Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.11 “Scarecrow”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The show can be found on YouTube!

This week, Micki and Ryan visit the country and battle a killer scarecrow!  Yikes!

Episode 1.11 “Scarecrow”

(Dir by William Fruet, originally aired on February 1st, 1988)

While Jack is off in Europe searching for a cursed antique, Micki and Ryan head into the country.  They’ve recently received a letter from someone requesting that they come to a small rural town and collect the scarecrow that was bought from their shop years ago.

Seriously, do people usually buy scarecrows from antique shops?  I mean, I always thought that half the fun of having a scarecrow was getting to build it yourself.  And even if you didn’t want to build your own scarecrow, I imagine that you would probably go to a country store to buy one as opposed to heading into the city and going to an antique store.

No matter, though.  Even if it doesn’t make much sense to buy a scarecrow from an antique store, the scarecrow is undeniably scary.  Of course, when Micki and Ryan arrive in the town, the farmer who bought the scarecrow lies and says that someone set it on fire three years ago.  However, the viewer knows that the scarecrow not only still exists but that it comes to life at night and kills people with a scythe!  Every harvest, the scarecrow beheads three people and, as a result, the owner of the scarecrow has a good crop while everyone else in the town is struggling to make ends meet.

The viewer also knows that the villain of the story is Marge Lonacre (Patricia Phillips), the rather severe-looking owner of the town’s only inn.  Even if the episode didn’t show us Marge activating the scarecrow early on, it would be easy to guess that she is the villain because everything about Marge — from the way she dresses to the way she glares at people to the abrupt way that she speaks — screams villainy.  Oddly enough, it takes Micki and Ryan forever to figure out that Marge is the villain, even though they’re staying in Marge’s inn and Micki witnesses the scarecrow depositing a dead body on Marge’s front porch.  In fact, for some reason, Micki gets into her head that the helpful sheriff (Steve Pernie) is the killer and she even locks him in a closet so that he can’t keep her from running back to the inn.  Ryan and Micki are both likable and Micki’s fashion sense is to die for but, without Jack around to guide them, neither of them is a particularly effective investigator.

While searching for the scarecrow, Ryan bonds with the son of one of the scarecrow’s victims, which leads to some nicely-acted moments from John D. LeMay.  I mention this because Friday the 13th, much like Nightmare Café, was always at its best when it explored the humanity of its lead characters.  For all of the violence that Micki and Ryan have witnessed, they’re still trying to make the world a better and nicer place and it’s hard not to admire that.

This was an effective episode, one of that was full of creepy atmosphere and which featured one truly scary scarecrow.  I think even Jason Voorhees would have avoided this country town!

Here Are The 2023 Nominations For The Black Reel Awards

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The nominations for the Black Reel Awards were announced today.  The winners will be announced on January 13th, 2024.

Outstanding Film
American Fiction
The Color Purple
Origin
Rustin
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Outstanding Lead Performance
Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple
John Boyega – They Cloned Tyrone
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Origin
Jamie Foxx – The Burial
Kelvin Harrison Jr. – Chevalier
Michael B. Jordan – Creed III
Teyana Taylor – A Thousand and One
Sophie Wilde – Talk To Me
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

Outstanding Director
Blitz Bazawule – The Color Purple
Ava DuVerney – Origin
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Michael B. Jordan – Creed III
A.V. Rockwell – A Thousand and One

Outstanding Supporting Performance
Erika Alexander – American Fiction
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Sterling K. Brown – American Fiction
Viola Davis – Air
Colman Domingo – The Color Purple
Jamie Foxx – They Cloned Tyrone
Taraji P. Henson – The Color Purple
Jonathan Majors – Creed III
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Jurnee Smollett – The Burial

Outstanding Screenplay
A Thousand and One
American Fiction
Origin
Rustin
They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Documentary
American Symphony
Kokomo City
Little Richard: I Am Everything
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Stamped From The Beginning

Outstanding International Film
Brother (Canada)
Our Father, the Devil (Cameroon)
Rye Lane (UK)

Outstanding Ensemble
American Fiction
The Blackening
The Color Purple
Rustin
They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Voice Performance
Ariana DeBose – Wish
Ayo Edebiri – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Brian Tyree Henry – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Daniel Kaluuya – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Shameik Moore – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Outstanding Independent Film
A Thousand and One
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Earth Mama
How I Learned To Fly
Rye Lane

Outstanding Short Film
ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton
Birthing A Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney
Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games
The Dads
The Last Repair Shop

