Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 1/1/24 — 1/7/24

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Ugh.  I got really, really sick this evening so I apologize because I’m only going to be able to do a bare bones week in review this week.  I’ll be back at full strength next week Sunday!

Films I Watched:

  1. The Believers (1987)
  2. Death Cruise (1974)
  3. Gran Turismo (2023)
  4. Hell Camp: Teen Nightmare (2023)
  5. Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
  6. M*A*S*H (1970)
  7. May December (2023)
  8. Mean Streets (1973)
  9. Patton (1970)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Baywatch Nights
  2. Check It Out
  3. Degrassi Junior High
  4. Dr. Phil
  5. Fantasy Island
  6. Forgive or Forget
  7. Friday the 13th: The Series
  8. Highway to Heaven
  9. The Love Boat
  10. Monsters
  11. Night Flight
  12. Password
  13. Saved By The Bell
  14. Tattletales
  15. Turn-On!
  16. The Twilight Zone
  17. Welcome Back, Kotter

Links From Last Week:

  1. A Theater Puts Out A “James Bond” Warning! That Story + My 2024 “007” Review-A-Thon!
  2. Tater’s Week in Review 1/6/24
  3. Are you paying attention?
  4. Be sure to check out Leonard’s review of Godzilla Minus One!
  5. Be sure to check out Jeff’s review of Death Warrant!

Click here for last week!

Retro Television Reviews: Death Cruise (dir by Ralph Senesky)

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 Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1977’s Death Cruise!  It  can be viewed on Tubi and YouTube.

The thing with the Love Boat is that it promises something for everyone.  It’s a place where you set a course for adventure and put your mind on a new romance.

The same cannot be said of the Death Cruise.

Death Cruise opens with three couples winning an all-expenses paid trip on a luxury liner.  None of the couples are in a happy marriage.  Sylvia Carter (Polly Bergen) is tired of her husband, Jerry (Richard Long), and his philandering ways.  Elizabeth Mason (Celeste Holm) is frustrated with David Mason (Tom Bosley) and his loud dinner jackets.  Mary Frances Radney (Kate Jackson) is fed up with James (Edward Albert) and his smug refusal to start a family.  Of course, it’s not just martial problems that connects these passengers.  It’s also the fact that someone on the boat is stalking and killing them, one-by-one.  Can Dr. Burke (Michael Constantine) and Captain Vettori (Cesare Danova) track down the killer before it’s too late?

Death Cruise is an enjoyably twisty little murder mystery.  It aired in 1974, a good two years before the first Love Boat pilot film appeared on television.  However, both Death Cruise and The Love Boat were produced by Aaron Spelling so the two productions definitely have a shared DNA.  The Love Boat is basically Death Cruise with the addition of a laugh track and considerably less murder.  That said, I have my doubts as to whether Doc Bricker would have been as effective a detective as Dr. Burke.

One of the most interesting things about Death Cruise is how little anyone on the boat really seems to care about the fact that the passengers are turning up dead.  In fact, one widower is asking a widow to be his date to dinner within a few hours of the deaths of their spouses.  Of course, the murderer makes sure that dinner date is canceled but it’s still hard not to wonder whatever happened to an appropriate time of grieving.  Then again, I guess if you’re on a boat for a weekend, you just do whatever feels right at the moment.

(And certainly, if they were on The Love Boat, the walking HR nightmares that was Doc Bricker wouldn’t have wasted any time asking the widows to come by his office for a examination.)

Of the victims and suspects, Richard Long and Edward Albert are memorably sleazy while Tom Bosley plays up just how annoyed he is with the whole situation.  Michael Constantine is a good detective and the movie’s final twist is nicely executed.  Personally, when it comes to cruises, I will always prefer the safety and romance of The Love Boat but Death Cruise was an entertaining nautical diversion.

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Check It Out! 1.13 “Love Is A Many Splendored Alf”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing the Canadian sitcom, Check it Out, which ran in syndication from 1985 to 1988.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, my favorite character returns!

Episode 1.13 “Love Is A Many Splendored Alf”

(Dir by John Bell, originally aired on January 8th, 1986)

Viker’s back!

