In order to celebrate San Jacinto Day, here’s one of my favorite scenes from Richard Linklater’s 1993 Texas film, Dazed and Confused. Not only does this montage introduce the viewer to the suburban Texas nightlife of 1976 but it’s also perfectly set to War’s Low Rider.
And, of course, it also features that classic line, “It’d be a lot cooler if you did.”
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, the fourth season begins with a whimper.
Episode 4.1 “Contempt of Court”
(Dir by Jan Eliasberg, originally aired on September 25th, 1987)
It’s time for season 4! Crockett has longer hair! Tubbs has a beard! Otherwise, they’re still somehow doing the undercover thing, despite making no effort to maintain their undercover identities. This episode finds them both in court and, later on, pulling their guns on a mob boss in broad daylight. How exactly there is anybody in Miami who does not know that Burnett and Cooper are actually Crockett and Tubbs, I do not know.
This was kind of a boring episode, which does not bode well for the rest of the fourth season. Mob boss Frank Mosca (Stanley Tucci) is on trial but, because the case hinges on information supplied by an informant, Crockett is faced with making the decision about whether or not to name Jack Rivers (Steven Keats) as the informer. For Jack’s own safety, Crockett refuses but Mosca figures it out anyway. Jack is stabbed to death while a helpless Crockett watches. (Crockett’s in jail on a contempt of court charge.) Later, Jack’s teenage son, Terry (Richard Panebianco), tells Crockett, “I had no idea you were a cop.” Really? What a stupid kid.
Anyway, after Mosca frames a juror for taking bribes and a mistrial is declared, Terry pulls a gun on Mosca as he and his men are walking out of the courthouse. For once, Crockett and Tubbs are able to convince someone not to open fire. I think this is the first time, in Miami Vice history, that Crockett and Tubbs have managed to prevent an assassination. Still, Terry does fire his gun in the air. Mosca smirks and leaves. What’s weird is that no one else reacts to Terry shooting he gun. I mean, he’s on the steps of the courthouse. Why are there no guards rushing out? Why are Crockett and Tubbs the only cops around? Seriously, it makes absolutely no sense.
This episode had some worthy guest stars. Stanley Tucci appeared to be having fun as the cartoonishly evil Mosca. Meg Foster played the district attorney. Philip Baker Hall was the judged who ordered Crockett to name the informant. That said, the episode itself got bogged down in all of the legal wrangling going on inside the courtroom. For the past three seasons, Miami Vice is a downbeat cop show, not a show about lawyers objecting and debating the point of law. The fourth season premiere felt off.
I’ve read bad things about this upcoming season and this episode did little to generate any feeling of optimism or hope. Both Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas looked bored and even Edward James Olmos’s Castillo is starting to get a little …. I guess annoying would be the world. Seriously, make eye contact with someone!
Well, we’ve got a long season ahead of us. Let’s hope for the best.
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!
Today is San Jacinto Day, which means that it is once again time for….
4 Shots From 4 Texas Films
Slacker (1990, dir by Richard Linklater, DP: Lee Daniel)
Bottle Rocket (1996, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)
Office Space (1999, dir by Mike Judge, DP: Tim Suhrstedt)
Primer (2004, dir by Shane Carruth)
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Iggy Pop. Today’s song of the day was performed by Iggy and co-written by him and David Bowie. Here is the anthemic Lust For Life.
Here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
He’s gonna do another strip tease
Hey man, where’d y’get that lotion?
I’ve been hurting since I’m up again
About something called love
Yeah, something called love
Well, that’s like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in the ear before
And I’ve a lust for life
‘Cause I’ve a lust for life
I’m worth a million in prizes
With my torture film
Drive a GTO
Wear a uniform
All on a government loan
I’m worth a million in prizes
Yeah, I’m through with sleeping on the sidewalk
No more beating my brains
No more beating my brains
With liquor and drugs
With liquor and drugs
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in the ear before
Well, I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
‘Cause of a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Got a lust for life
Oh, a lust for life
Oh, a lust for life
A lust for life
I got a lust for life
Got a lust for life
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in my ear before
Well, I’ve a lust for life
‘Cause I’ve a lust for life
Well, here comes Johnny Yen again
With the liquor and drugs
And a flesh machine
I know he’s gonna do another strip tease
Hey man, where’d y’get that lotion?
Your skin starts itching once you buy the gimmick
About something called love
Love, love, love
Well, that’s like hypnotizing chickens
Well, I’m just a modern guy
Of course, I’ve had it in the ear before
And I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
‘Cause I’ve a lust for life (lust for life)
Got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
A lust for life
Got a lust for life
Yeah, a lust for life
I got a lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Lust for life
Songwriters: Iggy Pop / David Bowie / David Robert Jones
As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally 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 1995’s The Final Cut!
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, pull up The Final Cut on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!
Enjoy!
2001’s Strange Frequency is an anthology film. Usually, I hate anthology films because it always seems like the viewer ends up with one good story and three mediocre ones. As well, the anthology format is one that sometimes seems to be specifically designed to bring out the worst tendencies in otherwise talented directors. Often times, they seem to treat the anthology format as a lark, an excuse to show off their technical mastery without really paying much attention to anything else. The results often feel thematically shallow.
