Late Night Retro Television Review: Check It Out 3.3 “Puppy Love”

Posted on January 11, 2025 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 and Peacock!

This week, some new guy shows up.

Episode 3.3 “Puppy Love”

(Dir by Alan Erlich, originally aired on October 11th, 1987)

Derek has a crush on–

WHO!?

This episode introduces a brand new character named Derek (played by Andrew Miller). He’s a shy teenager who works in the store, cleaning the floors and occasionally bagging groceries. We’ve never seen him before but the show acts as if he’s always been around. At one point, he talks to Howard about how much he’s always admired him and Howard acts as if he’s known Derek for years. Derek has quite a bit in common with Murray, who Simon Reynolds played during the first two seasons of the show. To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if this episode’s story was originally envisioned as being a Murray episode before Reynolds left the show.

Anyway, Derek has a crush on Marlene. The episode opens with him having an extended fantasy about waking up with Marlene in his house. It’s mostly notable because 1) this is the first time that we’ve ever seen Derek and 2) it’s one of the few times that Check It Out has ever utilized a set other than the grocery store. Feeling too shy to actually ask her out in person, Derek decides to start leaving Marlene anonymous notes. Marlene is excited because she thinks that the notes are being written by a handsome customer (Page Fletcher) who always flirts with her.

When one note asks her to dinner, Marlene goes to a nice restaurant and expects to see the customer. Instead, Derek’s there to meet her. Still not realizing that Derek is the one who sent her the notes and convinced that she’s been stood up, Marlene makes a joke about Derek being too young for her. Derek’s heart is broken! Then again, Derek is only sixteen so, seriously, he is way too young for Marlene. In fact, what’s he even doing at a restaurant by himself? Where are your parents, Derek!?

In the end, it all works out. Marlene discovers that Derek was the one sending her the notes and she apologizes for breaking his heart. Meanwhile, the handsome customer comes by the store and asks Marlene out. Yay! Marlene is the character to whom I relate so I’m glad when good things happen to her. Though, now that I think about it, Page Fletcher was the host of that Hitchhiker show where he was always showing up right before something terrible happened to someone. Be careful, Marlene!

This episode was okay. Marlene is one of the best characters on the show and Kathleen Laskey can get laughs out of even the lamest of one-liners so the episodes that center around her are usually better than the ones that don’t. The only real problem with this episode is that it requires us to suddenly care about Derek, despite the fact that we have no idea who he is. But, then again, that’s Check it Out for you. The important thing is that this episode continued season 3’s steak of being more consistently funny than season 2.

Lisa Marie Reviews An Oscar Nominee: King Richard (dir by Reinaldo Marcus Green)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Slap.

Oh lord, the Slap.

I have to admit that I was hesitant about reviewing the 2021’s King Richard because the last thing that I wanted to do was talk about the moment that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscar Ceremony. That moment has been talked about and written about to death. The last thing I want to do is rehash it but The Slap has actually overshadowed the Oscar that Smith won that night. As King Richard was specifically made to win Smith that Oscar, the Slap has become a part of the film’s story.

For those who need to be reminded, Chris Rock was brought out on stage to introduce the presenters for Best Documentary Feature. Rock did some material, which largely consisted of making jokes about the nominees in the audience. Myself, I actually remember being a bit annoyed when Rock started in with his jokes because the ceremony was already boring enough without having to spend however long listening to Chris Rock go on about how Penelope Cruz losing Best Actress meant that Javier Bardem would be in trouble if he won Best Actor. I had actually stopped paying attention when Rock made his now famous joke about Jada Pinkett Smith starring in G.I. Jane 2. I did not see Pinkett role her eyes at Will when Will laughed. I heard Rock say, “Uh-oh, here comes Richard,” but I initially missed the slap. I hard the audience gasp. I looked at the screen and I saw Smith yelling at Rock but the audio had been cut. I had to go on YouTube to see an unedited clip of what happened.

