Category Archives: Movie Flashback

One of my writing professors, Peter Christopher, who passed away in 2008, used to ask four simple words whenever there was a twist in a story. Did they earn it? Too often, movies use twists when they really mean cheats. Case in point the movie Haute Tension when the protagonist and the killer are oneContinue reading “‘The Sixth Sense’ Earned Its Twist”

I saw Heavy Metal for the first time the way a lot of people of the 1980s and 1990s saw it, on late-night cable TV. The very R-rated animated feature, based on the magazine of the same, consisted of several vignettes, wasn’t available in any video rental places thanks to licensing disagreements. In the earlyContinue reading “Forty Years Of Taking A Ride On ‘Heavy Metal’”

John Carpenter is one of the rarest filmmakers still living. He continues to operate on the fringes of Hollywood for almost 50 years. While other directors would’ve eventually took the bigger projects, agreed to studio notes and suggested casting decisions to make a few blockbusters and maybe an Oscar winner or two, that’s not theContinue reading “‘Big Trouble In Little China’ Has An Even Bigger Legacy”

It’s been a year and a half before I get rid of satellite TV, realizing I was paying more for channels I wasn’t watching when they’re are streaming services available that are cheaper. Usually, this is the time of year during the Dog Days of Summer where networks advertise the hell out of their upcomingContinue reading “‘Mulholland Drive’ Twists And Turns Leading To Different Destinations”

In the movie, The Karate Kid, Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) says the line, “Hey, it’s the 80s!” That is what you can say about movies like Body Double, which came out in 1984. Brian DePalma was riding high after the success of Scarface and was offered a three-picture deal by Columbia Pictures. The studio wasContinue reading “‘Body Double’ Deserves A Second Look As A Genius Movie”

As of this posting, Disney is being used by Scarlett Johansson over a contractual dispute because Black Widow released the movie on Disney-Plus hurting her percentage of royalties most definitely. But it was bound to happen as streaming services are becoming more popular. Could this end up being a change in SAG-AFTRA contracts? It’s aContinue reading “In The Beginning, There Was ‘Howard The Duck’”

If you were young in the 1980s, there was one movie that is universally liked and that’s The Lost Boys. As of matter of fact, you probably can’t find a single Gen Xer who has one negative thing to say about this movie, which was released this weekend in 1987. Recently, I did a postContinue reading “‘The Lost Boys’ Defined A Generation”

Summertime is back even though the Delta variant of Covid-19 may make the rest of the year seem like 2020 Redux, so it’s only natural everyone is hitting on the road trying to have a little fun in the sun hoping we don’t go on another lockdown. National Lampoon’s Vacation was released on this dateContinue reading “‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ So Funny (And Sad But True) You Just Half To Laugh”

Recently, a college friend of mine and his young son, who is primary school age, had a discussion about whether to watch RoboCop, the one and original. (I’ve yet to see that remake that came out many years ago. And I have no desire to anytime soon.) Released in mid to late July 1987, theContinue reading “Nothing Still Compares To ‘RoboCop’”

Mel Brooks started as a comedy writer before moving on to a filmmaker in the 1960s and had his best success in the 1970s focusing mostly on parodies of genre movies. He made some of the best comedies of all time which he may be forever known as the King of Comedy and it’s goodContinue reading “‘Life Stinks’ Mel Brooks’ Experimental Movie Turns 30”