Music Video of the Day: Life of the Party by Housewife (2024, dir by Cleveland Winsa and Brighid Fry)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s music video of the day comes from Canada, a country where everyone is the life of the party!

(Sorry, I’m running late with this post so that’s about as good as it’s going to get right now.)

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Highway to Heaven 2.18 “To Bind The Wounds”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee and several other services!

This week, Jonathan and Mark invade people’s dreams.

Episode 2.18 “To Bind The Wounds”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 19th, 1986)

Timothy Charles (Eli Wallach) sits in a cemetery, the only person to show up for the burial of his son, Timothy Charles, Jr.  The younger Charles died nearly twenty years earlier, while serving as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam.  Only recently have his remains been returned to the U.S.A.

The elder Charles is himself a veteran and lives in an airplane graveyard that sits in the desert.  He served in World War II.  The United States won World War II and Timothy Charles was celebrated as a hero.  The United States lost Vietnam and, as a result, most people want to pretend like it never happened and ignore the sacrifice of men like Timothy Charles, Jr.

Jonathan and Mark show up at the funeral.  Though he doesn’t know them, the elder Timothy Charles is touched by their presence and invites them back to his airplane.  The elder Charles, bitter about how his son has been forgotten, wishes there was some way he could memorialize him.  Jonathan and Mark suggest setting up a scholarship.

Unfortunately, a scholarship requires money and none of the wealthy people in town are willing to contribute.  They all want to forget the trauma of the war.  So, Jonathan and Mark pop up in their dreams and show them what a hero Timothy Charles, Jr. (played by Moosie Drier, Jr.) truly was.  They agree to set up the scholarship.  At the announcement ceremony, the elder Charles gives a heartfelt speech thanking them.

Timothy Charles, Sr. returns to his airplane.  Suddenly, the plane is flying into heaven and his son is sitting beside him.  Awwwww!

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I’m binging Highway to Heaven while in an emotional state.  My father died in the early morning hours of August 19th and I’m still very much in mourning.  As a result, while the logical side of me can watch this show and realize that it’s shamelessly sentimental and manipulative, the emotional side of me doesn’t care.  Eli Wallach was a great actor who had a tendency to go a bit overboard.  There’s nothing subtle about his performance here.  And the ending, with father and son literally flying to Heaven, was absolutely shameless.  But dammit, it made me cry.

And, to be honest, this episode makes an important point.  The people in Timothy’s town are reluctant to honor him because he served in an unpopular war that America lost.  It’s similar to the attitude that a lot of people now seem to have to those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.  One sees it in the relentless gaslighting about the disastrous withdraw from Afghanistan and the refusal to honor the 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate.  Instead of holding our leaders to account, the American people often seem to blame those who served.  Hopefully, someday, that will change.

Retro Television Review: Malibu CA 1.11 “Malibu Holiday”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Malibu CA, which aired in Syndication in 1998 and 1999.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, an actress runs away with Scott.

Episode 1.11 “Malibu Holiday”

(Dir by Gary Shimokawa, originally aired on December 20th, 1998)

Desperate to escape the paparazzi, world-famous movie star Jessie Sinclair (Ragan Wallake) ducks into the restaurant where Scott works.  (Does this place have a name?  I assume it does but I can’t remember it to save my life.)  Even after Jessie dyes her blonde hair brown, Scott still recognizes her.  However, he also promises not to let anyone know who she is.  Touched by Scott’s kindness (and seriously, when has Scott ever been this nice before?). Jessie spends the weekend with him.

Meanwhile, Jason and Stads want to make a quick $5,000 by taking a picture of Jessie for the tabloids.  While pretending not to know who Jessie actually is, they secretly snap a picture of Jessie with Scott.  However, when the publisher of the tabloid starts to press Jason and Stads for information on Scott, Jason and Stads realize that Jessie deserves her privacy.

It’s too late, though.  The paparazzi are on to Scott and Jessie.  At first, Jessie accuses Scott of selling her out but, eventually, Stads and Jason admit that they were the ones who took the picture.  That night, Jessie and Scott hang out at the beach before Jessie announces that she has to leave to go shoot another movie.  After Jessie leaves, Scott admits to Jason that his heart is breaking.

Awwwww!