Making the moment even more awkward was the knowledge that Will Smith would soon win his first Oscar for King Richard. On Twitter, there were rumors that Smith had been escorted out of the theater but those turned out to be false. After Smith was announced as the winner for Best Actor, I sat there and thought, “Oh no, he’s going to invoke God, isn’t he?” Smith went on stage and promptly invoked God.

We all know what happened next. For two weeks straight, the Slap discourse was nonstop. Will Smith was described as being a bully, though I can only guess what we would have said about him if he hadn’t done anything in response. (“Would you slap Chris Rock if he made fun of me?” I asked Jeff at one point. Wisely, he promised he would.) A lot of people predicted that Will Smith would never work again which, in retrospect, was a pretty stupid thing to predict. America has forgiven its celebrities for a lot worse than just being a jackass at an awards ceremony. Smith’s career has recovered just fine. Quite frankly, no one is going to look at the trailer for a new Bad Boys or Men In Black movie and say, “But Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on national television.”

In the end, the most interesting thing about the Slap is that, before Chris Rock made that comment about Jada, the Oscars were supposed to be Will Smith’s greatest night. From the minute the first trailer for King Richard dropped, it was obvious that the film was going to be the one the won Will Smith an Oscar. It didn’t even matter whether or not he gave a good performance, though he does give a good one in the film. The Academy will often decide that it’s an actor’s time and it was obvious that was what had been decided as far as Will Smith was concrned. Will Smith had been a star for a long time. He had made a lot of people a lot of money. Before the Slap, the public perceived him as being a likable and goofy guy. It was time to reward him. From the start of 2021, everyone knew that Will Smith would be getting his Oscar. For The Academy, it was also a chance to make up for not nominating him for his adequate if not particularly memorable performance 2015’s Concussion. Smith not getting nominated for that film was often (incorrectly, I would argue) considered to be the starting point of the whole “#Oscarssowhite” movement. (Personally, I would say the movement’s roots could actually be traced to Ava Duvernay not being nominated for directing Selma.) Along with everything else, honoring Will Smith would be a way for the Academy to say, “See? We learned our lesson!”

Will Smith does give a good performance in King Richard, playing Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams (played, respectively, by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton). Smith does a good job of capturing both Richard’s stubbornness and his anger but, even importantly, he makes you believe that, as obsessed as he is with his daughters becoming champions, their will-being is still his main motivation and concern. Richard and his daughters may go from practicing on dangerous courts at night to practicing at an exclusive Florida training center but, through it all, Richard always looks after his daughters. Like 2024’s Saturday Night, this is a film where it’s important that the audience already knows what the future is going to hold for its main characters. The coaches played by Tony Goldwyn and Jon Bernthal may not agree with Richard’s decision to keep his daughters out of the juniors tournaments but those of us watching know that Richard’s right and, as a result, we’re on his side. Richard can be cantankerous and difficult. We understand why his wife (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) get frustrated with him. But, the important thing is that we know that he will be vindicated and Will Smith has such a likable screen presence that we root for Richard even when he’s acting like a jerk.

King Richard is not a bad sports films, though I do think there were other films more deserving of a Best Picture nomination in 2021. (The Tragedy of MacBeth comes to mind.) It’s unfortunate that Smith’s performance (which was so much better than his work in Concussion) will probably forever be linked to The Slap. As for the film itself, it lost Best Picture to another heartwarming film, CODA.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter 4.13 “A Winter Coat’s Tale”

Posted on January 11, 2025 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 can be purchased on Prime.

It’s Christmas time!

Episode 4.13 “A Winter Coat’s Tale”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on December 16th, 1978)

This week’s episode opens with Vinnie Barbarino in his awful little apartment and the audience goes crazy. This episode, which aired a year after the release of Saturday Night Fever, makes full use of John Travolta and his charm. By the time the fourth season began, Travolta looked too old to still be in high school and, having become a movie star, he was only available for a limited number of episodes. This led to a weird compromise where sometimes Vinnie was apparently still a student at the school and then, in other episode, he was a drop-out who had gotten a job as an orderly at the hospital. To give credit where credit is due, John Travolta (along with John Sylvester White) appears to have been the only member of the cast who still making an effort during the fourth season. While the other Sweathogs all seemed to be bored and Marcia Strassman seemed to be annoyed and Gabe Kaplan wasn’t ever around most of the time, Travolta alone still seemed to to be the only cast member with any enthusiasm for delivering the show’s silly punchlines.

