Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 4.22 “Mirror Image”

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 Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, season 4 comes to a close.

Episode 4.22 “Mirror Image”

(Dir by Richard Compton, originally aired on May 6th, 1988)

Trying to recover from the assassination of his wife, Sonny Crockett throws himself back into his Sonny Burnett persona.  As this episode starts, Sonny has managed to get close to a ruthless drug dealer named Gutierrez (Antonio Fargas).  When Guiterrez blows up a boat that is full of rival drug dealers, the Vice Squad assumes that Gutierrez died in the explosion.  They also assume that Sonny was lost as well.

They are incorrect.  Gutierrez got off the boat before the bomb went off and somehow, Sonny was able to survive being blown up without suffering any sort of physical injuries.  However, mentally, he wakes up with amnesia.  When Gutierrez’s doctor tells Sonny that he’s a drug dealer and this his last name is “Burnett,” Sonny believes him.

In Ft. Lauderdale, Sonny quickly moves up in the organization of drug lord Miguel Manolo (Tony Azito).  Now believing himself to be a criminal, Sonny has no hesitation about murdering anyone who he views as being a threat.  He kills Gutierrez in cold blood about halfway through the episode.  At the end of the episode, he shoots a corrupt detective (Chris Cooper) in cold blood.  Tubbs, who has been investigating Manolo, witnesses that final murder.  “SONNY!” he yells as Sonny escapes in a speedboat and season 4 comes to an end.

Season 4 was truly uneven, featuring some terrible episodes and also some episodes that were good but not particularly memorable.  Before I started this season, I read that it was considered to be the worst of Miami Vice‘s five seasons and, having now watched every episode, I can see why.  Sonny marrying Caitlin never made any sense.  Most of the villains were either generic or ludicrous.  Most of the episodes just didn’t have the style that made the first three seasons so memorable.  Even worse than the boring episodes were the ones that tried too hard to be quirky.  Trudy going into space was definitely not a great idea.  With all that in mind, this final episode was great.  The action was stylish, Don Johnson actually seemed invested in the story for once, and Phillip Michael Thomas got to show off his own skills as an actor.  If only the entire season had been this good!

As well, I should mention that, along with Chris Cooper as a bad cop, this episode also featured Julia Roberts as Manolo’s girlfriend.  Roberts didn’t really get to do much but, even in a small role, her screen presence was obvious.  It’s not a surprise she became a star.

Next week …. we’ll start the final season of Miami Vice!

Who Can A Southern Girl Cheer For In The MLB Play-Offs?

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

It’s a sad time to be a Southern baseball fan.

The regular season is over.  The playoffs begin tomorrow.  Despite giving me a brief moment of hope in the final weeks, the Rangers did not make the playoffs.  Usually, when the Rangers don’t make it, I cheer for the Astros but they didn’t make it either.

Instead, the following teams will be contending for a spot in the World Series:

For the American League:

  1. Toronto Blue Jays
  2. New York Yankees
  3. Boston Red Sox
  4. Cleveland Guardians
  5. Detroit Tigers
  6. Seattle Mariners

For the National League:

  1. Philadelphia Phillies
  2. Milwaukee Brewers
  3. Chicago Cubs
  4. Cincinnati Reds
  5. Los Angles Dodgers
  6. San Diego Padres

In other words, a bunch of yankees and I don’t just mean New York.

Who will I cheer for out of that collection of teams?  I know who I don’t want to win.  If the World Series comes down to the Blue Jays and the Phillies, I might just stop watching baseball all together.  (I’d have to cheer for the Blue Jays in that matchup but I wouldn’t be happy about it.)

The Guardians are tempting, even if they did clinch their spot by beating the Rangers.  They were the last team to make it to the playoffs and I love a good underdog story.  They may have beat the Rangers but they’re not the team that I blame for keeping the Rangers out of the playoffs.  (I’m looking at you, Astros.)  Ohio may be up north but it’s not that much up north so I guess I can support the Guardians or even the Reds!

Go Guardians!

Join #MondayMania For Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania!  Join us for Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge!  Dr. Albert Beck is back!

You can find the movie on Prime and Tubi and then you can join us on twitter at 9 pm central time!  (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.)  See you then!

