Stripes (1981, directed by Ivan Reitman)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Bill Murray and Harold Ramis join the army.

Wait, that can’t be right, can it?  Bill Murray and Harold Ramis were cinematic anarchists.  Early in his career, Bill Murray was the ultimate smart aleck slacker who did not have any respect for authority.  Harold Ramis was hardly a slacker but he came across as someone more likely to be marching on the Pentagon than guarding it.  Stripes is one of the ultimate examples of a comedy where the laughs come from things  that don’t seem to go together suddenly going together.

John Winger (Murray) at least has a reason to join the army.  He has a dead end job.  He has just broken up with his girlfriend.  The country appears to be at peace so why not spend four years in the Army?  It’s harder to understand why John’s friend, Russell (Ramis), also decides to enlist, other than to hang out with John.  Along with Ox (John Candy), Cruiser (John Diehl), Psycho (Conrad Dunn), and Elm0 (Judge Reinhold), they enlist and go through basic training under the watchful eye of Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates).  John and Russell go from treating everything like a joke to invading East Germany in a tank that’s disguised as an RV.  They also meet the two sexiest and friendliest MPs in the service, Stella (P.J. Soles) and Louise (Sean Young).  Russell goes from being an proto-hippie who teaches ESL to asking John if he thinks he would make a good officer.  John goes from not taking anything seriously to picking up a machine gun and rescuing his fellow soldiers.

It’s a comedy that shouldn’t work but it does.  It’s actually one of my favorite comedies, full of memorable lines (“Lighten up, Frances.”), and stupidly funny situations.  The cast is full of future comedy legends and P.J. Soles shows that she deserved to be a bigger star.  This was early in Bill Murray’s film career and he was still largely getting by on his SNL persona but, in his confrontations with Hulka, Murray got a chance to show that he could handle drama.  With all the comedic talent in the film, it’s Warren Oates who gets the biggest laughs because he largely plays his role straight.  Sgt. Hulka is a drill sergeant who cares about his men and who knows how to inspire and teach  but that doesn’t mean he’s happy about having to deal with a collection of misfits.  (Watch his face when Cruiser says he enlisted so he wouldn’t get drafted.)

The movie does get strange when the action goes from the U.S. to Germany.  What starts out as Animal-House-In-The-Army instead becomes an almost straight action movie and the movie itself sometimes feels like a recruiting video.  Join the Army and maybe you’ll get to steal an RV with PJ Soles.  That would have been enough to get me to enlist back in the day.  But the combination of Murray, Ramis, and Oates makes Stripes a comedy that can be watched over and over again.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 5.14 “Good Neighbors/Captain’s Portrait/Familiar Faces”

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, Captain Stubing poses for a portrait.

Episode 5.14 “Good Neighbors/Captain’s Portrait/Familiar Faces”

(Dir by Jerome Courtland, originally aired on January 9th, 1982)

Don York (Sonny Shroyer) is an ad man who is so famous that even Gopher knows who he is.  Don gets really excited when he sees Doris Weldon (Arlene Golonka) boarding the boat.  Don rushes over and starts to hit on her.  He even notices that, according to the tag on her luggage, they live in the same building in Los Angeles!  They’re neighbors!  Too bad Doris refuses to date anyone who lives in the same building as her.  Don spends the entire cruise trying to get Doris to reconsider.  Personally, I suspected that Doris was just using the “neighbor” thing as an excuse to avoid telling Don that he’s very annoying and kind of pushy.  Stuff like that never happens on The Love Boat, though.  Instead, Doris is definitely attracted to Don but she doesn’t want him living next door.   Will things work out for Don and Doris?

Stan (Dean Butler) and Laura Barber (Mary Beth McDonough) are newlyweds.  Stan has the bar exam coming up so he’s brought his law books with him on his honeymoon.  (Boo!  Nerd!)  Stan’s future seems bright until he sees that Frank Jenson (Henry Jones) is also on the cruise.  Frank once owned the liquor store where Stan used to hang out when he was an alcoholic.  Stan apologizes for stealing from the store.  Frank accuses Stan of beating him up, something that Stan says didn’t happen.  Will things work for Stan, Laura, and Frank?

Of course, things will work out for them.  The is The Love Boat and things always work out on The Love Boat!  Both of the stories were okay but they were also kind of boring and predictable.  The more interesting story for this cruise featured Lee Meriwether as Barbara Baden, an artist who has been hired by the cruise line to paint a picture of Captain Stubing.  Apparently, any captain who sticks with the line for ten years gets their picture painted and hung in the corporate offices.

As you can probably already guess, the Captain and the artist end up falling for each other.  And if you didn’t already guess that Barbara’s portrait of the Captain would be a nude portrait that she ends up doing from memory after they become lovers, you’ve really never watched an episode of The Love Boat before.  Fortunately, it’s also an abstract painting and no one knows that they’re looking at a nude painting of the Captain.  In fact, the painting is so abstract that I get the feeling that the cruise line isn’t going to demand its money back.  This story was entertaining due to how uncomfortable Stubing was with being painted.  Gavin MacLeod did a good job portraying his nervousness and his panic when he discovered the painting was about to be unveiled made me chuckle a little.