As for this episode, it’s a Christmas episode. Yay! I love holiday specials! This one is kind of a depressing Christmas episode because Gabe Kaplan is nowhere around. Seriously, how burned out do you have to be to not even make an appearance during a Christmas episode? I mean, the show was based on his stand-up act. He was the Kotter of the title. I’ve read that Kaplan was frustrated that the network refused to allow the Sweathogs to graduate high school. He understood that the actors were all getting too old for the high school storylines that they were being given. Kaplan’s idea was for the Sweathogs to graduate and enroll in community college. The network turned him down and, as a result, Kaplan only made a few appearance during the final season of the show he inspired.

Instead, in this episode, it’s Julie who is seen teaching in Gabe’s old classroom. I am really confused as to what Julie’s exact job was during season four. Previously, she’s been Woodman’s secretary. And occasionally, she’s acted like a guidance counselor. Now, suddenly she’s a teacher. The inconsistency of it is just annoying and again, it suggests that no one on the show really cared that much.

As for the episode’s plot, Vinnie bought himself a fake camel hair coat for Christmas. Unfortunately, during a fire drill, it got trampled. Vinnie tried to take it to a dry cleaner’s, just for it to be stolen by two muggers who Vinnie described as being “gorillas.” Later, the muggers returned the coat to Vinnie’s apartment and they turned out to be two kids. Vinnie, realizing that the kids had even less than him, gave them a coat for Christmas. Unfortunately, he accidentally gave them Woodman’s coat instead of his. Yes, Mr. Woodman and the Sweathogs were all visiting Vinnie’s apartment for Christmas. Poor Mr. Woodman. The episode confirmed that he had nobody in his life.

Usually, I like anything involving Christmas but this episode featured a bit too much Horshack (his Christmas poem made me want to throw away my laptop) and very little of the type of clever humor that made the first two seasons enjoyable. I think graduation would have been the best present this show could have given the Sweathogs.

Song of the Day: Leave Home by The Chemical Brothers

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day better get you dancing!

The footage in the video below comes from a 1983 film called Koyaanisqatsi. That film featured a soundtrack by Philip Glass. The song is from The Chemical Brother’s first single off of their debut album, Exit Planet Dust.

STAKEOUT (1987) – Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez stakeout the beautiful Madeline Stowe!

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Bradley Crain

What were those years in your life where movies really became something special to you? I’d say mine began in around 1984 and extended all the way through about 1991, when I headed off to college and the realities of the world started kicking in. Our family got our first VCR around 1984, and this is when I first truly began to fall in love with the cinema. These are the years when I would spend every moment I could in our local video stores inspecting every film in their stock. So many of my favorite movies came out during this time and hold a sense of nostalgic value in my life even now. One of those movies is STAKEOUT, an action comedy from 1987 starring Richard Dreyfuss and Emilo Estevez.

STAKEOUT begins with Richard “Stick” Montgomery (Aidan Quinn) escaping from prison, where he has been sent for killing an FBI agent a year earlier. Enter Seattle police detectives Chris Lecce (Richard Dreyfuss) and Bill Reimers (Emilio Estevez). They are assigned to stakeout the home of Montgomery’s beautiful ex-girlfriend Maria (Madeleine Stowe). In order to listen to her phone conversations, Chris impersonates a telephone repairman and meets her when he goes into her home to install the “bugs.” As fate would have it, he runs into Maria again at the local grocery store when he’s gone out to buy some supplies and donuts. She asks him to give her a ride home when she discovers she has a flat tire on her bike. He reluctantly gives her a ride home, but once he’s there, he puts up her groceries, she makes him a spicy dinner, and then he not so reluctantly makes love to her… all while his partner Bill is across the street waiting for his donuts. As you might imagine, this complicates the entire situation. And meanwhile, “Stick” Montgomery keeps making his way Seattle and Maria’s house where he stashed his cash before going away to prison.

STAKEOUT is one of those movies that our family rented in the late ‘80’s, and I immediately fell in love with. It’s my favorite kind of movie, the buddy cop film. Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez have a really nice chemistry together, and they come across as old friends. Even though there’s quite a bit of violence, the movie has a playful streak that I enjoy. There’s a series of running gags where Chris and Bill play practical jokes back and forth with the cops who relieve them on the stakeout each day, played by Dan Lauria and Forest Whitaker. The movie even throws in a little self-referential humor. In order to relieve the boredom of the stakeout, Estevez’ character is asking Dreyfuss movie trivia questions. He asks him to identify the movie where the line “this is no boating accident!” is from! Dreyfuss’ character has no idea. These are fun moments for me.

Another thing I love about STAKEOUT is the presence of the gorgeous Madeleine Stowe, who was making her first major film appearance. Seeing the film for the first time as a teenager of 14 years old made me a fan of hers for life. I’m not saying the movie was made specifically for 14-year-old boys, but it certainly wasn’t trying to push us away with its ad campaign that prominently featured the lovely Ms. Stowe. I’ll also point out that Aidan Quinn is effective and intimidating as the escaped murderer Richard “Stick” Montgomery. The fact that his character really does seem dangerous helps to make the film even more exciting when everything finally comes to a head. Veteran Director John Badham has made some really good movies in his career, including SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977), BLUE THUNDER (1983), THE HARD WAY (1991), and NICK OF TIME (1995), to name a few. He knows what he’s doing, and I really started following his work based on how much I enjoyed STAKEOUT.

As much as I enjoy STAKEOUT, it’s one of those movies I don’t hear that much about these days even though it was a substantial box office hit. There was a misguided sequel made in 1993, ANOTHER STAKEOUT, that brought back Dreyfus, Estevez, and director Badham. I remember watching the sequel in the 90’s, but I honestly don’t remember anything about it. One of the reasons I enjoy writing about movies is because it gives me an opportunity to share a part of who I am, the things I enjoy, and maybe even serve as a reminder to others of films like STAKEOUT. I don’t think of these movies often myself, but when I was looking at my DVD collection earlier today, I smiled when I saw it and happily pulled it off the shelf to watch it again for the first time in several years!

I’ve included the trailer below:

The TSL Grindhouse: Casablanca Express (dir by Sergio Martino)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

First released in 1989, Casablanca Express takes place during World War II.

The three leaders of the Allied nations — Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill — are scheduled to meet in Casablanca to plan the Allied strategy for the next phase of the war. Churchill insists that he will take a train from Algiers to Casablanca, despite the danger that might put him in. Even though everyone advises him against it, Churchill is determined. He makes it clear that he will be traveling by train.

When Major Valmore (Jean Sorel), Colonel Bats (Donald Pleasence), and Maj. Gen. Williams (Glenn Ford) learn that the Germans are aware that Churchill will be on the train and that they will be sending their own intelligence agents to try to kidnap or even assassinate him, they assign three intelligence agents to travel with Churchill. The agents are Alan Cooper (Jason Connery), Captain Franchetti (Francesco Quinn), and Lt. Lorna Fisher (Jinny Steffan) and they are under orders to do whatever is necessary to protect Churchill’s life. Unfortunately, Cooper gets so busy chasing after a French double agent that he misses the train’s departure time. When Otto van Tiblis (Manfred Lehmann) makes his move to take over the train, it falls to Franchetti and Lorna to stop him. Despite their best efforts, they fail. Now, it appears that Churchill’s only hope is that Cooper will not only be able to reach the train but also defeat the army of Germans who have taken it over.

Directed by Sergio Martino, Casablanca Express is an Italian film that owes quite a bit to the legacy of writers like Ian Fleming and Jack Higgins. The plot to capture Churchill owes more than a bit to The Eagles Has Landed, right down to one of the film’s final twists and Donald Pleasence making a cameo appearance as an authority figure. Alan Cooper is a combination of James Bond and Indiana Jones. He’s just as comfortable in a suit and tie as he is riding a camel across the desert. Sergio Martino was one of the best directors of Italian genre films. He dabbled in everything, from giallo films to Hercules films to crime films to cannibal films to action films like this one. As a filmmaker, he was efficient and quick to get to the point. The action in Casablanca Express moves quickly. In fact, it moves so quickly that the audience often doesn’t have time to consider all of the plot holes. Martino knows better than to worry about authenticity. That’s not the type of film that Casablanca Express is.

The film stars Jason Connery and Francesco Quinn, the sons of Sean Connery and Anthony Quinn. They are both adequate in their roles, even though neither one of them has quite the screen presence of their famous fathers. Jason Connery is handsome and he looks good in a suit and Francesco Quinn looks good throwing a punch. That’s all that’s really required of them. Personally, my favorite character was Lorna Fisher, who fought the Nazis by distracting them with her legs. That would be my strategy as well so I’m glad to see that it worked here.

Casablanca Express was made at a time when the Italian film industry was going through a down period. Hence, the budget is low and the film can sometimes seem a bit rushed. But, all in all, it’s an entertaining B-action movie.

Icarus File No. 17: Che! (dir by Richard Fleischer)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Che Guevara!

By most accounts, Che Guevara epitomized the excesses and the hypocrisies of the extreme Left. He spoke of the class struggle while remaining an elitist himself. He oversaw thousands of executions and advocated for authoritarian rule. In his writings, he frequently revealed himself to be a racist and a misogynist. By arguing that the Russians should be allowed to bring nuclear missiles to Cuba, he brought the world to the brink of destruction. However, he also died relatively young and he looked good on a t-shirt. Decades after he was executed by the Bolivian Army in 1967 (or was it the CIA?), he remains an icon for college students and champagne socialists everywhere.

The film about Che! was released in 1969, two years after his death. Starring the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif as Che Guevara, Che! opens with Guevara already a martyr and then quickly gives way to flashbacks. Various actors pretending to be Cuban appear and speak directly to the audience, debating Che Guevara’s legacy. Some describe him as being a violent thug who killed anyone who displeased him. Others describe him as a visionary doctor who sacrificed his comfortable existence for the people. It’s a rather conventional opening and one that hints that Che! is going to try to have it both ways as far as Che’s legacy is concerned. But it’s still effective enough. A montage of soldiers and rebels creates the proper feeling of a society on the verge of collapse.

And then Jack Palance shows up.

Palance first appears creeping his way through the Cuban jungle with a group of soldiers behind him. Palance is chomping on a cigar and he wears the intense look of a man on a mission. My initial reaction was that Palance was playing one of the CIA agents who sent to Cuba to try to assassinate Fidel Castro or to set up the Bay of Pigs invasion. I kept waiting for him to look at the camera and launch into a monologue about why, for the safety of America, he had been dispatched the topple Cuba’s communist government. Imagine my shock when Omar Sharif called Palance, “Fidel.”

Yes, that’s right. Jack Palance plays Fidel Castro! As miscast as the suave Omar Sharif is as Che Guevara, nothing can prepare one for seeing Jack Palance playing Fidel Castro. Needless to say, there is nothing remotely Cuban or even Spanish about Jack Palance. He delivers his lines in his trademark terse Jack Palance voice, without even bothering to try any sort of accent. (And, needless to say, both he and Sharif speak English through the entire film.) Anyone who has ever seen a picture of a young Fidel Castro knows that, while he shared a family resemblance with Justin Trudeau, he looked nothing like Jack Palance. Eventually, Palance puts on a fake beard that makes him look even less like Castro. When one of our narrators mentions that Castro was a great speaker, the film cuts to a scene of Palance spitting out communist slogans with a noted lack of enthusiasm. When Castro takes control of Cuba, Palance looks slightly amused with himself. When Che accused Castro of selling out the revolution, Palance looks bored. It’s a remarkably bad piece of casting. Seeing Palance as Castro feels like seeing John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Thank goodness Hollywood never tried anything that silly, right? Anyway….

As for the rest of the film, it hits all the expected notes. The film was made in the very political year of 1969, a time when the New Left was ascendant and many considered Che Guevara to be a hero. However, since this was a studio production, Che! tries to appeal to both college radicals and their parents by taking a “both sides” approach to Che Guevara. Here’s Che teaching an illiterate farmer how to read. Here’s Che overseeing a bunch of dissidents being executed. Here’s Che getting angry at Castro for not being properly enthusiastic about housing Russian nuclear missiles. Here’s Che talking about a moral revolution. Here’s Che trying to start an unwanted war in Bolivia. Here’s Che talking to Sid Haig — hey, Sid Haig’s in this film!

Like so many mainstream political films of the 60s and today, Che! tries to be political without actually taking any firm positions. One is tempted to say that is the film’s downfall. Of course, the film’s real downfall is casting Jack Palance as Fidel Castro.

There’s no way to recover from that.

Film Review: Quick Change (dir by Bill Murray and Howard Franklin)

Posted on January 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Leave the Bronx …. it is time to leave the Bronx….”

Escape from New York….

“Someday, a real rain will come and watch all this scum off of the streets….”

“Kill, Berkowitz!” the Dog with John Turturro’s voice commands, “Kill! KILL!”

And then there’s 1990’s Quick Change:

Of the many films that have been made about people desperately trying to get the Hell out of New York City, Quick Change is one of the funniest. The appropriately-named Grimm (Bill Murray) works in the city planning office and has had all that he can take of New York’s crime and rudeness. His solution is to dress up like a clown and rob a bank. His girlfriend Phyllis (Geena Davis) and best friend Loomis (Randy Quaid) are already inside the bank, disguised as customers. When Grimm, who claims to be a “crying on the inside” type of clown, takes everyone in the bank hostage and forces them into the vault, Phyllis and Loomis grab as much of the money as they can. Talking on the phone to police chief Rotzinger (Jason Robards), Grimm makes a series of pointless demands. Each demand that is met leads to Grimm releasing a group of hostages. By removing his clown makeup, Grimm is able to join Phyllis and Loomis when they are “released.” Rotzinger, who has even managed to procure a monster truck, thinks that the robber is still in the bank while Grimm, Phyllis, and Logan head for the airport.

Of course, things don’t go as planned. What starts out as a energetic and good-natured Dog Day Afternoon parody quickly becomes an increasingly surreal journey through New York. The streets are in terrible condition. The signs that would have provided directions to the airport have been taken down by a road construction crew. (They explain that they’re only taking down the signs today and it will be a few days before they get around to putting them back up.) One of the few polite people they meet turns out to be a thief who steals four dollars from Grimm’s wallet but fails to notice that he’s got a million dollars taped around his waist. Stanley Tucci shows up as a mobster. Tony Shalhoub plays a well-meaning taxi driver who speaks his own indecipherable language. Grimm keeps running into rude cops who, despite being on the hunt for the bank robbers, are frequently too busy being rude to notice what’s happening in front of them.

Best of all, Grimm, Phyllis, and the increasingly addled Loomis board a bus being driven by the film’s greatest character. Played by Philip Bosco, the bus driver is a wonderful comedic creation. “That’s not exact change,” the driver says when Loomis attempts to pay him with a hundred dollar bill. “Behind the white line,” he says before starting the bus. When Loomis, who has a habit of running into things and appears to be suffering from a concussion, tries to sit down, the bus driver informs him that he’s not allowed to sit until he receives exact change. The driver has a schedule to keep and, to his credit, he largely manages to do so. Bosco plays him with such deadpan determination that it’s hard not to admire his dedication to following every single regulation to his job. As opposed to Grimm, the driver has learned to deal with living in New York by obsessively making every scheduled stop.

Quick Change struggles sometimes to balance its moments of humor and drama. Scenes of Loomis running like a cartoon character are mixed with scenes of Phyllis worrying that Grimm might actually be a hardened criminal and struggling with whether or not to tell him that she’s pregnant. This was Bill Murray’s first and only film as a director and sometimes, he does struggle to maintain a consistent tone. But, in the end, what’s important is that it’s a funny film. Bill Murray is one of those actors who can make you laugh just by existing and, as a director, he’s smart enough to give Jason Robards enough room to make Rotzinger into something more than just a standard comedic foil.

Quick Change is a comedic nightmare, one that made me laugh even as it also made me glad that I don’t have to drive in New York. I get lost just driving around the suburbs of Dallas. There’s no way I’d ever be able to find my way out of New York.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Friday the 13th: The Series 2.23 “The Maestro”

Posted on January 10, 2025 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 Fridays, I will be reviewing Friday the 13th: The Series, a show which ran in syndication from 1987 to 1990. The entire series can be found on YouTube!

This week, it’s personal for Jack!

Episode 2.23 “The Maestro”

(Dir by Timothy Bond, originally aired on May 22nd, 1989)

Famed choreographer Anton Pascola (Colm Feore) is fond of saying that great art requires pain and he would know. A former dancer, Anton was injured in an accident and now walks with a pronounced limp. He has devoted his life to choreography and he has a small company of dancers who are devoted to him, despite his fearsome temper. Because Anton’s dancers tend to be accident prone and also suicide-prone, there are frequent openings in his company.

Pascola’s newest dancer is Grace Cowell (Cynthia Preston). Grace is young and naive and she thinks her dreams are about to come true. She is also the daughter of one of Jack’s best friends. When she takes Jack, Ryan, and Micki to a Pascola-choreographed performance of Romeo and Juliet, they are shocked to hear that the lead actors recently leapt out of a window together. When Jack discovers that one of the cursed antiques is a Victorian music box that plays an amazing symphony but also forces the listeners to dance until they die, he realizes that Grace is in danger.

For all the time that they spend searching for cursed antiques, it’s amazing how often Jack, Ryan, and Micki just happen to stumble across one being used by someone they know. I understand, of course, that it’s meant to add an extra personal element to their adventures. Trying to save the daughter of his (never-seen) best friend adds something to the story that wouldn’t be there if Jack was trying to save someone he wasn’t personally close to. But, at times, the way that this show depends on coincidence can get to be a bit much.

That said, Jack’s personal connection to this week’s antique does lead to one of the show’s most devastating endings. Proving that he practices what he preaches, Anton dances to the music box’s symphony while an audience watches. He dances until he dies. Unfortunately, Grace is dancing with him and she dies as well. This is not the first time that someone close to the main characters has died on this show. What makes this episode unique is Jack’s reaction. Jack has always been the wise father figure who helps to keep Micki and Ryan strong. But when Grace dies, Jack has a breakdown. He goes from obsessively trying to clean Grace’s blood off the music box to throwing antiques across the shop. For once, it’s Micki and Ryan who have to calm down the distraught Jack.

The episode has more than a few plot holes and Grace’s actions often don’t make sense. Even after she discovers that Pascola is killing his dancers, she still wants to work with him. The implication is that she’s been brainwashed by his claims that art requires pain but there’s a difference between pushing yourself and killing yourself. If Grace had previously acted like someone who had a death wish, the episode would not only make more sense but it would actually be a good deal more interesting. That said, as someone who grew up going to dance classes and rehearsing and performing, I’ve certainly known my share of Anton Pascolas. This was an episode to which I could relate.

Lisa Reviews An Oscar Nominee: A Streetcar Named Desire (dir by Elia Kazan)

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Poor, tragic Blanche DuBois.

In 1951’s A Streetcar Named Desire, the emotionally fragile Blanche (played by Vivien Leigh) has come to New Orleans to live with her younger sister, Stella (Kim Hunter). From an old and formerly wealthy Southern family, Blanche has recently lost both her job as a teacher and the plantation where she and Stella grew up. Even before that, she lost her husband to suicide. And now Blanche has been reduced to living with Stella in the run-down apartment that she shares with her brutish husband, Stanley Kowalksi (Marlon Brando).

Stanley is tough and blue-collar, an earthy gambler whose bad manners stand in sharp contrast to Blanche’s attempts to present herself as being an elegant Southern belle. Stanley, who is convinced that Blanche has money that she’s hiding from her sister, goes out of his way torment Blanche. Stella, who is pregnant, tries to keep the peace between her sister and the man who claims to love her, his family, and the Napoleonic code. (“Stella!” Stanley yells at one point, the cry of a wounded animal who desperately needs his mate.) Blanche ends up going on a tentative date with Mitch (Karl Malden), one of Stanley’s co-workers, Stanley, who sees Blanche as a threat to the life that he’s created for himself, goes out of his way to destroy even that relationship. Blanche has secrets of her own and Stanley is determined to dig them up and use them to his own advantage. When Blanche refuses to allow Stanley to destroy the fantasy world that she’s created for herself, Stanley commits an act of unspeakable violence.

Based on the play by Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire is a recreation of the film’s legendary Broadway production. Elia Kazan, who directed the theatrical production, does the same for the film. Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden recreate their stage roles and many of the minor characters are also played by the same actors who played them on stage. The only major change to the cast is Vivien Leigh, who replaces Jessica Tandy in the role of Blanche. Tandy had won a Tony for playing the role of Blanche but the film’s producer insisted on an actress who had more box office appeal. After both Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland (both of whom would have had too strong of a personality to be believably pushed around by Stanley) declined the role, Vivien Leigh was cast. Leigh has played Blanche on the London stage and, perhaps even more importantly, her own fragile mental health mirrored much of what Blanche had gone through before moving to New Orleans.

A few changes were made to the play. In the play, it’s made clear that Blanche’s husband committed suicide after he was caught having an affair with another man. In the film, Blanche simply says that her husband was too sensitive. The film also includes a few scenes that are set outside of the apartment in an attempt to open up the play. (That said, the film still comes across as being rather stagey.) In the play, it’s made clear what Stanley does to Blanche while Stella is at the hospital. The film leaves it ambiguous, though still providing enough hints for the audience to figure it out on their own. Finally, the film ends with a suggestion that Stanley will ultimately suffer for his bad behavior. It’s hardly a happy ending but it’s still not as dark as what happens in the play.

The film definitely retains its theatrical origins. It’s very much a filmed play and again, it can feel rather stagey. But the performance are so strong that it really doesn’t matter. A Streetcar Named Desire was the first film to win three of the acting awards, with Oscars going to Hunter, Malden, and Leigh. Marlon Brando was nominated for Best Actor but did not win, largely because he was competing against Humphrey Bogart who, himself, had never won an Oscar. (The Brando snub would be rectified when he later won for On The Waterfront.) Brando’s performance as Stanley still holds up today. He’s so ferociously charismatic that it’s actually a bit scary to watch him. One can see what drew Stella to him, even though Stanley is very much not a good man. It’s a performance that will definitely take by surprise anyone who knows Brando only from his later years, when he was known for his weight and his oft-stated boredom with acting. A Streetcar Named Desire shows just how brilliant an actor Marlon Brando was at the start of his career. The intensity of Brando’s method acting matches up perfectly with Vivien Leigh’s more traditional style of acting and the film becomes not just the story of a domineering brute and a fragile houseguest but also a metaphor for the death of the antebellum South. If Blanche represents a genteel past that may have never existed, Stanley represents the brutality of the 20th Century.

Along with the similarly dark A Place In The Sun, A Streetcar named Desire was considered to be a front runner for the 1951 Best Picture Oscar. In the end, though, the voters went for the much less depressing An American In Paris.