Music Video of the Day: High by The Chainsmokers (2022, dir by Kid. Studio)

Posted on February 22, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have a long-standing fear of heights so the video for this song kind of freaks me out.

Whenever I’m on a plane, I find myself wondering what would happen if I somehow found myself plunging through the clouds. I would hope that I would achieve a state of grace during the experience but …. well, it probably wouldn’t happen. I’ve seen any number of shows that featured people skydiving. Usually, it’s presented as being this great experience but it’s definitely something that I could go without.

James Bond, I will say, was a good sky driver. Seriously, Bond could do just about anything back in the day. That was before he got all whiny. Oh well.

Don’t fall out of planes, everyone. D.B. Cooper was a cool guy and he made a lot of money but he’s not a role model that one needs to emulate.

Enjoy!

Why? You only say you love me when you’re high
It’s like we go through the same shit every night
Oh why, oh why?
You always swear that it’s gonna change, but it never does
Why? You’ll only say you love me when you’re high
It’s like we go through the same shit every night
Oh why, oh why?
You always swear that shit’s gonna change, but it never does

Tell me that you’re gonna change
Then act like this instead
I’m too old to want somebody who’s always switching up their friends
I can’t make you love me but at least you could pretend
Scripts gonna leads to fifths until I’m fucked out of my head
You play the same old songs I know that you’re different in your Air Force Ones
Filling my prescription I could bite your tongue
Like I got an addiction yeah
You always say this shit’s gonna change, but it never does

I know it’s my fault I pick up your phone call
When it’s half past one and you’re halfway drunk
You say you love me and it sounds so dumb
But you’re the only one I can run away from the same old songs
I know that you’re different in your Air Force Ones
Filling my prescription I could bite your tongue
Like I got an addiction yeah
You always say this shit’s gonna change, but it never does

Film Review: Swan Song (dir by Todd Stephens)

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Once upon a time, Pat Pitsenbarger (Udo Kier) was one of the most important citizens of Sandusky, Ohio. He was the town’s leading hairdresser. He was the man who the wealthy trusted with their appearance. When he wasn’t cutting hair, he performed drag as Ms. Pat and when he wasn’t cutting or performing, he built a nice home with his partner. He often remembers the two of them working in the garden.

All of that is in the past, though. Pat’s partner died years ago and Pat was reminded of his place in the community when some of his wealthiest clients didn’t even bother to come to the funeral. Pat lost his business. He lost his home. He’s spent the past decade or so living in a nursing home. Pat may be the best-groomed and best-spoken resident of the nursing home but he’s still definitely a man who is waiting for death.

One day, a lawyer shows up at the home and informs Pat that one of his most faithful clients, Rita Parker Sloan (played by Linda Evans), has died. Rita had one last request. She wanted Pat to do her hair and makeup for the funeral. At first, Pat is hesitant. His memories of Rita are not particularly pleasant. But finally, he decides to do it. He escapes from the nursing home and starts to walk to the funeral home. To do Rita’s makeup, he’s going to need supplies, some of which haven’t even been existed since the 80s. Unfortunately, he has no money and, as he soon discovers, his old home no longer exists either. The world has changed.

As quickly becomes clear, there’s more to Pat’s journey than just wanting a final chance to do Rita’s hair. As he walks through the town, he tries to reconnect with his past, just to discover that much of his past has been torn down. His old beauty shop is under different management. His old house has been torn down. Few people seem to remember or recognize him. One of the few people who does remember Pat is his former protégé, Dee Dee (Jennifer Coolidge), who now basically hates his guts. Meanwhile, Rita waits in the funeral home, her hair and makeup a mess.

Released last year, Swan Song is an imperfect but ultimately touching movie. The shadow of death hangs over almost every scene. It’s not just that Pat is doing one last favor for the deceased Rita. Nor is it just that Pat is haunted by memories of his dead partner. (The scene where Pat visits his grave is one of the most effective in the movie, thanks to Kier’s heartfelt performance.) It’s the fact that Pat himself knows that he’s getting older and he only has a certain amount of time left. His walk across Sandusky is not just about traveling to the funeral home. It’s also his final chance to see the world, remember the past, and experience how things have changed (or not changed as the case may be). The journey is about Pat coming to terms with his anger, his sadness, and his past. It’s also about Pat’s desire to go out the same way that he’s always lived, on his own terms.

