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!
Director John Hughes would have been 76 years old today. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 John Hughes Movies
Sixteen Candles (1984, dir by John Hughes, DP: Bobby Byrne)
The Breakfast Club (1985, dir by John Hughes, DP: Thomas Del Ruth)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, dir by John Hughes, DP: Tak Fujimoto)
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, dir by John Hughes, DP: Donald Peterman)
It’s Ash Wednesday! Sharing this song by David Bowie is a bit of an Ash Wednesday tradition and I’m going to keep it going this year. (Yes, I understand the song isn’t actually about Ash Wednesday but, for me, it is.)
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.
Why is everyone bagging on my town?
Episode 3.15 “Armed and Dangerous”
(Dir by Michael Levine, originally aired on January 11th, 1998)
At the local high school, a gun is fired and the bullet grazes the arm of Jessie Palermo (Johna Stewart-Bowden). Jessie, of course, is Lt. Palermo’s daughter. Palermo becomes obsessed with finding out who fired the gun and how that person got the gun. He sends Chris and TC into the school to work undercover and he orders Cory and Victor to find the gun dealer. As for Palermo himself, he visits the local gun store and gives an impassioned speech in favor of gun control.
Yeeesh, this episode.
I mean, I get it. Palermo has every right to be upset. But it’s hard not to notice that he only seems to care whenever a case directly involves either his family or a member of the bike patrol. Whenever it’s just some citizen with whom he doesn’t have a personal connection, Palermo just kind of zones out. If some anonymous student had been shot at the school, there’s no way Palermo would have gone to so much trouble. He would have shrugged it off and hopped on his bicycle. In fact, I’ve noticed that this is true of all the bike cops. They take the “one of their own” syndrome to an extreme that is probably not good for the image of law enforcement. If it’s a friend who needs help, they’ll do everything within their power to help. They’ll even stop doing their patrols of the boardwalk to make time to help a friend. If it’s just some random person who gets mugged, they don’t care. If she doesn’t personally know you, Chris will probably make fun of you for being dumb enough to get mugged in the first place. These bike cops are the worst.
And here’s another thing. Why are the bicycle cops investigating this? Where are the real detectives? Why are two bicycle cops going undercover as opposed to the cops who have actually been trained to do that sort of work?
This is an episode that deals with a serious subject. But it’s hard to really pay attention to what it has to say when everyone’s wandering around in those silly bicycle shorts.
Welcome to 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 Saved By The Bell: The New Class, which ran on NBC from 1993 to 2o00. The show is currently on Prime.
This week, Scott takes over Bayside Radio. Hey, Zack did that too!
Episode 1.5 “Love Is On The Air”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 9th, 1993)
The school board is threatening to close down Bayside’s radio station!
Really? Didn’t we already do this story on the original Saved By The Bell? For that matter, wasn’t this exact same plot used on California Dreams, City Guys, Malibu CA, and Hang Time? Why was Peter Engel so obsessed with high school radio stations?
Scott, of course, talks Mr. Belding into letting him run the station. Scott wants Lindsay to do an advice show but, right before the show starts, Lindsay has a fight with Tommy D and runs out of the studio. While Scott is trying to get Lindsay to come back, Weasel goes on the air as “Dr, Love.” Weasel’s gives relationship advice to anyone who calls in. No one realizes that they’re actually talking to Weasel. “Dr. Love” becomes extremely popular while Weasel remains unpopular, despite the fact that he was the most popular kid in school just two episodes ago.
This was a dumb episode. It perhaps would have been worse if it had aired during the original run of Saved By The Bell, just because Screech would have been Dr. Love. Isaac Lidsky, who is today a respected businessman, was a considerably better actor than Dustin Diamond and Weasel was easier to take than Screech. That said, Scott’s sociopathic behavior in this episode was considerably less charming than Zack’s. Every episode seems to feature Scott trying to break up Lindsay and Tommy D but Lindsay and Tommy seem pretty happy together. Zack may have competed with Slater for Kelly’s attention but Kelly was single at the time and clearly interested in him. Lindsay seems to be totally into Tommy. Scott’s pathological obsession with breaking up a happy couple doesn’t make Scott a particularly likable protagonist
Go back to Valley, Scott! Bayside doesn’t need you.
Here is the Mardi Gras sequence from 1969’s Easy Rider. Featuring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Karen Black, and Toni Basil walking through the streets of New Orleans, this scene was actually filmed during Mardi Gras. Those are real Mardi Gras floats and real Mardi Gras participants staring at the camera. That’s an actual citizen of New Orleans with whom Dennis Hopper appears to have nearly gotten into a fight. Personally, I relate to Toni Basil in this scene. She is having a good time no matter what!
I just love how Toni Basil can’t help but dance, no matter what.
4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.
Today, the Shattered Lens pays homage to the greatest of Mardi Gras cities, New Orleans!
4 Shots From 4 New Orleans-Set Films
Easy Rider (1969, dir by Dennis Hopper, DP: Laszlo Kovacs)
Zandalee (1990, dir by Sam Pillsbury, DP: Walt Lloyd)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008, dir by David Fincher, DP: Claudio Miranda)
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009, dir by Werner Herzog, DP: Peter Zieitlinger)
What can I say about this video other than it’s definitely authentic? There’s a lot of people who will be able to relate to every word of this song. This guy actually reminds me of more than a few of my cousins. The fact that the song features more than a little Cajun French only contributes to the authenticity.
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!
This week is just a mess.
Episode 5.9 “Finders Keepers”
(Dir by John Peyser, originally aired on November 29th, 1981)
Oh, it’s a Steve McLeish episode!
These episodes are fun because they were so obviously written and re-written to try to cover up the fact that Caitlyn Jenner was a terrible actor. In this episode, we learn that Steve is into rare flowers and that he drives a pretty snazzy convertible. And yet, despite these character details, Steve still doesn’t really have a personality beyond being kind of twitchy and always hesitating before delivering his lines. Jenner seemed to be made out of charisma anti-matter and it’s bizarre to see a public figure with absolutely zero screen presence.
This episode is a mess. Two teens steal a car and come into possession of some stolen money. Steve searches for the stolen car. An eccentric bounty hunter (Noble Willingham) drives from Texas to California in a pink Cadillac and gets in everyone’s way as he chases a fugitive. Oscar nominee Amy Madigan appears as a country singer who would really like to get it on with Baker but Baker always ends up running late. Ponch makes three brief appearances in this episode. It’s explained that he’s preparing to testify in a huge trial and that’s why Baker and Steve are temporary partners. None of the storylines really feel complete or connected. One gets the feeling that three different scripts were just randomly crammed together.
This episode had two effective car crashes and it was somewhat amusing to watch as Baker always showed up just a minute or two after Amy Madigan stopped singing. That said, this episode didn’t add up to much. The only thing that really made it watchable was Jenner’s bizarre performance.
There’s a part of me that kind of hopes that Ponch never comes back! Of course, if that happened, it would no longer be….
