My idea of hell is being ball-gagged and strapped to a chair while a gaggle of obnoxious children in choir robes scream The 12 Days of Christmas in my face. Even my mother would bristle with fury when that tune came on…
Read more
When I think “Thanksgiving,” I think “pancreas.” It was on that celebratory November day back in the early 70s when, after partaking of a memorably delicious Thanksgiving with friends, my pancreas literally exploded and I was rushed to a hospital…
Read more
What’s the scariest film of all time? Some say Psycho, some The Texas Chainsaw Masacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street. For many there was nothing to equal the first time they saw Night of the Living Dead. But for me,…
Read more
Most of us remember the first movie witch that freaked us out. From the green-skinned Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz, to the evil Maleficent of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Honestly, for me the thought that you could ride a broom and…
Read more
Starting in 1995 the US Post Office released a series of “Legends of Hollywood” stamps that were a thrill for collectors and fans. From James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Alfred Hitchcock to Shirley Temple there…
Read more
Watching Luke Kirby’s extraordinary performance as serial killer Ted Bundy in No Man of God got me to thinking of other actors who were able to sharpen their acting skills portraying murderers. It must be wild channeling some twisted mind…
Read more
There are many news stories about post-Covid air travel. Particularly about unruly passengers punching the flight crew for having the temerity to tell them to buckle their seat belt or wear a face mask. Jean-Paul Sartre was right: “Hell is other…
Read more
There was a period beginning in the late 90s when Asian “J-Horror” was all the rage. Director Hideo Nakata’s Ringu became an international horror sensation and made us afraid of video cassettes and televisions. Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On: The Grudge made…
Read more
We love certain movies for many different reasons. Some that we saw as kids have an almost supernatural pull on our psyche. Others had a profound effect when we first saw them and continue to cast a spell through the…
Read more
I just finished a fascinating, heartbreaking book by Laura Wagner– Hollywood’s Hard-Luck Ladies, another one of those offbeat, great, movie books published by McFarland & Company. It chronicles 23 Hollywood actresses whose careers and lives sometimes careened off cliffs. They…
Read more