Fast Times with Phoebe

Legendary 1980s star Phoebe Cates turns 57 today. For many Gen Xers, Cates was the only religion we cared about back then. Her memorable monologue in Gremlins has remained an annual holiday favorite, which I’ve written about previously. Her roles in Private School and Drop Dead Fred were big favorites, but it was her work … Continue reading Fast Times with Phoebe →

40 Years of Dark Phoenix

The culmination of several years' worth of serialized storytelling, Marvel's Uncanny X-Men #137 hit newsstands and comic book shops forty years ago this summer. I didn’t read it until 1984, when it was collected in this then-newfangled thing called a graphic novel, which I begged my mother to buy for me from the local bookstore, … Continue reading 40 Years of Dark Phoenix →

Faith and Sweet Liberty

Today America celebrates its independence. Honestly, between the embarrassing and dangerous totalitarian tyrant in the White House and the coronavirus spreading like wildfire through the heartland and Deep South, there isn’t much to celebrate these days. So let’s celebrate something we can all get behind: Michelle Pfeiffer in Alan Alda’s largely forgotten midlife crisis film … Continue reading Faith and Sweet Liberty →

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 →

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 →

Return to Crystal Lake

With the original Friday the 13th (F13) celebrating its fortieth anniversary recently, I decided to revisit the film that launched the franchise, and then wound up rewatching the next seven sequels after that. This was an impromptu marathon, perfectly made for these lockdown times, but one I'm glad I embarked upon, even if I'm feeling … Continue reading Return to Crystal Lake →