Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I guess the question right now is whether or not Wicked: For Good will receive a Best Picture nomination.  Tradition would seem to dictate that, like The Lord of the Rings films and the Dune films, Wicked: For Good would get a nomination to go along with the first part of the story.  However, the reviews of Wicked: For Good have not been particularly good.

That said, those reviews have not had much effect when it comes to the film’s box office.  And that’s why I think, despite bad reviews, Wicked: For Good will be nominated.  I don’t think it’s going be quite the Oscar powerhouse that some were expecting but it will still, at the very least, be nominated.  It’s too big to fail at this point.

Here are my review for November.  Click here for my April and May and June and July and August and September and October predictions!

Best Picture

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked For Good

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Josh Safie for Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

Chloe Zhao for Hamnet

Best Actor

Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme

George Clooney in Jay Kelly

Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon

Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked For Good

Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Valure

Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro in One Battle After Another

Paul Mescal in Hamnet

Sean Penn in One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good

Regina Hall in One Battle After Another

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan in Weapons

Retro Television Review: Decoy 1.13 “My Brother’s Killer”

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 Decoy, which aired in Syndication in 1957 and 1958.  The show can be viewed on Tubi!

Episode 1.13 “My Brother’s Killer”

(Dir by Stuart Rosenberg, originally aired on January 6th, 1958)

Anne (Barbara Barrie) goes to the police because her boyfriend, Victor Bernard (Bernard Kates), has been acting strangely and refuses to let her into his apartment.  At first, the police point out that there’s nothing they can do about this but then Casey, in what can only be described as a miraculous feat of deductive reasoning, guesses that Victor Bernard’s last name might have originally been Bernardino and he might be the brother of wanted robber, Frank Bernardino.

A look at a picture of Victor reveals that he does look a lot like Frank.  However, as Casey discovers when she goes over to Victor’s apartment, Frank is dead.  But his partner, Hal Bishop (Sy Travers), is still alive.  Hal promptly takes Casey and Victor hostage and heads for the Canadian border.

Once you accept that Casey’s miracle hunch (and, seriously, it takes some effort), this is an intense episode.  I’m not really a fan of shows in which people are held hostage — the confined narrative tends to get tedious pretty quickly — but this episode featured a typically good performance from Beverly Garland and an absolutely terrifying one from Sy Travers.  It also features what seems like a surprising amount of violence for a 1950s television show.  Imagine gathering the family in front of the television in 1958 and being immediately confronted by Sy Travers as Hal Bishop pointing a gun at an innocent man’s head and pulling the trigger.  A lot of people get shot over the course of this episode, including Hal Bishop himself.  Casey survives but there are no smiles or celebrations.  There’s just the weary look of someone who has been confronted with the worst that humanity has to offer.

Lisa Marie’s Editorial Corner: 10 Things For Which I Am Thankful In 2025

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s that time.

Every Thanksgiving, I come up with an even-numbered list of things for which I’m thankful.  I know some people are saying that we shouldn’t be thankful for anything this year.  There are people who say that, because they’re miserable, it’s somehow offensive that everyone else isn’t miserable.

But you know what?

Screw that.

Never be ashamed of being happy.  Never feel like you can’t be thankful.

1) I’m thankful for our readers.  2025 has been the most successful and busy year that Through the Shattered Lens has had in a very long time.  In both October and November, we have set records for the number of site views we’ve received.  Thank you to all of you.  I hope you’ve enjoyed what you’ve found on this site and I hope you’ll continue to read in 2026!

2) I’m thankful for our contributors!  Arleigh, Erin, Jeff, Leonard, Brad, Case, and the music lover by the name of Necromoonyeti, thank you so much for your contributions this year.  Thank you for making this a site of not just one opinion but of many opinions.  Thank you for inspiring me to keep writing, if just to keep up with the great work that all of you are doing!