Outstanding Emerging Director
Blitz Bazawule – The Color Purple
Raven Jackson – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
A.V. Rockwell – A Thousand and One
Juel Taylor – They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance
Halle Bailey – The Little Mermaid
Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Jerrod Carmichael – Poor Things
Archie Madekwe – Gran Turismo
Phylicia Pearl Mpasi – The Color Purple
Tia Nomore – Earth Mama
Vivian Oparah – Rye Lane
Dewayne Perkins – The Blackening
Teyana Taylor – A Thousand and One

Outstanding First Screenplay
A Thousand and One
American Fiction
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
The Color Purple
Earth Mama

Outstanding Score
Jon Batiste – American Symphony
Kris Bowers – Chevalier
Kris Bowers – The Color Purple
Brandford Marsalias – Rustin
Desmond Murray & Pierre Charles – They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Original Song
“Am I Dreaming” – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
“It Never Went Away” – American Symphony
“Keep It Moving” – The Color Purple
“My House” – Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
“Road to Freedom” – Rustin

Outstanding Soundtrack
The Color Purple
Creed III
The Little Mermaid
Rustin
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Outstanding Cinematography
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Earth Mama
Kokomo City
Rye Lane
Silver Dollar Road

Outstanding Costume Design
Air
The Color Purple
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Rustin
They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Editing
The Color Purple
Kokomo City
Origin
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
They Cloned Tyrone

Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup
A Thousand and One
Air
Bottoms
The Color Purple
Rustin

Outstanding Production Design
Chevalier
The Little Mermaid
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé
Rustin
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Past Lives Rises From The Ashes In Phoenix!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Phoenix Critics Circle has announced its pick for the best of 2023 and, despite the heat being generated for Oppenheimer and Killers of The Flower Moon by other regional groups, it named Past Lives as best picture of the year!

The winners are listed in bold:

BEST PICTURE
THE HOLDOVERS
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
OPPENHEIMER
PAST LIVES
POOR THINGS
THE ZONE OF INTEREST

BEST COMEDY FILM
AMERICAN FICTION
ASTEROID CITY
BARBIE
BOTTOMS
THE HOLDOVERS

BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM
ASTEROID CITY
THE CREATOR
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
INFINITY POOL
THEY CLONED TYRONE

BEST HORROR FILM
EVIL DEAD RISE
NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU
TALK TO ME
THANKSGIVING
WHEN EVIL LURKS

BEST ANIMATED FILM
THE BOY AND THE HERON
ELEMENTAL
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM
WISH

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
ANATOMY OF A FALL
FALLEN LEAVES
GODZILLA MINUS ONE
PERFECT DAYS
THE ZONE OF INTEREST

BEST DOCUMENTARY
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL
AMERICAN SYMPHONY
BEYOND UTOPIA
THE MISSION
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE

BEST ACTOR
BRADLEY COOPER – MAESTRO
LEONARDO DICAPRIO – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
PAUL GIAMATTI – THE HOLDOVERS
BARRY KEOGHAN – SALTBURN
CILLIAN MURPHY – OPPENHEIMER
JEFFREY WRIGHT – AMERICAN FICTION

BEST ACTRESS
LILY GLADSTONE – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
SANDRA HÜLLER – ANATOMY OF A FALL
GRETA LEE – PAST LIVES
NATALIE PORTMAN – MAY DECEMBER
MARGOT ROBBIE – BARBIE
EMMA STONE – POOR THINGS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WILLEM DAFOE – POOR THINGS
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – OPPENHEIMER
RYAN GOSLING – BARBIE
MARK RUFFALO – POOR THINGS
DOMINIC SESSA – THE HOLDOVERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
EMILY BLUNT – OPPENHEIMER
PENELOPE CRUZ – FERRARI
RACHEL MCADAMS – ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.
JULIANNE MOORE – MAY DECEMBER
ROSAMUND PIKE – SALTBURN
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH – THE HOLDOVERS

BEST DIRECTOR
GRETA GERWIG – BARBIE
JONATHAN GLAZER – THE ZONE OF INTEREST
YORGOS LANTHIMOS – POOR THINGS
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN – OPPENHEIMER
MARTIN SCORSESE – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
CELINE SONG – PAST LIVES

BEST SCREENPLAY
GRETA GERWIG AND NOAH BAUMBACH – BARBIE
DAVID HEMINGSON – THE HOLDOVERS
CORD JEFFERSON AND PERCIVAL EVERETT – AMERICAN FICTION
TONY MCNAMARA AND ALASDAIR GRAY – POOR THINGS
CELINE SONG – PAST LIVES

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA – OPPENHEIMER
MATTHEW LIBATIQUE – MAESTRO
RODRIGO PRIETO – BARBIE
RODRIGO PRIETO – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
ROBBIE RYAN – POOR THINGS
LUKASZ ZAL – THE ZONE OF INTEREST

BEST SCORE
JERSKIN FENDRIX – POOR THINGS
LUDWIG GÖRANSSON – OPPENHEIMER
MICA LEVI – THE ZONE OF INTEREST
DANIEL PEMBERTON – SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
ROBBIE ROBERTSON – KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

The New York Film Critics Online Honors Killers of the Flower Moon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The New York Film Critics Online have announced their picks for the best of 2023.

