Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Film Review: The Delinquents (dir by Robert Altman)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

First released in 1957 and filmed on a $63,000 budget in Kansas City, The Delinquents tells the story of Scotty White (Tom Laughlin).

Scotty is eighteen.  He’s not a bad kid.  He’s just a bit directionless and he’s got a slight rebellious streak.  Today, Scotty would not be considered to be that wild of a teenager but, by the standards of 1957, he’s dangerous.  He’s a criminal.  He’s a rebel.  He’s an outsider.  He’s a degenerate.  He’s a delinquent and it doesn’t matter how in love he and 16 year-old Janice (Rosemary Howard) may be, Janice’s parents don’t want Scotty anywhere near their daughter.  She’s too young to date, they say.  Scott’s got a bed reputation, they say.  Scotty is set to soon leave for college and he’s got his entire future ahead of him.  But it doesn’t seem like much of a future without Janice as a part of it.

Poor guy!  Is it any surprise that he ends up hanging out with two legitimate delinquents, Cholly (Peter Miller) and Eddy (Richard Bakalyan)?  At first, Cholly and Eddy seem like great friends to have.  They even come up with a scheme to allow Scotty to spend some time with Janice.  (The plan doesn’t work, of course.  But it’s the thought that counts.)  However, when the police show up to bust a wild delinquent party, Cholly and Eddy suspect that Scotty might be a rat!  When their attempts to get Scotty drunk enough to confess fail, they end up driving a passed out Scotty into the country so they can dump him on the side of the road.  However, they decide to stop to rob a gas station first.  Believe it or not, this leads to even more trouble.

It also leads to the question of why they couldn’t have waited to rob the gas station until after they got Scotty out of the car.  Watching The Delinquents, I came to suspect that many of the characters just weren’t that smart.  Seriously, how difficult is it to be a delinquent in Kansas City?  But as dumb as Cholly and Eddy were, Scotty was even dumber because he continually got outsmarted by the both of them.  Maybe Janice’s parents had a point about him….

The Delinquents is pretty much a standard youth-in-trouble exploitation film, one that owes more than a little bit of debt to Rebel Without A Cause.  The main reason why anyone would watch the film is because it was not only the directorial debut of Robert Altman but also the acting debut of Tom “Billy Jack” Laughlin.  And let’s give credit where credit is due.  Though I doubt either one of them would have claimed this film as an example of their best work, there is some obvious talent to found in The Delinquents.  Laughlin gives an appealing performance, even though Scotty’s an idiot.  And Altman keeps the action moving and even manages to come up with some visually striking sequences, like the opening jazz performance and the “wild” delinquent party.  Viewed today, The Delinquents is an interesting preview of what was to come for both Altman and Laughlin.  Though the plot is nothing special and it’s hard not to laugh at the portentous narration (which was apparently added by the studio and without Altman’s knowledge), The Delinquents is an energetic exploitation film and a reminder that even Kansas City had its mean streets.

Scenes That I Love: The I’m Easy Scene From Robert Altman’s Nashville

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today would have been Robert Altman’s 100th birthday, it only seems right that today’s song of the day should come from his best film.  In this scene from 1975’s Nashville, Keith Carradine sings I’m Easy as Altman’s camera finds each of his lovers in the audience, all convinced that Carradine is singing expressly to them.

This song won Nashville it’s only Oscar.  It also made Keith, who wrote the song, the only Oscar winner amongst the fabled Carradine family.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Robert Altman Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, we celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of the great director, Robert Altman!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Robert Altman Films

MASH (1970, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Harold E. Stine)

The Long Goodbye (1973, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)

Nashville (1975, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Paul Lohmann)

3 Women (1977, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Charles Rosher, Jr.)

14 Days of Paranoia #5: Bloodknot (dir by Jorge Montesi)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1995’s Bloodknot, we are introduced to a grieving family.

Evelyn (Margot Kidder) and Arthur (Allan Royal) are mourning the death of their oldest son, who was in the military and who died during a military operation in the Middle East.  Their other son, Tom (Patrick Dempsey), spends his time working on cars and helping out local racecar driver Mike (Craig Sheffer).  Youngest daughter Gail (Ashleigh Ann Wood) doesn’t really have much of a personality but she’s definitely worried about her mother.

