Traveling at the Speed of Love: Judgment Night at 30

Thirty years on, I can still recall how exciting it felt to sit in the theater and watch the opening scene of Stephen Hopkins’s urban paranoia classic Judgment Night (1993). A black screen fades to blue sky as the first notes of De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub’s “Fallin’” ring out, followed by the evocative … Continue reading Traveling at the Speed of Love: Judgment Night at 30 →

A Woman Possessed: Michelle Pfeiffer in What Lies Beneath

It’s October, so you know what that means: I’m back on my What Lies Beneath bullshit. It seems I’m beginning to make a habit out of posting about it every October. Well, that’s only natural because the 2000 supernatural thriller, directed by Robert Zemeckis, combines three of my favorite things: Michelle Pfeiffer, autumn in New … Continue reading A Woman Possessed: Michelle Pfeiffer in What Lies Beneath →

Season of the Witch: Dusty Anderson

Three years ago I celebrated Halloween 2020 with three posts under the “Season of the Witch” banner. Each one was a brief love letter to a beloved witch—Michelle Pfeiffer as Sukie Ridgemont in The Witches of Eastwick, Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha from Bewitched, and Morgan Fairchild’s memorable photo shoot. Witches are by far one of … Continue reading Season of the Witch: Dusty Anderson →

Framing Pfeiffer in the ‘80s

As you might remember, thanks to this post, my cover article in the current issue of Cinema of the ‘80s magazine is an eleven-page deep dive into Michelle Pfeiffer’s 1980s films. In that piece, I look at how she developed into the Michelle Pfeiffer we know and love today. That was her first decade in … Continue reading Framing Pfeiffer in the ‘80s →

Calendar Girl: Julie London for October

For the tenth entry in the Julie London Calendar Series of 2023, we’ve finally reached your humble blogger’s favorite month of the year. Hello, October! My, how I’ve missed you so. During “This October,” when Julie breathlessly sings, “What is more exciting than the crisp brisk weather in the fall,” I answer with an emphatic, … Continue reading Calendar Girl: Julie London for October →

Bettie, Just Because

It’s been a long week, so let’s cut the crap and get to the point fast, and that point is Bettie Page. Sometimes, when the world is just dragging you down, a sure fire way to brighten your day is to gaze upon that instant mood-lifter: Bettie’s pinup modeling. Strumming our pain with her fingers. … Continue reading Bettie, Just Because →

Trick ‘r Treat

Stop by your local Spirit Halloween during Samhain season and you’re guaranteed to find the annual pop-up store stuffed full of merchandise from the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street films. These venerable horror institutions have been around for forty-five, forty-three, and thirty-nine years, respectively. Yet, right alongside merch from those classics, … Continue reading Trick ‘r Treat →