From the Vault: Pieces

This essay was first published at my old site, in substantially different form, a few years ago. I watched Pieces again recently and felt the need to expand on that post. Few cult films remain as notorious as Juan Piquer Simon's Pieces (1982). It was seized and confiscated in the UK during the infamous video … Continue reading From the Vault: Pieces →

Possession

The legend of Lou Reed's Berlin (1973), the brutal concept album about the disintegration of a marriage, goes something like this: coming off his first big solo success with Transformer (1972), Reed and producer Bob Ezrin inexplicably set out to make "the most depressing album of all time." And if you know (and love) Berlin … Continue reading Possession →

From the Vault: Kelly Bundy and the Alternative Family Ideal

This was originally published at my old site four years ago. I've revised it a bit to share here because of actress Christina Applegate's recent disclosure that she has multiple sclerosis. Applegate holds a special place in my heart and has since I was roughly 12 years old, thanks to her funny and sexy performance … Continue reading From the Vault: Kelly Bundy and the Alternative Family Ideal →

Sea of Love

"I feel like a fucking teenager."Det. Frank Keller, Sea of Love Knocked silly, knocked flat, sideways downThese things they pick you up and turn you aroundSay your pieceSay you're sweet for meREM, "Me In Honey" Teenage love and lust in all its messy and passionate glory is the ultimate love, right? I mean, that's what … Continue reading Sea of Love →

The Bat and the Cat

In The Brave and the Bold #197 (April 1983, DC Comics) Alan Brennert penned what I consider to be the definitive Batman/Bruce Wayne and Catwoman/Selina Kyle story. One of comics’ longest-running and most storied romances, the Bat and the Cat had already been flirting shamelessly and stealing kisses for more than four decades by the … Continue reading The Bat and the Cat →

Home Box Office

I've been feeling extremely nostalgic lately for movies that used to be in constant rotation on HBO in the early to mid 1980s. I was too young to be watching them but, you guessed it, I watched them anyway. Remember, I'm part of the last generation of latchkey kids that grew up with the freedom … Continue reading Home Box Office →

“She Dies in Life, I Live in Death”: Zoë Tamerlis Lund

Zoë Tamerlis Lund was born in New York City on this day in 1962. She was a musician, model, actress, political activist, producer, and screenwriter, among other things. She was already a gifted pianist when she made her acting debut as the Avenging Angel Thana in Abel Ferrara's 1981 cult classic Ms. 45, long considered … Continue reading “She Dies in Life, I Live in Death”: Zoë Tamerlis Lund →