Suddenly, Connie (Kate Vernon) shows up in town.  Wearing a uniform that is slightly too large for her, Connie claims that she served with Evelyn’s dead son and that they eventually became more than just friends.  That’s strange, Evelyn says, he never mentioned you.  Connie replies that she encouraged him to write more but, for whatever reason, he didn’t.  Everyone agrees that what’s important now is that Connie has introduced herself to the family.  Soon, Connie is living at the mansion and making flirtatious eye contact with both Arthur and Tom.  One might expect Evelyn to be concerned about this but instead, Evelyn is too busy walking around in a depressed daze and blaming her “sinful” past for all the recent tragedy.

You probably already guessed that Connie is not who she says she is.  Indeed, Connie has come to the family with an agenda of her own.  She’s looking for vengeance and I won’t spoil it by revealing what she’s upset about but I will say that it’s fairly dumb and makes less sense the more that you think about it.  Tom’s girlfriend, Julie (Krista Bridges), suspects that Connie is a liar but can she prove it?  Julie even talks to the officer from whom Connie stole her uniform after Connie met and seduced her at a bar.  Why would Connie, who seems to be willing to kill anyone, leave that one person alive?  Obviously, it’s so Julie can learn the truth but still, it’s an oversight on Connie’s part that makes little sense.

(Julie isn’t a very interesting character but she does get to wear a really nice pair of boots so at least she’s got that going for her.)

Looking at the members of this film’s cast — Patrick Dempsey, Craig Sheffer, Kate Vernon — and you have to wonder if someone specifically said, “Let’s make an paranoia-themed, erotic thriller with the least interesting actors of the 90s.”  (Yes, Dempsey got better but, in this film, he was still doing the goofy awkward thing.)  This film goes through all the usual steps.  Connie starts out as being friendly and then progressively reveals herself to be more and more unhinged.  The men are reduced to stuttering incoherence by the sight of Connie smiling at them.  For this type of film to work, the actors have to be fully willing to embrace the melodrama but instead, both Kate Vernon and Patrick Dempsey give oddly lowkey performances, with Vernon’s attempt at a seductive smile instead coming across like a smirk that should have clued everyone in to the fact that she was not to be trusted.  If you’re appearing in a film like this, you should at least have a little fun.  As for Craig Sheffer, he’s as mind-numbingly dull as ever.

The film does improve a bit towards the end, largely because Connie’s secret reason for harassing the family is so implausible that it can’t help but be a bit entertaining to listen to the characters discuss it.  Overall, though, this was pretty boring.  Let this film be a lesson to all — embrace the melodrama!

Previous entries in 2025’s 14 Days Of Paranoia:

  1. The Fourth Wall (1969)
  2. Extreme Justice (1993)
  3. The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977)
  4. Conspiracy (2007)

Song Of The Day: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! by Dean Martin

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

We woke up to glorious snow this morning.  It’s pretty, even if it’s not quite the blizzard that we were promised by the weather service.  That said, it’s 11 degrees outside and I’m looking forward to spending the next few days cuddled up inside.

In others words, let it snow!

Here’s Dean Martin expressing the thought perfectly in today’s song of the day.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Man it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I brought me some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow! Let it snow!

When we finally kiss goodnight
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you’ll really hold me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm

And the fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still goodbying
But as long as you’d love me so
Let it snow! Let it snow and snow!

When we finally kiss goodnight
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you really grab me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm

Oh, the fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still goodbying
But as long as you’d love me so
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Songwriters: Jule Styne / Sammy Cahn

Scenes That I Love: Angie Dickinson Hits Lee Marvin In Point Blank

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Point Blank (1967, directed by John Boorman)

Today is the anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest of the screen tough guys, Mr. Lee Marvin!  Today’s scene that I love comes from the 1967 film, Point Blank.  In this short but emotionally exhausting scene, Angie Dickinson hits Lee Marvin’s career criminal, over and over again.  Marvin, for his part, barely reacts.  This scene is the epitome of Lee Marvin’s mystique.  He played men who only showed emotion when it was necessary.  Dickinson hits Marvin to try to make him feel something but Marvin’s career criminal in beyond such concerns.

From Point Blank, here is today’s scene that I love:

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special John Frankenheimer Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

John Frankenheimer was born 95 years ago today, in New York City.  He got his start working in live television and went on to become one of the best directors of thrillers around.  After getting off to a strong start in the 60s, directing several classic films (many of which had a political subtext), Frankenheimer struggled in the 70s (though even that decade saw him directing the classic Black Sunday) before making a comeback in the 90s.  (1998’s Ronin is regularly cited as having one of the best car chases ever captured on film.)  He was also one of the first film directors to make the transition to regularly working for cable channels like TNT and HBO.  Indeed, the films that he made for HBO played no small part in establishing HBO’s reputation as being a “prestige” network.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 John Frankenheimer Films