And here they are:

Best Picture: “Killers Of The Flower Moon“
Best Director: Christopher Nolan – “Oppenheimer“
Best Actor: Cillian Murphy – “Oppenheimer“
Best Actress: Sandra Hüller – “Anatomy Of A Fall“
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo – “Poor Things“
Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph – “The Holdovers“
Best Screenplay: Justine Triet & Arthur Harari – “Anatomy Of A Fall“
Best Animated Feature: “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse“
Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema – “Oppenheimer“
Best Use of Music: “Barbie“
Best Documentary Feature: “The Eternal Memory“
Best Foreign Language: “Anatomy Of A Fall“
Best Debut Director: Celine Song – “Past Lives”
Breakthrough Performer: Charles Melton – “May December“
Best Ensemble Cast: “Oppenheimer“

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order)
American Fiction (Amazon MGM)
Anatomy Of A Fall (Neon)
The Holdovers (Focus Features)
Killers Of The Flower Moon (Apple Original Films, Paramount Pictures)
Maestro (Netflix)
May December (Netflix)
Oppenheimer (Universal)
Poor Things (Searchlight)
Past Lives (A24)
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Retro Television Review: T and T 2.9 “Hostage”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a new feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Fridays, I will be reviewing T. and T., a Canadian show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990.  The show can be found on Tubi!

This week, Amy, T.S. and Joe get involved in a — ugh — hostage situation!

Episode 2.9 “Hostage”

(Dir by Don McCutcheon, originally aired on November 28th, 1988)

Fleeing from the police after a botched robbery, two sweaty crooks, Rook (Lawrence King) and Larry (Angelo Rizacos), duck into Don’s Sporting Goods and end up holding 8 people hostage, including Amy and Joe!  What a scary situation!  These eight Canadians probably just wanted to buy new hockey jerseys and now, they’re being held hostage!

The police, of course, are ineffectual.  T.S. tracks down the ex-wife of one of the men but she can’t convince him to come out of the store.  The two crooks don’t want to go back to prison so they’ve demanded a lot of money and a plane and they’ve given the Toronto police only two hours to meet their demands.  Inside the store, Amy tries to reason with them.  Rook knows that things have gone too far and that they need to surrender to the police.  But Larry is sweaty and violent and determined to escape with the money.

I groaned a bit when I saw what this episode was going to be about.  I absolutely dread sitting through anything that involves hostage negotiation.  There’s really not much that can happen in a story like this, other than the hostage takers doing a lot of yelling and the negotiators saying, “You’re going to have to give us more time!”  It’s really not much fun to watch people getting guns pointed at their heads while some loser rants and raves about how he’s going to pull the trigger unless he gets what he wants.  With the exception of Dog Day Afternoon, hostage taking is usually pretty boring to watch.

Probably the biggest mistake that this episode makes is that it sidelines T.S. Turner for much of the action.  The main appeal of T and T is the chance to watch and hear Mr. T take down the bad guys.  T.S. spends the majority of this episode just standing around and only he gets to call one person “brother.”  Finally, during the final few minutes, T.S. ends up crawling around in the building’s loft so that he can break through the ceiling and take out the hostage takers but, by the time he does, the two criminals have already turned on each other.  For once, it falls not to T.S. to capture the main bad guy but for the bad guy’s accomplice to shoot him in the back.

All in all, this was a disappointing episode.  Amy failed to talk the criminals into giving themselves up and T.S. failed to capture the criminals by himself.  What is Canada even paying these two for?

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Miracle on 34th Street!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix has got one of my favorite Christmas movies, 1947’s Miracle on 34th Street!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Miracle on 34th Street is available on Prime!  See you there!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Highway to Heaven 1.12 “Hotel of Dreams”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi and several other services!

This week, Mark and Jonathan work at a hotel …. a hotel of dreams!

Episode 1.12 “Hotel of Dreams”

(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on December 12th, 1984)

Barry Rudd (Brian Kerwin) may be the son of a wealthy hotel owner but he’s far more comfortable living out in the country, wearing denim and flannel, and helping to raise goats.  However, one day, Barry is summoned to his father’s hotel.  His father even sends a helicopter out to get him.  Barry gets on the helicopter but he insists on bringing his goat with him.