3) I’m thankful to once again be an American!  A few weeks ago, twitter (or X or whatever the Hell you want to call it) made public where everyone’s account was located.  It was a needed action.  A lot of accounts that have been at the forefront of spreading disinformation and brewing conflict in the United States were revealed to be located in Russia and the Middle East.  However, the process wasn’t perfect.  For four days, due to a VPN that I was definitely not using to watch movies that weren’t available in the U.S., my account was listed as being based in Ireland.  While I am of Irish descent, I am definitely based in Texas.  I’m glad to say that twitter has fixed the error and I can now say “Happy Thanksgiving!” without having to worry about someone saying, “Aren’t you in Ireland?”

4) I haven’t watched a lot of television this year but I will say that I am thankful that the King of the Hill reboot was wonderful and more than worthy continuation.  The show managed to keep up with the changing times while retaining the humor and outlook that made it a classic to begin with.  All reboots should be this good!  I’m thankful for Mike Judge.  (I’m also thankful for Greg Daniels, despite what happened with The Paper.)

5) I’m thankful that I stopped watching All’s Fair after the first episode.  Sometimes, a bad show is just a bad show and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that.  Not everything is camp.  Sometimes, it’s just crap.

6) I’m thankful that the horror genre — thanks to films like Sinners, Weapons, and Frankenstein this year and Nosferatu last year — is finally getting some respect.  I’m less thankful that some of the genre’s new fans still look down on the horror films of the past.

7) I’m thankful for my family. Last year was not an easy one for us.  This year, we dealt with even more loss.  But we were there for each other and we always will be.  I’m happy to be spending this Thanksgiving with them.

8) I’m thankful for American Anthem!  Seriously, I’ve watched that stupid movie seven times this year.  Steve Tevere has thrown a tripus!

9) I don’t care what anyone says.  I liked Happy Gilmore 2.

10) Most importantly, I’m thankful that we’re all still here and we’re all still moving forward.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday, Arleigh!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is not just Thanksgiving!  Today is also the birthday of the co-founder and the editor-in-chief of Through the Shattered Lens, Arleigh Sandoc!

Sing it, Marilyn!

Next month, it will have been 15 years since Arleigh asked me if I wanted to collaborate on this wonderful site.  Wow — FIFTEEN YEARS!  In a world where most entertainment-related blogs tend to close up shop after their third entry, we’ve been going for fifteen years and we’re just getting better and better.

So today, while I give thanks for so much, I will definitely be giving thanks for Arleigh and his friendship and also, for the trust that he’s put in me over the years.  I love TSL.  It gave me some direction at a time when I desperately needed it and it built up my confidence at a time when I was at my most fragile.

Happy birthday, Arleigh!  Here come the cats!

No, not that cat!  These cats!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

Yay!  Training camp is over!

Episode 2.6 “The Unkindest Cut”

(Dir by Bruce Seth Green, originally aired on September 29th, 1986)

When arrogant quarterback Johnny Valentine refuses to enter drug rehab, Diana reacts by having him traded to Buffalo.  Johnny may be a superstar but he won’t be playing for the Bulls.  That means that Yinessa, the player who nearly kicked off the team twice, is now the starting quarterback.  Yinessa also makes up with his girlfriend (Katherine Kelly Lang) so I guess he’s having a good week.

Bubba has to lose five pounds to retain his starting position.  When he goes in to be weighed, it appears that he’s only lost four pounds.  Bubba quickly takes off his gold watch and he makes weight!  Good for Bubba, I guess.

Finally, Rick Lampert (Marcus Allen) shows up at training camp is given a number 32 jersey by T.D. Parker (O.J. Simpson).  Lampert’s like, This is your number.  Parker replies that the number now belongs to Lampert.  Awwww!  In the role of T.D. Parker, O.J. Simpson has a way of slashing his way to the heart of the matter,

Training camp finally ended with this episode and I’m glad about that because those training camp episodes were getting really dull.  I have to be honest, though.  We’re halfway through the second season and I still don’t feel like I know any of these characters.  Donald Gibb occasionally makes me laugh as Dr. Death.  And, as T.D. Parker, OJ Simpson seems like a really nice guy.  Otherwise, though, this show feels oddly hollow.  Of course, that may be because I’m watching the syndicated version, which apparently edited out a lot of nudity and bad behavior on the part of the players.

