Funny Money (2006, directed by Leslie Greif)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Henry Perkins (Chevy Chase), the most boring man alive, has a job making wax fruit while his wife (Penelope Ann Miller) wants to make a living through drawing naked men.  (I guess that’s fair considering how many men make their living by drawing naked women.)  On Henry’s birthday, Henry spots a briefcase just like his and decides to swap them.  At home, Henry discovers that his new briefcase contains five million dollars!

Henry wants to move to Europe immediately.  But every time he and his wife try to leave their home, something occurs.  A menacing cop (Armanda Assante) shows up.  Henry’s friends drop by to celebrate his birthday.  The Romanian mob makes an appearance, looking for their money.  All Henry and his wife want to do is steal the money but instead, they spend a night dealing with false identities, physical comedy, and slapstick humor.

Funny Money was based on a stage play and it seems like the sort of thing that would have been hilarious if viewed live, with everyone running on and off the stage and some genuine suspense about who was going to show up next.  It does not translate well to film.  This would have been a good vehicle for Chase in the 80s or even the 90s but, by the time the movie was made, Chase seemed old and tired.  Penelope Ann Miller is never convincing as Chase’s wife.  (Someone should have tried to reunite Chase with Beverly D’Angelo or even Goldie Hawn for this movie.)  The main problem is that the supporting characters are never as funny or as quick-on-their-feet as the film needs them to be.  Armand Assante doesn’t seem to know he’s in a comedy.  Even a reliable actor like Christopher McDonald is let down by the film’s script and direction.  That’s too bad because the material had potential.  While it’s not a disaster like Cops and Robbersons, Funny Money is still never funny enough.

A Pre-empted Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 3.17 “Return of the Supercycle”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

Sorry, last night’s review of CHiPs was pre-empted by my own need to get some rest after spending the previous few days dealing with the worst sinus pain ever.  (Well, maybe not ever but it was still pretty bad….)  Here’s last night’s episode of CHiPs, just a few hours late!  Regularly scheduled programming will resume soon.

Episode 3.17 “Return of the Supercycle”

(Dir by Bruce Kessler, originally aired on October 27th, 1979)

The Supercycle is back!  A thief on a supercharged motorcycle is robbing jewelry storefronts.  Baker takes the old Highway Patrol Supercycle out of storage so that he can go after the new Supercycle.  Baker suspects that the Roy Yarnell (George O’Hanlon, Jr) might be up to his old Supercycle tricks again but it turns out that Roy is innocent.  Instead, it’s his mechanic.

In other words: SUPERCYCLE SUPERCYCLE SUPERCYCLE!

Ponch spends the majority of this episode in a hospital bed.  Early on in the episode, Ponch crashes his motorcycle while chasing the new Supercycle and seriously injures himself.  Apparently, the crash was real and Estrada actually did injure himself.  Watching the episode, it’s easy to see that the show dealt with Estrada’s injuries by just giving all of Ponch’s lines to Baker.  For once, Baker is the one who bends the rules and gets to do all the cool stuff.  He even gets to romance a visiting member of the Highway Patrol, Kathy Mulligan (Anne Lockhart).  In any other episode, Ponch would have been the one doing all of that so it’s interesting to get to see Baker actually get to have a life for once.  And yes, before anyone asks, Estrada finds an excuse to remove his shirt even when he’s relaxing in a hospital bed.  No hospital gowns for Estrada!

The sad thing is that Larry Wilcox was definitely a better actor than Erik Estrada and he also looked a lot more believable on a motorcycle.  But, this episode shows that Estrada just had more screen presence.  As easy as it is to make fun of Ponch, Estrada’s over-the-top displays of vanity were often just what CHiPs needed.  Estrada may not have been a great actor but he amusing to watch.  Wilcox has a much more laid back presence.  He’s a believable cop but he’s just not as much fun to watch as Estrada.

Probably the most amusing thing about this episode is that, when Estrada (or his stuntman pretending to be Estrada) is lying on the pavement, Wilcox cannot bring himself to really act convincingly concerned or worried.  CHiPs is a bit infamous for the fact that Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada did not have a great working relationship.  That’s all I could think about as I watched Baker casually step over Ponch’s prone form on the street.

Anyway, this episode has some spectacular motorcycle jumps and some good chase footage.  There was an occasionally amusing subplot where the men of the Highway Patrol worried that Kathy was reporting their behavior to Sacramento.  (Grossman, played by the invaluable Paul Linke, made me laugh with his sudden emphasis on doing everything by the book.)  The Supercycle was cool.  Everyone should have one.

Scene That I Love: The Escape Disaster In Night of the Living Dead

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today would have been George Romero’s 85th birthday.

Today’s scene of the day comes from Romero’s best film, Night of the Living Dead.  In this scene, an attempt to escape from a farmhouse ends in disaster.  As was typical of all of Romero’s films, the disaster has less to do with the zombies and more to do with humans that simply can’t work together.

The upload isn’t great but this scene still represents Romero’s vision of a society working to destroy itself.

Brad’s Song of the Day: “Dixieland Delight” by country music Supergroup, ALABAMA!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My earliest memories of listening to music, other than at church, were listening to the group ALABAMA with my family when we were driving down the road in my dad’s Chevy Luv pickup truck. There were five of us in total, my mom, dad, brother, and sister, and we’d all pile into the cab of that little truck. We had to arrange ourselves just right to even fit. This would have been in the very early ’80’s, and seatbelts weren’t required for nothing! I remember listening to songs like “Mountain Music” and “Tennessee River” and “Take Me Down.” We’d all sing our hearts out to our favorites.