This would be an okay episode if not for the fact that it reminded me way too much of that episode of Saved By The Bell where Zach made a bet that he could get a kiss from pop star Stevie.  Little did Zach suspect that Stevie was actually Miss Bliss’s houseguest, Colleen McMurphy.  Seriously, are there any episodes of Malibu CA that don’t feel as if they were recycled from leftover bits of Saved By The Bell, California Dreams, and Hang Time?   With each episode, it gets more and more difficult to ignore this show’s total lack of originality.

As for the b-plots, Tracy (who, as played by Priscilla Inga Taylor, is the only consistently amusing character on Malibu CA) hopes to be cast as a screaming girl in Jessie’s film.  Meanwhile, Murray takes it upon himself to screen all of Sam’s potential boyfriends because, as he explains it, Sam has terrible taste in men.  Considering that Sam dated Scott for two episodes, Murray has a point.

It’s kind of interesting how, when this show started, both Scott and Jason were supposed to be in love with Sam.  Now, Scott is dating random guest stars, Jason is dating Stads, and Sam rarely gets much to do on the show.  If anything Gina May (who played Sam) had more chemistry with Brandon Brooks (who played Murray) than she did with either of the show’s stars.  It’s just funny how things develop.

Ana de Armas visits the Continental in the Ballerina Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

It seems rather fitting to see Ana de Armas taking the lead in a story within John Wick’s universe. After all, she’s has a knack for action with films like No Time to Die and Ghosted, and she’s worked with Keanu Reeves in both Knock Knock and Exposed. The real question with Ballerina is whether audiences will want to see a John Wick-like film with a female lead. I can already imagine the incel crowd chirping about how John Wick is now tainted with the touch of – (Ick!! Dare I say it….) – Women. That same crowd may also have forgotten about Adrianne Palicki’s assassin in the first film, and Halle Berry’s character with her dogs in the third. Female Assassins are as old at the Kunoichi. Perhaps even far older than that. There are so many tales to be told, especially in this universe.

I’m excited to see how this turns out. With a look that mirrors Le Femme Nikita and Point of No Return, de Armas’ Eve looks to be just as dangerous as her predecessor, possibly as one of the Ballerina assassins referenced in John Wick 3. The trailer has the feel of the other movies, but we’ll have to wait and find out when it releases. Len Wiseman has the directing duties on this one. It’s been a while since he made a movie, but I did enjoy the style of 2012’s Total Recall. Hopefully, he’ll do good here.

The only thing that I find odd is the name – audiences all know it has to do with John Wick. Does it have to have that whole “From the World of John Wick” in the title? I’m pretty sure your average movie viewer will put things together once they see the Continental, Winston (Ian McShane) or Charon (Lance Reddick, in one of his final roles). Also on hand are Norman Reedus (The Bikeriders) and of course, Keanu Reeves, which could just be a cameo.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina will be in cinemas in 2025.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Monsters 2.15 “Mr. Swlabr”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing Monsters, which aired in syndication from 1988 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on YouTube.

Mister Who?

Episode 2.15 “Mr. Swlabr”

(Dir by Warner Shook, originally aired on January 28th, 1990)

11 year-old Roy Barton (Robert Oliveri) spends all of his time in the basement of his house, playing with his train set and making dinosaur figurines.  His mother (Kate McGregor-Stewart) is abusive.  His older sister (Danielle Ferland) is spoiled and self-centered.  Roy doesn’t have a friend in the world and has never gotten over his father abandoning the family when he was younger.

One day, Roy opens a box of cereal and finds a small dinosaur toy.  Roy puts the toy in water and it comes to life.  Mr. Swlabr (voiced by New York performance artist Rockets Redglare) says that he’ll be Roy’s friend and promises that he’ll never leave.  Awwwww!  Roy’s evil mother tries to drown Mr. Swlabr with a hose but the water just causes Mr. Swlabr to grow into an even bigger dinosaur.  Mr. Swlabar spits a bunch of green goo on Roy’s sister.  It doesn’t hurt her but it does convince her and her mother to do whatever Roy tells them to do.

This was an odd episode.  It played out like a particularly macabre fairy tale, with Roy finally getting a friend who was big enough to bully everyone who was previously bullying him.  It had its moments.  I teared up a bit when Roy begged Mr. Swlabr not to abandon him the way that his father did.  But, in the end, the hand puppet dinosaur was a bit too silly to be an effective monster.

