Merry Xmas, Motherf@$#ers! ‘Long Kiss Goodnight’ Explodes With A $h!tload Of Holiday Cheer

A movie like The Long Kiss Goodnight completes the unofficial decade-long trilogy of Christmas Action Thrillers that began with Lethal Weapon, unseasonably released in the spring of 1987 and continued with Die Hard in the summer of 1988. (Yeah, I know Die Hard 2 takes place on Christmas Eve too, but this is a farContinue reading “Merry Xmas, Motherf@$#ers! ‘Long Kiss Goodnight’ Explodes With A $h!tload Of Holiday Cheer”

‘Eyes Wide Shut’ 25 Years Later Still Divides Kubrick’s Fans

One thing I’ve always liked about Stanley Kubrick’s movies is how they grow on you after repeated viewings. Only, I didn’t like Spartacus, but I understand there were problems between Kubrick and Kirk Douglas which caused Kubrick to leave Hollywood and live the rest of his life in England. Kubrick loved chess so much thatContinue reading “‘Eyes Wide Shut’ 25 Years Later Still Divides Kubrick’s Fans”

‘Tales From The Crypt’ Xmas Episode Is Career Highlight For Late Actress

Mary Ellen Trainor was married to Robert Zemeckis from 1980 to 2000. Some people might say the character actress was the Sherri Moon Zombie or Rebecca Pidgeon of her time as she seemed to always appear in movies he made, even though she did have roles in other movies and on TV. She played KathleenContinue reading “‘Tales From The Crypt’ Xmas Episode Is Career Highlight For Late Actress”

Justice For Todd And Margo

I have a question to ask you – What exactly did Todd and Margo Chester do in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to do be villainized and suffer the burnt of Clark Griswold’s mayhem? I’ll wait. Can’t think of anything, can you? When we first see Todd and Margo (Nicholas Guest and Julia Louis-Dreyfus), they areContinue reading “Justice For Todd And Margo”

‘Runaway’ Stumbled 40 Years Ago, But The Future Is Now

The question of what came first – the chicken or the egg can apply to many science-fiction movies. Did people read Jules Verne and become inspired to make submarines and spaceships or was Verne just expanding on what others were designing? Submersibles date back 300 years before Verne wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. WhatContinue reading “‘Runaway’ Stumbled 40 Years Ago, But The Future Is Now”

‘The Terminator’ Turns 40

A movie like The Terminator could’ve easily been a huge disaster. It featured an Austrian bodybuilder whose accent wasn’t the right tone for actors of the era. The “hero” dies at the end. And the main character is a young actress who was in that Children of the Corn movie. Oh, the director was alsoContinue reading “‘The Terminator’ Turns 40”

Don’t Invite ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ To Your Holiday Get-Together

Getting together for Thanksgiving weekend is always a hassle for families. There’s all the cooking and the rearranging of family coming to visit. And then, you have law enforcement interrupt your plans by planning a raid where you have several people tied up in the basement. Or you’re stopping by a roadside motel only toContinue reading “Don’t Invite ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ To Your Holiday Get-Together”

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish each and everyone of you a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I have no plans for today but something later this weekend. I’m probably going to watch the parade and then Planes Trains and Automobiles. If you’re not a fan of football but want to watch something else, you can alwaysContinue reading “Happy Thanksgiving!”

All That ZAZ: Thanks For The Laughter, Jim Abrahams!

Some movies seemed to just come around at the right time. When Airplane! opened in the summer of 1980, the Irwin Allen-produced era of the disaster movies that dominated the 1970s had ended with the atrociously bad When Time Ran Out… and it seemed the movie could’ve been a parody that was a few yearsContinue reading “All That ZAZ: Thanks For The Laughter, Jim Abrahams!”

‘The Dead Pool’ Is Dirty Harry’s Swan Song In Metafictional Thriller

A movie like The Dead Pool is now more famous for its supporting cast and the unrelated media franchise its named spawned. It is the fifth and final Dirty Harry movie as Clint Eastwood was well into his 50s by the time of the movie’s release in the summer of 1988. My thinking Eastwood madeContinue reading “‘The Dead Pool’ Is Dirty Harry’s Swan Song In Metafictional Thriller”