Well, guess what? I liked Strange Frequency. It was a lot of fun. Each of the four stories mixed horror with music. The first story features two heavy metal fans (Erik Palladino and Danny Masterson) who, after a car accident, find themselves in a club where disco is played nonstop. For them, it’s Hell. For me, it sounds like a fun afterlife. (Yes, it’s not easy to watch Danny Masterson nowadays but he does suffer in this story.) The second story is about a middle-aged serial killer (Eric Roberts) who targets younger hitchhikers, specifically because he dislikes their taste in music. However, when he picks up a young grunge fan (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), he suddenly finds himself being targeted. It turns out that this hitchhiker targets old people who won’t shut up about Woodstock. They then meet an older man who has never forgiven the baby boomers for rejecting big band music. In the third story, a rock star (John Taylor) who enjoys destroying hotel rooms is confronted by a maid (Holland Taylor) who can literally clean up any mess. (“I want my headlines!” the rock star shouts as he realizes he’s never going to get credit for destroying his current room.) Finally, the fourth story stars Judd Nelson as an A&R man who has the ability to find up-and-coming stars but whose discoveries inevitably end up dying.
All three of the stories were well-done and genuinely clever. My favorite was the second story, which featured Eric Roberts giving an enjoyably unhinged performance as the Woodstock refugee with a hatred for Lollapalooza. The story was both clever and suspenseful and it actually had something to say about the cultural differences between the generations. As you get older, you really do come to hate whatever music came after the artists you grew up listening to. Eventually, all the Swifties will be in their 40s and 50s, wondering why the younger generation doesn’t appreciate good music about feelings.
Strange Frequency was a pilot for a series that aired on VH-1 in 2001. How come I don’t remember this show? The pilot was actually really good! Thank you to Australia’s own Mark V for telling me about this pilot and letting me know that it was on YouTube! Check it out if you get a chance.
Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:
Today’s music video of the day celebrates the joy of escape. Get those headphones on.
Enjoy!
Happy Easter! Here is my latest week in review!
Films I Watched:
Television Shows I Watched:
News and Links From Last Week:
Links From The Site:
Today’s blast from the past comes from 1966.
In this 33-minute short film, we watch as Edie Sedgwick appears to have a conversation with herself. She’s not, of course. Instead, she’s sitting next to a television monitor that is showing a video of Edie having a conversation with an off-screen someone who was to the right of her. Meanwhile, the “live” Edie is having a conversation with an unseen person who is sitting to the left of her. This creates the illusion of the two Edies having a disjointed conversation with each other whereas, in reality, we’re really not sure who either Edie is talking to or what they’re even talking about. As was typical with Andy Warhol’s Factory films, the soundtrack is notably muddy. As well, the video below is actually a film of the film, which I think Warhol perhaps would have appreciated as long as he got paid.
Okay, it’s not for everyone. Obviously, if you’re not a fan of Warhol’s films, this experimental piece is not going to change your mind. In fact, it’ll probably make you a little bit angry. But, for me, it’s a fascinating time capsule, a true product of the era from which it came. Warhol’s experiments might not seem spectacular today but that’s because we’ve grown use to experimentation. Experimentation has become a mainstream concept. Warhol, on the other hand, was making his underground films at a time when the term “underground” actually meant something.
As well, this film features Edie at the height of her fame. It’s a bit sad to watch now, knowing how fleeting her obvious happiness would be. Warhol’s films always framed Edie as being just slightly out of reach, from both the viewers and the filmmaker. With the muddy soundtrack, one watches the multiple Edies in this film and wonders what is going through their mind, This is a film that embraces the enigma of existence and image.
Today’s song of the day comes from Lou Reed. Andy Warhol reportedly asked Lou Reed to write a song about how Edie Sedgwick was a femme fatale. It’s a song that captures the fascination that Edie inspired amongst artists in the 60s and beyond. It may not be the most positive portrait of Edie as a person but at least it’s not quite as bitter as Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone.
Here she comes,
You’d better watch your step,
She’s going to break your heart in two,
It’s true.
It’s not hard to realize,
Just look into her false colored eyes,
She’ll build you up to just put you down,
What a clown.
‘Cause everybody knows
She’s a femme fatale
The things she does to please
She’s a femme fatale
She’s just a little tease
She’s a femme fatale
See the way she walks
Hear the way she talks.
You’re written in her book,
You’re number thirty-seven, have a look.
She’s going to smile to make you frown,
What a clown.
Little boy, she’s from the street.
Before you start you’re already beat.
She’s going to play you for a fool,
Yes, it’s true.
‘Cause everybody knows
She’s a femme fatale
The things she does to please
She’s a femme fatale
She’s just a little tease
She’s a femme fatale
See the way she walks,
Hear the way she talks.
‘Cause everybody knows
She’s a femme fatale
The things she does to please
She’s a femme fatale
She’s just a little tease
She’s a femme fatale
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
She’s a femme fatale
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
She’s a femme fatale
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
She’s a femme fatale
It’s about a hundred years old that song …
Songwriters: Lou Reed
Through the Shattered Lens 