It was marketed as a madcap black comedy about divorce, but what DeVito actually made was a forensic study of how ’80s yuppie success stories collapse when the narrative stops serving both parties. Two affluent professionals build a life together, accumulate the markers of prosperity – antiques, imported tiles, a chandelier heavy enough to end … Read more
Alley Cat is a stripped-down, no-frills revenge flick where the streets are mean, the justice system is a joke, and the only thing standing between order and chaos is a pissed-off woman with nothing left to lose. By day, Billie is just a typical young girl trying to live her life. By night, she’s a … Read more
This was a video store staple back in the day, I must have spotted it on every bottom shelf of every thriller section I pored over. But there was something oddly surreal about it. A minimalist video box that looked like a 70s made for tv drama? In 1987, by Paramount? It just seemed to … Read more
“The good guys always win, even in the eighties.” That’s right, Megaforce was released in theaters this week in 1982. This movie gives us a sense of what a live action G.I. Joe movie might have looked like in ‘82… and the fact that it was co-produced as a way of launching a toy franchise … Read more
I was too young to appreciate the first wave of Slashers, those early Halloween clones where very human psychos stalked campers and sorority girls with sharp objects until the inevitable whodunnit twist. Sure I fancy myself a fan of the genre now, but at the time I was a fledgeling monster kid with a love … Read more
I’ll admitit, I’ve never actually gone to Camp. But thanks to a lifetime spent vicariously living through movies and TV shows, I feel like I have. So I think I’ve come to have a pretty solid understanding of what goes on there. Arts and crafts, skinny dipping, rap sessions, maybe some competitive white-water rafting, spooky … Read more
You can be forgiven for ignoring this on the Video Store shelves back in the day – the Home Alone-ish box art and tag line is clearly looking for a handout. But if you’re begging for an offbeat comedic pot-boiler in the zany tradition of Sonnenfeld, Coen or Raimi, this movie is definitely an attempt. … Read more
This was MY Godzilla. The 80’s Godzilla reboot that ignored 30 years of continuity and acted as a direct sequel to the dark and serious 1954 original Godzilla 1985 was totally MY Godzilla. I grew up on the syndicated ‘Zilla movie packages that aired on local TV in the early 80s, of course it was … Read more
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was released to theaters today in 1989… the only movie brave enough to take on Batman on opening day! Yes, that time Re-Animator’s Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna wrote a Disney film. After all, being small can be pretty terrifying. No, not metaphorically small, just physically small. And adults forget … Read more
Shoot first, ask questions ‘Slater. After three movies spent deep in the trenches of teenage existentialism, it was finally time for Slater to wax slack about being in your twenties in the ‘90s. And you know you’re in for a good time the moment he cocks an eyebrow and breaks the fourth wall in full … Read more