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, we pay tribute to the year 1964 with….
4 Shots From 4 1964 Films
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick, DP: Gilbert Taylor)
The Naked Kiss (1964, dir by Samuel Fuller, DP: Stanley Cortez)
Blood and Black Lace (1964, dir by Mario Bava, DP: Ubaldo Terzano)
The Night of the Iguana (1964, dir by John Huston, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)
If you want proof that Eric Roberts will appear in just about anything, just consider 2024’s Bad Substitute.
Though the title brings to mind a Lifetime film (and, as soon as I heard the title, I imagined Vivica A. Fox saying, “Looks like you hired the bad substitute,”), Bad Substitute is actually a comedy in the style of Bad Teacher, Bad Moms, Bad Bosses. and all the other bad films. Eric Roberts plays the principal of a high school who has to find someone willing to teach summer school. With all of his regular teachers having an excuse to get out of giving up their summer, Roberts is forced to turn to a teaching assistant (played by Steven Krasner, the film’s director and writer) who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and now has his entire summer open. The bad substitute has a class of misfits who need to prove themselves by passing their exams and he has a crush on the dedicated teacher working next door. You can pretty much guess where all this is leading.
Now, to be honest, for all the flaws in this film, I really don’t have any interest in trashing the Bad Substitute. The film pretty much is what it was advertised to be. It is what it is and I think most people’s critical ire is better served by being focused on expensive but bland studio films as opposed to an obviously low-budget and rather amateurish production that looks like it was filmed on someone’s phone. Bad Substitute may not be a good film but it’s also not actively hurting anyone.
What I will say is that Eric Roberts makes an impression as the principal, showing what a good actor can do with even limited resources. His befuddlement at discovering that all of his teachers are claiming to have COVID should be put in museum because it’s a moment that perfectly captures the mood of the past few years. Bad Substitute, whatever else you may say about it, should give every aspiring filmmaker hope. Maybe Eric Roberts can be in your film too!
Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:
Today would have been the 101st birthday of character actor Philip Stone. While Stone appeared in a lot of films, he’ll probably always be best-remembered for his subtly menacing turn as the ghostly Grady in 1980’s The Shining. Here he is, having a conversation with Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) and letting him know that he’s always been caretaker.
(Fair warning to those who may not have seen this scene before or who perhaps have forgotten about it, Grady does use a racial slur at one point. It’s a moment that’s true to his villainous character, even if it’s a bit jarring to hear today.)
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally 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 1972’s Baffled, starring Leonard Nimoy! I picked it so you know it’ll be good.
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, find the movie on YouTube, hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
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 High, which aired on CBC and PBS from 1989 to 1991! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi
It’s time for another school year!
Episode 2.1 “Bad Blood: Part 1”
(Dir by Kit Hood, originally aired on November 5th, 1990)
It’s time to start another year at Degrassi High! There’s a lot going on:
Michelle spent the summer on a trip, which gave BLT time to find a new girlfriend. He hasn’t told Michelle yet. BLT says, “Michelle is so sensitive,” as if that’s a bad thing. Remember when BLT was like the perfect boyfriend last season? I guess that’s all gone out the window.
L.D.’s cancer is in remission! However, she’s not back at school. Her father sold his garage, bought a sailboat, and now he and L.D. are circling the globe. So, I guess L.D. is just going to be a high school dropout? Lucy films a video for L.D. Good luck delivering it to the middle of the ocean.
Condom machines have been installed in the bathrooms! The Farrell twin who keeps getting pregnant is super excited.
School bully Dwayne also loves the condom machines because he can fill the condoms with water and drop them on his longtime nemesis, Joey Jeremiah.
Joey is upset that Dwayne and his gang are in Joey’s special ed class. However, Joey does have one good thing happening in his life. He finally got his license! Now, he just needs a car.
Hey, here’s a car that’s for sale! But it costs …. $3,000! And Joey only has $75. Ha. Loser.
How can Joey raise money? What if he asks everyone to pay him to walk naked through the cafeteria? All of the teachers are going to be in a staff meeting so there’s no way Joey’s going to get caught!
Joey goes through with it, walking into cafe naked while holding his fedora over his …. well, you know. Joey’s embarrassed but he’s going to get a car!
Except …. OH NO! IT’S RADITCH!
Who snitched on Joey? That’s right, it was Dwayne! Joey gets dragged to the office and he doesn’t get any of the money that he needed for his car.
Dwayne is still laughing about it when he arrives home. His father tells him that “some chick” called for you.
Dwayne calls Penny, his summer girlfriend. Penny tells him that her ex-boyfriend has tested positive for HIV and that’s she tested positive for HIV and maybe Dwayne should get tested….
To be continued….
Agck! That’s quite an ending for what was, otherwise, a fairly light-hearted episode. But that’s one thing that made Degrassi such a good show. It understood how being in high school was often a bizarre mix of comedy and drama. This episode spends a good deal of time portraying Dwayne as being the biggest jerk ever and then it ends with him looking absolutely terrified. It’s a powerful moment.
Next week, the story continues as Dwayne’s life is changed forever.
Sorry, everyone. Today was a long day and, as a result, I’m tired and I’m a little bit under the weather so this is going to be yet another mini-week in review. Hopefully, next Sunday, I’ll be able to get back to doing the big, long week-in-review posts that I enjoy sharing.
SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (1954) is one of the great musicals of all time! And Howard Keel was also Ms. Ellie’s man after Jock died in DALLAS. That’s a hell of a career!
As a young man, John Wyatt (John Wayne) witnessed an attack on a wagon train by the evil outlaw Wick Ballard (Jack Curtis). John’s parents were killed and his younger brother Jim was abducted. Years later, the grown John Wyatt realizes that the law cannot be depended upon in the wild west so he raises his own band of vigilantes and delivers justice to the frontier. (Wayne’s second-in-command is played by the legendary Glenn Strange.) Wyatt remains committed to taking down Ballard. Going undercover as John Allen, Wyatt joins a cattle drive that he thinks will be attacked by Ballard. Also working undercover as a member of the cattle drive is Jim Wyatt (Frank McGlynn Jr), John’s long-lost brother, who is now working for Ballard! Both the Wyatt bothers end up falling for Mary Gordon (Sheila Bromley), the daughter of rancher Lafe Gordon (Jim Farley).
This was a good example of the the type of B-movies that John Wayne made in the years before John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. The story is simple but Wayne gives a commanding performance as Wyatt. Unlike many of the B-movies that featured Wayne as a callow singing cowboy or a fun-loving rogue, Westward Ho features Wayne playing the type of character that he would often play after he became a star. Wyatt is determined to get justice for his family and to protect the innocents who are attacked by men like Ballard. The presence of his brother in the enemy camp adds an extra dimension to Westward Ho. Wyatt learns that vengeance isn’t everything.
It’s only 61 minutes long but it tells a good story and it has all the gunfights and horse chases that Western fans expect from their movies. Of Wayne’s poverty row westerns, Westward Ho is one of the better ones.