Played by Gordon Clapp, Viker is the store’s electrician.  He’s only appeared in a handful of episodes this season, though Wikipedia says that he’ll become a regular during season 2.  Viker is one of the best characters on the show.  Technically, he’s the goofy dumb guy but what makes Viker special is that, while he’s definitely goofy, he’s not really that dumb.  Viker can put his thoughts together, it’s just that he put them together differently than everyone around him.  Viker lives in a world of his own, one that has its own peculiar set of rules.  Alone amongst all the characters on the show, Viker is always honest and tries to directly answer every question that he’s asked.  For instance, when Howard asks him if he has an idea as to what is making the store’s light flicker on and off, Viker replies, “Yes,” and leaves it at that.  Howard, after all, didn’t ask him what the idea is.

Viker is at the store because Cobb’s is having electrical problems.  The lights are flickering on and off.  (It takes Viker a few minutes to notice because, as he explains, his blinking his synchronized with the flickering.)  The cash registers are humming.  The refrigerator in the break room has broken down.  The store’s freezer also breaks down, leading 800 pounds of melted ice cream and a bunch of TV dinner rotting in an alley.  Can Viker figure out what the problem is?

No, of course, he can’t.  Fortunately, Alf the Security Guard can.  When Alf gives the broken refrigerator a good slap, the refrigerator comes back to life and the lights stop flickering.  So, I guess it was all the refrigerator’s fault!  To be honest, I don’t know much about how things are wired in most stores but …. well, let’s just go with it.

Alf …. poor Alf!  Alf has a tough week in this episode.  Edna sets Alf up on a date with her friend Helen (Nonnie Griffith).  Helen likes that Alf is a plain-spoken, blue collar guy.  Helen is less impressed when Alf gets drunk on their date and tries to crack open his escargot.  She is especially not happy when he pours a pitcher of water on the flambé.  After the disastrous date, Alf is convinced that he’ll never see Helen again.  Fortunately, for Alf, Helen just happens to be in the store when he gets the refrigerator working and basically saves everyone’s job.  Helen is impressed enough to give Alf a second chance.  Awwwww!

(In other words, it’s a good thing Viker couldn’t figure out what the problem was!)

As far as this episode goes, I never really believed that Helen would have been attracted to Alf in the first place so that story kind of fell flat.  And seriously, if you’re dating a guy because you like how direct and blue collar he is, what are you thinking serving him escargot and flambé?  But I was happy to see Viker again and I appreciated that this was an episode where everyone in the store acted as eccentrically as possible.  Check It Out! works best when it leans into absurdism.

Retro Television Reviews: Welcome Back Kotter 3.4 “The Visitors”

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 Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Julie and the twins return home!

Episode 3.4 “The Visitors”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on September 22nd, 1977)

Julie and the twins are home!

Soon after arriving at the apartment, Julie and Gabe start to argue over what to name the babies.  Gabe suggests that they name them This One and That One.  Gabe also suggests that they name them Ethel and Lucy.  Julie, not being a fan of television or comedy in general (which makes it a bit odd that she ended up married to Gabe), suggests that they name the babies after their grandmothers, Rachel and Robin.

Speaking of grandparents, Julie’s mother and father show up unannounced.  Mr. Hansen (Jack Dodson) and his wife (Alice Backes) are from Nebraska and they don’t know much about city folks or Sweathogs or apartment buildings.  The Hansens actually appear to be extremely nice and polite but Gabe also immediately starts to complain about them staying at the apartment.  Yeah, Gabe …. I guess it’s not fun when visitors show up at random and then just decide to hang out.

Speaking of which, the Sweathogs also show up at the apartment.  Unfortunately, because Barbarino is stuck in the 10th Grade until he can pass a makeup exam, they are without their leader.  Watching this episode made me realize just how important Barbarino was to the Sweathogs.  Though John Travolta does appear in this episode, he doesn’t share any scenes with the other Sweathogs and without Travolta’s likeable screen presence to ground them, the other Sweathogs are just too weird to believably function as a group.  It was halfway through this episode that I found myself wondering if Epstein and Washington would actually hang out with Horshack if Vinnie wasn’t around to tell them to do so.