Probably the most interesting thing about this episode was the casting of Rockets Redglare as the voice of Mr. Swlabr.  From the 1970s up until his death in 2001, Rockets Redglare was a fixture of the New York underground.  He was a comedian, a performance artist, and eventually a character actor.  He worked as a drug counselor while, at the same time, delivering drugs to people like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Sid Viscous.  He was reportedly the last known person to have seen Sid and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen alive and he was a suspect when Nancy was later found dead.  According to Phil Strongman’s Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, Redglare later told his friends that he was the one who had murdered Nancy.  That said, musician Howie Pyro later said that Redglare was notorious for making up stories to get attention.  (For their part, the police focused their investigation on Sid Viscous, who they claimed confessed despite the fact that Viscous was also too drugged out to really remember much of anything.  The main lesson here: Stay away from the heroin.)  Redglare went on to become a bit of an underground celebrity, appearing in movies directed by Jim Jarmusch, Stee Buscemi, and Olive Stone.  (He played himself in Julian Schnabel’s Basquiat).  Redglare died at the age of 52, saying in his final interview that everything he did, he “did to excess.”  RIP, Mr. Swlabr.

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 4.24 “That Old Gang of Mine/Love with a Skinny Stranger/Vicki and the Gambler”

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, Vicki learns how to gamble.

Episode 4.24 “That Old Gang of Mine/Love with a Skinny Stranger/Vicki and the Gambler”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on April 11th, 1981)

It’s an anniversary cruise!

Captain Stubing and Vicki are celebrating the anniversary of Vicki coming to live on the boat with her father.  Captain Stubing has already picked out the gift that he’s going to give Vicki, a beautiful and valuable pearl necklace.  As for Vicki, there’s a watch in the boat’s gift shop that she would love to give her father but she can’t afford it.  Then again, Vicki is the Captain’s daughter.  Can’t she just take whatever she wants?  I mean, who is going to snitch on the Captain’s daughter?  Add to that, it was only two weeks ago that the manager of the gift shop was juggling three lovers on one cuise.  Who is she to judge anything Vicki might do?

Admirably, Vicki is an honest person and does not want to just steal something for her father.  But when her father’s old friend, Wade Hubbard (Gene Barry), boards the ship, he shows Vicki that she can easily make enough money to buy the watch by betting on a horse race!  Wade, it turns out, is a compulsive gambler and Vicki soon falls under his influence.  Captain Stubing is not happy about that so Wade pretends to lose all of his money (and Vicki’s necklace!) in order to trick Vicki into not only hating him but also hating gambling.

You know, Wade and Captain Stubing could have just told Vicki not to gamble anymore.  Vicki seems like she’s pretty smart and level-headed so I’m sure she would have listened if Wade and the Captain had just told her that they didn’t want her placing bets as a minor.  Instead, Wade created an elaborate lie and basically traumatized Vicki for life.  That seems a bit extreme to me but, then again, I don’t have a gambling problem.

As for the other passengers, Patty Beller (Vicki Lawrence) is stunned when she discovers that her long-distance boyfriend, Phil Manning (Charles Siebert), has spent the last month at a fat farm and is now totally athletic and handsome.  Patty always took it for granted that Phil would only have eyes for her but suddenly, every other woman on the cruise appears to be trying to get his attention.  This story would have perhaps worked better if Patty hadn’t come across as being so self-centered.  Phil explains that he lost the weight because he was worried about his health and tired of people making fun of him.  To me, it seems like Phil should be applauded for his self-discipline and his desire to make a better life for himself.  Instead, Patty gets upset that Phil is taking care of himself.  Seriously, Phil — you can do better!

Finally, three old-time crooks (Jack Gilford, Jesse White, and Kaye Ballard) board the cruise and make plans to rob the safe.  That shouldn’t be too hard since Gopher is the person in charge of watching the safe.  However, the crooks are all elderly and out-of-touch with life in the swinging 80s.  The safecracker has gone deaf and needs someone else to listen as he turns the dial.  It’s all a bit silly but it was kind of a sweet story, largely due to the performances of Gilford, White, and Ballard.

The safecracker’s story aside, this episode of The Love Boat was a bit of a sour ride.  Between Wade lying to Vicki and Patty wishing that her boyfriend was at risk for heart disease, this just wasn’t a very likable cruise.  Hopefully, next week will be a bit more fashionable.  Considering that the upcoming episode guest stars Glorida Vanderbilt, Bob Mackie, and Halston, I imagine it will be.