Tag Archives: review

Music Video of the Day: How Soon Is Now? covered by t.A.T.u. (2003, dir by t.A.T.u.)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The song is by The Smiths but the cover version is by t.A.T.u., the Russian duo who became famous by allowing people to (incorrectly) assume that they were a couple.  When I first met my BFF Evelyn one of the things that we immediately bonded over was our shared appreciation for the absurdity of t.A.T.u.

As far as the cover goes, it’s not that bad.  t.A.T.u. has frequently been criticized for lacking vocal range but, here, that doesn’t really become an issue until the end of the song, when Julia start to struggle.  Who cares?  It’s all about that guitar chord at the beginning.

As far as the video goes, it’s made up of a mix of footage of Julia and Lena performing on stage and some “candid” backstage stuff.  By “candid,” I mean obviously staged.  There’s another version of this video, which is even more candid.

Enjoy!

Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 3.6 “The Bulls Change Hands”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.

This episode was confusing.  Is syndication to blame?

Episode 3.6 “The Bulls Change Hands”

(Dir by Stan Lathan, originally aired on September 9th, 1987)

Diana no longer owns the Bulls!

That was the main plot development to be found in this cluttered episode of 1st & Ten.  As I’ve mentioned before, the episodes of 1st & Ten that are available on Tubi are the heavily edited versions that were sold into syndication as opposed to the original, R-rated versions that appeared on HBO.  With quite a few of these episodes, it’s obvious that entire plotlines have been pretty much chopped out.  That certainly feels like the case here because, despite having watched the episode, I’m still not totally sure how Diane lost the Bulls in the first place.

What I do know is that she threatened to expose Teddy’s insider trading.  Teddy responded by leaving the country but, before he left, he gave his ownership shares to his daughter, Jill (Leah Ayres).  Teddy explains that this makes Jill the owner of the Bulls.  But my understanding was that Teddy only owned half the team so it seems like that would mean Jill and Diane would now be co-owners.  Perhaps I missed something in an earlier episode or maybe some line of dialogue was cut out for syndication, I’m not sure.  What I do know is that Jill now owns the Bulls.  The first thing she does is break up with Yinessa because she can’t be both his boss and his girlfriend.

In her final locker room speech, Diane orders the Bulls to win because Diane is taking Jill to court and she wants the team to be in the playoffs once she returns as the owner.  It’s not a bad speech but again, I thought Diane still owned at least half of the team.

Meanwhile, Yinessa is back as quarterback.  And he leads the Bulls to their first victory of the season.  His new wide receiver, Billy Cooper (Michael Toland) catches the game-winning pass.  At the same time that Billy is scoring, some guy who we’ve never seen before is shooting at him from the roof of the stadium.  The police arrest the guy and Billy later discovers a bullet lodged in his helmet.

Bubba’s sex therapist (Penny Johnson) is now obsessed with him, despite Bubba’s attempts to set her up with with Jethro.  I have a feeling that the Jethro/Bubba storylines were the ones that really got left on the cutting room floor when it came to editing these episodes for syndication.  Jethro and Bubba have been with the show since the beginning and they’ve got prominent billing in the opening credits but, when it comes to their roles in the episodes themselves, it seems like the only thing that happens is Bubba says that he needs to get laid and then the two of them disappear for several weeks.  When they do finally reappear, Bubba is always in some sort of new trouble with his wife.

Speaking of marriage, in this episode, TD Parker finally confesses to his wife that he’s been having an affair.

TD apologizes.  His wife tells him to get out.  Agck!  I can see where this storyline is heading but OJ Simpson fighting with his wife still lands differently in 2026 than it probably did in 1987.

This episode was a mess but I guess Jill is the owner of the Bulls now and Teddy’s fled to South America.  Can’t the Bull just concentrate on playing football and earning their paycheck?

Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.11 “The World’s Greatest Kisser/Don’t Take My Wife, Please/The Reluctant Father”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986!  The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!

Love wont hurt anymore….

