One of the most popular topics among filmmakers is to poke fun at Hollywood. Sometimes, it works with movies like The Player and Bowfinger and sometimes it fails like most recently Babylon. As the TV show Community boldly said people grow tired of movies about making movies about making movies. But a movie like TropicContinue reading “‘Tropic Thunder’ Sounds Off The Brutal Savagery Of Hollywood Filmmaking”
Category Archives: Movie Flashback
‘Wild Things’ At 25: How A Sleazy Movie Got So Many A-Listers And It Worked
When Wild Things hit theaters in 1998, it was the first day of Spring March 20 and the movie had numerous A-listers on the cast in a movie that includes greed, sex and murder. Wild Things seems like one of those movies you’d come across on Skinemax with Shannon Whirry, Shannon Tweed and Andrew StevensContinue reading “‘Wild Things’ At 25: How A Sleazy Movie Got So Many A-Listers And It Worked”
Warwick Davis Has A Lot Of Electric Boogaloo As Evil Lead In ‘Leprechaun 2’
It’s hard to believe Warwick Davis was just a wee lad when he first appeared as Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi. He was 12 during the filming of the movie and went he finally got the lead in Willow, he was only 18. Unfortunately, there weren’t that many roles for dwarves inContinue reading “Warwick Davis Has A Lot Of Electric Boogaloo As Evil Lead In ‘Leprechaun 2’”
‘Raising Arizona’ Brings The Coens Brothers Their First Mainstream Hit
In Hollywood, most filmmakers only have enough clout based on their previous movie to do their next thing. For their first movie Blood Simple., Joel and Ethan Coen spent about a year or so traveling around and meeting with potential investors by showing them a promo trailer. They only had $1.5 million which was stillContinue reading “‘Raising Arizona’ Brings The Coens Brothers Their First Mainstream Hit”
Why ‘Scream 3’ Deserves A Second Chance
Scream VI premieres this weekend in theaters. After the surprisingly well made fifth movie, it seemed that no one but Wes Craven could helm the franchise that rejuvenated the slasher genre in the mid-1990s for better or for worse. And early reviews for the sixth one are very favorable. Craven, along with screenwriter Kevin Williamson,Continue reading “Why ‘Scream 3’ Deserves A Second Chance”
‘The Big Lebowski’ At 25: A Cinema Icon, A Religion And Lifestyle (But That’s Just Like My Opinion, Man)
At 73, Jeff Bridges has been acting most of his life. Despite an uncredited role when he was a child in 1951, his life as an actor mainly started in 1970 and he’s in the sixth decade of his profession. While it looked like cancer would sideline his career, he recovered and appeared in Hulu’sContinue reading “‘The Big Lebowski’ At 25: A Cinema Icon, A Religion And Lifestyle (But That’s Just Like My Opinion, Man)”
‘Innocent Blood’ French Vampire Hunting Mafia Goons? Fuggetaboutit!
Some directors have one movie that they can’t seem to break free of. When he was planning to do a music video for “Thriller,” Michael Jackson seeked out John Landis following the success of An American Werewolf in London. Jackson hadn’t seen The Blues Brothers, National Lampoon’s Animal House or Kentucky Fried Movie, his previousContinue reading “‘Innocent Blood’ French Vampire Hunting Mafia Goons? Fuggetaboutit!”
‘Blazing Saddles’ Would Still Work Today If Done The Right Way
Those who always want to blame “wokeness” and “cancel culture” for not being able to tell racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic or just tasteless jokes don’t realize that the people around them probably weren’t laughing much to begin with. It’s easy to feign a laugh in a crowded room when you don’t want to be theContinue reading “‘Blazing Saddles’ Would Still Work Today If Done The Right Way”
How ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ Saved Horror And Shook Up The Oscars
By the time The Silence of the Lambs hit theaters in mid-February of 1991, horror movies had pretty much been reduced to the bottom of the barrel. Thanks to the, for lack of a better word, overkill of slasher movies in the 1980s, it seemed most horror movies were just pure schlock. They would featureContinue reading “How ‘The Silence Of The Lambs’ Saved Horror And Shook Up The Oscars”
How ‘Amadeus’ Turned A Risky Gamble Into An Oscar-Winning Blockbuster
By 1984, pop culture had exploded in ways that had never been seen before. John Hughes had made Sixteen Candles, a very dated but breakthrough comedy that would represent a generation. MTV was three years old and as popular as ever. Saturday morning cartoons were competing for young minds. And Madison Avenue was selling everythingContinue reading “How ‘Amadeus’ Turned A Risky Gamble Into An Oscar-Winning Blockbuster”
Zane Says 