Fast forward around 10 years and one of my favorite family vacations took place when I was a junior in high school. We just got in our car and drove, with Pigeon Forge, TN, as our final destination. However, my dad liked to always take the scenic routes, so we took a very crooked path and went through a lot of beautiful, out of the way places as part of the trip. I remember we ended up stopping off one night in Fort Payne, AL, which is where the members of the group were born and raised. We even ran into band member Jeff Cook’s mom in a store there. It was so wonderful.

The picture I share above is from 2020, when my wife and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. I just had to visit the Bowery while we there because this is the bar where ALABAMA performed for tips for seven years (1973 – 1980) prior to hitting it big. It was quite the nostalgic and special experience!

Without further ado, I’ll share one of my very favorite ALABAMA songs, “Dixieland Delight.” I hope you enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Films – some of Brad’s “favorite westerns” edition!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

4 Shots From 4 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!

I thought I’d try one of these “4 shots” posts. It’s really hard for me not to say anything, because each of these movies mean a lot to me, and the western remains my favorite genre even if I am a little stuck in the past. I’ll probably take a stab at a review of each of these films at some point. I hope you enjoy!

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955)

RIDE LONESOME (1959)

RED SUN (1971)

UNFORGIVEN (1992)

The Fantastic Four take their First Steps in a Teaser Trailer!

Posted on by Leonard Wilson

There was a cute live event leading up to the launch of The Fantastic Four: First Steps teaser trailer. The main cast were on hand – Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (a.k.a. The Thing) and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. It looks like they’re off to an interesting start.

Enjoy!

Retro Television Review: Miami Vice 3.16 “Theresa”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Miami Vice, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show can be purchased on Prime!

This week, a guest star breaks Sonny’s heart.

Episode 3.16 “Theresa”

(Dir by Virgil W. Vogel, originally aired on February 13th, 1987)

Sonny is planning on asking his girlfriend, Dr. Theresa Lyons (Helena Bonham-Carter), to marry him.  What Sonny doesn’t know is that Theresa is a junkie.  Back surgery caused her to develop a dependence on painkillers and, after she got in trouble for writing her own prescriptions, Theresa started dealing with drug dealers.  Theresa’s addiction has left her vulnerable to a long-haired drug lord named Wyatt (Brad Dourif).  Sonny recently arrested Wyatt but Wyatt has one of his dealers tell Theresa that he’ll only give her a fix if she steals the four evidence tapes from Sonny’s houseboat.  Theresa steals one tape.  The other tapes are destroyed when Wyatt bombs a police evidence warehouse!  Seriously, Wyatt doesn’t mess around and, when that warehouse goes up in flames, we’re reminded that Miami is not a place for the weak.  The police are in a war and they have no possible path to victory.  The bad guys are always willing to do what the police can not.

Most of this episode centers around Theresa and Sonny attempting to deal with her addiction and Sonny coming to realize that Theresa will have to return to the UK if she’s ever going to recover.  Even after Sonny gets suspended from the force while Internal Affairs investigates the theft of the tape, Theresa remains Sonny’s main concern.  It was actually kind of nice to see Sonny caring about someone again.  Don Johnson has been a bit inconsistent this season.  (There are several episodes were its obvious he was getting a bit bored with the part.)  But he does a good job in this episode.

As for the guest stars, Brad Dourif is charismatically evil as the smug and New Age-y Wyatt.  Helena Bonham Cater was only 20 when she appeared in this episode and she looked even younger.  That doesn’t exactly make her the most believable trauma doctor in the world.  Because of her youth, she’s miscast and there are a few times when she looks more like Crockett’s daughter than his girlfriend.  That said, Bonham Carter really sells the scene where she reveals her addiction to Crockett and she definitely captures the desperation of someone in need of another fix.

“Life’s not easy when you’re a lover,” Tubbs says at one point, “….or a primary investigator.”  With Sonny sidelined with his suspension and his personal drama, Tubbs got to play the role of concerned best friend and it’s one that Philip Michael Thomas always played well on the show.  If nothing else, you believe that Tubbs would take a bullet for his partner.  The show may end with Theresa returning to the UK and Sonny sadly looking down at the engagement ring that he’ll never give her but, fortunately, he’ll always have Tubbs.

The Godson (1998, directed by Bob Hoge)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

After the violent death of his son Sonny Calzone, the Oddfather (Dom DeLuise) announces that his other son, Guppy Calzone (Kevin McDonald, of the Kids In The Hall), will be taking over the family business.  Guppy is sent to Mafia University, where he learns how to garrote a traitor and dismember a body.  Guppy falls in love with Don Na (Fabiana Udenio), the daughter of the Rodfather (Rodney Dangerfield), the leader of a rival family.

The Godson tries to do to gangster movies what Airplane! did to disaster movies.  Dom DeLuise does a good Brando impersonation and there’s a funny moment where Guppy stops the action and tries to convince people in the audience to buy a Guppy action figure.  Otherwise, this is a poorly-done parody film.  Good comedy is all about timing and The Godson flunks that test.  Jokes are either too long or too short but hardly any of them stick.  The idea of Mafia University is funnier than the, if you’ll excuse the phrase, execution.  Even worse, the movie doesn’t make much use of Rodney Dangerfield.  When one of the funniest men who ever lived appears in your movie, it’s cinematic malpractice not to give him a chance to shine.

If the film has a highlight, it’s Lou Ferrigno as a member of the Oddfather’s crew.  Otherwise, this is a missed opportunity.