Episode 7.11 “The World’s Greatest Kisser/Don’t Take My Wife, Please/The Reluctant Father”

(Dir by Ted Lange, originally aired on November 26th, 1983)

Sawdust Radell (Dan Haggerty) is looking for revenge.  The woman he loved dumped him after having a romance with one of the officers on the Pacific Princess.  She didn’t tell him the officer’s name but she did say that he was “the greatest kisser in the world.”  Ol’ Sawdust boards the ship with his best friend, Bonnie Lee Boone (Elaine Joyce).  He wants Bonnie Lee to kiss each of the ship’s officers and then report back on which one is the greatest kisser.  What is Sawdust planning on doing?  I have no idea but I have a feeling that Sawdust might have a prison stint in his future.

(That was certainly true for actor Dan Haggerty who, two years after this episode ended, was arrested for trying to sell cocaine to an undercover police officer.)

Bonnie Lee kisses the Captain, Doc, and Gopher.  She causes a lot of jealousy amongst the crew but they’re not the only ones getting jealous.  Sawdust realizes that he’s in love with Bonnie Lee.  He also gets a cable from his ex, informing him of the name of the officer.  It turns out that the “world’s greatest kisser” is some guy who we have never seen or heard of before and he has since transferred to a different ship.  Well, that’s convenient.

Before leaving the ship, the Captain asks Bonnie who the best kisser amongst the remaining crew was.  Wisely, Bonnie Lee looks over at Sawdust and says, “Him!”

(No, she did not kiss Isaac.  Then again, Ted Lange was busy directing this episode so Isaac’s not really around that much.)

Young executive Matt Stevens (Parker Stevenson) is taking a business cruise.  He boards with his new wife, Marion (Kirstie Alley).  Uh-oh, it turns out that Matt’s boss, Arthur Boggs (David Doyle), gave strict orders that wives were not allowed on the cruise!  As Arthur explains it, “If I let you bring your wife, then I have to bring my wife.”  And it turns out that Arthur — who says stuff like “As they say in Moscow, I’m hot to Trotsky!” — really wants to cheat on his wife.

Matt asks Marion to remove her wedding ring and pretend she doesn’t know him.  Marion agrees.  (Personally, I would have just asked for a maritime divorce.)  But when Arthur starts hitting on Marion and Marion starts spending time with Arthur, Matt is finally forced to stand up and announce, “This is my wife!”

“You’re fired!” Arthur replies.

And you’re sued, Matt should have said.  Seriously, you can’t fire someone for being married.  And perhaps Arthur figures that out because he later offers to give Matt back his job.  Matt smiles and accepts.  Does Matt have any self-respect?

Finally, teenage Melissa Weatherly (Danielle Brisebois) boards the boat with her father, Elliot (William Christopher).  Melissa’s parents divorced when Melissa was young and she’s never really known her father.  But now that her mom has died, Melissa is living with Elliot and the two are trying to adjust.  Elliot makes the mistake of suggesting that Melissa go to boarding school.  Melissa becomes convinced that Elliot doesn’t love her.  Fortunately, Vicki is there to talk to Melissa and the Captain is there to talk to Elliot.

This storyline made me think of my own relationship with my Dad and, as a result, it brought tears to my eyes.  Gavin MacLeod always did well whenever the show gave him a serious storyline.  Plus, it was good that Vicki actually had someone her own age to hang out with for once.  I always worry about the fact that Vicki seems to spend all of her time on a cruise ship, surrounded by people who are about 40 years older than her.

This is one of the many episodes that Ted Lange directed.  Lange always seemed to get better-than-average performances out of both the regulars and the guest stars and that’s certainly the case here.  William Christopher and Danielle Brisebois both turn in strong performances as the father and the daughter.  Parker Stevenson and Kirstie Alley were themselves newlyweds when they did this episode and their chemistry comes through, even if Stevenson is playing an annoyingly wimpy character.

This was a good cruise!

Lifetime Film Review: The Pastor Who Preys (dir by Linden Ashby)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Caleb Whitley (Daniel Stine) is an energetic and handsome pastor who is also a coach at the local high school.  His father was a pastor and Caleb inherited the church that his old man founded.  Caleb’s loyal mother, Hattie (Annette Saunders), is there to protect Caleb in all that he does because she believes that he is meant for something special.  Caleb’s wife, Jenn (Clark Sarullo), appears to be the perfect pastor’s wife.  She’s blonde, she’s composed, and she always seem to have control over the situation.

