Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Scenes that I Love: Walter Matthau Talks To Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

101 years ago, on this date, Joseph Sargent was born in New Jersey.  Sargent would go on to become one of the busiest directors of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, working in both film and television.  Though he would never receive the type of critical attention as some of his contemporaries, Sargent was a skilled director who specialized in making entertaining, no-nonsense films.  Though his reputation was tarnished a bit by the fourth Jaws film, it should be remembered that Sargent was also responsible for films like Colossus: The Forbin Project, Tribes, Nightmares, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

1974’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three has come to be recognized as a genre classic.  It’s certainly one of my favorite films about how New Yorkers will be rude to anyone in any circumstances.  You can see an example of this in today’s scene that I love.  Having hijacked a train, Robert Shaw calls in his last of demands and gets a very New York response.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Paul Schrader Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

Today is the birthday of the one and only Paul Schrader!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Paul Schrader Films

Blue Collar (1978, dir by Paul Schrader, DP: Bobby Byrne)

American Gigolo (1980, dir by Paul Schrader, DP: John Bailey)

Cat People (1982, dir by Paul Schrader, DP: John Bailey)

First Reformed (2018, dir by Paul Schrader, DP: Alexander Dynan)

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 4.11 “Broken 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 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, the entire police force is worthless.

Episode 4.11 “Broken Dreams”

(Dir by Scott Lautanen, originally aired on December 6th, 1988)

While pursuing a pure snatcher, Cory accidentally runs over the victim on her bicycle.  I know that probably sounds like a joke but that’s actually how this episode begins.  It turns out that the victim is deaf and couldn’t hear Cory screeching at her to get out of the way.  It turns out that Monica knows sign language.  When Cory demands to know why Monica knows how to sign, Monica refuses to tell her.

(And really, it’s none of Cory’s business.)

Cory and a reluctant Monica investigate a series of robberies that have targeted deaf beggars on the pier.  Cory learns that there is an entire deaf community that simply wants the hearing world to leave them alone.  (Cory apparently doesn’t get out much.)  Monica eventually admits that her mother is deaf and Cory eventually admits that Monica can be a good cop when she tries.  That’s nice of Cory to finally since that was already established during Monica’s first episode.  One gets the feeling that the show’s writers weren’t really sure what to do with Monica as a character.  She started out as a badass undercover cop and then was quickly transformed into an emotionally unstable, selfish bicycle cop.

While Cory and Monica learn to work together, Bobby finds himself temporarily transferred to the horse patrol.  (A member of the horse patrol is also reassigned to ride a bicycle.)  Why exactly anyone thought this was a good idea, I don’t know.  It turns out that Bobby can’t ride a horse to save his life.  His supervisor thinks that’s hilarious but you have to wonder how many crimes are being committed while all the cops are standing around and laughing at Bobby?

Bobby and TC spend most of this episode trying to catch two kids who keep shooting off a potato cannon.  They never really catch them, largely because Bobby can’t control his horses.  Instead, the kids knock themselves out when they blow up a watermelon.  Their reign of terror is ended but it’s not really because of anything done by the members of Pacific Blue.  The kids themselves just go too ambitious.

The theme of this episode was that every cop was extremely incompetent.  I’ve never been a “defund the police” person but, in this case, I doubt it would make much difference.  Defund Pacific Blue!

Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell: The New Class 2.10 “A Matter of Trust”

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 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, it’s all for charity!

Episode 2.10 “A Matter of Trust”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 8th, 1994)

Oh crap, it’s another country club episode.

It’s time for the annual charity event!  The male employees of the club are auctioned off to various women bidders so that they can compete together in a contest.  The winning team gets a hot air balloon ride.  Mr. Belding makes it sound like a big deal but it’s hard not to notice that hardly anyone outside of the main group seems to take part.  Apparently, this is a charity being funded exclusively by teenagers with summer jobs.

Bobby asks Megan to bid on him because he thinks it’ll make him more attractive to the woman who he hopes will buy him.  Instead, Megan bids too much and she wins Bobby.

