Interview with the Vampire

It’s 1994 and I’m working at a Waldenbooks in a mall in upstate New York. My manager Jim (can't remember his last name) is probably ten years older than me, so he'd been a teenager in the 1970s while I was just a baby and a toddler. I eat up his seventies stories, which he … Continue reading Interview with the Vampire →

Susie—not Suzie—Diamond

Google searches for Susie Diamond constantly ask me “Did you mean Suzie Diamond?” No, Google! I mean Susie! You know, Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1989 Steve Kloves masterpiece The Fabulous Baker Boys? That Susie Diamond. Susie is the role that should have won Michelle an Oscar. She won every other major award for her stunning, … Continue reading Susie—not Suzie—Diamond →

The Ethereal Amy Irving

Sissy Spacek deserves all the praise she gets for Carrie (1976), but it’s always bothered me how few people (beyond my fellow Carrie obsessives) seem to appreciate how beautiful and heartbreaking Amy Irving is as Sue Snell. As a kid I felt I was supposed to dislike Sue—she was popular! Boo! And was she trying … Continue reading The Ethereal Amy Irving →

Men Love Scrambled

Recently, while watching a favorite film of mine, Ron Howard’s Night Shift (1982)—about a pair of unlikely “love brokers” in early eighties New York City—I had an epiphany. Specifically, this moment of clarity occurred during an early scene when Shelley Long’s character Belinda, a gorgeous and statuesque hooker with a heart of gold, scrambles up … Continue reading Men Love Scrambled →

Mangia

There’s so little that brings smiles to our faces this year, but when I stumbled on this old photo I couldn’t help but grin and chuckle. Four things I love in one shot: Benicio Del Toro (an excellent actor), Parker Posey (my ‘90s indie movie queen), Italian food (my roots and my lifeblood), and Parker … Continue reading Mangia →