Overall, this was kind of a bland episode.  But at least the scenery was pleasant.  It still provided a nice hour away from reality.

The Films of 2025: The Calendar Killer (dir by Adolfo J. Kolmerer)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Germany is living in a state of terror.  A serial killer known as The Calendar Killer has been brutally murdering people across the country.  The killer leaves the date of the murder on the wall, written in his victim’s blood.  His victims are given the choice between killing their husband or being killed themselves.  Hey, Calendar Kill — not everyone’s a murderer, okay!?  Seriously, what a jerk.

(As a sidenote, who knew that Saw was popular enough to inspire a copycat in Germany?  Cinema truly is the international art form.)

A few days ago, Klara (Luise Heyer) woke to a terrifying message on a wall, telling her that either she or husband would die on December 6th.  Now, it’s December 6th and Klara is walking home at night.  She calls a helpline for women who are outside and alone at night.  Jules (Sabin Tambrea) answers.  Even though Jules is soft-spoken and careful to choose his words with sensitivity, Klara is hesitant to tell her about either the Calendar Killer or her husband.  When Jules finally coaxes the details out of her, she reveals that she is married to Martin (Friedrich Mucke).  Martin is an prominent politician but he’s an abusive husband, one who forced Klara to take part in a humiliating orgy that was apparently inspired by watching Eyes Wide Shut one too many times.

(Saw and Eyes Wide Shut, we now know what’s inspiring the Germans.)

Klara is not only fleeing the Calendar Killer but her husband as well.  When she attempts to commit suicide, Jules begs her to live and to keep fighting.  Jules talks about his own tragic past, about how his wife committed suicide and he lost a child in a fire that broke out the same night.  Even though Jules is not supposed to leave his apartment and is having quite a few personal issues of his own, he sets out to find Klara.

The Calendar Killer gets off to a good start but it goes off the rails as it progresses.  There’s a few too many coincidences and the big twist is one that you will see coming from miles away.  The problem with the twist isn’t that it’s predictable as much as it’s one that makes less and less sense the more that you think about it.  It makes you realize just how implausible the whole Calendar Killer thing is.  There are a few genuinely creepy scenes and Luise Heyer is a sympathetic heroine but, in the end, the film is never as thought-provoking or emotionally moving as it presents itself as being.  The film attempts to end on a note of empowerment but it doesn’t quite feel earned.  If the film had fully embraced its grindhouse potential, it would have been an entertaining B-movie with a worthy message.  Instead, it strikes an uneasy balance between being a bloody horror film and being a message film and, as a result, it really doesn’t feel like it truly commits to either.

It’s a shame.  The film definitely had potential but, in the end, it just doesn’t come together.

Scenes I Love: The Raid 2

Posted on by Arleigh

Yesterday, I highlighted one of my more recent guilty pleasures, Timu Tjahjanto’s unhinged action thriller The Night Comes for Us, and today I highlight an action scene from an earlier film that helped propel Indonesia’s action film scene to most Westerners with a little sequence from Gareth Edwards’ The Raid 2. A sequel to his own earlier film, The Raid.

This sequence stars the character only known as Hammer Girl and played Julie Estelle who is also in The Night Comes for Us. I would’ve picked her scene from that film to highlight but it spoils a major part of the film so I decided on this scene in The Raid 2 that got her noticed with action film aficionados worldwide.

It’s a simple set-up. Girl with two claw hammers in a crowded train silently squares up against a train car full of yakuza members. What comes next is a masterclass in action choreography that induces many a visceral response form the viewer yet hard to look away from.

Song of the Day: Next Big Thing by California Dreams

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh, why not?

The Oscar nominations are due to be announced tomorrow and right now, I think everyone’s waiting to see who will be the next big thing.  In honor of the occasion, here is Tony Wickes and the California Dreams with today’s song of the day.

All together now …. he’s so funky!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Jim Jarmusch 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 birthday of one of the most important and independently minded filmmakers of the past 40 years, Jim Jarmusch!

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Jim Jarmusch Films

Stranger Than Paradise (1984, dir by Jim Jarmusch, DP: Tom DiCillo)

Down by Law (1986, dir by Jim Jarmusch, DP: Robby Muller)

Dead Man (1995, dir by Jim Jarmusch, DP: Robby Muller)

The Dead Don’t Die (2019, dir by Jim Jarmusch, DP: Frederick Elmes)

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 4: An Echo of Anger (aired October 1st, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Kemp Spicer (Warren Oates) rides into town and runs into Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) and her father-in-law Tom Starett (Tom Tully) who are there visiting the local blacksmith. Spicer likes what he sees when he looks at Marian, and proceeds to make some creepy advances. He then asks if they know a guy named Shane. When they ask Spicer why he wants to know, he says that him and his family are going to kill him. After Marian and Tom tell Shane (David Carradine) about what they were told, Shane heads into town. He wants to know why they want to kill him, as well as keep the Spicers away from the Starett ranch. When he arrives at Sam Grafton’s saloon, Boon Spicer (Charles Kuenstie) tells him that they are there to get vengeance for Shane killing their brother Joey four years earlier in Abilene. Shane never killed anyone in Abilene so he knows that someone is mistaken, or just flat out lying. Soon other members of the Spicer family arrive in town, led by their Bible-quoting uncle Joshua Spicer (Cliff Osmond). Shane knows he’s going to have to take on these men even though he’s innocent of their family member’s death. He just wants to make sure they don’t go out to the Starett ranch and put the family in danger. 

