Tag Archives: review

Late Night Retro Television Review: CHiPs 5.19 “Silent Partner”

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 Mondays, I will be reviewing CHiPs, which ran on NBC from 1977 to 1983.  The entire show is currently streaming on Prime!

This week, the California Highway Patrol is thoroughly incompetent.

Episode 5.19 “Silent Partner”

(Dir by Gordon Hessler, originally aired on February 28th, 1982)

This is one of those episodes of CHiPs where two “comedic” car thieves are stealing cars and it takes three high-speed, accident-filled chases before the Highway Patrol finally manages to catch them.  Episodes like this are always fairly odd to watch.  I’m not really sure if the show’s producers really understood what they were implying with an episode in which a bunch of professional law enforcers can’t seem to catch two buffoons who have no idea what they’re doing.

The first chase leads to an accident that leaves Grossman injured.  He doesn’t break his neck but he does have to wear a neck brace, which temporarily keeps him from talking and eating.  Those are Grossman’s favorite activities!  These car thieves must be stopped!

(Seriously, Grossman was usually the most entertaining thing about this show.  Taking away his ability to speak was not a good idea.  Needless to say, Ponch can still talk.)

Meanwhile, Baker arrests a man at the scene of Grossman’s accident.  Baker thinks that the man (Saul Brandt) must be drunk, just because the man did not react to Grossman’s sirens and he also doesn’t follow any of Baker’s orders.  Uh-oh, it turns out that man was deaf and now he wants to file a complaint against Baker!  And really, the man is totally justified in doing so.  Baker was pretty rough when he tossed him around and Baker really had no evidence that the man had been drinking.  Despite being totally in the wrong, Baker is still upset about being written up.  Luckily, Ponch starts dating a deaf social worker (Dawn Jeffory) and she helps the man to understand that Baker just made a mistake and he was only in a bad mood because he has to work with Ponch.  The complaint is dropped.

This episode featured two good car crashes and a lot of bad acting.  It was well-intentioned but I am starting to wonder if maybe the people of California deserved a better highway patrol.

 

Retro Television Review: Crime Story 1.3 “Shadow Dancer”

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!

This week, Torello’s war on Luca continues!

Episode 1.3 “Shadow Dancer”

(Dir by Leon Ichaso, originally aired on September 26th, 1986)

With the frequency killer now dead, Torello and his men are once again free to focus on trying to bust Ray Luca. The sooner they do it, the better. For one thing, Torello is becoming so obsessed that, even though his wife is pregnant, Torello’s dreams are still dominated by Luca taunting him. Also, Luca’s latest robbery has resulted in a death. Vincent Noonan (Michael Kemmerling), a former cellmate of Frank Holman’s (Ted Levine,) lost it during their latest home invasion and beat to death Mrs. Novak (Nancy Sheeber).

(Noonan, it turns out, has a history of losing control. It probably wasn’t a good idea to hire him in the first place but, with Luca no refusing to personally take part in robberies, the crew had to find a third man and quickly. Holman recommended Noonan because of how loyal Noonan was to him in prison)

Eager to solve the case and take down Luca, the Major Case Unit starts to put pressure on Luca’s boss, Phil Bartoli (Jon Polito). After his weekly craps game is broken up by Danny Krychek, Bartoli tells Luca that he has to do something to get the police to back off. Bartoli orders him to turn Noonan over to the police. Luca, who no longer handles dirty work himself, tells Holman to take care of it. Holman sends Noonan on a job and then tips off Torello. Despite Danny telling him that Noonan would die before turning into a rat, Torello is convinced that, if he takes Noonan alive, he’ll be able to get Noonan to give up Luca. (What Torello doesn’t realize is that Noonan has never actually met Luca. To quote Willy Cicci, “The family had lots of buffers.”)

It’s all for naught, though. Torello and the cops chase Noonan all over the streets of Chicago and, in the end, Noonan dies while trying to escape. Much like Homicide’s Luther Mahoney, Luca appears to be untouchable …. for now.

