Vampire Lovers

“Just to let him get the full inventory I eased out of my very mini-skirt and tight—but tight—sweater. Get the picture? Jimmy did. ‘I’ve got three parts for you’ he said.” That’s actress and Hammer horror legend Ingrid Pitt, in her extremely entertaining book Ingrid Pitt’s Bedside Companion for Vampire Lovers. In that passage she’s … Continue reading Vampire Lovers →

Breathless Forever

I'll bring the wine, you bring your scarred psyche. Dr. Chase Meridian, from the late Joel Schumacher’s extravagant blockbuster Batman Forever (1995), will never be mistaken for some of Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman’s finest work. That’s neither here nor there, though, when you’re talking about the deliciously campy performance she delivers as the good doctor. Breathless … Continue reading Breathless Forever →

The Pfeiffer Woman

"Yeah, I'm free everyday. It's in the Constitution." - Stephanie Zinone, Grease 2 "What scares me isn't how short life is, no, it's the pain, all the pain. I don't understand why there has to be any pain." - Sukie Ridgemont, The Witches of Eastwick "What are you, the last civilized man?" - Laura Alden, … Continue reading The Pfeiffer Woman →

Gale Weathers, Forever

Part of why I love Wes Craven's Scream movies so much is they star not one, but two, female survivors: Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers. Gale is so crucial. She starts the first film an opportunist, leveraging tragedy for careerist goals. Then, when shit gets real, so does she. Her humanity blooms and we root … Continue reading Gale Weathers, Forever →

More Than You Know

I don't know what's going on most days, lately. Everything has been really difficult, for three months straight now. Everyone is in so much pain, and those that aren't are either oblivious or selfish and hateful, and all of these reasons are depressing. So I spend a fare amount of time staring at the computer … Continue reading More Than You Know →

Still Some Kind of Wonderful

Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) probably shouldn’t have worked. Arriving at the end of John Hughes’s successful run of teen movies in the 1980s, on paper it looks like nothing more than a gender-swapped re-do of Hughes’s Pretty in Pink (1986). The behind-the-scenes production history is full of chaos, with original director Martha Coolidge being … Continue reading Still Some Kind of Wonderful →

On My Mind

“And why not? It could be your brother too, or your sister, or your children. I want justice for all of them. And I want justice for all the people whose lives are bought and sold, so that a few big shots can climb up on their backs, and laugh at the law, and laugh … Continue reading On My Mind →