With Gabe gone, the responsibility for teaching his class falls to Mr. Woodman.  The students are bored with Woodman as a teacher but Woodman doesn’t care.  Woodman doesn’t care about much of anything, which makes it all the more heart-warming when he shows up at the Kotter apartment and proves himself to be a natural when it comes to taking care of babies.  Woodman was usually such an bitter character that it’s impossible not to smile when you see how much he seems to sincerely like talking to one of the Kotter twins.

Woodman proves himself to be not such a bad guy but telling Kotter than he’ll give Barbarino a makeup exam and allow him to join the 11th Grade if he passes.  “But if he fails by one point,” Woodman says, “he stays in the 10th Grade.”

“Did I ever tell you about my uncle who was in the 10th Grade for three years?” Gabe replies.

Woodman says that he’s willing to bring gifts to the babies and give Vinnie a makeup exam but “I will not listen to one of your uncle stories.”

And that’s it for this episode!  This episode was pretty slight, with characters randomly coming in and out of the Kotter apartment and getting on Julie’s nerves.  I’m going to assume that Barbarino’s absence from much of the episode was due to Travolta’s burgeoning film career as opposed to Barbarino being held back a grade.  (Barbarino better pass that exam.  The Sweathogs need their leader!)  That said, the bit at the end with Woodman was funny and full of heart so I’ll give this episode a solid B.

Next week: Gabe and Barbarino buy a lottery ticket!

Live Tweet Alert: Watch The Believers With #ScarySocial!

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.  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, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1987’s The Believers, starring Martin Sheen!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime and Tubi!.  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

 

Music Video of the Day: White Line by James Apollo (2014, dir by Jason Affolder)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I just recently discovered this video, despite the fact that it’s been around for a while.  I like the song, I like the music, and I love the fact that watching the video reminds me of my favorite (and sadly, now closed) restaurant/bar in Denton.  Sweetwater had a wonderful outdoor patio, where my friends and I would spend many a night having the most wonderful conversations ever.

This place also reminds me of a few of the clubs in Deep Ellum where I would attempt to flirt my way past the doorman go whenever I snuck out of my house I happened to be in the neighborhood.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Reviews: Friday the 13th 1.13 “The Baron’s Bride”

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 go to 1870s London!

Episode 1.13 “The Baron’s Bride”

(Dir by Bradford May, originally aired on February 15th, 1988)

The latest cursed antique that Jack has decided to retrieve is a cursed cape.  As Jack explains it, any man who wears the cape will automatically become irresistible to women.  So, with that in mind, why does Jack take Ryan and Micki with him?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to leave Micki at home and just bring Ryan who, as a guy, would be immune to the cape’s powers?

Seriously, Jack did not think this through!

As well, Jack also doesn’t know the full extent of the cape’s power.  It not only makes the wearer irresistible to women but it also turns him into a vampire.  And if blood gets on the cape’s brooch, the vampire and anyone near him will be transported into the past.

Jack, Ryan, and Micki arrives the home of Marie Simmons (Diana Barrington), just in time to see her giving the cape to her new boarder, Frank Edwards (Tom McCamus).  Of course, as soon as Micki sees Frank, she falls under her spell.  When Marie attacks Micki, she cuts Micki’s cheek.  Micki’s blood hits Frank’s brooch and they (along with Ryan) are transported into the past.

All three of them end up in London in 1870.  While Frank stalks victims on the streets of London, Micki and Ryan team up with a young writer named — *ahem* — Abraham (Kevin Bundy) and his wife, Caitlin (Susannah Hoffman).  Frank is determined to find Micki and, because Frank is still wearing the cape, Micki once again finds herself falling under Frank’s spell.

This is an excellent and atmospheric episode.  As soon as Ryan, Micki, and Frank are transported to London, the show switches from color to black-and-white and the story plays out like a macabre Universal horror film.  The episode is full of scenes of Frank running in slow motion towards his victims and revealing his fangs as he snarls at his enemies and Tom McCamus gives a wonderfully sinister performance as the innocent boarder turned vampire.  This episode packs a lot action into just 45 minutes of screen time and Micki and Ryan (and Robey and John D. LeMay) again prove themselves to be a good team.