And that’s good because Caleb …. well, Caleb often falls to temptation.

Caleb is the type of pastor who makes a big deal about running shirtless every morning so that the single women of the neighborhood can appreciate him.  Caleb says he’s just trying to take care of his body but we all know what he’s doing.  Caleb also has a history of cheating on Jenn and his mistresses have a tendency to turn up dead once they become inconvenient.  Is the Pastor truly preying?  Or is something else happening?

That’s what fashion designer Nicole (Amanda Nicholas) is determined to find out.  After her cousin, Amanda (Analisa Wall) is found dead, Nicole immediately suspects the pastor.  She shares her concerns with Detective Chandler (Wade Hunt Williams) but does she have any proof?  Not yet….

I should say a few words about Detective Chandler.  There are a lot of memorable characters to be found in The Pastor Who Preys but Detective Chandler is one of the most entertaining, just because he seems to be so genuinely perplexed by everything that he hears.  Most detectives tend to be cynical but Detective Chandler seems to be genuinely shocked at the idea that the pastor could be a serial adulterer.  When the detective later talks to Jenn about the rumors of her husband’s infidelity, he has no problem revealing the name of the person who said that Caleb’s a cheater.  It seems like most detectives would know better than to reveal the name to a potential suspect.  Chandler is so incompetent at his job that he becomes oddly likable.  I mean, he’s just trying so hard!  His facial expressions during the film’s finale really should be put in a museum.

This is a Lifetime church melodrama.  I have to admit that almost everything I know about protestant churches, I learned from watching Lifetime.  I’ve learned that the pastors are always charismatic but they shouldn’t be trusted.  The church men always want to get home to watch the game.  The church women always spend their meetings gossiping about who is cheating on whom.  There’s always a divorcee who wears leopard-print dresses and who has her eye on the pastor.  In this film, that role is filled by Lacey (Erika Monet Butters) and she’s definitely the best character in the film.

The Pastor Who Preys is an enjoyable melodrama in the time-honored Lifetime tradition.  It offers up several credible suspects and I have to admit that my first guess as to who was guilty turned out to be wrong.  Caleb is one smooth operator.  I expect he’ll return when they get around to The Pastor Who Stalked Me.

Late Night Retro Television Review: Pacific Blue 3.17 “House Party”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Tuesdays, I will be reviewing Pacific Blue, a cop show that aired from 1996 to 2000 on the USA Network!  It’s currently streaming everywhere, though I’m watching it on Tubi.

This week, the bicycle cops screw up again.

Episode 3.17 “House Party”

(Dir by Michael Levine, originally aired on February 1st, 1997)

One of the one more entertaining things about Pacific Blue is witnessing how bad the bicycle cops actually are at their job.

I don’t think that was intentional on the part of the show.  I think the show meant for us to watch TC, Palermo, and Victor on their bikes and think to ourselves, “Those are the men that I want protecting me!”  However, the narrative demands of an hour show required that the bike cops always screw up in some way, whether it’s failing to catch the bad guys the first time that they commit a crime or suspecting the wrong guy while working undercover or just letting their personal lives get in the way of their professional judgment.  Combine that with some bad scripts and a group of actors who struggled with showing any emotion beyond grim annoyance and you have a show about cops who are not only incompetent but also kind of rude.

That’s certainly the case with this week’s episode.  Not only do they allow an escaped murderer (Currie Graham) to grab a gun and take over the station but then TC proceeds to spend almost the entire episode arguing with Palermo and the SWAT team because Chris is among those being held hostage on the inside.  When the cops realize that the murderer’s girlfriend is somewhere on the beach, they put Cory in a chicken uniform and have her walk around pretending to hand out flyers for a restaurant.  “Chickelicous,” Cory says as she walks along the beach.  Of course, the murder’s girlfriend spots her and taking off running.  Guess what?  It’s not easy to chase someone when you’re dressed like a chicken!  Seriously, I can understand trying to maintain some element of surprise but why would they put Coy in a costume that severely limits her mobility?

