Poltergeist Finds The Terror In Everyday Suburbia

Roger Ebert was not feeling the good vibrations when he penned a mixed review of the Tim Burton directed turkey Planet of the Apes back in 2001. In this review, he mentioned at one point that, years down the line, it would still be the original Planet of the Apes from the 1960's that people would be watching instead of this more recent remake and a similar sentiment can be expressed for the original Poltergeist movie and its own remake. Back over Memorial Day weekend 2015, MGM released a high-profile remake of that horror movie classic that starred noteworthy actors like eventual Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and was even outfitted in 3D, but it's been totally forgotten about in the three years since its release, it's like it never even existed.

White Dog Is an Unflinching And Powerful Look At Racist Violent Behavior

Back in the early 1980's, Paramount Pictures financed a fully completed $7 million budgeted feature film that they proceeded to tuck on a shelf and not release. Such a bold move rarely ever occurs to major movies in Hollywood but then again, White Dog was not a typical motion picture. Hailing from writer/director Samuel Fuller, White Dog was a movie entirely focused on a dog who had been trained by a racist human being to specifically attack black people and such a premise had executives worried about reactions from all kinds of groups ranging from members of the NAACP to charters of the Klu Klux Klan. Thus, the studio behind Monster Trucks canceled its original 1982 theatrical release and the film would not see the light of day (save for a handful of TV airings) until 1991.

Losing Ground Helped Break Ground In The 1980's With A Gripping Tale of A Relationship Falling Apart

In the early 1980's, long-overdue history was made as the first two American films directed by black women were released. The first of these was the 1981 feature Will directed by Jessie Maple, while the following year would see the release of the subject of this review, Losing Ground, a drama written and directed by Kathleen Collins. Given the immense subjugation facing women and especially women of color in the film industry in that era (as well as in the modern-day world), the unprecedented achievements made by both Jessie Maple and Kathleen Collins simply getting their individual features made was astounding while further impressiveness can be found in the fact that Losing Ground was a high-quality directorial debut for Kathleen Collins (I cannot speak for the quality of Will having not seen it myself).

Well, Night Shift Was Certainly Made In 1982, No Denying That

The vast majority of movies reflect a certain time period, whether it's the actual era they were made in or a specifically chosen past time period that's intended to reflect the themes of the story. Sometimes, these specific time periods manage to manifest themselves in subtle ways, other time, they come out in intentionally more overt mechanisms. And then there's Night Shift, a Ron Howard directed movie which wears the fact that it was made in the 1980's (1982 to be exact) on its sleeve just by the wardrobe choices of Michael Keaton's character and the presence an extended 1980's montage sequence alone. The fact that it's such an obvious time capsule of this decade is probably the most interesting thing about this breezy but super forgettable and messy comedy.

Tootsie Review (Classic Write-Up)

As weird as it may sound, Tootsie clinched the idea for me that Dustin Hoffman is one of my favorite actors. Not that I've "disliked" him before mind you, far far far from it, I've really enjoyed his performances in the likes of Rain Man and The Graduate. But Tootsie is one where he gets to exist in a more overtly comedic environment and he thrives in it while retaining the kind of persona that's made him a Hollywood legend. Also of note is that surrounding Hoffman in Tootsie are two other noteworthy actors who would go on to become notable fixtures of the silver screen themselves, Bill Murray and Jessica Lange.

The Thing Review (Classic Write-Up)

Boy, 1982 sure was a helluva year for sci-fi movies, huh? And such a variety of sci-fi storytelling too! From the family-friendly emotionally involving tale of E.T. to Ridley Scott bringing Blade Runner to life to Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Kahn to Tron, there was seemingly no end to notable sci-fi titles that year. One other uber important sci-fi feature to arrive that year (released the same weekend as Blade Runner, in fact) was the John Carpenter motion picture The Thing.

Blade Runner Review (Classic Write-Up)

The most notable visual aspects of film noir are some of the more distinctive ever put to cinema, and it's quite a treat to such unique attributes put into the sci-fi realm of Blade Runner, a 1982 film that constantly surprised me in it's innovation. It uses those aforementioned tropes of film noir to create a future, set in 2019. overwhelmed with uncertainty (and rain, there's lots and lots of rain here).