Oh well.  Let’s see how the team does!  This episode ends with Diana saying she wants to win a championship.  Does Yinessa have it in him to lead the team with victory?  With OJ Simpson as his coach, he better!

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 6.27 and 28 “Country Music Jamboree”

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 Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

This week, the Love Boat goes a little bit country.

Episodes 6.27 and 6.28 “Country Music Jamboree”

(Dir by Richard Kinon, originally aired on April 30th, 1983)

It’s the special, two-hour country music cruise!

I have to admit that I lost interest in this episode as soon as I saw the banner in the Love Boat lobby that read “County Music Jamboree.”  Country music’s not my thing.  I lost even more interest when Florence Henderson showed up as country singer Annabelle Folker.  Florence Henderson was a frequent guest on both Fantasy Island and The Love Boat and I can’t think of a single time that I was ever happy to see her name in the credits.  Whenever she appeared, she almost always seemed like she was trying too hard.  Her performances always brought to mind dinner theater and holiday special guest spots.

Annabelle was traveling with her boyfriend (Bert Convy) and the three orphans (Michael Evans, Angela Lee Sloan, and Neil Billingsley) that she was planning on adopting.  The problem was that her boyfriend didn’t want to adopt the kids.  But then, he changed his mind because the show was nearly over and the storyline needed a happy ending.  Seriously, the kids were obnoxious as Hell.

While that went on, singer Holly Hartmann (Jessica Walter) was upset to discover that her husband (Mel Tillis) was secretly writing songs for an up-and-coming singer named C.G. Thomas (Tanya Tucker).  Holly was not happy when she found out but then she sang Stand By Your Man and that solved everything.

The Love Boat chef (Pat Buttram) was upset that his kitchen implements kept disappearing.  That’s because Isaac, Doc, Gopher, and Julie were stealing them so that they could form a country-western band.  Meanwhile, two fat people (Kenny Price and Lulu Roman)  boarded the boat and never stopped eating.

(Don’t give me that look, I didn’t write the script.)

Effie Skaggs (Minnie Pearl) sold homemade elixirs from her cabin while Doc attempted to romance her granddaughter (Misty Rowe).  When Effie got sick, she refused to accept any of Doc’s strange modern medicine.  No antibiotics for Effie Skaggs!

Jeannie Davis (Beth Howland) feared that her husband (Steve Kanaly) would learn that her latest piece of jewelry was given to her by a man with whom she had an affair.  A jewelry appraiser (Sherman Hemsley) insisted on finding out how much the jewelry was worth.  Jeannie feared that her husband would suspect something was amiss when he discovered how expensive it really was.  She begged the appraiser to lie about how much it was worth.  The appraiser said that he could not risk damaging his reputation but then he decided to lie anyway.

Gopher and Isaac tried to get a picture with Dottie West (a singer who played herself) but Dottie just wanted to rest.

Is that it?  Is that all of the storylines or is that just all my exhausted mind can remember?  Seriously, this was a busy two-hour episode.  It was an annoying episode too.  Maybe I’d feel differently if I was into country music.  Of the guest stars, Mel Tillis and Jessica Walter gave the best performances.  Of the Love Boat crew, no one came out of this episode with their dignity intact.

This was a cruise to miss.

This cruise?  This cruise was a perfect 10 out of 10 on the How Coked Up Was Julie Scale.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Mark L. Lester 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director Mark L. Lester.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Mark L. Lester Films

Roller Boogie (1979, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Dean Cundey)

Class of 1984 (1982, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Albert Dunk)

Commando (1985, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Matthew Leonetti)

Public Enemies (1996, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Misha Suslov)