The Manchurian Candidate (1962, dir by John Frankenheimer, DP: Lionel Lindon)

Seven Days In May (1964, dir by John Frankenheimer, DP: Ellsworth Fredericks)

Seconds (1966, dir by John Frankenheimer, DP: James Wong Howe)

Black Sunday (1977, dir by John Frankenheimer, DP: John A. Alonzo)

Music Video of the Day: Down by Victoria Justice (2024, dir by Luis De Pena)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, we wish a happy birthday to the one and only Victoria Justice!  I’m currently up at our lakehouse so I can relate to this video in spirit, even though it’s currently 18 degrees up here.  It’s the thought that counts.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 1.7 “Heatwave”

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 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, there’s a heatwave on the beach!

Episode 1.7 “Heatwave”

(Dir by Lyndon Chubbuck, originally aired on April 13th, 1996)

A heatwave has hit Santa Monica!  Everyone is sweltering and the cameras of Pacific Blue are there to record every drop of sweat.  The AC at Chris’s apartment is not working so, while she waits for it to get repaired, she moves in with TC.  What will TC’s girlfriend think of that?  Actually, she won’t think anything about that because her character disappeared after the pilot.

As I watched this episode, it occurred to me that the show’s writers really seemed to have no idea who the characters actually were.  Instead of coming across like actual human beings, every character has one personality trait that the writers insist on hammering into every scene.  Chris is always complaining about something.  Even after TC offers to let her stay at his apartment, Chris complains.  Chris complains so much that it actually becomes a bit whiny on her part.  But it’s not really Chris’s fault.  It’s the fault of the writers who obviously assumed that writing a “strong woman” meant making her act like a bitch no matter what the situation.  TC’s character trait is that he has a permanent chip on his shoulder even though every episode so far has essentially been a TC love fest.  He’s second-in-command of the bike cops.  He’s never held responsible for his mistakes.  He comes from a rich family.  Lt. Palermo praises him nonstop.  And yet TC always seems like he’s bitter about something.  And, as with Chris’s permanent bad mood, it’s just because the show’s writers didn’t bother to give him a personality beyond always acting like he has something to prove.  The episodes hints at an attraction between Chris and TC but they would really be a terrible couple.

This episode finds a radio sex therapist (Maura Peters) being stalked by Jordan Crane (Denis Forest, playing the same type of creepy psycho that he played on multiple episodes of Friday the 13th), a listener who is obsessed with her and who murders anyone who he thinks is getting too close to her.  TC has a crush on the sex therapist.  Chris dislikes the sex therapist and thinks TC is dumb because of course she does.  Chris and TC run afoul the homicide detective, Bart Browning (Barry Lynch), who is investigating the case.  Browning doesn’t have much respect for cops who ride bicycles.  Palermo, Chris, and TC go out of their way to change his mind.

So, yes, this is yet another episode where Pacific Blue tries to convince us that cops on bikes aren’t as dorky and useless as they look.  Every time Browning makes fun of them, we get a shot of the bike cops chasing a thief or investigating a lead.  The problem is that Browning does have a point.  The cops do look really silly on their bikes.  The fact that they often have to pick up and carry their bikes doesn’t help.  And listen, this is not an anti-bicycle thing.  I have a bike,  I occasionally ride it in the park.  (What I don’t do is ride it in the middle of the street.)  When you’ve got asthma like me, cycling is a good way to keep your lungs healthy.  But if I need the police, I want to see a squad car and I don’t want to have to deal with anyone wearing shorts.

While this is going on, Victor and Cory investigate a thief who hires strippers to perform in stores and bars.  While everyone is distracted, the thief robs the place.  This storyline actually did make me laugh a little.  All of the male witnesses could perfectly describe the strippers but none of them even saw the man sneaking behind the counter with a gun.  In the end, the thief is captured in an elaborate undercover sting.  Cory and Chris pretend to be the dancers while Palermo pretends to be the bartender and the thief soon discovers everyone else in the bar is a cop as well.  At least in this storyline, Chris’s bad mood had to do with being annoyed with the objectification of women as opposed to being mad because someone offered her a place to stay so she wouldn’t die of heatstroke.

Finally, Elvis discovers a lot of holes on the beach and thinks that the aliens are coming.  It turns out that a local golf course was just stealing the sand for their sand traps.  I’m glad that worked out!

As much as I’ve complained, this episode of Pacific Blue was a slight improvement over the previous few episodes, if just because the the subplots were vaguely interesting and/or amusing.  Chris and TC continue to be the weakest part of the show.  Hopefully, they’ll get some new personality traits soon.