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 →

Tequila Sunrise

It's been a week or two now since I revisited Robert Towne's criminally underrated neo-noir classic Tequila Sunrise (1988), and I'm still obsessing over falling in love again with both the film and Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance. A sharp Towne script, packed with crackling dialogue, along with gorgeous cinematography from Oscar-winner Conrad Hall and a stellar … Continue reading Tequila Sunrise →

Cheetos, Candy, and the Light: Dangerous Minds at 25

Continuing the theme of back to school from my last post, I've been thinking a lot about how classrooms won't look or feel the same this year. And classrooms now also include the living rooms, kitchen tables, or dens of American households, as so many of us will be working from home and overseeing our … Continue reading Cheetos, Candy, and the Light: Dangerous Minds at 25 →

Back to School Again…Maybe

Grease 2 is on my mind a lot under normal circumstances, but with school districts and states across the United States unveiling the myriad, well-meaning but crazy-complicated and nerve-wracking plans for sending children back into Covid Petri dishes....well, I’m thinking about Grease 2 even more these days. I won’t bore you with the details. Short … Continue reading Back to School Again…Maybe →

Bombshells and Sunshine

Earlier this week, a friend on social media posted a set of four photos of Michelle Pfeiffer, taken from various early career projects, and asked if anyone could name the films and television series. As you might imagine, I moved faster than the speed of light to answer. My fingers started tapping so fast and … Continue reading Bombshells and Sunshine →

High Priestess of Horror

“I think it's very amazing that I do horror films when I had this awful childhood. But maybe that's why I'm good at it.” Ingrid Pitt grew up in Nazi occupied Poland. She survived the concentration camps. A few years later she was a young mother who started a career in film at a time … Continue reading High Priestess of Horror →

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 →