This episode worked best as a character study. After last week’s somewhat over-the-top villain, this episode reminded us that Luca and Torello are two tightly-wound men who struggle with emotion. Beyond his own self-absorption, Luca lacks the emotions necessary to truly understand his fellow humans. Torello, meanwhile, gets too emotional. Whether he’s pursuing Ray Luca or snapping at a condescending salesman, Torello is a self-styled crusader who appears to be going slowly but surely insane. This wasn’t a particularly complex episode but it felt important. It was a reminder of what this show is all about.

Brad reviews SMOKE SIGNALS (1998), starring Adam Beach!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

There’s a scene early in SMOKE SIGNALS where Victor Joseph, played by Adam Beach, tries to teach Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) how to be a real Indian. He ends the scene with “This ain’t Dances-with-Salmon you know?!” It’s a funny exchange, but it also clues the audience in on the fact that this isn’t going to be your typical Hollywood movie about Indians. Directed by Chris Eyre and written by Sherman Alexie, it’s the first feature-length film written, directed, and produced by Native Americans to reach a wide audience both in the United States and beyond. As such, we get a story that feels fresh while tackling a variety of difficult subjects with humor and optimism.

The story focuses on Victor as he travels from the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho to Phoenix, Arizona to retrieve his father’s possessions after learning that he’s passed away. His father abandoned him and his mother when he was just a boy, and he’s clearly been scarred by the situation. Along for the ride, mainly because he can afford to pay their bus fare, is Thomas Builds-the-Fire, his nerdy and talkative friend. From this point, the film becomes a road trip, and we follow along as they make it to Arizona and back. While there is funny stuff along the way, the movie is mostly interested in observing Victor as he comes to terms with the trauma and pain left behind when his dad went away.

I’ve always liked Adam Beach, and he’s very good here as Victor. His character spends a lot of the movie angry at the world, but from time to time, he’ll flash this big, wonderful smile. It’s a nice inside-out performance as he seems to be simmering on the inside and just trying not to explode. And then there’s Evan Adams, whose Thomas is awkward and optimistic, and who loves to tell big stories about Victor’s dad. For example, they have this awesome exchange where Thomas tells Victor that his dad looks like Charles Bronson. As Bronson’s biggest fan, I can tell you that Victor’s dad, played by Gary Farmer, looks nothing like Charles Bronson. The scene has a nice punchline as Thomas tells him that he doesn’t mean the Charles Bronson from the first DEATH WISH, but more like the Charles Bronson of DEATH WISH 5! The movie has several unexpected scenes like this, and the genuine chemistry between these two guys is what makes the movie work for me. I believe it when their characters begin to understand and appreciate each other, and it’s their emotional connection that gives the film some staying power even after the credits roll.

There are some additional performances that I enjoyed. I mentioned Gary Farmer, who plays Victor’s dad. His Arnold Joseph is not the most sympathetic character in the world, as he chooses to run away from a guilt that he can never deal with. Somehow, by the end, we have some understanding of his actions. And then there’s Irene Bedard as Suzy Song, the young lady who befriends Victor’s dad and calls his mom when he passes away. Best known for being the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney animated classic, she conveys kindness and compassion in her relatively small role. Tantoo Cardinal is good as Victor’s mom, and Tom Skerritt even shows up in a cameo as a police chief in Arizona. Sherman Alexie’s screenplay, based on his book “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” is simple, yet full of depth, and it’s brought to life by an excellent cast.        

Even though SMOKE SIGNALS was made almost thirty years ago, it’s still a very relevant film to this day. It’s funny, it tackles difficult subjects that are universal to all of us, and it’s told from a Native American perspective that we seldom see. In other words, it feels like we’re dealing with real people, not the romantic caricatures or noble victims that Hollywood still tries to push on us in movies about Indians. It’s not a flashy film in any way, and that’s okay. It’s one of those movies that understands its characters and trusts the audience enough to just hang out and observe them. Anchored by an excellent performance from Adam Beach, it’s a perfect example of how movies can be a lot better when Hollywood gets out of the way and let’s genuine, talented people tell their stories.  

I watched SMOKE SIGNALS on the Paramount Plus streaming service.

Song of the Day: The Twilight Zone Theme by Marius Constant

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Technically, the French composer Marius Constant did not set out to write the theme song for The Twilight Zone.  In the 50s, CBS commissioned Constant to compose a number of short pieces for CBS stock music library, basically as musical stingers that could be used for radio shows.  In 1960, when The Twilight Zone needed a theme song, an enterprising CBS employee combined two of Constant’s composition to create the iconic Twilight Zone theme.