Lindsay wins her boyfriend, Tommy D.  Lindsay is excited but Tommy is worried because he’s scared of heights.

Because Mr. Belding says that Screech has too many responsibilities to be auctioned off, Screech can only watch as his girlfriend, Alison, purchases Brian.

Brian’s girlfriend, Rachel, buys Hubert Dweebly (Mark David) because she feels sorry for him.  That’s something that I would definitely do.  Hubert then turns out to be a total perv who spends the entire competition pawing Rachel and trying to get her to kiss him.  This would perhaps have been funnier if Sarah Lancaster had been older than 14 when she played Rachel.

Anyway, Screech gets jealous and tries to get Brian in trouble so that he can take Brian’s place.  And Tommy doesn’t want to win so he tires to help Bobby cheat but everything gets screwed up and Tommy and Lindsay win anyways.  It’s a typical Saved By The Bell episode, you can probably already guess everything that happens.  Allison turns out to be very forgiving.  Allison might not be that smart.

The main problem with this episode is that it asks us to believe that Allison would find needy, uberemotional, shrill-voiced Screech to be in any way attractive.  During the second season, Dustin Diamond’s performance was nowhere near as obnoxious as it would eventually get.  But his version of Screech was still too cartoonish to be taken seriously.  His performance in this episode is …. well, it’s just bad.  There’s no other way to put it.  You really do find yourself thinking, “Allison and Brian actually make a lot more sense than Allison and Screech.”

It’s funny to me that the first Country Club episode was all about the importance of working hard when you have a job and we haven’t actually seen anyone doing their job since.

Scenes That I Love: Everything’s Alright from Norman Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In honor of the late Norman Jewison, today’s scene that I love comes from my favorite film to have been directed by him.

In this scene from 1973’s Jesus Christ Superstar, Mary Magdalene (Yvonne Elliman) attempts to comfort Jesus (Ted Neeley) while Judas (Carl Anderson) tries to pull Jesus away from her.  This scene showcases both Elliman’s angelic voice and Anderson’s ferocious intensity as Mary and Judas present two very different sides of a spiritual journey.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Norman Jewison Edition

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 would have been Norman Jewison’s birthday.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Norman Jewison Films

In The Heat of the Night (1967, dir by Norman Jewison, DP: Haskell Wexler)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971, dir by Norman Jewison, DP: Oswald Morris)

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973, dir by Norman Jewison, DP; Douglas Slocombe)

The Hurricane (1999. dir by Norman Jewison, DP: Roger Deakins)

Retro Television Review: Crime Story 1.11 “Crime Pays”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing Crime Story, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1988.  The entire show can be found on Tubi!

Our story so far….

Episode 1.11 “Crime Pays”

(Originally aired on December 5th, 1986)

This week’s show will be easy to review because it’s a clip show.  It’s a bit more honest than most television clip shows.  It doesn’t feature the character sitting around saying stuff like, “I’ll never forget that time we gunned down half of Luca’s crew.”  Instead, the show’s narrator (Jack Angel) tells us that we’re going to see the story so far and then we see just that.  The best thing about this episode is Angel’s tough guy voice.

It’s not bad for a clip show.  It’s basically all of the Torello and Luca scenes without any of the filler.  If nothing else, it lets us know which of the past plotlines we should remember and which ones we can safely forget.  (Remember that Torello is obsessed with Luca.  Remember that Luca is determined to become a big man in the mob.  Don’t necessarily forget about David Arbams’s storylines but, at the same time, don’t worry if your memory’s a little fuzzy.)  But it’s still a clip show, nonetheless.

 

Song of the Day: The Other Side by Public Service Broadcasting

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s sonf of the day is Public Service Broadcasting’s inspiring tribute to space exploration, The Other Side!

Yes, those are the voices of actual NASA engineers and astronauts, experiencing the dark side of the moon for the very first time.

This is from PSB’s classic album, Race for Space.

Enjoy!