Scenes I Love: Burt Young Takes Out A Pinball Machine in Rocky III

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today would have been the 85th birthday of the great character actor Burt Young.

Burt Young appeared in a lot of classic films.  He had a streetwise authenticity about him and he was one of those guys who looked a bit older than his years.  (He was only 36 when he appeared in Rocky.)  Young played cops and gangsters and New York characters of all stripes.  That said, to most people, he’ll always be Paulie, the brother-in-law of Rocky Balboa.  Young did such a good job playing Paulie that this character became beloved, despite being a racist misogynist who managed to screw up Rocky’s life in nearly every Rocky film in which he appeared.

(In real life, Burt Young was a painter and a poet, showing that one should never judge a book by its cover.  Unless it’s one of those really badass covers that my sisters likes to share.)  

Today’s scene that I love is a classic Paulie scene.  Rocky may be the world’s most popular boxer but Paulie’s getting a little tired of him.  A pinball machine is about to pay the price.  From Rocky III, here is a scene that I love.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Lars Von Trier 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!

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 69nth birthday to cinematic provocateur, Lars Von Trier!

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Lars Von Trier Films

Europa (1991, directed by Lars Von Trier, DP: Henning Bendtsen,
Edward Kłosiński, Jean-Paul Meurisse.  Released as Zentropa in North America)

Breaking the Waves (1996, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Robby Muller)

Dogville (2002, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Anthony Dod Mantle)

Melancholia (2011, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Manuel Alberto Claro)

The Eric Roberts Collection: The Rideshare Killer (dir by Ashley Scott Meyers)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

W-Ride!  W-Ride!  W-Ride!

2022’s The Rideshare Killer ends with the creation of W-Ride, a rideshare app for women only.  All of the drivers are women.  All of other passengers are women.  Men are not allowed to get in the car.  The sounds like a good idea to me, though I imagine it would probably lead to a lawsuit in real life.  Actually, forget probably.  It would definitely lead to a lawsuit.  That said, I would still download the app.

Unfortunately, Julia (Tuesday Knight) only comes up with the idea after almost all of her friends and co-workers are murdered by a serial killer.  Julia is the CEO of Rock N Ride, the rideshare app that is singlehandedly making taxis obsolete.  She and two friends run it from her living room.  They all have laptops so we know they’re coders.  Who is the killer?  I won’t spoil it, beyond saying that it won’t take you by surprise.  That said, I did laugh out loud when I heard the killer’s motive because it seems like something that could have been accomplished without necessarily becoming a serial killer.  Someone obviously did not think things through before deciding to become a criminal.

The main reason I watched this movie was because Eric Roberts was in it.  He plays the detective who is investigating the murders.  It’s a typical Eric Roberts cameo.  He delivers his lines with his signature half-smile, as if he can’t believe the kids today with their laptops and the rideshares.  As for the rest of the movie, it’s pretty dire.  The budget was obviously low and the cast stiffly delivers their lines with the type of overly precise diction that one would expect to hear in a high school theatrical production.  Tuesday Knight is not a bad actress but she’s tripped up by a poorly written script.

That said, I’ll never get W-Ride W-ride W-ride out of my head.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

  1. Star 80 (1983)
  2. Runaway Train (1985)
  3. Best of the Best (1989)
  4. Blood Red (1989)
  5. The Ambulance (1990)
  6. The Lost Capone (1990)
  7. Best of the Best II (1993)
  8. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
  9. Voyage (1993)
  10. Love Is A Gun (1994)
  11. Sensation (1994)
  12. Dark Angel (1996)
  13. Doctor Who (1996)
  14. Most Wanted (1997)
  15. Mercy Streets (2000)
  16. Raptor (2001)
  17. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
  18. Strange Frequency (2001)
  19. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
  20. Border Blues (2004)
  21. Mr. Brightside (2004)
  22. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
  23. We Belong Together (2005)
  24. Hey You (2006)
  25. Depth Charge (2008)
  26. Amazing Racer (2009)
  27. The Chaos Experiment (2009)
  28. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
  29. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
  30. Enemies Among Us (2010)
  31. The Expendables (2010) 
  32. Sharktopus (2010)
  33. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
  34. The Dead Want Women (2012)
  35. Deadline (2012)
  36. The Mark (2012)
  37. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
  38. Assault on Wall Street (2013)
  39. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
  40. Lovelace (2013)
  41. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
  42. The Perfect Summer (2013)
  43. Self-Storage (2013)
  44. Sink Hole (2013)
  45. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
  46. This Is Our Time (2013)
  47. Bigfoot vs DB Cooper (2014)
  48. Doc Holliday’s Revenge (2014)
  49. Inherent Vice (2014)
  50. Road to the Open (2014)
  51. Rumors of War (2014)
  52. Amityville Death House (2015)
  53. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
  54. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
  55. Las Vegas Story (2015)
  56. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
  57. Enemy Within (2016)
  58. Hunting Season (2016)
  59. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
  60. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
  61. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
  62. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
  63. Dark Image (2017)
  64. The Demonic Dead (2017)
  65. Black Wake (2018)
  66. Frank and Ava (2018)
  67. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
  68. Clinton Island (2019)
  69. Monster Island (2019)
  70. The Reliant (2019)
  71. The Savant (2019)
  72. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
  73. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
  74. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
  75. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
  76. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  77. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
  78. Top Gunner (2020)
  79. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
  80. The Elevator (2021)
  81. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
  82. Killer Advice (2021)
  83. Megaboa (2021)
  84. Night Night (2021)
  85. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
  86. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
  87. A Town Called Parable (2021)
  88. Bleach (2022)
  89. Dawn (2022)
  90. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
  91. 69 Parts (2022)
  92. D.C. Down (2023)
  93. Aftermath (2024)
  94. Bad Substitute (2024)
  95. Devil’s Knight (2024)
  96. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
  97. When It Rains In L.A. (2025