Enjoy our short but haunting song of the day.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Degrassi: The Next Generation 2.16 “Message In A Bottle”

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 Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015!  The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.

This week, we have a very special episode of everyone’s favorite Canadian show.  Degrassi goes there!

Episode 2.16 “Message In A Bottle”

(Dir by Bruce McDonald, originally aired on August 1st, 2003)

The school’s basketball team is finally doing well and Jimmy decides to throw a party at his apartment to celebrate.  (As usual, Jimmy’s parents are out of town.)  Paige is having a spa weekend so she doesn’t come.  Ellie is too busy pretending to be Marco’s girlfriend to come.  J.T. and Toby?  Forget it.  This is so not their scene that they’re not even in this episode!

Ashley come to the party with Terri.  If nothing else, this reminds us that Terri is still a character on the show and she hasn’t suffered any school-ending brain damage at the hands of Rick Murray …. not yet, at least.  Jimmy is excited to Ashley.  However, romance will have to wait because Sean shows up drunk and accidentally breaks a liquor bottle.  Jimmy throws a fit.  That’s not a surprise.  Jimmy’s always upset about something.

For that matter, so is Sean.  Sean, however, has more reasons to be upset than Jimmy.  His parents are drunks.  His older brother, Tracker, cannot hold down a job, despite having a supercool name like Tracker.  In this episode, Emma tells Spike and Snake that Sean will be joining them for dinner without bothering to ask Sean beforehand.  Sean actually handles the first part of the dinner fairly well.  But then, during the second half of the dinner, he sneaks some alcohol and becomes convinced that Spike is talking down to him.  Myself, I’m more concerned about the fact that they ate a sushi dinner despite the fact that Spike is pregnant.

Emma comes to Jimmy’s party, looking for Sean after Sean storms out of dinner.  Emma assumes that it’s all her mom’s fault but Sean admits that he’s been drinking and he overreacted.  Sean is stunned when Emma calls her mom for a ride home.  Sean can’t imagine living with a parent who isn’t abusive.  That’s actually really, really sad.  Daniel Clark always did a great job as Sean and that’s certainly the case here.  Clark elevates this episode above being a typical anti-drinking episode.  I appreciated that the episode didn’t judge Sean and that it didn’t lecture him.  It’s as if the show understood that Sean felt bad enough without having every other character go off on him.  At least during the early seasons, that’s one thing that set Degrassi apart from other high school shows.

The episode ends with forgiveness, which was sweet.  Sean thinks Emma is going to dump him.  Emma tells him that everyone makes mistakes.  And that’s true!  This was a good episode.

Retro Television Review: Homicide: Life on the Street 5.9 “Control”

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 Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC!  It  can be viewed on Peacock.

Pembleton’s back!

Episode 5.9 “Control”

(Dir by Jean de Segonzac, originally aired on December 6th, 1996)

A drug dealer named Reggie Copeland has been murdered and word on the street is that the killing was set up by Junior Bunk (Mekhi Phifer), who just happens to be the nephew of drug lord Luther Mahoney (Erik Todd Dellums).  When Lewis and Detective Stivers (Toni Lewis) arrest Junior, he immediately starts crying.

That certainly makes Lewis happy.  He’s obsessed with taking down Mahoney.  Junior gives the detectives the name of the man who he hired, on Luther’s behalf, to assassinate Copeland.  Munch and Lewis take a trip to the worst city on Earth (Philadelphia, if you had to ask) and arrest the gunman.  Even Ed Danvers thinks that they’re finally on the verge of nailing Luther….

Luther, it turns out, has got friends everywhere.  Even while sitting in a holding cell, he is able to find out the name of the hotel where the police are hiding Junior.  When the cops order room service, Junior makes sure that a baggie with two gold stars is included in Junior’s sandwich.  (All of Luther’s heroin comes in baggies with two stars.)  Junior realizes that Luther knows exactly where he is.  Junior refuses to testify and recants his previous confession.  And Luther … Luther goes free again!

