Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous Is blockbuster language ruining our ability to tell personal stories at the studio level? A few recent misfires suggest there are limits to what a blockbuster can do
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous Ed Zwick's new book is an essential read for anyone who wants to tell stories on film And there's some other great movie-related reading out there right now, too
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous What do 2023's thirty best films have to say about who we are right now? Let's dig into one of the best film years in a while
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous What value is there in examining the Movies of My Lifetime? Plus is there any such thing as an Oscar snub?
Paid-members only The Nostalgia James Bond Nostalgified: Timothy Dalton's GOLDENEYE Two of our regular columns collide and things gets weird
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous ALL OF US STRANGERS, ZONE OF INTEREST, BARBIE, and the art of adaptation Why are people acting like adaptations are somehow 'lesser than'?
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous Looking back at 2023, forward to 2024, and setting some goals for this newsletter Let's figure out what we're all still doing here
Paid-members only The Last '80s Newsletter August 1981 features the ultimate animated cult classic, an American Werewolf, Kathleen Turner's explosive debut and a great Sidney Lumet epic
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous Fincher and Kaiju and Scorsese's big swing all make this November feel special There's some great stuff right around the corner and in theaters now
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous The IMAX version of STOP MAKING SENSE knocked me on my ass And you owe it to yourself to have this experience
Paid-members only The Last '80s Newsletter July 1981 features a savage Blake Edwards satire, the introduction of Snake Plissken, Dudley Moore's iconic Arthur and De Palma's best movie
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous 10 4Ks You Should Own #1 We kick off an occasional round-up of worthwhile physical media releases
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous On day 100 of the strike, we look at ten things that have helped us make it through But first, we've got to vent a little bit...
Paid-members only The Last '80s Newsletter June 1981 gets crazy with Cheech & Chong, Superman, Mel Brooks, Harryhausen, and Indiana freakin' Jones
Paid-members only The Hip Pocket The Hip Pocket #32: DOGFIGHT River Phoenix and Lili Taylor's delicate duet is one of our '90s faves
Paid-members only The Last '80s Newsletter FRIDAY becomes a franchise, Richard Pryor busts loose, The Lone Ranger does not ride, and Hal Ashby lays an egg in May 1981 It's a jam-packed opening to the month with a pivotal horror sequel
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous A fistful of series conclusions have us in our feelings We'll miss Ted and Midge and Barry and the Roys
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous The strike is just a symptom of the industry's larger anxiety It's hard to enjoy anything right now, but why?
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous Why Does 4K Have Such A Hold On Me? A screening of a hard-to-watch classic has us swooning over physical media
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous How important are audience dynamics to your experience? A few recent screenings underline the importance of a good crowd
Paid-members only Formerly Dangerous We're... back?! Let's never be apart that for that long again, okay?
Paid-members only The Hip Pocket The Hip Pocket #31: 12 ANGRY MEN Henry Fonda anchors one of the great ensembles in film history
Paid-members only The Hip Pocket The Hip Pocket #30: HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH This one was part of one of my favorite movie days ever