At the hotel, Barry’s father (Jacques Aubuchon) explains that he’s gotten married to a woman who is much younger than him and he needs Barry to run the hotel while he’s on his honeymoon.  Barry is stuck running the snootiest hotel in California, despite the fact that he doesn’t even own a suit and all he really wants to do is look after his goat.  Unfortunately, the hotel has a lot of problems.  The manager (played by Dean Dittman) is a mean-spirited snob who takes bribes from the guests.  A child (Douglas Emerson) is running wild through the halls of the hotel, all because his father is too busy working to keep an eye on him.  Saintly maid Elena (Julie Carmen) does the best job that she can but she’s looked down upon by the guests and the hotel’s manager.

Can Barry solve all of the hotel’s problems and also find time to attend his high school reunion?  Will he stay true to himself or will he sell out in an effort to impress people like his former classmate, Allison Rutledge (Judith-Marie Bergan)?  It’s not going to be easy and Barry doesn’t even know where to begin.  Fortunately, he has some help.  The hotel’s two new bellhops are Jonathan Smith and Mark Gordon!

Especially when compared to the previous two episodes, Hotel of Dreams is a rather light-hearted episode.  There’s nothing particularly surprising to be found in this episode.  Of course, Allison is going to turn out to be a total snob.  Of course, Elena is going to help Barry take care of his goat.  Of course, Barry and Elena are going to fall in love and end up together, all with the help of Jonathan.  And, of course, Mark is going to become a surrogate father figure for the bratty kid.  This is a thoroughly pleasant if not particularly memorable episode, one that plays out more like a pilot for a show about the hotel than an episode about an angel trying to make the world a better place.  Brian Kerwin and Julie Carmen make for an attractive couple and, as the episode ends, you can’t help but hope that Barry and Elena are going spend the rest of their lives raising goats together.

There is an unfortunate moment in this episode when Jonathan gives Mark a hard time for smoking.  When Jonathan tells Mark that he could die if he doesn’t stop smoking, Mark replies that everyone has to die of something.  Mark then asks Jonathan what cause his death.

“Lung cancer,” Jonathan replies.

Victor French, who played Mark, would die of lung cancer just five years later.  Shortly afterwards, Michael Landon would also die of cancer.

Retro Television Reviews: Jennifer Slept Here 1.11 “Life With Grandfather”

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 Thursdays, I will be reviewing Jennifer Slept Here, which aired on NBC in 1983 and 1984.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week’s episode made me cry.

Episode 1.11 “Life With Grandfather”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on April 28th, 1984)

George Elliott’s father, Barney (Milo O’Shea), is coming to visit.  He’ll be staying up in the attic, which upsets Jennifer until Barney actually arrives and she discovers that Barney is a lovable eccentric who loves her movies and spends his time trying to invent new toys.

Unfortunately, the rest of the family is not as thrilled to have Barney around as Jennifer is.  Barney and George have a strained relationship and Joey keeps making excuses not to spend time with his grandfather.  Jennifer is the only one who understands how lonely Barney is but she can’t help him because Barney can’t see her.

Sadly, that changes when one of Barney’s toys explodes in the attic.  Suddenly, Barney can see Jennifer and Jennifer can talk to him.  That’s because Barney is dead.  Jennifer helps Barney come to terms with being dead and she also tells him that he’s not alone because there’s ghosts all over the place.  Barney says that he had so much he still wanted to tell his family and Jennifer assures Barney that his family had a lot that they wanted to tell him.  It’s a surprisingly poignant scene, one that is wonderfully acted by both Ann Jillian and Milo O’Shea.

The episodes jumps forward a few days.  George and Joey are still struggling to come to terms with Barney’s death.  George admits that he was never as close to his father as he wishes he had been and that he has a lot regrets about not getting to tell Barney how much he loved him before he died.  Joey, for his part, goes up to his bedroom and tells Jennifer that he wants to talk to his grandfather.  Joey feels that, since he can talk to Jennifer’s ghost, he should also be able to talk to his grandfather’s ghost.  Jennifer gently explains that Barney has moved on and Joey can’t talk to him anymore but he can continue to love him.

I mean …. MY GOD!  Though this series is admittedly uneven, I’ve enjoyed the majority of the episodes of Jennifer Slept Here that I’ve watched.  But I never thought that this show would bring me to tears.  This was such a sweet and poignant episode and I think it’s one to which everyone watching could relate.  We all have loved ones who we miss and we wish we could speak to.  And sadly, we rarely say everything that we want to say to people while they’re still here.  Joey’s desire to speak to his grandfather is an emotion that we’ve all felt.  But Barney has moved on and the show deserves a lot of credit for not going for the easy solution and having Barney suddenly return to say goodbye to Joey.  Instead, this episode (and Jennifer) emphasized the importance of enjoying the time together that we have and always carrying our love for others in our hearts.

This was a sweet episode and well-acted by the entire cast.  As I’ve said, this is an uneven series but this was a truly good episode.