Episode 4 of Shane has our biggest co-star yet, in Warren Oates. It’s fun seeing his Kemp Spicer creep around making threats against Shane, making advances towards Marian, and then questioning whether or not they’re even after the right guy. Cliff Osmond is memorable and interesting as Uncle Joshua Spicer who puts their family honor above everything else. This episode also sees Shane getting some help as he takes on the Spicer clan in the final shootout. This help comes from Tom Starett and Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed), the local foe of the family. I don’t expect this means Ryker has turned good, but he definitely prefers Shane over those “hillbillies” he ran out of the area years earlier. Finally, we continue to learn of Marian’s feelings for Shane in this episode. At one point, she’s willing to leave the entire ranch behind if it keeps Shane safe. Shane doesn’t hear her say this, but her father-in-law remarks that he never realized she loved Shane that much. 

I found episode 4 to be an entertaining episode. It features good performances from interesting co-stars. It also makes a good point about how an innocent lie can take on a life of its own and lead to unintended consequences. I’ll be looking forward to Episode 5!  

Music Video of the Day: Heart of Glass by The Associates (1988, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This video popped up in my YouTube recommendations, I assume because I’ve been watching a lot of Blondie videos recently.  This has an enjoyably weird feel to it, with its caged clown on a typewriter and all the other carnival folks.  I relate to the woman at the start of the video.  That’s definitely the job and costume that I would want if I worked for a traveling circus.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 1.3 “No Man’s Land”

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.

It’s time for another trip to the beach!

Episode 1.3 “No Man’s Land”

(Dir by Michael Levine and John Bush, originally aired on March 16th, 1996)

Uh-oh!  There’s Nazis on the beach.

We know that Carl (Ryan Alosio) is a Nazi because he owns a bar that is decorated, on the outside, with a swastika.  Then, on the inside, there are many more swastikas and a German flag and a picture of Adolf Hitler hanging on the wall.  My question is who sold the bar to Carl and how exactly is he not violating any zoning laws?  Throughout the show, we’re constantly told that Carl can do whatever he wants on his property but don’t most towns have rules about what you can and cannot display in a business district?  We’re told that Carl has a criminal record and his arms are covered in Nazi tattoos so, once again, I have to wonder who sold him the bar.  There are a lot regulations and paperwork involved in opening up your own small business.  That’s especially true if your business is going to be selling alcohol.  I guess my point is that I just have a hard time believing that Carl’s Nazi bar would be allowed to stay open on the boardwalk.

Bizarrely, ordinary non-Nazis keep entering Carl’s Nazi bar.  Wouldn’t the swastika turn most people away?  I’m just saying that personally, I would not go in a building that was decorated with a swastika.  Anytime anyone who  is not a Nazi goes in Carl’s bar, Carl beats them up.  You really have to wonder how Carl is managing to stay in business.  I mean, let’s just accept that there’s enough Nazis in Santa Monica for Carl to have a steady customer base.  Carl is still asking those people to step into a building that is decorated with a swastika and basically announce their opinions to the world.  I would think at least some of the Santa Monica Nazis would be like, “No, I’d rather keep it a secret and go drink at a politically neutral bar.”  I mean, this isn’t some isolated club, like the place in Green Room.  This bar is sitting right in the middle of the boardwalk, where hundreds of people walk by each day.  Apparently, Santa Monica Nazis have no fear of being outed.

Like all Nazis, Carl is a jerk.  He beats up a vendor for selling churros in front of his bar.  He also harasses all of the non-white surfers.  You would think that this episode’s hero would be Officer Del Toro but instead, it falls to the very white T.C. Callaway to stand up to Carl and eventually drag him off to jail.  Callaway explains that he hates bullies.  That’s fine but it’s still more emotionally satisfying to watch a bully get beaten up by the bullied as opposed to by a concerned bystander.

We also get B-plot about a young graffiti artist named Melo (Christopher Babers) and Cory’s attempt to get Melo to see the error of his ways and instead use his artistic talent for something good.  And Mayor Mickey Dolenz spends the episode panicking because there’s an election to coming up to determine whether or not to allow on the nudity on the beach.  It’s pretty dumb but it’s hard not to smile at Mickey Dolenz playing himself.

The main problem with this episode and the show as a while is that the cops look silly riding around on their bikes.  When Cory and Victor head down a flight of stairs to catch Melo tagging a tunnel, they have to pick up and carry their bikes with them and it was hard not to laugh.  Whenever someone says, “This is Bike 1 responding,” to a crime call, I just imagine a dispatcher grimacing and thinking, I was hoping for a real cop.  Watching CHiPs and then this episode made me appreciate how much better motorcycles are than bicycles.