You know how there are some songs that just get you pumped up and ready to take on whatever the world throws at you? That’s the way I feel about today’s song of the day, which was composed by Marty O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori.
This is just one of those compositions that goes straight to your heart and leaves you feeling like you can do anything! It’s perfect for Halo but it’s also perfect for waking up on Monday morning and knowing you’ve got another week ahead of you.
Marty O’Donnell is running for Congress this year, out in Nevada. I hope he makes it!
Today would have been the 89th birthday of actor Richard Jordan. Jordan was an excellent actor who died way too soon back in 1993. I’ve always liked him though, and he’s been in some excellent movies including CHATO’S LAND (1972), THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), THE YAKUZA (1974), and LOGAN’S RUN (1976).
Today, I share one of his great scenes from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, where he accurately portrays a politician. Enjoy my friends!
Today’s music video of the day is for Chelsea Girl by Simple Minds. This video makes good use of animation and split screens. Though the video actually pre-dates MTV by a year, it’s a good example of the type of videos that would eventually transform MTV into every teenager’s must-watch cable station in the 80s.
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, Kelly’s make a life-changing decision …. or does she?
Episode 2.10 “Model Students”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on November 10th, 1990)
Zack and the Gang take over the school store from the group of “Bayside Nerds” who were running it. Zack decides that a swimsuit calendar — made up of pictures taken by a wetsuit wearing Screech — is the way to build up business. Actually, considering that no one actually gave consent to being photographed, it seems like an even better way to get sued and maybe jailed for stalking.
Anyway, fashion photographer Adam Trask (Greg Keen) somehow sees the calendar and, before anyone can say, “Hey, why were you looking at a calendar full of underage girls?,” he’s offered Kelly a modeling contract. She just has to go to Paris for a few months.
It’s a great opportunity but Zack is scared that he’ll loser her so he conspires to trick her into staying. It doesn’t work but Kelly promises that she’ll be back before he knows it.
And, indeed, she was back in the very next episode.
This episode is a reminder that nothing that happens on Saved By The Bell matters. Kelly goes to Paris to be a model. That sounds like a big deal. It will never be mentioned again. Kelly’s family will continue to struggle financially, despite the fact that the main reason Kelly took the modeling gig was to help her family. As for the student store, don’t ever expect to see that place again. The Gang took it over but I’m going to assume they abandoned it in much the same way they abandoned their radio station.
For some reason, this very 90s show relaxes me whenever I watch it. This week, I watched as Jeffrey Tambor sang Spinning Wheel and a young Bob Odenkirk played the most shallow agent possible.
Saved By The Bell (Tubi)
My review of Saved By The Bell will drop later tonight.
St. Elsewhere (YouTube)
This week’s episode was so depressing that I couldn’t review it. Expect to see my thoughts on it next week.
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, Mitch is in trouble.
Episode 2.11 “If Looks Could Kill”
(Dir by Douglas Schwartz, originally aired on November 25th, 1991)
Mitch rescues Allison (Shannon Tweed) after her car crashes into the ocean. Mitch quickly falls in love and Allison seems to fall for Mitch. What Mitch doesn’t know is that Allison is actually a murderer and that she’s just using him to try to find the money that was in her car when it crashed. For once, Eddie is the one who suspects the truth and who has to keep Mitch from being killed by someone who he trusts.
Baywatch occasionally did crime-related episodes and they always felt out of place. This episode opens with Allison drowning her latest lover and it’s actually a rather disturbing sequence. It’s effective but it doesn’t feel right for a show in which the main appeal is the fact that everything is lightweight and easy-going.
I imagine David Hasselhoff enjoyed episodes like this, if just because nearly every episode during the first season of Baywatch Nights was exactly like this one.
There’s a movie podcast I love to listen to called the “Podcast on Fire.” Kenny B and his various co-hosts focus on Asia, especially the films of Hong Kong and South Korea. They have a large back catalogue, and I’ve been catching up on their episodes related to South Korean horror. In the middle of a show on the WHISPERING CORRIDORS series, co-host Paul Quinn mentioned THE CALL, a film that was released on Netflix during the pandemic. I’m usually not a consumer of freaky horror, but his enthusiasm for the film proved infectious, so I decided I’d check it out when I got home from work.
THE CALL centers on two 28 year old women. There’s Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye), who’s visiting her childhood home in the country when she receives a series of phone calls from 28 year old Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo). They soon realize that Young-sook is calling Seo-yeon from the same house… just from 20 years in the past. Both with severe mommy issues, the two ladies initially seem to form a friendship. They even use their knowledge of events in the past to help each other in ways that change the future. But as you might guess, these changes come with severe consequences, and the story eventually turns into one of bloody survival!
I wasn’t expecting it, but I kept thinking of one of my favorite movies, FREQUENCY (2000), while watching THE CALL. In FREQUENCY, an adult son is able to talk to his deceased dad from 30 years in the past on their family’s old ham radio. We may not really understand the science behind it all, but we just accept it. Their discussions start out as heartwarming, and their actions that change the future seem good at first, but then eventually bad things happen. That’s pretty much what takes place in THE CALL, with the exception that these ladies are not family and the radio has been replaced by one of those late 20th century cordless phones. The heartwarming early moments eventually devolve into a lot of crying, screaming, and gaping neck wounds.
While the concept has been done before, the filmmakers do a good job of building genuine suspense. It’s one of those movies where the stakes keep getting raised, and when you think they’re as high as they can go, they’re ramped up another notch. There are a few effective jump scares here, but the primary tension is in the growing sense of dread concerning how the actions in the past will affect the present. Let’s just say that some of the characters in the present aren’t allowed to enjoy their newfound health and well-being for very long.
I wasn’t familiar with either of the lead actresses going in, but they’re both excellent. In the present time, Park Shin-hye invests enough vulnerability in her character of Seo-yeon that you can’t help but pull for her, especially as her world is continuously turned upside down. And I can’t say enough about Jeon Jong-seo, who gets the showier role in the past timeline. Her character starts out as sympathetic, but she doesn’t stay that way. It’s an unnerving character and performance.
At the end of the day, I had a good time with THE CALL. It’s been awhile since I watched a film from South Korea, so it was fun for me to jump back in. If you enjoy a good horror-suspense-thriller, this one’s an easy recommendation!
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter. 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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting Daybreakers! This vampire film co-stars Sam Neill!
If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag! The film is available on Prime! I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!
Through the Shattered Lens 