 40 year-old hippie high school student with a thick mustache. I’m not really sure to whom the radio station is supposed to appeal. Zack pretending to be “Wolfman Zack” is cringe city. Screech’s mystery theater is embarrassing. Lisa’s gossip show would probably lead to multiple lawsuits today. Aren’t these people supposed to be in class? Are the other students actually okay with Zack and his friends being the only ones who actually get to do anything interesting at school?
The best thing about this episode is that it gives Slater a showcase. This is the first episode to feature Slater as a guy who is always confident until he’s either talking into a microphone or looking at video camera. Whenever he knows he’s being recorded, Slater suddenly freezes up. Slater’s awkwardness is actually pretty endearing and it makes him a more compelling character than Zack. With Zack automatically being good at everything, it’s actually kind of nice to get to watch Slater conquer his doubts and prove himself.
Do the kids — and Mr. Belding — go on the air for 24 hours in an attempt raise enough money to save the Max? You bet they do! But it’s not until Slater grabs the microphone and talks about how the Max was the first place that he ever felt as if he really belonged that the money starts to come in. I think one reason that the Gang was having trouble raising money is that all of the Bayside students were at the Max for the telethon. Seriously, I’m really not sure who was donating all that money at the end of this episode. I guess Slater has groupies. Hey, why not? He’s earned them.
Seriously, though — couldn’t Max have just paid his rent!? What a deadbeat!
Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/10/26 — 5/16/26
Hollywood Demons (HBOMax)
This week’s episode took a look at prescription drug abuse in Hollywood. It really didn’t have anything new to say about the subject.
Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout TV)
I watched three more episodes of this odd series on Friday night. The monsters were even more trippy than usual!
The N.Y. Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase (YouTube)
On Sunday, I watched this infamous roast from 2003. Chevy Chase was roasted by a few people who knew him and by a lot of people who didn’t. Stephen Colbert made an early name for himself with his no-holds barred set. I knew this is something that we’re not supposed to admit nowadays but, as I watched the roast, I actually found myself feeling a little sorry for Chase. It’s one thing to be insulted by your friends. It’s another thing to be insulted by strangers who genuinely seem to despise you. At least Paul Shaffer appeared to be having fun as Chevy’s roast master.
Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano (Netflix)
17 seconds? After all the hype, it’s impossible not to be disappointed with the actual fight. That said, I’ve always felt that Gina Carano was not treated fairly by Disney so I’m glad she appears to be making a comeback of sorts.
Saved By The Bell (Tubi)
My review of Saved By The Bell will be dropping soon, assuming I don’t fall asleep before I can write it.
Watched and Reviewed:
- 1st & Ten,
- Baywatch,
- CHiPs,
- Crime Story,
- Decoy,
- Freddy’s Nightmares,
- Hunter,
- The Love Boat,
- Pacific Blue,
- Saved By The Bell: The New Class,
- St. Elsewhere
Retro Television Review: Baywatch 2.4 “Money, Honey”
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 Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.
This week is pretty pointless.
Episosde 2.4 “Money, Honey”
(Dir by Monte Markham, originally aired on October 7th, 1991)
When Mitch and Eddie are hired to serve as lifeguards at a Hollywood party, film producer Dita (Leslie Easterbrook) is impressed when she sees Mitch respond to a boating accident. She decides to make Mitch into a movie star. Everyone knows that Mitch can swim and run in slow motion but can he deliver scripted lines? Dita doesn’t care. She just wants to sleep with him. That goes against Mitch’s ethics so his film career ends before it even begins. Meanwhile, Shauni puts together a benefit to protect a sea lion habitat. At first, it looks like Shauni won’t be able to raise the money but then Mitch donates his movie paycheck to the cause.
This was a montage episode of Baywatch. There really wasn’t much of a plot but there certainly were a lot of montages. Watch as Mitch nervously sits in the makeup chair. Watch as a bunch of bikini-clad beachgoers gather for Shauni’s benefit. Listen to the music. Watch the images. Don’t worry about a thing….
In short, this was a pretty pointless episode. That said, the sea lions were cute and the scene where Captain Thorpe tried to teach Mitch how to audition did make me smile. It’s interesting that it took only four episodes for the syndicated version of Baywatch to fall into the pattern that would definite it for the next ten years.
Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial For Kill, Baby, Kill!
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, #ScarySocial presents 1966’s Kill, Baby, Kill,, directed by Mario Bava!
If you want to join us this Saturday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Kill, Baby, Kill is available on Prime! See you there!
Song of the Day: Once Upon A Time In The West by Ennio Morricone
Seeing as how today is Henry Fonda’s birthday, it seems appropriate that today’s song of the day comes to us from Ennio Morricone’s classic score for Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West!
Scenes That I Love: Henry Fonda in The Ox-Bow Incident
Today, we celebrate the birthday of Henry Fonda!
Fonda was born 121 years ago today and, over the course of his long career, he was often cast in role the epitomized everything great about America. It’s rare to find a Henry Fonda film in which he played an out-and-out villain, though he did just that in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West. (Leone, in fact, cast Fonda as the evil Frank because he knew audiences would be shocked to see Fonda coldly gunning down settlers and their families.)
One of Fonda’s finest films was 1943’s The Ox-Bow Incident, in which he played a cowboy who finds himself drafted into joining a posse that ends up hanging three men for the crime of murder and cattle rustling. The members of the posse (including seven of whom voted against hanging the men) later learn that the men were innocent. In today’s scene that I love, Henry Fonda reads aloud the letter that one of the men wrote to his wife shortly before he was hung. This was one of Fonda’s most heartfelt and powerful performances.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Danny Trejo 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 Len wishes a happy 82nd birthday to the man and the legend, Danny Trejo! Trejo’s journey from being a gang member to an ex-con to a drug counselor to a pop cultural institution is an inspiring one, all the more so because Danny Trejo is so candid about both his past struggles and his present successes.
It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Danny Trejo Films
Runaway Train (1985, dir by Andrei Konchalovsky, DP: Alan Hume)
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987, dir by J. Lee Thompson, DP: Gideon Porath)
Heat (1995, dir by Michael Mann, DP: Dante Spinotti)
Machete Kills (2013, dir by Robert Rodriguez, DP: Robert Rodriguez)
