Guilty Pleasure No. 80: Point Break (dir by Kathryn Bigelow)

Posted on April 15, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Some films are so ludicrous and self-aware of their absurdity that you can’t help but love them and that’s certainly the case with 1991’s Point Break.

Consider what Point Break offers us:

First, you’ve got Keanu Reeves playing a former college football star who, after blowing out his knee, ended up joining the FBI. Keanu, who looks like he’s barely out of high school in this film, plays a character with the wonderful name of Johnny Utah. Keanu gives a relaxed performance. You can tell that he’s having fun in this movie and Johnny Utah’s enthusiasm is infectious. Personally, I prefer Johnny Utah to John Wick.

Secondly, you’ve got Patrick Swayze as Bodhi, the ruthless bank robber who is also a surfer. Much like Reeves, Swayze could occasionally be a stiff actor but in this film, you can tell he’s having fun and again, it’s hard not have fun watching him as he spouts his surfer philosophy, jumps out of planes, and dreams of dying while mastering a 50-foot wave. Swayze is so charismatic as Bodhi that you totally buy that Johnny Utah would like him despite all the times that Bodhi tries to kill him.

You’ve got Bodhi’s bank-robbing gang, who call themselves the Ex-Presidents. Bodhi wears a Ronald Reagan mask. Other members of the gang wear LBJ, Nixon, and Carter masks. “I am not a crook!” Nixon says. The wonderful thing about the Ex-Presidents is that they seem to truly enjoy robbing banks. Of course, they also enjoy surfing.

Gary Busey plays a character who is not Gary Busy. Instead, he’s Johnny’s partner. Everyone in the FBI laughs at him when he says the bank robbers are surfers but guess who knows what he’s talking about! Seriously, though, it’s always interesting to see Gary Busey in the years when he was still a somewhat serious actor.

John C. McGinley does the uptight boss thing. Lori Petty is the waitress who teaches Johnny Utah how to surf. The surf footage is beautifully shot. A soaked Johnny give the camera a thumbs-up. Director Kathryn Bigelow keeps the action moving quickly and, just as she did with Near Dark, uses the film’s genre trappings to explore the bond that holds together a group of outsiders.

It’s an over-the-top and cheerfully absurd film and it’s impossible not to love it. I haven’t felt the need to watch the remake. Why would I? The original has everything I need.

Previous Guilty Pleasures

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 1.2 “First Shoot”

Posted on January 14, 2025 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.

This week, the bicycle cops continue to expect to be taken seriously.

Episode 1.2 “First Shoot”

(Dir by Michael Levine, originally aired on March 9th, 1996)

It’s a busy time for the bicycle cops of Santa Monica.

Elvis (David Lander), the bicycle repairman who speaks with an indecipherable accent, is paranoid because a group of Bulgarian men are wandering the beach and asking if anyone knows where they can find him. It turns out that the men are not dangerous but instead, they are the members of Bulgaria’s Olympic bicycling team. They want Elvis to be their official team repairman. However, Elvis previously had an affair with the girlfriend of one of the Olympians so he declines the offers. He prefers the glamour of California.

Meanwhile, a pickpocket is robbing people on the boardwalk. When he makes the mistake of grabbing the wallet of an old Italian man named Mr. Tataglia (Joseph Campanella), Tataglia goes to Lt. Palermo and explains that he wants the wallet back because it contains a picture of his wife. He would consider it a matter of personal respect if Palermo retrieved the wallet and he promises to repay the favor. Fortunately, the brave bicycle cops do catch the pickpocket. Mr. Tataglia watches from a distance and nods. I guess Mr. Tataglia is meant to be a mobster. Believe it or not, not all Italians are in the Mafia. I’m a fourth-Italian and I’m fairly sure that side of my family is not mob-related.

While that’s going on, Chris and Del Toro ride their bikes out to a film set and provide security for a spoiled movie star named Scott Magruder (Bojesse Christopher). Chris is the one who has a crush on Magruder but it’s Del Toro who is seduced by the prospect of fame. When Magruder gives Del Toro a line in the movie, Del Toro has visions of movie stardom in his head. But then the scene gets cut. Sorry, Del Toro, looks like you’re just going to have to spend the rest of your life riding around the beach on a Schwinn like a dumbass. Scott later gets arrested in a bar fight but it turns out it was a publicity stunt. Chris is saddened to learn that celebs aren’t as likable in real life as they are in the gossip pages. Myself, I’m just wondering why Chris has gone from being the smart and driven character that she was in the pilot to being a total airhead just one episode later.

Finally, Cory and the bike cops help the real cops bust a group of drug dealers. Cory shoots an aspiring rapper named Rasheed (Jeremiah Birkett). Rasheed claims that he didn’t have a gun. Cory is determined to prove that he did. Apparently, this was the first time that Cory ever shot anyone. Strangely, it doesn’t seem to rattle her at all that she nearly ended someone else’s life. I mean, it seems like most people would have a more emotional reaction to nearly killing a man, even if that guy was a criminal with a gun. Cory, however, is cool and calm and kind of creepy about it. It’s established that Cory comes from a family of cops so maybe that’s why the shooting doesn’t faze her.

There was a lot going on in this episode. Actually, there was probably too much going on. This is only the second episode of the show and it’s not like any of the characters have really developed much of an individual personality. Everyone is still pretty much interchangeable. As a result, none of the action in this show carried much of an emotional impact. The characters are all still strangers to me.

Maybe things will improve next week.

(Seriously, let’s hope so! I’ve got a lot of episodes to make my way through before I’m done with Pacific Blue.)

Sometimes They Come Back… Again (1996, directed by Adam Grossman)

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Jedadiah Leland

When Jon Porter was a child, he witnessed the murder of his sister by three delinquents named Tony (Alexis Arquette), Vinnie (Bojesse Christopher), and Sean (Glen Beaudin). The three thugs would have killed Jon too except that they were electrocuted by an electrical wire in a puddle of water. Years later, the now adult Jon (Michael Gross) returns to his hometown for the funeral of his mother. Jon is now a psychologist and has a daughter named Michelle (Hillary Swank).

The death of Jon’s mother was no accident. Tony has come back to life and Michelle, not knowing that he’s a demon, has a crush on him. Tony soon brings Vinnie and Sean back to life and they seek revenge on the man who they blame for their deaths.

This straight-to-video sequel to Sometimes They Come Back is slightly better than the first film, mostly because Tony and his gang are more intimidating than the ghost greasers that haunted Tim Matheson and Michelle wanting to date the man that her father killed adds a new wrinkle to the story. There’s nothing about Hillary Swank’s performance that would make you think she was a future Oscar winner but she is likable and sympathetic. The member of the cast who make the biggest impression is Jennifer Elise Cox, playing Michelle’s Tarot card-reading friend. (Cox is probably best known for playing Jan Brady in The Brady Bunch movies.) Cox brings a lot of kooky charm to the movie and is featured in the film’s most memorable scene. Sometimes They Come Back… Again may not reinvent the horror genre but it’s a passably entertaining straight-to-video horror film.