#37 — The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989) By most accounts, Disney animation was like a boxer knocked out on his feet, reeling in the ring, obviously done but somehow not quite at the point where it … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Thirty-Seven
Best Foot Forward (Edward Buzzell, 1943). Less than a decade before a certain TV series elevated Lucille Ball to the stratosphere of stardom, she was merely the “Queen of the Bs,” which makes it a little odd to see her playing herself in this film about a cadet at a military academy who convinces the redhead to come be his date for a big dance. She’s also far removed from the ditzy whirligig persona that she’d soon be known for, playing scenes instead as the smartest person in the room with a disdainful, withering comment for everyone and everything she … Continue reading Brooks, Buzzell, Freudenthal, Matzdorff, McKay
30. Close Lobsters, Headache Rhetoric Sometimes a band’s back-story has an element so wildly perfect that anyone would be forgiven for suspecting that it’s made up. No one disputed that the Close Lobsters were formed in their homeland in Scotland, … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 30 and 29
There was a time when Uma Thurman was an actress that demanded attention. If she was in a film, it merited at least some amount of consideration. Maybe the finished project was actually not very good (or even downright awful) but she alone made it something that at least went into the “maybe” pile when sorting out film-going options. Sadly, I’ve noticed lately that, as I spin the digital dial considering movies to add to our overstuffed DVR, the opposite is now true. Uma’s inclusion in the cast list–especially at the top of it–is a signal to stay away. I … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I started subscribing to Rolling Stone in 1987. I was just starting to refine my muddled music taste into the preferences that still stand today. At the time, there was no student-run college radio station in my immediate area–fairly stunning … Continue reading One for Friday: Michael J. Fox, “You Got No Place To Go”
#38 — The Elephant Man (David Lynch, 1980) Joseph Merrick was born in Leicester, England in the mid nineteenth century. Malformed from his youngest days by an uncertain ailment–thought for years to be Neurofibromatosis type I–Merrick entered his adulthood as an abused member of a traveling freak show, touted as “The Elephant Man” and paraded about for the horrified amusement of the crowd. Abandoned, Merrick found his way to the care of a surgeon named Frederick Treves, who saw past the swollen features to the man within and endeavored to provide him with a deserved social dignity. With the added … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Thirty-Eight
Paul is a road movie, indulging on the tried and true methodology of making the journey taken by characters into something very literal. Two friends played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are living out one of their longtime dreams … Continue reading It’s been rough and rocky travelin’ but I’m finally standin’ upright on the ground
The team I am proud to be a part of did quite well in this past weekend’s staging of The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. As a result, I’m pretty tired today (and in transit) so I won’t offer much. Normal … Continue reading 9th Place