Anyway, this was a hostage episode, which means that almost whole thing was the hostage taker barking orders while the hostages either cowered in fear or tried to stalk some sense into him and the members of his gang.  Episodes about hostage situations are almost always incredibly dull and this episode was no exception.  In the end, Victor — who was in the station when the situation started and managed to go unseen by the hostage takers — was there to do his John McClane thing.  All of the bad guys died.  The hostages were freed.  The bike patrol’s main concern was that Chris was okay.  I would probably be offended if I was one of the civilian hostages.  Just because their friend is okay doesn’t excuse the incompetence that led to the situation in the first place.

Eh.  Just another day in L.A., I guess.

A Blast From The Past: ShamWow!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Remember the ShamWow guy?

Vince from ShamWow was a candidate in tonight’s Texas primary election.  He was running for the U.S. House and …. well, he lost.  He lost big time.  Like even the crazy woman who moved down to Texas from Missouri so that she could run in a district she barely knew managed to outpoll him.  That’s how badly he lost.

I’m kind of depressed about that.  Seriously, what fun are celebrity candidates if we don’t elect them?  Really, he should have run in my district.  My district didn’t have anyone interesting running.  I ended up voting for a former Olympic fencer.  I would have voted for Vince from Shamwow.

In honor of Vince’s political dreams and as a reminder of a simpler age, here is tonight’s blast from the past!  From 2007, it’s ShamWow!

Seriously, folks, Olympic divers used it as a towel!

The Films of 2026: In The Blink Of An Eye (dir by Andrew Stanton)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The most interesting thing about In The Blink Of An Eye is who directed it.

Andrew Stanton got his start at PIXAR, directing films like A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, and my personal favorite, WALL-E.  (He also directed Toy Story 5, which will be coming out later this year.)  Stanton’s PIXAR films were some of the best to come out of that legendary studio.  Especially when it came to WALL-E, he showed not only his skill as a visual storyteller but also his ability to craft compelling narratives that sold their message without necessarily feeling preachy.  (If you didn’t cry while watching WALL-E, you don’t have a heart.)  Stanton’s first live action film was John Carter, a legendary flop that was more betrayed by its producers than its director.  After the failure of John Carter, Stanton redeemed himself by directing episodes of shows like Stranger Things, Better Call Saul, and For All Mankind.

In The Blink Of An Eye is Stanton’s second live action film.  It’s an earnest film.  One can tell that both Stanton and the film’s screenwriter, Colby Day, felt they had something important to say.  (Day’s screenplay appeared on the 2016 Black List, which is the annual list of the “best” unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.  Unfortunately, as anyone who has sat through Cedar Rapids can tell you, merely getting on the Black List is not a guarantee that a script will be transformed into a good or even watchable movie.)  Like WALL-E, it’s a film with a message.  Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near as watchable or compelling as Stanton’s animated work.

It’s a film that tells three interconnected stories, each one taking place at a different time in human history.  In 45,000 BC, a family of cave people struggle to survive and to start a civilization on the beach of a largely untouched Earth.  In the 21st century, anthropologist Claire (Rashida Jones) falls in love with Greg (Daveed Diggs) and eventually, they have a son who inherits their shared interest in science and their appreciation for Paleolithic culture.  (Don’t let Claire hear you suggest that Neanderthals were dumb.)  Meanwhile, in the far future, Coakley (Kate McKinnon) lives on a spaceship where her only companion is an AI named Rosco (voiced by Rhona Rees).   When Coakley’s mission appears to be in jeopardy, Rosco suggests that the only solution might be Coakley shutting Rosco down.  The stories share a connection, one that most audiences will guess before the film gets around to revealing it.

As I said, In The Blink Of An Eye is an earnest and well-intentioned film.  (Colby Day also wrote the screenplay for the underrated Spaceman, a film that dealt with similar themes.)  And yet, it really doesn’t work.  The pacing is off.  This is a 90 minute film that feels considerably longer.  The stories themselves are not particularly compelling.  The cave people are well-acted and I appreciated the fact that they spoke they’re own language as opposed to crude English but they were also way too clean.  For a group of people who lived without soap, toothpaste, razors, and deodorant, they were way too physically pleasant to be credible.  Rashida Jones and Daveed Diggs are sweet when they’re falling in love but then they become rather insufferable once they start a family.  As for the future scenes, Kate McKinnon has never been a particularly consistent actress and that trend continues here.  She gets outacted by the voice of Rosco.  (Having the AI be more likable than the actual human worked well in 2001 but it’s far less effective here.)