Scenes That I Love: The Conclusion of The Passenger

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1975’s The Passenger, a film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.  Antonioni was born 113 years ago today, in what was then the “Kingdom of Italy.”

In The Passenger, Jack Nicholson plays a journalist who, because he’s bored with his life, impulsively assumes the identity of a deceased American businessman.  What he discovers is that the businessman was an arms dealer and that the people that the arms dealer were doing business with still expect to get their weapons.  Despite the fact that he knows that it might cost him his life, Nicholson is still drawn to see just how far he can take his new existence.

The film’s enigmatic final scene, in which Nicholson goes to a hotel to wait as both the people who double-crossed and his wife search for him, is Antonioni at his best.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Nicolas Winding Refn 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.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 55th birthday to Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn!  Drive was one of the first films to really be celebrated on this site, receiving reviews from several contributors.  Personally, I preferred The Neon Demon.

In honor of of the man and his work, it’s time for….

4 Shots from 4 Nicolas Winding Refn Films

Bronson (2008, dir by Nicolas Winding Refn, DP: Larry Smith)

Drive (2011, dir by Nicolas Winding Refn, DP: Newton Thomas Sigel)

Only God Forgives (2013,dir by Nicolas Winding Refn, DP: Larry Smith)

The Neon Demon (2016, dir by Nicolas Winding Refn, DP: Natasha Braier)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Don’t Kill It!

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 2016’s Don’t Kill It!

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 Don’t Kill It on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

 

Music Video of the Day: And The Beat Goes On by The Whispers (1979, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The Whispers were first formed 1964 but they had to wait 16 years before scoring the first top 20 hit in both the U.S. and the UK with And The Beat Goes On.  This song was co-written by Leon F. Sylvers III, Stephen Shockley, and William Shelby.  Sylvers felt that the song had little potential to be a hit.  The Whisperers felt differently and they turned out to be correct.  This song was both a hit and it lived on as a part of the Vice City soundtrack.

As befits an old school song, this is an old school video, a simple performance clip of the band doing what they did best.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 1.7 “Basketball Diaries”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, Jimmy decides that Ritalin might be key to improving his jump shot.  Meanwhile, Liberty makes a fool out of herself

Episode 1.7 “Basketball Diaries”

(Dir by James Allodi, originally aired on April 29th, 2002)

This epiosde features two stories.  The weaker of the two, not surprisingly, focuses on Liberty and her desire to do the video announcements.  Ashley finally agrees to let Liberty do them before the big basketball game with Earl Grey Academy.  Liberty, of course, bombs.  Paige laughs because she thinks that Ashley set Liberty up.  Feeling guilty, Ashley gives Liberty some pointers and then allows Liberty to do the post-game announcements.  Liberty does much better and Ashley says that Liberty will be great when she starts regularly doing the announcements …. after Ashley graduates.

This storyline was a Liberty storyline so who cares.  During the first three seasons, Liberty was the most annoying character on the show and her storylines were always cringe.

Fortunately, the episode’s other storyline features Jimmy and Spinner.  Jimmy is worried about making the basketball team, especially with Ms. Kwan constantly on his back about reading Lord of the Flies.  Jimmy convinces Spinner to hand over his last Ritalin.  As a result, Jimmy goes crazy on the court and scores a lot of points but he also injures his teammate, Sean.  Meanwhile, Spinner loses focus and moons the gym.

So, the reason why I love this storyline is becuase it features every myth that people seem to believe about ADD.  For the record, the medication does not give you super powers and also most people don’t suddenly go wild just because they miss one pill.  I have ADD.  There have been days when I’ve forgotten to take my pills and, while there is definitely a difference in those days than the day when I do take my pills, I’ve still always managed to survive without breaking the law or crashing my car or doing any of the other things that always seem to happen on television.  Whenever I forget to take my pills, I usually end up doing something like deciding it would be a good idea to start doing daily late night retro television reviews on top of everything else that I have to do.

(The first time my mom ever took me to an appointment to get my perscription refilled, she said she could tell who was at the doctor’s office for ADD because we were the ones who couldn’t go 5 minutes without grabbing another magazine to look through.)

As for Jimmy, he wins the game but he still gets cut from the team because he’s not a good teammate.  That’ll teach him to take Ritalin without a perscription!