Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 2/9/25 — 2/15/25

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednsesday Night, ABC)

I loved the science fair episode, which I watched on Hulu on Wednesday afternoon! Ava is my favorite character so I enjoy any episode that deals with her troubled past, her unique principal style, and the moments where she actually turns out to be good at her job.

I also enjoyed the latest episode of Abbott, with Ava helping out the other schools and Jacob giving an impassioned speech to the school board that will probably come back to haunt him at some point in the future. After the previous season’s somewhat uneven mix of episodes, it’s nice to see Abbott Elementary going strong again!

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (Apple TV+)

Erin and I watched this on Thursday. It’s a holiday tradition! You can read Erin’s review here!

Dark (Netflix)

Case and I finished up season two this week. Onward to the season three next week!

Extracted (Monday Night, Fox)

In this new reality show, out-of-shape people go into the wilderness and try not to die. From a control room, their family members watch and debate whether or not to pull them out of the game. On Wednesday, I watched the first two episodes on Hulu. The show is ludicrous but it’s entertaining, as most good reality shows are. I would hope that my family would pull me out after the first ten minutes.

Kitchen Nightmares (Tuesday Night, Fox)

Finally leaving the ugly restaurants of New Orleans, Chef Ramsay helped out an ugly restaurant in Houston. Seriously, how does the show find these ugly places? This time, the restaurant owner got mad at Ramsay and even called him into the storeroom for a talk. Ramsay was still able to get through to her and save the restaurant. Yay!

Scamanda (Hulu)

On Tuesday, I watched the second episode of Scamanda, which revealed a bit about Amanda’s background and also her husband. The episode suggested that Amanda based her scam off of her husband’s stepdaughter from his first marriage and her very real battle with Leukemia. Not only does this show how twisted Amanda was but it also indicates that her husband was very much a part of her scheme. The second episode was marked improvement over the first. I’m looking forward to the third.

The Story Behind (Tubi)

I watched two episodes. One featured the story behind Beverly Hills 9o210. The other was the story behind Full House. Neither really told me anything that I didn’t already know.

Super Bowl LXI (Sunday Night, Fox)

The only thing more boring than the game were the commercials. A lot of people are making a big deal about Taylor Swift getting booed at the game. The Swifties are in an uproar but, honestly, it’s an American tradition to boo celebs at sporting events, especially ones who are only there because they’re dating a player. Taylor’s apparent shock at being booed has become a meme but it was actually a very relatable and human moment. I prefer Taylor’s “What’s going on?” to the celebs who either pretend to not to care or the ones who go into a rage mode the minute they have to deal with public opinion.

Watched and Reviewed Elsewhere:

14 Days of Paranoia #1: The Fourth Wall (dir by Adriano Bolzoni)

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

First released in 1969, The Fourth Wall opens with a series of photographs.

The grainy photographs all appear to have been taken at a political protest in London. The protestors are holding signs that say something about leaving Nigeria alone but the exact cause that is being supported is still left vague. Eventually, after viewing several photographs of long-haired college students holding signs, we reach some photographs of the police violently breaking up the protest and carting several of the protestors off to jail.

Amongst the protestors is a young Italian named Marco Baroni (Paolo Turco). Marco has spent the past four years in London, studying and apparently becoming politically active. However, it is time for him to return to Italy. When he reaches his home, we discover that, for all of his talk of protest and revolution, Marco comes from a wealthy, upper class family. Papa Baroni (Peter Lawford) is a businessman who is willing to bankrupt even his best friends and who openly flaunts the affair that he’s having with his Swedish secretary. Marco’s mother, Christiana (Francoise Prevost) spends her time in a haze of alcohol and ennui. Marco’s younger sister, Marzia (Tery Hare), is a fashion model who has become infamous for a serious nude photographs that were taken by the enigmatic Lona (Corraine Fontaine). Marzia’s room is full of picture of herself. When Marco returns home, she greets him more as if he were long-distance boyfriend than her brother. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that there is more to Marco and Marzia’s relationship than just sibling closeness.

It’s an odd and meandering film. Marco, having had his consciousness raised in London, is disgusted by his family’s decadence and hates the fact that his father seems to represent everything that he was arrested for protesting in the UK. At the same time, as much as Marco whines about the sins of his family, he finds himself repeatedly drawn to Marzia and her wild lifestyle. At one point, Marco finds himself observing a group of student radicals who can’t even agree on what they want to protest. At another point, he walks in on one of Marzia’s parties and watches as a rather tame orgy breaks out. This is the type of film where Marco spends a lot of time complaining about Marzia being more interested in hedonism than politics but the camera itself lingers on the nonstop nudity and the sight of Lona and Marzia kissing. For all of the film’s political pretensions, director Adriano Bolzoni obviously understood that sex sells better than speeches.