As I said, it was well-intentioned but, in the end, it just left me wanting to watch WALL-E again.

Documentary Review: I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not (dir by Marina Zenovich)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 2024’s Saturday Night, there’s a scene where the president of NBC (played by Willem DaFoe) tells a young and arrogant Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) that, if he plays his cards right, he might someday replace Johnny Carson as America’s most popular talk show host.  When Chase brags about this to one of the writers of Saturday Night Live, the writer — who is portrayed as being a weary industry veteran — tells Chase that he will never replace Johnny Carson.  In exacting detail, he predicts that Chase will start strong.  He’ll be one of the early stars of Saturday Night Live but then he’ll let the adulation go to his head and his arrogance will alienate everyone who once believed in him and, in the end, Chevy Chase will end up a faded, nearly forgotten star.

The film obviously meant for this scene to be a crowd-pleaser.  Personally, I found it to be gratuitously cruel.  While watching Saturday Night, we all know what the future holds for Chevy Chase but having a fictional character show up for just one scene so that he can say it to Chase’s face feels excessive.  It’s not only a bit too on-the-nose but it’s also not necessary.  However, the scene does speak to a larger truth.  It’s socially acceptable to hate Chevy Chase.

The stories of Chase’s bad behavior are legendary.  People have heard the stories about him being difficult to work with on the set of Community.  They’ve heard about him suggesting a skit in which Terry Sweeney, the first openly gay member of the Saturday Night Live cast, would announce that he had AIDS.  Everyone can visualize the famous brawl that occurred between Bill Murry and Chase when the latter first returned to host SNL and I think nearly everyone agrees that they’d rather have Bill Murray crash their wedding than Chevy.  Chase is famous for being rude and for snapping at people in interviews.  It’s not only socially acceptable to hate Chevy Chase but it’s kind of expected, especially if you’re an extremely online comedy nerd.

Myself, I have to admit that I wonder why Chase’s personality is the business of anyone other than the people who have work with him.  Does the fact that he’s not lovable in real life somehow make Christmas Vacation less entertaining to watch in December and if so, why?  One might be tempted to wonder if some grace can be given to an 82 year-old man who is obviously in frail health and whose ideas about comedy were developed in a time very different from today.

That many people would answer that question with a resounding “no,” is evidence of just how bad of a reputation Chevy Chase has.  Marina Zenovich, the director of I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not, described Chevy Chase as being the “rudest” person that she has ever interviewed and you can see more than a little of that while watching the documentary.  He replies to one question with, “You b*tch.”  (I gave up cursing for Lent and I’m not going back on my word just to quote Chevy Chase.)  Another question leads to him telling the interviewer that she’s stupid.  When asked about Terry Sweeney, Chase’s first reaction is to laugh and his second reaction is to say that he had heard Sweeney was dead.  (Sweeney is alive and, like many of the people who have worked with Chase in the past, declined to be interviewed for the documentary.  We can probably learn more from so many of them not wanting to talk about working Chase than we could from any of their interviews.)

And yet, there are scenes where you can see evidence of the aging and very human person hiding underneath all of the rudeness and the bluster.  When Zenovich mentions that a lot of people dislike Chase, the pain in his eyes will take you by surprise.  When he meets a fan in a diner, he seems to be genuinely touched.  Chase’s love for his family comes through, as does their love for him.  His daughter talks about a time when Chase nearly died and the viewer is reminded that, regardless of all the stories, he’s still a father and a husband.  There’s a moment where Chase seems to forget the name of his first wife.  Is he being a jerk or is he an 80-something man with memory issues?  It’s far too easy to make assumptions, both good and bad, about famous people who we don’t actually know.

The first fourth of the documentary discusses the early days of Chase’s career while the second fourth deals with his declining stardom and his reputation for being difficult.  Performers like Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D’Angelo, and Goldie Hawn all appear to defend him while others are a bit less charitable.  And yet, the most important part of the documentary comes towards the end, when Chase attends a showing a Christmas Vacation and takes questions from people in the audience.  Even then, Chase is a profane smart-aleck and the audience loves it.

And, for at least a little while, Chevy Chase seems to love it too.