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 2.2 “Daystalker”

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 Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, the Daystalker stalks wherever it is that this show takes place.

Episode 2.2 “Daystalker”

(Dir by Don Michael Paul, originally aired on August 24th, 1996)

After his girlfriend Sandy (Cindy Ambuehl) is assaulted by a serial rapist, TC becomes obsessed with tracking the so-called Daystalker down.  Detective Bonnie Wilson (Gwen McGee), sent to the beach to head up the investigation, thinks that the Daystalker is going to eventually move on from rape to murder.  She also thinks that TC is a loose cannon who is going to spook the Daystalker into moving to another city before he can be captured and prosecuted for his crimes.  Cory is set up as a decoy and soon finds herself being followed by the Daystalker.  Meanwhile, the terribly traumatized Sandy struggles with PTSD.

And, while that’s going on, Elvis and Victor try to get a Rastafarian to take a hex off of them!

This episode epitomizes one of the things that really bugs me out Pacific Blue.  On the one hand, we have a very serious storyline about a serial rapist and one of his traumatized victims.  A scene where Sandy has to leave a self-defense class because it’s triggers a flashback is a powerful and honest moment, certainly more powerful than anything you would expect to see on a show like Pacific Blue.  On the other hand, we have this totally cartoonish subplot about a random Rastafarian putting a hex on Elvis and Victor.  At a time when the entire bike patrol is supposed to be out looking for a serial rapist who has assaulted their best friend’s girlfriend, Victor and Chris are laughing because Elvis thinks the hex is making his hair fall out.  Never mind the stupidity of the hex plot.  Tonally, the two plots don’t go together.  With this episode, Pacific Blue reveals that it still doesn’t know if it wants to be a gritty crime drama or just Baywatch on bicycles.

This could have been a very strong episodes.  There were moments and lines of dialogue that really stood out for being considerably more thoughtful than one might expect from this show.  But it was still an episode of Pacific Blue, which means that the camera still lingered on random women in bikinis and way too much time was spent on TC saying, “I have to do something!”  Only TC could make his girlfriend’s rape about himself and only Pacific Blue would let him get away with that.

Even when they’re dealing with a serious issue as they did for half of this episode, it’s hard to escape the fact that these people are bicycle cops.  The bicycles, the crisp white shirts, the shorts …. it just makes it hard to them seriously.  This was yet another episode where a lot of time was spent with Palermo and TC explaining that bike cops are real cops.  We’re at the start of the second season here.  If you’re still having to justify your existence at this point, you’re never going to do it.

Nine Lives Are Not Enough (1941, directed by A. Edward Sutherland)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Matt Sawyer (Ronald Reagan) is a junior reporter whose enthusiasm for breaking the big news is always getting him in trouble.  Sometimes, he runs with a story before getting all of his facts straight and the newspaper gets sued.  If not for his enthusiasm and his affability, Matt would have been fired a long time ago.  Instead of losing his job, Matt just finds himself demoted to riding in a squad car with Sgt. Daniels (James Gleason) and the slow-witted Officer Slattery (Edward Brophy).  Matt still manages to find a story when he and the cops discover a dead man in a flophouse.

The man turns out to have been a millionaire.  The coroner rules his death a suicide but Matt is convinced that it was murder.  How could the man have shot himself if he died with his hands in his pockets?  Over the objections of the police and his editors, Matt investigates the man’s death.  Helping him out is the man’s daughter, Jane Abbott (Joan Perry).