Kellerman would be upset, except for the fact that he’s still under suspension.  (They’re really dragging this story out, aren’t they?)  Kellerman is in such a bad mood that he even kicks Brodie off of his house boat for being too happy.  However, at the end of the episode, Dr. Cox shows up at Kellerman’s houseboat.  I’m going to guess that she’ll be allowed to stay on the boat.

However, the main event of this episode is that Pembleton is working his first case since his stroke.  A woman has been found dead in her home, stabbed twenty times.  Meanwhile, her two young sons were both shot execution style.  Bayliss may be the primary but Pembleton is determined to take charge.  Pembleton thinks that the murderer was the woman’s boyfriend, a sleazy musician named Jimmy Sutter (Andrew DeAngelo).  Bayliss thinks that the murderer was the woman’s rigid ex-husbad, Lt. Commander Alex Clifton (Michael Gaston).

From the start, it’s pretty obvious that Clifton’s the murderer.  He’s too cold and unemotional when he is told about the murderers.  He’s very tightly wound.  The fact that the woman was killed in a fury but her children were killed “cleanly and efficiently,” (as Pembleton put it) indicated to me that the murderer was driven by rage against the mother but, in his twisted way, he felt he was sparing the children an even worse fate.  Clifton is obviously the killer and Pembleton, to his credit, eventually comes to realize it.

Unfortunately, the case nearly falls apart in the Box.  Pembleton and Bayliss have lost their rhythm as partners.  Bayliss gets frustrated when Pembleton suddenly starts asking Clifton about the blood pressure medicine he takes.  “Do you get any side effects?” Pembleton asks.  Outside of the interrogation room, Bayliss admits that he’s scared Pembleton is going to “stroke out” and die.  “Everyone dies!” Pembleton says.

Finally, Bayliss and Pembleton make it work.  They turn up the heart in the Box and when Clifton takes off his jacket and very carefully folds it, Bayliss presumes to sit down on the jacket.  Clifton keeps taking the jacket back and refolding it.  Bayliss spills water on the jacket.  Clifton finally loses it, yelling and admitting that he killed his ex-wife and his two sons.

Wow, this was a good episode.  Michael Gaston give a chillingly believable performance as Clifton.  Erik Todd Dellums was, as usual, magnetically evil as Luther.  Best of all, it was good to see Kyle Secor and Andre Braugher working a case together.  Pembleton is back and it’s about time!

Brad reviews COLD WAR II (2016), with Chow Yun-Fat, Aaron Kwok & Tony Leung Ka-fai!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

As soon as I finished watching COLD WAR (2012), I went to the fridge, grabbed myself a refreshing beverage and immediately started up COLD WAR II (2016). The original film ends on a cliffhanger, so I was excited to see what happens next!

COLD WAR II opens right after the events of the first film, resolves its pressing cliffhanger in the first 20 minutes, and then doubles down on the intrigue and political power plays that defined the original. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, so as not to take away some of the fun surprises. I will say that most sequels go bigger by doubling body counts or explosions, but in this film the conspiracies just get a lot deeper, and the political manipulations start reaching for much broader power. I still found the situations to be interesting thanks to the intense atmosphere of the film and the strong performances of the cast.   

In the roles of Sean Lau and M.B. Lee, Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung Ka-fai continue to excel, but circumstances quickly erode some of the goodwill that was created between their characters at the end of the first film. This temporarily creates the risk that this follow-up could end up feeling like a retread of their heated rivalry in part 1. Higher, even more personal stakes helped alleviate some of that concern.

The best thing that happens for COLD WAR II is the addition of Chow Yun-fat to the cast in the important supporting role of Oswald Kan. Kan is a former judge and brilliant legal mind who leads a special committee investigating the fallout from the events of the first film. The middle section of the film features a series of scenes with Chow in intense confrontations with both Tony Leung and Aaron Kwok. It’s especially fun seeing Chow mix it up with Tony as their careers go way back to working with each other in classics like PRISON ON FIRE (1987) and A BETTER TOMORROW III (1989). These scenes freshen up the material, but they also connect us emotionally to Hong Kong cinema of the golden years through one of its biggest, most honorable stars. Chow gives the film a moral center as Oswald Kan seems free from the ethical compromises that our other main characters are having to make. It’s an impressive and charismatic turn from Hong Kong’s all-time greatest leading man.