Bolzoni, himself, was not primarily a political filmmaker. The majority of his films were a mix of giallo thriller and spaghetti westerns. There are hints of the giallo genre in this film, with its vibrant colors and its shots of Marco slowly losing his mind as the full extent of his family’s decadence becomes clear to him. (That said, it’s hard not to laugh at the scene in which Marco runs through the rain while screaming, “NO!” over and over again.) The instrumental score is pure Spaghetti western, leading to some unintentionally funny moments. When Marco spots his father with his mistress, the mix of a zoom lens and a musical sting that sounds like it was lifted from a Sergio Leone showdown is more likely to leave you laughing than gasping. There are other scenes that are scored to songs that were apparently written to sound like Simon & Garfunkel’s contributions to The Graduate soundtrack.

As pretentious as the film is — and make no mistake, this is a very pretentious film — The Fourth Wall does do a good job of capturing Marco’s growing sense of unease as he returns home convinced that he’s figured out the world just to discover that no one else really cares about his politics, his ideals, or his outrage. Marco goes from being stridently idealistic to drowning in his own paranoia and it’s hard not to regret that Paolo Turco was a bit of a dull actor because, with better casting, the character’s descent would have been truly heartbreaking. Peter Lawford plays Papa Baroni with just the right amount of ruthless charm. He might be the epitome of everything that Marco is against but just watching him, you know that Papa Baroni is always going to get exactly what he wants. It doesn’t matter how much Marco whines or how many meetings Marco goes to or even how the film’s final burst of violence plays out. Papa Baroni will always thrive and survive.

Rocky Mountain Mystery (1935, directed by Charles Barton)

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Larry Sutton (Randolph Scott) is an engineer who has been sent to take over operations at a radium mine that is owned by the Ballard family. Previously, Larry’s bother-in-law was in charge of the mine but he has disappeared and is suspected of having murdered the foreman at the Ballard Ranch. With Jim Ballard (George F. Marion) on his deathbed and being cared for by the foreman’s wife (Caroline Dudley, credited as Mrs. Leslie Carter), Ballard’s nieces (Ann Sheridan and Kathleen Burke) and nephew (Howard Wilson) have come to the ranch to find out about their inheritance.

Soon, a cloaked figure starts to murder Ballard’s heirs, one-by-one. Working with eccentric Deputy Sheriff Tex Murdock (Chic Sale), Larry tries to discover the identity of the killer and keep the mine from falling into the wrong hands.

Rocky Mountain Mystery is unique in that it is a Randolph Scott western that takes place in what was then modern times. Even though both Larry and Tex prefer to ride horses, the murderer tries to escape in a car, people use phones, and the entire plot revolves around a radium mine. The film mixes the usual western tropes of grim heroes, eccentric lawmen, and valley shoot-outs with a dark mystery that actually holds your attention while you’re watching the film. Always ideally cast in these type of films, Randolph Scott is both tough and intelligent as Larry Sutton. He may be a cowboy but he’s a detective too. Scott gets good support from a cast of familiar faces. Ann Sheridan is especially good as the niece who knows how to handle a rifle.

These B-westerns can be a mixed bag but Rocky Mountain Mystery held my attention with a plot that was actually interesting and a strong performance from Randolph Scott. Watch it and see if you can guess who the identity of the Ballard Ranch murderer.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.17 “Come Back, Little Arnold”

Posted on February 15, 2025 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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The entire show can be purchased on Prime.

This week, Horshack’s not going to take it anymore.

Episode 4.17 “Come Back, Little Arnold”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on February 24th, 1979)

Arnold Horshack’s a drunk!

Well, not quite. He’s not an alcoholic. He does buy a bottle of cheap whiskey from Carvelli because he has a date coming up with Mary (Irene Arranga) and he’s nervous about it. To the shock of everyone, Horshack gets mean when he drinks. He calls the other Sweathogs out for always making fun of him. He tells his teachers to leave him alone. He throws all the money from the school store out into the hallway. He starts wearing a leather jacket. Horshack is out of control!

It’s a good thing that Vinnie is around to serve as a mentor…. oh wait, Travolta became a movie star and Vinnie Barbarino is no longer on the show.

It’s a good thing that Gabe has a good relationship with Arnold Horshack and …. oh wait, Gabe Kaplan was angry with the show’s producers and only appeared in a handful of episodes this season. And this is not one of those episodes!

Maybe Julie could …. Marcia Strassman isn’t in this episode either!

Mr. Woodman could …. oh, who are we kidding? Woodman doesn’t care.

Instead, it falls to Jean Tremaine (Della Reese) to gather all the Sweathogs together and let them know that Horshack needs help. Jean Who? Well, apparently, Ms. Tremaine has been around for a while and she’s as much of a mentor to the Sweathogs as Gabe ever was! Oddly, we’ve never heard about or seen Ms. Tremaine before. In fact, I thought the whole idea of the Sweathogs was that they weren’t allowed to attend regular classes, like the one taught by Ms. Tremaine.