Nine Lives Are Not Enough is one the many B-pictures that Ronald Regan made for Warner Bros.  It’s only 63 minutes long and, despite the murder mystery, the emphasis is more on comedy than drama.  For all of his reputation for being a stiff actor, Reagan proves himself to be surprisingly adroit when it comes to exchanging snappy dialogue with his editor.  This film showcases the innate likability that made Reagan a success as both an actor and a politician.  What he lacks in range, he makes up for in sheer affability.  Watching Reagan in movies like this, it is easy to see the limitations that kept him from being a major star while also revealing why he later had so much success asking people to vote for him.

Considering how the press felt and still feels about Ronald Reagan, it’s entertaining to see him cast as a reporter who has a reputation for getting the story wrong.  When it’s really important, though, Matt Sawyer gets it right.

Retro Television Review: Fantasy Island 6.14 “Revenge of the Forgotten/Charo”

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 1984.  Unfortunately, the show has been removed from most streaming sites.  Fortunately, I’ve got nearly every episode on my DVR.

This week epitomizes an era!

Episode 6.14 “Revenge of the Forgotten/Charo”

(Dir by Phillip Leacock, originally aired on February 19th, 1983)

Just the fact that one of this week’s fantasies is actually entitled “Charo” should tell you all you need to know about it.  Charo plays Maria Diaz (her full name is much longer), who has come to Fantasy Island to meet her father.  Charles Woodruff (Van Johnson) didn’t even know that he had a daughter but he takes the news surprisingly well.

The interesting thing about this fantasy is that Charles Woodruff is an American diplomat, who has a home in both New York City and Fantasy Island.  As Fantasy Island has previously been established as being its own nation, you do have to wonder if perhaps Charles Woodruff is America’s ambassador to Fantasy Island.  A large part of the fantasy involves him hosting a dinner for several other diplomats so I guess it’s possible that every country sends an ambassador to Fantasy Island.  Perhaps Fantasy Island even sends a delegate to the United Nations.  Maybe that would explain where Tattoo was during all of those season 5 episodes where Julie was suddenly Roarke’s sidekick.  For that matter, maybe that’s where Julie is now.  The show never has really explained what happened to her.

Anyway, how much you like this fantasy will depend on how much you like Charo.  She is someone who definitely epitomizes an era and, of course, the same can be said of both The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.  It’s interesting that, over the years, there have been multiple attempts to reboot both of those series and they’ve never really worked, largely because a good deal of the appeal of Love Boat and Fantasy Island is how much they really are a product of the 70s and 80s.  Attempting to update them for the modern era tends to negate everything that make both of the shows so entertaining to watch today.

(The latest Fox update of Fantasy Island had a lot of gorgeous scenery but it got bogged down in all of its attempts to world build.  It’s fun to speculate about how the Island works.  It’s less fun to actually have the show explain it to us.)

As for the other fantasy, it involves Marjoe Gortner!  As usual, Marjoe’s playing a villain.  He’s cast as Loren Robertson, who framed Alan Daly (Steve Kanaly) for a crime that he didn’t commit and then tricked Alan’s girlfriend, Marion (Christine Belford), into marrying him.  Recently released from prison, Alan comes to Fantasy Island to track down a fabled treasure that Alan believes he can use to restart his life.  With the help of Tattoo (who dresses up like Indiana Jones), Alan finds the treasure but, when he sees Loren and Marion on the Island, Alan gets distracted by his desire for revenge.

This story was a bit of an odd one.  Alan’s fantasy was to find the treasure and, after he found it, Roarke was like, “So, I guess you’ll be leaving now.”  Instead, Alan decides to spend a full weekend on the Island to try to get revenge.  I’ve never seen Roarke try to get a guest to leave early before but it’s even more strange to be reminded that somehow all of these fantasies occur over the course of one weekend.  Some episodes have seemed like a bit much for just two or three days.

Despite the fact that this episode originally aired in 1983, it doesn’t get more 70s than Charo and Marjoe!  Charo was her usual self.  Marjoe was a great villain as always.  This was an enjoyable trip to the Island.

Song of the Day: Main Title Theme From Dirty Harry by Lalo Schifrin

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

If there’s one man who would have stood with Marshal Kane, it was Harry Callahan.

In honor of the fact, today’s song of the day comes from 1971’s Dirty Harry. Composer Lalo Schifrin’s moody score remains one of the best cop film scores of all time.  It’s efficient, relentless, and deceptively low-key, just like “Dirty Harry” Callahan himself.