The episode ends with a neat, if predictable twist.  Back in the present day, Jack asks Micki and Ryan if they happened to learn Abraham’s last name.  When they reply that they only knew him by his first name, Jack reveals that they spent their time in London working with Bram Stoker.  So, in their way, Micki and Ryan are responsible for Dracula!  Woo hoo!  Way to go, guys!

This was a great and fun episode.  Episodes like this make me glad that I decided to review this show.

One final note: Keep an eye out for Friday the 13th — A New Beginning‘s John Shepherd as a police constable.

Retro Television Reviews: T and T 2.11 “Hard Way Home”

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!

T and T is back …. with a kidnapping!

Episode 2.11 “Hard Way Home”

(Dir by Al Waxman, originally aired on January 23rd, 1989)

Joe has the worst luck when it comes to making new friends!

One of the main themes of the second season of T and T has been T.S. (and, occasionally, Amy) acting as a mentor for teenage Joe Casper.  The season began with Joe losing his mother to a bomb that was set by Canadian Neo-Nazis.  T.S. apparently adopted Joe and now, the kid spends all of his time at Decker’s gym.  Whenever Joe makes a new friend, they either turn out to be a criminal or a victim of a crime.

This week, Joe’s new friend is George Papadopolous (David Stratton), who invites Joe to toss a football around with him in the park.  However, once they get to the park, George is grabbed by a couple of thugs and tossed into the trunk of a car.  Joe chases the car and even grabs onto the bumper but ultimately, he can’t save George.

When a banged-up Joe returns to Decker’s gym, T.S. assures him that his new scars will make him the most popular kid at his school.  Joe then calls George’s father and is told that the whole kidnapping was a prank and that he shouldn’t call the police.  This sounds strange to T.S. so he investigates on his own.

It turns out that George’s father is Peter (George Sperdakos), a big man in Toronto’s Greek mafia.  Someone has kidnapped George and is demanding a huge ransom.  Members of the Greek community are all donating their own money to help Peter raise the amount.  Because Joe was able to get the license plate number of the car that George was tossed into, it doesn’t take long for T.S. to discover that George was abducted by Peter’s rival, a used car dealer named Frangos (George Touliatos).  However, Frangos is not working alone.  It turns out that Peter arranged the kidnapping of his own son so that he could pocket the ransom money!

Needless to say, thinks work out in the end.  George is freed and Peter is arrested.  At first, Amy tells T.S. that there is no way that she would ever agree to represent Peter because 1) she knows that Peter is guilty and 2) Peter can’t afford to pay.  But then the members of Greek community (who are apparently very forgiving) donate their own money to convince Amy to defend Peter in court.  Does Amy win the case?  The episode ends before we find out.

This episode really showed the disadvantage of trying to tell a story like this in just 30 minutes.  There was never any suspense over who kidnapped George because there was only time to introduce one suspect!  Peter turning out to be in on it was a nice twist but it came out of nowhere because there really wasn’t any time to properly set it up.  This would have been a good hour episode but, at 30 minutes, it just felt rushed and it didn’t have any fun Mr. T line readings.  Toronto looked nice and cold but otherwise, this was a forgettable episode.

Scene That I Love: Tom and Tessio in The Godfather

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As we continue to observe Robert Duvall’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from my favorite movie, 1972’s The Godfather.

In this scene, Tom Hagen lets Tessio know that Michael knows that Tessio is the one who betrayed him.  It’s a short scene but one that is wonderfully acted by both Abe Vigoda and Robert Duvall.

Mario Puzo’s novel goes into a bit more detail about what is going through Tom’s mind while he watches Tessio being taken away.  Tessio was one of the last of the old breed of pre-prohibition era mobsters and he was someone who played a key role in Vito Corleone’s rise to power.  Tessio’s execution was not just revenge for betraying the family but also the end of an era, something that Tom full realized even if Michael didn’t.  When Tom tells Tessio that he can’t get him “off the hook for old time’s sake,” it’s a statement that those old times are gone forever.