It’s easy to see what happened here. With Gabe Kaplan determined to leave and Marcia Strassman also tiring of the show, the show’s producers were trying to figure out how to continue Welcome Back Kotter without any Kotters. With this episode, we saw one possible way to keep the show going. Della Reese would be the new teacher and hopefully, she would have eventually gotten some new students. It was time to let the Sweathogs graduate. As I watched this episode, I noticed that Ron Palillo, the actor who played Horshack, actually had gray in his hair.

Surprisingly enough, this was actually a pretty good episode. After spending the past two seasons playing Horshack as just being a weirdo with a strange voice, Ron Palillo finally got another chance to play the angry, misadjusted Horshack who we first met during the show’s first season. Palillo really got into the scenes where Horshack told off the Sweathogs, dropping the funny voice and delivering his lines with authentic anger. Watching the episode, it’s hard not to get the feeling that Palillo was acting out some of his own frustrations in this episode. It can’t be easy to play Arnold Horshack day-after-day.

And you know what? As clumsily as she was introduced, Della Reese did a good job as Ms. Temaine. The idea of her as the new regular teacher was not a crazy one, though it was one that was probably suggested too late to save the show.

This was a good episode. I’m as surprised as anyone.

The Most Inspiring Home Run You’ll See Today

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Yesterday, the college baseball season started.

Cade Belyeu, a sophomore outfield for Auburn University, lost his mom on Friday morning but, when he called to tell his coach the news, he said that he still wanted to play in that night’s game against Holy Cross. His mom, before she passed, said that she wanted him to play in the game.

On his third trip to the plate, this happened…

The homerun was the first of both the game and the season. As Belyeu rounded the bases, he pointed to where the ball had gone out of the stadium. The crowd, most of whom knew Belyeu’s story, erupted in cheers. After the game (which Auburn won 4-1), the fan who caught the ball returned it to the team and it was given to Belyeu.

Moment like this are why I love baseball.

I Watched Love Is On The Air (2021, Dir. by Arvin N. Berner)

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Adam Smasher (Jason London) is the family friendly version of Howard Stern, an obnoxious shock jock who has just been fired from his radio job and, due to nearly crashing into a cow, finds himself stranded in a small North Carolina town. He gets a job on the local radio station, co-hosting a call-in show with Eve Cassidy (Lauren Harper). At first, Adam and Eve don’t mix. Adam is cynical and Eve actually wants to help people with their relationship issues. After a few days, Adam learns to appreciate country living and Eve falls in love with him even though she’s dating the station manager, Jamel (Ian Reier Michaels). Adam shows he’s a soft touch when he buys a bunch of sandwiches for a poor family and Eve starts to loosen up and have more fun on the air. Eve is offered her own show in Chicago and has to decide between her career and Adam.

This isn’t a Hallmark film but it might as well be. I enjoyed it even though I knew everything that was going to happen, from the minute Adam first heard Eve on the radio and called in to “smash” her. (I actually had to check to see when this movie has been made because Adam’s whole act seemed to be from the 1990s.) This is one of those movies where you know what you’re getting from the start. If you’re surprised that Adam brings a carousel down to the station for Eve to ride during a commercial break, you’ve probably never seen one of these movies before. I liked the cozy small town town feel of the location and I think Jason London should be in more movies. I also think it’s funny that 99% of these movies start with someone having car trouble. If people knew how to drive, they would never fall in love.

Song of the Day: Centerfield by John Fogerty

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

Lisa asked me to pick today’s song of the day and you’ll never guess what it’s about!

Baseball!

If you’ve been to a game, you’ve heard Centerfield. If you’ve been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, you’ve heard Centerfield a lot. This song captures everything that I and so many other people love about the great American pastime! I can’t wait to hear it again in just a few more weeks!

Well, I beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field
A-roundin’ third and headed for home
It’s a brown-eyed handsome man
Anyone can understand the way I feel

Oh, put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield

Well, I spent some time in the Mudville Nine
Watching it from the bench
You know I took some lumps
When the Mighty Casey struck out
So say, “Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio”
Don’t say it ain’t so you, know the time is now

Oh, put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield

You got a beat up glove, a homemade bat
And a brand new pair of shoes
You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride
Just to hit the ball and touch ’em all, a moment in the sun
It’s a-gone and you can tell that one goodbye

Oh, put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Look at me, I can be centerfield (yeah)

Oh, put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Put me in, coach
I’m ready to play today
Look at me, gotta be centerfield

Yeah

Songwriter: John C. Fogerty

4 Shots From 4 Films: Play Ball!

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

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!