Just as in the first film, there aren’t a lot of action scenes, but the ones we have are bigger and even more impressive. There’s an action sequence in a tunnel about an hour into the film that blew me away with its execution and intensity. Its resolution also surprised me, which is not always easy to do. Still, this incredible scene serves the plot well, providing clear and obvious motivation for the actions of each of the main characters throughout the remainder of the film.

COLD WAR II follows the motto of most sequels to box office smashes… “Go big or go home!” While the plot becomes even more complicated this time around, the continued excellence in the performances, especially with the addition of Chow Yun-Fat, helps to provide the solid emotional payoffs needed to keep the series moving forward. With the excellent action set pieces also adding to the fun, the filmmakers have managed to create a sequel that I rate just as high as the original. Now, bring on COLD WAR 1994!

COLD WAR II is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex, and the Roku Channel!

Song of the Day: My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) by Neil Young

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is the song that gave it’s title to one of the best films ever made.

My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay
It’s better to burn out
Than to fade away
My my, hey hey.

Out of the blue
and into the black
They give you this,
but you pay for that
And once you’re gone,
you can never come back
When you’re out of the blue
and into the black.

The king is gone
but he’s not forgotten
This is the story
of a Johnny Rotten
It’s better to burn out
than it is to rust
The king is gone
but he’s not forgotten.

Hey hey, my my
Rock and roll can never die
There’s more to the picture
Than meets the eye.
Hey hey, my my.

Songwriters: Neil Young and Jeff Blackburn

 

Late Night Retro Television Review: Saved By The Bell 2.2 “Zack’s War”

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 Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

This week, Zack goes to war!  Actually, now that I think about it, he really doesn’t.  This title makes no sense.

Episode 2.2 “Zack’s War”

(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on September 15th, 1990)

Bayside High School is now home to a Cadet Corps program.  Led by Lt. Chet Adams (Cylk Cozart), the Cadet Corps appears to be the same thing as the ROTC but it’s called the Cadet Corps and despite all of the attention that it receives here, it’s never mentioned again after this episode.

Slater’s dad is in the army so he can’t wait to join the Cadet Corps.  Zack jokes about never joining the Cadet Corps so Belding gives him 30 Saturday detentions …. unless, Zack joins the Cadet Corps and talks all of his friends into joining.  Soon, Zack, Slater, Kelly, Jessie, Lisa, Screech, Butch, and Louise are all members of the Cadet Corps.  That’s …. 8 people.  Wow, that’s a really weak turn-out.  Zack has a lot more friends than that!  Seriously, if only 8 people show up to one of my watch parties, I usually end up depressed for a week.

Anyway, you may notice some new names there.  Louise is the unathletic belle of the school nerds.  Butch is an apparently sociopathic bully who doesn’t want Screech talking to his girlfriend.  For this episode, I guess we’re just supposed to forget that Screech has always, in the past, been in love with Lisa.

The second day of Cadet Corps, Lt. Adams announces that it’s time for an athletic competition.  He allows Zack to pick the teams.  Zack puts Screech, Lisa, and Louise on one team.  The other team is made up of Butch, Kelly, and Jessie.  Zack says Slater can lead the team with Screech, Lisa, and Louise.  Lt. Adams says, “Nope,” and he puts Zack in charge of the unathletic team.

Zack gets mad at quits the Corps.  Luckily, Screech visits Zack and shames him.  (Zack should consider himself lucky that Screech didn’t pull a knife.)  Zack rejoins the Corps and leads his team to victory, somehow!

That’s the short version of this dumb episode.  This is another one of those weird episodes where an authority figure — in this case, Lt. Adams — tells Zack that, if he wins an arbitrary competition, he’ll be allowed to skip class for the rest of the year.  Zack wins the competition but, when Adams says he won’t be seeing Zack anymore, Zack replies, “Why?  Are you quitting?”  No, Zack, you prick — you’re quitting!  Except Zack doesn’t quit for some reason.  He’s proud to be in the Cadet Corps.

Needless to say, the Cadet Corps are never mentioned again.