As I said, it’s not a perfect film. There are a few scenes that threaten to get a bit mawkish. But even the most overwritten scenes are saved by the brilliant lead performance of Udo Kier, who gives a wonderfully complex performance as Pat. Since the 70s, Kier has been a mainstay in European exploitation cinema. He stared in Flesh For Frankenstein and Blood For Dracula. He had key supporting roles in two Dario Argento films. He appeared in art films, horror films, dramas, comedies, and thrillers. He’s appeared in blockbusters and small indie films. At times, it can seem like Kier is one of those actors who basically accepts anything that’s offered to him, regardless of whether the material is worthy of his talents or not. Kier has appeared in good films and bad and, perhaps because he’s been such a ubiquitous cinematic presence, he’s often been unfairly taken for granted as an actor. In Swan Song, Udo Kier gives one of his best performances as the sometimes brutally snarky but ultimately kind-hearted Pat Pitsenbarger. If for no other reason, watch this movie to appreciate the often underrated talent of Udo Kier. A lesser actor would have turned Pat into a cliché. Udo Kier transforms Pat into a complex and rather heart-breaking character.

Swan Song is currently streaming on Hulu.

Scenes That I Love: Jack Nicholson’s Freeway Performance in Bob Rafelson’s Five Easy Pieces

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 89th birthday to Bob Rafelson, who was one of the first directors to not only truly recognize the genius of Jack Nicholson but also one of the co-creators of the Monkees. (In fact, Rafelson brought the Monkees and Nicholson together when he made his directorial debut with 1968’s Head. The Monkees starred in the film while Nicholson wrote the script.) After getting his start on television, Rafelson became one of the leading figures of the Hollywood counterculture that came to power in the late 60s and the early 70s and a business partner of producer Bert Schneider, Rafelson also played a role in the creation of such classic films as Easy Rider, The Last Picture Show, and Hearts and Minds. Like Nicholson, Rafelson was never a hippie. Instead, his vision was closer to the vision of Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady. Rafelson and Nicholson brought the sensibility of the Beat Generation to Hollywood and, for a while at least, they changed the face of American culture.

In honor of Bob Rafelson’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from his 1970 film, Five Easy Pieces. In this Oscar-nominated film, Jack Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea. Born to a wealthy and music-obsessed family, Bobby currently works in an oil field and is alternatively angry, cynical, and idealistic. (That both the main character and the director shared the same first name is probably not a coincidence as Rafelson also came from an artistic family. Though many of Bobby’s famous outbursts — especially the famous one involving a chicken sandwich — were based on things that had actually happened to Nicholson, the character was equally based on Rafelson.) After Jack Nicholson’s Oscar-nominated turn in Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces featured Nicholson playing the type of role for which he would be best-known in the 70s, the wayward rebel who must choose between being a part of society or being forever an outcast.

In this scene, Bobby and his oilfield co-worker find themselves stuck in a traffic jam. Bobby gets a chance to show off both his temper and his talent. It’s a great scene and Nicholson gives such a strong performance that it’s only later that you realize that Bobby’s anger didn’t really accomplish much. That was a recurring theme in Nicholson’s early films. With this scene, Bob Rafelson captures both a man and a country in conflict.

Five Easy Pieces would be nominated for Best Picture, though it would lose to Patton. After his supporting nomination for Easy Rider, Nicholson received his first best actor nomination for this role here. (Again, Patton triumphed, though George C. Scott famously refused to accept his Oscar.) Sadly, Bob Rafelson was not nominated for Best Director.

Equally sadly, Rafelson’s subsequent films received mixed reviews (though most have been positively reevaluated in recent years) and struggled at the box office. With Hollywood becoming more concerned with finding the next blockbuster than producing films about existential wanderlust, Rafelson often struggled to bring his vision to the screen. He hasn’t directed a film since 2002’s No Good Deed. However, his work lives on amongst serious film students and historians of the 70s. If any director’s work is worthy of rediscovery and reevaluation, it’s Bob Rafelson’s.

Music Video of the Day: My Way by Frank Sinatra (1974, dir by ????)

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This was filmed at Madison Square Garden, back in 1974. I’m sharing this on Presidents Day because I’m sure this is the song that most presidents would probably sing while being kicked out of the White House. We really should consider using My Way as the new national anthem.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Oddities and Prodigies by Caroline Romano (2022, dir by Justin Key)

Posted on February 20, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This music video reminds me of many a country night.

Enjoy!

I’ve got a habit
Of loving the tragic
There’s a
Hole in my jacket
But I. don’t. care.

It’s 3 am and I can’t sleep
And you’ll find me running down the street
With tears in my eyes
But I’m alright
Because I’m alive
And I love it

My teachers never understand
Why I make all these impossible plans

And I fall apart
And I love it

But that’s just who I am
Say what you want
Cause I don’t give damn
So baby
Call me when I’m dead
You say they dropped me on my head
But i think you must be misled cause
Oddities and Prodigies
Go hand in hand

This isn’t something they teach in school
And I’m not tryna start a trend
A revolutionary war
When I hear the record spin

I feel so bloody beautiful
When I’m lying on the floor

Cause that’s just who I am
Say what you want
Cause I don’t give damn
So baby
Call me when I’m dead
You say they dropped me on my head
But i think you must be misled cause
Oddities and Prodigies
Go hand in hand

What will books say about me
What will my friends say about me
What will my mom say about me
What will you say about me
What will books say about me
What will my friends say about me
What will my mom say about me
What will I say about me

But that’s just who I am
Say what you want
Cause I don’t give damn (extended)
So baby
Call me when I’m dead
You say they dropped me on my head
But i think you must be misled cause
Oddities and Prodigies
Go hand in hand

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television — 2/13/22 — 2/19/22

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week stated with my watching the Super Bowl, which I imagine will be the last football game that I ever pay attention to in my life. (Seriously, football’s depressing. I hate it when the losing team starts crying.) It’s ending with my thoroughly disgusted by the Olympic Games. This has not been a great week for sporting events. Except, of course, for karate. I finally watched the fourth season of Cobra Kai. Miyagi Fang is definitely the philosophy to follow.

Anyway, here’s what I watched this week:

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

An odd episode. Having stolen several bars of Gold from the Germans, Rene hid the gold in his cuckoo clock, which led to the clock making a weird noise every few minute but, for some reason, no one but Rene ever seemed to notice. Somehow, this led to Rene and his staff disguising themselves as a musical group so that they could infiltrate the general’s chateau and search for the stolen painting, as well as the famous Enigma machine which, if smuggled out of France, would give the British the ability to translate Germany’s secret code. Eventually, Crabtree sang a song in his mangled version of French. This was silly humor that I could appreciate.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here! We’re down to the top four now. Somehow, Arun and Natalia have survived. This has been a weird season because of the COVID lockdowns and a few really strong teams were forced to drop out of the race. As a result, Kim & Penn have pretty much dominated things, despite neither one having much of a personality. I have a feeling this will continue through the finale.

Celebrity Big Brother (CBS and Paramount Plus)

I wrote about Celebrity Big Brother over at the Big Brother Blog. Celebrity Big Brother is almost over and, to be honest, I won’t miss it.

Cobra Kai (Netflix)

On Tuesday night, Jeff and I finally got a chance to start in on season 4 of Cobra Kai. We watched the first three episodes of the season and we were both immediately sucked back into the hyperemotional and somewhat silly, yet always affecting world of Cobra Kai. My heart broke for Kenny, the new kid who found himself being bullied by Daniel’s son and I was worried when I saw that Kenny was being drawn towards the Cobra Kai dojo. I enjoyed Thomas Ian Griffith’s surprisingly contemplative performance as Terry Silver and his explanation that his over-the-top behavior in Karate Kid III was due to a cocaine addiction. (Really, it’s the only explanation that makes sense.) I enjoyed the complex portrayals of characters like Robby and Torry. And, of course, I loved the uneasy friendship of Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso.

We watched the next three episodes on Wednesday. Terry confronted Daniel! Daniel and Johnny fought to a draw! The Karate tournament changed their rules! Johnny returned to his old high school and creeped out the entire track team! It was all good. I liked the fact that Cobra Kai embraces both the silliness of the later Karate Kid films while also managing to sneak in some truly touching moments. The show manages to maintain an almost perfect balance between satire and drama.

We watched episode 7 and 8 on Thursday. Daniel learned that his son was a bully and Kenny learned how to take advantage of his opponent’s overconfidence. This was followed by the return of Paul Walter Hauser’s Stingray, who attempted to rejoin Cobra Kai and eventually ended up getting beaten up by Terry Silver for his trouble. The school held their prom, Johnny and Carmen revealed their relationship to Miguel, and Robby and Torry got to show off their dance moves!

Early Saturday morning, we watched the final two episodes of the 4th season of Cobra Kai. The All-Valley Tournament dominated both episodes, with Johnny and Daniel making peace, Robby realizing that the Cobra Kai way was not his way, Miguel leaving to find his father, and Torry winning a fixed match against Sam. In the end, Terry framed Kreese for beating up Stingray. Kreese was taken to prison while Daniel realized that he would have to go against his promise to abandon Miyagi Do (or Miyagi Fang as it was renamed during the tournament) if he was going to stop Cobra Kai. It was an exciting conclusion, full of drama, tears, and some enjoyable self-parody. Bring on season 5!

King of the Hill (Weekday Afternoon, FXX)

I watched a few episodes on Tuesday afternoon. Joseph was recruited by a private school and Dale nearly had to fake his death to get out of a financial debt. (This happened quite frequently with Dale). Peggy had a memorable birthday party on train. This was followed by one of my favorite episodes, the one in which Hank accidentally stole a man’s wallet and the man interpreted Hank’s efforts to return it as being Hank threatening him. (At the same time this was going on, Dale found himself working at the show’s version of Hooter’s. Dale had applied for a job, expecting to be turned down because he was a skinny, bald guy. Dale figured he could then sue the restaurant. The restaurant’s manager decided to call his bluff.) This was followed by Hank getting scared by a bat hanging out in his garage, Louanne’s father returning from the oil rig (which, it turned out, was actually federal prison), and Bill finding himself temporarily confined to a wheelchair.

King of the Hill was a good show, though I’m biased because the show is based on my hometown and it’s all about Texas. A part of me does worry about the proposed revival, just because I don’t know if I’m prepared to hear what Hank thinks of twitter. If there is a revival, they better give Boomhauer a podcast.

Inventing Anna (Netflix)

Starring Anna Chlumsky and Julia Garner, Inventing Anna is a limited series about Anna Delvey, a Russian con artist who managed to fool some of the leading members of New York high society. Julia Garner plays Anna while Anna Chlumsky plays a fictionalized version of the reporter who interviewed Anna during her trial.

I watched the first two episodes on Thursday. From the minute I saw the Shondaland logo, I knew what I was getting into. The first two episodes were occasionally intriguing but largely superficial, with no consistent tone and too many superfluous scenes. Julia Garner gave a good performance as Anna, though, smirking her way through the interview and intentionally changing up her accent in order to keep everyone off-balance.

The Office (All week, Comedy Central)

On Saturday afternoon, I rewatched The Michael Scott Paper Company arc. I loved Pam trying to establish an identity outside of answering the phones at Dunder Mifflin, Jim trying to play soccer and Michael unsuccessfully trying to convince his grandmother to invest in his company. It’s kind of unfortunate that Pam turned out to be terrible at sales but I could relate. I doubt I could sell paper either. I’m stunned that anyone on The Office was able to make a career out of it.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Granville shot a man just to watch him die. Arkwright was too busy pining for Nurse Gladys Emmnauel to notice.

Pam and Tommy (Hulu)

Pam and Tommy is one Nathan Lane cameo away from turning into a Ryan Murphy production. I wrote about the latest episode here.

Silk Stalkings (Tubi)

On Monday morning, I got back to binging Silk Stalkings on Tubi. Though I hadn’t really been keeping track up until this week, a quick check with Wikipedia confirmed that I am currently watching episodes from the second season of the show. There’s 8 seasons in total so I’ve still got quite a bit to watch as far as this stylish and enjoyably silly series is concerned.

Anyway, the first episode that I watched on Monday was called Scorpio Killer. I’m a Scorpio so I appreciated the title! The show dealt with a man who murdered his mistress’s husband. It was a fun episode. The thing I like about Chris and Rita is, as played by Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture, they seemed to be aware that they were characters in a somewhat sordid television series and, as such, they never had any problem winking at their audience and basically saying, “Can you believe this plot?” This was followed by an episode in which Chris and Rita investigated the death of a tennis pro’s stepfather. It featured a lot of slow motion tennis action and overheated locker room talk.

On Tuesday, I got things started with an episode in which Chris and Rita investigated a murder that occurred at a rather tacky beauty pageant. They solved the case but the highlight of the show was Rita’s attempts to buy fish for her aquarium. Needless to say, Chis was convinced that all of Rita’s fish were going to die and Chris was probably right since the aquarium was nowhere to be seen during the next episode. That episode found Chris and Rita investigating a murder that was connected to a high-profile divorce. It was a typical Chris-and-Rita-Smirk-At-Dumb-Rich-People episode. Seriously, don’t commit a murder in Palm Springs because Chris and Rita will definitely judge you.

On Thursday, I started off with a pretty good episode called Jasmine. Directed by Rob Estes, Jasmine featured Rita investigating a decades-old cold case and having plenty of surreal dreams in the process. Of course, the main reason Rita was investigating the case was to help her deal with the guilt that she felt after the murder of one of her friends. It was a well-directed episode and also well-acted by Mitzi Kapture. The next episode was an enjoyably trashy one, in which Chris and Rita tracked down a cocky teenager who was seducing both his classmates and their stepmothers.

Silk Stalking is a lot of fun. I like forward to continuing the binge next week.

Super Bowl (Sunday Night, NBC)

The Super Bowl? Does anyone remember the Super Bowl? It was played last Sunday and …. well, someone won. I don’t remember who won. I watched it for the commercials, which kind of disappointed me this year.

Super Bowl Pre-Show (Sunday Afternoon, NBC)

Yes, I even watched the big show before the game, just in case they showed any interesting commercials. They didn’t but it was still kind of nice to see how excited everyone was before the game started. I don’t know if it was really necessary to include an interview with President Biden, though. That gave the whole thing kind of a weird feel. Like why do we need the President’s permission to enjoy the game? At least he didn’t do that creepy whispering thing.

The Winter Games (All Week, Every Channel)

On Sunday morning, as I got ready for a day of watching Super Bowl commercials, I watched a bit of NBC’s coverage of the games. It was a little bit of skiing with some speed skating and some figure skating tossed in as well. I didn’t really pay that much attention.

On Wednesday night, I watched the USA take on Canada in hockey. Usually, when it comes to hockey, I support Canada because I know hockey is an important part of Canadian culture. This year, I was Team USA because Justin Trudeau annoys me. Canada still won, though, so I guess my cheering powers were not as powerful as I thought they were.

On Thursday night, I watched some skiing and then I watched the figure skating, which has been quite controversial this year. What I saw pretty much turned me off of watching any more of the Beijing Games. Though I didn’t agree with the decision to let her skate, I still felt bad for Kamila Valieva, the Russian skater who has essentially been villainized due to doping allegations. No one should be put under that type of pressure and scrutiny when they’re only 15 years old, especially when it’s quite probable that any drugs that she took were forced on her by the adults who are supposed to be looking out for her best interests. Not surprisingly, given all the stress she was under, Kamila did not do as well as she had done in the past. She ended up finishing in fourth place and started crying. This, of course, overshadowed the accomplishments of the talented women who did win medals but what really struck me was that none of the members of Kamila’s coaching entourage — the people who should have been acting as her “support team” — appears to offer any words of comfort or encouragement. (Later, I learned that her coach had demanded to know, “Why did you give up!?”) And we wonder why so many young athletes burn themselves out or grow up to have personal troubles once they can no longer compete. Meanwhile, the skater who came in second screamed in anger over having to settle for a silver medal while the gold medal winner sat alone, holding a teddy bear. It was not one of the better moments of the Winter Games. In fact, it was so disturbing to watch that it pretty much turned me off of the idea of watching what little was left of the Olympics.

Music Video of the Day: Voyage by Theodore (2022, dir by Ioannis Nikiforos)

Posted on February 19, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Enjoy this voyage!

Documentary Review: Downfall: The Case Against Boening (dir by Rory Kennedy)

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On October 29th, 2018, Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java sea, killing all 187 passengers and crew. It was the first accident to involve the Boeing 737 Max series of aircraft and it was also one of the first major air disasters after a period of relative safety in the sky.

A few months later, on March 10th, 2019, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed juts six minute after taking off. All 157 passengers and crew were killed. Like the Lion Air flight, the plane was a Boeing 737 Max.

At the time, Boeing insinuated that pilot error was to blame for both crashes but several investigations revealed that Boeing, which previously had a reputation for being one of the most safety-conscious companies around, cut corners when it came to the 737 Max series. In order to cut costs, not all safety protocols were followed. As a result, many concluded that the 737 Max jets should never have been approved for service to begin with. After a lengthy congressional hearing, Boeing CEO Dennis Mullenburg stepped down as a result of the scandal. Despite the fact that over 300 people had been killed in the two crashes and the fact that he left the company in shambles, Mullenburg left Boeing with a 62 million dollar severance.

That’s the story that’s told in the new Netflix documentary Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. It’s the type of thing that will and should leave you outraged. Due to the company’s negligence, over 300 people are dead and their families and friends have been left behind to mourn their loss. Boeing, at first, blamed the pilots, with the implication being that Indonesian and Ethiopian pilots just weren’t as good as their western counterparts. When the inevitable investigation was launched into just what exactly was going on over at Boeing, the company was less than forthcoming. There’s a lot to be angry about and the majority of the people who watch the documentary will be angry.

That said, the actual documentary itself is typical of a lot of the docs that turn up on the streaming services. It deals with an important subject but it does so in a rather superficial manner. It brings up the relevant issues but it doesn’t actually bother to dig too deeply into them. “Wow, this is really messed up, right?” the documentary seems to be saying and yes, it is messed up. But, at the same time, Downfall doesn’t really explore how it came to be so messed up or what can be done to make it less messed up. Instead, there’s a lot of archival news reports and enough footage of U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio grilling the Boeing executives that the documentary could pass for a campaign commercial if not for the fact that DeFazio is retiring at the end of his current term. Aesthetically, the documentary feels more like an extended episode of Dateline or 60 Minutes than an actual examination as to just what exactly was going on at Boeing. As far as documentaries directed by Kennedys are concerned, Rory Kennedy’s public service docs are certainly preferable to the anti-vax nonsense pushed out by RFK, Jr. (Rory, it should be noted, is pro-vaccination and has publicly condemned her brother’s anti-vax activities.) But still, it’s hard not to wish that Downfall had dug just a little deeper.

Film Review: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (dir by David Blue Garcia)

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Leatherface is back but don’t worry! He’s mostly just killing hipsters.

The newest version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a direct sequel to the classic 1975 film. 50 years after the murders the shocked the world, Leatherface is still missing. True crime shows still do specials about the massacre at Harlow, Texas and the mysterious murderer who were a mask made out of human skin. The only survivor of that massacre, Sally Hardestry (Olwen Fouéré, taking over the role from the late Marilyn Burns), went from being a half-crazed hippie to being a Texas Ranger. She spent decades searching for Leatherface but she never found him.

I can only assume this means that Sally was terrible at her job because this film reveals that Leatherface is still living in the small rural town of Harlow, Texas. Harlow has been largely abandoned since the original massacre. But Mrs. Mc (Alice Krige) still owns the orphanage where Leatherface apparently grew up and Leatherface still lives with her, which is weird since Leatherface had a very tight-knit family in the first film and all of the subsequent sequels. (As opposed to what David Gordon Green did with his Halloween reboot, the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre does not go out if its way to specifically deny the canonicity of the other Chainsaw films. I, for one, appreciated that. Regardless to what the critics may say, there’s always been a rather appalling smugness to the way that Green’s Halloween franchise casually wiped out everything that came after Carpenter’s original film.) Unfortunately, the bank has foreclosed on most of Harlow and the town has been bought by a bunch of Austin hipsters, who are planning on turning the town into a Marfa-style artist’s colony. I guess the idea is that artists will be attracted to the town by its cannibalistic history, just as some are attracted to Marfa’s frequent UFO spottings. Of course, the Marfa Lights have never killed anyone but who knows? Austin’s weird.

When the main hipster and the sheriff order Mrs. Mc to leave the orphanage, she has a heart attack. Leatherface accompanies her in the ambulance because, apparently, no one finds it odd that there’s a silent, hulking man wandering around in the same location where a silent, hulking man previously killed a lot of people. About halfway to the hospital, Mrs. Mc dies and Leatherface decides that it’s time to retrieve his tools and go hipster hunting.

The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre isn’t terrible as much as its just generic. Everything about it feels like it’s been lifted from other recent horror revivals. The film opens with some stabs at modern relevance, with scary rednecks glaring at the Yankee invaders and Dante (Jacob Latimore) declaring the Harlow represents the “joys of late stage capitalism.” Lila (Elsie Fisher, who previously starred in Eighth Grade and who gives a good performance here, despite getting stuck with a poorly written character) is a survivor of a school shooting and she gets upset when she sees that the local mechanic owns an AR-15. The film then turns, very briefly, into a social satire when the smug hipsters are revealed to be just as greedy and superficial as the people that they’re looking down on. However, once Leatherface grabs his chainsaw, it turns into just another slasher film. Sally does eventually show up and calls Leatherface a “motherfucker” while pointing a rifle at him but that moment feels a bit too derivative of the recent Halloween films. Perhaps if Marilyn Burns were still alive and had returned to play the role, Sally vs. Leatherface would have been the iconic horror moment that it was obviously meant to be but, with a new actress who doesn’t even have a Texas accent, it just feels a bit forced. The problem with this slasher film being generic is that it’s called Texas Chainsaw Massacre. That’s quite a legacy to live up to and, for a lot of horror fans, generic simply won’t cut it.

Indeed, as I watched this latest version, I couldn’t help but think about what made the original version a classic. The original version used its low budget to its advantage. It had a rough, raw feel to it, one that made you feel as if you were watching real people as opposed to local actors. It also had very little gore, leaving it to the audience to imagine what horror truly went on inside of Leatherface’s kitchen. (Needless to say, the imagination can always come up with something far more disturbing than anything that could actually be captured on film.) This new version takes the opposite approach. If the original worked because it haunted you after the final frame, the new version is all on the surface. There’s a lack of authenticity to this new version of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The first film was made by Texans and it was filmed in Texas. You could look at any scene in the original and feel the heat and the humidity. This new version was filmed in Bulgaria. Texas may be in the title but it’s nowhere in the film.

(Indeed, one of the main reasons why the original film was a success was because it was identified as taking place in Texas, a state that scared a lot of people when the film was originally released and a state that, admittedly, probably still scare scares a lot of people, even though we’re all pretty nice down here. People would laugh off a Vermont Chainsaw Massacre.)

There’s also no family dynamic in this new version. There’s no sign of Leatherface’s brothers or their ancient grandpa. Once Mrs. Mc dies, it’s pretty much just Leatherface and no one, not even Sally, comments on the fact that Leatherface didn’t work alone in the first film. Without his family around, Leatherface just becomes another silent serial killer. There were times, in the sequel, where he seemed like he had more in common with Rob Zombie’s version of Michael Myers than with the overwhelmed but hard-working Leatherface of the original film.

That said, on the positive side, I did appreciate the remake’s final scene. It was a bit predictable but it still managed to be enjoyably chaotic. What’s more annoying? Leatherface or a self-driving car?

Music Video of the Day: Find My Baby by Moby (2000, dir by Barnaby & Scott)

Posted on February 18, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

You may remember that this song plays over the end credits for American Outlaws. It was a good pick because the song has a real western feel to it. That said, it also has nothing to do with this music video, which interprets the song fairly literally. “Oh my God! They really are finding a baby!”

These babies are all adults now.

Enjoy!