Here are 4 shots from 4 films about my favorite sport!

4 Shots From 4 Baseball Films

Eight Men Out (1988, Dir. by John Sayles)

A League Of The Own (1992, Dir. by Penny Marshall)

42 (2013, Dir. by Brian Hegeland)

Everybody Wants Some!!! (2016, Dir. by Richard Linklater)

A Scene That I Love: The End of Eight Men Out

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Dazzling Erin

It’s almost time for Spring Training and I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite baseball movies!

There are a lot of movies that I like but my absolute favorite baseball movie has to be Eight Men Out, which is about how the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. What I like about is that, while looking at the economics and the politics about baseball, it never lost sight of everything that makes the game so special.

In the scene below, fans at a minor league game think they’ve spotted Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the best players to have ever been banned from baseball, at bat.

THE CORRUPTOR (1999) – Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg fight corruption in Chinatown!

Posted on February 15, 2025 by Bradley Crain

In the late 90’s, I was all in on actor Chow Yun-Fat. Having only discovered his excellent Hong Kong film work a couple of years earlier, I was so excited to see what kind of splash he would make in American films. I loved his first American film THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS (1998), but I will admit it was an exercise in style over substance, and it really didn’t show off his acting abilities. Chow was working hard to improve his English language skills during this time, but that limited his performance the first time around. As I settled into my seat on the film’s opening weekend at the box office in March of 1999, I was hoping to see the Chow Yun-Fat I loved from his Hong Kong movies. But more on that later…

THE CORRUPTOR opens with a bomb going off in Chinatown, followed by a sidewalk assassination in broad daylight. It seems there’s a turf war being fought between a street gang called the Fukienese Dragons, led by Bobby Vu (Byron Mann), and a Chinese criminal organization called the Tung Fung Benevolence Association, led by Uncle Benny Wong (Kim Chan) and Henry Lee (Ric Young). We then meet Nicholas Chen (Chow Yun-Fat), a heroic, highly decorated NYPD cop who runs the Asian Gang Unit. His unit is tasked with trying to keep the peace in Chinatown, but with all the recent violence, they’re clearly failing. Knowing he needs more help, Chen requests additional manpower and gets the young and eager Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg). The two men don’t hit it off immediately as Chen had wanted a more experienced, Asian cop. Over time, however, Chen begins to trust Wallace and begins to let him into the inner workings of the unit.

We soon find out that things are much more complicated in Chinatown police work than they might have appeared at first. Chen is not quite as heroic as initially presented. He’s a morally conflicted man who wants to do good work for the people of Chinatown, but in the process, he’s compromised himself by taking sides and forming a delicate alliance with Uncle Benny and Henry Lee. And Danny isn’t quite the young, green cop he was presented as either. In fact, he’s been secretly tasked by Internal Affairs to monitor Chen and his unit. As Wallace sees what’s really going on in Chinatown, and after Chen saves his ass on multiple occasions, it becomes harder and harder for him to do his job and build a case against Chen. As the film reaches its conclusion in this world of grey, we will see if Chen and Wallace can work together and take down Henry Lee and Bobby Vu, who have formed an alliance to take over Chinatown’s criminal activities. And we will find out what Wallace will do with the information he has on Chen.

I’m a big fan of THE CORRUPTOR, and the primary reason is the excellent performance of Chow Yun-Fat. No other American made action film showed off the extraordinary charisma that made him a superstar in Asia in the 1980’s. In this film, Chow is able to play both sides of the law and still remain incredibly likable. He pulls this balancing act off in a way that appears effortless, and yet there are very few actors in the world who are capable of doing it. Mark Wahlberg had emerged as a major film star a couple of years earlier with the runaway success of BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997). I think he’s very good in this film as well, as his character must reconcile his ideals against the reality of fighting crime in such a dangerous environment. There’s a scene near the end where Chen has been informed that Wallace is internal affairs and confronts him about it. Wahlberg is incredible in the scene, setting the stage for the exciting resolution of the film.

THE CORRUPTOR has several excellent action set-pieces, beginning with a shootout at a lamp shop. This is when I knew this movie was going to present the Chow Yun-Fat I know and love. His personality is displayed in the scene, along with his two guns blazing in slow motion. There’s also an intense car chase through crowded streets and a final showdown on a cargo ship that really stood out to me. Director James Foley was probably hired based on his prior work that showed an ability to deal with moral ambiguity in films like AT CLOSE RANGE (1986) and GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS (1992). While he wouldn’t be my first directorial choice for an action film, he does a fine job in my opinion.

Overall, I recommend THE CORRUPTOR to any person who likes Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, or an entertaining action film. It’s not in the league of Chow’s best Hong Kong films, but it is his best American action film, because it actually gives him a strong character to play. That went a long way with me.

I’ve included the trailer for the film below: