Crime–specifically gangster–movies have come a long way since the early days of cinema. From early lurid crime pictures like Howard Hughes’ pre-Hays Code Scarface in 1932 that was heavily edited to avoid glorifying the gangster lifestyle, to the 1983 version starring Al Pacino that made a concerted effort to alternately glorify and condemn a life…
culture / humor / television
Listen: it’s not very positive to look back at the nostalgic past and trash shows that large swaths of people cherish–but it’s the internet and being negative and mean about things pulls more traffic than positive articles so here we are. Besides this, even though the 90’s is enjoying a nostalgia boom due to Millenials…
Here in the dog days of summer, when it’s 80 degrees every day and after a long day at work or on the beach you want nothing more than to sit in your house, crank up the AC, and watch something good to unwind. Or tense up. Or watch gory horror. I’m not here to…
Chris Elliott’s comedic schtick is not for everybody. Having first launched his career as a writer and performer on David Letterman’s old late night show in the 80’s as an absurdist figure who would do bits playing odd characters with names like “The Panicky Guy” and “The Guy Under The Seats,” usually ineffectual characters who…
Listen: television is a cesspool. You know, I know it, hell even TV knows it. Instead of the respect, promotion, and (especially) money that gets pumped into creating films, television has traditionally been the ghetto of visual entertainment. Even paintings–images that don’t even move, for cripes sake–get entire buildings in major cities dedicated to them,…
The early 90’s was a watershed moment in American culture: the alternative was quickly becoming mainstream, and with it large corporate interests were starting to wonder if there wasn’t something to the weirder side of music and film that couldn’t make them some delicious money. After all, David Lynch broke through the mainstream and had…
Movies thrive on archetypes: typical characters with easily identifiable traits that work as a sort of shorthand for what these characters are and what they’re all about. Whether it’s the villain with a large brow and piercing eyes that dresses all in black and speaks in a threatening monotone or a fun-loving party dude that…
Everyone knows the summer months are thin soup for entertainment: most networks (besides premium ones) have nothing new to watch and even streaming services kind of just go on cruise control during the summer since they don’t expect a large viewing audience. But there are still some hidden gems out there that are just waiting…
Film culture from the 1980’s is now known for perfecting the blockbuster, creating the teen movie, and churning out tons of (somewhat inappropriate) films for kids. And a lot of movies from this decade have gone on to become true classics: Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Ghostbusters, and many more. But not…
While in a previous series of articles/recaps I hit all the major shows that aired on TGIF (well, and Camp Wilder), there were a lot of shows that didn’t take off on the programming block. Here are the forgotten TGIF shows that ran for only one or two seasons and nobody remembers. Early Duds In…
Terrence Malick is one of the most interesting directors of both the 20th and 21st century. For decades known as a reclusive auteur who rarely made a film–and when he did they were universally hailed for their meditative tone and brilliant cinematography–Malick abruptly broke away from the rarity of his releases and within the past…
Hey, classics? Right? They’re the best. That’s why they’re classics, after all. Streaming services carry a great number of classics, both old and new, and these shouldn’t be overlooked even if they’re not prominently featured on these services. For Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime users, here are some classics available on streaming services in July…
